Lecture 11
November 20, 1980 (evening)
PRACTICE THE DHARMA CONTINUOUSLY AND CORRECTLY
Think, “I am going to listen to the commentary of the graduated path to enlightenment in order to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all the kind mother sentient beings.”
As I mentioned this morning, the Dharma you are going to practice in this life, that you are going to spend your life putting energy into, must refer back to the Omniscient One, the founder of the teachings. This is the incredible method. It must be like this. If it is not Dharma that has come from the Omniscient One, the founder of the teachings, even though you spend a thousand years practicing this dharma that doesn’t have pure references like this, you will be unable to attain a single pure realization. You will have nothing to show, even after a thousand years of practice, “I have generated bodhicitta;” “I have generated the thought of renouncing samsara;” “I have generated the wisdom realizing emptiness;” “I have generated the realizations of the gradual path of enlightenment;” “I have attained the generation stage of Secret Mantra.” There will be nothing to show like that. What you want is butter but you churn water! You put water in a big pot and then you churn it, believing that you will get butter from that. But no matter how many years you churn the water, you will never get one piece of butter that you can put on your toast!
The Dharma you are going to practice will bring your desired results, whether it is wishing for temporal happiness, finding the body of a happy transmigratory being, attaining the perfections in all the future lives, attaining liberation, the sorrowless state, or attaining enlightenment. In order to achieve this aim, the holy Dharma that you practice should have been revealed by the founder, the Omniscient One. After the Buddha revealed the teachings, maybe some misunderstandings crept in, there were some questions, but the great pandits examined them and were able to rectify whatever mistakes they found. They eliminated any mistakes, clarifying what was right and wrong, by examining and debating the Dharma.
In that way, the great yogis followed the path and attained realizations. Having such a lineage, you can be assured that what you are going to practice is the holy Dharma, perfected in all these qualities. It is the graduated path that definitely leads to enlightenment.
Shakyamuni Buddha himself was originally like us, wandering in samsara. In the beginning he did not have Dharma wisdom. Then, having gradually followed the teachings shown by his guru, he actualized the complete graduated path to enlightenment in his holy mind. With this complete experience, he revealed the teachings to other sentient beings, to us.
It is very effective for your mind to know that Buddha Shakyamuni himself was the same sort of being, but then he practiced the teachings and generated the completed graduated path to enlightenment in his mind. He completed the work for himself and then was able to do extensive work for other sentient beings. He became a perfect example for us all, showing us that we too can follow the path and do extensive work for other sentient beings. Being told this life story, your small mind is made very extensive and very happy. It makes the mind very happy to think what the Buddha accomplished in his lifetime. It is incredible how he himself followed the path and achieved enlightenment.
The only difference is that, from your own side, you are not doing the practice; you are not following the path. Thinking that Shakyamuni has been enlightened since beginningless time doesn’t benefit your mind. It’s like the sky, like space; there is no way you can use it as an example. It’s too vast to inspire the mind. You have nothing to relate to in thinking there was no beginning to him being enlightened.
So now, we have to do something before sleep comes! I’m only joking.
Buddha Shakyamuni was an unbelievable example of working for other sentient beings. Hearing about his life story makes tears flow uncontrollably while you are reading. His buddha nature is unbelievable. Hearing how he gave his body to hungry sentient beings, such as the tiger and her cubs inspires you, bringing incredible strength in your mind, so if someone is hungry or in great difficulty, you really want to give your body right away. Even if you haven’t generated bodhicitta, reading about this bodhisattva’s life story is incredibly effective for the mind, especially to destroy the self-cherishing thought.
The Buddha’s 84,000 teachings can be divided in two aspects: the profound and the extensive. The profound teachings are revealed in the profound graduated path and the extensive meanings, the hidden works, are contained in the extensive graduated path. The entire teachings consist of both paths, the profound and extensive paths. Somebody who hopes to be able to practice the holy Dharma should definitely enter the graduated path.
From the side of the holy Dharma you can’t be cheated but even if you try to practice, if you don’t have perseverance to continue the practices or if you continue to practice the Dharma but incorrectly, you can cheat yourself. Or, conversely, if what you practice is right, but there is no perseverance, like a waterfall, you cannot complete your Dharma practice. From the side of the holy Dharma, there is no cheating at all, no mistakes at all; the cheating comes from your side.
If you continuously persevere in practicing the entire holy Dharma shown by the founder, the Buddha, after you have studied it, and if you practice it correctly as it is explained by the kind founder, it won’t take a long time to achieve enlightenment. Enlightenment can be achieved quickly when these three are gathered: the infallible teachings, continuous strong perseverance and correct practice. Enlightenment sounds very difficult to achieve but it is entirely in your own hands.
LAMA TSONGKHAPA RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS FROM MANJUSHRI
It is time to go over the outline of the teachings. The great, extremely learned scholar Lama Tsongkhapa attained the realizations of the entire graduated path to enlightenment and explained it, dividing it into three scopes. I will begin to go over the small scope on the basis of human suffering.
At the beginning of the teachings, Lama Tsongkhapa paid homage particularly to Manjushri. Generally, all scriptural understanding, all the realizations, all the qualities, from guru devotion up to enlightenment are completed, as with Lama Tsongkhapa, by the kindness of the guru.
Manjushri was his guru, even though he had many gurus from different sects. Actually Lama Tsongkhapa’s life story is very long. There are many different biographies written by different disciples.
Unlike some of the biographies, I won’t start from the beginning, from the place where Lama Tsongkhapa was born. One of them contains one of the stories of Lama Tsongkhapa, when he was going to practice in one of the caves in Tibet and had a conversation with his guru Manjushri. In this particular place, he saw Manjushri in the center surrounded by all the great Indian yogis, all those who had achieved the unified state of Vajradhara, who had achieved enlightenment in three years. In the Lama Chöpa merit field, there are many of those pandits and many deities such as White Tara and the Buddha. Manjushri’s sword, which is not made of iron, immediately came from Manjushri’s holy mind and struck Lama Tsongkhapa’s heart and nectars flowed. There were many known and unknown people around this place at the time, so when that happened, they drank much of the nectar that flowed through the sword, like drinking water from a pipe. Some drank a lot and some didn’t get much. The significance is this. Those who received a lot of nectar would achieve sublime realizations in that life. They would achieve the concentration of bliss and voidness from hearing Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings. Those who just got some nectar would get some realization of tantra, the general realizations of the three principal aspects of the path and things like that from Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings. And those who did not get any nectar would have the imprint to seek enlightenment on their mindstreams and would gain realizations in a future life. That is what this means.
Without elaborating, from his guru Manjushri Lama Tsongkhapa received incredibly clear, profound teachings, especially on emptiness and the method to obtain the illusory body. All the time Lama Tsongkhapa saw and received teachings from Manjushri, not in dreams and not just as an appearance in his mind. Lama Tsongkhapa could actually see Manjushri. There are two ways of seeing any deity: seeing with transcendental wisdom and seeing with the eye sense, like we see. Lama Tsongkhapa actually saw Manjushri with the eye sense and he received teachings by having conversations with Manjushri just as we have conversations and ask questions of the guru. Whenever Lama Tsongkhapa had questions, he asked Manjushri while he was doing the action, practicing very extensive listening, reflecting and meditation on emptiness and while he was memorizing and reflecting on all the commentaries by the pandits. Whenever he had a question, especially on subjects such as emptiness, Lama Tsongkhapa was able to ask Manjushri and get the answer straight from Manjushri, without any resistance, even the very subtle points of emptiness and tantric practice.
THE FIVE STAGES OF THE GENERATION STAGE AND THE FIVE OF THE COMPLETION STAGE
Lama Tsongkhapa wrote incredibly extensive, profound commentaries on the first tantric path, the graduated path of the generation stage, explaining how to practice that path. Then, he also wrote incredibly extensive commentaries on the graduated path of the completion stage.
I mentioned the five outlines the other day: body isolation, mind isolation, illusory body, clear light and then the union of those two. Just as there are five stages in the generation stage, the completion stage has five stages. The other day when I was going through this, I left out one thing. After the illusory body is reached, the meditator has to concentrate on the clear light of meaning. Then the meditator rises up in the unified body. This is the union of clear light and illusory body.
Even now you should be making plans to one day be able to study all eighteen volumes of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings, to be able to read and listen to teachings on them, and then to reflect and meditate on what you have learned.
The plans you make to actualize the Dharma should be as extensive as possible and as long as possible, determining to study and meditate for three great eons if necessary. If it takes that long to attain one realization, you should make the determination to have that degree of perseverance, thinking this is not only for yourself but for all sentient beings. No matter how long it takes or how hard it is, determine you will do it. You should make such a strong determination.
The aim is ultimate happiness, not just temporary pleasure. Working solely for the happiness of this life has nothing to do with future lives, nothing to do with liberation or enlightenment, nothing to do with benefiting all sentient beings. So whatever you have to do for the works of this life should be as little as possible. By now you should be able to understand why that is. I’ve been talking about this for several days now!
One thing you need to consider. Death is definite. With every hour, every minute, it is more definite that it is going to happen than not to happen. It’s easy to see that it will definitely happen sometime and very difficult to convince yourself it will never happen. If death were to come now, at this hour, all the work you have done for this life would benefit no one. The only benefit, the only thing that can help you at the time of death is having practiced the Dharma as much as possible. That is something you can do that carries into your future lives.
I’ll stop here.
Lecture 12
November 22, 1980
LAMA TSONGKHAPA SEES THE QUALITIES OF THE BUDDHA
Lama Tsongkhapa wrote various lamrim texts, including Lamrim Chenmo, the Great Treatise on the Path to Enlightenment. When Lama Atisha went to Tibet at the invitation of the king, he wrote the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, and Lamrim Chenmo was Lama Tsongkhapa’s essential commentary on that text.
Later, he wrote the Middle Lamrim and the Small Lamrim. These are more condensed. The small lamrim, called Hymns of Experience, is his personal experiences in a condensed way. When Lama Tsongkhapa was writing Lamrim Chenmo, before he started to write the insight section he stopped, presuming it would not benefit much. After asking Manjushri to consider what he had written, Manjushri asked him why he had not written about emptiness in the great scope section. He explained his reservations but Manjushri advised him if he wrote the last part of the text, the higher seeing, the benefit to sentient beings would be unlimited.
Lama Tsongkhapa explained how he wrote the teaching based on the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, then he put together all the advice he received from Manjushri. His commentary on the lamrim was actually Manjushri’s teaching.
One day, while Lama Tsongkhapa was giving teachings to hundreds of disciples, giving several different teachings during one day, Manjushri advised him to leave the teachings and go into retreat. Lama Tsongkhapa objected, saying he couldn’t leave the teachings in the middle but Manjushri asked him, “Don’t you have to benefit numberless sentient beings?” The point of Manjushri’s advice was that these people who were taking teachings from him at that time were limited in number but sentient beings are numberless. By doing the practice he could complete the realizations on the path to enlightenment and, in that way, benefit more sentient beings. There’s no doubt about it. Manjushri advised Lama Tsongkhapa to concentrate on numberless sentient beings, not just several hundred of beings who are nothing in comparison. Therefore, Lama Tsongkhapa stopped his teachings and went off to practice. Whatever work Lama Tsongkhapa had to do, whatever teachings he gave, he always asked Manjushri.
Lama Tsongkhapa wrote the requesting prayer for the lineage lamas called Opening the Extreme Path, which is a long version of the lineage prayer. That prayer is recognized as the one you must recite in the lamrim. Because each stanza expresses perfectly all the qualities and realizations, it is very effective and powerful for subduing and transforming the mind and generating realization. When Lama Tsongkhapa was writing this lineage lamas prayer, he saw the entire merit field, with Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, all the lineage lamas and pandits, Lama Atisha and all the Kadampa geshes, the whole merit field. Then, the entire merit field absorbed into Lama Atisha, then Lama Dromtönpa, the embodiment of Chenrezig, then Kadampa Geshe Potowa, then Sharawa. After they absorbed, Lama Atisha put his palms on Lama Tsongkhapa’s head and advised him to do great work for the teachings and told him he would help him. After this advice, Lama Atisha absorbed through Lama Tsongkhapa’s crown. In that way, Lama Tsongkhapa is the embodiment of Lama Atisha.
Although Lama Tsongkhapa wrote his texts through Lama Manjushri, that does not mean he does not pay homage to other gurus. He has many other gurus. Even though his words were shared by Manjushri, by seeing all the gurus in one essence, he then pays homage to them. Paying particular homage to Manjushri doesn’t mean not paying homage to other gurus.
HYMNS OF EXPERIENCE COMMENTARY: HOMAGE
Your body is created from a billion perfect factors of goodness;
Your speech satisfies the yearnings of countless sentient beings;
Your mind perceives all objects of knowledge exactly as they are–
I bow my head to you, O chief of the Shakya clan.14
Usually, when you see people, there is always some discrimination. When you look at the body, some parts are good, some parts are very beautiful, but some parts have something wrong! Even if the nose is good, there is something wrong with the ear. Even if they are both good, there is something wrong with the mouth or the cheek! Even if the upper body is good, then down below, the legs, are wrong somehow.
Whoever sees Guru Shakyamuni’s holy body, adorned with the holy signs and exemplifications, finds nothing other than what is perfect. Everything is extremely enchanting, magnificent. No matter how much you look at his holy body, you will never feel tired or bored. Ordinary people, whenever you see their body—today you see it, tomorrow you see it, in the morning you see it, in the afternoon you see it, in the evening you see it—you get bored. You get tired of seeing the same person with the same body and the same manner. You become bored and start making excuses to avoid them.
It is not like that with Buddha Shakyamuni’s holy body. However much you want to look at it, just seeing it gives incredible bliss in the mind, calmness and tranquility. The mind is easily transformed just by seeing it. This is true even when you look at the statues or paintings that are examples of Buddha Shakyamuni’s holy body. Even if it is a very rough rendition, not an exact idea of Shakyamuni Buddha, even that has incredible power. Just by seeing it, you can feel the great peace that is in the mind of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. Even from his position, the way he sits, you can feel the great calmness, the great attainment which is in the mind of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. From that simple example, when you look at it, it releases unimaginable power to calm your mind, even if your mind is violent. Even seeing a painting or statue has the power to calm your mind, to bring your mind to the same attainment that Guru Shakyamuni Buddha has.
There is no question that you can actually see Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s holy body. Each pore of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s holy body manifests many millions of different forms, even to guide just one sentient being. Each pore is able to precisely do the work of the holy body, the work of the holy speech, and the work of the holy mind. It’s impossible to write down every single merit that Guru Shakyamuni Buddha accumulated when he was a bodhisattva. Saying a billion implies an infinite number. This is similar to the prayer we do here, the prayer to Lama Tsongkhapa called Ganden Lha Gyäma, the Hundred Deities of the Land of Joy (Tushita). It doesn’t mean in Tushita pure realm there are only a hundred buddhas; there are just a limited number of buddhas. “Hundred” here implies many buddhas.
“Your body is created from a billion perfect factors of goodness.” This holy body is the production of a billion perfect merits accumulated over three great eons. There are two types of merit: the perfect merit of transcendental wisdom and the perfect merit of fortune, which is sometimes translated as the “merit of method.” One is merit accumulated with wisdom and the other is accumulated through the method side of the path, such as the thought of the renunciation of samsara or of bodhicitta. Shakyamuni Buddha has perfectly completed the merit of transcendental wisdom and the merit of fortune, and in that way he has perfectly completed merits of the holy body.
Who has holy speech? Whose holy speech completely satisfies the needs of infinite migratory beings? For us ordinary people, if we try to say some sweet words to make other people happy, somehow it doesn’t fit. Even though in our own mind they seem like nice words, they become a disturbance for other people’s minds. Because it doesn’t suit their dispositions, it doesn’t make them happy or satisfy them, no matter how much we try to talk. Instead, we might cause them to become angry or depressed. To give satisfaction to one sentient being through our speech is difficult, so it is impossible to satisfy the minds of the infinite sentient beings with our present speech habits.
When Guru Shakyamuni Buddha gave teachings, each teaching was only to subdue the minds of his disciples. Each disciple received the teachings according to the level of their mind. Even though the Buddha was teaching hundreds of thousands of disciples, to each one it felt like he was giving personal instructions just to them. At any one moment, any few words he said could become a different teaching to each different disciple, according to the level of their mind. Some might understand it as a teaching on impermanence, and through that they might realize impermanence; some might hear it as a teaching on emptiness only, and through that they might realize emptiness.
Guru Shakyamuni Buddha gave teaching at Vulture’s Peak in Rajgir to those intelligent sentient beings who were the objects to be subdued, who had the good fortune to receive his teachings on emptiness. While he was teaching there, at the same time he was giving teachings on the third turning of the wheel of Dharma at another place to those particular sentient beings, and simultaneously he was in Sarnath giving teachings on the first turning of the wheel of Dharma, the place where he gave the teachings on the four noble truths. He was also in the southern continent in the aspect of the tantric deity, Vajradhara, transforming mandalas. Only the highest intelligence beings, whose minds were well trained in the general path and who had already generated the three principles of the path, could receive tantric teachings from him in the aspect of Vajradhara. In that way, Shakyamuni Buddha was able to fulfil the wishes of infinite sentient beings, not only those who liked and respect him, but also those who didn’t like and respect him.
His holy mind was able to see the whole of existence simultaneously in both aspects, both the absolute truth and the conventional or all-obscuring truth. The literal translation of kun dzob den pa is “all-obscuring truth” but it is also translated as “conventional truth.” All existent things come within these two truths; everything is contained in these two. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s holy mind sees every single existence exactly as it is. Besides seeing the conventional or all-obscuring truth—all the three-time existence, all the different personalities, all the different imprints and thoughts of all sentient beings, even their subtle karma—he could see the absolute nature of the whole of existence. He could see how not an atom of the whole of existence is truly existent; nothing at all exists from its own side, except what is merely labeled on.
The nature of everything is that it is empty of any true existence, and Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s holy mind saw exactly that. Even the transcendental arya beings, while their minds are focused on the all-obscuring or conventional truth, cannot focus at the same time on the absolute truth, emptiness only. The Buddha, however, while one-pointedly concentrating on the absolute truth, the nature of emptiness only, is able to focus on the conventional truth of all things and, at the same time, he is able to do unimaginable work for sentient beings, revealing the different teachings and benefiting the different beings according to their different levels. Only the Buddha is able to do this, while the holy mind is in concentration on absolute nature, like pouring water into water. This is the special quality of Buddha’s holy mind. This is without mentioning the stories about the Buddha’s clairvoyance. This is very brief in the first stanza.
The second stanza says,
You’re the most excellent sons of such peerless teacher;
You carry the burden of the enlightened activities of all conquerors,
And in countless realms you engage in ecstatic display of emanations—
I pay homage to you O Maitreya and Manjushri.
Maitreya is great love. If you have great love you cannot be harmed by maras. Also, Maitreya is referred to as the one who cannot be defeated. People like us, who are under the control of delusions, overwhelmed by delusions, are defeated, are lost. Because we are very weak and the delusions are very strong, we are defeated by them, but holy beings such as Maitreya Buddha have completely destroyed the source of delusions so he is said to be undefeated by delusion.
“I prostrate to Maitreya, the undefeated one, Manjushri, the son of the peerless founder, Shakyamuni Buddha, who manifests in numberless realms, by carrying the responsibility of performing all the actions of holy body, holy speech and holy mind of the Victorious Ones according to the level of sentient beings, in order to bring them on the path to peace.”
This means saving sentient beings from the lower realms and bringing them to the upper realms, and then, for those who are in the upper realms, by revealing the teachings, liberating them from true suffering and the true cause of suffering. They lead those whose minds are fit only for that method to nirvana, and they lead those who are fortunate to be suited to the Mahayana teachings to enlightenment. However, all sentient beings are gradually led to the one goal of enlightenment. Even though there are three vehicles—the lesser vehicle and the great vehicle, and within the great vehicle the bodhisattva’s vehicle and the tantric vehicle—the ultimate goal is enlightenment. The verse says that Maitreya and Manjushri carry the burden; they take the responsibility of all the actions of the Buddha, by manifesting in uncountable numbers of forms and in uncountable numbers of realms and giving teachings that fit the minds of sentient beings, both the extensive teachings and the profound teachings.
The lineage of the teachings of the extensive path began with Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and continued to Buddha Maitreya, and the lineage of the teachings of the profound path began with the Buddha and was handed down to Buddha Manjushri. So, Lama Tsongkhapa pays homage to these two.
The third verse says,
So difficult to fathom is the mother of all conquerors,
You who unravel its contents as it is are the jewels of the world;
You’re hailed with great fame in all three spheres of the world–
I pay homage to you O Nagarjuna and Asanga.
Prostrating at the holy feet of Nagarjuna and Asanga shows how the lineage of the teachings was handed down to the other great pandits. The lineage of teachings of the extensive path was handed down from Maitreya to Asanga, and the lineage of the teachings of the profound path was handed down from Manjushri to Nagarjuna. From there the two lineages were passed on to pandits such as Aryadeva and Vasubandhu. There is no need to mention all the names of the pandits who followed, those who made commentaries of the Prajnaparamita texts of the Victorious One. Of those teachings of the Buddha that are extremely difficult to comprehend, all the pandits that you see in the thangkas made clear, extensive commentaries, exactly according to the view of the Buddha. So, Lama Tsongkhapa prostrates at the holy feet of all those pandits who are in both the lineages of the teachings of the extensive path and the profound path, handed down from Nagarjuna and Asanga.
The fourth verse says,
Stemming from these two great charioteers with excellence
Are the two paths of the profound view and the vast conduct;
You’re the custodian of the treasury of instructions encompassing all essential points
Of these paths without error, I pay homage to you O Dipamkara.
I pay homage to Dipamkara, Lama Atisha, who is the holder of the treasure of advice which contains all the importance of the incredible complete path. This is the path of the extensive action and the path of the profound right view which was passed by the two great charioteers. Lama Atisha received the complete teachings of the lineage of the extensive path from Asanga and Vasubandhu, the complete teachings of the lineage of the profound path from Nagarjuna and Chandrakirti and the complete teachings of the lineage of the profound experience Tilopa and Naropa.
Then, Lama Atisha handed down the lineage of all these teaching to Dromtönpa and Dromtönpa handed them down to Potowa. Like this, the teachings were gradually passed on to other Kadampa geshes. Three different lineages happened after Dromtönpa. Potowa became the lineage holder for the scriptural texts, Chengawa became the lineage holder for the essential or pith instructions and Phuchungwa became the lineage holder of the oral instructions.
THE MEANING OF SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA’S MANTRA
Now, I’d like us to meditate together but I don’t know what to meditate on! Maybe we can meditate on emptiness—no, not emptiness, nothingness! I thought it would be very good to recite the three mantras that you learnt before. A great number of mantras are collected when there are many people reciting them together. This time each mantra is multiplied by seventy. I don’t think I’ll explain the other mantras tonight, Chenrezig mantra or Padmasambhava mantra, maybe just the Shakyamuni Buddha mantra. I’ll just do the lung, the oral transmission tonight.
The meaning of mantra is to “protect the mind.” As it does the function of protecting the mind it is called mantra.
First, TADYATHA OM means purifying your ordinary body, speech and mind, transform them into Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s vajra holy body, vajra holy speech and vajra holy mind.
MUNÉ MUNÉ MAHA MUNEYÉ SVAHA; these syllables contain the whole graduated path to enlightenment, from guru devotion all the way up to enlightenment. The first MUNÉ refers to the path of the lower capable being, the second MUNÉ refers to the graduated path of the middle capable being and MAHA MUNEYÉ refers to the graduated path of the higher capable being, which contains the tantra path.
By listening, reflecting and meditating on the first path, you attain the graduated path of the lower capable being, then with the second MUNÉ you generate the graduated path of the middle capable being, and finally with MAHA MUNEYÉ you generate the graduated path of the higher capable being, which includes the whole tantric path. By actualizing this mantra in your mind, you purify your ordinary body, speech and mind and transform them into Shakyamuni Buddha’s vajra holy body, vajra holy speech and vajra holy mind.
By actualizing the path contained in MAHA MUNEYÉ you achieve the result that is signified by the syllable OM, purifying all the obscurations and negative karma committed with the body, with the speech and with the mind. The final syllable, SVAHA, means to achieve the result that is signified by the OM. So, the path that is contained in OM MUNÉ MUNÉ MAHA MUNEYÉ is planting the root, like a tree. First you plant the root, then whatever seed is planted grows from that.
TIBETANS AND MANTRAS
The purpose of reciting mantras is not just to make a nice sound that doesn’t have much meaning. It’s not just a kind of meaningless ritual, just a chant. If it was just a chant to keep the mind calm and free from busyness, there wouldn’t be much value.
The purpose of reciting mantras is to generate the good heart. There are many methods to develop a good heart and reciting mantras is one of them. However, in order to understand the subject you are listening to, or to understand the meaning of the lamrim teachings, you need to prevent hindrances and quickly generate the realizations on the path to enlightenment. The hindrances are the negative karma. If you have very thick negative karma, there will be many hindrances to understanding; you will not be able to comprehend the meaning of the teachings well and therefore will not be able to generate the realizations of the path quickly. So, the purpose of reciting mantras is to generate the realizations on the path quickly that are contained in MUNÉ MUNÉ MAHA MUNEYÉ, the graduated paths of the three capable beings.
Preventing all the hindrances by generating the path to enlightenment, to put it simply, is developing the good heart. That is the purpose of reciting mantras. If you recite the mantra you are meant to practice what it means in your everyday life in order to develop the good heart and to renounce harmful thoughts as much as possible. You need to replace the mind wishing to harm others with the mind that wishes to benefit others.
If you recite the mantra in the morning or at night and then, in the daytime, you completely follow anger, pride, jealousy or other negative thoughts, harming others with your body, speech and mind, disturbing their peace, that is completely the opposite of the reason why you recited the mantra. Your daytime life should be harmonious with the times in the morning and night when you recite mantras.
In Tibet we have a story like this. The people in the northern part of Tibet have a kind of faith but no understanding of the meaning of offering to holy objects. They recite mantras to prevent hindrances with some kind of limited understanding, but it’s not really understanding. They must be nomads! They hold a prayer wheel in one hand. They have many sheep. I think the father of the family, who has a prayer wheel in one hand to clear the hindrances, points out with the other hand which sheep he wants killed. Despite the prayer wheel in his left hand, he turns into a butcher deciding which sheep are to be killed. This is the complete opposite of what it should be. This is like the people who live in Solu Khumbu, the place where I was born. Even though they have some faith, there is not so much understanding of karma and they have never heard teachings. In general, they have some faith but little understanding, the complete opposite of Western people!
In general, uneducated people who didn’t go to a monastery find it very difficult to study. Even if they attend a teaching such as on the lamrim, they find it hard to understand the teachings, unlike most Western people. They only prick up their ears like a horse if the lama mentions some stories. If they are asleep, they wake up. If they are doing something, they stop at that time. Generally it is like that. Even if they do attend teachings, they find them difficult to understand. If they are literate, they might be able to read some scriptures when they return home, depending on their level of understanding, but there are many who are illiterate and cannot read the scriptures.
They were born in Tibet where there are all the precious teachings of the Mahayana and Vajrayana, but somehow it doesn’t happen like in the West, where from childhood everyone learns the alphabet. There are schools, but not everyone goes. Many lay people can’t read scriptures or understand any teachings they attend, even though they might think that hearing the teachings will benefit their future lives, assuring them a higher rebirth. With that kind of general faith they come to listen to the teachings and take refuge in the lama. They do have strong devotion but without understanding the teaching being given. They didn’t study because they are unable to read the scriptures. When they return home and you ask what teachings the lama gave, they can’t explain. Only someone who has some imprints left from past lives might be able to understand some of what the lama said.
The Tibetans have good things and bad things. They are similar in that way to Western people, but not similar in other ways. You might be able to understand the topic the lama was speaking about perfectly and their teachings were given perfectly, but because of karmic obscurations created in previous lives, no matter how logical the reasoning is or how long you debate it with others, you remain skeptical. In fact, maybe the more you look into the subject, the more disturbed your mind becomes, and instead of becoming clearer it becomes more difficult.
Once His Holiness the Dalai Lama joked that although the Tibetan people are usually uneducated and Westerners usually have a good education and have been trained to study from childhood and are thought to be intelligent and able to distinguish right from wrong, sometimes he feels Western people are much more foolish than uneducated Tibetans. Westerners are skeptical in some ways and gullible in others. It is kind of true, I think. Sometimes, Westerners never check up! I don’t have to tell you. There are so many stories you can hear in the world.
A family in the village where I was born still carry on behaving like it was in a film. Even though they really don’t attend the teachings and hardly understand any teachings they go to—they really don’t try to understand the teachings—even though they go there physically, they really just go for the blessing part. This family told me that before they kill a sheep, for a certain number of weeks they recite the mantra OM MANI PADME HUM. I don’t know who recites the mantra for virtue, but after they recite the mantra, they kill the sheep. They believe they are better because other people don’t do that. There are many funny stories like this. I’ve lost the point of what I was talking about.
I really do appreciate the differences very much when I see those Tibetans who are educated in the monasteries. With such an education comes great understanding, especially where there are debating subjects, not like where the young monks study. In the big monasteries, the monks who seek the teachings train their minds through analyzing. They have already studied different scriptures in detail and have a profound knowledge of the subjects, so when they hear the lamrim teachings condensed like this, the conditions are perfect to subdue the mind, to transform the mind. That is not difficult to understand.
For those who have completed the whole study program, the five great treatises, there is nothing new, but when they hear the lamrim presented by an experienced lama, the way it is set up is especially to subdue the mind. Even the subjects they know very well, when explained by an experienced lama, are very effective for the mind.
For Westerners, you can at least understand the words that the lama said. If you can’t remember, you are able to immediately write down what the lama says. Even though you might not understand the meaning, at least you can understand the words. But to have faith in the subject is completely something else. That is not the realization of experience. If you can’t remember or write down the words, or if you don’t understand them, then there is nothing to check on. There is no base to think about. The very special qualities I see in Westerners is your ability to understand the whole thing, because that makes it a continuation, as well as the wisdom to examine what you have heard. Your minds have already been trained by studying other things.
By using your intelligence to examine the teachings, you have the opportunity to understand more clearly and get a stronger feeling for the validity of them. From that you will gradually generate strong faith. If you continue to study, I think in a short time you can have a vast understanding of the teachings. Then, you won’t make mistakes in your practice. If you can put effort into continuing your study, in a short time, with great intelligence you will be able to understand all the scriptures that explain the whole path to enlightenment. When you complete it for the first time, you will understand.
Then, even if you get depressed about how long you’ve got to live, since you have all these understandings and have received all these teachings, there is no danger in the practice because you can guide yourself. I think that is a great advantage. This is what I have found so far in these past years.
I think Western people who receive teachings from certain lamas in the West and in Dharamsala are unbelievably fortunate in many ways. I think you are far more fortunate than those lay Tibetan people in Lhasa. If you ask them just one question about the lamrim, they cannot give an answer. But if you ask Western students, they can often talk at length about it, very nicely and very effectively. The Tibetan people might have also received teachings from lamas, but Westerners can remember and say something about it.
For instance, let’s say there are lamrim teachings that everyone can attend. Even if there are five hundred people there, generally speaking there might be one hundred Westerners who at least understand well the words of the lama, and on the basis of the outline can remember the subject. But most of the Tibetans would find it difficult because they can’t write it down in a book. Their minds can’t catch the words. There are many difficulties like this. These one hundred Westerners are able to hold the words somehow, even if they don’t fully understand them, so generally speaking the Westerners who take teachings have more understanding.
I didn’t intend to talk about all these things, but it is good to understand and recognize your special qualities. Maybe we can edit these special qualities for a television program!
Think, “I must attain enlightenment for the benefit of all my kind mother sentient beings, therefore I am going to take the oral transmission of the mantra.”
[Rinpoche give the oral transmission of the Chenrezig mantra]
“May love and compassion be generated in my mind and the minds of all the others. Where there is no bodhicitta, may there be bodhicitta. May the thought of love and compassion be generated, and what is generated, may it be increased.”
“Due to the three-time merits accumulated by myself and others, may I achieve the guru, the great compassionate one and lead every single sentient being to the enlightened state.”
[Rinpoche and group chant in Tibetan]
Lecture 13
November 23, 1980 (morning)
WITH BODHICITTA, WHATEVER YOU DO YOU ARE HAPPY
Khunu Lama said,
When you have bodhicitta you are happy.
If you are sick you are happy, if you are well you are happy;
Even if you are dying you are happy.
Listening, studying, meditating, whatever you do, you are happy.15
What the great bodhisattva Khunu Lama Rinpoche is saying, if you can transform your mind that is currently overwhelmed by the self-cherishing thought into bodhicitta, cherishing other sentient beings more than yourself, then whatever you do you are happy
Even if you don’t do a retreat or a meditation practice, in your everyday life whatever happens, there is no confusion in your mind and you are happy. Whether you are healthy or sick, since there is bodhicitta in the mind, you are very happy, very comfortable. Inside the body there might be pain, but inside the heart there is harmony and tranquility; there is great happiness in the heart. Being healthy or being sick, both are very meaningful for other sentient beings.
Similarly, even if somebody complains about you, there is no confusion in the mind. There is tranquility in the mind. No matter how much somebody criticizes you or abuses you, there is tranquility in the mind. Having a bad reputation only causes great happiness in the mind, like wanting to help others is highly beneficial. Even having a good reputation doesn’t disturb the tranquility of the mind.
Whatever happens in life, living in good conditions or bad conditions, being wealthy or poor, being helped by others or harmed by others, having a good or a bad reputation, whatever happens there is always tranquility in the mind because you are only concerned with working for others and not concerned about yourself. You are always happy, never depressed. There is no great fear in the mind, no worry. Whether you do mundane work or a Buddhist meditation practice, everything you do becomes a cause for enlightenment. It becomes the method to achieve happiness for all sentient beings. Whatever you do is highly meaningful.
If you are concerned for the happiness of others, in just this one life, in this world, you will always be happy. Khunu Lama Rinpoche said that we should use our experiences to train the mind, always thinking of bodhicitta, renunciation and things like that.
Whatever actions we do in everyday life, we should attempt to do those actions motivated by bodhicitta. We should always try to develop it. Therefore, first take the teachings with the bodhicitta motivation and then remember the five conducts given in the teachings. Think, “I am going to listen to the commentary on the graduated path to enlightenment for the benefit of all the kind mother sentient beings.”
LAMA TSONGKHAPA’S LINEAGE
Lama Tsongkhapa was highly learned and had great attainments. In his Hymns of Experience he explained his experience of the gradual path to enlightenment.
As I mentioned earlier, after Lama Atisha and Dromtönpa, there became three lineages: the lineage of the scriptural texts passed to Potowa; the lineage of the essential instructions passed to Chengawa; and the lineage of the oral instructions passed to Phuchungwa.
The three lineages are called the Kadam Lharimpa, who studied the lamrim texts started by Gönpawa; the Kadam Mengapa, who generated the path by following the oral advice given by their guru; and the Kadam Zhungpa, who generated the path by following the extensive scriptures, which were handed down from Gönpawa to Sharawa, and then to Chekawa, the guru who wrote the Seven-Point Thought Transformation. I think Lama Tsongkhapa has received all these lineages.
Those three lineages are called Old Kadampa and, starting from Lama Tsongkhapa, it is called New Kadampa. So, Lama Tsongkhapa pays homage to all the Kadampa geshe lineage lamas. Then, gradually the teachings were handed down, first to Lama Tsongkhapa’s two main disciples, Khedrub-je and Gyaltsab-je, then gradually to great pandits like Pabongka Rinpoche, who is recognized as Heruka, who did retreat on that. From there, to the holy mind of Trijang Rinpoche, my guru, whose mind is of incomparable kindness, who incorporated the teachings of the Lamrim Chenmo—the Great Treatise on the Path to Enlightenment—and the different lamrim commentaries of the Dalai Lamas, including the commentary given by Pabongka Rinpoche, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. That was the first lamrim commentary I heard in my life. The very first explanation of the commentary was taught by Trijang Rinpoche, the root guru of the Dalai Lama’s teachers.
HYMNS OF EXPERIENCE COMMENTARY: HOMAGE
The fifth verse of Hymns of Experience says,
You are the eyes to see all the myriad collections of scriptures;
To the fortunate ones traveling to freedom you illuminate the excellent path,
You do this through skillful deeds stirred forth by compassion.
I pay respectful homage to you O all my spiritual mentors.
Lama Tsongkhapa paid homage to all the gurus, the virtuous friends who encompass all the essential scriptures and who are the door for the fortunate ones to quickly travel to freedom. Guiding us through skillful actions, they are moved with unbearable compassion. Because of this powerful compassion, the gurus guide us with their holy body, holy speech and holy mind, skillfully leading us to enlightenment.
Even though you might have all the texts of sutra and tantra, everything the Buddha taught, you cannot progress on the path without a guru, without receiving the lungs, the initiations, the commentaries and the advice explaining the profound tantra teachings. You cannot even understand one word without the guru. Without somebody giving blessings, it isn’t easy to transform your mind, to generate the realizations in the mind.
It’s a question of correctly following the guru. By listening to the words from the holy mouth of the teacher, you can perfectly understand the meaning of the teachings on sutra and tantra. So, the guru is like the supreme door of the fortunate ones, allowing them to proceed to liberation.
You need to clearly understand the advantages of correctly following the guru with thought and action and the disadvantages of not correctly following the guru. Following the guru, making offering with practice according to the guru’s advice, pleases the holy mind of the guru. Then, when you receive the guru’s blessings, your mind becomes transformed.
In that way, because your mind is subdued, it is very easy to generate the rest of the path, from the beginning of lamrim up to enlightenment, including the general realizations and the realizations of Secret Mantra. You can generate all realizations very easily, without much time and without much effort.
It’s like being at the gateway to a rich country, one where if you enter you will receive whatever entitlement, possessions and enjoyment you want. If you don’t pass through that gateway, you will receive nothing; you won’t be able to enjoy what that country has to offer or make business there. Similarly, depending on the guru is the main entrance to liberation, the main entrance to enlightenment. Without depending on the guru, no matter how much you want to achieve liberation or enlightenment, you can never achieve it. The whole thing comes from correctly devoting to the guru. And to do guru practice, you should have a guru! That’s how the guru is the supreme entrance for the fortunate one to proceed to liberation.
The guru is the one who, with skillful means moved by the compassion, dispels the disciple’s ignorance. That is ignorance in the teachings, unable to distinguish between what is to be practiced and what is to be avoided. The guru clarifies the profound and extensive teachings taught by Buddha. In that way, those kind virtuous friends are kinder than Shakyamuni Buddha. In this time of the flourishing of the five degenerations, other buddhas are unable subdue the minds of us sentient beings. We didn’t become the object to be subdued by other buddhas because we are too difficult to subdue. So, Shakyamuni Buddha made many prayers in the past that if there are sentient beings who could not be subdued by other buddhas, he would be the one who is able to teach and subdue them. That’s why Guru Shakyamuni Buddha descended at this time when the lifespan is a hundred years.
He revealed the twelve deeds of a buddha, taking the aspect of achieving enlightenment and turning the wheel of the Dharma. Even though he did all that, still we were unable to become objects to be subdued directly by Shakyamuni Buddha. Even though many other sentient beings became the objects to be subdued by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s actions of the holy body and, because of that, achieved nirvana, we didn’t have the karma to be subdued. This is a more degenerate time than Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s time.
Unable to be subdued by anybody, completely guideless, like a child without a mother, deserted, completely ignorant, without refuge, with no water to drink—we are like that. At such a time, the virtuous friend appears in the aspect that suits our disposition, according to our karma. According to the level of our mind, we have the karma to be able to see the guru in that form. In that aspect, they can reveal the methods, the teachings, guiding us to happiness, guiding us to the upper realms, guiding us to liberation, guiding us to enlightenment. This shows us how Lama Tsongkhapa is paying homage to his gurus, his kind virtuous friends.
The sixth stanza is related to the qualities of the teachings.
You’re the crowning jewels among all the learned ones of this world;
Your banners of fame flutter vibrantly amongst the sentient beings;
O Nagarjuna and Asanga from you flow in an excellent steady stream
This [instruction on the] stages of the path to enlightenment.
The stages of path to enlightenment have been transmitted in the correct order by the proper lineage from Nagarjuna and Asanga who are the crown jewels of all the erudite Indian scholars and the banners, whose families are resplendent throughout the three realms. These stages can bring about the completion of the basic aims of beings because they combine the streams of thousands of good scriptural texts.
Nagarjuna and Asanga and those others who took the crown of all the learned ones in the world, are resplendent with enchanting sounds heard by sentient beings. That means when sentient beings hear their holy names, it inspires their minds and pacifies their suffering, and devotion to them arises.
This is the particular quality of the lamrim teaching. As I have said, there are the two lamrim paths, the profound and the extensive. The lineage of the profound path passed from Manjushri to Nagarjuna and then down to Chandrakirti and Atisha, and the lineage of the extensive path passed from Maitreya to Asanga, and then to Vasubandhu all the way to Atisha, so what Atisha wrote is adorned with the advice of these great lineage lamas. It is very effective for the mind, especially as it has been decorated with those two lineages.
Understanding and practicing the graduated path to enlightenment, which has been perfectly handed down from Nagarjuna and Asanga and then gradually to others, fulfils all the wishes of sentient beings up to enlightenment. Therefore this advice is like a wish-granting jewel, a jewel that is more precious than any other kind, gold, diamonds or whatever. No matter how much there is, no other jewel can compete. Just as gold overwhelms brass, the wish-granting jewel overwhelms all other jewels. This advice is the crowning jewel of all advice, just like that wish-granting jewel, fulfilling the wishes of all sentient beings.
The seventh and eighth verses say,
Since it fulfils all the wishes of beings without exception,
It is the king of kings among all quintessential instructions;
Since it gathers into it thousands of excellent rivers of treatises,
It’s as well the ocean of most glorious well-uttered insights.It helps to recognize all teachings to be free of contradictions;
It helps the dawning of all scriptures as pith instructions;
It helps to find easily the enlightened intention of the conquerors;
It helps also to guard against the abyss of grave negative deeds.
The lamrim is precious because it contains all the rivers of the 84,000 pure scriptures shown by Shakyamuni Buddha. All these teachings are like all the rivers on the earth flowing into the ocean; they are all contained in the lamrim teachings.
This is also the ocean glorified by the expansive teaching. Even what Maitreya wrote, the extensive teachings, does not contain more on tantra. This is like the ocean that receives water from all the different rivers; everything meets together to become the ocean. The whole teaching of the Buddha is contained in this pith advice, which is the second particular quality of these teachings.
The lamrim helps protect the mind from negative thoughts. The creator of all the suffering, the creator of samsara, is the unsubdued mind; the creator of liberation is also the mind. The creator of the hells is the mind; the creator of enlightenment is the mind. Through not having subdued the mind, the hells are created; through having subdued the mind, enlightenment is achieved. The whole thing depends on mind. Because the way the lamrim teachings are presented is to subdue the mind, they are very easy to practice.
Notes
14 Hymns of Experience, v. 1. Trans. Thupten Jinpa, FPMT, 2004. [Return to text]
15 The Jewel Lamp, v. 296. [Return to text]
