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pa:·ft o( October 21~) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1 Beginninr Pr~ctice .lor.!" ·~e:·tba (October 25) •••••••••••••• 12 L~nrlnl::a. Otte!'inas (October 27) •••••••••••••• 23 nuru Yoga (Or.tobcr 30) •••••••••••••• 31 Chenrezig Hedito.tion ~November 1) •••••••••••••• 48 .Six fer~ections (November 3) •••••••••••••• 63 General Practice (I~I)Vel'lber 4) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 71 Ir·lporte.nce of Foundations (NoveMber 10) ••••••••• • 80
1 DJIARf.IA TAUC 1
ni:.GINNXNG PRACTXCE
All o~ us, ns practicin~ Budrlhists, are concP.rnad with the understanding and realizing the pervasive nature o~ su~~er ing in Samsnra and Hre interested in transcending this ocean o~ su~rering which we call samsaric existence, then coming to th~ realization o~ complete Buddhahood in its omniscience. This really is our main purpose, our sole purpose for practisinr. Dharma. This being the case, it's very important, essential really, that we all come to l~arn something about what are called the Four Thoughts Which Turn the J.lind. This is a aeries o£ £our contemolations. Jo'irst, the contemplation of the Precious Human Existence, so dir~icult to obtain; the contemplation or Death ond Imp~rmanPnce; the contemplation o~ harma, cause and result; the contemplation or the Failings and the Faults or Samsaric Existence. Unless one not only hears nnd understands these teachings but also contemplates und meditates upon them, one will never ~e able to practice Dharma in the £ullest possible way. Many or you, I am sure, are quite ramiliar.with these ideas already. X knew many o£ you have read about them in the small book X wrote when I was last here in Canada. And some o£ you, I hope, will not only read this book but have used it as a guide in contempl"tion and mP.ditation. These £our thou~hts are really the £oundations o£ Buddhism and part o~ the £oundations also are a aeries of practices which are called, simply, The Foundational Practices. The first o£ these is doing 100,000 prostrations. In order to be able to d~ these prostrations, one must understand something very clearly about what it means to go £or reruge. In order to understand about going £or re£uge, one needs to know something about Buddhahood, about Buddha. What is Buddha? Far, £ar in the distant past, an individual gave rise to the Enlightening Thought, resolving to reach enlightenment £or the wel£are o£ others. With this determined motivation, he accumulated merit and awareness, and having cleared away the various obscurations £or existence over what we traditionally term "three uncountable eons", i t culminated in Fully Awakened Enlightenment or Buddhahood. Buddhahood or Fully Awakened Enlightenment embodies three very great qualities. Buddha is first, the complete renunciation o£ everything that needs to be renounced. This is the first great quality and means that all obscurationaJ obscuration• stemming £rom our emotionality, obscurationa stemming from our £undamental ignorance have boon completely removed. There is no vestige o~ ignorance or emotionality le~t in Awakened Enlightenment. This is an awakenine £rom i,norance, ~nd that is what one syllable of the word BUDDHA means. This is termed the Great Abandonment or the Great Renunciation wherein all obscuration• have been abandoned. Secondly, with this total abandonment o£ all ignorance and emotionality, immediate knowledge o£ all phenomena exactly as they are develops. This knowledge, o£ course, embodies rreat wisdom and transcending awareness which embraces all things both as they are and as they appear. Seeing exactly, without con~usion and obscuration, directly--this is enlightenment, and i t is the Great Realization,
2 the second quality o~ Buddhahood. The third quality is the development or supreme compassion, a compassionate concern which looks upon every sentient being with the same CQncern a~d love with which a mother looks upon her only son. To explain th~ word, "Buddha", etymologically, the £irst syllable means awakening; awakening £rom sleep-lil<e ignorance, and re~ers to the spontaneous removal o£ all obscuration& which hide the nature o~ Being; obscuration& o~ karma, obscuration& o~ emotionality, obscuration& o~ ignorance. All o~ these are removed and there is complete awakening, a ~reedom £rom all o~ these things which have clouded and hidden the nature o~ mind and the nature o~ all existence. This is what the ~irst syllable means. The second syllable re~ers to enlightenment in the knowledee o£ the two things to be known. The two things to be known are knowledge o~ the internal sel~, mind, and knowledge o£ all external phenomena. The Awakened Enlightened Hind sees all phenomena exactly as they appear, exactly as they are without con~usion, each distinct in its•l~, and knows exactly the nature o~ mind itsel£; how it is. This knowledge is enlightening and so we have the term ~or Buddha as Awakened Enlightenment or the Awakenqd and Enli~htened Hind. The Awakened Enlightened Hind dev.elops £irst £rom the Enlightening Attitude, the resolution to work ~or the wel~are of others. With this Enlightening Attitude, the individual works at gathering the two accumulations of merit and awareness through the practice of the Six Perrections and over the course o£ eons, the gathering of accumulations develops into the realization of one's fundamental existentiality or Dharmakaya, and "the two form mani~estations of this ultimate nature. How are these two accumulations gathered? The accumulation o~ merit or wholesomeness is accumulated with reference to the Three Jewels; the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha as the higher objects of reference through prayer, devotion and offerings and also through rererence to the lower objects, to sentient beings through generosity, kindness and patience. Action taken with respect to these two references motivated through faith, morality, vi-rtuous and noble action gathers the accumulation o1" merit. The accumulation of Transcending Awareness is accomplished through non-discursive, non-conceptual meditation of the no-thingness of the individual self and all phenomena. These two accumulations are not things to be practiced by two separate people, say, but the single individual needs to practice both the meditations on the nO-thingness of reality ns well as engaging in generosity, morality and the other per£ections with rer,ard to sentient beings. What kind of result the~~ two accumulations? Ultimately the accumulation of merit and action which accumulates merit develops into the two ~orm manifestations of enlightenment: communication and being in the world. The meditation ond realization of the nothingness of reality dr.velops into the fundamental existentiality or the Dharmakaya. Where is Buddha, then? Existentiality or Dharmakaya pervades all phenomena yet is devoid or form, tangibility or any mark of origination, cessation or duration and transcends the three realms of ordinary existence. Very high level Bodhisattvas, Bodhisattva& resting on the eieht, ninth or tenth levels of spiritual attainment come into communication with Buddha through the mani~estation of enli~ht-
J ment known os Sambhogakaya or the comntunicotive aspect of' enli~htonmcnt. This is no di~£erent Crom Dharmakaya. It is the Corm in wl•ich these hi~h level &odhisattvas are able to communicate with enlightenment. Jlow does this communication take place? Well, f'undamental existentiality or Dharmakaya is endowed with such tremendous qualities, qualities which shine lil..:e the radiance or the raya of' the sun. The rays of' the sun are like the communicative aspect of' enli(!htenment. It is the tremendous merit, the tremendous wholesomeness of' higher level 8odhisattvaa who have, by and large, cleared away almost all karmic obscuration& and emotionality; who have developed their realization and underatandin~ to extremely high levels. It is the interaction of' this tremendous wholeaomenesa with the great qualitiea o£ Full Enlightenment that makea communication poasible. In order to be of' direct help to ordinary aentient beinga, Awalcened Enlightenment mani·f'esta in the world either as the perf'ect incarnation or manif'estation such as a Buddha or as a ,-eat spiritual teacher, a king who rules the land wisely, aomeone skilled in craf'ts or as a poor man in order to give people the opportunity to be generous, and in many dirf'erent ways to be o£ help and benef'it to aentient beings. In many dif'f'erent ways Awakened Enlightenaaent manif'esta either through birth or through craf'ts. But the perf'ect f'orm of' the manif'eatation of' enli~htenment ref'era to the appearance of' such as Buddha Sakyamuni, who appeared in India 2500 years ago, ana who, through the twelve great deeds in his life come to help aentient beings come into contact with and to practice the Dharma. The communicative aspect of' enlightenment and the manif'estation of enlightenment in the world are termed the Form or Tangible Manif'estations of' Enlightenment. They are not diff'erent f'rom what is termed the Formless Manif'estation nf' Enlightenment, or Dharmalcaya, i.e. existentiality, but ariae through the power of' bleasing of' f'undamental existentiality. Contact with them depends upon the development of' the individual in that a great, hiehly advanced hpiritual person comes into contact with the direct communicative aspects of' enlightenment, a lesser would come into contact with the perf'ect f'orm manif'estation aspect such as Buddha Sakyamuni and other would come into contact through the other various f'orm manif'estations aa a &killed craf'tsman or a wise ruler or any of' these other f'orma. Why, then, if' these three aspects of' enli,;htenment are in essence the same, does this dit'f'erence ariae at all? Dharmakaya is understood or beheld when one has cleared away all obscuration• of' conceptualization or conceptual knowledge. The communicative aspect of' enlightenment ia beheld when one has cleared away all obscuration• due to emotionality. The perf'ect f'orm manif'estation of' enli~htenment is beheld when one has cleared away the obscuration& due to karma. And if' one haa cleared away many of' the obscuration& due to karma, then one comes into contact with the other f'orm manif'estationa, either thoae through birth or through craf't. What is the Awakened Enlightened Mind like? We can illustrate this a little bit by example, Just considerins our
,. oW. aituation nov. For inatance, thou~h we are f'ull of" •any ••puritiea, •any obacurfttions; if" we think or ao.e..,lace where we have been, India or ~urope, or any or these thin~•• the 1--c• of" that place i••ediately sprin~• to •ind. • V• remember it; we know what i~ vaa like. Imagine that kind of" immediate knowledge developed to the point that embraces the whole universe, ao that one •••• i . . ediately and directly everything in the past, the preaent, the f"uture, everythinr. that ia . .braced in the term s~msaric Eziatence, everythin~ that ia included in the ter., ~irvana, or the transcendence of" miaery and everything that ia included in the path fro• Samsaric ~xistence to the tranHcendence of" •isery. The Awakened Enlightened •ttnd a.-es all that as clearly as we can aee the pal• of' our hand; ~ith 110 •ore conf'usion, no •ore lack of' ~larity. This i» termed the Transcendent Awareness of' Knovleds•• Asain, in our very limited and def'iled exiatence, we are •till able to know a little bit of" true compassion or sympAthy ror •omebody else. A 1nother loves and ia extre•ely concerned about her child; we can be very, very concerned and ha•• a r.reat aJ"f"ection for a close f'riend; and if' we ••• somebody in a diff"icult and unpleasant situation, we £eel aorry Cor him and wish to help him. Tbia ia aomethinc like compassion. But vhea all our obscuration• are cleared away, we are _no lon~er li•ited by ienorance, by emotionality and by our ova actiona. Then the concern, the af'f"ection, the compas~ion f'or every aingle aentient being ia i ... ediate and aa deep as the deepest love and concern that the •other has f"or an only child. This concern, this compassion and love ia not restricted in. any vay1 not by diatance, not by kind of" race or any kind of' claaaification. ntis is ter.ed The Supreme Co•pasaion Through Love. In our limited existence, also, we have a certain amount of" activity. Ve have the·ability to help a person aomew~at i£ be ia in dif'f'iculty. Ve can do aomething to help hi• cenerally. Ve also have the ability to harm a person, to· •ake thinr.s dif'f'ucult Cor hi•. Thia ability to act which arises ia our mind and which we are able to chance into action is limited, but when we are f"ree f"ro• all impurities and obscuration•, mind unf'olda into totally dynamic activity which ia f"ar, Car greater than anythintr we know nov. Tbia mind being cleared of all i•purities no longer haa any emotionality, def"ilement or any kind, or any icnorance. It bas complete •aatery over itself', ao there ia no longer the possibility. of' acting to burt others or to bring inJury to anything. And one is able to act immediately, directly to provide a f'riend f'or a peraon that needa a f'riend, a spouae f"or a person who needs a spouae, a kine f"or a country that needs a ruler; in £act, in any way whatsoever that a aincl• aentient beinc or "oup of" aentient being• •ay be benef'ited • . Tbia total activity of' the Enliahtened Mind is called Buddha Activity Through Action. One incident illuatrative of" the kind of" Buddha activity that may go on concerned a f'. .ale domon who conatantly harassed the countryaide and took the livea of' many people nnd animala. Chenreaig, aeein« that not only waa this particular demon••• accu.ulatins a «r•at deal or evil kar.a ror heraelf', but alao brlncinc creat harm to others, sent an •••nation aa a •ale
demon, nnd in the course of time the f'emale demon and Chenresir.'s emanation came to live tor,ethcr. While they were living togethe-r, Chenresi r:' s cmana ti on would sit quietly and say mantras all the time, "Om mani padme hung." After a ~hile the demoness said, "What on earth are you saying? What's the thing you keep saying?" Chenresig 1 s emanation would say, "Well, it's a very, very f'ine mantra. By repeating it, I ~et everything I want, as much as I want to eat. Everything that I want comes to me." The f'emale demoness thou~ht this was ,,ui te amazing. She said, "Well, I 1 11 have to do this, too." So she started repeating the mantra and she didn't worry about being hunt~ry or thirsty because she was quite confident in the ef'f'icacy of the mantra, even though she was extremely hungry and thirsty. A:fter a while, her stomach began to shrink and she no longer f'elt a craving :for sentient beings, and through the blessing o:f the mantra, ev·entually, her mind began to chanee. She no longer had any wish to kill and eat people. Her whole mind 1 her whole attitude towards existence and everythin~ changed and eventually she came to prattice Dharma to reach enlightenment. During the life of Buddha, there was an individual, c•lled Chungawa, who had great :faith, great respect for Dharma; he really wanted to practice i t sometimes. He w~s married. His wif'e was very jealous of her husband's interest in Dharma and always contrived to prevent him f'rom having any contact with Buddha or with the Dharma in any way whatsoever; so much so that she would not let him go out of' the house without her. Wherever he went, she was'always tagging along. One day Buddha· thoueht to help this person. He went begging. Chungawa saw Buddha begging and immediately resolved to f'ill Buddha's ber,ging bowl with f'ood. His wife wouldn't let him go out. He said, "I'm just going out to give Buddha some alms. There's nothing wrong with this at all. I'll be right back." So his wife wet his clothes and said, "You be back ~ef'ore they're dry." He said, "That's OK; that's no trouble." So he took his of'f'erings to Buddha and :filled his bowl. Buddha said, "That's f'ine; now f'ollow me." So overcome was he with Buddha's very commanding presence that he f'ollowed Buddha and Buddha just started to walk alon8 the path, along the roads. They walked f'or a long time and Chungawa thought, •I•ve eot to get back soon; I've really got to get back now." He constantly thoueht about that but he just couldn't draw himself' away f'rom Buddha, so powerfull was Buddha's compassion and blessin~. So he kept walkine and eventually, af'ter a long time, they arrived at the monastery where Buddha was staying and he followed Buddha into his cluunbers. Then when tb'y sat down he said, "Ueally, I must go back; my wife will be worrying about me. I have to go back right now." Buddha replied, "Well, I have one place to co; I won't be long. While I'm gone, just sweep up the shrine room, would you?" So Chungawa started to sweep up the shrine room af'ter Buddha left. When he finished sweeping up the shrine room, there was more dust than ever before. So he swept it again, and again it was dustier than be:fore. So he swept it again. No matter how much he swept it, the dust seemed to accumulate rather than to be collected. Eventually, he just gave up and started of:f away from the monastery and back to his home. There were two ways to go.
6 There was the main road, a broad road. He thought it was most likely that Buddha would be coming along that road back to the monnstery, so he took what was just a small path through t1te Jungle.· Well, while he was walking along this· jungle path he saw Buddha approaching on the pa.th ahead. He was just terrified. he l:ltought, "What am I 80in~ to do? I've got to hide somewhere." A short way along the path he noticed a tree whose branches came right down to the r;round. He thou,..ht, "Ah, that's a safe ~lace to hide; no one will see me tl~ou~h the leaves of the tree." So he hid behing that, and as Buddha approached, thP. hranchns of the tree lifted up to expose Chungawa. Buddha said, "Where are you eoing7" He said, ~well, I'm eoinc home or I was going home." Buddha said, "bell come, .follow me.". When they arrived back at Buddhn's monastery, Buddha said, Well, I tl•ink it's time we wP.nt 1"or a little bit of sightseeing, so take hold or my robes." As Chungawa took hold of Buddha's robes, they £lew orr into the sky and came on top of a hir,h mountain. On this mountain there was livirlg a very old woman with a wrinkled and bent body, haggard and drawn. Duddha said, "Well what do you think,. Chungawa, who is more beautiful, this woman or your wife?" Chungawa said, "Oh, my wife ifl a hundred thousand times o1ore beautiful than this woman." And Buddha said, "OK. I want to show you something else now; take hold of my robes." lie did and through Buddha's miraculous powers they arrived in the·JJrd heaven. And Buddha said, Well, just walk around, have a good look around an~ see whnt you see." As Chungawa walked around he saw all these incredibly handsome gods and very beautiful '-oddesses. All the riclme~s and splendour o~ the heavens, everything JUSt amazed him. He tllOUCht it w~s thour:ht it was the most wonderful! place in which he had ever been. He continued to walk around around and see all the beautiful and splendorous things that were there in the J)rd heaven. ~vcntually he came to a seat which was surrounded by hoards of beautiful servants and beautiful goddesses end handsome gods, all making the most perfect, the very best preparations for a magnificent throne. He went up to one of them and said, "ahose throne is that?" And the person he asked said, ·"\lell, this is no one's right now but it's waiting to be .filled." "Oh, who's goine to fill it?" "Oh, there's a person called Chungawa who's r,oinr, to become a mond and he's goine to keep a very pure moral code and will come to be reborn here, so we're preparinp, the throne." Chun6awa turned to Buddha and Buddha said, "Have you seen enough?" lie said, "Yes." So they retu!·ned to Buddha • s monastery. Chungawa had completely dismissad all thou,~ht of his wife by now, having been completely intoxicatod with the splendour o.f the heavens and asked Budd'ta f'or the monk's vows. Buddha snid, "Uo you really want to become a monk?" And Chungawa replied, Oh yes, I very definitely want to become a monk." So Buddha gave him the vows. One day at a gatherine of all Buddha's monks, Buddha said, "Pretty well all o.f you have taken ordin~tion to become monks because you wish to achieve the .fullest possible enlightenn1ent. You wish to transcend the misery of Samsaric Existence. This is most wonderful, most worthwhile. But there is one of your
7 nun1ber who has taken vows iu ordrr that he mieht be born in the ))rd heaven. Jtis namA is Chuncawa and I want you to have nothin~ to do with him hence~orth. Do not speak to him in any way whatsoever; have no communication with him; do not even Rit on ·the same seat ns he does. All o~ you who hnve set your sip;hts on the attainment o~ enlir.htenment are travelin~ a very diC~erent path ~rom this individual." So ~rom that day ~~rth none o~ the monks had anything to do with Chunga'"a• Rut Chungawa was still intent on being born in the )Jrd heaven and preserved his vows most care~ully. Well, one day Buddha came to Chuneawa and said, "Do you want to go ~or a little sip,htseein~ amone the boll bein~s? Take hold o~ my rohe." So Chungawa took hold or his robe and through Buddha's miraculous powers, they were soon among the hell beings. Chungawa was just stricken to see how much su~~ering, how much pain beines could experience and were experiencin~ as they underwent this incrP.dibly torturous ~orm o~ existence. He ~ound it so completely disturbing that he could almost not bear to look, but he ~ollowed Budaha wherever he went. Eventually, they came across a large house, £illed with people and Cull o~ horri~ic implements and tremendous weapons. In the center o~ this large room, there was a huge cauldron ~ull o~ molten copper. People were bringing more copper and throwing it into the cauldron. Other people were stoking the ~ire and heating i t up to the very highest temperatures. Unlike the rest o£ the cauldrons that Chungawa had seen amon~ the hell beings, there was no one in this one ~nd h~ asked one o~ the attendants, "Why is there nobody here?" "Oh, we're' just preparing it right now. There is a person up in the ~outhern continent called Chungawa. He's preserving his morality very well and he'll be born in the JJrd heaven a£ter this; but a~ter the ))rd heaven, this will be his throne." And Chungawa wasJust so morti:f'ied, so completely panic stricken at the thought that he might be having to experience swimming in that cauldron o£ copper that he ~led back to Buddha and said, "Can we go back to the southern continent quickly?" And so, he completely gave up any thought o~ being born in the ))rd heaven. A~terall, what was the use o£ being born in the J)rd heaven if' that is what it turned into a:f'terward. From then on he devoted himself' purely to practicing the Dharma in order to reach Cull enlightenment. So strong and determined was he in his practice that he completely termimated all desire in every one o~ the ~ive senses and his name became 'The One Who Terminated Desire Through the Five Senses• as he reached enli~htenmcnt. This concern o~ Buddha which is constantly and continuously translated into action helps an individual come to a better understanding o~ the ~actors o£ samsaric existence and will lead him to be interested in and to practice to attain Cull enlightenment. The constant concern which the Fully Enlir:htened Hind has, which sees exactly what is needed to help an individual and has the ability to provide the kind of' action, the kind o~ setting which will help an individual, is re:f'erred to as the Capability o~ Re£uge; and is the ~ourth of' the Great Qualities of' Buddha Mind. So we have these ~our Great Qualities: Transcending Awareness of' Knowledge, Supreme Compassion Through Love, Buddha Activity Through Action, and the Capability ~or Re:f'uge
8 which summcrize and explain the Great Qualities of the Fully Awakened and Enlir,htened Mind. The prjnciple form of Buddha's activity to help sentient beings is the teachinr. of the Dharma; the Dharma which has come down to us to the present day. It is the Dharma which shows us, teaches us the way throu~h which one can transcend the limits of samsaric existence and reach the full transcendence of" misery which is Awakened Enli~htenment. So we have the jewel of the Dharma. We take refuge in the Dharma too, O.!'; a way. And thirdly, we learn the Dharma from individuals, from a spiritual teacher, and from people who have trained in the Dharma. We lenrn it from people who follow the Dharma, our own Dharma companions, monks and nuns, all of" these. And these are termed the Sangha, because they guidt"? and support us in the lJharma. We tal.;.e reru~e in the ::iangha also, the community of" those that f"ollow the Dharma. These ar~ the three principle sources of" ref"u~e in Buddhism: The Fully Awakened Enlightened Mind or Buddha, the Dharma ~hie~ shows the way, and the Sangha which provides the guidance and support as one travels on the way. In order to provide sentient beings with the most expedient And quick means of" reaching full enlightenment, the Fully Awakened Enliehtened f.lind or Buddha, emanated in f"orms of" various Yidams or.meditational deities and gave initiations, ripening the streams of" conciousness of" particular individuals. Through meditating and practicing meditations concerning these deities, these individuals came to obtain accomplishment through which they were able to achieve enlip;htenment. So it is said that in the Vajrayana, this tradition of" very powerf"ul teclmiques f"or reachine enliF,htenment, the source of" accompli~hment, the source of" attainment or achievement is the meditational deity or the yidam. And in order to be able to practice a yidam meditation such as Dorje Palmo, Chenresig, Manjusre, Korlo Demchok or any of" these meditational deities, one must be ripened and this ripening takes place through the procass of" initiation or empowerment and depends upon the Lama's blessing. Throueh the Lama's blessing, one's stream of" conciousness is ripened; through initation and through the Lama's blessings one receives the instruction~ and teachings which will enable one, if" practised, to reach Cull enliehtenment. So the Lama in the ~ajrayana is termed the Source of" All Blessings. And because one is practising such powerf"ul techniques through transformations and perfection, one meets tremendous obstacles, many conditions which make it dif"f"icult to practise Vharma, many things which interrupt or potentially interrupt and impede Dharma practice. In order to clear away these impediments and to create conditions and suitable environments so that one's practice can be Cruitf"ul, one relies upon the activity of" the Dharma Protectors. Through meditation and prayer concerning theRe protectors, they act to clear away obstacles and create the good conditions for one's own devotions. And so it is said that the source Cor all Buddha Activity are the Protectors. When one practises Vajrayana, in addition to taking refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, one takes refuge in the Three Sources or the Three Roots: the source of all blessing being the Lama,
9 the source of attainment or accomplishmP.nt being the Yidam and the sourcA of all activity beinR the Dharma Protectors. The Three Roots and the Three Jewels are moat potent sources of power to help one in Dharma practice, most powerful agents which can confer great blessing and attainment. But without faith and devotion and prayer on one's own part, one will not receive any inspiration or blessin~ through the Three Jewels or the Three Roots. In order to receive the full protection of the Three Jewels and the Three Roots, one goes for refuge which consists of imaging these six sources in the sky i"l front of one, everyday bowing before them repeating the refuge prayer and fostering an intense devotion and respect and yearning ~or their protection and blessing. This is something that all of you should do every day. If there are any of you who wish to engage and practice these Foundational Practices, p~rticularly the 100,000 prostrations, there is a very definite visualization and meditation which accompanies the prostrations. ~t consists of imagining the Sources of Refuge, the Three Jewels and the Three Roots in the sky in front of one with the Lama in the center surrounded by yidams, the Buddhas, the Dharma, the Sangha ~nd the Dharma Protectors. Those of you who do want to practice this should receive these teachings from Lama Tsewang Gyurmed who is here permanently in Vancouver, and can give you full instruction in the visualization, the meditation and the way the practice is carried out. When one takes refuge and does prostrations, one is making use of one's total being, one's physical body, one's speech and one's mind. By joining one's hands in prayer and prostrating with the body, one is clearing away physical obscuration& and unwholesome karma accumulated through physical action. Throu~h verbal recitation ol' the refuge prayer, one is clearing away the karma accumulated throueh speech and clearing away obscuration• o£ speech, and through the devotion and respect that one has in one's mind, one is clearing away mental obscuration&. Through the total envolvement of body, speech and mind in the practice in the practice, one clears away obscuration& in body, speech and mind and karma accumulated through body, speech and mind, Hnd gathers accumulations of' merit through these f'aculties as well. This visualization is quite complicated. If one can imagine it very clearly in front of one, it will bring one great blessine, great inspiration and clear away unwholesome karma. If' one is not able to imagine it clearly, but is able to think one pointedly, uruJistractedly that the Sources of Re.fuge are really in 1'ront of one, then it will have the same effect of clearing away obscuration& and gathering the accumulation~.
If I were to go into detailed explanations of all of these meditations, i t would take a great deal of time, and since I am only here for a short time, I wish to cover what is important and what is essential and Lama Tsewang Gyurmed can give you full instruction in the actual meditations. The refuge prayer begins with taking refuge in the Lama and in Tibetan it is, PAL DEN L.U1A V»IPA NAM LA ClUB SU CHIOr which means, translated, "I go for refuge in all the holy
1()
and splendid Lamas \ ut· Gurus)." Each of' tlaese words is endowed with a particulnr meaning in Tibetan. The f'irst is the word "PAL" which can rout•hly be translated as "splendorous or glorious." Xt means and ref'ers to not only the wonder~Jl things that we kno'4 on our own such as great wealth, long lif'e, power, inCluenr~. but olso the spiritual splendors oC the Fully Awakened Nind: Transcendent 1\nowledge, Love anu Compassion, Activity and Capability for Ref'uge of' the Jo~ully A\iakened l-lind, the po\ier s ,,f' Full Enlip;htenment, all of' these most splende<.l and wonderous qualities. And the \~ord, "DEN" moans simply "to·possess." So the f'irst two words mean to possess the most S!ll.ondid and wonderous things both of' immediate P.Xistencq ... nd f'ull spiritual developrnent. And this vhrase modif'ies the word L»IA (o1· Guru). The f'irst syllable of' LAl-lA, "l.. A", particulthing Above this, nobody si1;s above that and this means that • the Guru or the l.rt.l11a is supreme. There is no onr hif?her or more imuortant than th9 Lame;.. The second syllable, "~lA", is the Tibetan word f'or mother, and means that the Lama looks upon all. sentient beings as a mother does upon an only child, ~ith the same deep compassionate concern. The next word is t'1e \#ord, "D~·tPA", which means "holy or mo~t pE'rrect," tl:n very best, i~decd. The ne-xt word ;_s "N»I", which rr.eans ''nll" nnd this menns that -::»nf't ~.s taking ref'uge not in ,just one':; Root Lama, but in all tho Lama!! of' the tran!=mission. The second line mflan!l, "X takE· ref'uge in the whole r.:,thcri••e of' deities of' the mandalR" and refers to such deiti.hs ~~ Chnkrasnmbnvra nnd othrr hi~h YidD~!I which in meditulior. one f'ixe~ one's mind to. They are joi~1ed with ont- f'or ttt~ r< c;t of' one's liCe, and tl~cy hnve rnro.ny attendant deities. Tid.... is what the term, "the gathering of' deities" means. So t.,..e-t eventu~lly one's mind and the deity's mind bec~me th~ snmo. The word "mandala" m~ans the c:L.·c.:te or disc. Xt is literally ~he center and the circumf'cr~nce. So you can translc:1te it by the term "di~c", describ~ng the arran~em~nt of' the deities. One takes ref'uee in al]. the medi ta tional. deities of' the mandala. The thil"d l.inP is, "X take ref'uge in all the AwakPned and enlightened, Transcendent nnd accompli~hed Conquerors." A"·akened Enlieht.er.r.tent is ~ eJ:"pression :for Buddha, anct means the awakenin~ ~rom sleep-like ignornnce and the enli~htenment in all f'orm!l of' knowlPd~e. Th~ word "conqueror" ref'erR to conqucrinc the enen1y of' the def'ilement~. The def'ilements have been comtll~t~ly van~ui~hed. The term "accom~lished" means that all r:rert t qualities have been i''ully dnveloped and attained, all the physi~al mnrks of' perfection of' Awakened Enlif(htenment, aJ.l the verbal tone~ ?:f perf'ection nnd £111 the perf'ect que.li tie~ of' the A'#akened EnU.RhtP.ned ~lind. The term "transcendent" means that tho Awak~ned Enli~htened Mind has transcended the limits of' saf'1s~ric ex:!.RtP.nce 111nd :i..!l f'ree f'orever f'rom thP. vicissitudes of' suf'~erin~ n~d misery in sams::.ra. And one tnkes ref'uee in B.l.l the Hnc!dhaR. The ne::oct line is, ":I take ref'•.tP.e in th" Suprf"me Dhnrma." Just as w~t~r qu~~ches thi~~t and food cure~ huncrcr~ one weRrs clothes when one is col.d; and wealth and prooPrty make
11 existP.nce in this lil'o easier; all of these tllinp,s are very bene.ficial and helpf'ul to uR, but they are not or ultimate or supremo help. Total or suprem"e help is derived through the Dharma which describes the way we can transcend the sur~ering and misery which we are exposed to in samsara and come to realize Full and Complete Enlightenment. This is the greatest possible benerit that we can recetve1 thia is the greatest possil>le help that can be given. The next line is, "X take re~uge in the noble Sangha." Just as tl&ose people who have oriented themselves to achieving enlip;htenment are nobler that ordinary sentient beings, so those individuals that have come to a realization or the nuture o~ existence, the empty nature or self, such as the Arhnts, nre more noble thaa people who are strivine for this attainment, and similnrly Bodhisattva& who have orientatated themselves towards acheiving enlightenment ror the wel~are o~ others are nobler that Arhnts and again, higher level Bodhisattvas are nobler still than lower level Bodhis~ttvas, but the people who have orientAted themselves towards enlightenment on whatever level they may have reached, come under the term "Sangha." These are noble individuals. So one takes refuge in the noble Sangha. And, finally, one takes re~uge in the protectors: the Dakas and Dakinis and the Dharma Protectors who clear away nonconducive circumstances, impediments to Dharma practice and create conducive ~ircumstances. X~ X wore to go into a more detailed discussion o~ this, we would be here all nit~ht and it's already very late. When one does prostrations, i t must be done with deep devotion nnd deep ~aith, accompanied with recitation of the prayer for reruge. If this mental attitude is not present, then there is very little point in doing prostrations. When one ~inishes as many prostrations as one is doing at a time, whether it is 100 or 200 or whntever, one sits and imagines all the Sources o~ Hefuge dissolved into lip,ht; this lieht is absorbed into one's ow~ ~orm and one feels great joy, tremendous happiness that one is receiving the blessings n~ re~uge, the blessines o~ all o~ the Three Roots and the Three Jewels. This is a most wonder~ul and beneficial way o~ practicing the meditation. · · In future talks, I will be tal1
12
Cctober 25, 1974
As peo ple who ::>.re inte 1·ested in practicing the Dharma , .,.e should cle ~ rly urde rstand what is iu~ortant, wh a t is neces s ary for the pr~ ctice of Dharma, and ~hat is nec e ssary t o be done 1n order to make our p rac tic e of Dha rma effective and fruitful. The sin3le most im~ ortant pra ctice th ~ t ~e can bc ~ in with , t t ~ taking of :rtefuge, has tn~ purp o s e o! e~ ta.bl :A.s hing and cul t1 ···~t1nf( very deep fa1 th and c on f .. dence in the ~ree Jel:el'3: in /."iak~·,ed Enl1gh tenment, th ~ D!:larma a nd t he S?.:lgha . And •o do tb1 c: , we make use of the 'P- a ~l t e e kno !"1 as th e T~k~.ng of Re fug·? a~ ~ prostrations, whic h we re d Psc rib ~ d ~e fore. A~d in t~~s rrect_ce we make use of our total being, of ou= body, 3peech and ~ ine; and "'ork to cul t.i..v::\ t~ f a ith and rle'tt)".,ion t h :":'ou r,h rhye1cal a~ . t\ on , through verb 1 ac t~o '"1 and thro u~'l -E:~tal d1s l'os!. tion. We ,; o tb\s by prostra tin g ph .n>lcall v. b j r~ --c c: ~ '\.!'g ~h~ uP.:ur:;e 'r.":'?.e yr r ··e!·~ally and by imag1n.&.n6 ·the <:: o,..t::~ ~s ">! .~ei\1.t;; P. and thinking of . he·~ ~~ 1 tll terms of gre a t re Fpe~ t ~f~~2 ~ ly . When one rtn . \' DFholeso=""e =1r:t1on :'\;'ld ob s c, r ~. t.1on, is. ~hat w1 thout understand.~.n e t ""! em W:! mr.• y ter.u to bel1 r:·1~, 11 Ch, : !'1 3·: ~ no unwholesome karma, I :'laY '! r.o ob~curations," and such an 'l. ttitude ls not a go od starti~g p:ac" !o:":' the ce~it~tion, and it is o~e that will cause us ~o h v e gr~at doubt 2nd misg1v1n~ s Rbou~ the efficacy of such prar.t1c~~ . So, we n eed a t the very be ~i nning to unders t and clearly wnat unwholeso~e actio~ 1s and w~ ~ t obscurations are.
t
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As I have described before, ever,y sentient being has )find and this mind is no thing in itself. It is empty. It is clear and it is unimpeded. It is not com:·etent Mind, which recognizes its own nature to be clear, empty and unimpeded, and is a fully awakened and enlightened Mind. Not recognizing the nature of Mind to be empty, clear and unimpeded means ignorance is present or the Mind ·is ignorant. And, when the Mind is ignorant, there is a great deal of confusion. If you should ask, "What is 'ignorant?", it is Mind ~hich does not know its own nature and therefore knows nothing. This mind exhibits no determinate characteristics. It exhibits no form or shape or color. It is ver,r difficult to talk about. But, for the sake of example, suppose my hand represents Mind ·just as it is in itself. Then ignorance is like this pi~ce of cloth oyer it, which immediately hides the nature of Mind. It is not seen. It is not understood. This is· the first and deepest obscuration. Mind, not knowing the nature of emptiness, Mind not understanding that it is no thing in itself, can think of an I, ot a self, some thing, and this is the clinging to an I, the clinging to self identity, which we all experience, which we all do. And because of this supposition of an I, the clarit7 aspect of Mind, which is the appearance in the foremind of all of the manifestations about us. ~nd the objects of all the senses are regarded as something other, something which is not of this I, something alien to it, and are given a reality of their own. And here we have the twofold clinging: clinging to self as an existent entity and to operational phenomena as other external entities. And this twofold clinging to an I and to other is a second obscuration which further clouds the nature of Mind and is like this second !old of cloth. Due to the supposition of I and other, clinging to the concept of I and the concept of other, there arises emotionality; specifically the emotions or t~e emotional dispositions of attachment, of aversion and stupidity. !hese emotions themselves interact and develop. Out of attachment, jeiousy and greed arise; out of aversion, anger arises; and 'out of stupidity, pride. And of these six basic emotional dispositions, there is rurthur interaction and generall7 we say that there are traditionally twent7-one thousand kinds of attachment, twenty-one thousand kinds of aversion, twent7-one thousand kinds of stupidity, and twenty-one thousand combinations of all three of these together. In other words, we are replete with emotional dispositions. And all this emotionalit7 is in itself a third obscuration. Because of the rampant emotionalism, through basically attachment and stupidity, a great deal of action is perpetrated. And the kind of action that is perpetrated from these basic emotional motivations is what ve call unwholesome action, or nonvirtuous action; actions which torment and include such physical· actions as the taking of life, of stealing and of sexual misconduct. Or then there are the verbal actions of lying or creating disharmony
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through speech, of harsh language and of gossip. Then there are. the mental dispositions of coveting, vanity, of en~ity and of wrong views. ~nd this constant !low of unwholesome action, of karma arising !rom emotionality, is a fourth obscuration which again only further clouds the nature of Mind. A well-endowed disciple, who has great, or perhaps you should say, tremendous capability, who meets a compassionate Lama, can be given what are called the pointing out instructions, which point out directly the nature of Mind. This disciple can realize immediately the meaning of Mahamudra, or the great symbol, and in an instant clear away all of the obscurations and reach enlightenment. Needless to say, aucb individuals are indeed Vtr.f very rare. And yet, without clearing away obscurations of these kind, we simply cannot reach enlightenment. So, for ordinary people like ourselves, we rely on a complex set of actiona and practices and techniques. We begin with prostration• and the cultivation of faith and devotion. We persevere at the one-hundred syllable mantra of Dorje Semba, through the practices of mandala offerings and prayers to one's Guru. Stage by stage, bit by bit these obscuration& of emotionality, the obscuration& of instinctual clinging and finally the obscurations of ignorance. And with the removal of this final obscuration, enlighten~ent is realized. Unwholesome karma, such as the taking of life, stealing, lying etc., or the ten unvirtuous actions and emotional dispositions of attachment, aversion, stupidity, pride, jealousy and greed; these are referred to altogether as unwholesome things. The reason for this is because these emotional dispositions and these particular actions are the cause of suffering in samsara. It is through accumulatin,karma and being subject to emotionality that one gathers unwholesome karma wnicn is experienced as birth aa a bell-being or as an animal or in any of the great realms or auffering within samsara. Obscurations refer to the biding aspect of karma and emotionality, but particularly the obscuring and clouding aspect of instinctual clinging and of ignorance itself. And here tne emphasis is on the fact that things are clouded. They are not known because they are bidden by ignorance, by emotionality, by instinctual clinging to a self and others. And, it is not only the nature of Mind which is obscured, but also compassion. It is the extent of the obscuration, the totality with which it hides all the qualities we need to develop, and which emphasizes the great importance of clearing away these obscurations. And this is why we need to know something about what constitute• obscuration& and what constitutes unwholesome things, so we know exactly what we are dealing with. On the other hand, one might ask, "Are +.he3e obscurat1ons, are these unwholesome things substantial tbings7 Do they have any corporality?" Well, they don't. They have no corporality whatsoever. Ultimately, they are empty, they are no-things in
1.5
themselves. They are empty. And if they are not things in themselves, bow can they be so harmful? How can they obscure? ~ind itself is no-thin~ in itself: !rom time immemorial lUnd bas never been a thing. It s never been some thing. And so all which arises from lUnd can be no-thing. It's empty. And bow do the::;e obscurat1ons harm us? Well, one considers the example of a drP.am. During a dream one can see things, one does see things, one can talk, communicate, one is subject to fear, joy, happiness, anger, jealousy. And yet, none of the::;e emotions that we have in the dream has any real intrinsic reality. There is no surety or absoluteness about them ~hatsoever. And it is exactly tne same thing with obscurations and unwholesome things now. Ultimately they are no-things in themselves. But until we are free from instinctual two-fold clinging to I, the concept of I and the concept of other, we'are subject to action, i.e., the law of karma which can harm and can help us. ~n fact, the whole effectiveness and the possibility of being able to clear away such obscurations and unwholesome action is dependent upon their ecpty nature. It is because they are empty tnat ultimately speaking they are not sure, corporal or real things. It makes it possible for them to be cleared away, to be r~mcved. If any obscuration or unwholesome action was a real thing, th~rP ~ould be no way whatsoever of removing it. But, because they ~re ebsentially no-things in themselves, then through meditation on Dorje Semba, Vajrasattva·, through reel tation of this mantra, we can clear away all of these obscurations. So, it is in order to clear away unwholesome karma and obscurations that we practice the meditation ot Dorje Semba. To practice the meditation of Dorje Semba, O!'.e ililagines that upon one's head there is a white lotus, and above this the flat dis~ of the moen. Above this there sits Dorje Semba or Vajrasattva. In essence this is one's Lama present on tne top of one's head. In manifestation it is Vajrasattva. Vajrasattva is white in color and wears the same jeweled ornaments as Chenresig does: that is a crown, earings, necklace, armlets, br~celets, etc. His body is a brilliant white. He has one face and two hands. His right hand holds a golden dorje to his heart. His left hand holds a silver bell in his lap, and hi~ !eet rest in what is called Semray Chiltl".lng, .or the posture of relaxation, which is the left leg drawn in and the right leg • sl1g~tly in front. When one meditates on the form of Dorje Semba, 1t is iDJportant to ceditate that it is not a corporal form, that it is in essence empty. It is no-thing in itself. It appears liKe a rainrow in the sky, like the moon reflected in water. It is brilliant in its appearance: brilliant and full of the radiance of blessings and inspirations. Yet, ultimately it is no-thing, has no tangibility or corporality. When you meditate on Dorje Semba, the si~e that one meditates Dorje Semba is entirely arbitrary. Further, one meditates that on the forehead of Dorje Semba there is a white Om, at the throat a red Ab and at the heart a blue Hung. In the centre, right in the heart, there is a white mo:.n, above wb.ich stands the letter Hung, also ~bite, and around this stands in the circle the syllables of the one-hundred syllable mantra. One needs to
16
meditate that all of these thing• reall7 are present in the form of Dorje Semba. At ~his point, Dorje Semba is a projection of one's mind. That is, it is tnrougb one's own.conceptual thought and imagination that one is imagining Dorje Semoa to be on one's bead. It ia a conceptual thing. And tnia is called "the deity which holds the bond", the bond of one's mind. !hen from the vnite Hung in the heart and the mantra which surroun~s the Hung, brilliant light radiates out in a!! directions, ia offered to all the Buddhas and draws the attention of all the Buddhas in the Pure Land. The1 send their emanations in the fo~ or »orje Semba. One meditates that all of these manifestations of Dorje Se~b~ are absorbed into the Dorje Semba on one's head. The Dorje Semb·, that one imangines is coming from the Buddhas is called "the tra~cendent aspect of the deity". By meditating that the transcendent or the awareness aspect or the deit1 is absorbed with the bonding aspect of the deity, one joins tnese two. l~e awareness aspect is Joined witn the bonding aspect of the deity. If, wnen one me~itates at the beginning or the meditation that Dorje Semba is on one•s nea4, ann one nas absolutel1 no doubt, bas cumplete confidence that Dorje Semba is really present on one'a head, and one has no doubt or uncertainty ~ithin one's mind, then one do~s not need to do this un\fication of the bonding aspect and the ali.lre!lesa aspect of the del ty. But, we who 'lre practicing Dha~A and beginning to practice Dharma nave Yery many doubts and we are acu~ely conscious or the fact that.these deities that we imagine on the top of one's head are simply projections of our mind. And we think, "well, this is Just a projection of my mind. How can this be at all effective in clearing away obscurations and iD clearing g,way unwholesome karma?" If there are any doubts whatsoever, the meditation is not effective, the obscuration& and· defilements will not be cleared away. So in order to remove all vestige of doubt, one imagines that a brilliant light comes from all of the Buddha Lands and through this absorbtio:l iuto the bonding aspect of the deity, the bonding aspect and the awareness aspect of the deity are Joined together and it really is Dorje Samba on one's head and one can have complete faith and confidence in this. This is the main reason for this part of the meditation; this utter confidence, utter trust that Dorje Semba is present on one's head. One prays to him with the deepest sincerity, the deepest yearning, praying that one's self and all other sentient beings be blessed by the purification, the co~plete removal of all unwholesome ka~•. unwholesomeness of all obscurations, of all moral failings and f· ult£whatever has been accumulated from the beginning of s•~~ara-- and that one's Self and all sentient b~ings will bd c~mpletelJ purified of all these things. After this prayer, one med1t~tes that from the white Hung in the heart, and the mantra Wtlioh ~urrounas it, the elixir of awareness begins to fall, and eventually p')urs forth in great qua11tity; and this elixir completely f\lls Dorje Semba's body, and begin~ to flow out of 1t through the pores of Dorje Samba's body; pr1nc1pallt !rom
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his large toe e-n hts right foot. From t~-.~;1 lt enters one's own body through the crown of the heR.1, at'.d as 1 t t'nter~ one's own body, all of the unwholesomeness, impure ka1~a, defilements, obscurations; all of these things are expell~d from t~e body through the pores and through the orifices as a black ooze. It is very important to meditate that the obscurations and unwholesomeness go out as black ooze. There are definite reasons for meditating that they take the color black. Ultimately speaking, the obscurations and unwholesomeness have no 1ntr!~sic reality, are empty, and exhibit no form or oolor whatsoever, so or.e has to create an association, a condition or connection through which one can focus one's attention upon them and the connection used is the color black. The reason black is chosen is because of the five basic colors of white, yellow, green, blue and red; t~1e presence of black deadens every color,. That 1a, when black is mlxed with white, the white is gone; when black is mixed with yellow, the yellow is deadened. The same is true for red, green and all the other colors. This symbolizes the deadening effect of unwholesome action with regards to all aspects of our being. So unwholesome action is present, and those aspects of our personality, of our being a~ deadened and made unwholesome. For this reason one meditates the unwhole~omeness and the obscuration& take the form of a black ooze and k:~ completely expelled. In addition to tt!~, one also meditates that the corporeal body which arises as c.. mE'.ulfe station CJf our own delusion, th1 s flesh and blood body we now experience, also is dissolved by this elixir of awareness, and all corporality and tan6ibility of this body is w~she~ away. ~o flesh, blood, bones, sinews, tendons, everytbing are also expelled and the body becomes brilliantly clear, brilliantly luRterous, becomes like a rainbow. It appears as through the indivisibility of emptiness and clarity. So when one meditates, one sits with the body straight, meditating in this way, repeating the one-hundred syllable mantra over and over again in a soft-spoken • voice. This is the outer practice of Dorje Semba and in the outer pr:~.ctice of Dorje Semba, it is illlport.ant to actually say the mantra spoken. An example that is used to illustrate the ineffectiveness ot just mouthing the mantra without any vocalization is of a horse · moving his lips as he stands in the sun. In the meditation, one is making use of one's total being. PhJsically, one is sitting straight and erect, and using the rosary, vr mala. Verbally one is repeating the one-hundred syllable mantra, and mentally one is focusing on the unwholesome karma that one has accumulated in the past, praying for its removal and doing the visu~lizations of the meditation. Through the power of these three·kinds of action,·being connected with the blessing of Dorje Semba himself and the energy and the power within the mantra of Dorje Semba, one may have no doubts whatsoever that through proper meditation one's unwholesome action and obscurations will be completely cleared away.
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Q: Is this something which we attune to naturally which one might say•1s immanently present or 1s this something which we project with our mind? A: It 1s bo~h immanently present in th~t Vajrasattva is present right from the very beginning, so to speak, and it is also a mental projection. It 1s through the connection between the immanently present an~ the mental force of the meditation that obscurations can be cle~re~ away. This can be described through example. Suppose that the immanescence of Dorje Semba were represented b7 a jug o! milk which is present, and one's meditational aspirations were represented b;t a glass. So, with the jug of milk and the glass present, milk can be poured into the glass and the glass will be filled with milk. But, with just the glass and no jug o~ milk, the glass can vever be filled; and similarly, without the glass and the pouring, the milk just sits there in its jug. But, witn the interaction of the two, with the interactions of our own aspirations and mental meditation, which is symbolized by the glass and the pouring, and with the presence of the milk and the jug which symbolize Dorje Sembs 1 s immanescence, then the glass is filled with milk and our meditation is effective. In addition, one needs to invoke what are called "the four forces which clear away unwholesome action". These four forces are individually powerful apd together they can clear away any unwholesome action whatscev~r. The first is called the force of the Mind, and is a reliance upon the vow or the attitude of say, Refuge or Bodhicitta, or t~king lay, monk or nun ordination. Renewing this attitude because one h3s commited unwholesome action is the force of the lUnd. The second force is the force of Remedial Virtue or Remedial Action, ~hicb means that one undertakes some particular act to clear away the effects of unwholesome karma; one does some noble or virtuous ac~. In our context, this would mean Dorje Semba meditation und the repetitio~ of the one-hundred syllable mantra. The third force i~ tt1e ofcrce of Remorse or Regret, and is the feeling that one generates by t~1nking about the effects of such action; how much it hurts others, how harmful it is to one's self karmically, and generating the feeling of sincere regret and remorse that one actually did that actl~n. The fourth force is the force of Resolution, 1n which one resolves and vows never again to do that particular action. To do Dorje Semba meditation in the fullest possible way, one does one-h•.mdred thousand of the one-ilundred. syllable mantras and six-hundred thousand of the short mantras. And when one finishes the meditation session, say, one's done onehundred or one-thousand of the long m:1ntras, one concludes this with repeating the short mantra, OM BEN,;A SATO HUNG, a number of times, contributing towards the accumulation of the six-hundred thousand repetitions. Mantras which one repeats during the day do not contribute to the accumulation of the one-hundred thousand or the six-hundred thousand. It is onll the mantras that one says during the meditation session.
19
If one should become sick, onP &hould ~cditate, when one is doing this meditation, that the sickness is being expelled in the form of blood and pus. The blood and pus comes out of one's body if one l'epeats the one-hundred syllable mantra and this is purifying one's.self of the sickness. If one is subject to the influences of demons, then one meditates that these demons are e~pelled from the body in the !orm of frogs and snakes and other animals like this. There are various indications ~bether one's meditation ls going well. The most important indications are a totally different feeling of physical and mental well-being, perhaps accompanied by a deepcn1n6 of faith in the Three Jewels or the development of new an~ deeper ccmpasslon for sentient beings, or a better understanding of the meaning of emptiness, a feeling that one is coming to understand directly what this refers to, an increase and depth to one's wisdom and under~tanding of Dharma, a renewal of the a~ersion and revulsion for samsara. These are the best signs that one's meditation is being effective. At the end of the meditation session, one joins one's bands in prayer and prays to Dorje Semba, first confessing that through stupidity and lack of k~owledge, one bas committed a great deal of unwholesome action and one. is relying on Dorje Semba to clear away this unwholesome action .. and all the karmic effects of it. One confesses and admits that one bas broken the fourteen root and eighteen branch precepts,broken vows, broken resolutions, unwholesome karma, non-virtuous action, all the moral failings, subjection to emotionality; all of these things one confesses and admits and prays to Dorje Semba for complete purification from all of these things. At this point, J)orje Semba calls to·one and says, "You have been completely cleared of all unwholesome karma and obscuration&", and one should think at that ~·c:nt, "Yes", and be very, very happy and cultivate a feeling of happiness and joy that one bas cleared away all of these ·obscurations. Tbe Dorje Semba, who is extremely happy to bave helped one clear away all these obscurations, dissolves into light and his form, the form of light, dissolves into one's o~~ form, like water being po~red into water and one lets the mind rest for a valle in its natural s~ate w4taout any effort or contrivance. And after this, one dedicates the merit of the practice, dedicating it to the benefit of all sentient beings. Q: If one is also doing another Ylddam such as Chenresig or Manjusri, should one devote more time to Vajrasattva meditation or do these equally, or what should one do? A: If one is gathering or accumulating the one-hundred syllable mantra, then t11ls should form the predominate part of one's practice; but one should do the Yiddam meditation, whatever Ylddam it is, regularly every day, even if it is only for a short time. Q: Would another Yiddam have the same effect as the Dorje Semba medt.tation? A: Generally speaking, all of the Ylddams are tbe same in essence and are equally effective, but the best and most powerful method ot clearing away obscurations is Vajrasattva meditation.
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Q: I! one follows the Buddha's precepts and questioned everything and applies this !or instance to the law of karma, saJ·ing, well, the law of karma does not seem to be anything, like the self is no-thing, so perhaps there is no law of karma. Yet one realizes this is a wrong view. How does one cope with this kind of situation .. A: If one tninks that there is no such thing as karma at all, this is a wrong view. If on the oth'!r hand, one thinks in essence karma is empty, devoid cf intrinsic being, yet as long as one is subject to this in~tinctual two-fold clinging, of I and other, one is subject to the laws o! karma. This is not a wrong view. To illustrate this empty nature of karma and yet its existence; aopealing to a parallel. What exactly is it that we have learned in the course o! our education? Many of us have been edu9ated here in Canada. Some of us will have gone to school for fifteen or . twenty years. That's a lot of learning. If this learning were in any way tangible it wouldn't be able to fit in our bodies whatsoever. It might fit into B.C. It probably wouldn't fit into Canada actually. But it's not tangible. It's empty. And so it doesn't take up any room. It doesn't stay in any place. It doesn't exhibit any cbaracteristl~ whatsoev$r. Yet, as soon as we want to apply what we've learned, there it is. We know it immediately. And karma is like that •. r.a1~l is empty. Yet the results of karma are birth among hell-belnJs, among hungry and thirsty ghosts and animals. Well, hell-be~~gs, hungry and thirsty ghosts and animals are ultimately speaking empty, yet they experience tremendous neat and cold, and pain and misery, hunger and thirst. Q: ifuat is the difference between love and compassion? A: In Buddhism, love and affectlon refers to the kind of feeling that the mother nas for a chtld, a feeling of great affection and love. Compassicn, en the o~her hand, is a kind o! feeling one gets when ~~~ s~es a person doing something which you know is going to cause thGm ~ let of pain and a lot of hardship. One feels concerned and co~passionate and wishes to help them find a way out ot the difficulty which he is creating for himself. In Buddhism, compassion is most important, but without the generation of love, compassion cannot arise.
Q: A:
Is compassion part or the intrinsic nature of Mind? Compassion is an inherent quality of Mind.
Q: The loss of effects o! not saying the mantra out loud; does that apply to other Yiddam meditations such as Chenresig? A: It applies also to Chenresig meditation and repeating Chenresig's mantra, but does not ap~ly to some on the higher Yiddams such as K8rlo Demchog or Dorje Palmo. For these meditations it is said that it should only be hear~\at the neck.
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Q: When one is doing Dorje Semba meditation, should one meditate that all sentient beings are doing Dorje .Semba meditation with you? A: At this point, no. One is doing the outer practice and one does not do this meditation at this uoint. ~~ At the beginning of an initiation the lama and some of the people will b~ saying the one-hundred syllable mantra as people are coming in for the initiation. Does thls imply that one should do the one-hundred syllable mantra before any pract1ceY A: It is good to do Dorje Semba meditation before any practice, but it is quite alright not to do the one-hundred syllable mantra meditation before practice also. The reason that it is used or said immediately before initiation is that the people wmo come for initiation, being sentient beings, have a great deal of unwholesomeness and ob~cu~ations with them so by repeating the Dorje Semba mantra right at the ~eginning one creates a condition tbrc~ih which all the obsc~rations and defilements of all the participants in the initiation can be mere readily purified.
Qr Does one spend an equal amount to time thinking about evil actions done in the ,ast and in visualization Rnd interchange of these two? A: If one is doing Porje Semba meditation for a~y, one or two hours at a time, it is extremely difficult to think of everyting the whole time. So during the medit~tion, while one is repeating the mantra, one sometimes focuses one's attention mainly· on Dorje Semh~ ~itting on one's head, sometimes on one's body being cleansed through the elixir of awareness, and sometimes on one's unwholesome actions being expelled as the black ooze from the body. Sometimes one focuses one's attention on the mantra, sometim1s on an attitude of e~reme remorse and regret as to actions done in the past. But it is not necessary to think of individual unwholesome actions that one has done in the past, but to think of them collectiv~ly as engendering great regret and remorse for all of the acti~ns that one has done in the past.
Q: Whem is it that the blackness goes? A: One meditates that it penetrates very deeply under the earth. One can meditate many different thinBS that hapnen to it, but for our purposes in this meditation it is sufficient to meditate that it goes far, far away deep into the earth.
Does Nondro or the foundatio~al pr,actices have to be done in the traditional order, starting with prostrations, Vajrasattva meditation, mandala and Lam~ Nalgor? A: This is the traditional way of doing lt. First do prostrations and then Vajrasattva meditation~nd·thcn proceed with the other practices, but if there are particular reasons why it is difficult to do it in this order, then one can change the order and do, say, Vajrasattva meditation first or someting like that. Q:
How can one know an enlightened be1ng·? In actual fact one can use a bit of discrimination and discern soce o! the qualities v'rticn enlightenment produces. it. nerson who has reached enlightenment will be free of emotion~ll~y ~o a large extent. He will not be subj~ct to anger and ave:rstt~n nor Jealousy and greed, nor attacrunent and clinging. If on·.! examines people carefully, these kinds o! qualities can be d1sc~rned. It is said, one doesn't know who's a thief and who's a Bu~dha, so one keeps one's possessions safe and one fosters faith and devotion for everybody. Q:
A:
Q: Could you offer some explanation o! the unimpedetness o! mind and its relationship to i't rman:3.k.aya or a sentient. being. ).n tne world? A: Cnimpededness re~ers to tne completely uninterupt~d, unobstructed· !low o! th~ught. For e~aaple, if ~his door were closed, people couldn't zo out 1~d that would ~e an obstruction or an icpediment. But with the door C'lpeft, pee>ple Just go out of the door very easily. As ~pf!ied to th~ ~lnd, it refers to the completely unimpeded natu!"e of thoug,lt , o:te tt1ought after anotner after another without any break. If there's any break, that would be an impedim~nt. Mind exhibits these three aspects of emptiness, clarity and unlm~1ededness or unobstructedness. The emptiness or the empty nature of mlnd is absolutely formless, without any corporality or tangibility ot it so it is never seen in any way whatsoever. Tne clarity is a finer aspect of mind, and the unimpededness a still finer aspect. So the real1zaticn of emptiness b~comes Dharmakaya or existentiality, and is not seen or nercieved but is directly realized. The finer aspects of mind, su~h a~ clarity, aris~ through the interaction of the tremendous merit aud aw':lreness of the Bodhis~ttvas with the potentially inapirational blessings of Dbarmak.ayd. And th':lt is Sambhagakaya, which ia the clarity aspect of mind. The still finer aspects of mind become Nirmanakaya or a sentient being in the world which is a manifestation of enlightenment, in such a form which can be percieved by a person of great merit, such as the people who came in contact with Sakyamuni Buddha. One does not need.to examine carefully whetner ether people nave realized emptiness or not. What is most important is to examine oneself as to whether one's self has realized e~ptiness or not. Q: Wh~t do you mean by finer aspects? A: Well, that's sl:nply what was said- finer, nobler. even be more subtle - that idea.
It could
2)
MANDALA OFFERINGS October 27, 1974
In the Buddhist tradition, the arising of the physical form is not due to creation by any agent. That is to say, we do not become human because of the activity of worldly deities or because of serpent kings. We take whatever form of existence that our own actions, that our own karma determines. Right now we all experience birth as a human being "in this country, in this world; an~ this human existence is the result, the karmic effect of actions that have been accumulated in the past. The kind of actions would be those actions which do produce the human existence. In the past we have accumulated a great deal of wholesomeness and a great deal of unwholesome action, but some time or other in the past every single one of us must have accumulated a great deal of action which directly developed into the present experience of the human existence. Because we all experience the same basic environment, the same basic setting, the actions that we have done in the past must have been very similar. This kind o.f relationship between actions in the past and the similarity of environment is called Karma Which Agrees ln Euvironment. In addition to the general karmic framework which produces the similarity in environment which we all experience, there is also the differences in the particular karma which each of us has accumulated. For instance: some of us now experience a life which is short, there is much sickness, there is difficulty, ~ain and a lot of frustration. So ~hat even though ~e have a form of human exis-tence, it is still a very difficult form of existence. This kind of result means we must have taken life or hurt other beings. Or in another example: someone who in the past was very subject to greed, who stole a lot, say, will find himself now, though human, being very poor without much wealth and always in need. Another person who accumulated karma through protectin~ life in the past will. find that the present human existence is very long, full of physical well-being, free !rom sickness and disease. These particular differences that arise are called the Special Aspects of K~rma Which Differentiate the Experience of the Individual. So we have the two aspects of karma: the general karmic picture which gives rise to the si~llarity in environment, and the special aspects of karma which give rise to the differences in individual exnerience. In particular, in our own very· special case, we have currently the very good fortune to be able to practise the Holy Dharma. This means we have what is called the Precious Human Existence, which is the term for describing the human existence which is endowed with eight freedoms and ten special fortunes or blessings. It
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is a very difficult form of the human existence to obtain; it is very, very rare and is only accumulated through tre~endous a~ounts of ftholesome karma in the past. The unique aspect of the human existence is its Lreat potential, because it can be u~ed as a frame~ork to direct our long texm future either to deepen our involvement in samuaric existence or to improve our positlon within samsaric existence or to set out on the road to freedom and eventually full enlightenment. ~hes~ are all the possibilities with which we are presented in the frecious Human Existence. Feople who are interested in practising Buddhism must first orient themselves tow~rds Full Enlightenment by developing and cultivating a deep faith and confidence 1-n Buddhahood or in the Awakened Enlightened ~lnd. In practicing Dharma, one ne~ds to foster a great deal of faith and confidence in tt1e Fully Awakened Mind, in Buddhahood. This faith is further developed through taking refuge and prostration practices which we discussed before. There are people who have done these practices and there are people here who definitely intend to do these nractices. This is very, very wonderful, indeed, because for the~e individuals, they will not only come to realize much morP deeply ~hat it means to have faith in full enlightenment, in Buddhahcod, but also through con•tantly generating the motivation for refuge, the yearning for refuge, such individuals come under the power and protection of Awakened Enlightenment and will be able to proceed in their Dharma practice without interru;.ticn, without impediment, without obstruction, and use the refuge and prostration practices as a basis for gathering the accumulations and clearing away the obscurations. The main purpose of being human, the objective for which we can use tht human existence is to realize enlightenment. We do this by first making use of this very fine existence that we have now to take refuge and to make prostrations. In this way we generate faith and confidence in the practices of Buddnism. Also to make full use, to make the human existence truly meaningful, we need to use it to realize and to understand exactly what is meant by unwholesome activity or unwholes~meness and what is meant by wholesomeness or wholesome activity. We have to be able to recognize the difference between these two things and to be able to use this recognition as a basis for abandoning what is unwholesome and practicing what is wholesome. If we do this, the human existence becomes truly meaningful. It is for this reason that I sp~nt a great deal of tin1e yesterday evening discussing Vajrasattva meditation or the meditation of Dorje SPmba and the o~e-hundred syllable mantra. Through this discuss1~n. you are acquainted with what obscurations are, what unwholesomeness means and how these things can be remedied, how they can be expedd~d, how through invoking the Four Pow~rs of Purification: the Power of Reliance, the Power of Resolution, tt-~e Fewer of Remorse, and the Power of Remedial Activity one can rid one's self completely of all unwholesomeness
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and obscurations. Through Dorje Semba meditation, one is able to remove all unwholesomeness and obscurations; but having removed all unwholesomeness and obscurations, one then relies upon what is called Mandala Offerings to gather the accumulations of merit and awareness. These accumulations are extremely important and they're so powerful that if one effectively does gather the accumulations of merit and awareness, one simply must become enlightened; there is no other alternative. In order to offer mandalas, what kind of visualization, what kind of meditation does one do? Initially, one begins by imagining that in front of one in the sky, there is a heavenly palace, a beautiful castle in the sky with four sides and four doors: brilliant, resplendent, beautiful, magnificent. In the center of this castle there is a lion throne which su~ports a lotut and then the sun and moon. Above this ther sits one s Root Lama manifesting as Vajradhara, Dorje-Chang. This is very similar to the way in w~lch one visualized the Refuge Tree. Above the Root Lama, there ~it all the Lamas of the transmission, one above the other. Sitting around one's Root Lama there is in front, the Yiddams; to Vajradhara's ri3ht, the Buddhas; behind him the Dharma; to his left, the Sangha; and dispersed around are all the Dharma Protectors. This field of deities in front of one is referred to as the Accumulation Field or the Gathered Field, and are the individuals to whom one is g6ing to offer the mandala, the symbolic offerin~ of the universe. The one that is offering the mandala is one's own self. What one is offering is a mandala and as a basis for meditation one uses an actual implement which is called a "mandala". It is simply a round piece of metal with something like an inverted plate. If one is wealthy, one should use the very finest materials to make the mandala, perhaps gold or silver. If one does this without greed or avarice, then really, one will accumlate merit in accordance with one's motivation. If one doesn't have such wealth, then to use copper or other metals to form the mandala is fine. I! one has no wealth wh~tso~ver, even to practice these meditations with a flat piece of wood or stone will still be beneficial as Buddha himself taught. One also uses something which one is going to place on the mandala as the actu•l offering. If one has the wealth to use gold or silver or gems, this is very, very wonderful, very meritorious; 1f one doesn1t have this kind of wealth, then use rice or other grains; and even fa111ng that, if one really is destitute, to uee even clean sand or earth will also be very beneficial. One ~eglns by taking the mandala in ~d and cleaning it. What one thinks about at this point is that ultimately, one is ignorant and it is from this ignorance that the concept of "I" has originated. This concept of "I" has led to the concept of "others", from thi~ emotionality and from that, karma. This karma has created all the suffering and misery that pervades samsaric existence. All of the impurity, the manifestations o! our bewilderment, all of the
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unwholesomenes:3, p:11.!1 :md zuffer1n~ l.n t.he \oihole world is due to 1&norance ~nd not undeistand1n~. 3o as one cleans the m~ndala by ru~bing it ln the clockwise direction three times, and repeating tne one-hundrt!d syllabl~ :n·mtra of l;orJe Semba, one imagines everyting beinb ourlfi~d; ~11 ~hr. ienor~nce, im~urity ~nd negativity in the world dls.;olvlr £ int·' not:li'1cne:.~3. Then ctill holding the mandala, one lets f~ll onto it a f~~ gr3ins of rice. One imagines that now there a:ipears tne Golden FOI.l!lt·"'l.n of the Uni·1erse; it is completely pure without any defil~~~nts whatsoever. Everything has changed now fro~ imp~re manife~tations to pure manifestations. Cne takes the ,:;;econd h3.ndful of rice, or whatever one is using,· and sprinkles tt in a counterclockwise circle around the mandala. This represents.the iron wall which surrounds the univefse. One then takes a thJI.d nantlful and illl.tgl.nes, as one lets it fall on the mandala, cne is pl~cing the King of Mountains, Mt. Meru at the cent~r of the universe. Then stage by.st~ge one places the four major contla~~~s, the eight subcontinents each with a grain of rice :l.nd the appropriate visualization, and so builds U'P the mandala. st·.,ge by st:lge. While one is imagining :ill of these con~inents on the m~ndala, one also thinks of all the valleys, the rive1·s, the lakes that exist in all of these continents. Everything that is beautiful, all the trees, canyons, everything beautiful to see,.these ar~ all pre3ent and one is ~lso offering these. In addition to that, one thinks of ~11 the structures erec~ed by people: the beautiful buildings, beautiful temples, beautiful houses, towers, all of these things are also on each of these four continents. In addition, one imagines in the eastern quarter there is a mountain of Jewels, a mountain of di~monds and rubies ~nd sapphires, all of tne most beautiful and precious stones. In the south there is a wish fulfilling tree, a tree which grants wishes, whatever the aspirant seeks; whether it be riches, wealth or whatever. In the west, the cow that provides all want~'3.nd needs. And in the north there is the gr~in which needs no cultivating, grain which grows spontaneously from the ground and can be harvested without needing to be threshed or worked on in any way whatsoever. One doesn't meditate just one of these and one of that and one of this; but meditates that the whole uni~erse is full of such wonderful things replicated many many times, and that these are magnificent, huge and beautiful things which one is offering. All of these constitute part of the mandala. In Buddhism the highest form of birth whlch the greatest accumulation of merit can produce, is termed the Uni•1ersal Monarch; the monarch which influences ~nd rules the whole universe. Such a Univers:il Monarch is traditionally endowed with certain particular possessions, the first of which is called the Precious Wheel. It is a wheel wrou~ilt of gold which is vast, a huge wheel with a thousand spokes large enough that a Un\versal ~onarch can stand at the hub and be transported by this wheel anywhere in the universe merely through thinking of the desired destination. It is
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propelled by the merit and the wholesomeness of the Universal Monarch and doesn't require the rather contr1ve1 way in which we affect our own transport~tion through oil and ulanes and all of this. The second ~osoessi~n of the Universal Monarch is the Wishfulfilling Gem. A magnificent, large gem, crystal clear yet radiant with resplendent light which shines out !rom it. All who conceive the light of the gem can think of their own aspirations and their own hopes and these will come to be granted. The third is the Noble Queen, the wife of the Universal Monarch who is a woman free of all faults; physically beautiful with the most pleasant voice and the most pleasant and agreeable mind and who is the constant companion of the Universal Monarch. There is also the Universal Monarch's Minister who accomplishes whate~er the Universal Monarch wishes, as soon as it arises in the mind of the Ur.iversal Monarch, with no need for lengthy discussions or communication. His ability is supreme and his judgement perfect. The Universal Monarch also has a Chief General who defeats all enemies or foes of the Universal Mon~rch and brings peaca and order to the whole universe. There are also the horse and elephant, great and noble animals which can be summoned by the Universal Monarch just by thinking that he needs to go somewhere. As he mounts them, they know exactly where he wants to go and they take him there with the spead or light. So these are the Seven Kingly Possessions which one also imagines together with the mandala. One offers not just one ot each, but hundreds of thousands of millions of these wonderful things to the Three Jewels and the Three Roots. One also imagines goddesses rendering offerings to all of the Six Sources; some rendering offerings of flowers; some of incense; some of light; so:oe of garlands, jewels and flowers; some of scented water; some of music; some offering beauty; some dance. These are the eight traditional offerings which are symbolized by the eight goddesses. One doesn't imagine just eight goddesses, but the sky full of millions of goddesses, all rendering offerings to the Three Jewels and the Three Roots. One also offers the sun and the moon, which illuminate the world wa live ln. Beautiful canopies, beautiful banners, all of these things; literally all of the wealth and splendor that men have, that the gods nave, that the dragon kings aave; all of the imaginabl~ wealth in tne ~hole universe one imagines to be brought together in this mandala. As it is said in the prayers, "wealth which outnumbers the number of drops ef water 1n tne ocean". All of this 1s brought into the mandala •. O~e imagines 1t being offered to the Lamas, the Yiddams, the Protectors, to the Buddhas, the Dharma and the Sangha. This 1s the long version of the mandala offering and in its full form requires the placement of thirty-seven piles of rice on the mandala. If one could offer a lot of tnese, this 1s very good, indeed. Perhaps in a session one can only offer one or two of ~hese. Even one is sulfic1ent, so rico is it in ~ue accumulation of merit.
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But when one ls doing t~ls visualization, ~dklng these offerings, one sho~ld not .1u·= t vl ~.;u'='l lze or 1;:nagln~ that one is offering a s1ncle tn'mdala, but t :-I::t t the st
ffering which 1 ~ :1 fou ·· l n-:: ora_ye r \-lhl cll ,. , ,,j s , "On tnP. j~1 o~n Found9. tlon, I sprinkle flow 1.:7'~ ;• nJ ·ce~tetl ~.-;• t.cr, ·1nd 1 t i:; d~c:~·!" 'J t.~d by tne Kine 0 f Nount. ~~ i"'l :~ . t hP. four contlH•.m ts. and. tile c;un ~nd the mo on . To r:1e Bu :ldt: :~ F ~ eld im..~.gined before we l CJ!t.;r tnls 11 l.rder that all sentient. be ~ ~ •.,;3 ro·\y reach tc1e Iure Lands" . ;.!ld uh:le one is repeating .,, ~: ~ . '='''e ! lLces on the ;n~ndala eeven -, o1 1 ~ts : Kt . 1-ieru i:J the Ct' llt-l'; l.: .~: ~t' ur contine!'lts .il'l ~3ch of ~he !our jirecti::ms , north- cou·.. ·' -· 1 : .:)'...- Kcst; ·~11'1 ttte :Jtu-; and tile moon, m:.!king a tot~l of :-: ev ~n !loJnt.:; . i'n"! v1cu·'.l tz ·: tion is exactly tne same ac fo: t~c long rudn~al ~ . Oao imaglnrs ~ ne whole oky , the wholE un1 1T~r:;c f11lect "''· '!1 -,andalaoo: re:~n le · 'd~nt .tn t~eir we al th attd r1ch:lt;> . ~ , ~ 11 uc~. ng ·- f f~red ~0 the ~lx 3ources . im:.- does ori ·~ c "'.'fer wandala~ at o1ll? T. e answer to this is f•)t;.:lU t!l the pray n!.' W'11r.h follm-.'3 the short ronndalfl . It s;,.ys, "By c rre rir. -> this uob J. e , fin·~ :nandala which 1 leases the Three Jewels ~ ~ u.i the: 'I .&ree Ro•>1 s , :·1ay no obstr.cle :; arisP on the Bollhl p ath". Ttli3 mLan:;; that :-·. s on~ prac t :'.cen and t.::-eaol:> tb e path to enlightenment, one is nraj·1 nr: alw:\ys to =>~ ::'rc~ 0f obst";Lcles both in this life :ald in 11 fut ·.: r~ l~. 1es. One r c.: •s to r alize tne thou g hts, the way in 1t.'hict1 '!..\1e :;·~nlightcned t·Un ·l .~· u. :tctlons or the way the Enlightened :and ::..~ , .)1e wat th~ 'llin~. ~; of t:1e ~uddhas of the three t\lli:!:> are . E:::.ving tbat realizr M.':'ln, 0.11e will not be be"'· ilder?.l.l by sea. rosa ric eXJ s .ence !'lo r '"' ill on ·~ J'~ &t ~. '1 t!'le pe:tc& of tnP. Arh:a ts and !·r:at1eka tuddh~~ ; but ~tr ! ve tC" li~~r ~ t e ~entlent beings whose numbers arc e4~a1 to the ext!:.it r f "'~ ~-:- ~k;:.·. At the E·-~ .' o f offering roar.d J. !:',;, :o.n~ ' olng this med1 tat ion fo r a se ss~. on, u.lC th ~ n prays, "a?.?i. ',; ~fferee all t~e we :-:.1 th in the univer~e, all my ow~ wealth and all ~he wealth of uncountably 1nf!n1te num~ers of beings, I am co~1leiely filled with the two acn u'llulatio~~ = the accumulations of ~crit and transcending awaren~ss". The Buddha Field or the Buddhas imagined in front of one, to whom one has been making these offerings, are grea~ly pleased by these offerings. They dis:>olve into light and this light dissolves into one'c s elf. With this, one te~lizes that ~11 things are of the sawe flavour ; and one lets the mind rest like that. In the mandala pr~ctice, there is a particular point, ~here people who are going to be doing it can bring in ~hat are called Seven Offices of Worship. These are: Howa~e, Confebsion of Unwholesome K~rroa, Offerings , Rejoicing in the herit of Others, Asking the Buddhas to Teach the Dharma, Asking Them Not to Pass into Nirvana, and Dedicating the Merit of Practice to the Welfare of Others. There ls a translation of the 3even Offices of Worship th~t 1s used in the Cnenresig meditation in the program of t~e Black Crown Ceremony. There is either that or the Seven Offices
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of Worship as they are found in the Prayer for Noble Conduct. These Offices could be included at this point in the mandala. Q: Where does one draw the line between the framework of the visualization and one's own process of imagination supplementing this? . A: While one is actually offering mandalas, one should concentrate on the form of the visualization ot the King of Mountains, the tour continents, the eight subcontinents, and all.of the things involved in the traditional mandala offering. But when one is thinking of making offerings to the Buddha or to the Three Jewels at any other time, then one offers whatever one can imagine, whatever is beautiful and wonderful in the whole univer••· Qs When one thinks of the various th~ngs that are happening throughout the world, how does one use this kind of thinking to enrich one's concern and to he'p other beings who are sufferin6 throughout the world? A: One understands from these kinds of considerations the very limited extent of one's own mastery, not only over one's environment but over one's physical and mental being. And understanding the severe limitation of one's ability, one can formulate a very definite de~ermination and resolution to achieve a much greater degree or master, in fact, total mastery so that one can really -help other oeings. And similarly, the kind of ccnsideration that you are talking about, of people experiencin6 a famine and drought can be used to develop within one's self, the feeling of compassion and concern for them which will also serve tc reinforce one's own Dharma practice. One uses.these two kinds of motivation ot conciousness of one's own limitation and concern tor other's welfare to work hard at Dharma practice so that one gathers the accumulations, clears away obscurations and gradually comes to tbe full realization of Mahamudra, which means that one gains total mastery over one's y:hysical and mental being and then can be of ver,y definite and immediate help to vast numbers of other beings. ~: Can choice overcome bad karma? If you choose not to do a bad action, if you choose to do mandala offerings, can that choice get rid of bad karma in itself? A: Both the aspiration to a certain form of action and the actual perseverance in that action can be virtuous.
Q: A:
What is the difference between DorJe Balgor and DorJe Palmo? They are the same.
Q: In the mandala offering there is a certain mantra that is said at one point; what should one be thinking when one is saying this mantra? A: One should think, "Bow I am making these magnificent, glorious and infinite offerings."
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Q: \hen one is cleaning the mandala ~t the be~inning of the pr:1ctice, one rub;:; 1 t three -+.. imes in a clock:lllise direction ~itb th~ wrist, What 1:3 t!H! l't!P.anln~ uf t'Jis? A: One takes q s~~ll h~nd~u, of rice ~nd rub~ the mundala three times in a clock~ise dircctlon. Thl~ i~ symbolically cleaning it. The rea3on one u :.;~:.; ~he lo~~r L=t.r t c !.' thP. hand is because this is rega.rded as tc~e fr(lnt of 4.!"lt1 h:lnd an:l there is a 3light traditional preference to U!>e front ~1s ppp0!31!d to the back of anything. Rinpoche says if he and I are talking together, if we fa.ce each other face to f :ce, t:ilk front to front so to :n·eak, then we can communicate fairly well. But if one of u~ t~rr.s around and tries to talk in the other direction, it makes tblngs difficult •
• Q: ~hat is the origin of the Four Foundational lr-ctices? A: Foundational rructlces whiclJ h~!Ve been orientated towards clearing away obscurations and gathering accumulatious have always been part of Buddhist r·ractice •. The particular form in which we practice them now was originated with the inception of the Kagyu Tradition. In particular, the lma~ined offerings in the mudra, Four Offerings, originated with Tilopa and the full form of the mandala offering was brought in by 1-'~:~rpa, the Translator. I
Q: These p~actices seem to be very complicated; is there a reason for this? A: The man:r ast)ects of these meditations necessarily involve the whole being, that is one is acting physically, mentally and verbally all at the same time. This is necessary in order that one be able to clear ~way uhysic3l, mental and verb~l obscurations, all of which we h~ve accumulated since beginningless samsara. Nhile this is the main pur~ose of having all of these various n~rts of the practice, the single mos.t important ~':1rt is the attitude and the imaginative process that one does mentally. When the mind is clearly focused en the meditation, then the physical and· verbal actions a1~ adjuncts to the mental concentration and devotion. But, really, this is the s:.tme a~ any thine; we do in the world. ·,ihcn we work at any activity in the world, we are doing it physicallJ, verbally and mentally also. We have to make similar involvement with Dharma activity.
)1
GURU YOGA October 30, 1974
~1 of us have achieved a human form, which is a precious form. It 1s precious because one can, by relying on this form, achieve the higher realms o! existence. The higher realms of existence are achieved through the practice of virtuous action and the abandonment of unskillful unvirtuous action. However, existence in the higher realms, though temporarily very happy and peaceful, is not something which is permanent. So, we•must apply ourselves to the practice of Dharma in order that we can achieve liberation completely from the cycle of existence, so that we can achieve the state of complete aw3kened enlightenment •••• Buddhahood. The perfectly Enlightened One taught many different teachings so that beings could travel the path to complete awakened enlightenment. In fact, he taught what are called the collections of the 'eighty-four thousand' different teachings of Dharma; all different methods one can rely upon in order to achieve a state of liberation. The purpose· of these teachings was that one could rely on these teachings and achieve the higher states of existence. By giving up unvirtuous activity and practicing virtuous activity, one could achieve the realms of men and gods. Buddha taught that if one relies on the peaceful tranquility one achieves throug~ the practice ot deep meditative absorption and if through this tranquility one achieves bliss, one may be born in the realms of the gods and in particular, the desire realm gods. In addition Buddha taught a great deal about relying on peaceful tranquility , and developing this one-pointedly. In particular being attached to the aspect of clarity in the state of peaceful tranquility. By relying on clarity, one finds rebirth aa a god in the form realms. It one, through peaceful tranquility, achieves the state of emptiness and relies on this, one achieves rebirth as a god in the formless realm. Now, these teachings are not teachings which lead to complete liberation from samsara. One is still within the realm of samsara, but on a high level, in the realm of tne gods. Buddha also taught about the various stages that one could achieve through meditative absorption. The state of the Arhat is achieved through the practice of insight meditation, which relies on the aspect of emptines~. Through this, one can achieve the level of the Arhat. So with respect to the Arhats, one has achieved only one quarter of realization~the nature of emptiness. A Sravaka Buddha bas reached the state of half an understanding of emptiness. When one has achieved complete realization of the nature of emptiness, then one has reached the state of the first level Bodhisattva. Then one passes through the five paths and ten stages of realization to
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tbe state of com;.lete awakened enlightenment. One then, through the understanding of emptiness, has come to understand the meaning of no-self in either phenomena or the individual. In addition, Buddha taught a great deal concerning the purification of one's obscurations and accumulation of spiritual merit and awareness. This is kchieved through the reliance on the six perfections of the Bodhisattva. All these lead one to the state of complete awakened enlightenment. Th's is the method of the Mahayana, and though one can achieve liberation by relying on t.ue we~.uuu UJ. ,;ne Mahayana, it takes a long time. lf one wants to achieve liberation very, very swiftly, without delay, then one relies on the skillful means of the VaJrayana, the secret, immutable vehicle. So Buddha gave all these various teadbin~s; the eighty-four thoLlsand collections of Dharma, that by relyin~ on different aspects of these teachings, might achieve the states of the higher realms; men and gods. Or one mi~ht achieve the state of an Arhat or PL·atyeka Buddha or the state of a Bodhisattva from the first to the tenth level of enlightenment, ultimately to Bujdhahood. Or one may achieve the state of Buddhahood very swiftly by relying on the Vajrayana. All of this was taught by the Buddha. Rimpoche says that he knows something of the meaning of Dharm~ and that it would be very easy for him to tell you a little bit about Dharma, or Just give you a bit of teaching, something that you might find very easy to understand;~such as how to do a very simple meditation. But just by relying on one single aspect of the Dharma, one cannot achiev~ the st3t~ of complete awakened enlightenment. And for this reason Rimpoche is delivering many different teachings, telling you many aspects of Dharma; teaching you about Nondro; how to purify oneself of obscurations and so on. R1mpoche compares this to a man who is very poor, a man that has no money and wishes t~ buy som~ material possessions. Nov, it would net be possible for him to buy these things all at onece. He first must.gather a certain amount of money. He gets together, say, five dollars and then, a little later is able to save a bit more and save a bit more. Finally he is able to meet the sum that he needs in order to get the possessions that he wishes. In tr.e same way we learn Dharma by passing through various stag~s, first achievin~ and prao tising ce r.t:1in pre para tory practices; purifying oneself of obscur:lt.ions, achieving spiritual merit and awareness until one reaches the state one wishe~ to achieve. For instance, Rimpoche might explain to one, how to develop the state of peaceful tranquility by watching the breath come in and go out. Now, he could not say that by relying on this one practice alone, one could achieve the state of Buddhahood. One could not in fact, achieve Buddhahood through relying just on this one meditation of watching the breath. Ho~-:ever, it is a st,.c;e which one bas to develop. By relying on this meditation one developes the state of peacefi tranquility, and b·ised on that state of peaceful tranquility, one gives rise to other types of meditation. So it is like saving up until one can achieve a certain goal. Now, it is certainly not the
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case, that developing meditation such as watching the breath or turning the mind to the various feelings in the body, are not or any beni!it. ·Certainly these are very benificial, but as Rimpoche has said, by relying on these aspects alone, one cannot achieve liberation. It is not the ca,e that these methods are not Dharma. They certainly are Dharma, and the Lama that teaches these methods is indeed very kind, and very beneficial to one. But when one has consolidated tnis state of peaceful tranquility, in addition one must couple this state with the clear understanding of insight and the understanding of the perfection of wisdom. So up to this point Bimpoche has discussed a great deal concerning the taking or Refuge and the endgenderment ot the enlightened attitude; the desire to reach enlightenment for the sake or all sentient beings. And if you use these practices and in addition do such practic~s as watching the breath or various other meditatiions, certainly not giving up these methods, but combining the~, then a great deal of benifit will come from this. Diligence or 9pplicatton ia extremely important in the practice ot Dharma. Certainly thi~ is the case in worldly work. If one is very laz~, then nothing at all is achieved. So, one must develop an attitude of perseverence and application, an attitude of patience to one's Dharma practice. One engenders a feeling of great perserverence and diligence if one meditates on the four tho.ughts which turn the mind to religious practice. These are the ordinary preperatory practices. Up to this point the meditations concerning the Special Foundations have been discussed: that is the the prostrations, taking of Refuge, the meditation of Vajrasattva, the purification Mantra, the offering of the Mandala, and this evening will be discussed the teaching of Lama Nalg~r or Guru Yoga. When one does this meditation, it is possible that one meditateds that one's body is just one's usual human form. However, if one imagines, instead of this, one's form as the form of a diety, then this seta up a condition tor the blessing to arise quickly in the stream ot one's being. lor this reason it is better to imagine that your body is the form of a diety. This can be compared to one's preparing one's bouse for a visit ot a very high person, such as a king. One prepares the bouse by clean1ng 1~, Hwe~p1ng it out, making it absolutely spotless and making very lavish preparations. In this way we turn our body; transform our body into the form ot a diety, so that the condition is set u~ for the blessing to be born very swiftly. Now when one is doing this meditation, one may imagine one's own form is the form of any diety which one chooses, but in the tradition of the Kagyupa, one generally imagines that one's form is the form of Dorje Palmo. There are two reasons why one imagines Dorje Palmo for this meditation. Pirstly, Dorje Palmo is the secret Yiddam of many or the great Xagyupa Lamas, such as Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa. Secondly, in the achievement or complete awakened enlightenment, there is necessary, both means and wisdom.
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~or3e
Palmo then is this aspect of wisdom, that is, the wisdom of complete emptiness. For these two reason3, one relys ~n Dorje P~lmo and one meditates that one's form is the form of Dorje Palmo. One can imag1~~ one's form as DorJe Palmo and do this very very clearly, imagining the various ornaments and so on. Then this is very good. If thls isn't possible, then qne thinks I am in fact Dorje Palmo, and simply conceiving of one s self as Dorje Palmc is satisfactory for the meditation. Then-when one is doing the actual meditation of the Lama Nalgor, one may im~gine the object of one's meditation to be in the sky 1n front of one, or the more usu~l way of doing this is imagining that the object of meditation is upon the crown of one's head. When one begins the meditation, or.e imagines that either in front of one's self or on the, crown of one's head is resting upon a snow lion throne, upon which is a lotus &~nand moon seat. On this sits one's own root or source lr..ma.1n essence, but in outward manifestlltion the Buddha Vajradhara, or, 1n Tibetan, Dorje Chang. Upon the crown, then, of your lama's head, sits his own source lama and above him, his source lama until one goes through a strlng of lamas or the actual line of transmission until one reaches the source of Vajradhara or Dorje Chang at the top. Then in close clu~ter around this main line of t~e ~amas ui the transmission, one imagines their close diciples and in addition all the lama of all the various schoo~~of Buddhism, such as Nyingmapa, Sakyapa and so on. One imagines these are all gathered around a central line. Wben one imagines one's lama and the other lamas upon the crown of one's head, one must develop great confidence and devotion in them •. The basis for this confidence and devotion is an understanding of the qualit~3s of one's lama. R1mpochehas spoken before of the qualities of B~idha, of complete awakened enlightenment itself. One thinks that compared to the Buddh:l himself, one's own lama has all these same qualities, there is absolutely no difference. And in terms of who bas been most kind to one's self, the lama is even more kind th~n tha Buddha. One bas not had the o~portunity to meet a Buddha, to receive teacbinJS from a Buddha. Yet one bas been able to meet one's lama and to receive the teachings from the lama. The lama, in fact, possesses all the qualities of the Buddha. And when one thinks in this way there is a great feeling of faith and devotion developed. Buddha ta.ught tba t when one thinks of one's lama as the Buddha, then one will in £act receive the blessing of the Buddha. If one thinks of one's lama a3 a Bodhisattva, then one receives the blessing of a Bodhisattva. If one th~nks of one's lam~ as an ordinary individ~al• that is, as an instructor or spiritual teacher, then one recieves the corresponding blessing. If one has absolutely no faith in one's lama, then one receives no blessing at all. When one is meditating in the practice of Lama Nalgor, then, though one may not be able to visualize clearly the various lamas, what is really important is that one bas this great feeling of faith and devotion.
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When one is meditating that the lamas are upon the crown of one's head, one also imagine~ that in front of the lamas are gathered all the Yiddams, to the right are all the Buddhas, to the rear are all the Dharma, to the left are the sacred Sangha and gathered around in the sky in a great cluster are all the protectors, the Daks and Daki~ies. One thinks that all these beings of Refuge are in fact, just different manifestations, different aspects of one's own lama. ·These aspects appear in different forms in order to help sentient beings through different methods. They are all in !act one's lama, not different from one's l~ma. If one does not hav~ a great deal of time to do the meditation, then one can immediately think that in fact, the objects of one's meditation are the beings of Refuge. If one has more t!me, then one can imagine that from the dieties and lamas that one has imagined upon the crown of one's bead; light radiates forth and attracts the eyes, draws the eyes of the true Buddhas and the d1eties. ~d from attracting their eyes, they in !act, come forward and d~olve into the dieties and lamas that one has meditated upon. One does this if one has more time to do the meditation. In meditating this way, one thinks that there are hundreds and thousands of emanations of one's own form and together are all sentient beings doing prostrations, offering homage to the assembled lamas and other beings of Refuge. In addition, one im3gines that one is making wonderful copious offerings; offerings that are pl~asing to the various senses. This is what one thinks to begin with: One thinks that one is openly confessing all the unskillful actions that have been committed by one's self and by all sentient beings. One thinks that through this confession, one becomes completely pure, that all sentient beings become purified of their actions. One resolves that in the future one will not commit actions of this nature. One then rejoices in all the virtuous actions that have been accomplished by all beings. One offers prayers urging that the Buddhas and the various emanations of the Buddhas may not pass into final Nirvana, but may continue to work !or the benefit of sentient beings. One urges that they turn the Wheel of Dharma in order to help beings. And finally one offers or dedicates all this merit that bas been achieved through these six different types of service. One dedicated& all this merit to the ultimate enlightenment of all sentient beings. These are what are called the Seven Offices, the Seven Religious Services. One then prays that pure impartial 'love and compassion may be born in one's stream of being. One does not develop the t~e of love and compassion which is generated only towards certain individuals only. But one develops love and compassion which spreads to all beings. One prays for the blessing that one may quickly achieve the realization that is possessed by all enlightened individuals; that is that one may quickly come to achieve the realization of co-emergent wisdo~.
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When one is then practicing these foundations, if one has some understanding of the Tibetan language so that one can do the appropriate sounds as one is reading the prayer, and in addition to know the meaning of the words that one is reading, then one comes to understand very clearly the meaning of the foundational practices; the exact meaning of the prayers that one is offering. In the actual prayers that one offers directly from the scripture, one is offering the prayer of Mahamudra. But right now, since the meaning is very very difficult to understand, and one ca~not readily understand it, this will not be explained at this time. This prayer is, in fact, a very deep and powerful one. All those in the past that have achieved a state of realization, have in fact, relied on the practice of Guru Yoga, of Lama Nalg~r. The reason for this is that, by relying on this practice, one comes to understand Mabamudra. lor instance Naropa, with great faith and devotion in h1s teacher Tilopa, constantly relied on his guru and on this meditation. He went through many many hardships at the bands of Tilopa, and through going through these various hardships he came in time to reach complete realization of Mahamudra. As Tilopa said, he could immedia~ely give 1u~·~1~c~1uns concerning Mahamudra, but this would not be effective for his diciple Baropa at that time. I~~NBS necessary first to remove great obscurations, to achieve ~erit before Baropa could come to the complete understanding of Mahamudra. So he vas given first: teachings, preparatory teachings, scriptual authorities, initiations and so on. In order to illustrate the great hardships that Naropa went through and which indicate ver.r clearly his great faith and devotion in his teacher; Bimpoche tells the story of Tilopa instructing Baropa to go and get him some food, saying that be vas very very hungry. So Naropa saw in the distance people working in the fields. He went over there, carrying a skullcap, and asked if he could have some of their food. !hey gave h1m a bowl of soup and he returned very pleased that he had recieved this, and gave it to his teacher. When Tilopa had finished this he instructed him again. He said tb1s soup was very very good, and could be please go and get another bowl. !his time when he returned to the field, he found that the people there had gone back to work, so be had to use fairl7 devious means in or4er to get another bowl of soup. When he got this and started charging across the field with this bowl ot soup, the people aaw him making off with this and caught up to him and beat him up, until he was lying exhausted on the ground, totall7 disheartened. He looked around and could not see Tilopa anywhere. Be lay in this condition on the ground for a day. When he came to, be could barely move, and Tilopa was peering over him saying, •well, what seems to be the problem?• Pollow1ng this, Tilopa blew air on his body and he 1mmed1ately vas better. Tilopa and laropa arrived at a very tall bouse, and Tilopa said to Baropa, "Well in fact if you have great faith in me, you will climb to the top of this house and jump off, and there will be no doubt in your mind." And of courae, his diciple, with abaolutely
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no doubt at all, did this. Be climbed to the top and jumped off and reached the bottom in a very battered condition. In this condition be lay for one day. When at last Tilopa arrived on the scene, he again applied a few medicines and his blessing, and immediately his diciple vas better. !ilopa and Naropa bad managed to make a number of pens with very sharp points out of bamboo. This had been achieved by working them down with a knife and applying them to tire. Tilopa said to Haropa, "Well, nov if you can really carry out austerities that your lama is instructing you to do, then you will take these tine pointed objects and stick them into the ends of you fingers. So immediatedly Baropa did this, thinking, well, my lama has said that I should do this. !here must b~ some purpose or b1nefit in it. So be applied these to his fingers, and this was very very painful. He stayed in this state until, again his teacher came and applied different methods, until be vas finally better from this. Tilopa and Iaropa were walking along and they saw in a distance a great wedding party, and there was a very beautiful bride. She was dressed in a beautifUl gown with flower garlands around her neck. And !ilopa said to Baropa, go over there and get that bride and bring her here so we can fix things up. This will be very very good. So immediately his diciple took off in order to get the bride. While he vas attempting to carry her away from the wedding party, the groom and the other attendents were quite enraged. They beat him up so he was laying once more, completely disheartened and exhausted upon the ground and couldn't get up, and no where in sight was his teacher. After a period of one day Tilopa returned and again gave him various blessin~s and he was able to get up. Tilopa instructed his diciple to bring him a woman, that in tact, he needed this woman, that Baropa should bring this woman to him, and he would be able to give further instructions about this. Baropa thought, well, he must accom~lish this and when he actually did bring the woman to the prescence of Tilopa; Tilopa vas greatly enraged and said, "\~at on earth are you doing. What are you doing bringing this woman here!" And in order to punish him for doing this, he beat him up, leaving him once again on the ground. On another occasion, Tilopa instructed Naropa when they came to a ravine to stretch his body across this ravine so that Tilopa could walk across his body in order to reach the other side. And while he was in this extended position, his teacher instructed him to stay in that position until he returned and wished to get over to the other side. While he was in this position, since it vas a very vet marshy area, his body was subject to the attac~ of leaches, but still he stayed in this position. And when at last Tilopa returned and vas walking across the top of his body, his feet slipped from the edge so that be was down into the water and his teacher waa extremely angry with him tor not staying in the same position. His Teacher, being so enraged at him, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and proceeded to beat h1m on ~ne head and from the blow on his
38
head, tbe thought came to his mind that now in fact he would fall into unconsciousness. But at this point, he in fact realized the nature of his own mind. This was in !act the pointing out instructions. Sq in this way, Naropa went through many different hardships at the bands of his te~cher. Following each of these he was given various instructions. It wasn't until be had gone throu3h these various austerities that be could recieve the pointing vut instructions. And in the same way Marpa the Translator journeyed from Tibet to India on several occasions and stayed with his teacher, Baropa; working with him, studying with him for twelve years and seven months. During this time he bad absolutely no doubt or wrong view concerning his lama, and eventually achieved realization. In the same way, Milarepa relied completely on his ~eacber, Marpa and went through many various trials and tribulations, until in fact, he relied on the instructions of his teacher and achieved realization. Most of you are very familiar with the story of Milarepa. Milarepa, after receiving instruction3 in meditation from Marpa, went orr to meditate in a solitary area in a cave. And after meditating fer a long time, be eventually realized that the conditions he wa5 in were very very poor. He bad no water and no fire and barely any food at all. He thought to himself, well, I think I'll go build a fire. So he wrapped his few rags around him and set off outside in order to collect so~e wood, and when he got outside, be found that there was a very very strong wind. This wind blew so strongly that through the effect of having very little food for so long he was knocked unconscious. When be came to, he looked up and saw that some or his tattered rags were hanging from a tree, and be felt very sad and longed at this time to see his teacher }~rpa. And while he was sitting i~ this state, feeling very unhappy, be looked up into the sky and saw that Marpa was approaching on a great white cloud. Marpa spoke to him at this time and said that he had felt and heard his yearning and what was the problem. At this time Nilarepa sang many songs expressing his joy and feelings of devotion at seeing his lama. Marpa gave him more instructions and he returned to his cave to meditate. If one relies on the compassion of one's lama, then one can dispell the various obstacles,that do arise in one's Dharma practice. Milarep~ experienced such obstacles, but by relying on the compassion of his lama, these were dispelled quickly. On another occasion Milarepa returned to his cave and found that five very fierce men had arrived. He found that some of them were looking through his books. One was meditating. Anotner was looking throu~b anything that l-tilarepa had. Others were just genera.l.l.y wor.atlug. A't 1"lr::~' A1~arepa was a little afraid of these, and ao be tried to remove these beings by feeling love and compassion for them. However this only increased their pride and was not successful. In !act another two appeared on the scene. Milarepa tried at this point to teach a great deal of Dharma to them, but this was absolutely no benCfit. So then, Milarepa recalled the instructions of Marpa, his teacher.
39
All outward manifestations are but the bewilderment of one's Olin mind. And thinking of this, be no longer thought in the dualistic terms of these outer beines and himself. And resting in this knowledge, he had no dou~ and no fear. When Milarepa had achieved this realization, then these ver,r fierce men immediately dispersed in a great feeling of being very upset and distraught. They quickly left his cave. Through this event Milarepa's realization greatly increased. So in this same way, the lamas of the oral tradition of the ~agyupa tradition relied on the instructions of their lamas. They followed the instructions that were given, accompl~ed and carried out what they intended to carry out. And, in fact, relied on the meditation of the Guru Yoga. The teaching of this meditation, then, is extremely important. The one who instructed in Lama Nalgor was the Buddha himself. When one is doing the practice of Lama Balgor, one says Karmapa Cheno a number of times, as many times as one wishes. One may think particularly of the Lama, Karmapa, but it one has not in fact met him, one may think of one's own lama as one is saying Karmapa Cbeno over and over again. This means one is making obsience to the one which is full of activity or has activity. The reason for this is that what one's o~~ lama~s, is the activity of all the Buddhas. And so•when one says this Karmapa Cheno, one may think of one's own lama; or in the case of many individuals who are here tonight, who have in fact received initiation. and teaching from Xarmapa himself, one may think of Karmapa. · · a It one is doing the foundational practices, so that one is actually planning to do one hundred thousand prayers to one's guru, one offers the following prayer which bas seven lines and asks tor six different s~ecific blessings. The first line is addressing one's prayer to one sown lama. One thinks or one's own lama as being the union of all the lamas of the line and of all other lines, all the Yiddams, all the Buddhas, all the Dharma, the Sangha and the Proctectors. These are all gathered in one's own root lama. One prays to one's root lama, one askd first for the blessing of being able to give up clinging to a self. That is, one no longer clings to the idea that one is an existant entity with any lasting nature. The next blessing that one asks for is that one may be without any needs. That is, nov we are in the situation of needing many different material things. We need clothes and food and friends and so on. So one prays that in one's own stream of being, one no longer has need. Thirdly, one prays tor the blessing tnat all thoughts which are not concerned with Dharma be prevented, be blocked ott. And in this particular part or the prayer one is asking ror tne specific blessing of realizing that mind is without origination. One prays tor the blessing that all manifestations of bewilderment be pacified in their own place. That is, one realizes that all illusions are in fact like dreams, having no intrinsic nature. This being so they are pacified in theil' own snbere, their own place. Lastly, one prays tor the blessing that one might ~eal1ze all phenomenal appearances to be in tact the Dharmakaya, !bat is,
40
one realizes ultim~tely tnat outward manifestations in fact, are empty of any intrinsic v~lue. One realizes emptiness, and this being so, one realizes Dharmakaya. When OTI.e is saying this prayer, one can say it in an audible voice. One can¥ay it very loud if one wishes. However if one flnds that one's neighbors don't appreciate this, then one can say 1t not quite so loud. So when one i~ dc1ng the foundational practices, one sl)ls this prayer OJ·.~ hundred thousand t1mes. When one is ~aying thi~ prayer, ~ne·~ mi~d should not be wanderlng to anything else. If one ·s wind wan1"r!:l ·-:.w::~~· froc t:1e pr~yer, then it is very difficult to accrue any ben1fit from sayinB it. So one says this pr~yer in a meditation session. One says it as many times as one can in that p~rticular seGsion. Following th~t, •one offers particular prayers to one's lama, asking for t~e bestowing of particular initiations and then one i~~gines th~t ~11 th~ surrounding lamas around the central line disuolve into light anc\ are absorbed into the rua.i~ line of trg,·:smission. These lamaa dissolve into light and melt into the form of Dorje Chang upon the crown of one's head. 1\nd at this time one may im;1gine the form of one 's own lama upon the crown of ones head. Now one may be meditating that one's lama is in front of one or upon the cro·~ o! one's head. One might imagine that on the forehead of one's lama is the letter OM, but one .does not actually have to meditate th~t there is this letter. However from the placa of the forehe~d one imagines that white light comes forward, f~lls down and reaches one's own forehead. This light enter~ one's O\m form and one imagines that all unskillful actions that have been commited through the body are completely purified. One recieves the vase initiation. One recieves empowerment to meditate upon the stages of arising and ultimately one achieves thd state of Nirmanakaya. Then one 1m~gines that from the throat of the lama red light comes forth and strikes one's self at the same place in the throat. All obscurations that have been accrued through actions commited through speech are completely purified. One recieves the secret initiation and recieves empowerment to meditat~ on channels and prajna. And one ultimately achieves the state of Sambhogakaya. Then !ro~ the place of the heart i~ the lama, if o~a is meditating on the letters, there will be a blue HUNG. From the throat a red AH. From the heart a blue light comes forward. When this strikes one's own heart, all obscurat1ons and unskillful action acc~ed through mind are completely cleared away. One recieves the wisdom-awareness initiation and empowerment to do deep meditative concentration in the stages of arising and in the stage of perfection. Ultim~tely one ~chieves t~e state or the fruit of Dharmakaya. Through this particular initiation one can meditate on both compassion and wisdom, meditate on both the father and mother dieties. Then one imagines that simultaneously light comes from the white lieht at the forehead, red light from the throat and blue light from.the heart of the lama's form and strikes, one's own body at the forehead, throat and heart. And one thinks that all the obscurations of body, speech and mind
41
are simultaneously purified. One receives empowerment, receives the fourth initiation into the meditation of Mahamudra and ultimately achiev~s the essence body itself. Then following that, one imagines that the lama dissolves into light. One's lama enters one's own form and one's own body, speech and mind become indivisibly united with the body, speech and mind of the lama. The lama melts into light and is dissolved into one's self, and thinking that one is indivisible from one's lama, one places one's mind in this state, without any contrivance, resting naturally. Following the meditation, when one arises, one thinks that all appearance is in fact the form of the lama; that all sound is the speech of the lama and all mental activity is the very mind or heart of the lama. And following the practice of Lama HalgBr then, one sha~es, dedicates the merit for the benefit of all sentient beings. So this concludes the special foundational practices.
November 6, 1974
Q: Could Rimpoche talk a bit on Mahamudra practice? A: .Mahamudra means meditation. In order that one be able to meditate on Mahamudra, it is like learning to drive a car. One has to learn bow a car is driven first. For this we need to do the foundational practices. The foundational practic~ NBndro, is like a road, and in order to drive a car somewhere, you need to own a car. And having a car is like doing various meditations on the Yiddams, Mantra meditations and visualizations. When you have a car and you have a road to drive it on, you can just sit in the car and go wherever you want. So, when you have done these practices you can go, and it's like driving a car two or three thousand miles a day. This is like Mabamudra. Driving a car along the road requires a certain amount of discriminative thought. But in Mahamudra, one doesn't need to think at all. One has no contrivance, no meditation. Q: Bot knowin~ Tibetan, I've found the ~~gl1sh translations a lot more rewardin~ and meaningful. I'd like to know which practices Rimpoche thinks specifically are very important to actually ~ay in T~betan; especially relating to prostrations and the beginning Bondro practices? . ~~ It's quite alright to do any of these practices in English. Buddha said that if one bas the education and learning, one can use this as an instrument to enlightenment. And without this kind of education and learning, one can rely on faith and enlightenment will nevertheless be reached.
42
Q: Is there a difference between the way a Bodhisattva takes form in ~xistence and 1n the way an ordinary person takes form in the Bardo state, the state between death and birth? A: A Bodhisattva, when he wishes to take any tangible form of existence for t~e benefit o! sentient beings, can take existence merely through thinking that he is to be born in such and such ~ form. A sentient being immediately in taking existence, becomes su~ject totally to stupidity or ignorance, and becomes completely unconscious. When he revives !rom this unconscious state, the force of the manifestations of bewilderment to which he is subject cause him to take physical existence. It vas said of Rongen Dorje, that even while he was in his mother's womb, !or him it was like being in a spacious castle in one o! the heavenly realms. And during this time he was fed the amazing elixiers of the heavens.by gods and goddesses. During this time he taught thousaAds and thousands o! gods and goddesses about the Dharma. Q: Is there a wrathful aspect to Cbenresig? A: One o! the slightly wrathful aspects of Chenresig is Dorgen Rimpoche, an emanation of Gur~ Rimpoche, Guru Padmasambava. In the west part of Tibet there vas considerable difficulty in opreading the Dharma. Tnere were many many obstacl6s ~ncountered through deamons and various other circumstances. And Guru Rimpoche emanated in the form· ofDorje Trolo and Dorje Trolo to wrathful emanations ultimatley o! Chenresig, and through activity in these quarters, created conditions that were suitable for the development of Buddhism. There are also various other Yiddama that are emanations of Chenresig.
Q: If one bas completed all one's responsibilities in the world, what is th~ objection to suicide? A: Suicide is unwholesome activity, because if one has in fact, completed all responsibility and completed everything that it is possible for one to do, one has reached full enlightenment; one bas become a Buddha, and Buddhas do not commit~suicide. If one is contemplating suicide or commits suicide, it is generally from out of either panic or fear or because one is in a situation of tremendous suffering or because one is crazy. A person who really does understand something about religious practice and knows what he is doing will not commit suicide. Q: Y:1at is the difference in preparation for Mahamudra between concentratin6 on the breath and using the meditation techniques of the Yiddam. A: There is a difference between these two techniques. When one rel~es on the technique of the focusing o! the coming and going of the breath, this is a perfectly good technique for the establishment of tranquility meditation, which can be used as a basis to develop insight and which will lead eventually to Mahamudra. But here one is depending essentially on one's own capability and power and strength. I! one uses the meditation techniques of meditating on a deity or Yiddam, or on the other hand, through meditating on one's
43
lama; one is employing or making use of both the power and the blessing and inspiration of the Yiddam or one's lama as well as one's own power and strength in meditation. through this two-fold force one comes to realize Mabamudra more easily. Q: Wh~t is unwholesome about eating onions? A: In the beginning of th:s Xalpa, the merit of human being~ was almost that of the gods. And so this physical human form wa~ much finer and more subtle thaa it is now. It was so fine and subtle that it shed its own brilliance and radiance and the world was filled with light shining from human forms. There was no sun nor moon nor stars in the sky. There was no need of any external illumination. But as this Kalpa progressed, the merit of human beings gradually deteriorated. An~ ~u uhe radiance ana the human. form degenerated. The physical form became courser, less subtle, and the world became darker. In order to alleviate this darkness that the world was sinking into, the most powerful gods, such as Indra and others together with the titans, stirred the waters of the ocean. Through stirring and working with the waters of the ocean, the sun and the moon came into existence, and all of the stars. &lso out of this came a tremendously potent elixier, which vas kept in a beautiful crystal vase. A great deal of the elixier vas generated and the gods would drinkit as much as we drink tea now. They would always pour it from this vase. While they were doing so on one occasion, one of the great titans thought to appropriate this vase for himself. He swooped down on the gods, snatched the vase away, and flew as quickly as he could. The gods of course, took up the chase immediately and realizing that he could not escape, be drank this very potent elixier. The gcds threw weapons at hi:, and one of these was a wheel which j~st sliced his body into ribbons. Any normal person would have died, but because he bad already drunk this elixier, his body could not just degenerate and become nothing, so powerful was it. And the blood and flesh of his body fell onto the earth and it is from this that onions and garlic now grow. This helps to explain the dual nature of these plants. It is said that because of the wrong aspiration and unwholesome view of this particular individual, that the odor and smell of garlic and onions is so powerful it can destroy the efficacy of Mantras. But nevertheless, because of the elixier that this ~erson had drunk, these plants are extremely benificial for one s own body. Of course there are many parts of his body that hadn't at that point received the benif1ts of the elixier which he had drunk. And the lands upon which these parts of his body fell became the cause of diseases such as rabies and of the poisoness plants which are so fatal that they kill anybody who eats them. If one is using the lower Tantras, such as Kryia Tantra, then because or the power of onions and g~rlic, one should not eat them at all when one is doing these practices. If one is doing the higher Tantras, such as Anahata Yoga ~antra, then it doesn't make too much of a difference. Eating garlic does not affect the attainment of realization, such as through meditating on Mahamudra and coming to realization, or receiving the blessings and inspiration. But it does affect
the power of Mantras. There are various Mantras which one can use to cure wounds and to bring good health an4 things like that. It is this kind of power that the eating o! garlic and onions affects. Q: In it possibl~ to dedic· te merit specifically to a dying being that one comes across~ A: Yes, one can ccrto.inl ·• do this and it would be · very beneficial, very helpful.
Wt.:1t is Rtm!'och'?. 's raJ.:\tionship to Jamgon Kongsprul? How are they r~lated? A~su w~at due s the expresbi O ~ ~~~-~rising" mean as in ·•co-arisin6 ~lra::~ e3rt .,., A: Ja.1lton Kongst'rul ~h~ Gr . at ·.,a.s or.e 'Jf' t.:;e gre!ltest recent teacher·· in Tlbe~ c. :· Bt;uc!~lisrn. ~e lived in .C:?.s te!~n Tibet t-.nd comple iely maste;: ·~ all of ·~he ~choo:id of B'..lddi.: ism and wrote great treattsies whic:-. t-~ - ~~ :yt, ~.l)gether ::l.ll of the practices . He ",{as r'!g ~ rded by many ~ · • ?;. ~e-:-. at t :'la t .• :.i.'e r\~ -. 13\Addh. • Many people feel that Kalu R1mpo c ~r is an 1ncar ~~ ti~- 0! ~r~s great saint. I don't k:1ow of any r-c:-; .. f; c t ton . '3ochen :'~.T·' :ncho: w:~ en he came to Sikkim, said that I ·..·-:~i-: an em ana t1 r n 0~ J -!. :..1::;o~ K~ngsprul, but perhaps I may havP. sor·1::- of the 6reat b:'.e:o:. s~ "'CS ~. r.d ins piratioz=s of this very very great t'!Rcher , but I d~n't k~cw ~nything in ~~sel!. Co-arising awa r er.es:: ltr.s ..,hat ! ·;aq ..~ ~lki : ,z, 'lbout before. In describing this ba i~ ~~t;ni+.lor '";hich 1.s c:- • •mu:.taneously the seed or potential fo~ ~)11 e :llght~nm~=t . It s the intrinsic, or mindnature itself, b9in ~ int~insically no t~in~. clear and unimpeded. Q:
A Bodhisattva con~c~':>1H;ly chocse!' hi s ~ebirth and is conscious in the womb. Why is i~ tha~ he is not necessarily born fully conscious and must be retrained in the Dharma? A: There are Bodhisattvas that have taken birth and have needed no education whatsoever. There are others that have needed a great deal of education, but whether a Bodhisattva needs or does not need education, is not becauF-e he needs to lee.r.l to read or anything like that. It is to provide opportunity for sentient beings to be brought into cont ct rit~ · ~e Bcdh!sat tv~s. A sentient bein~ can be trained and h~ l ~~d in the way to enlightenment, through helping and training a Bodhisattva. Q:
Q: What is the relationship 'h~t:~~en whP.t you describe ash ::.Yenly worlds and. hellir.h ,.,crld· Rr.d +.he bodi~s w':lich we see in the heavens l:hich astroncmic:.ll and C<'Sm':> ..ogica~. scientists have plotted ou .? A: We, as sect ent betng3, are ~ubject to manifestations of our own b~wilderment. Since these ma~ifestations of bewilderment arise throug h the power of Karma, exactly what appears 1s going to depend upon our Karma. As long as we have not achieved any realization, these manifestations seem to be very true and we believe them to be the way of the universe. And as long as these continue to appear to us, and we believe them to be true, the universe appears to us
45
in this way, and in different times and different places, the universe appears in different.ways. So we can take our own impression of the universe to be what it is; a manifestation of our own bewilderment. Buddhahood, or full enlightenment; knowing exactly how things are describes the way the universe appears to be, the way it is. But it's like hav1ng a hundred people asleep in this room. \ihen they go to sleep they all have different dreams. And when they wake up, you listen to one persor. say that his dream is true, all others are false. There is not just a single impression of the universe. In one of the Sutras there are many different accounts of the way the universe appears and has appeared to various sentient beings. To some it has appeared as a disk, to oome as a square, and to some as a rect~ngle, to others as rourt4. Not one impression of the whole universe, but many many different ones. Q: What is the basis of Rimpoc~'s confidence in the possibility of achieving enlightenment and his confidence in the presence of inherent Buddha nature in all beings~ A: Tne source of confidence and belief in these things is that they come through the spoken word of the full enlightenment of Buddhahood, Buddhahood whose knowledge and awareness completely embraces all phenomena, all reality. And knowing exactly how things are, .that there are these teachings and that Buddhahood is possible. And all sentient beings have the potential for Buddhahood. If one approaches the practices of Buddhism with this idea, that it is possible, and one has confidence in this, then gradually one will come to believe more deeply and deeplJ in the empty, unimpeded and clear nature of mind. · Q: Has Rimpoche taken the vow not to kill, and if so, hov is it that he eats meat? A: I've never killed anything to eat. If there's anything intrinsically wrong with meat, well then my own body is meat. But you are quite right. Buddha taught that eating meat was a very great form of unwholesome activity., And the unwholesomeness was somewhat reduced when if one was de!in&tely in need of meat, because one's body was weak and needed the strength which eating meat gives one. Then it is also somewhat reduced if one does not actually kill animals for one's self. If one eats what has been killed, there is some slight lessening of the Karma involved in the action. If one either kills an animal for one's own purpose to eat it or one orders someone to kill an animal so that one can eat it; these are the very worst kinds or unwholesome activity. Q: Isn't animal raising in direct line. Like knowing that society raises animals for that purpose, solely for that purpose? A: There is this kind of connection certainly, and it is for such reasons that Buddha said eating meat was very very unwholesome. And it is this kind or intrinsic unwholesomeness that is present with
s:tcsaric exic'\.ence, 't~3 t ~~ ·e . te.; the r.ee;ess1 ty for u .. to be constantly confe ss1 ng and :J.dr:i t til ~t; '!. , 1 of ti': ~ unwholesome ::t.ctions that we have accum . \l!lt~d f!'orn b~:tl"ln.!.'!'l~lr :.:l • =~ msara. Much of it 1.s just this kind of relati ou :.:t;' p . .l\1;~ hy br.ing, we are doing a lot of unwholesome actio~ . 0 : As lon6 ~s ;.:g 'r ~ ~. l'J~~ ~ ln th •• c y :.,_ ·· , ~he ~t'! '3 no wa.y t 'J ·vo td it'? A: Ye 3 , as l ~ n .:: ·~ ::; r::·..: ·_ ·. .·: o1·1et1 t:• ~:itt :>aric e:le can eat. And tht~ cre"l.t~.~ a lot of t~ ·: ~::·. olesonc :.ctirm tn :;am:;ar3; rarma which i !> eh ·1.rC!,., by ~. 11, 'lnd t ';. s for t 1;, re r. son tl1at ....-e need to continual l y co'"'l.fo:; s, .Ld!"ui t. a~ 1 ;1u rify all the ..4nw~ole sorcc action that has bee~ d~ e. If we proje~t : ·; l :•l'i 3 n cf :'u•lti~a , uoC!s tnis not ~ep:-~rate us from our own intrl 'l.;lc. J~ :.!.-,3 :;at•tre:' .\: In this kind v ! · -r ·t .: l,...ative pr-:>c~· ..:; , o:1e iG invoki!'lg dual1t:r. But t .1~ re are t·,ro ~{ \ .• o ~· of uuJ.lity . r:-H.:re is duality ..,hicb further decp~nn our involv ~ rn~~t ~lto ~~m~ar1c existence, but ~lso th~re !s th'J d .. ::.,.!.ty ~hie~ ~n l ::; to g~t us out of it. This focusing t ile a tten -:. >. n on an tmnrl11Jc\ t'or.n of B·Jdc!:,a 1.!:3 a moans b·: which we c~n not ~~l y come to t~'J c om®' n - ~ ~tl o~ wi ~ h th'J ble s sings and 1nspir~tlon of Bu1d~ ·, in his p~;'r~ ::!li f'' J~ o !.n th i fom thqt is 111agined and !lO 1ncr'J.-se the !'alt1 1 :;., !1 t!l! : ':'~i.>tl w-4:.~ 1:1 us. Through this kind of inter!'lctic."l 3!'ld th.r:.•1 ,;:: fr,·::q .. 1:w, •. ;,~ nlnd co:ne a to rest one-pointedly, and with th~t one-r :' l~1.,: d ,e~~~ . +. . 1:.; can be used as the ba3is for development of 1n{ i~h nnd d1rAct t~al1z . t1on !.nto the natu=e of ~ind. ~:
'What does OJ.! 41A~ E F-tn··lE t.! :·~ r. ·.nr.' The mantra C.t-1 :;."! / • ~ ::>t-1? ;:n.-t ha:a no tr'l':lSl? tion. It was:1' t ev~n translate d 1ntc ~lo~ta n from th6 original S'lnskrtt. Anc\ ~o a1s1~ning :•.ny :::e :; i:1r cr tran::l'ltion to it is not vcr:,- rurycsclul . T:1c ~c:..ntra ari~w ~ 1.-h ro, ,.,:: thP. fusic-n of P.'!\r rena~s of emptiness and co J:,pa~:-; 1on. Clnl:: very .i r,h ~ r.vel BochLGa tt.v ·'\r; can under~ tan a~~d Bodhi:;at.tvrs. Q:
A:
Q:
Ho·,; t.lo ·. s :; · e "'alk the line betwe .'U\ non-strivinG and t!'le need for
dicinli~c.:
A: W:1 n o:: e 1 3 p ract1c1nt; mu$rma, if mind bcc :->mes t :~ ick and dull and ve!'y to tighten it; to make it very firm, the mind is very scattered, there is
C'n e becomes very sleepy or the unclear, this 1s when one needs bring 1t into focus. When a lot of mental activity going
47
on, everythine is flyine all over there are thougtts of attachment, things are coming up a great deal one should relax and let the mind
the place, 30 aversion, all or the tiMe. settle on its
to speak; or these This is when own.
Q: Rimpoche has said that our practices aim at the goal of realizing NahOJ'ludra, and in the system of the nine Yanas they say that Hahrunudra is a creparatory practice to i:aho.-Ati, Hhich to hear without understanding decreases rai th in i.ahamudra practices. ,-/ould 'Rimpoche com:·1ent on this? A: The word Naha Yoga. refers to the practices which are called the staces of transformation, one of the practices in Vajrayana Buddhism. In Tibetan the term is Cherim. It's 11 i·iaha," 11 ani" and 11 a ti ~ The "maha" refers to Cherim or the stn3es of transformation or the principle emplo1J'I'lent of t'"lese techniques. "Ani'' refers to the principle em7"10yt·tent of the stages of perfection, which is a second principle technique in Vajrayana. And 11 ati 11 refers to great perfection in the !Twnan syster1, Dopochemopo, which is the direct realization into the clear empt7 nature of ~jnd. It is at this !l"~int s;;nonamou3 ,.,i th i·~ahamudr.'\ in the Kargyupa syster11. It is as if ,-ou ,.,ere calling one !)erson b7 two names. ~:
Wh,- d6 they do it that way? The r:umopas Hi sh to present their teachings as the very very very best.
A:
HoH do JOU trannmute saxull.l energy into something finer? '.lhen one renlizes one's own Illind to be no thing in itself, then defileMents o.nd all the emotional drives which we feel· are realized to be no things in themselves. And Hhen one realizes thnt all phenomenon are no t~ings in themselves, are empty, one realizes t~at the::r arise like dre8.r.'ls, like apparitions, and when one has achieved these two realizations all F.ctivity becomes pure. Q:
A:
C Hc.'J! H3ZIG
In the f'B.!lt , :'l:l!''J of you have obtained the initiation for C!1.cnrczir; or Ava) oki.. toshvara , and there a!'e many of you H 1lo :1r~ve bnen prt>.~ticin.::; t !1 i!l !rleditation f">r scme t i 1 ~e . Also t ·Gre n~e nn.~:: of you wh~ ">rly recently raceived t~e initiation ":>r t:hL noclit~tion . So tonir;ht , I Hant to tt>.lk about the 1 .edit ··. tion for r.•,o~re zig . 'rhi s uill not onl:: be a helpful :'c;11indel' !'nl" all of tho~e Hho have been pr.::!.cticinc Chenre~iP; Nedit~t 1 on but will also provide the essential basis for ~ ractico for those who have not yet received thia teachinG , fO !'" ,_., i thout !luch tc-cr.ing , there is r.o way that one can do the ) ~actice of this neditation . , For t!lis l'l~dit-:-. tion, \·!e begin \-lith \.Jhat is re::\11 ! the root of all Bu1dhist pr-actice ; thC'.t is , aoing for refuce . ~e alAo, at this point , foster wh£ t is , in effect , the r0ot , the basis of i;~ hayana. '"' ractice , which is the enc;enderinc of Bod! icitta . So the meditation starts with the fornal rc:-.·.e; .br ~nce or mot i v.::1tion of go inc for refuge in the ouddha , Dha1~a , and the San~ha, and tho cn3enderment of the hnlichtenine Attitude; the3e b e ing the foundations upon vlhich the rest of the meditation rests . The refuee pra:rer is the tvro lines "'hich rend , in en13lish , "until J rea c h enli ghten:-1ent , I r;o for refuge to tho Buddha , the Dharma and the Host Perfect Gathering . 11 11 Buddha 11 means the m-takening from sleep - 11 :-:e ignorance and the enlic;htenr.1ent that comes ~lith t !1e development of all fo r ms of knoHledce . This is ~rha t "Buddha" %\'leans , and refers to all Buddhas , the Transcendent , accomplished Conquerors . The \-lord 11 Dharma 11 refers to the teaching3 uhich cone through enlighteru:tent Nhich have become known and have been tau~ht , so that all sentiant beings may be provided Hith the !'!eR.ns to r each Full 8nlic:'·\terunent . It refers to both the Hinayana , thP. i•ahayana , indeed , all of the thousands ~nd thol: sands of 11 tea.chinr.s t htt.t con1e doHn to us today . f1ost Perfect Gathering" means the Sangha , because thin is not only a e~thering of the most perfect enli s htened beinas but is also tho most r 9rfect reference object for the accumulation of merit and cwareness . Tha.t ia , one 0ructices w o rohi ~ with res pect to the ~nncha: ~ 11 of the Do~hioa ttvns , I rhc to , Con~uer o rs, etc . ~ o it is called "'rhe J.:os t .t'erfec t r;a the ring" for thes e'! tH o !'leaninc;s . "I" sht:,ly pefers to one3elf . "Until enli c;h teT"I·lent is nctun.lly re : ' ~hc cl 11 rllenns t"lat u ntil one ~omes to r" al izo the nc.turc of r•tinr.l or until one ,.e:1 ches f'ull Bucldlvthood , · me \-rill always continue to so for refuge . This is the idea thet one is t ~ll ~ine rcfuce, noing to the Buddha , Dharr.Ja and 3a.ngha for refuc:a .
49 'rhe sour-cn 0f r r• r uc;e is .\ : 1~ l :en l) d Enl ieh ten:•tc nt or od , "lnd all of the inconcoi~able qualities of enli ::;llt('nn cnt: the :r.ontal qualities, the qu::tlities of the phy::ic?.l :·or!"t, :lnd the qualities or the spee c h of e~11~:1 t r:- 11='1e~ ~ . It is the tl·err~ent.lous p oHer llnd capability , t ·~ e force , t"le strenr, th o.nd dyna...,isrr~ in Avrlllcened .:.::nliehterunent tht•.t ')no is appeal i ne to for refuge . The se el:er of refuge is onenelf; it i s also ~11 5entient b c inns . Oneself ar.d all sentient beines a re extre~ely limited in u~y sic al nnd ~ental cr:p nh ilities; because of the ie:norance v!hic h li:1its ou r ca ::- ahilitien He !\re subject to samsaric exi.::;tence . Sams9.ric existence is s:rnon:,•Pious Hith fe f.l r , t!'ihulation , sufforine , nnd frustration . It is from this feeling of suffering ard dissatisf:-tction Nith ex ~ stonce that one c;oes to enli~~tennent tor refuge . The sub ~ tance of refuge is just this attitude , thnt ':>ne is in a verJ unsatisfactor•r situation . F'rot•l this uns a tisfactory situation, one is st~iving to achieve ' enl ::. c;hteT".:nent . One focuses on enlie'"'ten.,cnt as the ~., urce of refu s e and takes refuge in enlighten...,ent in order to be sheltered and protected from this ocean of suffering which we call samsaric existence . The next branch of this pra ~rer concerns the engenti erMent of Bodhicitta or ra~sine the mi nd to enli ehtenr~nt . It reads , " Hay I , throug h all the • ood worl< thttt I do throu~h eenerosityft etc ., rcnch Buddhahood for the welfare of all sentient beings . 1 The first ·ide a is :. I , " t his is the \otork oneself is doinG • Generosity and all the other aood work n eans the Six ferfections: ~ene ro sity , morality , for e be a rar ce, dili £ence , meditative s t ~b il i ty and wisdom . T~rough p r s cticinB the se Six .t'erfecti on::; , •1irtuous action is n. ccWl'lulated . One is vowing th a t this kind of virtu ~us a ctivity is coin ~ to be used to enabJe one t o ro a ch f ull Buddhah ood . The reason that 0ne is ai:nint; for full Duddh ahood, is th a t ~! i th t h e attain 1ent of all the qual 5. ties , pol.rer , nnrl ca ..)ability of Full ·,::nli c:h terunent , one i s coin r. t o direct nll this ability to helping other sentient being s . So that the final ~ otiv~tion for doiPB all of these ~ r a e tices s uch as :"' e i t ' tion on t.hc nrezig 1 s 1'orn1 , repetition ..,r th P r.1e.ntra , or ho l ding the tnind in 5BMadhi , is to re~ch enlightenr1ent i n order to help others . This branch of the ~ rn;rer is called ~ ai sine the i·d nd to the Ob jec ti ve of "! :nliehtennent . 'l'he prayer is mane up of , first the a t titude of r c fuge, and ~ec o~ rll y , the onr,~'lri,!"J'''lr·n ~ cf 8odhici t ta . Tho ne xt r>::trt of the me 0 i tation b or:ins ·;i th the lines , "Cr o~ ;ninc th e h e :..:.d of each and every b e int:; Hhose mx·tbcrs mntch the bound l e ssness of spacA , th e ~e rests a lotus white r;>.nd n full ;-.to on s c at . 11 Th .. s means thC~. t one thinlts o f oneself and al l other bein3s . On t ile cr':>Hn .,f ':>ne 's head o.ncl of a!l other beine3 , there is an eieht- pctallcd wh ite lotus , above Hhich rests t h C' flat disc of the moon . "All other beings whoso nw~bcrs Totatch the boundl.essness of. space' means thst the Buddh~h
50 i.nf~nlty of :::;-').r.P. r~fJcct::. th 'r. t~.: 1it ~· of thn nt.u:ber:. of sen';:iC'nt l:) . ~\rc-: t't>~t t'H·ro arc . Thnt i ~ , ti-1 : .>; 5f one thirJ{s '' f all •. ,,,~tin r.t. bri~~s t~ ·.• t there arc , t.,is 5 s ~: n :i"1finit:.e nu; ;~i "r ; t:'1~re i~ T''"' ii:lit to t'1i.~ . On top of the ~e~d of f'!V~'!., J (ill~ Of t'1f'!!:C 1 t ; .0rc l S t: •i:; ... ~it ~ l!>t'.':: ... ~c\ !"!(lO~ ::;e;;t . ·:.'he 11f'l::t ~ i. "le i ::; "i•'rorr. ·r::I !!pp . . r..r:: th~ n:•c'lt :.11 - :->ee in :o: 0ne" ·:hich L; ~:J'I L!:,...~!i:;h tr '?.~"'-). c.tion 0f --:henr•·zic;': nc:1e . 1·0\-T :~1 to:., :--r t '· o l•)t!.t :; an·l ·:~ ot:'n , one i:-•nr.:i ne;; th ·-! t a. letter , 11 ~ ! :·n · ' , ~!' !· C'l:'.r .,. . ·r:v~ lett~r ii.:f! iz H"litP . Tho !:'03.~on for ne~. :it~ting th ·· t +-ho ~. etter '1RI ?.ppo~rs '. s t '·n. t ·.-r:1en ":l-J.enrezil! ;··as .:'::·1·· ·oc n.:; t !1o •:: :'1'- · · di.:·H~ nt of ~11 ~tu o ·~ hD • s co:~i' 'l.Ssicm, the fit"::;t t.li ns t :~.!t !"p;>carec\ W\S the letter HRI :·rhich tm•!"'eod nt" : ;t:cnrozi~ . :.io the let.ter ;.t:1I is the se~0. syllable for Chen!·rzig . Tr,is :ts just "'h!l t it NCar.~ . A sP.'ld i:l scmethine 'He :Jlr.r~t ~. n t· ., ~ ~rourd ~nd it gro•"'s into first a s!1oot , and then ~ full floHcr ·.-: hi.ch bcnrs fruit . The syllable Hnl is tho !:o ~ C. frofll :rhi ch ' :henre zig appears . • ~·lh~n you 13.re Hell versed in thi s r.u~d!. tati on , JOU can i!'"1agino tho "H;{l 11 on · n e' ~ heaC: and tho he'ld of a.ll ::entient beings , 11nd ir.afine fro:"l this HRI brilliant light shines out~~rd . This li Ght ~enders offerines to all Buddhas in every direction , in all the Buddha real:-:s , and it P.lso '.:orks for the bcn J fit of nlJ sentient beings . As it ~trikez all ~erti o nt bein:s , it relieves their riisery and frustr a tion tha.t f\re f ':l.ctor::: o f sa.·asuric existence . 'i'hen light fror.1 all Rur.t it , light of the five ~olors : white , green , y ellmr , re d and blue . These rcdiste fro~ his fo~~ in all directions . He is ~~ilin~ and l-tas a. co~ ~ letelJ r enceful ~nd cnlrr. expression on his face , reflecting thP. cm.l!'l le te cAlm and 1 ~c.ce · i thin his oun heart , thn inter \nderst ~ ndin& and love that &:ells within hiM . rurther , the }.; j ndne~s in his e:,res arises fr ')M the deep CO!Ipnssion ~rit h 1-;hich he lool<s upon al1 senti~nt heing3 in S!\.:1:-:!lr ~. c exist~nce with great affection , :_: rc3.t love , just t'.s a ~othe!' lo~k:l u; on her on lJ child . 't'he next lines are , "Of his four hanr~s , n. :->air ~.!"c j -.i.ned in p ra ~· er . 'r:1e left ~ lotus holds e.nd in the l'iBht a cr.rst.1.1 rosary . :15th sil': he is ·1do::-ned , ·:ith cer-:::: r·.nd orn~: . e r~ ts of !!Old . '' Chon!"czig hns four hr..nds . The first pair a re joined in rra:er at his he~rt . the second riGht hand
51 itolrl~
a ro~~ry nndo 0f clo~r crystal qunrtz, anrt the left, te lotll::; floHer . He \HHlNl sill<en :•obes . Thc~e silks ~re of vari~us colors: Hhite , aold nnd red . ~c is al~o 'd':'rnec: vlith 1:-eautiful jeHelry : a cr(')\-:n, ncclde.ce, so:ie br~celets -- nll uro {Jht of the fine.~t r,old and st,.ldded ~1ith ben.utiful cons . To see ex'!tc tly hol-7 the~e ?rne:1ents o.re n. rnrGed, one should lool-: carefully e.t o. t!1ani~a or a ~aintinc of ~~enrezig . 1 ':' 1e next line iT' the translation has to '1)13 chanr,cd. sli.:;h tJ -p . ":·\nd over i1is shoulder falls q dr.cr ~oft "•Cl t !'.J"'d i\uddha oi' 3ou.'1i..lass Li~ht rests r'!P hi.s heP..t:~ . " Gvel' h.is left . 1•.ou)(:er i; he :,,.. in re~tiT"~ th~ ~oft r·elt ()~ a rleer . On '1i:J hend, tf\Pro !'.:>zts ti-e Budcth .\r.1i toh 11a , the B•--::d i"c. of Boundl er::= J.i:ht uho~c forrrt is t'ed. ~ii:: hc.nd:: hold n. b·: ·:gine; boHl '.r~ .. ro ·n ...,c::o· ';"'tion po::-ition; his teet ~re cro::;::~d in Va .. r:"l i · ..JSit.jC".r · . :1e ~: o ars th" si :,tp!.e !"o~··es of c·. r.1or.!: :)'"JC is t.dorn"d · ·5. th tho t! ·irty- tuc r~ 'ljor ;,ar~•s of :>erfec tion a,....d the ci:..;ht~p . ino1· !"•lC..rkc of )erfection s\tch as the cleft on his he'ld , thti •.-!hoel of the Dharmo. thg.t is inscr-ibed ' on the pcl ~ s o~ ~is ~~~1s nnd the ::;~les of his feet . ~o ~h~n!"ezic is cro:rned by c. comT1letely perfected Buddha , the Buticl~a :u i t~b 11n . "I!Y!.. lt~tahle he sito , his legs crossed , !.e::~.nint; his b~ck ~ gQinst a ~tainless Roon , ~11 r~ru:e deities in essence 11 joinn<.~ . This n es.ns thc:.t Chenrezig sits ui th l~is less cro!iS·"' rl iri Vajrn pos:! tion or full lotus rostu!'c , a~ : o!utr-l;r ~tlll and cA.l:.l . T!e is SUIJ!lorted o.t hir. bacl: by a noon thnt e~1iblts no ~tnin or defilement ~ho.tsoevor , reflecti~g C1enrezig 1 s C0..i;->le to purity . One should think of C:!1onrezig c>.s the union or the es r. ence of all of the sourcez of !"efuce : the !Ju(.dha , t i1e D~arna , the Sangha , t ::e Lano.s , the Yidruns , nnd the Protectors . At this point .,rou should be cle~rly imacininc:; ~henrezig on your he!lrl and on the he!lds of all sentient bein~~ . Here one fosters t~Pmendously dee~ late b\{ the term "Oh Lord . 11 The first line of the pra;rer is , 'l:h Lord of whitest form, not clothed b.> f!lult . " This i>r~:;er is a short eulogy to Chenrczie !Jraising his wonderful qualities . The first and ntost out::.t!lndinc quality is his complete free
52 11
The next line is , ~11\ose ho :ld n Per fc c t 3udrlh11 crol-JnS in lieht . " The phrase 11 Per ·~ ec t Buddhn a ;nenns a co: :p1ete se Hlrc.t.ion or <.livorcenent from all f aults , al l f ailinGs , t he total per fection of all positive '1ue.lit~. e s. ap,,tddha" Mo&ns the :-Hnkenine frm11 sleep -l ike i ;.nore'.nce nnd tho onliehtonnent of all fol''"I'IS o f kno~·~ led Ge . J\,eh a 3uddha , Buddha Ar•1 i tal:>h~. , crouns Chenrezig . vne inar,ines that on Ch~nri'J =i~ 1 ~ ~~~ ~d t ~'.e · ·e sits A111i to.bho., P-s the crot·rn of Chenro21ig , t .m s pu ttinc the zeal on Chenrezig 1 s oun perfec tion . The prayer ends "'i th. , ".-lhose cot.tp assi ono. e e ~~cs see each livin:: thine, to you , 1\11 - SeeinB l'lne , I l " O\ol r.q head . ·• •: .-;o:··l!)e.::.si r·na t e eyes 11 rcf~rc to thf:l totality o f con::>'l s::>ion of ·rhich Chcnrezig is the et~t ~"~odhtont . It l'lleans that ~;he nr ezir; is a.l·mys loolcinc upon overy sentient beinG -.-tith deer 'love and a con1 assione.te conc:e ~"n, doinr: ·.!hateve;... he can for their welfare . Th is compassionate concern is reflected \lith his uncea9ing gaze , as he looks upon every sentie ftt beinr; all of the tine . .So one prA:,rs to Chenrezig , "I pray to you, All - 3ceing One , nnd I bou rny head . " 'f!1is phrnse is in t ~~ e pr o.:rer to reflect t :-..e f eel:$ n e; of devotion , the P.Ct Of devotion as it : s p er , •etr~. ted in hod:r , speech and r.lind . T~at is , t he n r ~ yer and inaging ~henrezig 1 s foM~ is t. e act of ~ent ~ l devotion; t ~ e repeating of this praJ cr is verbal devotion ; and tho attitude Hith uhich one is approachinG this , j ~ ining the hands , etc ., is p ~ysicn l devotion . So one -.~ :;;.y s homage to t;henrezig ~·lith one 1 s \·thole beine . In t : ~ e :Slacl~ Hat progra:n, vo•l should hav •' fcund :ln orange piece of p3.ncr Hhi ch is a seven fold service . If one hc.s ti~e, one can include this seven fold service , with one sli c ht T•lultiplicn.tion , in the meditation of Chenrezin. The fir::; t office of service is that of Homage . One :lo\.\lcl chco.nee it slightly to read , ''~'11th cor.tplete faith 1 pay homage to the All - Seeing One ~nd all the Victors and their sons uho d !ell in the ten directions and three tines . 11 This 1~ e~. ns that one ls pn.yin~ ho11aec :)rinci pally to Chenrezig , but also to all 0udcl.has and Bodhisattvas . The Victors a:-e the Buddhas and their sons , the :Sodhise.ttvas . "'1'ho.t ducll in the ,ten d irec t j "ns 11 l'llee.ns in the tot ality of space . "And the tbree timec," in t :1e eternity of tirtte: past , present and future . One is :-'aJin{! horota.ge to all of them \-lith complete, clear and lucid devotion . The ::;Qcond office is the o ffic e of OfferinB • "I offe r both c.ctual ~nd i..ta ()iT'led flowers, i ncense , lumps , perfullle , food, :·otusic and lolU Ch else . I beseech the hol:r assel.thlar,e to accept thnoe offeri n~s." One is offel'ing floHers , incense , ln1r1ps , perf 1:1c , food, 1nusic , ~tc . both actually in the offet•inc;s th.o.t one plac es on the shl'•ine i ttt also i:·m,.ined offerings , i!10.~inin3 apace to be fi lled Hith such o f fo:-ings . OffePing t ·,esc things principally t o Chenrczig , ~>ut o.lso to all Buddhas and Bodhise.ttvas . One prays to ther•l to accept
53 thCSF. nfft)r:n;.~ jt"l rll'OOr th_t O.ll Sentient OClTWS !laJ l)e hcl. •cu . i'1, is is the Office of ('fferi ncs . ;-ohe third ·)ff:tce is the office of Confession . ''I confess all tho unr.J:illful nctions tll r.t I have t1ore , i nf luenced by t:cfi ,_ er.tP.~~ts : aD the ten un•li rtuous act::;, t ' ~e five i l1 CXniable ~~-.c\ oti'\c ~·s <1.oPe fr0: ~ ;)eGinrin~less til"\e u p to the ;>resent . 11 '.i.'hi~ off.' r.e l ' e :-:.ns th=tt one thinJ:s Of all the Un'.lhOlesone 1~::;.r ·'=' "''1e h~. s r.cc u.H:lotod durin,. c.,... one's her-inn'i.nrless ...... • 'sn'b j~c tior. t'1 ~t:'::-:~·:·"i. c '=lX'i ate nee . ·~'hinldn.::; of ~11 of i;h~so t~ · ,.\3' 1 one fc:- · ~"'~ ::: re 1orse 'lnd rec••et that t~teao 11avc been cicmt". .nu a1. 1i;;:::; .,penl 'f that. ro:, .. ~., ll:l'·,~:>!.":s:,":·. !. .::! · , ~ : t• : t•\ ·(·J ' l:.one •·:.1d :•:'3.JS to ell of the "3uddhas , 3 odh i s o. ttvC'.s ar.·i ·: ;!1cnr c. ::::.:: t11'· t-. ~ J 1 :>f thes e things be c 1 e ·; red cuaJ a1~d ·ur::. f i.o r1 • C'r.e t:'.l.Jo vo1 s n0t to do thor.1 a:o.in . At the encl of 11 ·:;~ :i. ~ off~ce, ·:me c;h0uld thinl:, :'t.ll ·'> f this ununoJ. cso.:cne:~s '1as ~c<Jn cl ~'l!'Cl~. o:.·s~.y , h. s been rP:1oved . 11 I re~o i~c ;. ~ t ;".c : 1erit of ·.sh s=t tever :rirt \e Sr-::.vd:as , i~r-a t:re : : P ~·Ufidh!.'\s 1 -:;o~bi S'l t tv as, t•.nd '1rr.iir::tr:r people ~· ther t:".rou~ro':.lt t:1e t;;!r!?P. ti::tos . " 'rhe 3ro.valtas, l'ratye!.:e. 1 ~df D~c.r1:1a , \shich is a : ! et -?.~hol' for the te~c'!t , .. g of the D!:~~:'Tta. , and to teach tho 0~Htrl'1a for all sent;ient beiP..t:::s, usine the ns;>ects of Dho.rl•l a ~rhich e.re needed . for the p articular attitudes and ~otivntions of sentient f\ein~s , tie te3.chings of the Dho.rl"\a ~Ihich Hill be i:·wtedie.telJ hel p ful to sentient beinRs in thai~ particular situation uhether it is the ~:.rente!- vehicle of the Vajrayana Dhanna , the lccser vehicle, the ordinary vehicle , all of these . On is :1r e.yi n!,; for th.e Jhar-:-1a t o be tauGht so that ever:,r sentient bcinc.: ca.n be helped by 1 t . 'l'he next office is , "I beseech the Rundh:?.s n'=>t to pass int'J r irvano. but , until the CJClc is complcte l:r ecpticd , to lo~k Hi th crcnt cot .~~ !=tssion up 0n all sentient beinr;s ·.-1ho fl ::mnder in t .•i s ocean of frustrat~. or ~.nd e or,..rM. 1 T!\is : .o~tr.s t 11at one is r rRyinc to the Budd!las not to pnas into Fine.~ i7irvtl.nn. but to st;iy and he1p ~en ient bein ·:s until the cycle of sar1se.ric existence is completely e1-:ptie
..
54 Ti1e cevcPth offtce is t!1o office of Do ~l~ cation . '' !·:n~,. :e:.'i t I have acc~nulated become a :Jood for the enlichtem;lent foP all beinBS · t-li thou t delc.y , :- u\~' J heco:ne n splond5 d lec.cl er for o.ll sentient beinc;s. 11 :iere one is praylnz or ded:i.cc.tinB al~. the ·11eri t th!l.t one ·.,t'. ~ cl:>ne il' j">rr-ctice , in :-> r:t:rer throughout one ' s Dhe.rH=. :'r~ctice , and pra~'i ng tho ·:-; :i. t become a p rimary c ause for t :1o enlieht~T'I-' lent of £.11 :1e~tient l>einr;s . That ls, th!lt throush t l\i3 me:'it, one uU 1 '}Uickly, Hi tilout inte!'ru tion , VO'!'J quicl:J.y achieve the fullest enlir.:htePF&ent, and be coNe a oudd,ltl or · ~ orlhi:Jattv a so that one crm rel\ll:r lead sentient heings to r't 11 2nlight cnl1ent , a.nci help thern in a ::.m st rtiract Pnd :i.n :ed5.ate ilt'ly. 'ihis i:: the seventh office of Decl5 cation . '!'hose !)even Offices of \l~rshi p nro r.los t henoficial to ~ )racti ce uhethor one is oneagerl in prnc tices 0f the p~~h or sutrns or the path 0f the tantras . If one ! earns these ~e vcu ')ffice& ·:->f Worship 1.2.nd understands uel:l to~hat t!1e ,;- n ean, then :todi to.tes U•'on the r.1eaninc of these ."; ev~n Offj.ces of ·.vorship , ther. tho:; c!'tn ~" e used not only in this Chen:i."ezis maditat~cn ~~t a lso when one is doin: rro~trations oofforin·., r·lF.n ~~::.. lo.s 01.. in all forms or devotior. end r:eC..i tr\tion . To ~ncorr,oratc the Seven Offices of iorship into all acts o f dovotion ~G very beneficial . . Ir. n bool· that has been published , A Continuous i. ain to 3er.efit : eir.es , there i s e. slirht error .- It o.tt:-ibt~tesa .1rayer to ·a monl{ , l-:!3.palr•\O, 1 -T~~i ch should renlly be a l'ttn, Pallr.O; there \>IPs ~;one confusion on t:"l.e part or the translator . The r.un , PalMo , was a Tibetan nun t-iho fror.1 the time tne.t she H:•.s very :,rotmg , p ray e d to Chenrezig. She lived to be over 100, ~nd oll of the tir.1e she "Ins pro.~.. inc to Chenrezir; over anu over a(~ain . If you have plent·r or ti.·1e to do this r1edi tRtion, if yr.;-u ~;.rent t in anJ l'inci or a hurry , J')U can o.lso incorpor,lte the prayer 3he u .. ed all the tir'le. DurinG the swm':'ler l ... et'!'eat , this n un uould 9A.t nothint:;, and r:;o through the :-etrcP..t this HC'.J - - every othor do.y ea ~inG one 111eal , and Hould :)r:J.y to t::henrezig throu~hou t her Hhol e life and she cwne to ht'tve r•tC.nJ r.1any visions of Chanre z ig . '.i'his i.::J the o r~.J~r she uses , so it is a. ~'Jrayer Hhich hns ~ ~:- e3 t blessing, creat inspiration . '.rhe prayer be[ins , "I prn.y to Chen'!'czig . uho :i. s rn:J L2llla, I pr ay to Chenrezig Hho J. ~ •nJ Yidrun . I p!'ay to Chenrezic uho ia the .3 u:"rerno e.nd Perfect C':ne . 11 Tho.t is , that Chenrezig 5~ ~he c~bodimont of all ryos i tive qualitie~ . "I p r :~y to .::;hen!"f'zir, ':!ho is the - ~rd of :~efu~e . I ~)rE'..y to f!henrezic H~o i s the !ord of Love . " 1''1i~ ~=·c~nr th~t '~honrozi~ hac a totsl co~passionate concern for all oentient ~eine s . 11 ael:;:lne upon :rour ~Ol·l!Hl nsion nd the co:nra ::: sion •.-thi ch ~11 the Victors have, for nll ~~T'. tient beinr;s iih.o suff.;;:• intolerl'bly in sn:.!suric exist ':"!nce , '"l'lo hnve t·tande:i."-?C1 in ~~.r.& ::C'. ric exi::tence for co\lntless tir:te , I pr<.q to ~"C'U exclusively to give ther.l rcfugo e.nd ~. o c:;tnbJ.inh t)1e.·: throuch the in~ ... , irr.. tion of .rour blessinc in cor-lp~ete ,.mli::;!~. tennent , the enli[;htenNent which is m:miscent . " 'l'hen on-:> ;> rc.ys for ''~hll. teve:i."
55 01;estJlf :1nd ell ;,er:tient bei!"gs, Hho fror.t bee;inl'lin::less t1=11e ·.,~vo ~ccur.t'.Jl a ted a grc :\ t deal of un• Jholc~o~;te kar;1a, the pot·Jer of llhich, es~.,eciall:r that which i3 attributeci to a~~or , h ~ s cnused countless beincs to be born nc hell bcin3:1 ·.-rho \'e they surfer the l•li so:--..r of in tense heo.t nnd cold, to he i>·)!'n ·in the f ·10l'! t ;-.e:rfec t he~. vens. Then one says tho W\n tra 11 Oi! . Ai'I l' i\ lJi :E Y:l.i7'·IG . " \~$\in, c:o.ll sentinnt boin,zs h:·ve accunuJ .?. tc'i tre :trndon3 l·::.!r :·1a. rron hp.·.·innin.,.lcss tiMe, but pril"ci ;·a.lly those Hho arc 3\,bject to inten'"O t_;l'e<ed , i1ave heen born CS , ratas 'md h1.1r.r;r~· eho~ts !'tld nre suffer:tne fr'>n t,irst and hllnce;o. h~:r !;.11 nuch bein: :s b~ born in your (Ghenrc::::.ie;'s) ?u:oe Lanr4, B-::-dhil:t • .· lJ oont·· "lllt be-in~s Nho ~'la'TO accu!tU u.terl 1·~-~1o. from i ·. •: r:in.nin ~. :len ~ ·;i~ ~ -~ , but CS!1 0ciall:r boir:G subject to - tunidi t-.:: ha\· & ~ -..": •~1-: l:·cr·J £'"> on··r.J ··.ls .:he:.... e t!~eJ ::uffe -... fr'=n c0: . ~1:t~. cation ~11 : ':' tu~-. ;. C:i. t ..,r 1 duJ.lTH)3S o.nd foolishness j :.~ a :.' all ~UCh Cein~~ O(' ho ~~ in :rour :~ reconce. .:;.nd then one s~:rs 01·: E -J ' I l' .. Oi·iZ HtTUG. All ser.t~. en t boeir.gs he. vine nccu::lUlnterl un>;hol csor~e ~;a .·.r'. f:r?:n :·ecinrin;::less. oa:•lsnra , but es::> eciall:,r th ·•t ·..:hich is due t.., jeo.lo1J. ::: y, E".nd l'ho h3.ve ~een born in the titan rct-.lns, nncl suffnr- frol"t quarrelin; and bickeril1C• Me.::- they be born in !·oul' ?ure i. e.nd , Borlhil A. All scPtinnt beinGS who in the course of bc~innincless :::::l!.Jsn. :.. a havP. a.cctt·lulated unwholes ome karr.t3., esz>e ciaJ.ly those uho h ~ ve accu;·mlated l<:arl'la throuBh the defilertent of pride c.nd ~·!ho !1avo been born in the heavens, in the !}'Od reah:s Hhe!'e they sttffe!' frorn the fall at death in the god r-eal :~ s, n~y all such bein··_;s be born in y:mr ?ure Land , the 13odhilo.. Ol•: HAll I
? ADi :E IIUF G.
Pr ny then, that in this life :md in o.ll lives following this one, one will ~v~ntunlly equal Chenrezig 1 s capabilities and "'.ctivity, lib'3ratin~ all beincs in ii'lpU!'e existence a.nd investing the · . :erfoct speech of six syllables -..11th such poHer th~" t the:r uill ~ervade all of the · ten directions , s1>onta.'1eous l y l!ber.:. ting s entient beings in e•1ery re~lr.1. One r. !'a.ys then, alGo, that through the povrer of pre.yinr.:; to Ghcnrezic in this way , that Rll sentient beings who have becone the ob.~ ects the.t one is seeidng to help -:nd Hho l·rill become one's folloHers in the future, ~rill le a :!""l and apply · the law of l<:arna., Hill strive dilir;ently at virtuous knM11R., and that el l s c ntieP-t beines will como into contact with the Dharma in the future . After thezn pra:rers, one continues Hi th the t•1edi tntion, 11 "1/hcn I ha\re pr::tyed this \o~ay ,.,i til Hindfulness, J.it:-:h t shining from the !:ol:r i·' orrol removes all i1npure l:nrr.1a and be1-1ildcrment. The outer !'ealrn becomes the realm of bli3s. .i;ach livinE: being ' s body, speech and mind to All-Seeing One's three . faculties are changed. All knoHledge, sound and all appear~ng for;:ns becorr.e insepera.ble froM emptiness. 11 This l'teans that having prayed to Chenrezig, with deep devotion and ·me pointed prayer, fror:t h.is for:n, light shines outward and transforms tho
•rhole •:c1•ld . Fir:Jt throug h clA"'.r1'1~ A.Hr!J r1ll 'Jmrhole::>o!llenel':s , all impure ;:o.r.::l , &11 dofilel•tent:3 , n.ll heHil clc r :.tent , ~~11 ic•!orance, n.nd all it"lpure r·tanifest·ttions t)f bouilrler: wnt , so that t :&e outer re~lH : rocJ<:s , trees and c;eneral envi r onr.1ent that HA live in, is tran::forned in to Ardtc.bha's J'ure Land, DeHachen , or the :tealm of i1liss ; that ever;r being t :1:~ t hc.s be e n born is trnnsfor11ed rhysically , verbe.lly and :-!en tally into Chen.rP. ~ic . That is , his body , s ).1 eech ~nd mine. becoflle (;henrezig 1 s . '' All j•no·11ledee, .c;otmd and all ~pp'Jtt. rinrr forrr.s i>o:.c.,: e in~e r ."\r~ble from o:·tptiness . 11 This means f:h.ot . . . all appo ~. rnnces becm::e si!'tu l taneousl:r l;>pcarinc; and elllp ty . rha t is , thc:J tal.e nn the divine as .,ec t, tho Pure iJano. and Chen!•czig 's form . :Ul sound hccol~''i S t:tantr.;, , the ir r.l ivisibility of so,un l and eJ1!1tinass. All :.tentrl nctivity becomes tj'le indivisibilit_:r of a·.·t'1reness and et.:) tincss and :tn this :ledit"\tive stt'te "me S3.JS the JlP.ntra , o··l J·iAi:I P.\Di !E RUHG . One 'l'he r·e o.re t tcm:r reasons for using a rnala or rosary . count 3 the ~raye~s that one is say ing b J brinGing the beads tow~ rc'is one , croes r.'.;;ht around the r.1ala and then cot:}es back . One r\oen not cross over the central bead . That Hould count o.s b:o hundred; so if one has t he se :-olf!.rl<ers, l)ne \·:ould :-t~ve thGM ~ne for eac h hundred . ~hen ten of thosn moved across , one :~as done a tbnusand, and if one .1o.s anothc~ set of : ut rl·: e:.,s , one .tov es one of thos e out to s lv:>H that one has done -:- t housc:mcl . And Hhcn tsn of tho "e he.ve been d.,ne, one has done a huntJ.red thousand , gnd one Hi 11 rnar){ tha. t off :i th c.nother set of ua:-kers that would move ~round the r.tale 1 ike this to 3how thnt one has done a hund!'ed thou9and ~antras . :ihen thi3 y·tarker \lorlc s ar ··und t~e l-lhole rnala , that will !'•tean tha.t one has doJ"'c ten million . And ,.,ri th Ct)n:,letine ten !··. i llion 1 rmc Hill have done a hundred rdlli-:>n !·tantras . This is vcr:: , ver:r .:;ood . To Y.eep tracl: t)f the nu.""lber of rtantras t :~e. t :.'O U have dorel so you look , 11 0'& I've done a lot now out I've got o. lot .-~ore to go . 11 So one Hill do lots and l0ts of •·lantras . :lhen y ou rcpe:t.t the l'te.ntra , (lj·i i·tAWI !'!l Di·;c. HUl·n , o•1er e.nd ov '3r aco.in , :ou can think about a nUJTiber of different thincs . S-:>metirnes one i-:naeines t;henrezig clearly on one's head , cle o.r .:. 1 i : taeining his brilli:1nt o.ppe FrtlT'Ce 1 and sa:r s the r:mntra OH hAl'I Pt\DHE HU!!G. Scmetirnes one says the rnantra as 0ne is prayine to Chenrezis , p raying e~rnestly for such blensin g s o::; tl ·e develo:'>!nent of compo.ssion 1 the develo~)l'l ent of realization , the re ali zation into the n a ture of all phenmtena , t~c rPalization of e ~pt iness . One pra;s for the bless~ nc; o f a r .J vulsion for sa."''\saric e;d s t ~n ce 1 of a d ee;> ened co1-1p:1ssion for :-.11 sentient beines 1 o f deeper fc.i th in the Three Jewels . One , ro.ys for these kinds of b lessings • .;o.teti!lles one can , 11.s one says the n antra , thin){ -::>f li!; ' t shin i n~ from ~henrezie 1 s body and this b1•il j. iant s!)lendor pervadin ~ the ~mi verse transforming o.ll s r:nt ient beinGS into for~11s -:>f Chcnrezig and thinkine; of the \·tho l e universe as beinB transfornec into a paradise ~~d all se~tient be i ngs as ChenreziB . Focusing one ' s attention on this , one se.y~ the ::tantra , 0;; J·;ANI PAD ·.Z HUNG, o ver and over again. Sornetirnes
57 jus~ let the :tinn :-est ~1ithout any contrivance or l'.:ffort, in l. t3 n atural st., te, to say the 111antra . .jol•lOtirnes thlnk of all sentient beings Hith deep col1lpassion and concern, and s'l.:f the r.mntra lilce this . Generally, think of each of these tl ines for J. i vc, ten, fifteen rninu te s a. t. n tine and then thinlc ub:")t· t a.nother o:;pect of the r.teditntion , but al). the tine re ;H~n tinc; the .t:rm tra a~ much as :rou ca.n . .'.J"ld if ::ou do all of t :'!is nll of the time, l"er:;ulc.rly, ;~ra.duall:r :rou can come !"ot ~o !:nou tire ·.lness , to ,.,ant to Horl~ hard ~. t Uharr:1s. ·· r :';I.Cti Ct:", ::.nd riecper ft\i th and comp a ssion, de<:!~'> er unders to.ndil"'8 l'll). nc ~~:-.el"f.ltod uithin one . ~·nd one uill receive uan:r benefici a l ble~sing3 such as t~ese • .n1en :;r()u h -'We been ;'~:::-: cticine this ldnd ~r ~~edi tr.tion ··or .; ev~ i." t!l :·1onth:; c r a : ear or co, nnd are very eood 1.! t it , C'.nd cnn do thi :J \~ i. suo.li zation process 1·tell, t~en :J()U , cr.n thil"ll: of u).l $ent:. o~t hein;s diss ··J.vinc; i 'l" to the ChenreziG on r)ne's hoad . :;he n l'~ zig clicsoJves ir.tv li;::';ht, and one's C'W!'l f~r . . 1; ~.-. :,·r:IJ "> ~br:rre z e. Ope's body is ir.u 1ed:!.o.tely trc..':'lsforr:led ir.to :~ho:1rczi~ '~ body, t ;, e i ::iagined forr:1 of C!'lenr£' zis is unit~~ with tho awareness or principla of ~ honrezig, ~nd one re n2~- :r bect:'lnes .":;:1en!"ezi .3 • One repents the r-tantrll dircc ting one's a. t t~ntion to one's own form as Ch.e nrezig 1 s fort'!l. ·:lhile one is doinr ·this, one can also think that in Qne 1 s heart tr.ere is n siY.-petalled ·lotus above uhich strmds the letter JU~I :. .nd arow1d Hhich stand the letters of the mantra OH l•:ANI From the HiU PADisE h'"Ui:G, and di rect your attention to this . o.nd tho r.tantrc>., ligh t shines outuards and 1:1akes offerines to all of tho -=3uddhas in nll directions, and li3ht \-15. th !'.11 of their blessings r e turns. Or smtetimes fron the ~RI, light shines out~rards, cl~arins a~ray all of t ! e suffcrin5 and misery of all ser.tient beines in all real~s a~d establishing everr sen ~ icnt bein;~ in the realization of Chenrezig so the.t they too become Chenrezig . Or.e does these meditations over .an•i over again as ·,rell . '.i'he se are very, ver.r ~rofmmd n e
5D !'')r t ' )E' p r0,1Cl' .l!..lC' tiCeS 0f the ::; ta~~S 0 f tr ;.r :; fnr:'ICl ti On or p::•oduction , t~~ee ';'\inc;s r•tu::;t be :'lrtl.cticerl . T~at iz , c0:1pleto clO.l"it~p of '.: izuo.lizatjon , conplete .1c: •or.r cf all the t-.:;j')ec t~ of t '. e vi ::;uali zation and tho sttp-::>O!'t ::>1"' reli12.nce o~ ~ivine ~~ ide , thinking th~t oneself is the deity . Cla~ity .t'.:"C'.nr. th:.lt :1hon one i:; nedi tating ,.,n t l~ e forn of Chenrezir; , ono ' s ~ody i : Chon~ezig , all the aspects of Chenreziz 1 s bodJ ore eo:. !;"~ leto).J c!e:"l.r: the \·rhite !'orrtt of the '.. eit:r , four har.<'s , f ;·ee, feet crossed in the ' 'njra posi t.ion , uhi te t~oon , the s~.1;· r·..,bcs , jeueleri 0rna.""1t'mts , deer sld i""~ . .~1!. o • these t :·lincs ~re r-s c~_ e m."J. :y vi~ualized r-.::; if ':>I"e ,., . ~ -:-.ct·~all:,· lool::". n ':"' :•.t v.. i ll in tin •. · or l')ic tu"!'c '"'f ~lv::n!'c zi G. :r :~i s tot a! c!s.!'it:· of ,,ifjualizatior" is referl·ed to :1s "conpletc cle.ritJ . " '!.'h.e re.z t s : ~ ec t o::' ::-roper s t~ges of "f'roc'-1c tion or tr .. :.. ..., .... ,,'\ ti.:m , j _:: c?:W"~ . etely : •ure rne!'JOry , :rhich :1er'. 1s to unclcr :-o f;'\!~ d tl,!lt tr..e forr: of Chenrnzie is not coincido!'ltl\l or ·l ea!-".n ·l.Jcs or fi.ctit:iC'It•s b ut tho.t thnre is a G :~e~.t d;; a_ of r. ..- •h?~ ~. s ·· ·. and !'o:,rest::'~"'t~tion in .... henrezis ' s forr,l . F·i:' .'.ns tarcc , the ·rh!. te c -1 lor of ~henrezig sienifies t '1e total frn.ecl :>n of ·~ :1er. :.·c~ic f~O il'l ~!.J. for:-1s of ne~ativity , fror.t unHholeso:-.te ::~·.l'fl\ ~ , ~nvirtu...,uz o.ction , emr.-tiono.l dcfilen ent , i.~'"':>rc.nce, ~ nd i n:: tine tua~. ~ l i.ncing . ·ihenro:!ig is con!1l e tel:r free fro:"": 1 t ·~~!.>': ~ ... ; '"S '· 3.1"1 · t : ~i 'I is ::i:;nifj e: ~.: ~ri ti1 o. ~~u re Hili to for:.1 ·. :l~.:.cl~ ~- s f ~"ec f .."''>: t ell ~ t ins or any i n· ·uri tles H~::'. ts~e,•c!:' . : ;:l.l5.r: ·:henre:ic i1c.s f our ~ ands ; the four ha~ds sit;l"if:,• the fOl.l.!" :i::.. : ec.::~lr 0 hles: love , conp::l ss i :m, joy r-.nd ir.~p2.rtiality . 'J.,ho 'lc..nc's joinr.o in p=-~yer at the he!'.rt si~ni~r tl:at ~he!1rezi:; is ~>r .... ~·i 1~ de·1otedly to o.ll Buddhas not to -r ass into Firvana h1.• t t.-, tc':'.c :1 t he D!1ar1 Hl for countless eons in order that r~ ll ~er~ t5.ont ')Pings i 1ay eventually o.chieve J i beraticr. . '::'hn r ich t t:c.nd h0ldinc +;be C!7S tal rosar ~" sy:t!:oli zes ~h,n:-c zi r; t. ·.ret :-_:h . :ovin,s ~h rose.r~p or ~L D.Hin ~· th~ ros nry to :rtrcls hiM , dtt·""r.lt\8 •.ll ::r.ntiont '>ei!'"!gs out of 3 ?-!: arj c e:-::i stonce . 'fhe lof :: ; ~: .11"1 !'!?lcE r..c; the l·rhi te lotus , si3nifi es the flUl'i t)· of C !~ er. : e-:ir; ' ~ a t t f\ iru'! ent , , r:d c !~ is free fron1 ·1l l : ~c file. !ents fl.n. ric existence , and th ~. s in tho ,ignifico.nce of hie ocin ·- on a lotus sent . 'fhe le!3:: cro ~s ed l n the Vajra position r-icnif.r th~t 'Jhenre~ic; cloe:; not 1•est and is n o t bet-ril ·i 0rcc1 b.J s':l;-l:;~ ric cxlstcnce nor doe:; h .. r ~ st in lfirva."'la , but acts r,.,r t~~ ho~cfit of sentient bein ~ s hot~ ~ s a Do dh:.s~. ttvo. anti £'.s a Yidar.1 or nec.!itationo.l deity . 'i'he ornx·1ents t ~c. t ~henrezig ;rear:;: the cro ~·m , -r.cc!dace r~d b~uco l et~ , :ignify the perfection of nll cu~l~ties . ~h a t is , Chenrer.ie 1-tas completed the 3ix Pe ·"'fec i;5.ons , has ac'"!ieved the 37 re~llisi tes for ~1Jll Enl iehteru.tent , has acc,.,n~} ished
59 the 32 Major 'nd flO Minor marks Of perfection, ~nd this kind of o.ttninnent is reflected in his heine t'dorneci Hith oll the je H~ ls . Tile tuo :tl•JOn5, the one he sits on :1nd the rJne t:. ~ninst · rhich his bac1~ lctlns , sienif~r the tot'"'lit:r f)f "':hP.nrc::::ig':; atto.inNent . 'l'hat is , that Chen""'ezig hc.s ~\tt::\ino c. t h e f \!11 ~e~lization of an enli Ghtened ~uddh:!. , ~·rh5. ch is the tot:tl realization of the nature of a.ll ·,henonf)r.e., the 1'19-ture of all exi~tent'..nlit~' · Just ':\ s Hhen thli lftoon ic f •1 1, it is completely round , so -=:he nrezig re:1t3 ·m a .. oon ~.nd is supporter\ 't>y n ~oon \!hich illu::::trates t~e ~tality o f his realization , :t b e ing equal to the re."l.liz~tion of a Buddha . ~o S)"lllholizP. the atto.ir..:.1cn t of the five T!•nnscendinc A·.m~eresoc~ , :>f ~ :hich ~ henre=ig is the er•lbo~linent , one has the five lirhts c~rresnondin• to the five xrnrenes:;cs which e:mn.:-..te fr o:-:1 ChenreziB·, s form. ::>o this is ·;hat is r.~ e~.nt by puro "tC!·lo r: • j!cxt i ;j the :"'Olic.nce or. rride • "·Jell 1 ~' ride 1-l e':'ns ::one t hi ng ~ il:e , ''Oh , I'm a. e;ood rnan . •= One :f.s ver:p •-,ro•td o f Hhe. t one .;. :::: . •r· i::; J~ind of pride r ceC.s to be ::::ct :!Si ·e for the !' . ~11ent , 'lr:d one t'links inste,d , 11 I an Chen1.. ezi~ ." ThS.s t;ott>.l convict: -:>n t ~l:!.t one actually iz Ghen:."'ezig e•.~:-in~ the !·,ecli tc.. t.ion :t s very iMportant . One needs to cu~ ti •nte this l:ind of pride . ':!hy does one necc to think th~t "I o.n (;hcnrezig?" Thct ~rhich is appearance of the forr·l of the deity is r:ind , and that .rhich cline;s to the idea of " I" is : lind . Mi nd is the deity ; the deity i c nind . .5o one ne~ds to tr..iru:, 11 I an Chenrezig" because of the identity -,r mind and the forn of the deity . W'1:,P does one need to neditate on ChenreziB at all'! If he really c;~ists o.nd helps sentient beinr; s , l'hy is there a neces:!ity to Heditate on him? ?he attainment of :-ealization re~t ~ upon the interaction of the co~,assion c f ~~enrozig :11th the T•lind of the indi viclual r.1edi ta tor, Hho is vi ~ual i zing hil"ll ~ elf to be Ghenrezic . ~ ithout the ~c~itntor 's thinkinG of ::1enrezig in the first pl£~. ce, thero is no field for the principlo. of t:;hcnrezig to affect . For T:1 is rol e. tionship is best illustr" ted by exarnple . instancP. , one 's oHn form st:1.ndlnc in fr ont of a mirror causes another forn to a.ppee.r in the 1nirror. One 1 :; O\m form by i ts c:.!. f co.n·~ o t CO.U3C another for:n to c.ppea:-- . A rrlirror hy it:: r:~. f' C'l.!·not create another for111. It r e quires the in ;;~ rfl~ tion of n fon .1 and a tnirror t-thich to13e t l\1'}:' cre:l te ~.no thor forl't . In tile so.ne uay , oneself , 'vy oneself , io limited in wh:!.t one c:n d0 . ~ithout thinkinc about Chen:-ezig, there is no field of activity for Chenrezig , but nedit~tin~ upon Chenro zi g e nd t~e innate blcssinrr~ of ~hcnrezic , one co.n co111e to :--eal i ze totall y Chonrezig . T:1iS is the profound and quick p~. th or the .Taj~·a~rana uhich r-mkes o.nd uses the inspirnt:i.on and blessing:; of Cher.rezig to reach enlighte~;1 ent •.rer:~ quick)..y . For example ,
60 :. ~t
1
s to.l{e o. per:iOJ"' l:ho has a ear. He can eet into this ear and dri vc quicj\ly ".The rever he wants to go. The car by itself is all·\Ost U:Jaless if there in n.., one to drive it; the car is not going ~1:,"\"I!lere. And in the s~ \laJ, the person b:r himself is liPitorl to walking and "" i. ll take a lone time to travel any ~reat distance. But 1-li t !l the car o.nd the person to drive it, of cour:Je he can go q\.ickly. In the ss.."'!lc '.tr:t.:r, if there we1~e no Chonrezie, we l-tould be lil.1i ted to our own cr,po.hilities. Ou:-- 3itua.tion uould he difi'i~ult. On the ot!lOt' hand if He non' t think '>f Cbcnrezie 3nd r.1a.ke une of it, t hen He are just relying on our own initiative. Dut if ,.,e ~ ndit~te on ~henr~zia, then with the interaction of C!-lenT"e~ig' s blassing and onQ 1 s own faith a.-1d rr.ecU tn tir"J~·., -;r.:c: quicl<:ly renche::J enli~l,tenMont. I ;, the b~e:in!'li. n"':, thi~ l'Jeditstior. i!> chc.rn("terizoc\ .hy p~la~itJ . Thore ls Chenrezig n~d there is oneself. ?hrourrh the iJroc asz of meditation and thr.: concent:o:::.t . on ,r Cha!'lrczir-' s fo:-:;, 1:1ind 3..:.'1 '~. t :1e for111 ,.,f the deity Rro joined tofj•~thl:'r. · rli:1d becomes th, for.rt of the deity; deity becomes th, nind ; the;r become i.dentica.l . \-11th this u· ion of rdnd and tie :t t:r, ~ne ~ncm1es Chon~ezir. Just as ~nP t ~{es ~ pot of tl~ck te3 and a ~>ot of :•1 ilk. 3y pol.!ring these tHo together, nne ~et s Hhite liquid o.zfl..in. .:>o, once oneself, Rs a sc"lticnt heine;, and Chenrezig nrc ,.oined through th9 proce.:;.: of ·:necli tation, one beco:·1es Gh nrez ig . J"n the ila~rtt:,·ana, 1 t is very ir.:porte.nt to r rnr. tice ,.,.i ti1out ~ny cot\b t or hesi t :>. t :.on . 'ihen YO'-'· qre u'>in~ th-3 Medit ~~ tio~ of Chemrezig , be convinced th.at this can actually (;')!lle o'bout. Be con Finccd the.t reciting the r. antre. i~ beneficial. If one prectices it with this tot'\l conviction, free rrom : >.ny doubt , it l
61
certainty. !:is •·: ifc tried to t h ink of some t.:ay in '"hich to holp him because he really was dull witted. So she s~id to hbt, '' ·ou T•\Ust i)ray to llanjusri and repe:lt iianjusri 1 s rl\antra ov er !lnc1. ove r o.~ain . Svery da{. he \-lOUld pray to tianjasri and r t:!!)GO. t i ianjusri 's :nantra, 'OH A~! R~ PA TSA ll\ mti, 11 over .-~ nd over '"'.eain. Finall:r his Hife said, "TrmorroH you must 30 into the shrine an~ prostrate yourself before ,.;anjusri, :ray for initiA.tion, and hold out ~rour hand. You ;·.~u st kee,., :,•nur e:Jes closed and t ake Hhatever he r>uts in ~rour hand o.nd er-.t it . He '"'ill t;i ve you t he blessine; here; t.ri th thi3 hlessine you will beco3e tremendousl~ wise, kno~!edeable , r-nd intelli :;E.n t. !-:er hushan.d had n o noui't :'> f this. The next -'o=-nins· :~he !~!.d behind the s to tue of l·ianjusri ar.d uai tee. Nhi le her :"\u s ~)!:'.!ld cr ne ~.n, pros tre. ted hirr:sel r before the s tc tue una. .· r :>.;en re~., , ver,' r .vo tedl:J to l;~njt.lsri o.nd helC. ~mt his h:;.nc, She toolt out " riece of fruit that she :: ad, been che\odng :i. n he!' ~vmth, .-. 1t it in his c•and. He tool: it t'. ~'ld c».te it ~nd i :n; tec:.d "'· tel:,r rec ci ved all the hlessincs of i;anju~ri, 9.nd soon r..fter this ~,ec~..:ne n r;re::t t 3Chol~r and 1iahat'anfji ta, fr:.r.:ed t-hrough':> lt India. In the so.."':le ~·:ay, it is v"ry ~rlpt-I·t- ~·.r.t- fN' t.ll of you to pre.ctic~ without rloubt or Jack of conviction. At the end of tho ~editation session, one r~ditates th ;t t lic;ht ~;ocs out frof.l the heart of oneself a3 Chenrezis end tho whole '.rorld, all senti~nt beinGs as Chonrezig , dissolve into li ~h t ':\!ld is ab::~orbed into one 1 s ovm forr.t as Chenrezig. One 's ~ ~ n · fo~~ ns Ch~nrezig dissolves into light, iz absorbed int":' tho !'iU nnd 1:o.nt::-a at the hea:-t. The lotus nnd tho :1nntrL'. oo.rance or the whole thing o.cnin. Ono concludeo t~e me~~tation prnctice w1 th the dedication of virtue prayinc , Thr•ou: h virtue of thi 3 prnc tice may I no'vl quicl:ly nchieve All- ~eeing One •s r~z"eat stc.te, nnd to this snrne otate r-lf\Y I come to lead
62
cvor.r beinc, not one left behind." And one nl s o prays nftor this n short . ~ raJer for birth in iC""•ti tabha.' s Purelancl.
11i'lcn one is i:rnarrining Chenrezig on ono 1 s he:;td , should ono i ! l~rine hi:'.1 so.J·inG the =-·ian tro.? A: Ho , one rcr>e:.ts the rnantra; it is r.ot necesse.r:r to i ".l&(!ine Chenre=iG o., :,·in[! the nant:-n . Ct,:
Q: Is it batter to say HU1TG or HUl· , PAD; e.:; or PAl'ri3, or are both e.l,..icht? A: !'he e.ctue.l sound ;rou say is not important if it's fADi·il:. o!' PAY; ;~ , both o.:-e alright.
63
TFE SIX
PE~FECTIONS
As all or us now have what we term the precious human existence, we have the best, the most powerful of all possible forms of existence which are encompassed by Samsara. 1his human existence is a better existence to obtain than even that of a celestial being or god. And it is only appropriate that we should take this very rare, very precious opprotunity and make the fullest use of it, make it as meaningful and useful as possible. You may &sk what kind of thing makes the human existence meaningful? What kind of activity should we pers~e to mike the best use or it? 'r/ell, the human existence is uniflue in that it affords the possibility of religious practice, specifically the practice ot Dharma. Through the practice of the Dharma, we can come to achieve not only an improved existence within the realm of Samsara, but we can use it as a basis to begin treading the path to enlightenment. Through cultivation of Dharma practice in this life, \·le can, over the series of lives which follow, constantly s~·ve at Dharma practice and so stage by stage not only come to freedom but eventually to tull and complete enlightenment. . or all the teachings or the Dharma, among the most important are the group which come under the heading of the Six "Jerfections. '.l'hese are important in all Dharma practice but especially the :-:>harma practice which is based on the Nahayana and Vajrayana tradi tiona. ·rhe Six Perfections, when they are applied, constitute a complete and total practice of the Dharma. The first of the Six Perfections is the perfection of Generosity. There are three kinds ot Generosity here: There is the generosity of material wealth, the generosity of refuge or shelter, and the generosity of the ~arma itself. These are the three principal kinds of generosity. And of these the generosity pf material wealth is the particular practice for lay people; tor the householder, his wife and children. The reason for tbis is that generosity or material wealth means simply what one would think it would mean: That is, to give things, material objects to those who need them. It can be directed to people who are practising the Dharma or to people who are tn need , who are poor, whatever the case may be. ihe reason why this is a ver1 good and appropriate practice f0r a householder is that a householder is someone who is engaged in \·torldly activity and because he is working, he is earning money. Because he is earning money, he will usually have quite a number or possessions and if he is to make t!1e best use of these possessions , then to give them generously to gather accumulations ot merit and awareness is a very good use toward which to direct material wealth. Ordained people, on the other hand, supposedly
64 have ab~ndoned t~e world and have v~ry few possessions . So it is h8 lay porson ~ho is in the ~articula r situation to prac tic '; gcn ro~i ty of matel'ial wealth best. \H th regards to ~nterial generosity , it can be directed in two ways: either to the Buudha and the Three Jewels, or to sentient beings. Novz, to offer things to the Three Jewels means simply to prepare on the shrine offerings of incense, lighted co.ndles, flot.;ers , part of the food that one eats or drinks; all of t!1ese arc Jneterial offerings to the Th:-ee Jewels and one thinks, when one places theM on the shri e, that one is givin6 them to t '1e Three Jewels for the welfare of all sentient beings. One can also give CP-nerously to sentient being$. This means simply to ~iv~ food to those who are hungry, to 6ive clothP.s to those who need them, to give Money to those who need money, to giv whatever is needed tq any particular rerson . This kind of pr~ctice is called giving . There t:.re various stages to g5 •ing . There is great giving, which refP.rs to the gift of one's epouse or children; ~nd there is extremely greRt giving , Which refers to the · genero5i ty of one's ovtn physical body, speech and mind . Now, without having sor~c 1:ind of realization, vlithout being a Bodllis:1ttva Hho under~tands something very definitely ::tbout the nature of emptiness, it is very difficult to give one's body, speech and mind properly . These are not things thct l-!e prnctice at this point, but tl-tere are these kinds of generosity as uel • o~~ mq? b ~ curious as to how rne is to Bive away one's spouse or children or hol-T one give : av1ay one 1 s own body. Buddha, before he reached full enl ~ ghtenment in India, lived a series of exist ences which became known as the five hundred pure exi:::tences and the five hundred impure existences. Over these one thousand existences, on many different occasions, he demonstrated the practice of eenerosity through the gift or He3ltl and material objects , through the gift of his spouse and children , and through the gift of his own body or parts of his body on various occasions . There are many, manJ 3uch stories in the Kanjur, which is the collection of scriptures which records the Buddha's actions l\nd ,,·ords. \-lhile t 1.ese have not yet been translated into Enr,lish, the translation of this body of wor~ is currently going on; so it should be within the relatively n~ar future that you will h~ve access to such stories and understand how generosity is !>Nlcticed at this level. The second kind of generosity is the seneroeity of refuge or shelter or fre~do~t from fear. It refers to such action as eiving mcdecino 11nd nursing the sjck, because si ckness and illnes~ not only brine ereat suffering, but also bring great fear in tho anxiety of death. To provide help and medicine to eno.ble a per:-;on t o get better is an example of eenerosity , of refuge or 3holter . Aeain, if any anim~l or being is in danger of losing its life, to create the situation in which
65 that life is ,reserved , that life is saved, is again t 11e generosity of refuge, because death is some thine. that is terrifyine, and to save somebody or some animal from death is again an example of generosity . In Dnrjeeling , t~ere is a Nyingma Lama called Chatral iUmpoche . In that pnrt of India the.r e is a festival on the 15th of every month in which many many fish and eels are eaten. And every year, Chatral Rimpoche rides down from Darjeeling to the br-.se of the l'•lountain , Silagurie, and buys many fish and eels ·I hile they are still alive and takes ther11 to the neareot river f'l..nd :lours them in. This is an example of the generosity of refuge. The third kind of generosity i f the generosity of Dharma. To !lractice t his kind of eenerosity, one explains the Dharna to the best of one ' s ability to t hose who are interested, to those Hho HEmt to hear about Dharma . It means simply ~o explain how virtuous a ctions ar o practiced, wh r.t constitutes un,.zhole some P.ction and ho\v unwholesome action is cont. , 'tted ~ nd how Dharr.Hl and :111 the facets of Dharma at'e pra c ticed. One explains nll of t !"lese things to the lirni t ..,r one's l<noHledge and understandin£ . That's one kind of generosity of Dharma. Th·e second kind is practiced with reference to those l-tho eithe:- can•t understand Dharma or don't uant to listen to it. This primarily refers to .animals who really can it comprehend abstract ideas; one says aloud in t he ir presence , so that they can hear it, such th i ngs as the names of various Buddhas or r1a.ntras, s uch as OH t-lANI PADHE HUNG. or the three kinds of generosity , the generosity of Dharma is the most beneficial. It is the most beneficial because the act of the eenerosity of Dharma pl ants a seed or brings a person or being into contact with Dharma, which is the seed which Nill eventually blossom into full freedom. T~is is n very beneficial result. Generosity of material things and generosity of refuge are very beneficial for the immediate present . ~-/hen they are accompanied by a deep P.nlightening attitude, and a sincere dedic a tion of the merit of such an act, t hey are even more beneficial than Hhen practiced o.,..·dinarily, because they are renewins and deepening these kinds of attitudes in the giver . But the most beneficial kind of r;enerosi ty i s the generosity of Dharma '.olhich gradually will lead many, many bein~s to freedom. There are many aspects to the benefits of the generosity or Dharma. All of you are people who are practicing Dharma, and you are familiar with the names of many Buddhas and several mantras . It is very beneficial for you to be saying these things over and over to yourself, to be repeating the mantra 01 ; HAll! P 1.DHE HUNG over and over !l.~ ain. This is not only beneficial for yourself, but when p e on1e hear you saying this, even if they are not interested in Dharma, it is some contact l
66 on the pnth to freedom . If one is living with people Hho are not int . rl"'!~ted in ,)harM!l. or even who do not lil~e . Dharma the sOJne effe.ct Hill cor.1e Rbout . They "rj 11 hear all of these thin5s, -:.nd cradual ly t he ir mind ~-~ ·11 chan :,e . So the:.. . are man:; aspects to r~~ neros · ty of Dh:!rr.ta . OH HAl! I P.\Di·iE HI.nJG itoelf is eve~~ sp~c:ial m~ntrn, because it cnn help liberate beine::~ \.rho corne :i.ntn contnct Hit~ it in Rn:r .,f four 'rtays: the sieht of t~e mRntrg wi 1 lead to liberation; the sound of the !"lant ... n le · d~ to lil•eration; the thought of the :nantra , ond :llso cont!lc t,· phy:::i.co.l contact with th e tn!'.ntrll , r-.11 of these thinrss uilJ. hel~ an individual coMe to liberation . Practice of t hc~e three kinds of gene~osity -- mate rial things , rei'ue", and Dha::•ma--wi 11 n ot onl ~p help you to reach enlightenr·tent, but ~·ri..ll sil"'lul t'lneously benef:i.t ntnn ~ , r.1any bein~s \lhile you are cn~ll~ed in the practice of r~aching enligfttenment . The second ]"e rfl3c tion is the !)e::-fcc ti rm of morali t y . There ·' lre t :1ree kinds of 1-1nrali ty : there is the mor3l'i t7 of vowing not to do 'lilY moral faults; there is the lllorality of g,thorin virtue; ~nd there is the mornlity which works for the benefit of nther3, of sentient beinss . The first ~in d of morality , moral ity of vows concerning unt-ri1olosor.1e nc i.;ion , rofers to practic~ n[; t ~:-,~ '\bon
67 The se~ond nspect of moraliti is morality which gathers virtue . Tin s opcr~tcs on r.1~ny levels . It refers initi r,lly to the 3 tudJ of Dharma: learning \that is virtu0us and \·t hat is to be rJracticecl . It refers to the contemplation of ~arrna understandine for lnstance the t •·telve links '>f exi:::tl'?rce, so ' th~t one lmmo~s uhy ol"e is rracticin[" Dhnrma and hoH :)1'\-.rna is pr'lctic r:- r . It refers to under~tanding Hh~t is ,: irtuous a ction ancl to brinr:ine; t '1is into one's personality . It also :-efers t0 the culti,Tation of Bodhicitta , uorking for the benefit of others 1 t 1Hl cul ti va ti.on of this attitude and the exectl tion of thi3 attitude . Gener~lly , it refers to all those actions and :.~~pects 0f vh.arm~ ·th . ch hring one into a virtu.,us frame of ~ind , into the ro~lm of virtu ous action . ~he third ~~pect of morality , ~orality which works for the honefi t of t')t;1ors , refers particularly to the d~v 1 opment of cor.me. s~j<'l"' , \" f lC"·.re for all :::entient beings, and the cultivation of tha enlightenine attitude , the onliehtening frs.r.1 c of 1:lind , so th c; t one is un lartakins all Dharn'l practice fol"" tho benefit ?f otl~ers . Through thi s motivation for Dharma "'ractice , t : e ~·telfare of others is accomp:!.ishe~l . "i'ti~re are three .:t::;pects to the perfection of forbear ~ mce or patience . Tho first is not to retaliate or reuct to harm infli~tcd by others . O\ool , all neople t-tho are ri•o.cticinG \:har;11a nee d to cultivate an understanding and a realiz ~. tion of the natU""e of emptiness , a direct re~lization of the fundA mental nature of all phenomena . And while one is ~ursuing meditation , one can be interrupted by other pe~ple; or,
68
forei811 'l.""'d ~J ::n~... ing to ::;orne people, and they will feel that there is no ,os::;ible way thet they can do such a Meditntion; and even if tile:; could do such a J'l'!edi t~tion, it uould be \rery difficult for them to achieve enliehtenAent throueh it. It is very if.tportant n11t t.o fr.Ar the deep teachlnes and the cleep r•tcenir.r;s of Dh--rrn~ : >r~c ticP., but to persevere in t~e meditation •·:i thout alarr.t or rli nl-leartenment with regnrd to these very deep ideP.3. : ;ot-1 t-In C? 1e to the perfection of diliecnoe. The first kind of oili ~or.ce is the argour or diliaence, nnd es~cntially ti1:. s i:; the- ':'!'T1 •)U 't' l"'lf rosoJ.,Jti">n. One J it~rally o..:"T'3 oneself Hi th t'l~' idell ti1nt one i~ f!Oin~ to persevere at J.)harrna practice until one fin'll~. :.- rer.&ches enlit:htePj•lent r2.nd never sheds t l·is ider., neve:;.. r ·:. loo.ses oneself fror•t t 1U}.t re~olut~. on, so ,th at it acts lilce an o..-:r~our to enable one to :.,e r severe through all :d t u:1 tio.,s. · :•'or ins t~nce, Hi th. r ospec t to the •. oundatlonal Pro.ct)ccs, t~c Nondro !ractices, at the beginning or these one C'.rns oneself uith the resolve thnt one j ~ ~ot r;oiPC to t;.ive tho::c up u1~til they are finall:r finished, that no natter hmr tired or diffi cult these practices may turn out to be, one will de all of th.A prostrations and all of the hundred-syllable rnantra and )~eep at the rractice until all of th.e five hundred thou!:!lnd are finally corople ted. ~-lith such an e.r:nour of l'e~•)lution , or.c : ~ractices dilicence . The ~ . cond aspect of dilicence is the dili~ence of fix~tion. I ~ ~eforerce to say prostrations, one starts a session of proEtrations and aft9r about one ~undred one is totall~· exhau!>ted. One just feels, "I can't do anything. 'iell , I've just go .. to take a rest; this is too much; this is too hard ." ·~hen one thinlts, ''row just a second; I 1 ve already re~ol .r".ld th :.~ t I 'r·~ goinG to do one hundred thousand of these prostr~tions. And, well, tiredness is tiredness; everybody i::>ecol'lcs tired. l ·~y objecti ve here is nothinr.; trivial: it is ulti~ct~ly not only for my own welfare that I do th~se, but also !'or the Helfare of all sentient beings." To renew onesel f uith resolution and then to think, "\iell, even thou~h I 1m tired, I :-:1U3t do l'IO~e ," and to sticlc to the prostrations and do another •:m e hundred or another tuo hundred, p erhaps even work up to a th~usand in a session and ju::;t keep doin! these, ove,..riciinp- tironne3s and lack of rnotivat:ion ti:ne and tirne again-this is Hhat is r.1 ennt by the dili ence of fixation . The third ldnd of dilir.;ence i:; dili g ence uhich never turns hack . :\.nd this, aBo.in in the context of the foun tiational !"'lractices , roe:'\ns that ·.· lhen one has COJilpleted the hundred t'1ou:::t-\r.d pros t.r::!.l;ions one rloesn 1 t thinl{, ''Ho." , ~-1ere th')y difficult; I 'v~ fin'l1ly fini:-;hed th em . Pow I thinlc I '11 go out and 6et a joh a nd have a nice time. I 1 ve ~ one that IllUch; that's eood . " Instead of thinlcing in this Hay , one thinks, 11 ili r;h t, l'vo done one hundrerl thou:Jn.r d P!'O::trations. That's cood; that's extr'\c t ~rl so1.1e hene:."it fro1 this hum:tn existence ; tl no\'1 I 3hou1d c\o the hundred thou:;and VajrP.sat tva :-.1 antras.
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And with,.,ut turninc back from the Hhole objective that one has CT·tbarkcd upon, one does tho hundred thJusand mantras, even thouGh they are very difficult and one is tired and fraught ~-~i th :•1uch frustr!ltion. One just keeps going, and after t'1c Nc.ntras are finished, then one does manc1ala offerinGS , ~nd after Mandala offerings, one does r.ru,a llal jor, and aft.er laflla Haljor one keeps going with all the Dharma ;'r!?.ctice , never t.urning b:iclc, striving until one finally ~eaches enli~htc~~~nt . This is the practice of dilige~ce which never turn::; bnck. KoH 1·e cor:te to tho perfection of meditative stability. The first kind is meditative stability which is the procurement of a.rnuse:.tent , Jet's say. This means that one has had some kind of inDtl•uction ~..,ernaps on tranquillity neditation; and one has played Hith t~is instruction, and perhaps gott n to the point t :--. a t mind can rest for a while Hi thout too many thoughts, but it is neither rich nor clear. Or one has just practiced neditation on oneself; this is neditntion which is es3entially the procurement of sor11e arttusernent. 'rhe ne~t kind of meditation is meditation which differentiates excellent meaning . This r11esns that tl1rough the cultivation of tranquillity meditation and insieht , one comes to lmo"'• co&l'les to let the mind rest in it::; natural state: clear, eJ'I\pty and unimpeded. The m.ind is brilliantly clear, lustrous; its cla:i.• ity is extremely s harp, vivid. So one lmows exactly tvhe. t the Dharma is talking about through one's own meditative experience . And this is the meditative stability which best differentiates all meanings. The next kind of meditation is the virtuous ~cditative stability 11 tihich goes like that," if one were to translate it literally. The One-Gone-Like-That is an epithet for Buddha; in Sanslcrit it is Tathagata. Not only is ITlind realized to be .clear, er.tpty and unimpeded, but in this rnedi tation, the meditator and tho meditation are no longer different, they become identical; they become one. There is a complete absence of 3I1'J kind of conceptual thoueht of discrinlination, discriminative conciousness; this is completely terminated. And t 11is is "goine like that" or, in other \orords , full enlichtenMent. Since this kind of meditation is the highest possible fonn of virtue, it is called the Virtuous Meditation of the Tathagata. Uext is the perfection of wisdom. The first kind of wisdom is the wi::;dom of hearing, of listening, which neans that one listens to the instructions in the Buddhist Dharma from a spiritual teacher, from a Lama. ':lhen one listens attentively and understands \olhat one is hee.rinr,, one is practicing the Hisdom of listening. However, listening by itself is not effective; it is n?t sufficient . navin~ heard the Dharma, one must think about 1t, contemplate it. This means to think about it over and over
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aGain, ln,l-:ine 11t it from v:Jriou:: poin ts of vieH, until one clearly undcr~t nr.ds exactly \-that w~3 being said, uithout ar..y doubt, ~ ! i thout o.ny confusion. ~'lhen one has thought about the Dharma to this point, on n has practiced the wisdom nf contemplation . But r.:erely hearine and thinlting by t ~ ~mselves are r..ot sufr·cient . One needs to ~editate upon it; to appl:J oneself through meditation. And this rlle!!.n::: not onl~· to unrler!ltand and comprehend Hha t is being said, but to focus one's attention on it undistractedly so tho.t it becot.es ;')art of one . ~H th the practice of these tht•ee kinds o!" l.zi sdom--hearing, thinking, and rtedi tating-one will reach Suddhahood. These , t hen are the Six Perfections trthich :rou should try to practice in everything :,rou erfection of generosity . \~hen one is list e ninr; to the Dharma, one is sittinr; still, focusing the attention on \1,en in the room, is the perfection of modi tation. ;\nd while one is listening, to understand exactly what is beinc said, to com prehend the uords of the Lamn, is the perfection of wisdom. So , in just listening to the Dharllla, one can practice all of the Six Perfections together. This is what one should try to de in everythi~g that one does.
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G·::HZHAl ?RACTICE
In the course of beginninr:less existence in :3ar•tsara , all of us az sentient bein '· s have been subject to bewilder~o1ent . 1'hj. s suujec tion has enabled us to becol"le subject to the power of the Ha.nifost~tions of beHilrler:nent that ~rise !'rollt ~tind • •\11 of thi!; be::ilce_ 'lent ancl these nanifestations ar:i.se simply fror:1 :~~inti i10t }·noHin~ its OHn nature . rot lcnouing its o•rn nature , not !'Qcognizing hoH it can be controllerl , : ;inn is lih:e the child vlhich doesn't follou advice and discipline of its ~other and just does everything wrong . So what we need to do is to re[ain some control over our mental beinG, over our !•linn, to co1:1e t-:> understand the nature -:>f our r.1 ind; and through thi 3 under r tandine , gain control and .Lull lmd:;l edge of t 1 e nt.ture of our oun cr.istence . !3ecau!jo of this fundai•tental lack of control or limitation of our r.tt:)nt ~ l ::bilities r11any , r1o.ny different for:ns of be\.zilde:-ment and c-:>nfusion arise, and this confUsion and bewilde~w~t is the basis for our emotionality , r e~ctinc with ~. ttt-.chr.tent , avel'si on and pas~i vi ty to everything that c>.ppears before us . This basic eJ"lotionality uithin U3 i:; the Ground for conceptual thinldng, for discursive , conce~ tuC'.l frame of thoucht . 'Al l of this serves only to rei n force our subjection to the uanifesta.tions of our o\·t n bevlilder::lent , and to increase these .l::'.nife3tations and to increase the bcllilder:1ent itsel f. So we need very defi itely a strai~htforwc.~d nethod by whic~ we cnn rele a se ourselves fron the subjection to bewilderNent . Because of the proliferation of belvilt er:lent and the proliferation of such Manifestations which el"lhrace our whole viO. J : )f 1_ ivinc:; and existeT'ce , it is ver-J difficult indeed to terninate nll of these Jolo.nifestations at one til'te , ver"j , very difficult to just stop them from arisin6 , but all of these r.tanifestations of beHilderr.tent l-lhich are rooted in discursive thinl:in0 and emotional! ty are not · the 1.. eal definite substantial things that l-Ie take them to be . All of t!-1.ese impure m=u1ifestations , bt,,ure because of the basic ignorance of tHind , could be turned into pure manifestr. tions , manifestations Without the taint Of Olr'lOtionali ty and discursive thinkinc; . This is a vev~ easy mo th0d . It requires that one understands thot external phenox.tenal re t'.lity ia not reality as nuct"l, it has not the assuredness or peMttanence that ,.,e ordinarily ~ssociatc with the idea of re ~lity; th•t those thin~s which we t~ce to be real have in fnct no intrinsic e;.:.:. 3't ence , theJ are no thines in thell'lzel ves , they a1•e er.tpty; thn t discursive thinkinG and e: totiohali ty :?.re also !lO things in ther.1selves; they are not real thinBS and are in <'S3ence elltflt:r; ~d t'1at all that Hhich see:11s to be so real is , in fact , misleading and in a sense, unreal .
12
To umlers tand :·I ell the idea of ernn tiness ar.d the \lay in Hhich crnptines~ :.:. ::."'~l~.ted t o phenonenal re:1li t:t is very henefici a.l. 'fo cff ec t this trP..n.sforna tion, \:e can beein .,.,i th a conceptual frar.Je of thinking . You lmou that uhen one is tr~;in:_; to t~inlc: a~Jou t the non- sel f of the individual , one ho.s to n" 1':e use of conceptual thinkinE to investicate the nature of oxist~~ce of 3 minr or a self , to look to sea if mind '"Yhthits £'.r..,; c.~cter:linat;e charA.cte r .'.stics such as fortn or color. In the S£'.ne ~:a.y , one uses essentially a conceptual frru11e to question and thinlc nbout the idea t:1at all external cbJec ts \·!ilich are (")ercei ved throueh the senses have only a real c.:istence <:'.S ::terl'!ei v eo ob~: ec ts, o.s appeara.Tlces 'rthich :; rise to 1·1 ir:d , hut other than this ·there is ~o int:-insic r~nli ty to the11 . ~~,l<"'~1 T.'•:lr·~ir-e; ~..J"d ~.:'!.:;.1 ,-nd.: ~.-... d ,._-·i~· :--stan1ine Hhic it co •:es thr:>i.1,3i1 the~e c.nal 'SC"S is , ~r:!nted, conceptual thinking , but it is not un1holes~1e conce9tual thiclcing; it is a very Hhole::oHe ~or:: of conceptual tninl-:inG , because throu.r;h it one i:; learnin~ to underst3.nd the ideas uhic~ r.1al:e up "'ho.t is called the } erfoctio~ of Wisdm. . Also , these kinds of conc epts and ldeas a.re helpinG one to eli: .inate clinc:;ing to re:1lity , cline;ine to substantial existence either of phenome nal reality or of imli vidual re fll i ty. So nll of these ~~inds of thoucht.:J nr·e being broken do"rn 3.nd renoved Hhile one i~ replacin3 tho!l \Ii th fine thoughts about non-substantial reali t :; , ~henor:ten~.l 19xistence ~o~hich arises and appears to be lil;:e a drerun, or like a mi rage, or like fll1 echo • ..\nd c.a,nin, to de velop compassion , one has to rely on conce;'tU:?.l t h.o-.tc:;hts . One thinl~s , 11 All centient beings have been ny not ::cr one time or another throueh the course of be gi nningless :::iDJ.lsartt . All of the::;e beings are suffering so 11uch because theJ do not understand mind in itself is no thinG . This b a sic ig~- orance is the cause of all the suffe ring and frustr t'. tion uhic~1 they tSxperienc e. And this is a verJ , ve!·y terrible si tuo. tion , a situation in 1·1hich suffering and 11 frustration a rise sililply from a lack of lcno~·lleda e. This beins the case , 0ne fosters a tren endous feeling of affection and love for sentient beings . Out of this affection o.nd love develo ; s cor.1 po.ssionate concern. All of t :1is is frDJ'Iled in conce ptual ideas , conceptual thou~hts , but og3.in , one is using t~e~e conceptual thou~ . ts for ~ noble end , to achieve ~odhicitta or the 2nli[!htenin; :\ttitude , nnd they e.re heing directed to holp sentient beines . So these kinds of thouahts ::.re not unHholesot'le ; the:r are not negative in their effect . They n.re tilou[~h to which o.ccw:1uln te a t;rea t tical of 1o1eri t; they t>.re thou ~~hts Hhicil clear a~.,ay nany o'h::;curations and roue - un'rihol e:.ot.lenos s . A third exa:•lple i :~ in one's approach to the 'fhree Jel-rels : the Buddha , the Dharma , n.nd the .. angha . One thinks of the gre"'.t ouo.li ties of Buddha and thinks o.hout t~.em Hi th conceptual thought; thinks o.bout the Dharma and hou the ·>harraa helps , nnd
73 t·rhat the ~o.nsha is l:tke tllld the uay t:-te ;;iancha :;uides on e in t '._c !>!'ac ticc ryf Dharml:l . ~11 of t! tc se , o.3n.in , ~:·hi le conceptu~l tbou s hts , h ~ lp to deepen one's faith , one ' s respect , one 1 a devotion , one's ~onfidence in tho p r ac tice of i)h:?..rnn. ~.n !~ in the possibility of r.chievin~ enlin:• . . teJ"_"nent . An~. t-.3o.in , these concep tus.l th '>UGhts clear O.Wl.J ntany obscura tions S\nd . ~a t.h.er ~rea t 1·1eri t and throuGh such thouch ts as these , on e i s r·i'lle to tranr fo r 111 the conceptual fr :-J:'le of e~ictence from Wh?.t is ~ nvrholes"J!Tle to Hhat is very fine nnUt this , hi) \·till not be able to proceed effectively Hith his pr ncticl) . ~e have & very deeply incr ni ned sense of self nq d we consider ourself to be some thing , ahra.ys cal line this Hhich He construe our ... elvos , ''I , " "I rul"' , ·• 11 1 BlTl doing this . " This concept of 1:! 11 is the basis of enoti.:m ~.lity . It :t s iT' ::"eference to this "I " that enotionnlity arises , that ave•~ sion arises , and that stupidity or indifference arises . All of this leads us f urther into the rlepths of Sru. saric existenc e bec".USe it aive~ rise to unHholesor.te ldnds o r thoug~ t Ll.nt:\ unHhole c one reactions to the ~rorld o.round \tS . In the Vo. j ~"o.yo.na we mal:e usc of concep i;ual t!lOUE::;ht to trc:.nsfor.·• the frone of our existence , so t ·-:at , for in::.t ;mce in ChonreziG ~editation , one consider::; o~eself to be~ deity , to be ~t1 eiwcziG , and to h:~we the iro:~.gined fo!'I : of ·::her:rezig . This forn of Chenrezig is no cor;Jo real , sub3 tantio.l , fles :1cnd- hlood body lilte the one He have no,: . It is a forr-; ~·T 1ich i:; sinul tRneously Oi.J :>earr.nce and emptiness . It i3 no thine in i ts clf , 1et avpenrs Ni th the brilli~.nc,... of a r a inbot·r. ~·/hen one is i :-.t:![;ining one ho.s this form , uell , one is using a conceptual frr:c1e ; one is · thinldn!} , "I ho.ve this for:-t . 11 In speech , one is repe r.ting a ::~ant r a but Hi th the underst::!nc.l ing that the sound C\f the :.m ntra is indivisible frOITl e:~lp tiness . One lets the Li nd rest i n sOJTladhi , Hh.: ch is the nrisine of awareness or r>erceptiol" and ernp tiness tottether , £1.b~olutely indivi~ :tb le . /11 of this is done in a crmceptual Hay , but t he \·Ih':'le fr P.me of concept has chanced so that no lon~er- is it ~r- un: .holes one frame, but one o f r: ure ;.u:mifestations , pure concepts . Aa nne n r ctices this thr ou ~h the concentra tive t-.bili ty of r~ind , through reliance on tl is !'lUre conceptunl fre.:ne , uhet is hcin- thour.;ht of actually co:: es into h.eing , so that one bec o:nes Ghenrezig and throuch thie one re uches Ful l ml i e h ten:·len t . It is ver ~· itnpor t :".nt that ~rou should underr;to.nd there is a distinction to be Jitade Hith rer ard to conceptual thouc ~· t . There ere eood conceptual though ts , wholesome thou ~~ ts, end there o.re 'n:·Iholesome conceptual thou ;:-hts . The unHhol esor.t e ones , the ones uhich are rooted in e1notion n li t y and ienorance , serve to cre a te karr11a which binds us deeper to Sansaric existence '-Ihile Hholesome or fine conceptue.l though ts nerve to loosen t he bonds of S3.rllsaric e xistence and to set us on 1
?L~
the path of frc :::dom . A lot of people think , '1 leU. , thin i!i nll very nice to do tl•ene letwecn the ldnd of thought. There are thou r;h ts Hhich bin~. us dee!)er into Sa..nsara, \rhich do us a lot of h:lr&il. '.:'hore ~re thoughts -.,rhich help to re:r1ove obscurotions, to C3t~er marit and set us or the path to frecdo: !. It is such li~e~ating thoUGhts we need to relJ on. It ho.s only been for e. short ti:;e that Buddhi stn 'hils sprend to .i:.\l.rope P.nd to Horth Atnerica. Budd hi:; t ide:-.s, .?urhlhist ~ro.cticc is so:-tething thnt is rel =-t tively ne ~·t to the :·le3t. ~o :-10 st people l·rho are practicinc Dh .~rr:a. in ~he ·.' est, Hho ::1:-e i n tP.rcsted :tn Buddhism , have not 1.ad no.ny opportunities to meet te~.chers, not hnd many opportuni ti~s to have teachings and to le2rn a lot c.bout Duddhism . Because of t~is there are nr.ny doubts , n3.ny uncertainties i n the rninds of a lot of He:>terner::;. .:: .ne of these doubts are principly laclt of cP.rtainty about tho pmter of k£1.I'llla, for instonce; ;·r hetr.er l:ar;'lll is such. a pol·ierful agent, a relntionship .\·thic!l reall:r doe s ~ffoct the nature of our own exi3tence; ~hether actions real~y do develop into the kind of re sul ts that appear . ?eople often talte the point of vicl't that, " ~·/ell, I cen 1 t see this rel c. tionship; I can 't see ho1t1 it H orl~ s, 11 fe e line that to see sor.te thing Hi th their eJes is to z-ev eo.l that it is n re e l thine , is ac tuall:r taldng place, and not to see it, not to perceive it directly throueh some sense neans that th at idea doer. not e;·ist . And, again, the sarne t-7;pe or problen centers on Btlddha ar.d the Yid9Jlls . People say, 1 I can 1 t see Buddha; I 've never seen a Buddha , and I • ve ne •Jer seen a Yid!lll\ 1 so I don't think the::;e things exist ." If you t ake this point of vi aw , one i s going to have very sePious doubts and problo!'ts . 'i'hi::s kind of problem , this !dnd of doubt is sonethinr t ":lll. t in ver:J pre\'al ent aro.oung t-lesterners Hho are interested in Dhart ·:~ . Rut as I described before , our inability to see such thincs only ir-dice.tes the extent of our ig t'orance, because I c:.e cc::."i bed :1o.r the iY.-:.arr:1aka;a i 3 never seen , one ever se.J s one's e:r.isten ti r.:-li ty. It is realized when one reac hes ii\111 Enlic:;'· tennent , bcco!1ec a Buddha onesel f . It is onl .•: throuch tho tret•tendnus ''~eri t and Hholcr::omencss and the tremen rJous ly deep fnith and ~wareness and the intcr ~c tion of this faith "ith the blessinr; of Enlichterutlent tht'.t mal<es it possible for v ery hir;h level ·~~ocih i::;attvas to come into cont nct ui th the cor.~·\unicati ve t'.spec t of En lie', tenrnent, the 3':UT1bhog~l·~yo. . As for cor.tinG in to contact "'i th a l•!irmanaJ~a:ta fiuddha, such as Buddha !::ihaj(;:,OJI'I.uni , this is s01nething that ref}uires tr cnendous uholeso!'.teness , treJ11endous merit accuJ"'lula ted over r11an:: rnanJ lives and the connection throu~h which this meeting cen take place.
75 ~~e :1re shtpl:J tri thout this Neri t, Hi t hout this Hh -; le so•. oncss Hit hi n u:· . ~/e have mnny , r:tAnJ ob:;curutions ~. nd have :1 ver·J deep funf conditions arc very different from our \.JOrldlj conditions , of course . 'rhey !!\re f ~i th , devoti.on and ;>rae tice '>f the indi vidu!l.l interacting -:t th the blessings ann the !10v1er of FuJ.l 3nl i ; h tcnman t ' of the ~~dam::. . Throuc;h this interaction , one can receive all of the blessi!';gs and 1 ~ noH with certainty· the nat'.lre and being of such Yidans and Buddhas . 5o there is no need whatsoever to ent e rt ~ in doubt si~ply bcicauze the:~e thin~s are not seen . The liloli ts of our ·:isual ability do not define the limits of u h o.t e~ists , of uhat is po3sible . The lirnits of our visual ability are defined by our o\m ignorance . This isnorance pervades our exintence ; it pervades our !"'lent~l bein~ and because of this ignorence , no :tatter ho~·t much \.Je l-tish to investignte and analJze , and thinl~ t=~.'> out l':arroa , ue are never eoing to see d irectly a relationshi p between a certain action and ~ certain result . For ~ re we ~oin~ to see directly a Buddha st~ndinG in front of us or anythi~f like t :1at . This is because of the ignorance that is so prevalent in our being. Take a much rnore liTrli ted example: ;re have , each of us, a mind . Yet 'tre cannot se rl this mind at all and He lmow nothin g about it . This is our p roblem. Or, toke qnother e:;atn:>le l.rith two peopl e: I look at a person , he has a mind, and I hc.ve a r.1ind , hut I cannot see -thether he is thiru:ing a good thought or a bad thou~ht . LikeHise, he cannot look at rne and see direc tl1 ~1he t her I am thinldng a good thou!}h t or a. bad thought . Each of us lmoHs nothin ~ about the oth e r fo~ erson' S rrlind at all . Only the COIIlp letc re:,oval Of all ignorance , or F\.111 EnliGhten.ment , Buddhahood cnn see directly what is happeninG • It is out of t his total clarity of
76 under :• tandint: "\nd O.tvarene:Js that Buddha t e.ugh t the Dharma , describin6 the relationship betHeen action Rnd result and the ·~~~r that Dharma can be practiced. By a;>proachin g the Dharrna and the teachincs of Buddha and the ideo. of cnliE;htenment Hith an attitude of belief and confidence, one uill understand Hhat is being said, and throue;h this understanaing he able to practice what is virtuous , to ab3l1C:on Nhc.t is 1m·rholesome. Thus, accomplish somethinc t ' :at i3 trul~.. neaningful . In the Buddhist scriptures the.t have cor.1e doun to us to the :"~ resent clay, there are Many, T•lany stories of some event n of Buddha's life lvhich reveal very clearly the extent of his kno~rledge and understanding, the fact t :1.c.lt he h~d no i 5nor3nce ~rhatsoever. OT!e time, there \vas a very t-Tedth] ;"~atron of Buddhn naroed Gompo Hho invited Buddha and h~. s attend~~t ~ onl~s to his hoMe nnd \vishod to serv6 llim t-. Y"A!ll . Buddha t.tillingly accepted this in.vi tation; he uith l 1lan:r of h is monks c8Jile to Gompo's home. They · l1ere sat dolm :.t thei '!' places c.nd ~-rare served very , very fine food, o.l'':lOS t t:'. s fine 1:\S the ;>reparattons end food t ha t were served to his Holiness K'=l.rJr.n~o. h~re in Vancouver. After this, Gompo •\sked t.be Buddha to teo.ch the Dho.rr.~a . ~uddha. gave a disc:)urse on the Dharma at t ile end of Hhich he sat Hi th a sndle on his faca . d-:,r.te of his close disciples · such as Shariputro., 1-:aurlge.ly-a.yana, and 1\.nando. bent to~ro.rds Buddha o.nd asl~ed , · 11 Why are you s::tiling? 11 and Buddha. said , "I 1 ve been loold ng in to the past of our ~-r orthy patron here to see \
77 ho..cl heen o. li t tle hit of rice uater ::;pilled on the floor . i!e s 1. i :,ped on t : ~is , and o.s he zlipped on this, he ho.d to ju.tp to 1-:cep his bc.lance and hit his head on e. nnil Hhich uns 3ticl:int:; out of the roof. So his e:dt \T'"'.s ro.ther enbo.:"'rassing. 3verybody thouc;ht it l·IO.S qui tc a.."'tuzinr; , beca~se not only diu he r.ot l:now about the ve c;etables in the bottoM of his bowl , but he did not know ~bout the rice ,.,atcr on t.he floor nor. the nail on tl1e roof. They thought th'tt thi:J Han q i tc sufficient evidence to sho\-1 that he did not have any •.d r c culous !~nowledee . Gompo's neichbor did not much like the event, and he thour,h t of ho~-1 to have revcnr;o . He thought he • d do a sir1i lar thin[~ ui th !=;uddh.a . :5o he prepr-.red 2. fe ast for Buddha. and invited -=-,utldha . l!o\o~ in this pat:::-on ' s ho:ne , the one Hho had no i'ai th in '' tr~ dh?. Hi-:.9.tSoever, there 'Jere tuo \te.·,ts of GCdnrr out . He cloned one off o.nd just outside the other one he dug n l~ree trench and filled it Hith ~rater and covered ~he ..o~hole thing \.zith a hanboo J• at . He contemplc.ted t !1at l-lith a certain ::U~()unt of r;l eo . Then he invited ~~.1dd~a and all of his nonks , seated :-:uddhn. on the throne . Tie server\ the:--1 all food , hut food that had been li~er~lly dosed with certnin poisons. 3uddh.a sc.t doln and gave his blessing nnd all tho poison was turned into eli:-ir . So Buddha and the monks uithout any concern ,,hatsoever just quietly ate the food tnat had been offered to then . The patron rubbed his hands and said , "Ah , t hey've ta.l~en the poi son . " And then he in vi ted Suddho. t o teach the Di1arr.13.; l":uddh~ t!lUGht the Dhartna . After that he shoued Buddha out the uo.y that he ha.d ospecio.ll:r prepared for his exit . :!e thoug:1 t , "They didn 1 t knoH an:,r thing about the poison , they \mn't kno~·J tmy- thing about this trench," nnd he opened t :1.e door. As Buddha carne up to 1 t , he ~l aced his hand upon the ~at which turned into lotus plants and he just quietly 'Hallced .':lcross therr. . This is the ldnd of lmo~rledgP. ....nd a\.,o.roness that Buddha had , his ability to se~ exactly "'hat Has t!-le case all the ti!ne ·.Ii thout anJ confusion . It is based on this kind of exnr•tple of 3uddha ' s knol-rled~e and clarity of a\o~areness that \-le ce.n have conp lete confidence in ltThn.t Buddha taur;nt . This f'at ron later cru e to have groat faith in ~uddha end becrune one of t;he great discipJ.es of Buddha . ihen it cor11es to Dharr.la "!)rac ti ~e an considerinr: Duddha , the .tJhc.rma, ::md tho 5tmgha , the 1-arnas , the !idruns and the i·rotect o rs , the ideo. of 1tnrtlln., "'c need hn.ve no doubt that t!1ese o.re in,ort3.nt princ iples, very im!"ort -'\nt ideo.s , ::md there is no reason for there to be ~ny rlcception in thene idons, and here is no deception who.tooever . These concepts e.ncl for::mln. tions carne throuc;h the ~ircc t , cl eo.r nnd total aHarcr.ezs of _•'ull rJnligh teru•1 ent . One cnn have corlj)lcte confidence, free from any doubt or hesi tat5.on in the efficncy and import of }{arm~. , the 'fhree Jewels , the Three .-oats , etc . •..re can try to exauine these thinGS; He ca.n subject the::n to intellectual inveotieation b~t because of the very deeply
78 ingrained. iGnornnce or luck nf lmowledce, it is going to be ver-;/ difftcul t if not i : tpo:r;sible J."'or this intcllec tual ex~l!ination t~ be ~t 2.11 fruitful. It's not ;;oing to he convincing. ·1'hore is no need for such exU'lination if one can approaci1 t ' C'se teachings \:::..rticuln.r object or (l.n:r thou~ht !> of ~my kind. Jf uno pr~ctices thi::J, one will d evelop the ot&~ilit/ of t.r· &n-1 l U. 1. ' I.:J . Tn ~- he pr-'1r.t.JrA l)r td ~ · .,;:, : l~tPI; ~,n , it ic verJ if.!!') Ortont tho.t ono' r. a· raren ess ~) e brilliant and cleo.r , that tha ob~oct on .;ide ; one ls .Locusing is brillinnt r.:. nd cle£".r, that ~:·are "l eos, perce·-, ti '>n its~lf is oxtrcmely brilliant and clear. ~f r..ne is just resting in n dull stupor in ·1 hich there is no ~ental activity , no clarity, juct still n ess , t~is is not proper and u ll l not be very effective for ..tEH1itation ~nd for the o.tt n im ·.cnt of enliehtonr.10nt . :J: hc atti tU' .e nnr\ iuea td th 'lrhich such n1edi tat ion ts unr.l.e l''t".l:en i:; r.::tremel:,r i! ~p ort c.nt. 1\. p e!"son wh o i c extre~ ! ely a:·1 crc oncl c onscious of the conco!'li tance of 3amsaric existence 1md frustration, fe e ls t~3t there is rothing deoirahle to be c::aino<: fro::t : 1.\1'\ :. aric oxi !3 tence, and that it should be transCOl"dcd a.s quic!:l J o.s po !: s ·! ble, that it !•lUSt bo ti'ancccnded nl)t or l~ for one's o•m welfare, but alsn in ord er to help r-.11 :J cT"tiant oeil'l£P to tho cc:t..,e realization. Beco.uoe of this b!~el ~ en -:l ous drive and Motivation such o. person feels, he puts nsido al ). forP. of \tlorldly o.c ti vi ty, spends hi!l time devoted to r.lcditation , to the development of trc.nquill i ty J.ledito.tion and to Dharma practice." ~uch a person is to be extre:--1ely respocted. This is n very difficult thine to do; it is a very ronderrul thing for a perzon to do. It is inspiring and the one ~·r h o can do it i3 one uho has great internal (!Ua.lities and strennth. On the other hand, the person uho cannot do 1
79
an; physical work , do~s not like physical work , and just \lants to ~it and do nothine , finds that he cnn't ne d itate, ~r can ' t br ~_ ne t h e energy or discipline to !'led i tation , nnrl just sits there in a oort of stupor t.nd does no thine , •··i th no renl nhJsical activity and no renl spiri tual p ractice to rel1 t:'n , just sitting in a dull stupor . There is not :~ inc; ver..r ~-ronlifo!rful about this ; the re is nothin ... to be rospect~d in thio; this i s just n forM of laziness . It is very , very ir.ti)ortan t to unci.ers t ::-.nd hoH :~ uddhah o od is to be reach e d ~.nd ~ou to make the iJharrna serviceable , hoH to '":lnJ:c it useful to ourselves individually , 110\.Z we are to &pply it .
no
IJ.i:: •ORT NCE OF FOUNDAT~O
T$
In mny H~ys Phen soneone teaches the u: ! 'l.r!'l~ '-~d studAnts 1 i stem to t :1c •)ho. r ma. , ' 'os t people lirobably "lrefer th~t evary d ~J rew a~pccts of the tenchin~ should be ex~l). !lined , Hi th ever ir:cre "".sinc pro fund~ ty and Hi th ever inc"!'~'ls.:.ne uonde,.. :me solendor . ~ut if He tM n~: of !oa.l'nin'= about •Jh :u•r.ttl as beine like climbine; c. sta.i:-case , 5.t i s difficult to t~k~ one ctep and arrive t";::!''t .... t t~e top . J t 1 s rery, very dlf!'i cult t·o unders to.nd ohar!tl~ the fir31~ tinte rottn' , so to s p enk. 'l'hi:; bP.irg the c~se, t-Ie have no altern~tive r~'llly but to discuss and repeat the r·tost 11ns c c.nd ir1po:r-tant ~ St ' ects of DharNa ar:e in and a~ain, :;o tba.t one proceeds in one's understantiinr: of Dharma step bJ st,·p . 'l'h5. ::.: i~ A. [H'oce.ure vrhjch \-till insure th r' t one i::1doed rloes cor·!e to t he fullest r:md deepest r •· :~ lizntion . Put , onr:: l•l icht think tlP. t here is sonething thc.t could be qx~l ~ ined briefl y 9nd very quic%ly . ~hy is there so much to lea.rn? '>ihy is there so much thnt needs to l e tAught? :ell , jn the p~st I have t a lked about the four ordinary founrlntions, t :,P. four thouf!h t.s which turn tl ~ e ·, •inli . TI-e se arc foUl' oont e!'tpl::. t i ons . Sach of t~e::;c is a con te .·tpla tion in its Oh'n ri -ht . Jm;'e rml=\nence covers a va::; t ranre of to!)ic:-, ric=>.lir.: :-oth Hith ir1 p ernnn~nce in t '"! e outer phen o:•lon e.l ~ : o:.•ld , i:ll, ~"rnan~n~e Hi thin the indi vicual, iH!' (;r:n=>.nenco in thE: i r.· tcr e c tion he tHe en the irdi vir.unl and l:i s onv iroru ;.en t. . There arc. rllany, :'lan,; nspec ts to ir:r'er:-u:!.nence ?.nd all of t"'es c neec to be understood and used as bases for meeitation them~elves . ~!hen ore turns to the precious ~um P.. n existence 1 so ni fficu l t to oht:-i n 1 t he re nre even rtore r ."'.". 'nifications to thnt contc!"l;•J r.tion . l''or e;=aroJllc , the eit;ht freedons fro::t difficulty , the ten blessings vlhich r.tal(e uhartna p r actice po~si~le , and all the ideas and ~ spects of the human existence \-lhicll l ~elp to ,,,:.:.l:e on o appreciate vihat a rr.re op p ortunity it is . I'bis forr1s a very extensive field of r11editation and thouch t in itself . ';I hen t.te turn to Knrm=t 1 there is much rtore to 1 earn there . For in:.t ::mc c , one h~s to lef.rn Hho.t me:-ltorious l=arrn is, what non- ~sritorious karm~ is, wha t in( iffcrcnt karn~ is , 11hat the various Gc tions are , what the various result~ nrc, all th.e rn:·!ifi c ::\ ions of the results . The1•11 is a .r -;reat dcRl to le arn nbout k a rma nnd 3 ereat deal to cone to understand very, vc-:-y clear•lJ, Vflr"J Hell. Again , as l'er:ards the faults of Sa."'lsnra , one needs to learn first about each of the six re alns of exi~tepce a n d the conditions t ~ at pertain in a.ll of the six ra alrts , and the particular ~spects of suffering which are predominant in each of these renlms . Jo there is , even within the four thou5h ts that turn the mind , a great deal to be learned, ~
81
gre".t deal l:hich needs to be explained , and a great deal Hhich needs to be thought.. about very carefull:r . Tho:--e ~re :•lO.nJ people Hh:-~ think that t 11ere is not much to he learnerl from contemplatin ·: these four t!1ou~hts uhich tur11 t~e Hind; thC'.t nodi tating upon thelTl i:; not ver'J purposeful , not very ~tseful; that to cone to understand cler:.rl:r ~th e:. t these tate c. sin8le instant, but to make use of whatever titne ron ains in ~Jne 1 s life , ho\·tevor lon5 or short , to e.chieve Buddhahood , not on~. J for one::;elf , but in orrler to help othe:-s . Only in the short ti:.!e that ve n1~e in the hU!'tc>.n existence ca.n ,;e do ::oMothine thnt ,.,·11 !'f.lo.lly ho l p others . ~/hen one r.ontet·tplates the faults of s ~unr.'"'ric existence and come:: to ~cquaint one::.elf 1oli th the p o;,~ioili tic::. of o.xi stence ancl the perva.si veness of suffer5.n.'} in all forrns of c::j s t"'nce , r.-no bec;ins to feel t~a t there is o.n incredi ''1 e ~:ount of sufferinc in Sm1so.ra . 7~is is ::;uf~~rinc , which , ·rhen rou roollJ think about it , no one , no sin~le individual could 1ossibl.., tole~~te . It is n..n incredibl ·; po.i n!'ul ~.nd f:-ustr ~ ting r~rr.~ of e::istence . ~lith this feeling and undorstandin8 of the pervo.si veness of sufferir.c , t ite depths
of suffering , t'1e inescapa.bi li t:r of frustration ancl 11iiscry , one reoolves or uilJ. recolve to transcend the linit:: .or SarolS!lric existence , to r each enlichtenr·tent , o.nu to reach
82 enliGhte~~ent not only for one's own sake , but aloo to enable others to be froo fr oM Hha.t is an ocean of sufferinG. 'J.hrouBh app!yinc; one oel f to the con templa.tion o f ltarna.: throueh cornin~ to understand uhat the effects of unHhole3ome action are , what the effects of wholesome action Rre , what constitutes un:.r hole sol'le action, \-that constitutes Hholesome action ; throuch nll this one ~r~duallJ comes to unrlerstand 11o~r J~"l'l::;aric e;d s tence Horl~s . One cnn rNil-:e use of this knoH~. edr,Ef1ot only to h•prove one 1 s position Hi thin tho re~.lm of StU'lsaro. but gr:-.dually to ··take u :: e of lca1"710. throur:h the abo.n.t deal of benefit froltl these conteNplations . The::oe conteJ ·ip latiors ure especially b eneficial in r>rovidinG one ui th the irotpetus and the drive to rersevere in ~a:-na prac t:ee . Until one !'ealizes the staae of one-flavor in J.iah8l1tudra, one needs to contemplate these every cA.ay . After t :1ese contcnplations, tl· e next step 1& to £0 fo r Refuge . The fi.rzt thinB to enable one to eo for Rcl''uge is to understand very clearly Hhat is meant by the !
as bcin.r.· sub::t!l.nti nl entities , there is no possi · ility or ~c!!i~vi'1:: enli ~ · i1tennen t or BttddhP.hood . It is through undt}rs tar~dinr:; tho. t 11henor.1 ena are er.lpt:r , th:l. t t :1cso thin~s Hhich ap;->er.r to us 'lrise j :.!st as appearances do in P. t:i.rea.rn , a.:-e li ~ c nngic, like an echo , th~.t one is able ~o n.chieve ~urld~ahood . Jith the realization of t~e en~ti~ess of all phenonena , rhat hccornos the activity of Buddht~. , of enli~: .. tclll'lent , Horld.T"C ror the benefit ,r sentien.t beings until all bein[' S nre liberated fror.1 the :)azrtSr.l~ic existence , is the c.onteHplntion a.nd cultivation "f love ~.nd con) as~ion no·., . LOVA c.nf co:-;tp ~ s.:Jion , one CF-.nnot even consirler such a tra.d5. t~ on to he t.he l·iA.he. ·a.nn nr the Grc~ t Vehicle . It is bec~u ::;e of the c~t. r.,nn i :.1po rt c rc e , crucial inport.':T'C• • .,r ');,ot:-.:. ~= .::· t;lw•· s~ ar.d c*":'r•'l:-'2- ssion in th e i·~!\ha.,•ana - tradition that ue ~i SC\.:SS these topics o•rc.r nn f o::-·lP tines s 1 spent countless '! cons c~at~ering a ccur.\Ula tions of t.\E:ri t nnd ~·.-mreness , and cl c;;arir;.· "'.uay : ·.er. tal obscurations . So 'lt!e ~·! ho ~re c:"'lbnrking u:Jon tho ~. chieve 'lent of i'\111 Enli 8:htcn"lcnt , need to cl~ ~ r al·laJ obscur P..t ioPs C~ n d to a ccumulP.te merit . l'his ue do through t :-. :inc ref tge, :'rostrations, mandala. offerin~s , confessiorof nn·.:holoso.te k o.rma and various med:l.t!•. tion::; . IT" orl't er to reac h. :''ull .mlichtem.ent , it is nece::;sar:r to cle11r o.~1ay obsc•_w !l tior. s , e~th er Rccurnul~.tion and to receive the blessinss throl: Gll f:.>.i th and y.. r~.y er . ~le heve the ···os t concise ~nd :">o'Hcrftll . ·.co.r..s of d o1.Pc; these prc.c tice s in ::hl:'.t i·re call the found ~ t i on~1 pr~ctice~. It is just to ~ rovide this p repnration 1-1hich is so necessary for the ~chieve :- 1ent of enlic;hten:·:ent , th.nt ~:e need to do these pruc tices no''' · ·/ e s'·10uld Hork as :'lard a::: we can at d-::>irg thmn . One could achieve !·\,11 Bnlightennent thr •)u~:1 t :\c clco.rin~ P.'V1e.y of obscura.tiC'I!1S and the 3 0.th~ring of ·.>.CCUl~ul~tiono, ~'lut it t 11.Jces rath~r a lone: tin e . '1'o nchieve ~nli~· ~ t<:!run ont more quickly, one :-·!a.l:cs use of the specil\1 1 !"OHcrful techniques of the secret po.th of the Vajr ~:;o.na .
frincipally , one rnakes use of th~ techniques or P.nd perfection 't1hich constitute the princi p le practices or tho ~fajr9.Jana . It is thrOU!rh the tro..n~for : Hl.tion of all i:1"lure mc.nifc::tfl.tions into pure l·lt:'.ni fcstations of cnli ,:htenr·lP.nt t !1rou::;h the techniq·u es co.lled ·:.-.rans :-or ::to. tion and l'erfectior. uhich enables one to rP;ach full enlir,l1t cn."Tlent so quic::ly . 1'hesc techniques nre usc(l in the S~ enr c ziB menit~tion , and ell of ~ou will have received the initiation tra.n~ro:rr·1atlon
84 for Chcnrczis l-thich rincns one's st1~e ::un of beinc, the scriptnr~l auth0rity for the text on Chenrezis merlitntion ~thicil provirles the su!)port for rtte.:ii tation , and the ins true tions for this r.tcdi t at ion ,.,hich en nble one to nchieve libe~ ~tion . In order to m~ke meditation tr~lJ effective, it is very im-ro rtant that so=-·te control be enined over our mental f nculties . Ti"is l~ind of control is best cultivated throuch the development of trc.nquillity Neditation , the meditation throuch Hhich the rilind COJ'i\85 to rest peacefully, one p·..dnteur,h Hhich one can estnblish the Mind in tranquill ity . In the path of the sutras , one m3.l~es usc of foc 1Jsi nc; the nind on the emp ty nature of all phenol"lena or on the forM of a ~ud dha or on a partictflt".r thi.nc, 1ha tever it :nay be, on the coming and goin c of the brec.th , for i nstance . Any of these that people f ind conducive can be prc.cticed es a ~eans for brincin ~ the mind to rest , cn~blinG ?ne to r.~in control over the uirection and conccntrati~n of one ' s c.t tention . In the Vnjrnyana there are O.Gain rnPny different technlqu~s . One c an focus the mind on the for:: of a dci t.r, · on the sound of a nc.ntro., o~ the mind in 3~adhi or aspect~ of thP. fo:--n of o. deity , on particular letters -- all of these also ·rill :30rve as a basis for establishing the :nind in peace ·.·.ritho1.1t rlistr!\ction . One needs to pre.c tice this a.nd ac hie ve this 3bili ty until the mind will rest of its own accord and just carne to rest and sit completely still. .ihen one he. s o.chievecl. this abilit:r , it is verj' ~9.31' for ~"' enetrntinG insicht directly into the nature of rttind to he (1e11onstrated . 'i'he Dharrno. t'u1t has be en taught for the past r.l':mth or so , the :0harrna >·!h~. ch nany of you listened to and learned is not shcllow . It has a treMendous meaning; it is very deep and r·rof'lund . It is not 'brief , it i~ ro t just a little . 'i'lleso teachinr;s have man:; rrunifications, r'!!'n~r as;>ect::; l·thich need to be learned and studied mo re and used for objects of conte;,pla tion until they are instil) ed within one. So in tlle ~as t , one has heard , in reality, a vast body of very profound tea.chir~g; p"rticularly the teachinr;s concerning etnptiness and co:>m:>a::>:ion uhich need to be practiced and developed every day to the best of one's ability. If one le:.lrns all c.bout th o:;o thinr,s, anrl. me
85 is not th~ case nt all . The failure here resto with ourselves rts iru'\ viritt:lls . '..fe are not very dilicent 1 He do not c.pplJ 'Jur:-:el ves to )har:-ta verJ hard . It i=> po:;siblo to achieve Full .c..nlip;hter:I.lent in one lifEllti: :e . It is pos :: ible . It has heen shO\·tn by J.ilnrcprt 1 Hho :.: ont cf'f into the :.1 ountains and vii thout ::m~r concern for 1i0rld!; l'lffairS 1 devoted hilllSel f d(IJ ().nd ni r; ~ t tO the praC tiCe or MC~it~ticn nnd the practice of ~1a~~a . ThrouGh trc::e'1llS rJili ;..cncc an(l otrenuousness, he L:id ac~~.eve onl.i,:: ~t.elPtent .:. .1 one J ifetirne . no ne<:li t:"!ted dca.y and ni r:'1t Hithout :.ny l:inc: of cUstra.ction ~·hatsoevcr . Rut ue t~ko the poil~t -::>f view: ~. ~~e.y A.nurs 1 ,oJe spend !!lore than an hou~ or tl-IO on !Jl1l'.l""tla ·1rac:tice, He 1 re ver:r pleased and HO th~n~~. ue've done so~·letltine; nnd vory faH f)f us nre capal J. e of !:i>~""'n5. nc; ;ore t :1.~.n an hour or tHo out of a da:r Hithout riistr~~ ctj. on . 1 .L'he.t is the prohlem rieht th.ere . It ~ is not the f~.ult of the te!l.c:1 ~. nr;s, Pot the fc.ult of \:hat He l<now , hut just Ollr O\·m lac!c of drive or laclc of diligence uhich prevents us fror : r-c~c !1 inc; enl{ ::;: ttcn..~el"'t vcr~r chinG~ ucan, !"'2.t thejr !J i~nifict\nce in , and o.ppl ~f the!'J "'.nci Horl~ ~e.rt.l nt Ci-!'3:-ll"eui:; ~· tcdtt ::. tion , ~o that Hhcn JOU sit ~o:·: n to -:lo it you Jmou ~:~ r. ctJ. : r ·::r;: J:>U .,_ro ~oinc; this ne rlitution, 1'\o;! this • 1 editn.tiotJ i~ done; if .rou hring :;,ur &tin ::-~ t '' l eer or, the I· ecH t . tio~1 ~-:! chout di:tr:•ction, "'nd unuer !': t '\.nd :!ell all 'lf the f ·1cets to Ghenrezig ,,e~itatjon so thc.t ~r.,u lJeco:ne 'ICr".J' f11.ni 1 ~. E'.r ·.11th 1harflla pr~. C tiC e i or if JOU l~ O the fou~ foun d~ti')~~~ ·r c ctices -- in doing the~c thines , one trains the t:ind j r: t'ocu!l.i.n['; on a :::inc:lo ohj~c t and ~oe:; 311 nf the :•r:-.c tic as f'rof,'crl.:r ,o~i thou t any confusion . Cncc :T">U h::n re ce tabli shed this founc1a ti"n of :1h~I'Iifl. !•r'<~ti~..... . t:lti:; h!'. ~i. '! f"" m~r.,..,,,.. rrc.ct.ice , nnd under:;t:1.nd ~ran.sforr.tati.on ~.rd per fcc tion , then ;:ou can he gi vcn : :1i tiation f,:- t!1e si;~ :~oc;ns f)f l!arop11: ·~eat yo3n , cle-:..r lic,ht Jo:::o., .,ardo J Of!~, tr ~J':~re~ence , dreen , nnd ,)ho.nto.t bf)tl:r . If ~ ·o · !'- ~ ve bo"n nble to train J :'>Ur t.lind :::o that it car rr;st C'> . . 1P.';e~~- in tr: nt:!,'-lillit.;• ~·rit"lout M.J •. i~tr :.ctio~ ·.·hSltS?·"'Ver t :".e!" ,;ou C!>."' s tuc :r : iA.h~.;nv1ra t'.nd cone to re~.li zn tlofl i!'l t:1e t~rcc ::;t:o. :o~ or one- T ,intedness , the three :)tr".f-:es n:' a·:!!j•fr •)n-pl!'.y-·.,orc.is , the three 3 ta{!es of one - fl:l'!or , mtc1 the t.hrno st':'.c;('.!'t of l"O 1edi t :J tion; ?r st\lrtJ the nine :;·\no:ts in the U ~ n~ ~hen tr ~ ~ition arrivinc evertunllJ ~ t the ~enlizat\on o1 _. ti-- oe o. :'.ncl . .ah .':'.- .\ ti . All of t L. e3c te t". c ~·linas I co.n ,.. i ve to ymt : d ti~ c. solid r.nd defini tA umler5tRnd.inG of the foun d ~·. t .. ons of ·:nar.,n. pr~c tico . 'fro i>zo!: :;:1en tr"'!..dj. ti()n i:; cssP.'·, d :>.lJ..· o. } i;.rin :::: ~·. trP.dl tion t'.'1~: ~"-~ tra'ii tionally nine sto.gos or l"ine vehicle:) . It is not o.ctuc.ll;r :.;o different frorn the nevi tea.chi! . ~O '·lhich t'..r c those of tho j(D(?;JU , Gelu , and ~.,o.k~rg_ :khools . The:r ar•e cal!.on no\.J ~d olrl because of the tir:te th':'.t they c :o~: : o t-::> fihet , the Hyin{;.ltll) ll tr -:- di tion being the first trr..di ti. n~ t-::> cor-:.e . In bot~ tr~.dit~. ons , tho first tl rce e.re the 'fehiclc of the Sh!."C.v"'
86 of the Rodh:~~ttvas . In the ~cw tcac~ings , t~e ne~t three are the t'1rc :-: lol:er tantrns : the ts.ntra of action, the t~ntro. of ;: no"J:!.ed~ e nnd the te.ntra of J oca . The HyinQ'tapa trc.dition has thrP.e different na.·tes _'or these , ··ut the te~c :·lings a.t the:;e three sto.Bes nrc essert5. all .'' the saNe . I~ the neH schools, +;he last three star::cs are the f~. ther t :~ ntrt:!. , :-t:;,ther t2'."'tra , cmd the non - dual tantrt:'.. In the l-Jine-:ulpa , thc~c t!'!ree n taces l-te!'e c t1llcd i·:'lha , Ani and Ati , so that the:;c ::-.re different na...l e~ for cssenti~. 11~r the ::;a.ne s:rsten '>f te ·1 c!~in g . 'fhe fnther tantra concentrates on devclopin::; the s taco nf transforroHl tion; the r.1 othor tantra conc~rtr~tes on ~ evel0pinr the st~ge of rycrfection; and the n'>n- rlucl t ~~ tra conce~t~ates on integratin 7 perfection and tre.ns f.'.:;,r;.ta.tion toget!'ler . That is for the nei-l schools . In tile old school, the ti,rin~·ta school, i·~aha concentrates on the s tage of tra nsfor:;mtion , Ani on the staGe of perfection , fl.nd 1 ti '>n the :tnte2:ration of these t 1 JO into the sane pre c tice . m1en one builds a house , one fir~t builds a very solid four.rla tion to it and then one can bu ild as r1any stories to the house as one uan t ,s to . There 1 s no point in bui ldin""; a. hr,use uhich docsn • t have a solid found a. ti on . In the sf'.r::e Hay , uhel" one i.la.s a very oolid foundation in Dhe.rrrto. pr ctice nnd under s tands re'\lly l·tha.t one is d"':'inr,, then one ·can _cc..rn all of tho vnrious !Jr8ctices and techniques , and rrtake use of them and app) y . ther·l . Eu t t :'l ere is very 1 it tle pnint in h9.vina this kr.oH~. eclGe and te~chinG until one does have a very solid foundntion . .:;.., .o~hen all of you have a very solirl foundation in o:u:trr.t:'l r;ractice , !mort the fo~ndations o:i' Dho.rma , of meditc.ti'>n, and understand the Chenrezi ncditation , then ·rou co.n r-eceive .i' u~ther teaching in all of these things and in all the as pee ts "' f l)hl.'l.r .ta . The ter".chi na n of the Karg:;ur:o. . trarii ti on r,oroe throuell 'filop ."' , r:. :-opa , 1;arp a , l.i 1 arepa. and many other very h irhly attc.inecl lnllividua.ls . 'i'he special te t' ch5ng'" of the ' .agyupa orc:.er :-.re : t h e ..>ix Y0c;as of lfaropa o.nd l·io.ha:tudra . The trc: : enr~ nuslv- poHc:-ful blessings of the ; t..~fi,jU 1 lD. order and the extro:.te n0 tcncy 0f the t.ecbPiqu , s and teac :L~ l"gs of the r.agJu sc ho ol h~.ve rc cnl t~d :i.n Ha.ny ir; :\:i.viduals co ..tin~ to .:;u11 Enli [ hi;c!~rlent :· r. tho course of this tradition , so much so t.!~:-. t ·1l l :ther :.;chool :. of ::.uddilisr•t in ··.'i be t, :u::.d c::re~. t :-c::;pect for the : : n(L'U!')t , s}stcfTl , os )ecially tho :J:i x 'oc;a.s of F:..ropa "'nd l nho.r.mdro., El.nd c :?.lled the i:3.!3:fU cyste! t "t~e ocean of attairttent " beca tse of the treraendous nu:nbe rs of inc!iv.:.duals H!lo havfl i:tado ''Of?. :1f these tec.chincs to roo.c '1 1•\111 Enl.: gi1. ten mont . :\11 of the cchools of Buddhisz11 in 'l'ibet have their pa.rticu :. . .r :;tron · points . The Golul~pa school "l :::"C cot•l!"letel;: un.·iv:'.led ir: t!.eir pre.ctice of the r>erfection of Illor.?.lity; the :):lk~·apa sc!1ool o.re un::-i val~d in their schola~ tic learninG and th~ir un cle rct~l" ~i n~ of the sntras P.nd tflntras; t~e l!Jin ~.... ap~s are c · :.::-'letely un!'ivaled in the5.r practice or :r1 edi tc.tion nnc1 their- c.!)plication of J.)harr.H~; l!l"d the r.ac:ru;>as arc co:op l ete }.J ·n:"i V !;' led in their a ttainn ent . '.Je ?.re very , VOl":/ fortunate indi vj duals indeed . :Jo rettll:r , if one has the
cHl~. ~:cnce :>. ~cl ho.s t.hc ,'ntiC'nce l\11'~ forcbeo.r ;-.nce , really am! trul :I re~c'l !<"ull ~li~hter.ncnt .
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-,; : .\. ~')erson Na~; r.""inr . to nee his l.e.: ..a to t:ke le.~r ·1rc~ ination :>.no to clo I:. h . c he h · d to cross a hnrc.e r . There , t"le.: ['..: !~ed : ll.'· • f'! '.l.') :; tio~s, ·:1f1l ct"l if he had o.ns ered trul7 ·. !O'I.~!d ~ave :revcntcd ~1ir.1 fro:-1 bein:: r,ble to co sec his La:·1a t" t~i~e ~rd!ra~~on . So he liert in order t~ t ~ ke the vow not to lie . If E."•• 'er::;on r.o.3 vo\..zs , in order to further the :X1ar ·.1e., in it o.lriE;ht to lie? A: In t~!is J·ind of situation , the :·e is un:·Iholeso: c Y.:1r:!a. in n"t kee~i~c the vow strictly , but the notivo.ti~n bch}nd it P.l tcr~ the karr·liC ! ic tul"e . In :-Pfel.. e!"lce . a.rticu"larly to l :inc , ~uch n lie would not constitute dcstroyinc the oriication of o. !a:; :"rtlc ti t . . onEler of up a salta ordination~ l'he act Hilich r\e::;tro:rs the ordination co:.1 pletely is to lie about one's spiritual ettairu~nt or to lie to one's Lruna . This destro:rs th11 orf l :·in,: is t"' 1 ie to deceive end cause injur;r to other beincs . These ~re the worst forms of l y inr . In the fin :J-1 anal ~ sis , it depends upon one's :::.ttitude and :·!Otivation . If oPe is s t~.ncling on ~ street corner .and ore se~s o. person r\Ul!"i '1C pn._s t one o.nd another p erson col"'ling c.ftcr hiM tti th a :nife, and the person says "",-/here did he co?" , !\nd . O\t're prct tJ snre t~=-- t the person is roin) to do in jury to the ,' er~on ~.'ho 's fleeinc;, ther. to s !J.y , 'I 'n not sure; I really didn't 3ee uho t\ent hy , " is helping ~;o:1eonc , :".lthou~h strictly spee.ldr~g , lt is a lie . '!'his is quite a different situaticn . r .cscri be the s ta~e s '>f tr.:- r.:;forna tion r·.nci :'l edi tnt i on? A: !.1"'! -;henrez n :-:cdi t~tion , t~e ::: t ::tce of tr ?.nsfor~ ·o.ti on is :: r'lctice d t h rou~il conceptually i:.1c..' 3jni nc; tiv·.t onesel.f " n d all -:>t~e:- ~ a.ro Ghenre~ .. s nnd have Chenrozic' s :>h:r::icnl fo:~; that e.ll :-:-:>und is ·:1· ntra; :1nd that Jn i~·i , o.·:nrenes:; arc inse ·· c rable frofl'l ~l iP •~ines~ . derli t::\tir.3 in thP. conce,, tuc.l fr·a:·lc::orl.: in thi:; v~•.., ~- ~ .hA .·r c.c tice ol' the ~tRge o f tr e.nsfor; .J~tion . :.. ettir:g the 1:: nrl r~~t i r its natural st'lto , em!· t~r e.t: the cnC. of ;. e·li c"l.t.:.o·,, i:: tho : •ractice of the stage :>f ;Jer fect5on . Q:
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