December 12, 2017
The Five Degenerations
I’ll just maybe say some words to introduce this. First we are paying homage to the Buddha. In India in past times, Bodhisattva Meaningful to Behold asked the Buddha, “Now you are guiding us, but what about in the future when you have passed away? Who will guide us, who will look after us?” The Buddha said, “Meaningful to Behold, when that time comes I will manifest in the form of an abbot, a master, a lob pön.33 In order to ripen the minds of sentient beings, in order to benefit them, I will show the aspect of having birth, old age, sickness and death.” That means the Buddha will still be there to guide us in the form of a sentient being during the time of the five degenerations. [They are the degeneration of delusions, the degeneration of lifespan, the degeneration of time, the degeneration of view and the degeneration of sentient beings.]
The first degeneration is the degeneration of the delusions. That means sentient beings’ delusions become unbelievably stronger and, due to that, their minds become so difficult to subdue, so stubborn, like a person who is going to jump in the fire, and no matter how much you advise them they don’t listen. Their mind is so stubborn it makes it very difficult to understand and accept your advice. That is just an example but it could be many things. It means a person does something very harmful, very wrong, but however much you give the best advice they cannot accept it; they don’t have the karma, the merit, to accept it.
Because of that, life gets shorter and shorter. That is the degeneration of lifespan. At first, the lifespan of the people in the world was much longer than a hundred years. Before, it was even much longer, a thousand years, but a hundred years was very common. Now, to live a hundred years is very rare. [Recently, somebody] lived until one hundred and twelve, or one hundred and thirteen but now that is becoming much less than before.
The origin of human beings is explained differently in the West, but the Buddha explained the original human beings like this. According to that, after the earth evolved, the desire realm devas started from the form realm and formless realm, then the six realms happened, with the hell realm as the last to be completed. So, the consciousness of the original human beings on earth came from the deva realm, from the form and formless realms. Their body was made of light. It wasn’t like ours is now. This happened after so much had degenerated. Originally it was in the nature of light. At the very beginning there was no owner of food. I’m not sure whether they had to eat or not at the very beginning, but later, even though crops happened, there were still no owners. They used the crops in the morning to eat and in the evening they grew again, so there was no owner.
Then later, somebody built a house and somebody kept the crops on their land. That was the start of some miserliness. Although there was no need, it came from some past habit of miserliness. So, they kept their crops. Then, things grew worse. There was humidity, a little bit wet, shazen? [Ven. Ailsa: Moisture.] Moisture, humidity, to do with the earth, and the mind got attached to that.
They used to have light [bodies] but the light dissolved and their bodies became gross by eating gross food with attachment. Because of that, gross bodies happened. Then, because of past habit, past imprint, the male sex and female sex happened. Then, because of past habit, past imprint, they started having sex. Other people threw stones or dirt and things over them. That is one reason they built houses, for that, [to have sex]. Originally, there was no need for houses before.
That’s how it started for human beings. Originally they could live unfathomable lives. That means you can’t count the length of their lives at all. It was so long it is called unfathomable life, but then it got so degenerated. Everything degenerated.
For example, when you haven’t eaten garlic for a long time and then you eat a little bit, you feel the body becomes very gross—not only in the mind but also in the body; it has that effect. Rather than a clean, pure body it becomes the opposite, kind of very gross. You feel like that. That’s just an example. It depends on the food that you eat.
Then, there is the degeneration of sentient beings. The mind is so difficult to subdue, like the example I gave you before. Then, there is the degeneration of view. Many more people believe in wrong views, seeing wrong views as right. Many people believe things that are easy to believe, but [they don’t believe] the right view, such as karma. Ideas like karma and reincarnation are beyond the view of worldly people’s understanding. The number of people who believe that this is how it exists, how the mind functions, the number of people who can understand such things are much less than those who hold wrong views, who believe there is no such thing as reincarnation. They are kind of like numberless.
Somebody [who understands] shunyata, emptiness, their view is beyond the world. As I mentioned, there are four schools of Buddhist philosophy. Each one talks about their own truth, ultimate nature, but they are not the same. Those who have faith, who understand the view of the Madhyamaka school view are far fewer than for the other schools, and, among Madhyamaka, the Svatantrika school view and Prasangika school view, compared to Prasangika school view the Svatantrika school view is not correct. It is the exact object to be refuted, to realize it is empty as it is empty. That is exactly what the Svatantrika school philosophy thinks is right, but, for Prasangika school, the only view that can eliminate the root of samsara is the wisdom [that eliminates] the ignorance holding the I as truly existent while it is not. Very few have the merits and intelligence to understand that, to realize that. Because it is hard, so few can understand; you need so much merit and intelligence.
Then there is the degeneration of time. In different parts of the world, there are so many wars, so many people killing each other, so much contagious disease. Even if there is no war, there is a scarcity of food. It is so difficult to get food; there is so much famine and drought, where there is no water. That is the biggest one that is happening in the world. Either there is no rain and there is a drought and nothing grows, or, if there is rain, then there is so much that there are floods that destroy the crops. So, people suffer unbelievably, with disease, destruction from the elements and so many things. That is degeneration of time.
All this comes from the mind, the degeneration of the mind. The delusions become stronger and stronger, and everything comes from that. Everything is affected by that, including global problems. Everything comes from the mind.
Even Understanding the Dharma without Practicing Helps
I don’t know in the West what all the educated people like the scientists would do to protect [the planet], but because originally everything comes from the mind, you therefore need to take care of the mind. The whole conclusion comes down to individually you have to take care of the mind. To stop the global problems, you need to take care of your mind. The conclusion is that.
Therefore, you can see that your coming here to Kopan makes sense, it makes great sense; it gives great meaning to your life. It is really amazing to come to understand the lamrim, to understand your life, your mind. It is an amazing thing. Otherwise, yes, your life is totally an illusion, but there is kind of something else. Life is not just illusion. Everything appears real and you believe it, and on the basis of that hallucination, there is a second hallucination, a third hallucination, a fourth hallucination, a fifth hallucination, a sixth hallucination, a seventh hallucination, a whole bunch of hallucinations. And you never come to understand life. You never come to understand life, you never see your life, you never realize what is the life you should live, how your life should be. There are so many hallucinations in your life, you never think of what can really benefit you in life, not your own connotation of what is of benefit, but real benefit. I don’t mean what you call benefit, what many people think is of benefit, not your own connotation of benefit, which is wrong, but which they think is right.
I want to tell you this and please keep it in the mind. Even if you don’t practice Buddhism, even if you just learn about it, [do it with] a straight mind, not a bent one. Use a straight mind to learn about Buddhism, to check out Buddhism. Then, the more you learn the more you know what is right and wrong in your life. And when you come to know what is right and what is wrong, then you are able to develop discriminating wisdom. You can judge what is real right and real wrong, not what is wrong but you believe to be right, or what is right but you believe to be wrong. You see right as right and wrong as wrong, not wrong as right and right as wrong.
By learning Buddhism, you develop the wisdom of Dharma. Even if you are not practicing it, just by learning it you can develop. Then you have the correct way to judge what is right and wrong. There are more than a thousand religions in the world, but, by learning more Buddhism, you can judge what is right and wrong. Then you can develop wisdom even if you are not practicing. You have to understand that. Otherwise, how are you going to develop wisdom in your life to be able to judge the correct way? There are thousands of religions and everyone says, “Mine is best,” so how can you judge?
I want to say this. I’ll give an example. Sorry, the talk went over time, but it doesn’t matter. We had an intelligent boy at Kopan in earlier times called Thubten Sherab. He was a big boy and so intelligent. Many years ago, as a monk, he left to translate at Nalanda, the FPMT monastery in France. That is a real monastery. It follows the vinaya rules and they do sojong twice a month, purifying and restoring degenerated vows, abiding in summer retreat, and releasing from them—they do the three practices of vinaya. They very much follow vinaya. Nalanda is named after the Nalanda in India in ancient times, where there were hundreds of pandits, learned ones, holy beings. We have a monastery like that, and then a nunnery which has a greater number of nuns, in Australia at Chenrezig Institute. What is the name of the area called? [Ven. Ailsa: Eudlo.] Eudlo. Then of course there are Sangha, monks and nuns, in many places, some here, some there.
Thubten Sherab went to Nalanda to translate for Geshe Jampa Tegchok, who was an outstanding, well-known teacher. He taught there for eleven years or something like that before he became the abbot of Sera Je Thegchen College in south India. Thubten Sherab translated the very important philosophical teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa but then he disrobed and went to Spain to live.
He told me that the people he worked with had so much suffering, so much worry and fear, so many problems. He said he didn’t have problems because he understood the Dharma, even though he didn’t practice. He said that very clearly—he didn’t pretend. He said very clearly he didn’t practice the Dharma, it’s true, but he didn’t have nearly as many problems as the people around him because he understood the Dharma.
So, just intellectually learning the Dharma, even not practicing, is a lot of help in your life. That is what Thubten Sherab said. I met him when I was in Italy. When I go there, he comes to see me and he reports what he thinks about the center.
Now, I don’t know. Now, maybe some thought of practice is starting to come to him. When I met him recently, he said he had been translating Dharma philosophy for a long time, and he was surprised it hadn’t affected his mind. He was wondering why it didn’t make him change his mind. That was his surprise. Now he is starting to think, a little bit of thought is coming that he needs to change his mind and practice.
Thubten Sherab was an original Kopan boy, the main one translating philosophy. It’s very difficult to translate that into English. He was the first one, and then there was Ani Janne. She and others polished the English and then used it for the Basic Program and the Masters Program—first the Masters Program and then the Basic Program.
I just wanted to let you know the benefits of just learning the Dharma without practicing it. Everyone says my [religion] is best, so how are you going to discriminate? How are you going to judge when you yourself have no wisdom? That is my question. You need to develop wisdom. By eating drugs you won’t get wisdom. By eating LSD you won’t get wisdom. After you eat hundred LSD, the next day you become enlightened! Sorry!
The Buddha Manifests in Many Forms
In the sutra Meeting of Father and Son, Yabse Jalwe Do, the Buddha said,
In degenerate times, in order to ripen the sentient beings, I will show birth, old age, sickness and death.
That is what the Buddha advised Bodhisattva Meaningful to Behold. Then he said [he would manifest in many ways.] I’ll try to remember the verse but my memory is very bad.
In the future, to benefit sentient beings, I will manifest by taking the costume of the Indra or Brahma [which means as a sura] or even sometimes as mara, with the costume of mara, in the aspect of mara, to ripen the minds of sentient beings. I will manifest in the aspect of women, in the conduct of women, to show the conduct of women. And also in the aspect of an animal, showing the aspect as an animal. I will manifest as crazy although I am not crazy; I will show the aspect of being blind or lame, although I am not blind or lame. Even though I have no attachment I will show the aspect of having attachment. I will show various aspects, and with those aspects I will then subdue the minds of sentient beings.
The Buddha manifests as a sura or asura being to work for sentient beings. He manifests as a human being, a king, a beggar, a rich person, a child, even as a butcher or a prostitute, manifesting in all aspects to benefit sentient beings. He manifests in whatever aspect best helps to subdue their minds.
When you go through the city in Kathmandu, you see all kinds of beings, ordinary sentient beings and buddhas and bodhisattvas, but you can’t recognize them. When you go for pilgrimage in holy places, there are many but, because you don’t know their hearts, you don’t know their minds, you don’t recognize them. That is the problem. There are all kinds, but even though you see them you can’t recognize them.
In the past, you have met many but you haven’t recognized them because your mind is not purified, not developed, because it is so heavily obscured. Like the [stars in] the night sky are obscured by [clouds] or in daytime there is no light because the sun is obscured by fog, your mind is like that and therefore you can’t recognize buddhas, bodhisattvas, and dakinis when you see them. Even though you might talk to them, you can’t recognize them. They guide you but you don’t know who they are; it never comes in the mind.
The Buddha can even manifest as a butcher. I think I told you but maybe I didn’t mention it. There was a butcher behind the Potala. Maybe I mentioned it in south India, but I thought I mentioned it here. Anyway, what happened, in Tibet, there was a monk who, whenever he got a money offering he went outside and buried it in the ground. When he died, his disciple, a getsul, looked for money to make offering to the monastery for his teacher. He couldn’t find any money at all in his teacher’s room, so he went outside to the place where his teacher sometimes went. He saw that part of the earth was a little bit up, so he dug that up. There was a bundle of money wrapped in a cloth and an animal—a lobster or frog,34 I’m not sure—was holding on to the money tightly.
When he asked his teacher’s guru, a very high lama, about this, the lama told him to take the animal behind the Potala and give it to a butcher there. When he did this, the butcher put it where he cut the meat. Then he [cut it in two] and ate half of it and threw half in the air. When the monk informed his teacher’s guru, the guru said what happened was extremely good for the teacher who had passed away. The half thrown in sky meant the butcher transferred his consciousness to a pure land of a buddha. This butcher was not a butcher. Although he appeared like that for ordinary sentient beings, he was not a butcher but a deity, the mind-seal deity, red Yamantaka. Yamantaka is Manjushri. Manjushri is the embodiment of all the buddhas’ wisdom in peaceful aspect, whereas Yamantaka is a wrathful deity, in wrathful form to pacify the obstacles of practitioners and help them develop wisdom. Yamantaka is normally dark blue, but this is red Yamantaka, the wrathful aspect Yamantaka, a buddha.
I also recently mentioned there is a butcher at Swayambunath, what tourists call the Monkey Temple, where there are so many prayer wheels, not only down but up. You’ll see this tomorrow. A little bit down there, on the way to Swayambunath, there is a small butcher shop. That butcher went to Tibet. I’m not talking about ancient times; it’s not so long ago. There was a very high Nyingma lama who had clairvoyance. He has now passed away. When the butcher went to see him, this Nyingma lama put out a throne for the butcher to sit on. Normally, by judging outside ordinary appearances, you wouldn’t do that, but this lama who had clairvoyance put a throne out for him to sit on. You understand? So, you never know. Sometimes in the form of a child, sometimes in the form of a lady, the Buddha takes all kinds of aspects. Even when you have problems, when you are lost, when somebody gives you advice, when they guide you, you don’t know, you don’t recognize who they are.
The Buddha even manifests as a hell being to subdue other hell beings, to benefit them. He shows the aspect of a hungry ghost to help other hungry ghosts, to pacify their minds. Then, he manifests as animal. I saw recently on the iPad, there were many deer and a tiger. A tiger usually eats deer, but this tiger was taking care of a small deer—not very small, but a bit smaller than normal. The tiger was taking care, [helping] the deer avoid places where there was danger, like in tall grass. It stayed inside the bushes or grass, sometimes trying to cover the deer, trying to put it on a tree or something like that. It was trying to take care of the deer and the deer didn’t go away. It stayed with the tiger, well, not completely with the tiger, but it didn’t go away. It stayed around the tiger, and so the deer couldn’t run away, the tiger held the deer’s tail. It was really amazing. Normally, tigers eat deer but here the tiger was helping the deer. I found that really moving the mind. It’s unbelievable.
That’s just one example. If even animals can do this, why don’t human beings? We human beings have to be double, triple, a hundred, a thousand times more beneficial for others. That is general talk. Generally speaking, as His Holiness says, we have a much better brain. In Western way, because we have a much better brain, we can do so much more benefit.
So, without knowing the mind, just from the outside aspect, you can’t really decide whether any being is an ordinary sentient being or a buddha.
We Need a Guru for Enlightenment
I’ll mention one quotation.
Even if you have the complete qualities, without a guru you cannot be liberated from samsara.
For example, you can recite by heart not only the more than one hundred volumes of the Buddha’s teachings, called the Kangyur, but also the more than two hundred volumes of commentaries by all the great yogis and pandits from India, such as Nagarjuna and Asanga. Even if you know them all by heart and you can explain them, if you don’t have a guru you cannot be free, you cannot be liberated from the oceans of suffering of samsara. Do you understand?
Without a helmsman, a boat cannot take you across the ocean. Like that, without a guru, you cannot be liberated from samsara, even if you have the complete knowledge of Dharma.35
And also,
Before the guru there is not even the name “buddha.”
And from Yeshe Drubpa, Actualizing Transcendental Wisdom,
All the numberless past, present and future buddhas come from the guru.
The numberless past buddhas, the numberless present buddhas and the numberless future buddhas all come from the guru. That is the understanding, the realization, we all need, including me. Sorry, that took time.
Mind has gross mind, subtle mind and extremely subtle mind; body has gross body, subtle body and extremely subtle body. The nature of the extremely subtle mind is that it has no mistakes. I mean any mind, any sentient beings’ mind. That is why all sentient beings can become enlightened—because their mind has no mistakes; it is only temporarily obscured, like the sky covered by clouds. The sky is not oneness with the clouds but it can be temporary obscured by the clouds. Likewise, the mind is temporarily veiled. The nature of the mind is not oneness with the mistake; its nature is pure. That is why sentient beings can become enlightened. What it says in Buddhist philosophy is that all sentient beings can become enlightened.
Here, I’m talking about the very subtle consciousness, which is not only pure in nature, not only that, but even the primordial mind. This is a tantric subject actually, a highest tantra subject. Normally you don’t hear this unless you are studying highest tantra, but I think for you to practice it is most important for you to really know what the guru is. You have to know that. Not only is the nature of the mind pure but it also must be free from temporary obscurations.
[The guru] is bound with infinite compassion embracing us sentient beings. This is what is mentioned in Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo’s Calling the Guru from Afar. This is the real thing that guru is. At the beginning it says lama khyen three times. Lama khyen means “may the guru understand.” It doesn’t mean the guru doesn’t understand, doesn’t see, that the guru is totally blocked, totally dark. It doesn’t mean that. But you need to have very seriously considered how you have been suffering from beginningless rebirths, and you want to express that. So even though the guru understands, this is your appeal, this is what you want to express.
For example, if you are in danger of being killed and even if the other person understands you, this is the way to make it clear, to express your wish. “May the guru understand,” kind of emphasizes that.
[Rinpoche recites the first verse of Calling the Guru from Afar in Tibetan:]
SANG GYÄ KÜN GYI YE SHE DE CHHEN CHHÖ KUR RO CHIG
The wisdom of all buddhas, one taste with the great bliss dharmakaya,
DE NYI DRIN CHÄN LA MA KÜN GYI RANG ZHIN THAR THUG
Is itself the ultimate nature of all kind gurus.
LA MA CHHÖ KYI KU LA NYING NÄ SÖL WA DEB SO
I beseech you, guru, dharmakaya,
DI CHHI BAR DO KÜN TU DRÄL ME JE SU ZUNG SHIG
Please guide me always without separation, in this life, future lives, and the bardo.
That is an unbelievably important subject. That is so incredible, it takes time to understand and to feel. Sang gyä kün gyi ye she, all the buddhas’ ye she, transcendental wisdom, de chhen chhö kur ro chig, one taste in the great bliss, dharmakaya. [De nyi drin chän la ma] “That is the kind guru.” That is all the transcendental wisdom of all, numberless buddhas. The transcendental wisdom of all the buddhas is one taste in the great bliss dharmakaya. That one is the kind guru. [Kün gyi rang zhin thar thug] “That is the nature of all” means all the buddhas. La ma chhö kyi ku la nying nä söl wa deb so, “To you, the guru, dharmakaya, from my heart I make requests.” Then the request is: di chhi bar do kün tu dräl me je su zung shig, “In this life, the intermediate state—the bardo—and the next life, all the time.” “All the time” means every second; “without separation,” the guru and you without separation; “please guide,” means bring you to that same state, the dharmakaya. That is the meaning of “guide.”
We have the same prayer in Lama Chöpa.
You are the guru, you are the deity, you are the dakini and Dharma protector.
That request is the same. Even if you are going to die today, or even you have only one hour to live, or one minute or a few seconds, this is what you request to the guru. It is like that. That is the most important.
Tea.
[Tea offering and break to drink the tea]
Check Well Before You Take a Guru
I mentioned the quotation, from the tantra text, Actualizing Transcendental Wisdom (Yeshe Drubpa), at the end,
All the numberless past, present and future buddhas come from the guru.
After you have found a guru, the most beneficial way to correctly devote to the virtuous friend is to thoroughly check them first. It is said you should check for twelve years to determine whether this teacher is a virtuous friend or a nonvirtuous friend. So, again, you need some discriminating wisdom to check the guru. I mentioned twelve years. You may die before finding a guru, spending a whole lifetime checking the whole world for the guru!
I’ll tell you one thing. His Holiness advises first, for safety, study Buddhism like it’s a subject in school, at university. You learn philosophy or whatever subject you are studying from the teacher, like learning in school. Do that for two or three years. You learn and then, if you really want to devote to the teacher as a guru, if there is no question, if you really feel you want to devote, then you can follow them as a guru. You should make that determination. That is what His Holiness generally advises. It is safer like that.
When you follow your guru, you fulfill the guru’s wishes or guru’s advices, serving the guru whether you are with the guru or far from the guru. Near or far, it doesn’t matter, you serve the guru. The best way is like Milarepa, who served his guru even when there was no offering,
I have no material offerings. My offering to my father-guru is my practice.36
Even though he had nothing physical to offer, what Milarepa offered was his Dharma practice, his actualized realization. This was the best offering to the guru.
Then, you should always remember the kindness of the guru, you should always do that with mindfulness. Of course, if you have the realization [of guru devotion,] it is there all the time, the mindfulness that this is the guru where the numberless past, present and future buddhas come from. They are the numberless past, present and future buddhas. That is the mindfulness practice. With this mindfulness, you follow exactly whatever the guru advises.
You must follow exactly whatever advice the guru gives you—whatever practices, prayers or mantras. For example, by keeping the vows you have taken—lay vows or ordained vows—you are fulfilling the guru’s wishes and advice. Or whatever work you do as service to the guru, as a secretary or whatever, working for a center, no matter whether the guru is near or far physically, every single thing is done with that mindfulness [of serving the guru]. Even offering a glass of water with that mindfulness because each pore of the guru is all the buddhas. Think with that mindfulness each pore of the guru’s holy body is all the numberless buddhas, past, present and future. That is enough.
If you want to know the way to correctly devote to the guru, that is the wisest way, the most beneficial way, for you to achieve enlightenment quickly, to be free quickly from obscurations to the mind.
I’ll go back, now. I want to mention something. Sorry. Maybe I’m not supposed to mention the subtle points of what the guru is, but then I quoted the words of Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, which is a highest tantra subtle point. Anyway, it is explained. I will just mention one more thing mentioned in the Kadampa teachings. Kadampa Geshe Chengawa said,
A disciple who practices correct devotion to the virtuous friend, even if he is as foolish as a dog or a pig, will have no difficulty in becoming like Manjushri.37
Manjushri is the deity of wisdom, the manifestation of all the buddhas’ wisdom. To develop wisdom, you practice Manjushri, reciting his mantra and doing meditation on him. You might not know anything about the Dharma but you have this most important thing, devotion to the guru. You might be so ignorant, with no understanding, no intellect, nothing, all your life you might be like a dog or a pig, but when you have this strong guru devotion, you have no difficulties becoming Manjushri quickly. [Rinpoche snaps his fingers] There are no difficulties to become like Manjushri. You must know that is the most important point in your practice.
Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo was a great lama, like the sun shining in the world, the one sun that makes all the animals and human beings happy. He had a student, a monk attendant, who couldn’t read Tibetan. While he was serving Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo in Tibet, Pabongka Rinpoche predicted to him that one day he would be able to read the whole Lama Chöpa (the practice we are going to do later) and yet he didn’t know any [written] Tibetan at all. When he escaped from Tibet he went to India, to Buxa, in West Bengal, where he lived with the incarnation of Pabongka Rinpoche, the one who had lived in Tibet. Rinpoche’s incarnation happened and he stayed in Buxa. He did his geshe examination, giving his answers to all the monks of Sera, Ganden and Drepung in Buxa. Right after that, he took cancer and passed away in Kasha near Darjeeling. Many people don’t know that.
Then, there is the next incarnation who lives in Tibet and sometimes comes here. So, the next incarnation was in Buxa. I stayed in the place where they lived, not inside the lama camp but up from there, called the Lal Bungalow. Kyabje Pabongka’s incarnation was there, and Lama Yeshe lived there when I went to receive teachings. There were a few other lamas there such as the geshe who became the first abbot of Lawudo and ordained monks like Geshe Tashi, Lama’s best friend, who was very learned in philosophy, and Geshe Yeshe Tobden.
The monk who served Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo in Tibet was there serving the next incarnation. One day, he was able to read the Lama Chöpa completely, without anybody teaching him. I don’t know what Western scientists would say about that but one day he was able to read the whole prayer book, as Kyabje Pabongka had predicted in Tibet. That was due to his service to Kyabje Pabongka, the great holy being, the virtuous friend, because he had done so much purification, purifying the mind. Purifying the mind—that education—is not known in the West, by the government or society. What Pabongka predicted one day in India exactly happened. He was able to read it without anybody teaching.
In Domo Geshe’s monastery in Tibet, where I did my first scriptural examination by heart, the leader of the puja, the umdze, had died and, when he reincarnated, he could remember the words he had memorized [in his previous life]. He couldn’t do that as soon as he came out of mother’s womb, not like that, but later he could remember them. You have to know these things, whether you believe it or not. There is a book Believe It or Not, or a TV channel. Is there a book or a magazine? [Ven. Ailsa: Ripley’s Believe It or Not.] There is a magazine that talks about what happens in the world? He could remember what he memorized in the past, meaning he had less obscurations so he could remember.
Purifying the mind and collecting merits is not known yet by the scientists in Western society or by the government. They don’t know how to develop the mind. That is why you have come here to Kopan, to develop the mind.
The Eight Benefits of Guru Devotion
When you fulfill the guru’s wishes—following his advice, doing service, make offerings, all those things—when you correctly follow the virtuous friend, at that time you get eight benefits.
The first one is that you become closer to buddhahood. Even if you only offer a glass of water or a candy to the guru, as I mentioned, even by that you become closer to enlightenment. Reciting mantras, keeping your vows or whatever, doing what the guru advised you, listening to the Dharma, teaching the Dharma, with each word you become closer to enlightenment.
The second benefit is all the buddhas are pleased with you.
The third one is that you don’t get harmed by the maras or evil friends who mislead you. They try to guide you but not the way that the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha guide you. It’s just the opposite; these evil friends mislead you, they cheat you. With this third benefit you don’t get harmed by maras and evil friends.
All the delusions and vices naturally become less and less. Without effort, they naturally become less and less and then they are naturally stopped.
Then, all the realizations of the path are developed. All the realizations of the paths and the bhumis increase. Then, in all your lifetimes, you don’t experience poverty of being without a guru. Experiencing the poverty of being without a guru means you can’t find a guru at all. People come to India and Nepal but sometimes they can’t find a guru. They come to the East to look for a guru and there are perfect pure gurus but the person doesn’t meet them; they can’t find a guru. So, this benefit is that in all your lifetimes, from life to life, you never lack a guru.
Then, [you won’t fall into the lower realms.] To become like that in all future lifetimes, you should pray all the time to find a perfectly qualified guru who is not just able to teach meditation but is also able to reveal the unmistaken path to enlightenment, allowing you to achieve what you want to achieve. This depends on how you follow the guru as much as possible without mistake.
First of all, you need to study the guru, because if you make mistakes it affects thousands and millions of lives, on and on. For thousands and millions of lifetimes you don’t meet a guru revealing the unmistaken path to enlightenment. Then, for many eons you won’t even hear human words, even human beings speaking.
It depends on how correctly you follow the guru in this life. It is the most important thing, the thing you must be most careful with. You must pay complete attention to that. Many people think it only affects this life, but it’s not like that. It affects life to life, it affects eons and eons and eons, thousands and millions of eons. What kind of future lives you have for thousands and millions of eons, how they turn out, depends on how correctly you follow the guru. It is so important. It is the most important thing to not make a mistake in this.
Therefore, you have to study the first lamrim subject, correctly following the virtuous friend. It’s the most important thing. If that is done well, all the realizations will happen very quickly, all spiritual success will happen very quickly. All your wishes succeed by correctly following the virtuous friend, by following the guru’s wishes and advice—that is the main thing—and then offering service and making offerings. The effect is that all your wishes, not only in this life but in all future lives, life to life, for eons and eons, will so easily succeed.
That is the last one, you will quickly accomplish all your temporary and ultimate wishes. Ultimate wishes means you will quickly achieve enlightenment. That also means you will bring sentient beings to enlightenment.
LA MA TÖN PA CHOM DÄN DÄ DE ZHIN SHEG PA DRA CHOM PA YANG DAG PAR DZOG PÄI SANG GYÄ PÄL GYÄL WA SHA KYA THUB PA LA CHHAG TSHÄL LO
To Guru, Founder, Bhagavan, Tathagata, Arhat, Perfectly Completed Buddha, Glorious Conqueror, Shakyamuni, I prostrate.
Normally, “lama” was not recited, just tön pa chom dän dä, but I think I was the one here a long time ago at a Kopan course who added “lama” at the beginning. I want to explain that. That is why I talked about all the other ones before. I already mentioned what the guru, the lama, is.
The guru guides and benefits you. People think this is only in this life, not the people who know, but maybe most Westerners. So, when you recite or hear the word “lama” in la ma tön pa chom dän dä, remember this is the dharmakaya. I mentioned that before. It refers to the Omniscient One who knows all the past, present and future phenomena at the same time and can read the minds of all the numberless sentient beings. He can fully understand what you need, how you are suffering, and he can fully understand all your levels of intelligence and everything, your karma, and all the methods to lead you from happiness to happiness, to enlightenment. He is bound with infinite compassion, embracing us sentient beings. So, when you say or hear “lama,” your guru appears to those who have pure minds, pure karma.
With the bodhisattvas, there are five paths: the path of merit, the path of preparation, the right-seeing path, the path of meditation and the path of no more learning. The path of merit has three levels: the small, middle and great concentration of Dharma continuity. When you achieve that, your mind is so purified that at that time you see all the buddhas in the nirmanakaya aspect. When you achieve the right-seeing path, you reach the first bhumi, and from that you start to actualize the ten bhumis. There are ten bhumis, and you start to actualize the first bhumi, the second bhumi, and so forth. The path of meditation is like that.
When you actualize the arya exalted path, you see in the buddhas in their more pure sambhogakaya aspect. Before you saw them in the nirmanakaya aspect but now you see them in the sambhogakaya aspect. Then, when you complete the five paths, at that time, when your subtle obscurations have ceased completely, you become one with all the buddhas.
At that time, you achieve the guru. At that time, you become the guru. At that time, when you become the guru, you become all the buddhas. Even though you are practicing highest tantra, Guhyasamaja or Yamantaka or Chakrasamvara, the graduated path to achieve enlightenment of that particular deity, when you complete the path you become the guru, and when that happens you become all the buddhas.
That happens for those whose minds are well purified. For those whose minds are not purified, who have impure minds, the guru manifests in an impure aspect. That is what I wanted to say, those who have impure minds. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m advertising myself. Don’t think that I’m advertising myself. This is what not only you but even I myself should realize. This is our practice. That is my heart advice.
By manifesting as impure to the numberless impure, obscured sentient beings, including yourself, the guru in impure form then guides you. In that way, the guru has guided you from beginningless rebirths. When you hear “lama,” think he has manifested in an impure form to guide obscured sentient beings like yourself—and like myself—and he has been guiding you from beginningless rebirths up to now. This is what you have to understand. He has manifested in so many different ways, in so many different aspects, using so many different methods, all kinds, all kinds, all kinds of manifestations.
Just as I told you about the Buddha, because the guru has guided you from beginningless rebirths up to now, all your happiness from beginningless rebirths up to now has come from your good karma. That is the action of the Buddha. That action of the Buddha, which has come from the Buddha, that is the action of the guru. It’s the same; it’s the action of the guru, it has come from the guru. Numberless happinesses from beginningless rebirths up to now have come from the guru. The cause of those happinesses, virtue, has come from the guru. Your virtuous actions have come from the guru.
All the positive imprints of the Dharma—the base of the two truths, absolute truth and conventional truth, the truth for the all-obscuring mind; the path, method and wisdom; and the goal to be achieved, the dharmakaya and rupakaya—all this comes from positive imprints that come from the guru. Every single understanding of every single word of Dharma comes from the guru. Every single cause of happiness, virtue, comes from the guru. From beginningless rebirths up to now every Dharma practice, every vow—the opposite of negative karma—completely comes from the guru.
Because everything, all the collection of goodness, comes from the guru, the guru’s kindness is like the limitless sky. If the guru’s kindness could materialize it would fill up the limitless sky. The kindness of the guru is most unbelievable, unbelievable, like limitless sky. Because of that, you can attain happiness in the future, all the way up to enlightenment, and then you are able to liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment.
Then, [tön pa] this guru manifested as the Buddha, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism in this world, the southern continent. Then, chom dän dä; chom destroyed the four gross and subtle maras, destroyed the disturbing thought obscurations and the subtle obscurations, she drib. Then, dän is “possessed,” meaning possessed with the four kayas, the five wisdoms and the six qualities, but I don’t remember them by heart. Dä is “gone beyond samsara and lower nirvana.”
De zhin sheg pa means “gone as it is, directly seeing emptiness of all phenomena.” Gone as it is, all the obscurations are ceased, and then you achieve enlightenment, you are “gone as it is,” de zhin sheg pa.
Dra chom pa, dra is “enemy” so dra chom pa means “having destroyed the enemy.” You can relate it to the three poisonous minds or the four gross and subtle maras. Then yang dag par dzog päi sang gyä: he removed all the 84,000 delusions, every gross and subtle single defilement relating to the path. Then sang gyä refers to having completed the whole path. Päl means glorified, dharmakaya. Gyäl wa, Victorious One, victorious over the two obscurations, the four maras. Then, of sha kya thub pa, sha kya is the caste and thub pa is “mind only.”
Then chhag tshäl lo means to prostrate with body, speech and mind. There is physical prostration and speech prostration; praising the qualities is speech prostration. Mind prostration is devotion to buddha. Chhag means having removed all wrong conceptions, from regarding the guru as ordinary up to the subtle wrong concept of dualistic view—the white appearance, red increasing and black near attainment. Having removed the very last subtle dualistic mind, you achieve enlightenment. Chhag means everything is purified. Chhag in Tibetan means to “throw away,” so you clean everything out, you clean away all the garbage mind. Tshäl means you are looking for [all these qualities] you wish for, from correctly following the virtuous friend up to enlightenment, chhag tshäl lo.
Cho du kyab su chi wo: cho du, making offerings. Kyab su chi wo, go for refuge.
I’ll stop here. Sorry, I didn’t get to continue the other subjects. That is OK.
[Dedication and mandala offering]
Tonight we will do an extensive Lama Chöpa, the Heruka Lama Chöpa offering, because today is Lama Tsongkhapa day. So, pray to be like that, to be able to benefit all sentient beings. Sorry, I forgot about giving refuge. Maybe tonight in your dreams!
We’ll bless the stomach for the dinner!
[Dedications]
Notes
33 (Tib) A spiritual master or teacher, the person who gives vows. [Return to text]
34 In some teachings Rinpoche has said the animal was a crab and at other times a lobster. [Return to text]
35 Khedrub Sangye Yeshe (1525–91) was Gyalwa Ensapa’s closest disciple. Quoted in The Heart of the Path, p. 7. [Return to text]
36 Quoted in The Heart of the Path, p. 284. [Return to text]
37 Quoted in The Heart of the Path, p. 114. [Return to text]
