It Is Impossible to Experience the Result Without Creating the Karma (Page 77)

We cannot experience any pleasure or enjoyment unless we have created some previous good karma. Without planting the seed we cannot grow grain, no matter how strongly we wish to enjoy it, no matter how strongly we expect it. This applies to both good and bad karma, and to happiness and suffering. But neither can we expect a potato seed to bring corn, or an orange tree to grow bananas. The result has to arise from a similar cause.

Karma that is created with ignorance cannot be expected to bring the result of happiness. For example, take the ten immoralities done with a negative mind, such as killing a beast for a sacrifice and expecting a happy result. A happy result is not possible because the original action creates suffering. If we understand these evolutions we will not make a mistake. Sacrificing animals for God is an ignorant action—that mind doesn’t know the evolution of karma, and believes that God will be pleased by an action that is completely opposite to its wishes. Sacrificing other living beings leads to the conclusion that God is selfish, has no compassion, and doesn’t care about living beings happiness. Only such a God could be pleased by sacrifice. This is a wrong conception.

Most people have no idea of God—they think he will be pleased by sacrifice; some people think that temporal evil spirits are gods. They have a different conception of God, one that leads to suffering. But the one who really is God cannot be pleased by this action. He does not want the animal to suffer or the person to make the sacrifice. The nature of God, or holy mind, is something that is living in the nature of complete compassion and love, wishing happiness for all sentient beings, and wishing them to be free from suffering. This is the wish of the Holy One, God, or whatever it is called.

This mind, ignorant of karma, expects rebirth in heaven and a long, happy, and successful life. These people think that if they don’t make a sacrifice God will punish them. Some people don’t think much about God, but they sacrifice because other families do it or it is a family custom—if the family doesn’t do it they will lose their reputation—it is done for greed, temporal desire. The ignorant impulse makes the mind ignorant of karma, even if it is thought that the impulse is a good one.

The Result of the Created Karma is Never Lost (Page 77)

We do not know which past karmic result we have experienced already, so we have to do much purification as well as not create any new karma. An eon is a very long time, and karma is beginningless.

We are so fortunate to be able to practice Dharma at this time. During the eons of complete emptiness, evolution, most of existence, and of involution there are no teachings. In the eon of existence the teachings only begin when life has come from declined from eighty thousand years to one thousand, and as life gets shorter there are fewer teachings. In the eon of existence, the teachings begin only when life has declined from eighty thousand years to one hundred, and as life gets shorter there are fewer teachings. At Guru Shakyamuni’s time the human lifespan was about one hundred, which is when the founder of Dharma manifests on this earth. The great yogis and lamas recognize the present people who practice Dharma as very fortunate to be alive and receiving the teachings at this point in time because the mind now is ready. When humans live for eighty thousand years their minds are not ready for teachings due to the fact that their minds do not experience or see suffering. As the lifespan gets shorter, the minds become ready. Therefore teachings are very rare, so now we are in the time in which we have to be careful.

Having wrong trust in the negative karmas we have created is our worst enemy. Such ignorant belief is worse than any possible external enemy. We are now human due to past karmas created over billions of eons. The suffering result of created negative karmas doesn’t occur straight away so we tend to think it doesn’t matter. Such a view is very limited, deeply ignorant of the evolution of karma and of the teachings of enlightened beings, and is especially ignorant of the person’s own past history. We think, “The result comes in a future life which maybe exists, but maybe it doesn’t, so it doesn’t matter.” This is also ignorant.

In China, the astrological method of determining past and future developed from Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom. But proper karmic teaching tells us that we have experienced all lives and actions, all samsaric experiences—they are beginningless. The astrological teachings only refer to this rebirth and to immediate past and future lives—thus they are limited and selfish. It is better to have confidence in karmic teachings—we may not meet the astrologer in our next life. Also, karma shows us how to stop the cycle of rebirth, which is the best practice.

The main thing that we should remember is not to create negative actions. We must recognize what negative mind is. Then we can recognize positive actions and positive mind, which are the opposite. From beginningless life up until now the whole problem has been our own ignorance of ignorance, our failure to recognize the negative mind. Recognizing this is the end of the problem. Destroy all this by practicing Dharma, saying prayers. When we recognize the ignorance in our minds we can more easily see the ignorant view, and it is much easier to check outside ourselves and solve external problems. Perfect peace depends on internal change—to try only to change the exterior only creates more problems and will never end. To the ignorant mind the teachings themselves, created to dispel ignorance, become a bothersome object. This mind is taking the best care of ignorance.

THE FOUR POWERFUL REMEDIES (Page 77)

1. The first of the four powerful remedies is the faculty of the object.
2. The second is feeling strong repentance as a result of thinking of the suffering results of negativity.
3. The third is doing penance to purify the bad karma that you have created—such as doing retreat, prostrations, building stupas and statues, reciting mantras, especially the Vajrasattva mantra, confessional prayers, reading books, making pujas, and making offerings to the sangha.
4. The fourth of the four is making the strong resolution not to repeat the action in this lifetime—you can’t make a promise for the future lifetimes.

The stronger the repentance, the greater the purification. Repentance is the most important of the four. It makes the penance and the resolution stronger, as these depend on the degree of repentance felt.

Confession is made to avoid the suffering result before it comes. We should remember all the sins we committed during meditation and confess them. Then we should build up positive karma through pure Dharma practice, which is the other means of building merits. We can also pay off karmic debts by suffering illness in this life.

What Causes Karma to Ripen at Different Times? (Page 77)

We have created so many negative karmas in beginningless past lives, and yet we are enjoying the result of the one that brought this life. We could have been born anywhere else as anything. How so? The karma that brought this rebirth must have been heavier than the others, or if it was the same weight it must have been closer to ripening, or if this was the same it must have been more habitual, or if this is even the same then we must have committed this karma first.

KARMA

As long as we are ignorant of the evolution of karma, we are ignorant of the suffering of samsara. To stop it with method we should know how it starts. The understanding of the evolution of karma is a most profound subject, and gaining this understanding depends on meditation. We must live in the practice to discover its evolution within our own experience. But we must gain full confidence before we can live in the practice of creating good karma and avoiding bad karma. We create our own suffering—bad karma—and keep doing so until we develop full confidence coming from deep understanding. Before we can start to live it we need explanations, which come from the teachings of the enlightened one. We should check up on the explanations, live, understand, and believe them. Failure to recognize karma doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.

Karmic Result

The results of karma differ for various reasons. A thought, such as greed, for example, arises and we may suppress it as a result of our conscience or fear of reprisal, or we may act it out. This can occur with or without the knowledge of karma. In all cases the karmic result will vary. There are also different results that arise from small actions done with different motivations. Also, if you tell a lie with a pure motivation, such as the motivation to really help someone, and without expecting something in return, it is a positive action. It is not positive if it is done to help yourself, for example, with the mind that expects a reward.

We can create great negative karma in our lives, but if we then learn about Dharma practice and practice very purely we will be able to purify it.

Shantideva said, “By depending on the human boat one can cross over the wide ocean of suffering.”

The very deep, wide ocean is suffering and the boat that we depend on to cross over is like our present human rebirth. How is this possible? In the same way that a boat is needed to cross a deep and wide ocean, by depending on the temporal boat of the human rebirth, we can escape from suffering. But why is depending on this human rebirth alone not enough to cross over the suffering? Because most human beings die and are then reborn in the three lower realms as a result of the negative karma they have created.

Therefore, just having a human rebirth is not enough to cross over the wide suffering ocean. What is missing? What causes the suffering in the three lower realms is only the inability to correctly follow karma. Lack of faith and understanding of the evolution of karma cause the mind to be reborn in the lower realms. Also, in our lifetimes we create more negative than positive karma and so after death are much more certain to take a lower rebirth, unless we practice more good karma and try to purify past bad karma before its result is experienced.

The only way to practice this teaching by the great yogi Shantideva, this very famous teaching from the Bodhicaryavatara, the only way to cross over the wide ocean of suffering is to observe karma as best we can. In order to do this we need faith and understanding in the evolution of karma, and in order to develop this we need fear. However, it is easy to misunderstand what fear means. Even insects and animals live in fear of death and take great care of their lives, always working to avoid it. However, that fear is not enough for practicing Dharma. Most of us have fear anyway—that’s why we plan for the future, support ourselves, and so forth.

The fear that the religious person needs in order to practice Dharma correctly is the fear that death will come without his having created any good karma, the fear that he will be reborn in the three lower realms not having created the merits to be reborn in the upper realms so that there will be no chance to practice Dharma in the next life, and the fear of dying without making any preparation for enlightenment, before purifying negativity. Such fear is very useful, it keeps the person away from the negative minds of anger, hatred, and attachment. As much fear as a person has, it is that much easier for that person to lose attachment. This fear also makes the person’s Dharma practice pure and sincere—the person who has such strong fear has the mental power to use anything, any enjoyments such as food, clothing, or sleep, in a Dharma way.

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Just as in the example of the two nephews of Kungawo, with such strong fear, a person cannot become lazy or sleepy, has much energy for meditation or for any positive action, wanting to continue despite any difficulty, keeping precepts until death. He handles any problems without care, even hunger and so forth, seeing them as unimportant, small things. Those who don’t have this fear have great difficulty even in keeping ordination precepts—taking them only causes suffering.

People who are worried by no smoking, by hunger, by feeling tired when taking precepts have different levels of understanding of the evolution of karma and different levels of understanding of the fear of death due to their different past experiences. The person who has the knowledge of karma and faith and fear as well has the continual will to follow karma properly—to keep precepts, to create merit—never worrying about the comfort of the temporal life. He works to achieve realizations, thinking of death, and so doesn’t concern himself with momentary troubles, which actually are not troubles for him, but would be for the person who doesn’t fear death and feels that the present temporal comfort is the most important. Even if this person tries to practice Dharma he doesn’t continue, he is not successful, he easily breaks precepts, feels tortured, doesn’t find much interest in the subjects, and gets bored with Dharma. This is like the Tibetans under the Chinese—they cannot even get tea with butter and there is sand in the tsampa. Some Sherpa monks from Tashilunpo monastery said that they worked as laborers and got only dirty tsampa, had to work more, and had very little food to fill their stomachs. They had so much suffering.

There is a big difference between one who understands karma and one who doesn’t—it can make a big change in a person. Even if someone was very cruel and negative earlier in life, if he then gained some understanding of karma and death, he could become completely the opposite of the way he was before—he could become holy, a bodhisattva. And those two people—the one he was before and the one he is now—have completely different personalities, actions, and lives. Therefore, the main purpose of this human life, then, is to be careful in the creation of karma, and to have faith and understanding in it.

The tantric path is the short path to enlightenment. It is very powerful. The person who correctly follows the general mental disciplines, the three levels of the Hinayanist, the bodhisattva, and the Vajrayanist, can definitely attain enlightenment after sixteen lifetimes without tantric meditation. The short path of tantra, however, makes enlightenment possible within one lifetime.

There are many mental disciplines practiced by bodhisattvas to control the wrong conceptual negative mind in order to attain enlightenment. Ordination, for example, includes many mental disciplines—just shaving the hair and wearing robes doesn’t equal mental discipline. Also, there are many other holy beings practicing mental discipline without robes or shaved heads. These beings are not involved in the creation of negative mental actions, therefore they are not creating negative karma, and they keep their minds pure. What is the bodhisattva’s mental discipline? It is to always be unattached to the actions of body, speech, and mind or to other possessions, and always to work for the happiness of sentient beings. This never depends on external changes, painting the body, or wearing rosaries and so forth. It is a mental discipline. If the mind is not involved in that discipline, however a bodhisattva appears it is difficult for him to really be a bodhisattva. Tantric discipline, however, is much higher and more profound.

Which is more important, the comfort of this life or the future life? Is trying to receive peace in this lifetime through meditation positive or negative? It is not negative, because the desire to receive peace in this lifetime is attained through meditation, by following the path, and the purpose of the path is not for this life. Check up and try to see clearly, this question is something you have to realize the answer to—is this desire attached to the comfort of this temporal life? There is something underneath this—it is very important to understand what is following Dharma. Can it be negative? Yes, it can be—try to explain it. How can you attain the path without renouncing the eight temporal comforts? The one who runs after peace never gets it.

You see, we have desire to experience peace in this lifetime by following the path, but this is not negative because it leads to higher realizations. This peace can be developed into perfect everlasting peace. This desire to experience peace in this lifetime is always very useful. The other desire, which does not renounce the attachment and comfort of this life, is negative—it is not attained through the path, it is attained through samsaric actions, through temporal methods, and it is attached to temporal comforts. Its peace and happiness is also temporal and doesn’t last. The result of this desire is trivial, nothing to do with future lives, bringing no peace in future lives, only bringing suffering. This action is meaningless and trivial because it never had a beginning and has no end. Therefore, there is no reason to do it again. If it had no beginning, this kind of action would also waste the perfect human rebirth and would be something that could never be ended, no matter how many human rebirths were taken.

The action of trying to attain peace through meditation on samsara and suffering on the path is meaningful because the purpose of this action is to fight the negative mind, and it brings everlasting happiness. This meditation causes the meditator to renounce attachment and actions that arise from the negative mind of ignorance. The meditator experiences realizations on the path and everlasting peace. This method is perfect because it has an end. The more this action is done through Dharma practice, the more positive it is; the more it is done, the end, enlightenment, is that much closer. Enlightenment is the highest, most perfect everlasting happiness.

The desire to destroy ignorance is positive. The desire for the temporal comfort of this life is negative, mostly causing us to be reborn in the three lower realms. Desiring any samsaric rebirth, samsaric enjoyment in future lifetimes, or human rebirth again for its enjoyments is still negative because it causes us to be reborn in samsara and keeps us there. The positive desire is the desire for freedom from samsara, the wish to be free from greed, ignorance, and hatred. But the desire to be free from samsara is negative when compared to the non-selfish desire to attain enlightenment for the sake of sentient beings. The desire to be free from samsara for the sake of personal peace is positive when compared with the wish for an upper realm rebirth and experience of samsaric pleasures. However, that desire, which is concerned more for the future life than the present life, is positive when compared to the desire for the temporal life. Therefore, the worst desire is working only for the comfort of the temporal life—the person who has this kind of mind is more likely to experience suffering in the three lower realms.

All of this has to do with the amount of good karma a person creates. Any action that is done for the future life by the mind that is not ignorant of the evolution of karma is a Dharma action. If an action is done for the temporal comfort of the future life, it is the lowest kind of Dharma action. Any action done for the temporal comfort of this life is not Dharma.

A person who dies with belief, full confidence, and faith in the evolution of karma has a much different rebirth than the one who doesn’t. Most of those who don’t are reborn in the narak realms, but usually the lower realm for a believer in karma is the animal realm, especially for one who breaks precepts. We ourselves don’t have the mental power to see the evolution of karma, so the examples shown by the enlightened being are extremely useful to help us understand. It is especially important to follow the laws of karma, particularly at times like these when there are so many international, social, political, and racial conflicts, and problems also between teachers and students, parents and children—all harming one another with actions of body and speech, and with the mental action of ill will.

Following karma is the only way to keep each other in peace, from creating negativities. Peace is impossible without this. Why is there so much trouble on earth without choice? Countries keep changing political parties but no matter what they try it never suits everyone. The changes are to prevent suffering but never succeed because the method is not perfect. Therefore, problems arise and get bigger. Again the situation is changed, and again it fails. So many leaders come and go, groups form and dissolve, and so on. At the beginning humans didn’t need a king, leader, or guru because the negative mind was greatly subdued, not strong, not violent as it is now. The present problems were not there: crops grew easily, bodies produced their own light, there was no need for work, enjoyments and happiness were much greater. There was no such action as miserliness, although the seeds were there. People didn’t collect things or make arrangements for the future.

Slowly, however, the negative mind became stronger, growing more and more violent, and so the behavior deteriorated—jealousy, stronger desire, and miserliness arose. As it degenerated more and more, problems came and so a king was needed to look after them. Having social structure doesn’t mean things are better, it means they’re getting worse.

The actual method to bring peace is to follow karma, the fundamental method—no other method can possibly work. In order for all people on earth to receive peace depends on every person on earth following karma, not just some people working for enlightenment and practicing Dharma and then their giving peace and enlightenment to others through their mental control. This would be like three people working for money and filling their stomachs with food and expecting millions of others to not be hungry. But those others didn’t work, didn’t get money, and didn’t get food, unlike the three who did these things. It’s the same thing for thee people who practice Dharma and purify, attain realizations, and achieve perfect peace—they can’t give their peace to those who don’t practice the method. Perfect peace is mental control, and those three minds are completely separate from the other millions of minds, and have different karmic evolutions. This doesn’t mean that the purified one can’t influence others, but each being must work for his own mental control; such control can’t be divided and shared like a loaf of bread. This is impossible.

If two people had the same mind then it should be exactly the same—if one is hungry, the other is hungry, if one is happy, so is the other—the physical appearance should be completely the same, too, because to having the same mind means having exactly the same karmic impressions. Each being’s peace requires each being controlling his mind. To think it can be shared like bread is a big mistake. Mental experiences cannot be shared, the mind cannot be shared—if this were possible we all would have attained enlightenment by now: Since there are infinite numbers of enlightened beings with great unbearable compassion they wouldn’t leave even one sentient being in suffering for even a split second. If there were such a thing, there would be no existence or evolution of karma, and people wouldn’t have to be careful about it. If there were no karma there would be no such thing as different lives, or things like uncontrolled rebirth and death, or sickness and old age. It wouldn’t be possible for all these evolutions to exist, for beings to have to lead such lives without choice.

Also, without karma, coming from the West and taking a meditation course wouldn’t be possible. Everything would be self-existent, evolution would be done by itself—there are only two possibilities if there is no karma. Everything is self-existent, or everything is non-existent. Actually, if this line of reasoning is followed everything becomes non-existent—no enlightened beings, no sentient beings, no enlightened mind, no ignorant mind—because the enlightened mind comes from the purification of the ignorant mind. The enlightened mind is not eternal, it didn’t always exist, but once achieved it is permanent. If the enlightened mind was eternal there would be no such person as Gautama Buddha, beginningless suffering could not be ended, and it would not be possible to make the mind omniscient. Then there wouldn’t be any mind or any existence, because every existence depends on the word; this depends on the creator of the word, mental action—karma. Children practicing Dharma and parents creating negative karma yet expecting enlightenment from the children is impossible. Mental effect in following karma is necessary, and without it no other method works.

Talk is old—realizations are new.

THE TEN IMMORALITIES OF BODY, SPEECH AND MIND.

The result of negative action is rebirth in the suffering realms. This is the close or principal result, the result of the fullness of the sin. An action has object, motivation, action, and completion of action—if this whole thing is not complete we may not experience fullness but go straight to the experience of the result that is similar to the cause. After a lower realm rebirth there may still be some effect of the result of the principal karma to be experienced. The result that is similar to the cause causes the person to himself to experience the suffering of the negative action he did—it comes back on him. The possessed result is living in a horrible or suffering place as a result of that negative action.

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THE GENERAL SUFFERINGS OF SAMSARA (Page 82)

Shantideva’s quotation.

Samsaric pleasures betray us, as grass betrays the animal. We shouldn’t trust these things, but this experience doesn’t come intuitively, it only arises through understanding. The best way to cease our trust in these things is to realise the shortcomings of greed. Thus, we come to see greed as an enemy. We can’t be skilled in using method if we don’t recognize the wrong view—we need full recognition of the negative mind. The best way to check up is to use examples from our own life. We create and live the example, but we don’t recognize it. From the Dharma point of view, we do many childish and pointless things that we think are important. Sometimes we are so blind that we need to be shown examples of the examples, such as the example of having a wound, in which we see that scratching it brings one problem and not scratching it brings another, or the example of being unsatisfied when we don’t have enough to eat and having an upset stomach when we eat too much, or the example of having many possessions and thus many enemies, or having few possessions, and then desiring more.

Despite the fact that we are full of such living examples, our wisdom is so small, our minds are so limited, that we have to depend on someone to show them to us. But it’s not enough to listen to examples, we must know them, understand their nature, and find a solution to the whole situation. Samsaric method provides this solution through the process of recognizing the negative mind and changing it. This must be done through deep recognition, not just by reading the book. The lack of the desire to attain enlightenment is the greatest obstacle to the goal. This desire gives us the energy to live in the essential practice of Dharma. If the body didn’t exist there would be no samsaric problems such as discomfort, hunger, thirst, or problems with possessions—we depend on this body because of greed, ignorance, and hatred. If we eliminate these three negative minds we will no longer depend on the body, but we have depended on these three mental states since beginningless time. If we cut these out, the suffering body will no longer exist. Changing the negative mind depends on meditation and practice of the teachings.

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Meditation three shows the suffering nature of all the realms of samsara. Without realizing this meditation there is no way to fully and clearly understand suffering. As long as we don’t recognize samsaric happiness to be suffering, we are always deluded, thinking that it is true happiness, and this wrong conception will keep us in suffering. It is extremely important to understand these things beyond the level of mere words. What we must do is receive the experience of this knowledge—the clear and deep feeling that samsara is a blazing fire. Without this there is no way to attain the fully renounced mind, however much we may talk about it. If the mind has not fully realized this point, we cannot renounce samsara. It is blocked, nowhere—Dharma practice is difficult, meditation is difficult, and there is no way to attain enlightenment. This meditation is so useful to protect us from suffering through discovering the suffering nature of samsara. Meditating from result to cause and from cause to result are both useful.

Renunciation

If you enjoy samsaric pleasures without greed and with the renounced mind, you will not experience the suffering result. Greed betrays us, as the animal is betrayed by attachment to the pleasures of eating grass and suffers. When we follow greed we don’t think that we’ll be cheated—we think that there will be a pleasant result; but in fact, we are making arrangements for a suffering result to arise. In this way we are cheated by greed. If we understand the evolution of karma and suffering results, however, then no matter how much we enjoy or how many friends and relatives we have, we have no interest in following greed. We see it as our enemy—we think of all the past suffering that greed has caused and of all the future suffering it will bring, and therefore we will not engage in greedy actions. If we enjoy these things, our mind is free from greed and we are capable of changing enjoyments into Dharma actions, using our possessions in a positive way. Then our daily life becomes pure and controlled. We can always experience the happiness of our positive actions, and will never be cheated by greed.

When any living being is attached to an object, he is being cheated by his greedy mind, because that person trusts that samsaric happiness is real happiness, which is a wrong conception. An example of the way the negative mind cheats is like a person who leads others to his death by enticing him with gifts and money, pretending to be a friend so that the victim trusts him. Only when the victim arrives at the place of slaughter does he realize that his trust has been betrayed due to his greed, and the wrong conception arising from it. The person whose mind is well trained in the nature of samsara and has achieved effortless renunciation sees the whole of samsara as a blazing fire. He does not experience even a split second of desire for samsara, wanting only to escape from it.

We are interested in attaining nirvana but the wish alone is not enough. Nor is it enough to think, “Samsara is a suffering place.” We must develop strong aversion to bring about effortless renunciation. This person with this kind of mind sees all samsaric enjoyments as burning to the touch.

In northern Tibet where it is very cold, one boy felt hungry and wanted tsampa very much—he was from a nomadic family. His mother gave him cooked radish instead, and he cried because he didn’t like it. She gave him raw radish, partly cooked radish, sliced radish—she prepared it many different ways, but the boy always thought, “This is radish,” whatever the form, and saw it as ugly. This is the feeling the fully renounced mind has for samsaric enjoyments—no interest, no matter how high the enjoyment, how expensive the possessions, how nice and numerous the relatives and friends—he sees all this as suffering by nature, with a pessimistic view.

Of course the person who is poor in material possessions due to karma is not renounced—this position has to be a choice made freely in order to be renunciation. The wealthy man who lives poorly in the jungle just looking like a yogi is not renounced either. The realization of renunciation depends on the mental decision, and is not something that comes merely by getting rid of possessions, nor can it be judged by external appearances. A king can have fully renounced samsara, and a beggar can be extremely greedy. Without trying to destroy the negative mind through living in mental discipline, we cannot be renounced no matter how much we separate ourselves from materials. It only causes conflict. We must renounce the negative mind and live in the practice. We must know what true renunciation really is. If we have destroyed the negative mind, no possession can cause suffering—we can use any enjoyments, including the body, to help attain enlightenment. The principal cause of suffering is the negative mind, possessions are only the cooperative cause. Therefore, we must destroy the negative mind.

The understanding of suffering is basic to the knowledge of the evolution of samsara. Once we have it we don’t get attached to these realms, we develop stronger renunciation, and we get out of samsara more quickly. If we don’t have the desire to get out we get lazy. Why recognize suffering? The mind not recognizing the suffering of samsaric life is an ignorant mind. By recognizing suffering we eliminate ignorance. Without this recognition we cannot renounce samsara to reach enlightenment. It is the same as if one is suffering from poison—we must recognize it as the cause before we can alleviate the suffering.

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (Page 85)

The four noble truths give an idea of the content of Dharma and what we can experience through practice. To completely purify every single defect of negative mind we should fully realize every single absolute and relative truth, which includes all existence, through omniscient mind. We should attain the two results of the two holy bodies. We can only do this through Dharma practice, following the Dharma path of wisdom and method. All vehicles—the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana—include the paths of wisdom and method. The Vajrayana method is greater than the Mahayana, which is greater than the Hinayana, and the greater methods are quicker. The wisdom is the same. The Mahayana uses the methods of bodhicitta, great love, great compassion, and the six paramitas. The Hinayana does not. The tantric path uses other methods such as the method of practicing the result, which means practicing what will become, as well as many others.

Dharma explains everything that exists through the two truths. All three vehicles lead to the two kayas, therefore they are not opposed to each other, just as sometimes a sick person has to take poison and sometimes take non-poisonous substances. But both the poisonous and the non-poisonous substances are used as medicine to cure sickness. In previous times big business people went to the Atlantic to buy jewels from big ships—it took a long time and they would stop at the islands for a rest before going on. Their island rests were also for the purpose of buying jewels, this was their ultimate aim.

There are sixteen wrong conceptions, and the four noble truths counteract them. It takes a very long time to realize these subjects.

1. TRUE SUFFERING

True suffering was shown first by Buddha, before the cause of suffering, because the cause of suffering is very hard to recognize. We haven’t recognized it since beginningless time and so we continue to suffer. Living beings are too ignorant to recognize the cause easily, and so if it were shown first they would lose interest and think that there was no reason to practice. Therefore, true suffering is shown first so that we will recognize it.

Why do we travel to the East? If we check up in the depths of our minds, the reason is that we are seeking pleasure because we are suffering. No matter what we say our reason is—to learn, to experience, and so forth—the real reason is because we don’t want suffering. This is the same reason we study Dharma. Certainly nobody expected to experience suffering at this meditation course. If we don’t recognize suffering there is no reason to put effort into finding its cause or into following the method of Dharma.

(1) We should also remember that perfect peace is not in the nature of suffering—it never changes.

(2) The whole of samsaric suffering is included in the three sufferings. One sentient being’s suffering is beginningless—we could never finish explaining the suffering of even one sentient being, so how could we do so in terms of all sentient beings? Yet all suffering is included in these three. We must meditate to realize these before we can gain a true understanding of samsara.

(a) The suffering of feelings—happiness, indifference, unhappiness—are also called the suffering of suffering. Temporal problems such as worry and sickness, which we commonly recognize and define as suffering, are easy to recognize.

(b) Samsaric happiness is also called changeable suffering, or the suffering of change. The suffering of change is experienced when we eat delicious food, enjoy the sun, and so forth. Enjoyment itself is in the nature of suffering—if we like eating a certain food and we eat a lot of it, we get tired of it. If we get cold and sit in the sun it feels good at first but then we get burnt. If an enjoyment is not in the nature of suffering, such as meditation, whose pleasure increases, developing perfect peace until enlightenment, it cannot be decreased by repetition. No samsaric pleasure can do this: ignorance and greed only lead to continued desire, leading to repeated action which brings suffering in the end.

Changeable suffering is difficult to recognize since we are attached to it, since we see samsaric happiness as real happiness. We spend everything for the sake of it—body, work, mind—our whole life is spent in this negative way, due to ignorance and not understanding this happiness to be suffering. If we don’t clearly see this we do not understand the nature of suffering or of samsara. Even if we have great psychic powers—flying, going beneath the Earth—it doesn’t help. If we don’t recognize suffering and renounce samsara we are still suffering. There is no way to escape from suffering without fighting, controlling, and renouncing the negative mind. To renounce samsara we must see it only as suffering, not as happiness at all. We must see it as a razor blade. With the mind living in the avoidance of the eight temporal desires we can enjoy the honey, but the effect on the mind licking the honey of those desires is actually far worse than a cut tongue, because unlike the wound it can never be cured, let alone cured in three or four days. This is because it leads to greater attachment to samsara, which obscures the nature of attachment and of samsaric happiness and causes the negative mind to continually exist.

(c) Acting uncontrolled because of delusions and karma is pervasive suffering, ignorance of one’s true nature, which pervades the whole body. Wrong conceptions always exist in this samsaric life. The suffering body is uncontrolled because of delusion and karma.

(3) Connections—there are the principal (creator) and the cooperative causes, conditions, parts, aggregates, word. Suffering, as well as all existence, is void of not having any connection. Many have the wrong conception that suffering is self-existent, independent. Also, that their body is void.

(4) Follows from (3)—depends on the aggregates.

II. THE TRUE CAUSE OF SUFFERING

(1) Ignorance is the cause of suffering because it is delusions and karma. It is wrong to think that there is no reason for suffering.

(2) Sentient beings are always suffering, meeting new problems. It is wrong to think that there is only one cause—actually there are many different delusions and karmas.

(3) Our own true cause of suffering is delusions and karma. Our suffering arises strongly from them and not from someone else’s delusions and karma. Each creates his own suffering—if it were created by some other being such as God, then our ignorance should be God, but this doesn’t make sense.

III. THE TRUE CESSATION OF SUFFERING (Page 86)

This is the result of the true path (IV), but it is mentioned first in order to show the existence of nirvana, and give reason for following the path. Nirvana is perfect peace, the cessation of all suffering—when we see this, we ask how do we attain it? The answer is through the path.

(1) If anyone’s mind and body are tied (Tib: ching wa, means tied in samsara) by delusion and karma. It means the mind is not liberated (Tib: tar pa, release) and the body is out of control. There is such a thing as liberation because there is such a mind, completely.

(2) The mind tied by delusion is the opposite of peaceful. It is suffering, like thinking that sexual happiness arising from the delusion of greed is peace. Such happiness is not peace because the mind is tied by delusion, uncontrolled. This only makes the mind more deluded.

(3) Delusions are not perfect because they are in the nature of suffering.

(4) If the suffering arises again, it has not been definitely removed, because when it is definitely removed it is permanently removed. When temporal methods are used to remove samsaric suffering, it is removed, it arises again, it is removed, and again it arises. Dharma method brings permanent removal—if it didn’t, then Dharma practice would be meaningless and there would be no reason to practice and to receive peace, as suffering would recur. Then there would be no Enlightened Being, he who has the highest purified mind and complete mental control. That knowledge can never change, and can never be lost. Also, in that case the enlightened being’s showing the teachings would be nonsensical work.

For example, a child doesn’t know science, writing, and so forth, so then he studies at school and starts to understand the different subjects better and better, in a more and more varied way, and knowledge develops. A child can learn all these things, increasing his knowledge gradually. Similarly, through Dharma practice and mental purification, we can achieve all knowledge—we can become perfect, with nothing missing—omniscient. We can definitely achieve the holy mind that sees every part of each sentient being, every tiny karma ever created, and clearly remembers each second of each day of each sentient being simultaneously.

We are not like this now, thinking of things only one at a time. For example, we hear a nice sound and listen attentively, not hearing someone talking at that time, or vice versa. When we read a book the mind is thinking about something else. We have such an incapable mind and limited senses. The omniscient mind is never like this, and has no such obstacles. How can we comprehend this? It makes our mind confused to imagine. What is in the enlightened mind is never like this and has no such obstacles. How can we comprehend this? It makes our mind confused to imagine what is in the enlightened being’s mind. And as this mind sees all past existence, the same is true for all future lives. Consider the number of sentient beings in existence, even on this earth. The number of humans is nothing, and animals are everywhere—in trees, in houses, outside houses, in oceans, in the stomach, some visible, some invisible—numberless sentient beings. Yet omniscient mind is permanently aware of each split second of all this existence. Besides this, it is also permanently aware of each atom of all non-living matter, every tiny change. It is permanently aware of each split second of mind of all sentient beings.

If it were not possible to enlighten the ignorant mind, it wouldn’t be possible to educate the child. This shows that the ignorant mind is not eternal and that neither is the enlightened mind. For example, the mind of the being who invented the rocket didn’t always possess knowledge of that technique—he could learn how to do it, eliminating ignorance of the technique. So can we remove all ignorance from the mind, including the ignorance of enlightenment. Through Dharma practice, purification, and realizations this can be our experience, as ordinary education is already our experience.

Once ignorance is removed, suffering cannot return as there is no cause—ignorance—left. Cessation of suffering ignorance cannot give rise to ignorance. Ignorance can cause ignorance. The cure for the sickness doesn’t cause sickness. To say contrary things is very unconnected talk. Ignorance and cessation of ignorance (or void of ignorance) are complete opposites. This is like saying the farmer took all the corn from the field, not leaving even a tiny seed, didn’t plant anymore, and next year expected corn to grow. No farmer thinks like this. Rocks in the field cannot bring corn—only the seed can do this. So for the cessation of ignorance to cause ignorance is impossible. Suffering cannot return because there is nothing to create it in that holy being’s mind. The creator, negative mind, is not permanent. Cessation of suffering means the cessation of the creator.

IV. THE TRUE PATH OF CESSATION

(2) Wisdom is the true path—if it doesn’t go against delusions it isn’t the true path, since liberation is against delusions.

(3) Some beings don’t want to renounce negative mind attachments because they are afraid of losing samsaric happiness.

A. THE EIGHT CAUSES OF SUFFERING (Page 81)

1. THE SUFFERING OF REBIRTH

Even at the time of rebirth there is great suffering, beginning with conception in the mother’s womb. We don’t remember these sufferings, nor have they been scientifically explained—they are beyond the object of scientists’ minds, otherwise they would be in books. But there are such feelings at birth and death and because they have forgotten their own experiences scientists do not investigate them. The “size” of the mind is independent of the size of the body. The main reason we don’t think that the fetus or baby has mind is that we don’t remember our own experiences. It is extremely difficult for us to see others’ sufferings because mental states are so much harder to check up on than physical states.

Meditation three is very useful. Usually we don’t see others’ sufferings and we think that they are very happy, like the gods—to our view theirs looks a very happy life and we get attached to it. Or the poor look at the rich and see them only as happy, and craving arises, the seed of existence in samsara. But if we work on meditation three continuously we will see suffering more clearly, and then we can discover that they are all suffering—rich and poor, famous and unknown, and gods who have bodies of light, palaces, many women, beautiful parks, music, delicious and rich food. If we could see their lives we would be so attached to them because compared to these beings, the richest man on Earth would be a beggar. We can see our own life also in suffering. Then as we see all this, interest in any of it is lost, even in being a god or being the richest man on Earth, because we see that none of it is real happiness and understand it all as suffering. So there is no attachment and no craving for samsaric enjoyments, and so no negative friend or evil possessions can cheat us because the main evil is within our minds, and therefore these cooperative causes are ineffective. If the mind is not free from evil, these things can cheat because they find a relationship between themselves and us—evil friends living in a negative way, having wrong realizations and so forth. Even if someone wants us to create samsaric actions we can see the suffering result that will come in many future lives and we are afraid of creating negative karma, and so we do not follow the negative influence.

When we discover the smiling friend who flatters and gives gifts to be a spy, wanting to betray us, we lose interest knowing that in time he will cause us trouble. We become skeptical and afraid of him, no matter what he gives—the mind is so careful not to get into any problems with him. If we discover the suffering nature, the results of the causes, from meditation three, we will have no interest in being like this. We will think, “If I am born in this condition it is still suffering.” This understanding doesn’t allow us to be reborn like this, as we do not create the cause. We should follow Milarepa who said, “The samsaric enjoyment of the desires is the tying rope (leash) of evil and it is definite that we will be bound by it, so renounce attachment. The riding friend is an evil girl and it is definite that we will be betrayed by her, therefore be skeptical (cautious). The food and possessions are the spices of evil, the homeland (and family) the prisons of evils; if left right now it is meaningful.”

(a) We always think that beings in the womb or egg are happier in there than they would be outside. It is so happy and pleasant there, we think. This is because we don’t understand the experience, and forget our own.

(b) To use our birth for negative mind, delusions, and creating bad karma is easy. But this builds more delusions. It is difficult to create good karma. We always use such a rebirth for ignorance. If our rebirth does not arise out of delusion and karma, we won’t use it to increase delusion, and it is not in suffering; it won’t be used for ignorance, for negative mind.

Taking care of this body as ignorance thinks is taking care of it for the negative mind. Why is it difficult to use our rebirth for virtuous work? Because we took the wrong kind of rebirth, a suffering rebirth , not a perfect rebirth. This is our fault for taking a rebirth created by delusions and karma. That’s why this body is always in the nature of suffering. Even after thirty minutes of meditation it gets tired, exhausted, itching, bitten by insects, thirsty, hungry, and feels pain and so forth. This is all our fault and shows how hard it is to concentrate on virtuous work.

Why is a person always concerned about his troubles and how to stop them? If there are no troubles at present he’s always concerned about future troubles. He collects possessions—clothes, money, and so forth—and then worries that they will be stolen, broken, or lost. All this is also the fault of the suffering rebirth. It makes the person worry about arrangements, and brings greed, attachment, and anger, always increasing ignorance in this manner. It’s difficult to practice Dharma with such a negative mind that is attached to possessions; it’s too strong. The person has to give up Dharma work. No matter how much he wants to practice, he finds it so difficult. To stop future troubles, to not lack material possessions, to not feel hunger, thirst, heat, or cold—even if the person wants to follow Dharma, even if he knows there is a perfect method to Perfect Peace, he doesn’t have time, he spends it in other work. All this is the fault of the suffering rebirth. If the rebirth were not in the nature of suffering there would be no need to build houses or to make any other constructions.

(c) Although in the form and formless worlds they don’t have sickness as we do in the world of sense, they do have death. They also have changeable suffering and pervasive suffering.

(d) The beautiful object is the object of the poisonous mind of greed, and results in the elusive feeling of happiness. The ugly object is the object of hatred and results in suffering. The neutral object is the object of ignorance and results in indifference (taking it for granted by not checking and believing in its permanence and self-existence). The object, a person, for example, that is not the object of greed or hatred is indifferent or neutral, so we don’t check on it or believe in our hearts that it is permanent and so forth, and thus we have an ignorant conception of it, one that is opposite to the way it exists. This is not necessarily a conscious thought, especially since we are not checking. We must check to see its true nature.

These three negative, poisonous minds, which bring the three elusive feelings, make us see objects with the wrong view, opposite to the fact of their nature. Whenever we use the senses we interact with objects with our greed, hatred, and ignorance, and create negative actions. Until we see objects in their true nature, with positive mind, this will continue. Now we can see how easily we create negative actions, making ourselves more ignorant. The whole problem is not knowing how we are using objects with the six senses. We don’t use them in a positive way.

Even just here in this room all this is happening as we look at each other. We look at an object we like, and greed and attachment arise. We look at one we don’t like and hatred arises. Then we look with ignorance at a neutral object. All of this is also due to the suffering rebirth. It’s always like this when we go to town, as we see many different objects. We look at them as permanent, not truly seeing them as impermanent. In the depths of our hearts we think they are permanent—it is difficult to recognize the negative mind; even to understand that it is negative takes much time. Then to recognize each type takes much meditation, study, and practice. It’s not like differentiating external objects such as wheat and rice by shape and color and so forth.

We also see people as permanent, as always the same person, in the same way that we see inanimate objects such as the earth, the sky, and so forth with indifference. Seeing objects in this way, with the wrong conception of permanence, increases ignorance. And the worst wrong conception is seeing the person and the object as independent, self-existent. This definitely causes ignorance to increase: this is the personality of the principal ignorance. And then due to this wrong conception we totally believe that it is true that this object or person is definitely self-existent. If we search for the object of this belief it can never be found; if we make a really deep search it can be found nowhere—not on the head, not on the leg, not on the body, not anywhere. Without going through observation with logic we momentarily, suddenly believe in it as seen. But if we use positive wisdom, the opposite of ignorance, we can never find the object of the belief of ignorance on any persons, atoms, objects—or anything.

That’s why the negative mind is not a true mind. It is wrong, illusive, because to the true mind the object of ignorance doesn’t exist anywhere. Therefore, the wrong object is created by the wrong mind—that object doesn’t exist. On the basis of complete belief, in the view of the object as it is seen by ignorance, every other negative mind arises from this wrong view, and so come the different problems—pride, jealousy, greed, anger, and envy. Having complete belief in the object viewed by ignorance, by the wrong conception of the self-existence of impermanent beings and things, and even permanent things, definitely increases ignorance. How? Because viewing this object, looking at it as it is seen by the ignorant mind, doesn’t make us realize or see that this object is false, that it doesn’t exist, that it is untrue. It doesn’t make us discover the nature of the object. Besides this, it also causes us not to discover the ignorance, the nature and personality of ignorance. It doesn’t see the faults of ignorance, that ignorance is a false mind. We go on to view the object as permanent. In the same way we don’t soon discover ignorance, and so continue to develop it. We develop it because this belief makes us again see the object, further causes the mind to view the object in the wrong way, and causes us to have ignorance. Just as this wrong belief leads to longer ignorance, seeing the object in the wrong way leads to another wrong belief, and on and on. Just as the mind gets more and more used to viewing objects as independent and ignorance as good, not false, as the mind gets accustomed and familiar with this, in the same way it can be turned to view objects in the right way. It can be trained to see that the object is non self-existent, completely empty, nowhere on any of the atoms of the object, it can see ignorance as completely the wrong conception, more and more clearly, more and more deeply as the practice continues, changing the view into the opposite.

Without discovering ignorance as the black, false mind, we can never make our views faultless and clean. That’s why recognition of the negative mind is very important—crucial. It is not an easy subject. Even the explanation is very deep, difficult to understand. We can never change the wrong creation from untrue without discovering the wrong creator and fighting it. To see the object without mistake in views and actions, to see its nature, we must discover the creator. So without changing the wrong creator and destroying it, we cannot correct mistakes in our views and actions. This is because viewing the object is in itself a wrong action. Because of the unsubdued minds, the actions of the body are also unsubdued, uncontrolled. Such a person’s aspect becomes ugly, not peaceful—even a smiling person who becomes angry turns ugly. Fighting and violence arise from the unsubdued mind and its object. Similarly, the beautiful object is the cooperative cause for greed arising.

(e) With each split second life moves towards death, out of control, with no choice. As soon as we are born we face death. This is another suffering of rebirth.

Rebirth From the Womb (Page 87-88)

We think that the mother’s womb is wide and spacious, and that the baby inside is relaxed and comfortable. But imagine animal meat and intestines, and then imaging living inside of it, like sleeping in a toilet. We all came through this but we don’t remember it. As the fetus grows, although the sense of smell is not fully developed, there is much suffering, even when it’s just a shapeless mass of cells.

If the mother is near a fire, she doesn’t feel hot but the baby does as a karmic creation of its own mind. This is not in the mother’s mind, so she doesn’t see it as the baby does. The principal cause of the baby’s suffering is created by its own mind. The mother doesn’t experience the baby’s suffering as the baby doesn’t suffer the mother’s—each mind creates its own. Therefore the suffering the mother experiences as a result of the baby is created by her own mind, her own karma. It’s the same for the baby. Even though the baby is in the mother’s womb she can’t feel its mind, its sensations, or its feelings. The mother does not have the power to prevent the baby’s suffering, as the principal cause of the karma of each is different.

For example, some people, even when with others, see some type of person or animal and feel afraid on sight, but others don’t. This is also a karmic thing, the reason why one gets shocked and another doesn’t. Because the karma of each differs, the creator is different. Thus one object has many different effects—different karmas since there are different creators. It is the same thing with the baby inside the womb.

During each month of life in the womb there is a different evolution for the baby. When it is small, even the element of air pushes the body into shapes—it becomes round, then sort of square when the limbs develop, and the baby feels suffering as if it is being pulled and stretched. The principal cause of this experience is the negative mind, and the cooperative cause is the air.

The baby’s skin is so fragile, a karmic creation that gives it much suffering—it is very, very thin. At first the baby cries a lot but this generally decreases, although occasionally it can increase. There is a reason for the small baby crying so much, but we don’t see the baby as suffering since it’s kept in warm clothes, comfortable, and so forth. We see it as not suffering since we don’t see what the baby’s experience is. There is actually much suffering from the baby’s side but this can only be experienced by the baby—it has its own visions and feelings that bring stronger suffering.

(Page 89)

3. Some people have to go through painful and difficult operations that endanger their lives. Even if the person lives, the body is not as strong as a body that has never had an operation. Some always feel pain when they walk quickly and so forth.

We should remember all horrible sicknesses and imagine ourselves in that situation. For example we can think about epilepsy—it is difficult to cure, has a sudden onset, gives us no chance to use our possessions as we desire, or to receive enjoyments.

5. Separation—of parents, children, and spouse. Also from objects—they become broken, and money, clothes, and food run out. We miss them and suffer. For example, in Tibet one person who had never eaten fish found it so delicious when he tried it for the first time that he ate and ate, became very full, and started to vomit. But he felt great avarice and suffered because he was losing the fish through vomiting, so he tied a rope around his neck. He couldn’t bear to lose the fish he had only ever eaten once.

We should check up our own experiences from rebirth until now. When we do this we will find that we have always been living in suffering.

6. As long as attachment is not renounced there is always this problem. When we hear ugly words about a relative, we suffer. When there are dangers and problems, we suffer. When we are in a horrible place with poor conditions, we suffer, as we do when we see ugly objects such as fire, rough objects, or undelicious food. Depending on each sense there are so many ugly objects.

7. Even if we find the things we desire, there is always dissatisfaction and suffering. Our lives are full of examples of these problems.

Within the three elusive feelings, the neutral object and ignorance lead to indifference. This creates karma, as do anger and hatred. The problem is not viewing objects with equanimity and this keeps us in samsara.

In order for my actions to cause enlightenment I must be possessed by bodhicitta, fully renounced mind, and realization of shunyata. I should think, “I am going to take teachings from the graded path for the sake of sentient beings.”

8. (a) Even in the upper realms the body is suffering and deluded. This comes from the present body that is uncontrolled and deluded, and creates much negative karma. It creates the karma to experience suffering in the lower realms in many future lives. If we can cease this deluded body in this time, if we can cease the continuity of the karma that makes us experience this deluded body, the karma that brings this result, and then there will no longer be the continuity of the deluded body in future lives. Therefore, we must stop delusions and karma in this lifetime.

If the continuity of taking this deluded body is the result of past delusions and karma, then no matter how many karmas have been created in previous lives to bring future suffering bodies, they can all be stopped. As the cause, delusion, is ceased, so are the continual results. The whole of this life, all its energy, should be put to work to eradicate the cause, delusion. This is a very beneficial, powerful action because this one action, the eradication of delusion and karma, can stop all future sufferings already caused in past lives and that will otherwise have to be experienced. Many negative results can be stopped by one work, a very wise work, Dharma work—cutting the delusions, even though they were caused in previous lives and the results come in many future lives.

Any samsaric actions cannot compare to Dharma work—they have no power. To cure even temporal problems and the suffering that even ordinary people can recognize—the gross suffering that can be stopped by samsaric methods—we need many different samsaric methods. But there is no samsaric action that can stop all suffering for all beings. Each different momentary problem has a different solution, but no matter how long we do it, it never ends. There is a method for one problem of mind or body and as we are working with this, another problem comes. So it is never completed and as long as we depend on these methods alone it can never end. For example, the suffering of hunger and thirst is cured by food and water. When we feel cold, we put on warm clothes, and when we feel too hot there’s another method. But even if all those things are there and there are no physical, material problems, we get a bodily disorder and have to use chemicals and medicines.

Taking this deluded body causes suffering in future lives based on the continuity of the deluded body because we don’t try to stop the principal cause, delusion, and the cause that makes us take the body, karma. It is important that we understand the evolution of karma and not be attached to our own body, and also not be attached to taking another such samsaric body in future lifetimes.

It is so clear that on earth and in different countries there are so many problems—problems between rich and poor, workers and capitalists, governments and the poor, servants and employers, and one political party and another. The whole thing is based on money. If there were not this suffering, deluded body that we had to take without choice, uncontrolled, there would be no need for money; but this body makes that need. All such conflicts—killings, demonstrations, and protests—are based on money, which is caused by this body. As long as we have craving for this body, thus creating the cause for it, we get the problems that it brings. Protests, demonstrations, and so forth are not new. If we really check up it is not the fault of the employer or the government, but the fault of each person who followed ignorance, worked as the ignorant personality, and created delusions and karma and so is continually under their control, taking this deluded body without choice. Each of these suffering people created the cause of his body that caused those problems and makes us create so much negative karma. Any problem coming from the body is caused by having the body, coming from the person’s ignorance, the cause of the suffering—it’s inevitable. It is our own fault, due to not trying to cut off ignorance. If there is no body, no money is needed, also no visas and so forth.

Practicing Dharma to cut off ignorance is so profitable. It can stop every single problem that exists in samsara for everyone. Therefore, not spending your time in Dharma when you have the chance is very foolish from the Dharma point of view, but not from the ignorant point of view. From the ignorant point of view, actions opposed to Dharma are wise, following samsaric methods, not trying to cut off ignorance but trying different samsaric methods. The ordinary being thinks that this renouncing of samsaric enjoyments is very foolish, exhausting oneself, destroying oneself. The ignorant and Dharma views are complete opposite. The ignorant mind and the truly understanding mind see completely differently. Why does the ignorant mind think that renunciation is foolish? Because it is an ignorant, unknowing mind, and has no understanding.

(b) All this life’s sufferings, those from rebirth to death, are due to the existence of this body.

(c,d) There is no need to experience these two sufferings if the body is completely free of delusions and karma.

(e) Pervasive suffering causes the other two, (c) and (d). Being in the nature of suffering, the body decays and perishes. The body is like a flag, it rarely stays still, it is always experiencing different problems, one on top of the other. It is very fragile and so easily runs into suffering.

HOW TO STOP THE THREE NEGATIVE FEELINGS (Page 90)

Why should we stop these three negative feelings? Because the whole problem between subject, creator, and object arises through feelings. But there is a solution to stop problems, to make them non-existent—a remedy. Use these methods when problems arise.

Palden Chödag’s Quotation

Attachment to “I” leads to attachment to desirable things and that obscures the faults (suffering results) of ignorance (attachment). We see a beautiful thing and greed is attached. This attachment obscures the faults of the negative mind of attachment. As the attachment is attached to an object or person and thinks it is good, it doesn’t check up. It is never seen as a wrong mind, that causes suffering.

(1) Searching for “I” when there is a problem in the mind is the opposite action of the negative mind, because the negative mind never tries to discover the “I,” never seeks its object “I.” To do so is an opposing action and when there is a problem this takes the mind from negativity—from anger, greed, or ignorance. When the mind is out of this, the problem disappears. Seeking “I” when there is a problem is like trying to find out what the negative mind is, a method to find out the object as it is viewed by the negative mind. When this method is done the negative mind goes away, escapes, and hides, because as we seek the object “I” we cannot find it, and as we get deeper and deeper into the “I” it goes away, becomes invisible. So as the object of the negative mind has gone, the negative mind also goes, just as the person who shows a false object and gets shy when another looks at it, and hides it away.

As we proceed along the path, realizations increase and negative mind can be completely removed from the mind, made non-existent. The person who believes that the way the negative mind sees the object is completely true gets more attached and the negative mind gets stronger. Then all others become unimportant as the self gets most important, “I am the only one—” so strong that one breaks and kills. Both object and “I” are seen completely by the negative mind. So when there’s a problem, suddenly check up on the “I,” anger, greed, and ignorance. This makes the mind cheat the negative mind, brings the mind out of strong arising negativity, and keeps the mind quiet and cool.

What is written must be read, understood and practiced in the mind. The longer the practice, the clearer the effect will become.

Try to discover how the negative mind feels, how it views the “I”. Usually the object “I,” the way we see it, is much more clear and visible when the negative mind is strong, for example when anger or fear are great, or greed strong. The wrong object “I” is easy to see and check up. How do I see “I?” Usually the negative mind sees “I” as the body but we don’t really recognize how we see it, we can’t tell or describe this feeling. It is too subtle and the mind is too ignorant, so we can’t explain it. Ignorance never explains its object of wrong view. The whole negative mind is in the mind all the time, not always strong—it is difficult to say how we view it. As the negative mind gets stronger the “I” gets stronger, the object of the wrong view also gets stronger and clearer to see. At that time we view the “I” as the self-entity, I.

Continuous practice shows the absolute nature of the “I” more clearly; we can see it as a non-self entity and the viewed objects as non-self entities in their non-self existent natures. If we start this method as soon as we see a problem arising, the problem is stopped right away—greed, ignorance, and hatred. Samsaric happiness puts the mind into confusion and so does suffering. Any feelings put the mind into confusion—the mind is never in peace, and always has greed, hatred, and ignorance, seeing objects as permanent and so forth.

How quickly these methods work depends on how strongly and deeply we understand them. Problems can be stopped more and more quickly—one minute a big hassle, the next minute the problem dissolves, existing nowhere, we have complete peace, and we see no reason for the problem to have arisen. It’s like a very active person taking a rest. Even if there’s “no problem” we can always practice and remember this method, because the mind is always in confusion—even when happy in samsaric attachment it is very confused.

So when a big problem arises the mind is well trained in and familiar with this method. Usually, when there is an actual problem the negative mind is very strong, and the method is difficult to use. The negative mind doesn’t have interest in it, thinking, “There is something like this method but I don’t care, what does it matter?” Even if it’s some method like bodhicitta, the negative mind is as strong as Mt. Meru if not well trained in this method, and the negative mind stops any interest in using it.

Sometimes it’s difficult to recognize feelings in the depths of the heart. It’s so hard to see that the object viewed doesn’t exist anywhere. For example we look at a person. (i) In the depth of the heart we have the feeling that the person is not changing every split second, that the person is not finishing, decaying. In the depth of the heart we have the wrong conception that he is permanent, always self-existent. We should check up to confirm if we see things like this or not. We see the person as one, never changing from year to year—the continuity of the person is the same and because the shape seems the same we believe the person is permanent. Even if we feel indifferent to the person, the ignorant conception arises that he is permanent. We don’t clearly see or fully realize that the person is changing each split second, and that he is of an impermanent nature.

(ii) Also, we always see the person as a stranger, whatever his name is, as if he were the whole thing. His name is “Dorje” but we see his whole body as “Dorje,” as if his body were the self-entity, the self-existent Dorje. Viewing him as self-existent is the action of ignorance functioning through the neutral feeling. The more we do this, the more we develop ignorance, making it stronger, as it is opposite to absolute nature. So ignorance develops and is thus harder to undo, becomes more continual, and we always see things as permanent and self-existent. What does “self-entity” mean? Think of, for example “Nepalese King.” We think his total body is King. That person now King has not always been King, physically or mentally, as we believe. Before, when there was no Nepalese population, no His Majesty’s Government, there was no King. Before he received the title “King” he was the same as another person. In dependence upon the population, the title “King” was given to the one worthy of the title. In the same way, by vote one becomes “President—” it all depends on the population. So by this dependence the title was given. Where is the title? The name, the title, was given to him in dependence upon the population and the existence of his mind and body. But our wrong conception always feels as if the King is a self-entity. If we deeply check our own feelings in the depth of the heart, our conception is to think of the King as a self-entity, that he himself, his whole body, is “King,” that he doesn’t depend on the population, that he exists by himself, from himself. In the depth of our hearts we think that each person exists by himself and is permanent.

For example, a porter is one who carries luggage, he is dependent on luggage, yet we say, “He is a porter,” as if he exists by himself. There is the strong wrong conception that a self-entity, “he,” is the porter, without thinking that “porter,” or the title given, exists is due to his carrying luggage, without realizing that the title in dependent on luggage.

It is the same thing with the “I.” The feeling of a self-entity—”I”—that exists without depending on any of those aggregates, exists by itself, from myself, without clearly seeing that it depends on the aggregates, the skandhas. Because of this wrong view of “I” existing as self, the opposite of “I” existing in dependence on the skandhas, the negative minds arise. It is like the door that the negative minds can come through—if it’s open they come. Then we think, “I am so important—” as anger arises we strongly feel “I” am self-existent, not dependent on the aggregates. When there is such strong anger there is such a strong feeling, seeing oneself as so important, the biggest most important thing, more than any other being. There is a strong feeling of the body as “I.” This is also the fundamental feeling of pride.

Anyway, there is no such “I,” King, or porter that exists independently of the aggregates, population, or luggage, no such self-existent entity. It’s the same thing with a house. It cannot exist without depending on the aggregates: when the cement, wood, and so forth are in town, the sand in the ground, the bricks somewhere else, there is no house. Each item is not “house.” Nor is one wall “house.” Nor is the person building it the “house.” Yet our view of the house is of a “house.” “This whole thing is a house,” we think, as if it always exists by itself. We think “house” is oneness with everything in the nature of a self-entity, without depending on components or construction.

Non-self entity (Rang gyi thup pe dze yö tong pa) and voidness of self-existence (Rang shin kyi tong pa) are slightly different—the latter is more subtle and harder to realize.

In Buddhism there are four different doctrines and each presents a different view. Voidness is the subject matter of the Madhyamaka philosophy and was fully realized by Guru Shakyamuni, Manjushri, Nagarjuna, and Guru Tsongkhapa. Their realizations of voidness and non-self entity were as it is in fact, and not like others’ conceptions, which were nonfactual. To fully realize, to clearly see the positive view, non-self entity, and voidness of self-existence, it is so important to recognize the wrong conceptions of self-entity and self-existence, and the views of the wrong conception, such as the conception “I am self-existent.” As much as we identify the negative mind and its wrong view, that much more clearly we see and prove the right conception and right view. Therefore we should study the wrong conceptions and wrong views first. For instance, if we don’t recognize the wrong conception that brings all problems, bad karma, and much suffering, the principal cause of all this, it is very difficult to completely cut off all problems and all branches of the negative mind. Without recognizing the principal cause and without relying on the right method, realization, or on the mind clearly seeing the right object, using other methods only makes other negative minds arise, takes much time, and is far more difficult. Also, it is very dangerous to follow other methods to stop suffering if we have not clearly recognized the principal ignorance that is the cause of suffering—the wrong conception of the true nature of objects. It is dangerous because we can cause more problems by using samsaric (ordinary) methods depending on external things.

For instance, if there’s a person stealing things from this room, killing all the people in the room to stop the problem is a mistake, an unwise method that causes more dangers. Therefore, before shooting it is important to recognize the real thief or we may mistake the object and shoot the real friend. We must recognize who really is the thief, who really causes things to be stolen and who really loses—if we check this in the wrong way and find the wrong object, we can kill the wrong person, and, having used the wrong method, leave the thief in the room. It’s the same thing in terms of checking the mind—by correctly checking we can find the real thief there and thereby cause no danger to another person who is not the real thief.

The worst thing is the wrong conception, the principal cause. He really steals all our pleasures and is the most dangerous thief. Why is this so and why should we destroy it? Because he steals enlightenment, our everlasting happiness, and also other realizations and high powers of the mind, such as seeing all past, present, and future. This wrong conception is the main thief that steals the realization of absolute true nature. This ignorance also steals past, present, and future happiness. How? It produces ignorance of karmic evolution, because without the principal cause, the wrong conception of absolute true nature, of self-existence, there cannot be ignorance of karma—this comes from ignorance of absolute true nature. This causes the person to create bad karma with negative mind so the person doesn’t have the chance to enjoy happiness. It brings suffering in the five lower realms and not even the enjoyments of the three upper realms. We have been suffering in countless times as the result of bad karma produced by ignorance of absolute true nature and the evolution of karma. As time is beginningless, that much we have suffered, not receiving pleasure and happiness—it was stolen by the principal ignorance, that of not realizing true nature. We still create bad karma, which brings a suffering result that we will have to experience in the six samsaric realms. Such a suffering result, the suffering of suffering, prevents continual pleasures and happiness, therefore the principal ignorance, the ignorance of the absolute true nature, steals the happiness of many future lives. This is the worst thing and it is always worth our while to destroy it, to make it non-existent.

If there were no inner, principal thief of ignorance, then there would be no outer thief, and there would be no relationship between them. But there is a relationship—when there is the inner thief, there is the outer thief. Losing things depends on the person’s karma and is created by his ignorance, and this ignorance is created by not realizing the absolute true nature. So this inner thief brings the relationship to the outer. The actual thief is the person himself, and it all started from his principal ignorance of not realizing absolute true nature. He himself is the main thief—because his mind steals, he steals. As his ignorance stole his many good results in past times, so it will steal in the future. As his ignorance steals, so does he. If the action of the person didn’t depend on the action of the mind then the person should exist without depending on the mind. For example, when there is action of speech, talking, arising from the person’s mind, this is defined as the person speaking. As the person’s mind thinks something, we say the person is thinking this or that, making plans and so on. It is the same thing—the person’s ignorance steals, not realizing absolute true nature steals—it steals past and future happiness, so we say the person himself steals past and future happiness and enjoyments. As his ignorance is the worst principal thief, so is the person the worst principal thief.

Why do we say, “This person is negative?” Because his mind is negative (or cruel or generous or so forth according to the quality of mind)—there is no peaceful and humble mind separate from the person. If there were then that person should exist without depending on that mind, without having a relationship with that mind. That mind that we define as peaceful, humble, and generous cannot be the person’s mind. But if that person’s qualities are not defined by depending on the mind, then there’s no way to explain how the person is generous, humble, cruel, and so forth. There is no way for a person to exist without depending on the mind. The mind should not be the mind of the person and the person shouldn’t have any mind. If the person hasn’t mind we can’t discover how he can be cruel, because cruelty is a function of mind, and so are generosity and peacefulness. Without depending on the mind there is no way to define the person as this. As the person is defined by the actions of body, speech, and mind and as this person’s ignorance of absolute true nature is the principal thief, he is the principal thief from himself. He destroys himself with his ignorance as he has done in numberless past times and will do in the future, as long as he follows ignorance. In that case no one else outside is the enemy, no external or outer being can be the real thief or the real enemy.

This is why the very highly realized pandits said in their teachings, “Oneself is oneself’s enemy, and oneself is oneself’s perfect guide.” This is not an easy quotation, means many things, and includes much. Receiving enlightenment has to be created by oneself, as the principal cause of suffering, ignorance, is created by oneself. As one creates one’s own, one is an enemy to oneself. The control of the mind gives perfect peace and everlasting happiness, is created by oneself, and so one is one’s own perfect guide.

Therefore, this person’s ignorance of the absolute true nature of the object makes him the worst thief. To whom? To himself. For instance, without destroying the inner thief that is in our own mind, removing and cleaning, no matter how we try to get rid of the outer thief, animals or people, even out of the country, he can still return after some time. Even though we kill the outer thief it still doesn’t help—killing that one thief doesn’t mean the end to disturbance by thieves. Since the person has karma he has reason to experience the trouble of things being stolen—other thieves can come, people or animals. Killing one thief cannot kill all thieves and cannot stop all people from becoming thieves because it is not a change in mind, it only kills the body of the thief. Therefore, destroying this thief doesn’t prevent all remaining people from becoming thieves, because it doesn’t protect the rest of the people from negative mind—it doesn’t help anything. So it is no good to kill the outer thief. Even if he was killed in this life, it doesn’t even mean that this is the end of my experience of him as a thief. The thief’s body may be finished but there is still the continuity of the negative mind of the thief, and as long as we are both in samsara it is sure that he will steal from me again sometime, it is definite. Killing him only creates much more bad karma for me and the suffering of death for him. So killing doesn’t help, as his mind continues and anyway, others steal, even though they kill or imprison each thief. It is also definite that he will steal from me again, as long as we are both living in ignorance. If I kick the thief out of the country he can still return. And this is the same with any enemy.

So the person who is stolen from has reason to lose. Who created the cause, the reason? He himself did that. Actually the whole evolution is created by him—starting from the principal cause, ignorance, to the result, theft, it is all only created by the self. He should think, “The whole thing is my own fault, I started the whole thing by following ignorance. The whole evolution, including the suffering result, is the fault of the ignorance, my mind, and therefore, my fault. If it’s the fault of my body, it’s my fault. It cannot be my fault without depending on my body and mind; without depending on mind, speech and body, how can “my fault” exist? It is all created by my mind.”

This evolution is really important. By understanding it we discover ourselves, how I am. Every time I suffer I can discover who I am and become aware of my evolution, my own personality. This understanding really brings peace, never allows the person to get angry as he understands things as the fault of his own ignorance. He thinks, “It’s my fault, I can’t exist without depending on body and mind.” The person who understands this evolution sees it clearly and finds no reason for anger with others, however much he may be disturbed and experience suffering from others. But another person who doesn’t clearly see this evolution gets very angry and wants to kill anyone who disturbs him right away, wants to make him non-existent. This person’s mind is very confused, causes others to suffer, breaks things, makes more people cruel, and brings more and more suffering.

There’s a big difference between the two: the person with this understanding is always relaxed. He discovers the results of his own ignorance more and more and gets that much more energy to destroy it by following the path—if he gets depressed, this gives him the energy to destroy ignorance. If he is happy with ignorance there is no energy. If he doesn’t understand karma, started from ignorance, instead of decreasing his suffering he increases it and makes it stronger, causing problems and suffering for many others. Because of his problems many come to kill or to help him. So following the principal cause, ignorance, as it instructs him, he only builds it stronger. He is happy, he who doesn’t recognize his ignorance, if he can destroy the other. He feels happy because his mind is attached to that peace and pleasure for which he could kill the other, happy because that mind doesn’t allow him to practice Dharma, to break the cause of suffering—ignorance. This is derived from his negative mind that is attached to peace. He has no energy for Dharma practice, to create good karma, to stop creating bad karma, because the negative mind is attached to the happiness that comes from killing other beings, and attached to that peace that comes from making them non-existent. So this happiness disturbs him.

Anyway, totally it’s this—without destroying the main, principal, inner thief within our mind, no matter how much we clean, destroy, and kill the outer thief we can never bring the action to an end or stop the thief; there will always be outer problems. But not caring about the outer problems, paying more attention to the inner, the worst thief, and trying to destroy it by following the holy path shown by the holy beings is the wisest way to end outer enemies and inner problems, the thief of ignorance. Destroying the inner thief is one action. Since by following the path we completely destroy the inner thief, ignorance, there is no reason for the existence of the outer thief or enemy of that person, and no reason to experience the suffering result. Without creating the cause we cannot experience the result. There is no such evolution that can make this happen, the result cannot come without cause—such a thing is not possible.

If we want to cease the temporal outer problems, the quick way, the complete way, the only way is to destroy ignorance. The only method that will bring this about is the method of Dharma practice and mental control—no outer method can do so. Mental control requires practice, it doesn’t suddenly happen and cannot be attained through chemicals, wearing beautiful clothes, or eating delicious food. The way to attain mental control is to practice, and that practice has to be the opposite of the action that is only done for the temporal comforts. Besides this, it should be against and the opposite of the samsaric action. Complete mental control depends on practice. What practice? The practice of training in mental control, trying to control the mind and transform it from negativity. Controlling the negative mind depends on method. We ourselves don’t have the understanding of the method. We are not born with it. Rather, the method has to be explained, and depends on the teachings as they were taught by the holy beings who went through it.

Generally, there are 84,000 teachings that were shown by Guru Shakyamuni, but these can be made fewer through the presentation of the Graded Path or these meditations. Even if we are not concerned about enlightenment, nirvana, and so forth, it is necessary to practice these meditations since we want to avoid temporal suffering such as theft and so forth. Even people who don’t care about past and future lives at the very least don’t want to have their pleasures stolen and so on, so they too must practice these meditations. There is no method other than Dharma to stop suffering completely. Within Dharma there are so many methods of practice dependent upon the person’s skill and understanding. If the skill and understanding is limited, however, he finds it difficult to control the negative mind when there is a problem, and due to his lack of skill and understanding the problem he only creates new and bigger problems.

All ignorant sentient beings have the conception of “I,” always thinking of “self” and “I” as the most important. This is the object of all feelings. We have a strong feeling from the heart combined with a view of self-existence, independence, not depending on anything. From this conception comes attachment. This “I” sees other objects as desirable or not desirable for self comfort and sees objects on the basis of independent self-existence. The attachment to objects causes us to ignore the shortcomings of greed and of attachment itself. The function of greed is to ignore the attachment, and the attachment is self-perpetuating. Meditate on greed—how it sees objects in the wrong view and causes us to discriminate. When we see objects as dependent on mind we are closer to knowing the mind.

If we are not attached there is no attachment, and all the negative parts diminish. But by destroying the negative mind we do not cease the whole mind, as the cup still remains after we have cleaned the dirt from it. Understand that greed causes anger and many other negative minds by discriminating—we view the one who disturbs our comfort as an enemy, we get jealous, and we fight. The “I” only makes us more ignorant.

See the object in dependence and yourself in dependence—without mind they cannot exist. Think, “Without my mind the flower in my view cannot exist.” Without the seed, stem, petals, and without the elements, it cannot exist. What I call a flower is just a word—the seed isn’t called “ a flower,” nor is the stem, the leaf, or the petal. The flower came from the seed. “Flower” is an English word, it is not what we see before us, it depends on many things. This is just one example. Another is, say, “bread.” Before made into its shape the bread doesn’t exist—it is dependent on ground wheat, flour, water, and so forth. We thought of making it, we thought of the word—it depends on the mind, it also is dependent.

(2) Think of the shortcomings of feeling—when we see the negative mind in action we should react in the same way as we do when we see a fire and know it burns. Doing so depends on the deep understanding of the early meditations, but even if we have this it’s difficult. However, our practice must be strong—if it is not it won’t shake the negative mind, for this too is very strong. The negative mind says, “It doesn’t matter, do it,” or “forget the method.”

Remembering the past and future faults of negative mind is in accordance with the person’s understanding of the Dharma. The seed shown here can be greatly amplified. Anytime we have a problem we should think of it in these terms.

(3) Changing the aspect. What we should renounce is the mind, not the object, so we should play with the mind in order to not cause ourselves problems. Cheating and playing tricks on the negative mind is a very useful practice so problems don’t arise. For example, greed arises since it sees the object as beautiful and gets attached or wants to enjoy it. If we make the object look ugly to the mind we can overcome greed—such as changing food to kaka. This is a method to keep the mind in peace, away from the senses, and to stop negative mind.

(5) This is not nearly such a high method as the above and is best to apply to the momentary problems of anger and greed. Stone or wood can’t have such feelings. It is the lowest method but it stops the problems between two people. However it is also a bodhisattva’s practice to cheat the negative mind and give the person with whom one is in conflict time to relax. We cheat the negative mind as we cheat a dangerous tiger that will destroy us—and yet the tiger is not as dangerous as the negative mind, because it can only eat the body, not the mind. The negative mind, however, destroys this life and many future lives; it is much more dangerous than anything else because all outer dangers arise due to negative mind. Therefore the best way to protect ourselves is to protect from negative mind. Protection from outside dangers is not wise if it is the only method, because such actions can never end.

(6) As shown, this method is not really necessary and generally is the same as number three. There are not enough details given and it is possible to make mistake.

USING THESE METHODS

Keeping the medicine in the box doesn’t cure the sickness—you must take the medicine in order to have this result. In the same way you must practice these methods to find out how they solve problems, to gain the experience of their help. It is no good to just read the words—this is like listening to music. You should make your own experiments to see what effect they have on the mind, what they bring into the mind, and how they solve problems without harming a single sentient being. It is a method that is only within your own mind and destroys the creator of your own mind. This has nothing to do with physical actions. So many other methods are made to bring peace on earth but they harm many insects or people. For perfect peace to arise, however, you need not harm a single being. You have the Enlightened Being’s method, the method of the omniscient mind, the perfect guide—all practiced within the mind. If an action harms another being it is not the way to enlightenment and in fact is opposite to the Enlightened Being’s method. He himself achieved perfect peace and showed the method to bring it about without harming any single sentient being.

These methods are not something that can be learnt in just one month. The purpose of the meditations is to get us out of suffering and help us gradually through continuous practice. The methods should be used whenever problems arise, to stop problems, find solutions, and to keep our mind and the minds of others in peace, not creating more bad karma. As our problems cannot be ceased in a month or a day, so we have to depend on methods for as long as problems continue to arise if we do not desire suffering. So these meditations are something for which we are working, something that helps until we finish receiving enlightenment, until we are completely out of suffering. These meditations are very useful, effective, and beneficial to ourselves and to other beings, and are to be practiced until we cease our problems. To complete the practice of these meditations in a month, you should have achieved mental control within one month, and be completely out of problems. That depends on the experience of these meditations, which in turn depends on understanding, which in turn depends on practice and training. To train, you should know the subject matter. It is very difficult to know the entire subject matter in one month. Therefore, there is no way to complete the whole experience in a month.