Lecture 23

MENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND MEMORY

Maybe tonight I’ll leave continuing to talk about the essence of buddha or the buddha nature, the race of buddha that is within all sentient beings’ mind. I’ll leave that tonight and maybe talk a little bit about karma.

The intention that arises as a surrounding of the principal consciousness, that is the definition of action, karma. The Tibetan term is sem jung sem pa, that is explained as the definition of the intention that arises as a surrounding of the principal consciousness.

As I mentioned before, there are six types of principal consciousness. The five consciousnesses of the eye, ear, nose, tongue and body, and the mental consciousness. The other consciousnesses stop, they don’t continue to the next life but the mental consciousness, the sixth consciousness, is the one that continues from one life to another life. And the sixth consciousness is the one that makes us remember what we did yesterday. The function of remembering what we did yesterday is the function of the sixth consciousness, the mental consciousness.

What we see with the eye consciousness, what we hear with the ear consciousness and so forth, the function of this mental consciousness allows us to remember things we did this morning, yesterday, last year, from our childhood and even from past lives. There are those who can remember that, and this is all because there’s a continuation of the mental consciousness of the mind between yesterday and today. Between yesterday and today there’s the continuation of the mental consciousness; between last year and this year there’s the continuation of the mental consciousness.

There’s a continuation of the consciousness of the mind from childhood until now. There’s continuation of consciousness but we don’t remember things because of the obscurations. The things we don’t remember, that we forget, happen due to causes and conditions. The main cause is ignorance and then there are other conditions, pollutions and so forth. There are negative karmas and other conditions that obscure the mind but the main cause is ignorance, the concept of a truly existent I. That is the main cause, and then there are negative karmas that obscure the mind, making the obscurations thicker, like there’s more dirt in the water so we can’t see the bottom. There might be gold, diamonds and other jewels but we can’t see them if the water is filled with the dirt. It’s the same thing, if there’s a painting on the wall but it’s covered by thick dust, we can’t see it. It obscures us from seeing the clear painting that is below the dust.

So it’s like that. The other conditions pollute but mainly it’s our own negative karma, the unrighteous, unwholesome actions, that obscure the mind. How much awareness or forgetfulness we have—whether we are seventy or eighty years old—depends on how purely or impurely we have lived. At least, that’s what I think. There may be a relationship from past lives’ negative karmas, but I think a lot has to do with this life.

It’s interesting to check how people who have completely lost their memory have lived their lives. This is happening to so many people nowadays in America especially, I think. What’s it called? Huh? [A student responds: “Alzheimer’s disease, where you lose your memory.”] All summer disease? All summertime disease! No, I’m joking.

But people who experience those particular diseases, it’s interesting to check how they lived their lives. There will certainly be some relationship to their actions. For sure. That is definite. By [examining the lives] of those who live their lives like this [with Alzheimer's] we can learn about some particular karma they created. They can stay that way for a long time, for months and years. That is somehow related to a person’s attitude, a person’s action, how that person lived their life. I’m not talking so much about an outside job but that person’s conduct.

There must be some reason why this is happening more in some particular countries For example, I didn’t see this much in the East. I’ve never heard of old monks becoming [intellectually disabled]. There are many old monks but they don’t become like that. They become old but they are mostly still able to do their practice with a clear memory. I don’t see that in the West.

RINPOCHE VISITS MORGUES, OLD PEOPLE’S HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS

I’ve visited quite a few old folks’ homes. Usually that is one of the places that I go to visit. Places where they collect all those who have various types of imperfect organs or ... [a physical or intellectual disability.] That is one place I like to visit. Then there are hospitals where they study dead bodies. I visited a few of them. We went to one in California with His Holiness Zong Rinpoche, when we invited Rinpoche to give teaching at the centers for the first time. There were very few bodies. There was a lady who had died of cancer, and a black man. There were just two bodies.

There was also a lady doctor from Dharamsala with us, Ama Lobsang. She cured many people who had cancer in the West, and maybe also in India. She was invited to give lectures on Tibetan diagnosis or treatment which people enjoyed very much. I think she mixed the talks with Dharma. With the lectures on Tibetan medical treatment, I think she put the emphasis on Dharma. She normally doesn’t have any thought of a patient being dirty. No matter how poor or dirty, no matter what heavy sickness, she doesn’t have these kinds of thoughts, thinking the other person is dirty.

Of course, I think one of the main causes of becoming a doctor is compassion. In the Tibetan texts, the teaching originally came from Medicine Buddha. There, where it says the qualifications of a doctor, it emphasizes compassion. Compassion is the very root qualification of being a doctor. It mentions three qualifications, but I don’t remember the others. One thing is compassion toward others. Without compassion there are a lot of problems. Without it the work doesn’t become pure and there can be a lot of problems. With compassion there is not the feeling that this or that person is dirty.

I think there are three qualifications, a few very important causes, mentioned in the text, but I don’t remember a hundred percent. At the very beginning it mentions the qualifications to be a doctor and that starts with the mental qualifications. The very first, the very root, is having this positive attitude which stops many dangers to others. It stops many harms to others and makes the work very beneficial.

The Tibetan doctor saw the lady who had died of cancer, then she immediately put her hand somewhere here, inside the body, and took the lung out. The lung had become completely blue, the color of the smoke. I think that was because she had smoked so many cigarettes. Because of too much smoking the lung had completely turned the color of smoke. She just put her hand in and took it out to show us.

In Australia the first time I saw a dead body was in a hospital, but I think it was an old one, not a new one. There were new bodies there but they were mostly old. The new bodies were kept in boxes, like baking tins, filled with water and lots of chemicals to stop the smell.

Somebody pulled a body out and said, “This is the fresh one.” It was kept in water with lots of chemicals. When you enter the door, there are piles of faces, framed in glass. They are sort of well-framed. There are many faces like this as well as different parts of the bodies completely decorated. For me, just looking at each face was very interesting somehow. After I entered the room just looking at the faces took a lot of time.

There was a girl there who had come to one of the early courses, I think maybe in Nepal. She and her friend were there and Dr. Nick, the one who works for Wisdom Publications, he was there. It was arranged through them. Everybody went to see some other things inside, but I still did not finish looking at the faces. Then there were jars. The others seemed more interested in seeing small babies in jars. Two small babies, formed this much, with arms kind of like that.

That was the first time. There were several places. I think that must have been quite an old one. When you look at all the dead bodies and then afterwards in the market you see actual living people—people who are not dead yet, still moving—it looks the same. It’s kind of strange, you know. I don’t know how to say it, but it’s kind of a little bit strange, like dead bodies moving. They’re a bit like dead bodies moving, a little bit of a strange appearance. They are kind of similar to the dead bodies but with this extra thing of movement.

We also went to see quite a number of old folks’ homes. Also recently in Australia. The first one was in America, I think, in Madison. I was extremely surprised to see those young girls working in old folks’ homes, how they really took such good care. It seemed like it was not just a job to them; they worked with such kindness and sympathy. I was very impressed with that. Even though the old people couldn’t eat solid food, just things like bananas, and they had to be fed by mouth and things like that, these girls showed a lot of patience. I was very impressed by those young girls. I don’t think they had met Dharma.

It seems there are different mental and physical states. One quite old lady seemed like wood, like a big log of wood lying down on the bed. She couldn’t move. That was very interesting. For somebody who has studied the lamrim, the whole teachings on the graduated path to enlightenment, I think visiting such a place all day long itself becomes a meditation. If we do the work by looking at it with the understanding of the teachings, with the wisdom of the teachings, then I think everything, the whole day, what we see while we’re serving becomes an incredible teaching.

All day long what we see is the nature of samsara, which is only suffering. It also shows impermanence and becomes the cause of developing compassion. Developing compassion is the cause that makes it possible to have the realization of bodhicitta, and that makes it possible to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings.

Even if we don’t know the lamrim, the complete teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment, if we want to develop compassion, to develop a good heart, then I think doing such work, that service, with that motivation is excellent.

But if we don’t have that aim to develop a good heart, if we don’t have that aim in life but we are only thinking of money—if there’s no other way to make money and this is the only job we can find—we’ll get bored working there for even one day. Even by looking at it, seeing how much the patients need us to take care of them, seeing all their hardships, we’ll get bored. We won’t want to see them, we won’t even want to come to such a place, if we don’t have the aim of developing a good heart in order to serve others.

A young Tibetan man came with us. He just joined us to come there but after he saw the people, then he told the others outside of the house, “I will never come to this place again.”

There was also an American student called Laurie, who was at Kopan before the gompa was built, before anything was built here. I think it was around the time of the second meditation course. She lived here for many years and taught English to Lama Yeshe, and maybe also Lama Lhundrup and the boys. She was nursing there so I asked her if it was possible to go see the old folks’ home.

I think that was the first time I went to see an old folks’ home. Also recently in Australia, a student from Buddha House arranged for us to go to one. The people who were looking after this one particular old folks’ home that I went to were interested in meditation. The people working there also did meditation. Mostly they were women. They were very interested in healing so they asked questions about how to do the work, how to deal with patients and things like that. When we visited, they all gathered and had tea and asked questions about meditation and things like that. They had a little bit of a talk about the meaning of life and so forth, and how worthwhile and important their job was.

I saw more old folks’ homes, I didn’t get to see much of the [other institutions] because there was no time. The main one I saw was in Spain. It was run by Catholic nuns, I think. I’m not sure whether they were Protestant or Catholic. The visit was arranged through the old student who started the original center in Spain, the Nagarjuna Center in Barcelona. A couple started the center and the woman worked in this place before, so she was able to arrange the visit.

At the beginning, the head of the nuns gave a kind of introduction to the place. They never asked people for money and even if people came to give money they didn’t accept it. They didn’t accept money from the government. That’s what she said. People bring children with mental and physical problems. They go to collect them and take them there. She said some of the children don’t know black people. They think the black color can be rubbed off. They think if you rub it, it’ll come off. She said sometimes they would spit on the body to see if it could come off. I don’t know the reason she said that. There must have been some reason for it.

There were people there with big faces like this. I tried to shake hands with almost everyone but while I was shaking hands, sometimes it made me wonder whether this was real or not. They were all smiling and very happy to meet us. Some who had arms and were a little better were given jobs to put newspapers together or things like that. There were many people.

There was one room for girls who were over eighteen or around that age who bit themselves. It was exactly like it was explained in the teachings on the preta beings. Some preta beings eat their own flesh. It was exactly like that. Therefore, what the nuns did was to cover their arms with thick leather so they couldn’t bite them. I don’t think they could walk. I’m not sure. There was a bar like this, square, and four wheels, and by leaning on that then they moved. We went there because it had been arranged. The place was very clean and they had clean dresses on. It might be like that every day.

There were many different types in that place. There was a small girl who had all the inside things on the outside. Her eyes were very round and tiny. At that time the famous Italian student, Piero, was with me. He was terrified by seeing this girl. He said that if he were not in this place but he unexpectedly saw her somewhere else he would run away. But the nuns were holding her shoulder and kissing her. I’m sure they weren’t just doing this for show, that they were practicing compassion and loving kindness. And when this girl saw us she was scared. She tried to run away but she couldn’t run.

After we finished the head of the nuns told us that at that place they practiced cherishing others. That’s what she said. I don’t remember whether she said “exchanging oneself for others” or “cherishing others.” I think maybe cherishing others. I was very surprised. I said it was the same practice in Mahayana Buddhism.

I gave a few dollars, probably not even enough to cover a candy or a cup of coffee, but I did prayers to benefit them. I think as far as [institutions] are concerned that one might be the one that I remember most strongly. At other times I planned to visit others but it didn’t happen.

What I usually like to see is something extreme. Otherwise, it’s boring. Those places make us realize how precious having a perfect human rebirth is and what an incredible, unbelievable opportunity we have to practice. Having all these conditions, we have incredible freedom. From my own side I have met all these conditions, only I haven’t got to study the Dharma yet. I didn’t get to study the Dharma.

RINPOCHE’S GURUS

I haven’t studied much Dharma or practiced it but I have had many virtuous friends, gurus. I have about twenty-five teachers, gurus. Starting from my home, there were two teachers, my uncles, who taught me the Tibetan alphabet for the very first time. Starting from them, every one of my gurus has unbelievable qualities. They have what the Lama Chöpa says when it speaks of the qualities of the guru, the originator of the qualities, having excellence in morality and so forth—the section that goes through the different levels of qualities from those teachers revealing the Lesser Vehicle path to the Paramitayana path to the tantric path. Then it talks about their kindness. Not just His Holiness the Dalai Lama, but all the other gurus too, unbelievable, unbelievable—they are all living in these qualities mentioned in the Guru Puja, living in the three higher trainings, the higher trainings of morality, concentration and insight. And so based on all those unbelievable qualities, they attain realizations.

As far as having met the perfect teachers, there’s no regret. Somehow, in my past lives I must have worked very hard. I think in my past lives I must have done incredible arrangements and created incredible karma to have met such unbelievable teachers, who are very hard to find. It’s very rare to find such teachers in the world; they are the top in the world.

Sometimes the thought comes in my mind that if people don’t know how to find a guru, then you can rely upon my gurus. You can trust in those lamas I follow. Sometimes if people don’t know how to decide, to follow a guru, to find a guru. I think this point of guru is a big point, a very, very important point of life, because all the success of life comes from that. Whether there’s success or not comes from two things: first finding a qualified guru and second from our own side practicing correctly. From these two things success comes. If these two things come together—the perfect guru and the perfect disciple—then that makes enlightenment in this life possible. The perfect guru and the perfect disciple is like a good, clear block [mold] that makes a very good, very clear, complete tsa tsa. It makes it so easy like that.

A perfectly qualified guru and a perfectly qualified disciple. There are five qualities of the disciple, but I don’t remember them one by one now. One thing is a straight mind, having the intelligence to understand what is right or wrong. A straight mind also means not getting caught in wrong views so that even the teacher cannot guide us. So, a straight mind, not crooked, not bent—a straight mind. With a straight mind, without being caught in our own wrong views, there is space to understand correctly. A straight mind is like a white cloth that can be dyed to any color. We are able to see what is wrong and right. We are able to judge and then we are able to do the correct practice and follow the right path. In this way, the virtuous friend can guide us, there’s the opportunity to be able to guide us.

I think the fifth Dalai Lama said that the perfect disciple can bear hardships and has perseverance like a burning flame.

The Fifth Dalai Lama mentioned the quality of the disciple, saying when the perfect guru and the perfect disciple meet together, enlightenment happens in this life, as easily as making tsa tsas. For tsa tsas, with mud or some other material, you make a print of a buddha from the block [mold]. Like that, it’s so easy.

I’m just telling this since this talk happened. Some people have a lot of difficulties in regards to the guru, not knowing how to find or to follow the guru. In order to succeed in achieving liberation and full enlightenment we need a guru. Those realizations of the path up to enlightenment have to come from the guru. And to be able to do perfect work, to be of perfect benefit to all sentient beings, to be able to bring every sentient being to the peerless happiness, to full enlightenment, to achieve all these qualities, all these capacities, to develop these things, we must depend on the guru. All these have to come from the guru.

However, if people don’t know who to receive Dharma teachings from, if they can’t decide which virtuous friend, which guru, they should be devoted to, the thought came to tell them that they can follow the gurus that I have, because you can trust them a hundred percent, you can have a hundred percent trust.

It doesn’t mean those who are not my gurus are not reliable. It’s not saying that, that anyone who is not my guru is not reliable. But to make it simple, if you don’t know who to receive Dharma contact from and who to follow as a guru, if you don’t know how to do that, then those teachers I received Dharma contact from you can be devoted to as a guru because you can have a hundred percent trust in them. They all know the path. They all have compassion. That is just explaining the basic qualifications—they all know the path and they have compassion—without talking about all other qualities such as wisdom, sincerity and so forth. So the thought came that for somebody who is having difficulties, at least this is what can be copied.

Normally I myself wouldn’t take teachings from anybody. It’s not that I have a pure mind. I have a very bad mind, a very bad, very negative mind, so it’s not easy to take teachings from anybody, to make the connection, the relationship. I have a very thick-skulled mind so I want to make sure before I decide who to take teachings from.

PANCHEN RINPOCHE

When I was in Tibet, by the end of tour there were not so many people. At the beginning there were about seventy-three but a lot of people had already left, had gone back to the West. There was a small group of people. On the way back we stayed one or two days in Shigatse, where the Tashi Lhunpo monastery is. We went to see Panchen Rinpoche, who is regarded as the embodiment of Buddha Amitabha, just as His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the embodiment of Chenrezig. An unbelievable lama.

We requested some oral transmissions, of the Shambala prayer that you recite to be born in Shambala and to actualize the Kalachakra path. I requested this for the people, but I myself didn’t decide to make the connection with Panchen Rinpoche. We had already started to offer mandala but I was still undecided. I was thinking in my mind whether to follow him as a guru or not while the mandala offering was going on. At the end of the mandala offering I still hadn’t decided. I didn’t want to have confusion, political problems, later. Again, this is to do with the karmic appearance. Basically it’s to do with the karmic appearance, sentient beings’ karmic appearance. It’s again the appearance of your own impure mind. Basically it’s that.

There are many things like this kind of situation, but we have to understand this is the appearance of sentient beings’ mind, this is the appearance of our own impure mind. If we look at it with guru devotion, with the mind transformed in guru devotion [there is no confusion]. Guru devotion means feeling devotion for all these lamas, all these gurus, either the actual realization or the effortful or creative devotion. When we build up the devotion, we transform the mind in devotion with much effort, using logic, quotations or from our experience, our mind with devotion naturally sees them as buddhas. That is the realization of the guru devotion.

Of course with that mind, there are no problems. With that mind of guru devotion there are no problems at all. When the mind is not in that state, then there are problems, there’s confusion.

However, even while the mandala offering was going on, I still hadn’t decided whether to follow him as a guru. I had requested the oral transmission for the people. Then, at the end, when the mandala offering was completed, I decided to follow him as a guru.

It’s unbelievable. Panchen Rinpoche is an unbelievable lama. After His Holiness, Panchen Rinpoche is one of the most unbelievable lamas. Seeing Panchen Rinpoche makes me think how incredibly lucky the Tibetan people are. They are unbelievably lucky to have such incredible lamas. I first saw him when I was a small child in Tibet but there were crowds of people around so I didn’t have much time to have a look at him. The second time I saw him was in Nepal, here.

In the heart, there’s no fear at all, there’s complete control, complete freedom from all three realms. There’s no fear of delusion, no fear of anything. In the prediction, [he’s] a reincarnation of Amitabha. So, Chenrezig and Amitabha, together like this, are working particularly for the Tibetan people. Tibet especially becomes the place where the people are the objects to be guided by them. Now, however, Western people, those who also make a connection with them, who receive teachings from them, also become their special disciples, the objects to be guided by them.

This talk just happened by the way.

BECOMING ONE WITH THE GURU

Since I brought up this subject about the old folks’ home and these things, I’ll go back.

Of the subjects of the teachings of the lamrim, the graduated path to enlightenment, this topic on the guru—understanding that meditation, how to correctly devote to virtuous friend—this subject is the most important. By knowing this and putting it into practice, especially by having the realization from our own side of seeing the guru as an enlightened being, after that comes correctly devoting. That is the main realization that stops the obstacles, especially the heaviest obstacles to developing the mind in the path to enlightenment. From that, all success comes, the success of all the realizations, the realizations of the whole graduated path to enlightenment. Everything comes from there. It all depends on that, the very root, correctly devoting to the virtuous friend. I can hopefully clarify this subject a little bit with more talks on the basic points. This might happen during the course or, if not, maybe during the lamrim retreat, if it didn’t happen before, in the course.

I think Rinpoche explained the very essence, the very, very, very essence of that, and of the qualities of the Buddha. When he finished the qualities of the Buddha, he brought up the guru.

For sentient beings to practice the Dharma, for sentient beings to have realizations, to perform virtuous actions, virtuous thoughts, all that is dependent on the virtuous friend. It’s dependent on the dharmakaya, a buddha’s holy mind, that which is the self-condition.

Of the two or three different types of condition, this is the self-condition. That is the dharmakaya. Rinpoche said this is the very, very, very essence, and that is why we need the guru and all the kindness. Everything is contained in that, the last word. All these things are dependent on the dharmakaya.

At the moment our mind is obscured; we cannot see the buddhas. Rinpoche also mentioned this morning that we don’t have to feel lonely or depressed because there are numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas, numberless beings who are objects of refuge. Except that we don’t see them, otherwise they’re numberless. However, what Rinpoche was saying is, wherever we are, whichever place, whatever the circumstances, there are always numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas and they are all there with us. Except at the moment, as our mind is not purified, it’s obscured, so we cannot see them. Which means, through practice, through purification, through actualizing the path, as our mind becomes purer and purer, we can see them. First, by achieving the great path of merit, we see the numberless buddhas in the nirmanakaya aspect. Then, after achieving the right-seeing path, the arya path, we see them in the sambhogakaya aspect. Then, when we ourselves become enlightened, at that time we meet the buddhas mentally.

As our mind becomes purer and purer, whether from the side of the guru he is a sentient being or an enlightened being, from our side, from the side of the disciple, as our own mind becomes purer, we are able to see him in the nirmanakaya aspect, then in the sambhogakaya aspect, then in the aspect of a buddha. Then, at the end, when we become enlightened, we meet the guru mentally. We become the guru. Because at that time our own mental continuum becomes the ultimate guru, the absolute guru, which is the dharmakaya, that’s how we become the guru; we become one with the guru.

This is similar to seeing statues of holy beings. Now, we see them as statues but when we achieve the great path of merit, we see them in the nirmanakaya aspect. When we achieve the arya path, the right-seeing path, we see the statues in the actual aspect of buddha, the living buddha, the sambhogakaya aspect. It happens like this as the mind gets more and more purified.

At the moment, because we are impure, we can’t see the buddhas in the aspect of a buddha. We can’t see them in the pure aspect. Having delusions, having suffering, having samsara, making mistakes, that means what appears to us must be mistaken. How we see our guru, his appearance, is according to our present, impure mind. The karma or the mind that we have is only the impure mind, which cannot see the pure aspect of a buddha, which can see only the mistaken, ordinary aspect, the aspect that has mistakes, delusions and so forth.

Therefore, there’s no other way for buddhas to guide us. There’s no other way for buddhas to guide us. That means there’s no other pure way. Since we can’t see the pure aspect of the buddhas, in their pure aspect they can’t guide us at the moment. The only way the buddhas can guide us is by manifesting in this ordinary aspect that has mistakes, delusions, that has the suffering of samsara. Only in this aspect can the buddhas guide us.

From our side, when we practice as the Buddha explained, from guru devotion, the three principal aspects of the path and the two stages, by actualizing bodhicitta, by entering the Paramitayana path and proceeding along those paths, as I mentioned before, gradually we are able to see those purer aspects of the buddhas. When our mind becomes so purified, the buddhas can guide us in their pure aspects, in the nirmanakaya and sambhogakaya aspects.

Now, however, since the quality of the mind we have is only the impure, obscured mind, the buddhas have no other way to guide us. The other way means the pure aspect, having no mistakes, no suffering. The only other means that the buddhas can communicate with us or guide us is by taking a mistaken aspect, showing the aspect of being in samsara, having delusions and suffering, making mistakes.

In this way, this meditation, this way of thinking, is the technique that uses seeing the [apparent] mistakes as the cause of devotion. Seeing the mistakes becomes the cause of developing the realization of the path to enlightenment, guru devotion. This way of thinking, seeing mistakes like this, becomes the cause or support for devotion. So this recognition becomes an important technique for our quick development and to stop the greatest obstacle of developing the mind in the path to enlightenment, the negative karma that we accumulate with the most powerful object, the virtuous friend, by having heresy, anger and the thought of mistakes arising in connection with the highest object, the virtuous friend.

For example, Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche said that all the numberless buddhas work through this aspect. All the numberless buddhas give us teachings through this ordinary aspect, seeing them in samsara, with ordinary flesh and bones and so forth, the aggregates. All the buddhas guide us to enlightenment through this aspect, suited to the level of our mind, the quality of our mind, exactly according to the level of our impure mind.

Therefore, this aspect becomes extremely precious. This aspect becomes extremely precious for us. Without this aspect, there is no way we can receive guidance from the buddhas; there’s no way the buddhas can guide us to enlightenment.

It’s like a sunbeam coming through a magnifying glass. As the sunbeam comes through the magnifying glass and hits a substance such as grass or a plant, it can burn that substance and produce fire. Like this, through this aspect all the buddhas can completely cease our delusions and lead us to enlightenment. Therefore, this aspect becomes so precious, so extremely precious to us.

So, I’ll stop this part here. Since I mentioned all those other things, the old folks’ home and so forth, I thought to mention this one.

KIRTI TSENSHAB RINPOCHE AND THE START OF ROOT’S DESTITUTE HOME

Last year when we were at Bodhgaya, one day we had a break and I thought to make pilgrimage to Rajgir, where Buddha taught shunyata [emptiness] teachings. We went there to receive teachings and the oral transmission from Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche on emptiness. There are the Prajnaparamita teachings in twelve volumes, four volumes and one volume called the 80,000 stanzas. Then there’s a small Prajnaparamita called Do Du Pa, the Condensed Sutra. Then, the shortest one is the Heart Sutra, which we recite.

I asked Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche because that’s the place where Buddha gave teachings on emptiness, which destroys, eliminates the root of samsara and all the delusions, all the sufferings. So we were very fortunate to receive this oral transmission, Do Du Pa, this one that is a little more elaborate than the Heart Sutra.

Before we went up the mountain, we had lunch at a restaurant at the bottom of the mountain. There was an old Indian man lying on the ground. He had some disease and there were a lot of flies around where the testicles were. He was covered with the flies and lying down there. When Rinpoche saw this he felt incredible compassion. He asked if there was a hospital we could take this patient to. Rinpoche thought to take him to hospital but one of the students, a doctor, explained that because he was a poor old person an Indian hospital won’t take good care of him. Then the thought came that maybe we should take him back to Root Institute, the meditation center in Bodhgaya, and take care of him there.

So we went up the hill after lunch and then came back, picked up the old man and took him to Root Institute. I think he was well taken care of by almost everybody, by the Western students, while the retreat was going on, while there were Western students there, especially one from Canada or America, I don’t know his name. They took care of him for a long time, maybe three months. A few other ladies also took care of him. His health got better. He was able to walk and his health improved and afterwards he was asking for meat and other things.

However, recently, not so long ago, after all the Western students left, I don’t think he got well taken care of. The quality of food and everything changed and suddenly his health deteriorated and I think he passed away.

It wasn’t so much this old, sick man. There was another old man next to him, a very old man. I watched him for some time. This old man stood up and he tried to walk, making just two or three very small steps but he couldn’t manage. He had a big bag hanging from his arm but I think it was empty. He couldn’t manage and he fell down onto a pile of firewood. Then I think he stood up and tried to walk again but he couldn’t manage, so he completely gave up trying to walk.

Watching this old man made me think very much. Even if this old man wanted a glass of water just behind of him—just a few steps away—he couldn’t walk to it, he couldn’t manage. Even though there were so many people in the street, passing by, there was nobody he could ask to help him, even though the water was right there.

When I was returning to Root Institute, the thought of this suffering old man came back to me very strongly, almost constantly it came so much into my mind, stronger and stronger. After I sat down on the bed in the Japanese guesthouse I felt very strongly that we needed to help that kind of old person who is helpless, who has nobody to help. It came very strongly as I sat down on the bed. The thought came so much how incredible it would be to help, how there is so much of this kind of suffering that human beings have.

So then the thought came that it would be very good to start a home for destitute people who are on the street or people who have nobody taking care of them and are sick or aged, to take them home to take care of them. The main thing is to talk to them, to make them have a positive mind for their life, a positive way of thinking so that they can make their life meaningful and happy, especially when they die. Especially when they die, to help them die with a positive mind, a virtuous mind. We would do this mainly by talking about thought transformation and so forth and with prayers and mantras, and creating a compassionate, positive environment, doing whatever could be done to benefit their mind. In many various ways, we could create a peaceful, compassionate, positive environment, every day benefiting their mind, leaving positive imprints for a calm, peaceful mind. The most important thing is to cause them to die with a positive mind, with a virtuous thought, compassion for other sentient beings and so forth.

The other wish I had or the other purpose was that for the people who worked there and the Dharma students who studied lamrim there, for it to become a place to actually put into practice the paramitas of charity, morality, perseverance, patience and so forth. To do those practices.

Those people can get all these special benefits, not just able to be given food and medicine and have their body cleaned, but they could be given something for the mind. Something for their mind; the most important one. And then, for the Dharma students working there, serving them, it helps them to develop compassion, loving kindness and bodhicitta, especially to develop bodhicitta. It’s a great challenge or a very effective practice to develop. There’s meditation—that is one way—but actually serving them, actually living with them in order to develop the mind on the path to enlightenment, that is another goal of the project.

Now I think they’re trying to buy a place for that. In the East, there are already three hospices happening in the plan, three or four, so this is the destitute home. There is a rough name for it, “The Destitute Home Under the Care of Shakyamuni Buddha,” or “Under the Guidance of Shakyamuni Buddha,” so that, even psychologically, the patients feel that their lives are in the hands of Shakyamuni Buddha. That naturally becomes taking refuge in the Buddha, as Rinpoche explained this morning.

Then going back to the definition of the karma. I started that, so I’ll go back to the first one. Sorry, I didn’t get it done. I just slipped out through the stories. I got distracted away from talking about the subject of karma tonight.

So, I’ll stop here.

The reason I mentioned the project is that, to manage to raise the money within India, it’s good to keep it in mind so in future, when this project is actualized, if you can find the time, you can come to physically help. That’s the main point.

Thank you. Goodnight.

 

Lecture 24

EIGHT MAHAYANA PRECEPTS MOTIVATION: THE FOUR WRONG CONCEPTS

This is the time—this life, this year, this month, this week, this day, this hour, this minute, this second. This is the time when we have the freedom to choose whether after this life we go to the lower realms—the narak, preta or animal realm—or to the realm of the happy migratory beings. As we have this freedom, this choice, it’s time to make preparations to stop our rebirth as a narak, preta or animal being by stopping creating the cause and instead making preparations to take rebirth in the body of a happy migratory being by creating the cause for that.

This is the time to differentiate ourselves from the lower realm beings, from the animals. It’s not sufficient that we look physically different from the animals; that’s not sufficient. Our attitude and conduct, our actions, have to be different from the animals. Therefore, we should reflect on these things, how samsara is in nature of suffering and what the cause of samsara is, the four wrong concepts,²⁹ which are the true cause, the all-arising.³⁰

The I, the self, is empty of existing from its own side, however, the first wrong concept is that we apprehend the I as existing from its own side, as independent. The I, the life, the body and mind, the sense objects—form, sound and so forth—these phenomena are impermanent, but we apprehend them as permanent, we look at them as permanent. This is the second wrong concept.

The pleasures that we experience by depending on external objects and the five sense objects—form, sound, smell and so forth—are in the nature of suffering, but at first the suffering is unnoticeable [so we label the experience as pleasure]. These samsaric pleasures are dependent on external objects, thus another heavy suffering, another feeling that is unbearable, is stopped and another new feeling is created by the senses having contact with the object. When we continue having that feeling, however, sooner or later it becomes boring. By continuing, sooner or later, that feeling becomes unbearable discomfort, unbearable, undesirable. It becomes tiring or boring.

At the beginning it’s unnoticeable that this feeling is in the nature of discomfort, that it’s suffering. It’s unnoticeable that it’s the suffering of suffering. It’s so small that it’s unnoticeable. Because it’s unnoticeable suffering of suffering, while it’s unnoticeable that it’s discomfort, we label it “pleasure.” That which is simply suffering we think of as pleasurable; it’s just a question of the amount of suffering, great or small, noticeable or unnoticeable. It’s a question of that. The difference is just that. But what it is, is only suffering. It’s a suffering feeling that we have labeled “pleasure.” The third wrong concept is that we apprehend and we believe that suffering feeling to be real happiness, pure happiness.

The body is in the nature of impurity [but we think of it as pure.] It’s in the nature of impurity, like a sack filled with thirty-two dirty things. The thirty-two dirty things were there [as an embryo] but now the shape has changed; it’s become harder and the shape has changed. The body developed and became harder and the shape changed. In the beginning it was blood received from the mother and sperm received from the father. This is what this body originally was, just simply that, blood from the mother and sperm from the father, the combination of those substances. It’s just that the shape has changed and become harder. How it looked in the beginning is that.

So this body is a combination of those two substances. This sperm [of the father] is the continuation of another sperm, and that sperm is the continuation of another sperm, from say the grandfather. That’s the evolution. That sperm came from another sperm and continued to another sperm. It came from that body but that body is a continuation of another sperm. If we think back, if we go back like this, it’s unbelievable. Also the egg or the blood that is received from the mother, that continuation came from another blood, from the grandmother. Then that came from another one. What this body is, what it is, simply, it’s like a septic tank, where all the things from the bathroom go inside, where everything is collected from the toilets.

When we think like this it’s unimaginable. This body of ours comes from our mother’s mother, mother’s mother, mother’s mother, so on like this, and from our father’s father, father’s father, father’s father, so on like this. This body is simply that. What it is, is that. As Nagarjuna said in The Jewel Garland, this body is filled with the thirty-two dirty things.

Therefore, if the body is impure whatever comes out of this body will be impure. Before food and the like goes inside the body, before it goes into the mouth, it is clean but afterwards, when it comes out of the body it becomes dirty. Whether it comes out of the upper part of the body, the mouth, through vomiting, or out of the lower part of the body, even the ground it’s dropped on becomes dirty. After it comes out of the body, even the ground becomes dirty. Even the place where it is vomited or where it is dropped, even the ground becomes dirty. The fourth wrong concept is that while the body is in the nature of impurity, filled with the thirty-two impurities, we apprehend it and believe it to be completely clean.

Due to these four wrong concepts, we ourselves and all sentient beings have been suffering. We have been experiencing the general sufferings of samsara and the particular sufferings of the three lower realms from beginningless rebirths. And if we still follow these wrong concepts, we will have to experience the suffering of samsara without end. At this time we have received a perfect human rebirth and have met the Buddhadharma and the virtuous friend, and especially the Mahayana virtuous friend. Therefore, at this time, it’s not sufficient just to be able to stop rebirth in the lower realms and to receive the body of the happy migratory being, a deva or a human being. That is not sufficient. Even if we achieve liberation that’s not sufficient. We can’t be satisfied with just that, even achieving liberation for ourselves. We must achieve full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings.

THE NEED FOR BODHICITTA

We ourselves need to achieve full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. For example, even though there are numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas who are helping sentient beings, there are many sentient beings who need our help. There are many sentient beings who need our help. We have to recognize this. For example, there are many sentient beings who have especially asked us and many times we have given them help. They asked and they’re dependent on us, on our help, and many times we have given them help for their happiness. For their happiness.

It’s happened that there are many sentient beings who are dependent on us for spiritual help, for spiritual understanding, for Dharma guidance. There have been many others dependent on us. Because of our help, they have understood why there’s a need to practice meditation. They have received many points of Dharma wisdom that we ourselves have explained to them. From us they have received many points of Dharma wisdom, and then they have followed it. This has happened many times.

Many of us here have had this experience that other sentient beings are dependent on us, even on the spiritual path, the path to the happiness, the path to liberation and enlightenment. Through our help, other sentient beings have met the Dharma and have been able to practice it, to follow it.

Even though there are numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas who are helping sentient beings, there are many sentient beings who are dependent to us, whose temporary and ultimate happiness is dependent to us. We have to recognize this; we have to realize this through past experience. By the example of our past experiences, we have to understand the present and the future in that way.

It’s mentioned in the Bodhicaryavatara,

All the happiness there is in this world
Comes from wishing others to be happy.
All suffering there is in this world
Comes from wishing myself to be happy.

What need is there to say more?
The childish work for their own benefit,
The Mighty Ones work for the benefit of others.
Just look at the difference between them!³¹

The Mighty Ones are the buddhas. For example, because just one buddha, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, changed his attitude from the self-cherishing thought into cherishing other sentient beings, not only did he himself become enlightened but he has already enlightened numberless sentient beings. Even now—every day, every hour, every second—he is enlightening numberless sentient beings. Every second he enlightens numberless sentient beings. He will continuously do this until every sentient being becomes enlightened.

This is happening even now, because the Buddha revealed these skillful means, these eight Mahayana precepts, because the Buddha left this advice, gave this instruction. Therefore, today while we’re taking these eight Mahayana precepts, the Buddha is guiding us. Even today Guru Shakyamuni Buddha is guiding us from the lower realms, from those eight negative karmas and their results, all the sufferings. Buddha is guiding and protecting us from all those sufferings that we would have to experience by creating eight negative karmas again and again. We would have to experience that suffering life after life, on and on without end.

The Buddha is protecting us even today from all those, from getting habituated to these eight negative karmas, from keeping on committing these eight negative karmas and then experiencing all the endless suffering results. The Buddha is protecting us from all those sufferings and causes even today by revealing this method, the eight Mahayana precepts, which we take for one day, which are very simple and which have unbelievable benefits. Even today the Buddha is working for us, the Buddha is guiding us.

The Mighty Ones work for others, but look at the difference between them and us. We ourselves haven’t changed our attitude from self-cherishing from the beginningless rebirths until now, like the buddhas such as Guru Shakyamuni Buddha have. If we had changed our attitude in the past from cherishing ourselves to cherishing other sentient beings, we would have become enlightened already and been able to help all sentient beings, such as the hell beings.

First of all, just to get the essential idea of the suffering of hell. All the heat energy of the fire at the end of the time, that which burns all the mountains, that burns the whole thing, is many hundreds of thousands of times hotter than all the heat energy of the fire on this earth where we human beings now live. The heat energy of a tiny fire spark of the hell realm is much hotter than that. A tiny fire spark is seven times hotter than the whole energy of the fire at the end of time, at the end of the world, the fire that burns the whole thing, that ends the world. A tiny fire spark of the hell realm is seven times hotter than that.

If we are in the hot hell, the whole ground is iron that is oneness with the fire, with the completely red fire. That is the ground. We are just talking about the ground, without talking about all the sufferings we have to experience by being on that ground. Without talking about all the rest of the sufferings, this is just explaining, introducing the ground. There’s not one tiny pleasant place. There’s not one tiny part of the ground that is not hot, oneness with the fire. There’s not even a place the size of a foot where there’s no fire. That is just the fundamental idea about the ground.

Because we ourselves didn’t practice bodhicitta and only followed the self-cherishing thought, we didn’t become enlightened in the past, and as a result numberless sentient beings who are dependent on our help have been constantly suffering in samsara. For example, this one narak being. There are numberless narak beings, preta beings, animal beings, human beings, suras and asuras who are dependent on our help to become free from samsara, to achieve enlightenment. This one hell being has been experiencing unbelievable suffering, again and again, numberless times, again and again, without end, from beginningless rebirths. Not just one hell being, there are numberless hell beings who have been suffering, without number.

Therefore the self-cherishing thought is extremely harmful. Our own self-cherishing thought has been extremely harmful. It’s something that we should eliminate right now without delaying even a second.

Now, think about this one preta being who has experienced the heaviest hunger and thirst and so forth, numberless times. If we had generated bodhicitta in the past, we could have already enlightened numberless preta beings. Even this one preta being. There are numberless preta beings who are dependent to us, but this one preta being hasn’t been freed from suffering because we have followed the self-cherishing thought. This one preta being has been suffering again and again numberless times. There is not just one, there are numberless preta beings, who have been suffering again and again, who haven’t become enlightened.

Therefore, think, “The self-cherishing thought is extremely harmful. I must eliminate it without delaying even a second. If I had generated bodhicitta in the past, all these numberless animal beings would have already become enlightened. But because I follow only the self-cherishing thought, even this one animal being has had to experience suffering, being killed, being eaten by others, being extremely foolish and so forth. It has been experiencing the suffering of the animal realm again and again, numberless times. Not just that, there are numberless animal beings who have been suffering from the beginningless rebirths. Therefore, the self-cherishing thought has been extremely harmful. I must eliminate this self-cherishing thought from my heart without delaying even a second.

“There are numberless human beings who, if I had generated bodhicitta, would have already become enlightened, but that didn’t happen. Even one human being has been experiencing the suffering of the human realm numberless times, such as the eight sufferings of the human realm: death and rebirth, old age, sicknesses, separating from desirable objects, meeting undesirable objects, not finding satisfaction. They are experiencing the suffering of samsara, the result of the negative karma, and on top of that they’re creating the karma to again experience the suffering of samsara in the future, particularly the lower realms, those unimaginable sufferings. Like this, human beings are suffering. One human being is suffering very much. In reality, if I could realize that, it’s like being in hell.

“If I had generated bodhicitta, I could have enlightened these numberless human beings already, but that didn’t happen. By following the self-cherishing thought, even this one human being has been suffering numberless times. But there is not only this one; there are numberless human beings who have been suffering numberless times. Therefore, this self-cherishing thought has been extremely harmful, unbelievably harmful. Therefore, I must eliminate the self-cherishing thought from my heart without delaying even a second.”

Like this, the same thing with the suras and asuras.

“Because of the self-cherishing thought the suras and asuras have been suffering numberless times. Therefore, I must eliminate this self-cherishing thought without delaying even a second.

“Numberless sentient beings have been experiencing suffering and have been obscured because of this self-cherishing thought. Therefore, I must eliminate the self-cherishing thought without delaying even a second.

“If I had generated bodhicitta, this one hell being would have become enlightened already. How wonderful, how incredible, how fantastic it would be if this one hell being had achieved peerless happiness, full enlightenment. How wonderful it would be. And the same with the numberless hell beings who would have achieved peerless happiness, full enlightenment. How incredible, how wonderful that would be. Therefore, without delaying even a second, I must generate bodhicitta.

“The same thing, if I had bodhicitta and I could enlighten even one preta being, how wonderful that would be. There is not just one, I could cause numberless preta beings to become enlightened. How wonderful that would be. Therefore, without delaying even a second, I must actualize bodhicitta.

“If I had bodhicitta and I could enlighten even one animal being, how wonderful that would be. There is not just one, there are numberless animal beings that could become enlightened due to my help, depending on me. How wonderful that would be. Without delaying even a second, I must generate bodhicitta.

“If I had bodhicitta and I could enlighten even one human being, how wonderful that would be. How fantastic that would be. Like this, numberless human beings could become enlightened by depending to me. How much more wonderful that would be. Therefore, without delaying even a second, I must actualize bodhicitta.

Now the same thing with the suras and asuras.

“How wonderful it would be if even one deva being became enlightened. But there are numberless devas who could become enlightened by depending to me. Therefore, without delaying even a second, I must actualize bodhicitta.

“Numberless sentient beings could become enlightened depending on me. Therefore, I must, without delaying even a second, I must actualize bodhicitta.

“In order to generate bodhicitta, in order to do listening, reflecting and meditation practice needed to develop bodhicitta, I must accumulate so much unbelievable merit. I have to be an extremely lucky or fortunate person to be able to do all this. I have to create good karma by taking the eight Mahayana precepts to be able to practice bodhicitta in this life and future lives.

“Without bodhicitta, it’s unbearable. To live my life for even one day—no question about one day, even one hour, even one minute, even one second—to live my life with the self-cherishing thought, it is unbelievably harmful, it’s unbearable. I can’t stand it.

“This is the purpose of my life and this is my responsibility, to free everyone, to free every sentient being experiencing the suffering of samsara from all the obscurations and to lead them to peerless happiness, full enlightenment. Therefore, I must achieve full enlightenment, and for that reason I’m going to take the eight Mahayana precepts.”

Please generate this motivation.

[Meditate]

Visualize all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and with this, visualize the lama who gives the vows as Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. Meditate on this, visualizing him in that aspect. Think, “I’m taking the eight Mahayana precepts in front of them.” With that thought, think that you are repeating the prayer that’s recited. 

[Meditate]

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Notes

²⁹ The four wrong concepts are: that the self has an independent nature, that impermanent things are permanent, that samsaric pleasure is real happiness, and that the body is clean. See also the LYWA book, Bodhisattva Attitude, ch. 6. [Return to text]

³⁰ See Kopan Course 20, Lecture 16, for discussion of the term all-arising. [Return to text]

³¹ Ch. 8, vv. 129 & 130. [Return to text]