Lecture 8
November 17, 1980
The ten bhumis
I have briefly given some idea of the five Mahayana paths you need to progress through in order to achieve the state of omniscience. There are also ten bodhisattva bhumis, ten progressive states you need to achieve the omniscience. The first bhumi happens on the third Mahayana path, the right-seeing path. The second to seventh bhumis occur from the right-seeing path to the Mahayana path of meditation, and the eighth to the tenth are on the path of no more learning. These ten bhumis refer to the minds of bodhisattvas who do not follow the tantric path, who follow the Paramitayana path only. When the meditators’ minds progress from one path to another, they progress through these ten bhumis.
For each bhumi, when their power of concentration becomes increasingly strong, they pass from the previous bhumi and subsequently attain the next level. Within the concentration there are two different things, the uninterrupted path and the liberated path. Reaching the uninterrupted path becomes the remedy to the disturbing-thought obscurations that block them reaching the next level and the liberated path removes the obscurations to knowledge.
Just to explain how the mind approaches the ten bhumis. There are different scriptures and texts—small ones and elaborate ones—that explain the paths that you can study if you want to. The third Mahayana path, the liberating right-seeing path, removes the one hundred and twelve acquired disturbing-thought obscurations. The path of meditation removes the sixteen innate disturbing-thought obscurations and then the one hundred and eight obscurations to knowledge.
There are quite a few steps to reach the first bhumi. When the meditator is at the level of the first bhumi, they are able to see a hundred buddhas and receive all their blessings. This happens in one second. They can go to one hundred buddha realms. They are able to exist and to see the previous hundred buddha realms and the future hundred buddha realms. They are able to reveal hundreds of Dharma teachings, give hundreds of different teachings, and ripen the minds of hundreds of sentient beings, transforming the beings’ bodies so that each body is surrounded by the one hundred and eight higher bodhisattvas. They are also able to do different concentrations. There are twelve different qualities that the meditator can do. There’s concentration time and subsequent attainment. After subsequent attainment, the meditator can do these actions.
After the second bhumi is subsequently attained, these twelve qualities increase a thousand-fold. At the third bhumi this becomes a hundred thousand-fold, I think. These twelve different qualities increase more and more as they approach each bhumi.
By only following the paramita path, the meditator gradually approaches the different levels on the Mahayana path. Due to power of the remedy, the path, the obscurations diminish more and more. When they reach the level of the eighth bhumi, they have completely removed the innate disturbing-thought obscurations. The rest of the bhumi becomes the remedy to the obscurations to knowledge. Also, as they gradually approach the ninth and tenth bhumis, the obscurations to knowledge become less and less by the power of the remedy. When all the obscurations to knowledge are completely eliminated; when all the imprints left by the conception of true existence are destroyed, the truly existent view is completely eliminated. When all this is removed from the continuation of this mind, it becomes the omniscient mind, the dharmakaya.
There are two types of dharmakaya: the nature body, which is the emptiness of the buddha’s mind, called the svabhavikakaya, and the wisdom body, which is the buddha’s omniscient mind, called the jnanakaya. This is what is called enlightenment, the great nirvana, or the absolute nature of the mind, which is completely purified of both the disturbing-thought obscurations and the obscurations to knowledge.
This is similar to how, previously, when an arhat’s absolute nature of mind has been purified of the disturbing-thought obscurations, that is called nirvana. Sometimes it is said that is just the cessation of the unsubdued mind, but I have to point out that nirvana is the absolute nature of the arhat’s mind of wisdom. This is completely purified of the ignorance that grasps at the I as truly existent.
This just gives a small idea. These are paths that you have to generate gradually. If you want to understand, you should study the particular scriptures as well as all the elaborate commentaries that give the definitions and details of the paths. Then, as well as studying, you must also practice by listening, reflecting and meditating. When you experience the path you will understand clearly.
If you want to know the details of this path according to tantra, then you should ask Jim! He has taken degrees in the five paths. So, you can check with him if you want to know if this path is more complicated. He has taken more than five degrees. According to tantra, without following the Paramitayana paths to achieve enlightenment, you attain enlightenment through the path of Secret Mantra.
Entering the tantric path
First you should have the foundation in mind. In order to enter the Tantrayana path you need to receive an initiation. To enter the Highest Yoga Tantra path, Maha-anuttara Tantra, you must receive an initiation into the Maha-anuttara Tantra path. To be granted the initiation it is desirable that the mind should be enriched in the three principal aspects of the path: the thought to renounce samsara, bodhicitta and the wisdom realizing emptiness. A mind that has these fundamental realizations is the perfect receptacle for the initiation.
In order to generate the thought of renouncing samsara, you first have to cut off clinging to this life, seeing the works of this life as just like food you have vomited out. To renounce samsara, you should see the whole of samsara is like being in the middle of a nest of poisonous snakes or like living in a thorn bush. Wherever you stay there is not one single happiness; that is the nature of samara. Wherever you stay it’s like a being in big hole full of thorns, so that wherever you move your body there is only pain. You must see the whole of samsara as in the nature of suffering and have not the slightest attraction for any samsaric perfection. You can’t stand to be in samsara for even an hour. To be in samsara it’s as if an arrow has gone inside your heart; you can’t stand it for even an hour or a minute. You must be free of it.
When that strong thought arises effortlessly to renounce samsara, you generate great compassion, feeling it is unbearable that other sentient beings are suffering too. It is also as if an arrow has gone through your heart and you can’t stand it for one minute. It is unbearable that others are suffering in samsara, and they need to be liberated by you. Bodhicitta arises from that great compassion.
When you can’t stand that sentient beings are suffering in samsara for even a minute, that is uncreated, effortless bodhicitta, the wish to achieve enlightenment for all sentient beings. If you have these three realizations—renunciation, bodhicitta and wisdom—you are a perfect receptacle to receive the initiation.
Actually, this applies to any other kind of meditation practice, any sadhana involving deities, as long as it starts with bodhicitta. Without having the realization of bodhicitta and without having the wisdom realizing emptiness, there is no way that you can do a perfect, pure tantric practice. As every practice starts with bodhicitta and a meditation on shunyata, the whole practice has to be done with those two thoughts, those two bodhicittas: absolute bodhicitta and conventional or all-obscuring bodhicitta. The whole practice should be done one-pointedly for the benefit of others, from the beginning right up to the dedications at the end. The whole practice—visualizing yourself as the deity, meditating on the mandala and all the rest—has to be done in this way. You have to constantly remember that the whole thing is empty of true existence. Without having these two realizations, these two bodhicittas, it is very difficult to even start the yoga practice of whatever deity you are practicing. You can’t start purely.
If you have attained certain realizations, that is the perfect basis, but at least you should have an altruistic motivation, at least you should have the effortful experience of these paths. Even though you might not have the realization of emptiness, it is extremely important to have a realization of bodhicitta in order to practice tantra.
Even though you understand all the tantric teachings completely, all the achievements of the four levels of tantra, even if you have memorized all the texts and understood all the meanings, if you haven’t generated a realization of the three principal aspects of the path in your mind, you cannot complete your tantric practice. Many hindrances arise, and there is a great danger that instead of achieving enlightenment you achieve the vajra hell or the other unbearable suffering states of the hell realm.
However, even if you don’t have the realization of the two bodhicittas, you can still take an initiation and practice tantra. You can have an effortful experience of these paths, but you cannot actually achieve the graduated path of the generation stage and completion stage, which are the two stages in Highest Yoga Tantra. Without having a realization of these two bodhicittas, you might achieve a little progress, you might get some result, but you cannot complete the whole tantric path. Eventually, if you are trying to practice tantra, you must realize both bodhicitta and emptiness.
What you first need to do is find a lama who has the perfect qualifications to give a tantric initiation and from that experienced, perfectly qualified guru you should receive the four initiations of Maha-anuttara Tantra.
The guru, from their own experience, gives the four initiations which plant the seeds to attain the four kayas in the disciple’s mind: the svabhavikakaya or transcendental dharmakaya—the emptiness of the omniscient mind—the jnanakaya or a buddha’s omniscient mind, the sambhogakaya or enjoyment body and the nirmanakaya or emanation body.
The generation and completion stages of Highest Yoga Tantra
Once the initiation is received by the disciple, they enter the vajra path, the gradual path of the generation stage and the gradual path of the completion stage.
These are the preliminaries in order to receive initiation and to meditate on the graduated path of the generation stage. The graduated path of the generation stage, the first path, is the preliminary realization for the second path, the gradual path of the completion stage. The gradual path of the generation stage has three levels to achieve.
By completing the realization of the graduated path of the generation stage, the mind is ripened and it becomes ready to meditate on the graduated path of completion stage, which is the actual path that purifies the ordinary death, intermediate state and rebirth.
When the meditator meditates on the graduated path of the completion stage, there are six levels: body isolation, speech isolation, mind isolation, illusory body, clear light and the union of clear light and illusory body. When they have reached the stage of mind isolation, they meditate like you did yesterday, going through the death process, transforming the ordinary death—the ordinary death that is going to come tomorrow! In this completion stage meditation, with clear light there are four visions. When the meditator reaches these stages, they release the knots in the six or seven channels that stop the mind from functioning in the left and right nadis, or channels. Until that time, the winds have been stuck and unable to go inside the central nadi. Now, however, the meditator has control. After the knots are released, the wind is able to go into the central channel, entering, abiding and absorbing in the central channel.
During that time, the meditator can do whatever they are supposed to with the channels and the red and white seed that become the father and mother. At the time of death, this vision will occur to the meditator, like how it happens that they meet their parents. During meditation time this happens. So, when they reach the clear light vision they meditate by applying the tantric meditations. They meditate on that clear light and recognize the clear light vision that appears. With that they meditate on emptiness and also apply the tantra meditations.
Then, the second step is the illusory body. There are two types: the pure illusory body and the impure illusory body. It is the impure illusory body on the Paramitayana path where you have to accumulate merit for three hundred great eons. In tantric practice, you are able to accumulate all that merit so quickly. The main way to accumulate such extensive great merit so quickly is by meditating on the impure illusory body.
After the impure illusory body, the meditator then meditates again on clear light. The previous one is called the clear light of example whereas this one is called the meaning clear light. After this, the meditator rises up in a pure illusory body. Dignified in the tantric path of training, they completely cut off the dualistic mind and become an arya being.
Then, they achieve the unification of no more learning, the omniscient mind. The holy body has seven qualities. They can manifest in millions of different forms for the sentient beings, whichever manifestation subdues their minds. They can do effortless extensive work for sentient beings with their holy body, holy speech and the holy mind.
This is very brief idea showing how it is possible to achieve enlightenment by following the tantric path. All sentient beings have buddha potential. Because of that, if you practice the holy Dharma, if you follow the path, you can achieve enlightenment. Second, which is the perfect body to follow the path and achieve enlightenment? You have the body qualified by these eight perfect conditions. Not only have you received the body qualified with freedoms and richnesses, you have also been born in this southern world, born from the womb that consists of six elements, three from the mother and three from the father. It is only in such a special body that you can achieve the unified state of Vajradhara, the result of the Mahayana and Tantrayana. You can achieve this in one brief lifetime, except—I think everyone understands—except if you haven’t done the practice, if you haven’t followed the path.
Not only having the body qualified by the eight freedoms and ten richnesses, but having this special body to achieve enlightenment, born in this southern world where all the tantra teachings still exist and there is much wisdom. Born from the womb, with a body made of six elements, if you want to practice Mahayana and Tantrayana and achieve enlightenment, it is in a body such as this. Only with this particular body is it possible to achieve enlightenment in one brief lifetime. You can’t do it with any other body, not with the body of a worldly god or with a body from another continent or another universe.
At this time, the Vajrayana teachings exist. They exist in the holy minds of the perfectly qualified lamas who are able to reveal the complete paths of sutra and tantra. Unless you cheat yourself by not practicing the holy Dharma, all the conditions are there. There is a lama who can reveal all the teachings; there is a body with all the qualities to achieve enlightenment in one brief lifetime; you have met the teachings. Not only do the teachings exist in this world, but you have met the stainless Mahayana teachings that show the path to enlightenment, the teachings that combine sutra and tantra.
THE LAMRIM IS LIKE THE MAIN ROAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT
When all the necessary conditions are perfected in this way, while you have such a precious body, if you don’t follow the path and achieve enlightenment in this lifetime, when can you in the future? When will it again be possible to achieve enlightenment? Is it definite that you will receive a better body than this in the future? Which is more definite: to receive a better body or a worse body than this? It is pretty definite you won’t receive a better, more precious body than this.
Even though generally this is such a degenerated, difficult time in the world—even though it is a bad time in the world, a kaliyuga time, when people are worried—for us it is the best time! From beginningless samsaric lifetimes until now it has never happened before. This is such a precious opportunity to meet the teachings like this, the stainless teachings of sutra and tantra, the method to achieve enlightenment. So, for us there is no better time than this. At this one time when you have found this precious body that has all the necessary conditions, you must at any rate achieve enlightenment. You must!
You must follow a path to achieve enlightenment, but which kind of path should you follow? You should follow a path that is like the main road, the only way that people can go down that they can get what they want. You should follow the path like this main road, the path that all the buddhas of the three times have followed. If you do that, you will reach the same state that they have, omniscience. If, on the other hand, you follow a path that the three-time buddhas have not followed, you will reach a strange place, a place that not one buddha has achieved. You might attain some strange realizations! The graduated path to enlightenment is like the main road. This is the road that all people have to go along to attain enlightenment. All the three-time buddhas have proceeded along this graduated path.
Within the lamrim are all the condensed teachings that are easy to understand and practice. They cause no confusion to the practitioner. The lamrim contains the essence of the path to enlightenment. Having such teachings as this is by the kindness of Lama Atisha, who wrote A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, and Lama Tsongkhapa, who gave commentaries on Lama Atisha’s teachings. Even though the subjects were taught extensively by the Buddha, the title of the condensed text was lamrim, the graduated path to enlightenment, which is extremely beneficial for sentient beings at any level. There are beings of the lower capability, of middle capability and of higher capability, those studying extensive scriptures and all the levels of tantra. The lamrim is extremely beneficial for any level of sentient being there is. Everything in the Dharma we are able to hear, understand and practice is by the kindness of Lama Atisha and Lama Tsongkhapa.
Sometimes it is very beneficial late in the evening before going to bed to do the dedication according to the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. Even if you cannot finish the whole chapter on dedication, do as much as possible. The rest can be done the next day, then the rest the next day, and so on. It is very effective for the mind. You can also do tonglen practice, which is an incredibly effective individual practice, along with the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life prayer.
Lecture 9
November 18, 1980
THE HEART SUTRA
The Heart Sutra mantra—TADYATHA GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA—relates to the five Mahayana paths to enlightenment. The first word, TADYATHA means “it is like this,” meaning this is how Shakyamuni Buddha and all the buddhas came to enlightenment. Then, the first GATE, “gone” means that they have entered the path of merit, the first path. With the second gate, they have entered the path of preparation and with PARAGATE, “gone beyond” they are on the third path, the right-seeing path. PARASAMGATE means they have gone completely beyond that to the path of meditation. Finally, with BODHI, they have reached the path of no more learning and they have attained omniscience.
SVAHA means “the thought of enlightenment to take the root in the mind,” like planting the root of a tree into the ground, then everything develops from there and fruit is produced. The whole thing develops when you plant the root. The cause of enlightenment is the path, and the result is enlightenment. Saying this mantra is the cause of enlightenment taking root in your heart. So, when someone understands all these five paths, when they hear this mantra the vision of the whole path comes. It becomes a direct meditation on the whole path. Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezig) says to Shariputra that this is how a bodhisattva mahasattva should practice the profound perfection of wisdom. The Heart Sutra is very short and after a few days of saying it each morning, it gives you the chance to think about it and meditate on it.
KHUNU LAMA RINPOCHE
Before this quotation, I would like to talk about Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, the great bodhisattva who passed away two or three years ago. His great understanding goes beyond what others see of his life’s meaning, according to our mind. Not only was he an expert, learned in the Dharma, but also in general education, like the great pandit Shantideva. I think Shantideva might have achieved enlightenment in one lifetime. There are several like Aryadeva who achieved enlightenment in one lifetime, but I don’t remember exactly about Shantideva.
Khunu Lama Rinpoche was an expert in general education, like a second Shantideva. He was also an expert in Sanskrit language. There was not one single sutra of tantric teaching that he did not understand, both the hundred scriptures of the Kangyur, the teachings of the Buddha, and the two hundred texts of the Tengyur, the commentaries written by the pandits who understood the many various methods and tantric subjects and what practice needed to be done. Even with the Compassion Buddha, Chenrezig, there are hundreds of different practices to do for different purposes for the benefit of sentient beings. Each of the buddhas has different things that they can do to work for sentient beings. Khunu Lama could remember all those hundreds and hundreds of texts on sutra and tantra. When he taught, he could recite all the teachings quickly by heart, with unbelievable understanding. I don’t remember his exact age10 but even though his aspect was very old, he was able to remember them. There was no sign of old age, like losing his memory, not like an ordinary person who is very old. He not only knew the teaching from one sect, he was an expert in the teachings of all four sects, and he could explain the subject according to the people listening. When the various lamas, Sangha and lay people from the four different sects took teachings from him, he would explain the right view of shunyata according to the understanding of each listener. With his different way of presenting the teachings, he never limited his presentation to just one sect.
I don’t know much about his life story or his early life in Tibet but for so many years he lived an ascetic life. I think he had many learned lamas from different sects, and he had many teachings, many commentaries and tantric teachings and transmissions of texts and scriptures given by many Indian pandits. He had all those teachings in his early life, but he not only collected words, he also practiced. During his whole life he practiced bodhicitta one-pointedly. His heart practice, the essential practice in Buddhism, was bodhicitta, renouncing himself and cherishing other sentient beings.
After his escape from Tibet he spent a long time on the banks of the River Ganga at Varanasi, the place where many sadhus wash their bodies in the water. The sadhus helped him, offering him food and things like that. He dressed like them. After spending his whole life listening, he then put into practice what he had listened to and understood, practicing the meaning of the Buddha’s teachings for the rest of his life, becoming realized. He became a great bodhisattva.
One day, dressed like a sadhu, he went to a Tibetan monastery in Bodhgaya and asked them for a place to sleep. Because the monks at that great monastery didn’t know who he was, they didn’t let him stay. From the outside, he looked like a sadhu, just wearing just a couple of red-colored scarves. Eventually, he gave a lama two commentaries on bodhicitta, on A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. He also studied Tibetan grammar from the Dalai Lama’s two other tutors.
From the side of his understanding, there was no difference from those previous pandits such as Shantideva. When I met him, he gave two teachings to the people of Tibet and of many other countries. Great crowds of people had come to take blessings from him and many other people also received teachings from him.
I requested the lung and the commentary of A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life from his holy mouth but, at that time, he didn’t accept to give the commentary, only the lung, the oral transmission. I think I didn’t understand anything! With great kindness and great compassion he gave the lung. I received teachings together with many other lamas and geshes from other monasteries like Sera and Drepung. We received the commentary on the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life in Bodhgaya at the Mahabodhi temple and then several commentaries on the lamrim. He also taught on The Jewel Lamp, the text in praise of bodhicitta that he had written.11
At that time, there were other Sangha, monks and nuns, and he rarely accepted offerings people made to him, giving back whatever he received. His whole life was an ascetic one, a very pure monastic life. He not only had great knowledge, he had foreknowledge [clairvoyance]. At one time in Bodhgaya, several hundred people wanted to receive blessings from him. It was so crowded and there were lines of people upstairs and downstairs in the monastery, and even outside. A monk waited there for many days but somehow he wasn’t able to see Rinpoche. He waited there for many days. Then, one day, when the monk who served Rinpoche food went into his room, this monk sneaked in behind him. He didn’t have permission to enter the room but he went in anyway with the other monk! This monk felt kind of angry for having to wait so long. He asked Rinpoche, “Why didn’t you let me see you?” Rinpoche replied, “People who come to see me may have had a relationship with me from past lives. Many are like that and many come to see me because they like me. However, the person standing there has not been a disciple in a previous life, nor does he seem to like me. He is neither of these.”
We were chatting here about the monastery he was excluded from. Rinpoche told me this was the last time he was seen to get some truth in this text! He then advised many people at the monastery to subdue their minds. I think that was his last advice.
After some time Rinpoche left for Padmasambhava’s place in India, where there is a story that Padmasambhava was born from the lotus in the lake. I really wanted to go there and take teachings and commentary on thought training. Somehow there wasn’t much luck. I didn’t create the karma. Sometime after that Rinpoche passed away. He had earlier returned to the place where he was born, a place called Sunnam in Himachal Pradesh. I think he must have already been reincarnated.
ALWAYS HAVE BODHICITTA IN YOUR MIND
Feel the kindness from deep within your heart, the very inside of your heart. What is important is that you should practice bodhicitta in your everyday life in the company of people you live and eat with. If you wish to generate bodhicitta, always keep the altruistic attitude in the heart. The nature of bodhicitta is continuing to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of others, so try to keep that goal with whatever action you do in everyday life.
Of course, if your goal is only for the happiness of this life, then the action doesn’t become the Dharma. Nor should the goal you have in your heart be just for the happiness of future lives either or even liberation for yourself. It shouldn’t be that.
The normal goal in people’s hearts is for the happiness of this life. They feel this very strongly, spontaneously; it is there without need for effort. That is the one goal that is currently there—to be happy in this life. They think it should be enough. Instead of that, however, you should aim to develop omniscience for the sake of others. Don’t think that you want to reach omniscience because you want to be happy. How can this be smart, because again in the heart is the self-cherishing thought! “I want omniscience because it is the best happiness.” It’s not like this.
In your everyday life and during your meditation sessions, you should frequently think that sentient beings are not only extremely kind they are suffering greatly. Remember this frequently and then think, “I must achieve omniscience for the sake of all these mother sentient beings, to eliminate all their suffering and lead them into the peerless happiness of enlightenment by myself alone.” If you constantly practice like this in your everyday life and during your meditation sessions, it leaves a greater and greater imprint on your mind and you can quickly generate bodhicitta. This is your entire daily plan, from morning until night. All your actions of body, speech and mind should be done with this goal.
On that basis, think, “I myself am merely labeled. Nothing exists from its own side. It is merely labeled. Other sentient beings are also merely labeled. The whole of existence is merely labeled. Not one slightest thing exists from its own side. Nothing exists except what is merely labeled.” The practice of true Buddhism must become your life; it is not just something to be practiced for one day, one month or one year. You must practice it for your whole life until the time of death. Determine to attain the two bodhicittas—ultimate bodhicitta and all-obscuring bodhicitta. At least be aware of these practices.
Lecture 10
November 20, 1980 (morning)
THERE IS NOTHING MORE WORTHWHILE THAN DEVELOPING BODHICITTA
Generating virtue is generally difficult. Generating liberation is more difficult. Generating bodhicitta, however, is even more difficult. The Buddha said that generally in our everyday life our mind is a mixture of virtue and nonvirtue but nonvirtue arises extremely easily, far more easily than virtue. Of the virtues that can arise, the virtue that leads to the five paths is more difficult to attain than the virtue that leads to liberation.
Of the five paths, the path of merit is called “similar to liberation.” Why is it called that? Even though the meditator on the path of merit still has intellectually acquired obscurations, still holding that things are truly existent, the training they do on the path of merit indirectly leads to the cessation of certain unsubdued minds, so it is similar to the path that leads to liberation. Even though it doesn’t actually remove the intellectually acquired obscurations at that stage, it directly causes them to cease. This is done effortlessly with the uncreated thought of renunciation of samsara, which is why it is called the merit similar to liberation.
In order to achieve that, you have to have the thought of renunciation of samsara. Therefore, this merit is much more difficult to generate than general merit. Even more difficult than this, the most difficult mind to generate is bodhicitta. The merit of bodhicitta is the most extensive, the greatest one.
In A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life the great bodhisattva Shantideva talked about the benefits of bodhicitta. He said:
All other virtues are like the plantain tree;
For after bearing fruit they simply perish.
But the perennial tree of the Awakening Mind
Unceasingly bears fruit and thereby flourishes without end.12
Other trees, like apple or orange trees, grow by being dependent on the elements such as water and soil, therefore they need certain conditions to grow. Once you have taken the fruit, that’s it; the result is finished. But this tree, the water tree [the plantain], is not like that. It continues to give fruit every day whenever you want fruit. Other trees depend on the season; they don’t give fruit all year around, whenever you want.
In the same way, other virtues bear the fruit of good karma ripening but then that’s it. The result is finished. Bodhicitta, on the other hand, never finishes producing positive results. The more you enjoy bodhicitta the more the positive results increase, unlike other virtues where the more you enjoy the results the less there is. With the virtue, the merit, of bodhicitta, the more you enjoy the result, the more it increases. It is like the wish-granting tree, like those trees in the pure realm of Buddha. Whatever you request you find it on the tree. Whatever perfection, whatever enjoyment you request, it gives unceasingly, and unless you become lazy, it only increases.
Even if you have still not attained actual bodhicitta, if your actions are imbued with a bodhicitta motivation, that merit is like a drop of water that is put into the Pacific Ocean. Alone, it might dry up, but because the Pacific will never dry up, it too will never dry up.
Like that, until you achieve omniscience, the merit that is accumulated with thought of bodhicitta, even though not actual bodhicitta, continually increases until you achieve the state of omniscience. It continues to increase even after you have achieved enlightenment, doing effortless continual work for all the sentient beings until they too become enlightened. All this is the result of the merit possessed by the thought of bodhicitta. It is truly unimaginable how great this thought is. It is uncountable, immeasurable.
Compared to the merit of attaining bodhicitta, all other merits are easy, even the merit that helps you attain liberation. Why is bodhicitta the most difficult? Because for bodhicitta you need to have great compassion for every single sentient being, without leaving one out. Such a thought is extremely rare; it is extremely difficult to generate.
My conclusion is this. Khunu Lama said,
As the pundarika [lotus] is the best flower among all the flowers,
Bodhicitta is the best mind among all the virtuous minds.
Therefore, since having it brings happiness in this life and all lives,
It is worthwhile to always make effort to develop it.13
As Khunu Lama had the taste, the experience of the whole path, with this experience, he himself said it is very worthwhile to pay precise attention to bodhicitta.
If you are going to buy a jewel in the shop and you want the best quality jewel, one that can make you trillions of dollars, when you are in the shop you pay special attention to all the jewels there, the colors, the quality and so forth. Even though there are many other precious jewels in that shop, you don’t care much about them. You have a particular one in mind, the one that is best. With that idea in mind, you go into the shop to search. Even though there are many jewels in the shop, it is extremely worthwhile to pay precise attention to what is the most precious.
Similarly, by knowing the incredible benefits of bodhicitta, even though it is most difficult to generate, it is extremely worthwhile to pay precise attention to how to generate it. Worldly people don’t do this; they undergo great hardships for things that are useless.
For example, three years ago when I was waiting in the mountain airport at Tengboche in Nepal for a delayed flight, there was a group of people staying in the next room who had returned from a trekking expedition who were also waiting. They were very impatient about the delay, very nervous. That night was one of the special days, either the tenth or twenty-fifth day of the Tibetan calendar and we had to do a puja. So we did a puja with other students who were up there in the mountains doing a Chenrezig retreat. I think it was after nine o’clock. What I didn’t realize, though, was that by leading the prayers I was disturbing the others in the house. I was the main disturbance. I was the leader of disturbances! As we were doing the prayers, somebody in the other room who was trying to sleep banged on the wall right behind me. He didn’t scream or shout but after the second bang I was very scared that he might come to our room with all his muscles out! Maybe anger manifests muscles. I didn’t cause him to do that, but I imagined him running into the room. We then did the prayers quickly and quietly. I guess he recovered.
The main thing is this group made a plan to climb Mount Everest the next year the most difficult way, not the normal way that the English and Japanese do. They had mapped out the whole path of how to climb Mount Everest the most difficult way. They said they themselves and other groups would come next year to climb it that way.
What is the point of such a venture? What meaning does this have? Even if they were successful, what benefit would there be for the mind, what peace would it bring, even in this life? What benefit would all sentient beings receive from it? Suppose one of the climbers ends his life up there in the snow, what benefit would that be to carry into the future life? Even after climbing Mount Everest, in the next life he could be born as a crocodile. Then he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the reputation that he had once climbed Mount Everest! He wouldn’t have the same reputation as he had in the past life. The crocodile wouldn’t know anything from a past life, not even its past life’s kind mother.
We have all been born numberless times in the past, on a mountain like Mount Everest or Mount Meru, maybe as birds like those big eagles that fly effortlessly over Mount Everest. There is no use, no benefit at all, as long as the mind is not subdued. There is no benefit, not even for the next life, no matter how great a reputation you have. Despite having a reputation, there is no calmness in the mind. You might believe you are happy but there is no calmness, no tranquility; the mind is overcome by attachment and confusion.
If it were so worthwhile to give up your life mountain climbing, why not give up your life to practice bodhicitta, to generate compassion for all the sentient beings? If you are able to give up your life just for the reputation of this life, for just a few years’ reputation in this life, if you are able to face the difficulties of that, why can’t you face the hardships of generating bodhicitta, the cause of the state of omniscient mind? Facing hardships that have no benefit in this life and no benefit in future lives for you or for other sentient beings is extremely silly.
In car racing, people face terrifying dangers, breaking their arms or legs many times. Before the race starts they have no idea whether they will be able to return home safely afterwards. If they were honest they would have to say they weren’t sure. But no matter how aware they are of the terrible dangers they face by racing cars, maybe even giving up their life, they still do it. Some people line up many trucks and then jump over all of them on a motorcycle! It is completely useless, completely essenceless.
There is no danger to your life by practicing bodhicitta. Practicing bodhicitta is the best protection for life. It prevents hindrances to your life; it gives comfort to the mind and to the body. You have heard the advice about bodhicitta and know these things, but those people have not met the teachings, they have not heard such precious advice. They have not had the opportunity to train the mind.
Having met the Mahayana, the teachings on bodhicitta, however, no matter how many hardships there are, even if it takes many hundreds of lives, if it takes hundreds of eons, if you have to give up your life in order to generate bodhicitta, it is extremely worthwhile; it is of unbelievably great benefit.
If you do not practice after having met the teachings on the other hand, if you cannot face the hardships, that is more ignorant than the people who have not met the teachings. What they are doing is silly but they don’t understand because they have not met the teachings. But to meet and understand the Buddha’s teachings and yet still not practice them is far worse. You must do more than just reading the teachings in a book, just leaving them in the book, not assimilating them in your mind. That is not meditation; it’s just collecting books and notes. It has no benefit. There is no way for the mind developing compassion.
It is such an incredibly worthwhile thing to practice the good heart. It benefits you in this life, at the end of this life and in future lives. It benefits other sentient beings now and in the future, all the time. If you cannot face the hardships of practicing the good heart of bodhicitta after you have received the teachings, there is nothing more foolish, nothing more stupid. It is far more foolish than people who have not met the Dharma, who have no understanding.
You should always train your mind like this, keeping this in the heart, determining to generate incredible kindness. I don’t think it is sufficient to have just any kind of virtuous motivation when you listen to the lamrim teachings. What motivation is necessary to listen to the teaching on the graduated path to enlightenment? I think it is the motivation of bodhicitta. Or at any rate, the thought that you must achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all the mother sentient beings. Listening to teachings with such a motivation creates great merit.
PUT EFFORT ONLY INTO WHAT IS WORTHWHILE
You are going to practice the Dharma in order to achieve enlightenment. Generally people don’t strive for enlightenment; they don’t even seek ultimate happiness or the cessation of the whole of suffering. Before you dedicate your life to that, before you put your whole life into that, it is extremely important to examine whatever you read to see whether it is the right path, whether it will lead you where you want to go or not.
At the beginning you should examine well the Dharma you are going to spend your whole life practicing, putting all your energy into it. The great Sakya Pandita said that worldly people examine everything minutely, horses, possessions, jewels and so forth, but with the Dharma it is like dog’s food; they don’t bother to examine the quality. Whatever they hear, they believe; whichever teacher they meet, they follow. If you are going to make lunch, even if it’s just a sandwich, when you go to buy vegetables or fruit at the shop, you would never just pick them up without examining them, determining which are the best, which aren’t rotten, which aren’t eaten by worms. Only after you have found the right ones, you pay the money.
What Sakya Pandita is saying is that the whole of this life and all your future lives are completely dependent on what practice you do. All the good things and all the bad things you experience in your future lives, the whole thing is completely dependent on this life’s practice, on how you live this life.
All the happiness of this life and all the future lives depends on the holy Dharma. What kind of Dharma you practice in this life determines the happiness or suffering you will experience in this life and in all your future lives, whether it is the holy Dharma that becomes the cause for all the happiness, or the non-holy dharma that doesn’t benefit the happiness of this life and future lives.
You must examine what kind of practice you are doing. If what you practice is not holy Dharma, it is not the method to subdue the mind. If it is not holy Dharma—even if you believe it to be holy Dharma—it is not the remedy that pacifies the unsubdued mind. Instead of benefiting you, bringing you more and more happiness, the spiritual path you practice can reinforce wrong conceptions, making the mind more ignorant and destroying what wisdom you have. You not only waste all your energy, but what you practice is also the cause of suffering. It only brings suffering.
It not only doesn’t lead you to the body of a happy transmigratory being in your future life, it also leads you to the lower realms. Like that, it is not holy Dharma. Your whole practice, your whole life, is completely wasted. All happiness, from this life all the way up to enlightenment, is completely lost. You have cheated yourself. It is such a great loss.
Therefore, it is incredibly important to examine the spiritual path you follow. Since what you want is happiness, the Dharma you practice should be infallible; it should lead you to the peace that you are searching for. It should benefit you beyond this life, all the way up to enlightenment.
There is great danger if you follow a path without having first examined it thoroughly. You are like a dog that sees some meat and runs to it, gobbling it down immediately without seeing what it is, whether it will help or harm, what are its qualities. If you are like that with your practice, there is great danger.
When you are going to do a retreat in a solitary place for years and years, something that will certainly entail many hardships for your life, it is important you have all the teachings before you start. Without that you won’t have the energy to face the hardships. Without having the complete teachings of the whole path available, your practice does not have much meaning and there is not much result, so facing hardships is difficult. Practicing with mistakes means there is no result, no meaning at all. The great yogi Milarepa said from his experience, “If you do not meditate on the advice passed from year to year, even if you live in a solitary place, you are just torturing yourself.”
The Dharma you want to practice, the Dharma that will lead you all the way to omniscience, should be revealed by the Omniscient One and explained by incredible learned pandits.
Notes
10 Khunu Lama was 82 when he died. [Return to text]
11 Published as Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea. Trans. Gareth Sparham, Wisdom Publications, 1999. [Return to text]
12 Ch. 1, v. 12. [Return to text]
13 The Jewel Lamp, v. 10. [Return to text]
