Practicing Bodhicitta (Audio and Unedited Transcripts)

By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche
(Archive #1072)

A teaching on how to use depression and other problems to develop the good heart, given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Deer Park, Madison in July, 1999. Click here to read the edited transcript.  

How to Use Depression to Develop Compassion

…relation. There is a relating to individual your own cases, and relating to country, way of applying this, if you are leader of a country. So the base is very wide. So like that. So one can understand from His Holiness’s explanation still applying this Mahayana teaching into that situation, that which involves many millions of people’s happiness.

So which means by analyzing, for the happiness of others, now here, many millions of people, their happiness, so then to get independence or freedom for that. So it’s for others. It’s not His Holiness’s own case, it’s not his own benefit, for others.

So the reason to offer victory to others and to take the loss on oneself, the basic reason is that: because all the sufferings came from the I, came from the ego, came from the I, all the happiness, all the good things came from others, as I mentioned before. So that’s the basic reason why this practice is advised to do.

Besides, this becomes naturally creating good karma, arrangement for the future lives, arrangement for future, your happiness, naturally, even you don’t think, to not happen loss in the future, it helps to not happen loss in the future, to have victory in the future. Without thinking that, just with good heart, offering victory to others, taking loss on oneself, then naturally it takes care your future happiness, security. Your future security and happiness, it becomes preparation for that. Just talking about in the sense of karma, by doing this practice, so it fulfills many things. Of course, basically what Buddha advised, the essential practice to not harm others and to benefit others, so basic practice is that. Because otherwise, what others want is happiness, how precious and how important it is, the other sentient being and then what the other sentient being wants is happiness and what the other sentient being doesn’t want is suffering.

So anyway, to come back: so even one sentient being is so precious, kind like this, so like this, now every sentient being is also most precious one in my life, so now similarize all the rest the same. Try to cover your feeling of the most precious, generate with everyone. How wonderful it is if I can experience all their suffering, all their depression, those sentient beings who have karma to experience depression in the future, I experience, I the one person experience all this and let them have all the happiness, up to enlightenment, so how wonderful is this.

Here I gave the reasons in the introduction, so by thinking of this essential reason, then one do meditation taking other sentient beings’ sufferings particularly the depression on oneself. [pause] In the form of smoke or pollution, so normally what is explained as you breathe in through the nostrils absorbed on the ego, give it to the ego and you use that as a weapon to destroy the ego, the real demon, the real enemy, one’s own real enemy, the demon that’s abiding in one’s own heart, completely destroyed, become non-existent.

Then sometimes one can also meditate on emptiness at this point. So the self-cherishing thought is totally destroyed, and as it is destroyed, become non-existent, the I what the self-cherishing thought cherishes very strongly, “I am the most important one,” cherishing so much. “I am the most important, precious one.“ So as the self-cherishing thought has become nonexistent also the object, the real I, real I, the emotional I. In the text, it talks about, so according to Prasangika, the inherently existent or ?rang shing kyi tupa, existing by nature, or ?rang gyi sing kyi tupa, existing by its own characteristics, however, all those different terms, which are object to be refuted, so now that’s the term that is used in the texts. But in Western terms, the psychological terms, “the emotional I,” so the emotional I that which appears to you a real I from there, from its own side. So that I also becomes totally nonexistent. So one can meditate on emptiness. So sometimes during tong-len, sometimes one can use, in tong-len one can use meditation on emptiness, then concentrate a little bit in the state of emptiness, absence of that, the emotional I, that inherently existent I, that which exists nowhere, neither on the base nor anywhere.

So it depends on how effectively each individual person can think of emptiness. It can be very beneficial for the depression, but it depends on the individual person, how effectively you can meditate. Depends on how you think, it depends how close to emptiness you can think of, not exactly emptiness but how nearest you can think of, meditate. For some people that can be very powerful medicine. [pause]

Then after that one can do the meditation giving one’s own happiness, body in wish-fulfilling jewel, all wish-fulfilling jewel, and all the merits, all the good karma, all the cause of happiness, all the result happiness up to enlightenment one give to others. However, do more of the practice of taking other sentient beings’ sufferings, in particular the depression, the problem that one has, particularly if it’s depression, that one.

And then as I think I mentioned also last time, in the rest of the day, while you’re driving car or eating, doing activities, rest of the time whenever the thought of depression: Oh, I have a depression, whenever the thought comes, without delay immediately one must use the antidote, apply the method. Whenever the thought, Oh, I have depression or I have this problem, immediately, without delay, try to think: Oh, I am experiencing this depression on behalf of all sentient beings, for all sentient beings. I am experiencing this depression on behalf of all sentient beings or for all sentient beings, same. And can think in your mind this depression is not yours, it’s sentient beings’ depression, that can be also very helpful, rather than thinking your own sicknesses, think this is all sentient beings’ sicknesses. To have that idea in the mind might be very good. So that’s the same thing AIDS or cancer, anything.

So this one to think again and again rest of the time, to live on that thought is extremely essential, that’s what keeps the mind continuously in the state of happiness, peace, non-negative emotional state. That will keep the mind always in a state of peace and happiness. And when you practice this in your daily life then you see enjoyment in your life, you can see purpose of living, you can see worth of living because you are doing something for others, you are living the life for others, with this attitude.

So this is how to enjoy the life problem, how one can enjoy the life problem, such as the depression, by thinking of the benefits of the depression, by thinking of the benefits of whatever problem one has, such as depression, and then greatest benefit is by applying that to practice, to develop good heart. In this, using such as the life problem depression to practice bodhicitta, to train the mind in bodhicitta. You are using the depression to achieve enlightenment, one has to understand, you are using the depression to achieve enlightenment; you are using the problem as a path to enlightenment, you’re making it become path to enlightenment.

How? Besides using it to develop bodhicitta, such as great compassion towards other sentient beings, it becomes, it purifies unimaginable, so much negative karma, many hundred thousands of lifetimes, eons of negative karma get purified.

As mentioned in the Bodhicaryavatara by great saint Shantideva, bodhisattva Shantideva, that bodhicitta is the most powerful one for purification. So as it is mentioned there. Other than service to the guru, obtaining guru’s advice, fulfilling guru’s wishes, other than this guru yoga practice, guru yoga practice means not just a prayer, not just doing Six-Session Yoga or Guru Puja prayer, shouldn’t think just that. Guru yoga practice obeying the guru’s advice, fulfilling the guru’s holy wishes, so service. Other than that, the most powerful, the good heart, the great compassion, altruistic mind, the altruistic mind to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, so using the depression to practice bodhicitta it becomes unbelievable purification and then collect merit like sky. Each time when you think: I’m experiencing this depression on behalf of all sentient beings, whatever unhappiness you are experiencing, I’m experiencing this on behalf of all sentient beings, each time when you do that, you are collecting merit like sky, good karma, good luck like sky. So, extremely powerful purification, extremely powerful or extensive way to collect merit.

So therefore the question of achieving enlightenment depends on these two: purifying the obstacles and completing the two types of merit, the merit of wisdom and the merit of virtue. So this, more one is able to practice bodhicitta, more merit is collected, then that helps to realize emptiness. By doing tong-len, taking others’ suffering, giving one’s own happiness, merit, to others so by doing more bodhicitta practice one collects more merit and that helps to realize emptiness easier, quicker. You need a lot of merit to realize emptiness. So that’s how you can complete the two types of merit, the bodhicitta helps.

And good to look at it as a retreat, that when you have problems in the life, in daily life, you do this meditation, not a physical retreat, keeping the body in a shelter, keeping the body in a room, but a real retreat that keeping the mind always in bodhicitta. So having the problem helps to keep the mind always in bodhicitta, to practice always good heart. The experience of the problem pursues, it pursues your mind always to practice bodhicitta. Always to purify, to regret, very powerful purification and to collect most extensive merit all day long. So this become, so how long the problem, how long the depression, how many weeks, months and years one has the depression, it’s a retreat, like Vajrasattva retreat. So, like Vajrasattva retreat. I think I mentioned also last time: this retreat becomes even more pure because here the effort that you’re putting is into good heart, bodhicitta, so the best retreat. Every hour, every minute, every second, which makes your life beneficial for all sentient beings, so like that. [long pause]

So since I brought up this issue, to conclude this, that Asanga did retreat for twelve years to achieve Maitreya Buddha, to see Maitreya Buddha. But during the retreat nothing happened. Even twelve years of retreat, nothing happened, but only after that when he was coming back, coming down, in the road he saw a wounded dog—the story is nothing new, I’m not telling the story as a new thing . I’m not telling as if it’s new, but I’m telling as inspiration for bodhicitta, when we have problems, to use for bodhicitta practice, for relationship problem, depression, anything, as inspiration for that. I’m not talking as a new thing. Heard numberless times , this story we heard and we read numberless times, many of us have heard numberless times, nothing new. Probably in past lives also might have heard.

So Asanga saw a wounded dog in the road. It is Maitreya Buddha but Asanga did not see Maitreya Buddha, in that aspect did not see, in aspect of Buddha did not see. Asanga saw just ordinary being, even that’s animal, not human being, even dog. But actually, who is Maitreya Buddha. Felt unbearable compassion and the lower part of the body has big wound filled with worms, maggots, so felt unbearable compassion, he cut his flesh from his leg, spread out there and so the worms need to eat, to live on. So as he start to pick up the worms with the tip of the tongue, by closing eyes, then he could not touch anything, so then he opened eyes, saw Maitreya Buddha. So only that time he saw Maitreya Buddha.

So what happened was, before even though that much retreat, many years of retreat, was done but karmic obscuration that which blocks to see Maitreya Buddha is not purified. Is unable to be purified. So only by sacrificing one’s own life to this sentient being, that generated unbearable compassion, only then this karmic obscuration which didn’t get purified twelve years of retreat, only that time purified, in that moment [snaps fingers] it’s purified. So only this time able to see Maitreya Buddha. Which makes to see Maitreya Buddha. Unable to see as Maitreya Buddha, but, unable to see in that aspect, and not even human being, ordinary human, but animal, wounded, so even that is wounded , filled with worms . So, that karma, the negative karma which projects that is purified, karmic obscuration which projects that is purified, by sacrificing his life for this sentient being. So then next then able to see Maitreya Buddha.

Then, so to not become long story, so then Maitreya Buddha took Asanga to Tushita pure land, as Asanga requested then, gave teachings as Asanga requested, the five divisions of Maitreya Buddha’s teachings. Then Asanga came from Tushita and then wrote ____ _____ Nga, the five divisions of teachings, commentaries on that, such as Abhisamaya-alamkara, so forth, so those texts, Maitreya Buddha teachings, studied in the monasteries for many years, for many years they spend their life study and meditating on the path, so numberless beings become enlightened from this Maitreya Buddha’s teachings and Asanga teachings and the lam-rim came from that, the lam-rim that we meditate on it came from that, which benefits us, which makes our daily life so much meaningful, that we can achieve three great meanings in every hour, in every second and minute, came from these teachings, Maitreya Buddha’s and Asanga’s teachings.

The emphasis here, all this benefit that we get in every day our life by understanding lam-rim, practicing lam-rim, and numberless beings become enlightened, actualized the path, all came from Maitreya Buddha’s teaching, so all this is the benefit of Asanga who sacrificed his life for this dog, generated unbearable compassion, all this are benefit of Asanga’s bodhicitta, renouncing oneself, cherishing others, so my emphasis is on that. So therefore, that’s how it happened to Asanga by practicing bodhicitta, so same for us: if we use our problems to practice bodhicitta so that becomes quick path to enlightenment. Our problems becomes like tantra, like tantra, quick path to enlightenment. Our problems become like tantric path, quick path to enlightenment.

Then, as I mentioned last time, one very important thing is, one solution is purification, so to not experience all these problems, including depression, is to practice purification in daily life, to do very strong practice of purification. So many, in the teachings by Kadampa geshes and Gen Jampa Wangdu, who happened recent times, who is the oldest meditator at Dharamsala, one of the oldest meditators who had great realization of three principles of paths, and two stages, realization of the two stages, such as clear light and illusory body, all those high tantra realizations, so who has great success, so this is also his own experience or advice that in the daily life we should do more purification. So here by purifying these problems, we don’t experience these problems. One solution is purification, to do strong purification in the daily life. So anyway, when we do bodhicitta practice, as I mentioned before, it becomes very powerful purification. Then there are other practice of purification, reciting Thirty-five Buddhas, their names, also powerful ones.

Also sometimes giving the depression to the ego. The depression, whatever the problem is, you give to the ego. So similar, taking other sentient beings’ depression, now here the depression the problem that one has, rather than taking on oneself, you give it to the ego, I’m not talking about other people’s ego . In your mind, instead of thinking: Oh, I have this, I have this, you give it to the ego, and completely destroy the ego, you use it as an atomic bomb to destroy the ego. So that is another extremely powerful one. Also this is very helpful if you have paranoia. This is very good also when you have paranoia, if you apply this in daily life then it helps for paranoia. So this is another extremely powerful one, rather than taking it on yourself, give it to the ego, your ego, and then as atomic bomb and destroy. Like you crush, when you meet the enemy, when you encounter enemy, you immediately crush with the big hammer, or whatever, with a bomb or something, so immediately you crush in pieces, so here you give your depression to the ego, your ego, and then destroy, so that also helps again...

 

…those teachings, that in the Kangyur, in one of the sutras that Buddha talks about the shortcomings of, there's, of the five lay vows, not shortcomings of the five lay vows, the opposite, the negative karma, there it talks about shortcomings. There it says the depression that it happens without knowing the causes and conditions, without any idea, there it talks about, in the evening time, when the evening time comes your mind is unhappy, you feel unhappy, so, when the evening time comes your mind feels unhappy, so there it says that cause of past negative karma, sexual misconduct. So you don't know why but just happened, the mind become unhappy. So like that, similar, you wake up in the morning, mind is depressed but you don't know why, so same. So these things, negative karma, I guess maybe caused other's mind unhappy, so such this action. So here the advice, the reason why the practice of purification comes like that.

Then I mentioned other times, also it is a sign, those people who are practicing, doing a lot of service for others, and guru yoga service, practice, it’s also a sign of purification, having these problems is a sign of purification, that you don't need to experience the result of heavy negative karma, many eons in the lower realms and experience heavy suffering, you don't need, so you, by experiencing this depression you are free from all those heavy sufferings. So then, in this case this depression becomes so enjoyable [GL], so fantastic, great success.

So anyway, so I stop here.