Lecture 25
EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS ON BEHALF OF OTHERS IS THE MOST BENEFICIAL THING
As the great bodhisattva Shantideva said in the Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life,
If all the injury,
Fear and pain in this world
Arise from grasping at a self,
Then what use is this great ghost to me?If I do not completely forsake it
I shall be unable to put an end to suffering,
Just as I cannot avoid being burnt
If I do not cast aside the fire I hold.32
In order to pacify the harms for ourselves and to pacify the suffering of others, we must give up ourselves for others, we must cherish others as ourselves. The great bodhisattva Shantideva explained this is how to live our life, how to practice Dharma. He explained the best meditation. This bodhicitta meditation, exchanging oneself for others, is the best meditation because it’s the one that has the most benefit. As I mentioned already on one of the mornings, you can never finish explaining the benefits of bodhicitta. Because meditating on bodhicitta has the greatest benefit, it’s the most meaningful thing.
Even if we wish the best success for ourselves, the way to do that is by ceasing all the mistakes of the mind, all the sufferings, and by completing the mind in all the qualities of the realizations. What makes us able to eliminate, to cease every single mistake of the mind, every single obscuration, is bodhicitta. When the mind is perfectly qualified with all the realizations, that is the greatest success for ourselves. What makes that happiness happen is only bodhicitta. If there’s no bodhicitta, that doesn’t happen. We can’t experience that. If there is bodhicitta then we can.
Similarly, we can complete the work for other sentient beings. We can lead everyone, every suffering being, to peerless happiness, full enlightenment. If there’s no bodhicitta then we can’t complete the work for other sentient beings. We can’t fulfill it completely and perfectly. That’s why, among meditations, even those which are the correct path, the best meditation is the bodhicitta meditation.
It’s also the answer to how to live our life. This is the best way to live our life because from this all the success comes—temporary and especially ultimate, highest success, full enlightenment. Everything comes from this. As I just mentioned, we are able to obtain all the success for ourselves, all the success for all sentient beings, all the true success, by practicing bodhicitta, by living our life with bodhicitta.
This is the ultimate answer. Bodhicitta is the best medicine, the best meditation, the best psychology for our own problems, and even for consultation to people’s problems. It solves all our own problems, when we have failure in practice, when we have obstacles to practicing Dharma, to achieving realizations on the path, and when there are obstacles to obtaining temporary happiness, the happiness of this life. Also, when there are relationship problems, when everybody looks at us as an enemy, when everybody talks about us as an enemy, when they think of us as an enemy, an object of dislike by everybody.
This is the best advice, the best protection, the best guidance. By hearing this advice, by doing the consultation in this way, by giving the best psychology, the Mahayana thought transformation, in this way our own or others’ problems can be eliminated at the root. The problems can be eliminated at the root, the self-cherishing thought, the ego. Otherwise, as long as the ego is preserved in the heart, as long as the ego is well taken care of, like a very precious treasure, we can’t solve our problems. We can’t succeed while we hold our self-cherishing thought like a precious jewel, a very expensive ornament that is kept in a safe place like a locked box in the house, like money that is kept in the bank, with police and guards.
Otherwise, without touching the ego at all, whatever solution is given, whatever advice is given, can’t really solve our problem. Even if we like the idea, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will solve our problem. We may find interest in the idea but it doesn’t mean it will really benefit our mind or solve our problems. It might distract our mind for a few minutes or an hour from thinking about the problem; instead of thinking of the problem we think of something else, just as when we are doing a drawing we need to pay attention to the colors. By not thinking of the other problem, we might find some quietness. While we are playing in the sand, during those minutes, those hours, there’s some quietness because during that time we don’t think of our relationship problems.
While we are aware of the problem we make it positive. While we’re aware of what’s happening in our life, at the same time by putting into practice what Shantideva said, we can transform it into happiness. Here, it’s not just ignoring the problem. What I’m saying, it’s not just ignoring the situation; when we’re aware of the situation, we make it positive. We transform it into happiness by making it beneficial for all sentient beings, by making the experience worthwhile, beneficial, for all sentient beings. We experience it on behalf of all sentient beings. In that way, it naturally becomes the path to achieve full enlightenment.
As I mentioned already one morning during one of the morning motivations, even heavy diseases like cancer and AIDS, all those heavy problems, become much more beneficial than a powerful retreat of many hundreds of thousands of Vajrasattva mantras, those luxury, comfortable retreats with ego. Doing the luxury, comfortable retreat without problems, without the need to bear hardships, and on the top of that, with ego. Doing a Vajrasattva practice so that we do not have to be reborn in the hell and so forth.
With this bodhicitta practice, as Shantideva advised, having this attitude, even if all sentient beings become our enemies in this life, even if nobody loves us, even if everybody runs away from us, even if the mosquitoes don’t like us. No, I’m joking. I’m joking about this, anyway. Mosquitoes, lice and bugs don’t like us. With this attitude, when there’s no ego involved, we naturally experience our problems for the sake of all sentient beings.
If we are experiencing the problem on behalf of even one sentient being, it becomes incredible purification. It purifies many eons, many lifetimes, so many lifetimes’ negative karma. The stronger compassion we feel for even one sentient being, that itself becomes like tantra, very quick—in that sense it’s like tantra—not so much by the sense of those particular tantric meditations, like the extremely subtle clear light and illusory body—not in the nature of those paths, but in the sense of, like the tantra path, it’s a quick path. In a short time we purify an unimaginable amount of obscurations and accumulate an unbelievable, extensive amount of merit.
Depending on how strong the compassion we feel for even one sentient being, how much we are able to sacrifice ourselves with a sincere, whole heart; how much we are able to bear hardships, to bear problems for the sake of even one sentient being, on behalf of even one sentient being, that much we purify. Instead of that sentient being, that enemy, having to experience all this punishment, torture, hardships, disease—all of this life’s problems—we experience them on behalf of that person. Depending on how much we are able to dedicate ourselves and how much compassion we have, how much bodhicitta, cherishing even that one sentient being, depending on how strong that is, that makes it that much quicker to achieve full enlightenment.
At this point there are more things to say, maybe another time. However, we need to understand how there’s incredible benefit even cherishing one sentient being, even serving, even dedicating our life for one sentient being.
THE NATURE OF SELF-CHERISHING
In the consultation, when doing public service, as long as we don’t look at the self-cherishing thought as the enemy, as long as we don’t recognize that this is the real poison, the real enemy, the real creator of our life problems, the problem doesn’t get solved. As long as we regard the creator of our problems as coming from outside and the self-cherishing thought as a very positive thing, as an encouragement, the problem doesn’t get solved. The problem doesn’t really get solved. It’s like regarding poison as medicine; if we regard poison as medicine there’s no way we can solve our problems.
Worldly concern, attachment, anger and all those other disturbing thoughts arise because of the self-cherishing thought. That’s one reason. We create many actions, many negative karmas that become the cause of unsuccess, the cause of failure, because of the self-cherishing thought. We constantly create negative karma from that. Put it this way, we do many actions that become negative karma because of the self-cherishing thought. We can see the logic very clearly, how if we follow the self-cherishing thought, if we regard the self-cherishing thought as positive, as something we should have, as an achievement, as a quality of the mind, we can see the logic of how it is harmful, how self-cherishing makes us do actions that become the cause of failure in our Dharma practice, failure even in the secular work, obtaining the happiness for this life.
How does that happen? If we analyze, if we just think, what is the characteristic of the self-cherishing thought? What is the characteristic? If we analyze the characteristics, what is the wish of the self-cherishing thought? What does it like? What doesn’t it like? If we analyze, then we can understand. What is the main characteristic of that mind? The characteristic of that mind is seeking happiness only for ourselves. Seeking happiness only for ourselves. That is the function of that mind.
Even if we’re doing a job for others this happens. Doing a job for others is a good example because it’s something that normally somebody has asked us to do. And the purpose of that is if we don’t do that, there’s no happiness for ourselves; we can’t survive. There’s no means of living, there’s no happiness for ourselves. So, doing a job is a good example.
If the job is done with the self-cherishing thought, even if externally it looks like we are working for others, in reality, in our heart, we’re working for ourselves. That is the reality. No matter how many years we do the job—our whole life, one hundred years, one thousand years—with the self-cherishing thought, the whole work is done for ourselves.
That is the characteristic of self-cherishing; that is the function of self-cherishing. If there is unhappiness, dissatisfaction, the self-cherishing thought wants success, comfort. It’s always looking for, expecting success, happiness, comfort, but for whom? For itself, for ourselves. What the self-cherishing thought expects is all that success and comfort for ourselves and when it doesn’t get it then there’s unhappiness and great disappointment in our life. And when somebody interferes with the self-cherishing thought getting what it wants then anger, hatred and jealousy and all those other things arise.
Now we can see logically, by experience, by analyzing the nature of the self-cherishing thought, we can see it’s a great contagious disease. It’s an age-old disease that has been with us from the beginningless rebirths without any break even in one life, without any break for even one year, one month, even one hour, one minute. We have lived without a holiday from the self-cherishing thought, without any rest for even an hour. We have been controlled by this enemy, by this contagious, chronic disease, the self-cherishing thought.
This is the basic problem of the world. This is why there are so many problems happening in the world, why there are so many people killing each other, controlling each other, all these things. It’s basically because of the nature of the self-cherishing thought, because of following the self-cherishing thought. Because the nature of the self-cherishing thought is like this, as I mentioned before, all these thousands and millions of people kill each other, destroying whole cities, destroying whole countries, making all those weapons as the quickest way to give harm, the most powerful way to destroy things.
There’s no way to be happy while we have the self-cherishing thought because it is really not a happy mind. Even if there’s excitement due to some success at work or some material gain and so forth—receiving power, wealth or a position—even if there’s excitement in the very inside of the heart there’s no tranquility. There’s no real peace because there’s a tightness in the self-cherishing thought. There’s no real freedom there in the heart. Our own mind, our heart, is overpowered by the self-cherishing thought, just as the Tibetan people are under the control of the Communist Chinese. They are controlled by force, not by their own wishes.
As I normally mention, when we are walking along a street and we remember the purpose of our life, to serve others, immediately there is happiness. We remember the meaning of life, the purpose of our life is to free all the sentient beings from all the sufferings and to obtain happiness. Our life is not for us. We’re here for all these people around us; who are in these shops, who are in the street, who are in the cars, for all these sentient beings. We’re here to obtain happiness for all of them.
When we think like that, immediately when we have a new mind, immediately when we have a new idea of life, that gives us new life, immediately there’s happiness there. Immediately we experience happiness in our heart, tranquility and calmness in our heart. Immediately we find happiness, immediately we find satisfaction in our life—while we’re walking along the street, while we’re working in the office, while we’re serving other people. Even if we are not in a temple or our own meditation room, there is happiness.
This way, suddenly we see the meaning of life, the purpose to life. With the previous attitude, the minute before this there was suffering; that attitude gave us a suffering life, it made our life suffering. We were dissatisfied and unhappy, and when we saw other people around us they also seemed kind of unhappy. When we are unhappy, dissatisfied, that also makes the surrounding people unhappy. There are huge differences between these two attitudes.
Because we have been following the self-cherishing thought so far, listening to our own self-cherishing thought, to what it likes and what it doesn’t like, without analyzing, we have become a disciple of our own self-cherishing thought. We have become a slave to the self-cherishing thought. We have devoted our own life to the self-cherishing thought. Therefore, even if we have met the perfectly qualified gurus—those who have all the qualities, the same as Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Wisdom, Manjushri or Maitreya, or like those pandits like Lama Tsongkhapa—because we have been following the self-cherishing thought, we have been unable to follow the holy wishes of the spiritual guide, the virtuous friend who guides us to enlightenment by showing us virtue, the whole graduated path to enlightenment.
THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE SELF-CHERISHING THOUGHT
If it’s something that suits our self-cherishing thought we do it; if it doesn’t suit our self-cherishing thought we don’t do it. If the practice or advice the virtuous friend gives us suits our self-cherishing thought we do it; if it doesn’t suit the self-cherishing thought we don’t do it. Like this, we are unable to correctly devote ourselves to the virtuous friend as it is explained in the sutra and tantra teachings by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, by the yogis, the pandits. As it is explained in the lamrim teachings, we are unable to correctly devote ourselves to the virtuous friend.
Also when things go against our self-cherishing thought, anger arises. When the advice or practice given by our virtuous friend doesn’t suit our self-cherishing thought—even if the spiritual master is perfectly qualified from his or her own side, even an enlightened being—if the advice doesn’t suit what the self-cherishing thought wants, when it’s the opposite to the self-cherishing thought’s wishes, then anger, heresy and all those negative thoughts arise.
We experience the eight shortcomings of having made mistakes in devoting to the virtuous friend, such as belittling or criticizing the virtuous friend, or giving up the virtuous friend after we have established a Dharma contact, which is the heaviest negativity, the same as having criticized and given up on all the buddhas. The karma of having done this is as heavy as that. Why this is the heaviest karma needs some explanation but maybe I’ll leave this part at the moment.
In short we need to understand that we create the heaviest negative karma in relation to the virtuous friend because among all the powerful objects, the guru, the virtuous friend we have received a Dharma contact from, is the most powerful object. The guru is the highest, the most powerful object among all the powerful objects. It’s like if we just touch fire it doesn’t kill us, but if we touch electricity without any protection it can burn us and even immediately kill us. It has the power to immediately cause death. However, if we are able to use electricity wisely it can be used for many good things. We can use it for a great many things, for comfort, for a means of living, for ourselves and for many other people. But if we’re not skillful, if we don’t know how dangerous it can be, then it can also cause great harm. Like this example, we can make an object extremely beneficial or we can make it dangerous for ourselves. It depends on whether we know this and how we deal with it.
This is the first shortcoming of the self-cherishing thought. By generating anger toward the virtuous friend for one second, [Rinpoche snaps his fingers] that number of eons of merit we have accumulated in the past gets destroyed, and for that number of eons we have to be born and experience suffering in the narak realm. This is a dependent arising. It’s the nature of the phenomena. For example, a scientist in the laboratory puts different atoms together and produces something else, some other power. He is able to make different things. The scientist can do those things because it’s the nature of phenomena. For example, flowers grow differently, with different sizes, different leaves, incredible designs and all these things because it’s the nature of phenomena. It’s the nature of phenomena. Depending on causes and conditions it happens like that. People’s karma, people’s intention, the mind, karma.
When people have the karma to grow this flower, when the people have the karma, the inner cause, this flower exists. But when people, sentient beings, the living beings in this world do not have the karma, when that karma is finished to have the appearance of this flower, when there’s no karma, they can’t see a flower with such a design.
It’s all dependent arising. It’s all nature. Why this happens like this is because it’s the nature of phenomena. It’s the same thing. Why the whole thing arises like this is exactly the same thing. It is exactly the same thing. By generating anger for one second toward the virtuous friend, however many seconds we get angry toward the virtuous friend, that many eons of merit get destroyed and for that many eons we have to be reborn in the narak realm, we have to experience that suffering. It’s a dependent arising. It’s the nature of the phenomena.
It’s just that we don’t remember our past experiences, being in the six realms, we don’t remember. It’s just a question of not remembering and not knowing. It’s similar to not knowing about this flower, how it happened, why it grew, why it exists, how we can enjoy it—not knowing the reasons, not being aware. It’s the same.
We can generate anger and heresy toward the virtuous friend in the duration of a finger snap. It’s regarded as sixty-five moments in a second. Each second of negative karma has sixty-five moments. There are four schools, and the Vaibhashika and Sautrantika schools, the first and second schools, count like that. The Mahayana schools count 365 moments in a second. It’s like the sound of a camera’s shutter clicking that is counted in so many split-seconds.
According to the lower schools’ calculation, even in a sixty-fifth of a second, if the duration is a second then sixty-five eons, that much merit is destroyed, that many eons of merit is destroyed, that many eons of realization is destroyed. If we were going to realize emptiness or bodhicitta today or tomorrow, with one second of anger toward the virtuous friend, that realization is put off for sixty-five eons, according to the explanation of the first two schools. This is a shortcoming of the self-cherishing thought.
Even if we are practicing tantra, if we make a mistake in correctly devoting to the virtuous friend while we are practicing tantra, we can’t achieve realizations, we can’t achieve enlightenment. While we are making mistakes in correctly devoting to the virtuous friend, even if we practice the highest, most secret tantra, we can’t achieve enlightenment. No matter how many years we practice without any distractions at all, meditating on the path, never coming out of the room for years and years, not sleeping, not eating, we can’t achieve enlightenment and those sublime realizations. That’s a shortcoming of the self-cherishing thought.
Even if we attempt to practice tantra with great effort, it’s like obtaining the narak realm, while we are constantly making mistakes in correctly devoting to the virtuous friend, while we are changing our mind toward the virtuous friend. No matter how much we attempt to practice tantra, it’s like obtaining the narak realm, because even if we do many other virtuous actions—making offerings to the Buddha, making charity to sentient beings and so forth—this karma we create with the virtuous friend is the heaviest karma. Even if we create some virtue, somehow, because this is the very heaviest one, we experience the results of this one first.
You can see from the lamrim outline, it says that even if we attempt to practice tantra it’s like obtaining the narak realm. It doesn’t mean that all other Dharma practice that we do, other actions that are Dharma, become the cause of the narak realm. It’s not saying that. It’s like when we’re painting, when we’re mixing the colors, if the white color is strongest, then generally we call the color white. Even if it’s not completely white color, if there’s some red or black mixed in, because the strongest is white, generally we call it white even if it’s not pure white.
That’s also the self-cherishing thought. Whatever realizations or qualities that we haven’t achieved before won’t happen. The next one is whatever realizations, qualities or scriptural understanding we have already gained will degenerate. Even if we have some experience of the lamrim, some compassion or some understanding of impermanence and death, that degenerates. Even the scriptural understandings we have learned before are forgotten; they don’t stay in the mind. The Dharma we learned before doesn’t stay in the mind. All these are shortcomings of the self-cherishing thought.
In this life we get tortured, we get harmed by many diseases, many undesirable things happen to us, and after this life, we have to wander in the lower realms for an incredible length of time. These things happen because of the self-cherishing thought. In all our lifetimes, having to endure the poverty of not having a virtuous friend, a guru, all these things happening are the shortcomings of the self-cherishing thought.
Even if we have met the gurus who have all the qualities and there is nothing more profound and secret we can hear; even if we have met the actual Shakyamuni Buddha, or the actual Tara, the actual Vajradhara, and there is no teaching higher or more secret we can hear, we are still unable to change our mind, to develop our mind. That’s a shortcoming of the self-cherishing thought.
Even if we have received all the sutra and tantra teachings, all the initiations; even if there’s nothing new to hear, we have heard all the words of all the different texts, we have heard the essence of all the Buddhadharma, the whole path with nothing left, still nothing happens to the mind. We are unable to develop the mind, to have realizations. This is a shortcoming of the self-cherishing thought.
Even if we have received numberless initiations; if we had the vase touched on our head numberless times or drank the water from the vase numberless times, if we had done all these blessed things numberless times, still nothing develops, we are unable to develop the mind because of following the self-cherishing thought.
As long as from our own side we don’t put in any effort, as long as we don’t do something with this ego, with this self-cherishing thought, even if we meet all the past, present and future buddhas, we don’t change unless we can do something with the self-cherishing thought. Even if we meet all the three-times’ buddhas, still nothing happens. Even if the buddhas reveal the entire teachings to us, as long as from our own side we don’t do something with the self-cherishing thought no development happens.
EXCHANGING SELF WITH OTHERS
It’s mentioned in the Bodhicaryavatara,
For ages you have made me suffer
Causing me to suffer in samsara.
Now that I can see you for what you are
Where can you go?33
Shantideva is saying, “Now I can see you, self-cherishing thought, you enemy. Now that I recognize you where will you go?” Now I recognize you where will you go? To Kathmandu? To the United States? Anyway, I’m joking. Shantideva didn’t say. That one Shantideva didn’t say.
When we can recognize the self-cherishing thought as the enemy, it has nowhere to go—this is what Shantideva is implying. The self-cherishing thought is in our hands and we can give it a hard time. That means we’re going to destroy it. It’s like when we catch a thief, when we have him in our room. Everything’s locked; there’s no way to escape. We can tell him, “Now I’ve found you.” When we find the person in some safe place somewhere we can beat him. We can smash him, whether we make him flat or square or whatever. Anyway, I’m joking.
We tell him, “I will destroy your arrogance. I will sell you to others. Don’t be upset. I will get the strength.”
If I am careless
And if I don’t give you, the enemy, to others,
It’s definite that you will put me
Into the hands of the hell guardians.34
What he means is that if we are careless and don’t replace our self-cherishing with cherishing others—if we don’t give ourselves to others—then the self-cherishing thought will lead us into the hell realms, into the naraks. That’s what “put me into the hands of the hell guardians” or the “karmic guardians” means.
We need to see that in the past we have suffered for a long time because of the self-cherishing thought and by remembering all the harm it has done us in the past—meaning from beginningless time—we must determine to destroy this thought of working for the self. Shantideva explained the bodhisattva’s practice, exchanging oneself for others, in this way.
All problems come from the self-cherishing thought and that comes from the [sense of] I. Therefore, the I is the object forever to be renounced. What is called “others” is the source of all the past, present and future happiness.
We should visualize a person who doesn’t love us, who doesn’t like us, who is very negative to us. We visualize, we remember that person—somebody who is completely against us, who doesn’t respect us, somebody who puts us down. If we have many people like that, OK.
We should think like this. “Where does all my past happiness, present happiness and future happiness come from? It all comes from my good karma, which is Dharma, which is the action of the buddhas. It comes from the buddhas, and the buddhas come from bodhisattvas and bodhisattvas come from bodhicitta. Bodhicitta comes from great compassion.
“The meaning, the definition of Mahayana compassion is compassion that covers all sentient beings. Mahayana great compassion covers all sentient beings, any being that has obscurations—gross obscurations and subtle obscurations. Great compassion covers all sentient beings, without leaving out even one. If there’s even one sentient being left out, then it becomes partial compassion; it’s not the great compassion that covers all sentient beings.
“Therefore, this great compassion which is the root of bodhicitta is generated depending on each obscured, suffering sentient being. Great compassion is generated on all sentient beings including this person who hates me, who puts me down. It includes this person. Great compassion is generated depending on this person, as well as all other sentient beings. Therefore, bodhicitta is also generated by depending on the kindness of this person who doesn’t love me, who puts me down, as well as all other sentient beings.
“From bodhicitta, bodhisattvas come. All the numberless bodhisattvas come about by the kindness of this sentient being. All the numberless bodhisattvas who pray for me all the time, who work for me and all sentient beings, who constantly live their lives for me and for all sentient beings, they all happen by the kindness of this sentient being and all the rest of the sentient beings.
“Buddhas come from bodhisattvas, thus all the numberless buddhas who are working for me, guiding me from the lower realms, from the suffering of samsara, guiding me from lower nirvana to highest nirvana, enlightenment, by letting me create good karma, giving me all the happiness—these buddhas who are guiding me now all happened by the kindness of this sentient being who puts me down, who hates me, as well as all sentient beings. All the numberless buddhas came from this person and all sentient beings.
“Therefore, this person is extremely precious. This person is unbelievably precious, extremely precious. And all the Dharma that I practice, which comes from the buddhas, all this also comes from the kindness of this sentient being, this person who hates me, who puts me down, as well as all sentient beings. So, he is extremely precious.
“All my past, present and future happiness, all the temporary, day-to-day life happiness, comfort and enjoyment, as well as liberation and enlightenment, ultimate happiness, [is received by the kindness of this person.] All this happiness which I experienced in the past, I am experiencing now, and which I will experience in the future, especially this ultimate happiness that I will experience in the future, is received by the kindness of this person. All this happiness I received by the kindness of this person, this sentient being. Like this, I received it by the kindness of every sentient being, starting from here, from every person here around me and all the creatures around me.
“Therefore, this person who hates me, who puts me down, is unbelievably precious, much more precious than the whole sky filled with diamonds, with dollars, with wish-granting jewels. Without depending on the kindness of this one person, this person who puts me down, who hates me; without depending on the kindness of this one sentient being, no matter how much wealth I have, there is no way I can experience all this temporary happiness and especially ultimate happiness. There’s no way. No way.
“Why? Why is there no way? Because there’s no way to generate compassion on those dollars, those diamonds, all the sky filled with dollars, with diamonds, with wish-granting jewels. There’s no way to generate compassion on them because they don’t have suffering. They don’t have suffering, but this person is a suffering sentient being. Therefore compassion is generated depending on his kindness. Compassion happens, compassion exists depending on the kindness of this suffering sentient being, and all the rest.
“Therefore, the whole sky filled with this much wealth is nothing. The value of all this wealth is nothing compared to how precious this one sentient being is, especially the one who hates me, who puts me down. The value of all this wealth is nothing compared to the value of this one sentient being, how he is precious to me. He is unbelievably precious.”
If somebody steals a hundred or a thousand dollars we get angry and want to kill that person or put him in prison, to give him harm in some way. But in reality, even that much wealth filling the whole sky is nothing compared to the value of this person, this suffering, obscured sentient being. He is unbelievably precious, incredibly precious.
Because we regard money as precious we protect it from thieves and so forth. We see the benefits of money and what we can do with money. We see how our life, our means of living, depends on it, how our comfort, our survival depends on it. But we don’t see how this obscured, suffering sentient being is so valuable, so precious, especially the person who hates us, who puts us down, who talks about our mistakes. We don’t see that if we practice with that person then we are able to achieve enlightenment quickly. We are able to achieve the realizations of the path, the six paramitas and so forth and achieve enlightenment. It gives quick enlightenment. This person gives us quick enlightenment. [Rinpoche snaps his fingers.] This person causes us to quickly cease all the mistakes of the mind and complete all the realizations of the path. If we practice on that person.
Therefore, all sentient beings are very precious. Think, “In my life, there’s nobody to cherish other than sentient beings. There’s nobody to work for other than sentient beings. All the rest is meaningless, it’s empty. Other than working for sentient beings everything else is meaningless, it’s empty. It’s nothing.
“What sentient beings want is happiness; what they do not want is suffering. Therefore I must free them from all suffering and its causes and lead them to full enlightenment. To do that I must achieve enlightenment. There’s no other way to do this. Therefore, I’m going to take the eight Mahayana precepts.”
Then do three prostrations with the same visualization.
BLACK FOOD AND TOBACCO
You may have heard during the prayers for the eight precepts there are four branches. Here it’s much more strict. The eight precepts include abstaining from any type of sexual activity, and one branch involves avoiding black food: onions, meat, garlic and so forth. These are the main ones that pollute the body. Polluting the body pollutes the mind, causing it to be unclear, because the body is the vehicle of the mind thus it affects the mind, it causes lack of clarity and so forth.
That includes tobacco, cigarettes. Of course, there’s no question tobacco is a black food. But if the food is pure and healthy, like having tea or eating food; if it doesn’t pollute the body and mind, then it’s different. Tobacco has a whole evolution, a whole story how it is a black food. There’s a whole story about opium, how it came from the maras, the evil beings. Padmasambhava predicted that opium would happen, that it would spread and then all these things, how it destroys sentient beings’ merit, not letting virtuous thoughts, the positive mind, arise, and how it makes the mind very gross. There are so many shortcomings explained in the teachings. It definitely pollutes the body and that pollutes the mind.
There is no danger for somebody who has power, control, freedom over those elements. The elements cannot affect, cannot endanger the body and mind. That is different. When somebody has that kind of power he can use poison as medicine. When poison can’t affect him, when he has control over it, that’s different. Even for our own health, even if we can’t completely abandon smoking, if we can cut it down then that makes it better.
In the past, even when I was in my room or in a gompa, if there was somebody smoking outside, even if it’s way down below, the smoke would come in with the air and with the breath the air went into the lungs. For a person who is very used to smoking maybe it doesn’t have much effect, maybe the body has become too gross—the sensitivity is kind of destroyed—and he doesn’t feel it. It goes into the lungs with the breath inside, and you can immediately see how it affects the person, causing discomfort down there. For other sentient beings who are around, the effect might be same.
The next branches are, “I will not use high, expensive beds or thrones. I will avoid eating food at inappropriate times. I will not wear garlands or ornaments, or sing or dance.”
Lecture 26
BUDDHA NATURE AND SUBTLE DEPENDENT ARISING
Think, “I must achieve full enlightenment for the sake of all the mother sentient beings who equal the infinite space. Therefore, I’m going to listen to the holy Dharma.”
Please listen to the teaching well by generating the most pure motivation, the motivation of bodhicitta, and also the righteous conduct of listening to the teaching.
The reason all us sentient beings—all the hell beings, the preta beings, the animal beings, the human beings, the suras, the asuras—can become fully enlightened is because all the mistakes of the mind, all the obscurations, can be eliminated, can be ceased. And that is because there is what is called in Tibetan, rig, the race of buddha, within all us sentient beings’ minds.
There are two types of race. The first is the increasing race or the race of development, which is the sentient beings’ causative phenomena such as the virtuous thoughts that develop into the transcendental wisdom, the omniscient mind, the dharmakaya. That race is the aspect of the mind that gets transformed or which takes the buddha’s holy body, the rupakaya.
The second type of race is natural-abiding race or the race of the buddhas abiding in nature. This is the ultimate nature of the mind, which is one with its own base or support, the mind. The support, the mind, supports the emptiness, the ultimate nature of the mind. That is the race of the buddhas abiding in nature.
For example, if what is called “mind” is not labeled, mind doesn’t exist. If what is called “mind” is not labeled as that, mind cannot exist. There’s no way the mind can exist without the label, without the thought that labels. Without depending on the name, there’s no way the mind can exist. Just exactly as without the name George, there’s no way George can exist.
Each time we think “my mind,” each time we label “mind,” we are making the mind exist. Because of the reason, the base to be labeled “I,” these aggregates, and within the body and mind, there’s the [non-body] phenomenon which is not substantial, which is colorless, shapeless and whose nature is clear and able to perceive an object, because of this reason, mind is merely imputed.
We made up the label like this. The labeling mind makes up the label and believes in that. Therefore, there is no real mind existing from its own side at all. The real mind appearing from its own side is a complete hallucination. That means it’s completely empty, it’s a complete hallucination. It’s completely empty in reality.
What is the mind? It becomes an extremely subtle phenomenon. It’s never that mind that normally appears and which we believe in. The way we believe it to be, the way we apprehend it—it’s never that. It’s not the mind we normally apprehend, the way it appears to us and the way we apprehend it, as something real from its own side. The mind isn’t that at all. That mind doesn’t have even the slightest atom of true existence from its own side, of inherent existence from its own side.
What the mind is becomes extremely subtle. The mind that is completely empty from its own side is an extremely subtle phenomenon. It’s not that the mind doesn’t exist, but it’s like it doesn’t exist. It’s not that mind doesn’t exist, but it’s like it doesn’t exist.
Not just the mind, this is also true of the body. In reality, even though in our view there’s the appearance of a very concrete body, a real one, existing from its own side, and we believe in that, in reality it’s exactly the same as the mind in that it is an extremely subtle phenomenon. It’s completely empty from its own side and extremely subtle. How the body exists is also extremely subtle, the same as the mind. Like this, the whole of existence, of samsara and nirvana, everything, everything, the way it exists is so subtle, extremely subtle, extremely fine.
We see this when we meditate, when we analyze subtle dependent arising, when we do analytical meditation reflecting on the meaning of subtle dependent arising. This is not the gross dependent arising that the previous schools also believe in, that they also accept. It’s not the gross dependent arising that scientists explain. It’s not the gross dependent arising of the other previous schools of the four Buddhist schools, it’s the one of the Prasangika Madhyamaka school. Of the two Madhyamaka schools, it’s the second one, the Prasangika school’s view of subtle dependent arising. When we do analytical meditation, when we reflect on the meaning of subtle dependent arising, we see that the way things exist is not at all the way they appear to us normally and the way we believe.
While everything, including the mind, the body, the I and so forth, all these things exist in mere name, at the same time they are empty from their own side. While all things such as the mind, the body, the I, are empty of existing from their own side, at the same time, they exist. They exist in mere name.
Like this, everything is the unification of emptiness and dependent arising. This subtle dependent arising is what Guru Shakyamuni Buddha realized. With his own unmistaken realizations, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha realized how things are, the way things exist, which is subtle dependent arising. Then he revealed the teachings of dependent arising to us sentient beings. And from that, numberless sentient beings have been able to realize emptiness, the correct ultimate nature. Through the teachings of dependent arising, they have realized the unmistaken ultimate nature, emptiness, the right view, the reality of things, how things exist in reality. So numberless sentient beings have been able to eliminate ignorance, the root of the samsara, and have been able to achieve liberation and full enlightenment.
This is what Lama Tsongkhapa praised. He composed a text, a praise to Guru Shakyamuni Buddha for having taught dependent arising [In Praise of Dependent Arising.] With his own experience, having realized dependent arising, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha then revealed this to sentient beings. What he himself experienced, he also taught sentient beings. That is the very essential guidance by the Buddha. Only this way, by the Buddha explaining dependent arising and then sentient beings listening, reflecting and meditating on it, only in this way can they realize the unmistaken, the reality, the ultimate nature of things, of the I, the self and so forth. Only this way are sentient beings able to escape, to be liberated from the whole, entire suffering and its causes.
This is the ultimate, the real guidance of the Buddha. As it’s mentioned, the way the Buddha guides and liberates sentient beings is not by washing away negative karma with water or with his hands. It’s not that way. There’s this belief in Hinduism and other religions, but water can’t wash away negative karma. We can’t liberate sentient beings with water. That’s not the way because water can’t wash away negative karma.
Similarly, the Buddha can’t eliminate sentient beings’ suffering by hand, not in that way. For example, when there’s a thorn that has gone into your flesh and you take it out with your hand. By hand, we cannot eliminate the whole, entire suffering and its causes. That’s not the way the Buddha liberates us sentient beings.
And also, not by transplanting realizations, like transplanting the brain or the heart.
The way the buddhas, the Mighty Ones, liberate us, the sentient beings, is by revealing the ultimate nature. In other words, by explaining dependent arising, how things are dependent on causes and conditions, how things exist being merely imputed by the mind, how they exist in that way, how things function in mere name. Another way of putting this, dependent arising, especially subtle dependent arising, shows how things exist in mere name. In that way, things function in that way.
Especially by [the buddhas] revealing this, then by listening, reflecting and meditating on this, we are able to realize emptiness, we are able to realize ultimate truth and then after that, conventional truth. And so we realize the two truths. By realizing the ultimate truth of the mind, we are able to realize the conventional truth of the mind. And the same thing with the I. First we are able to realize the ultimate truth of the I, which is empty of existing from its own side, then the conventional truth of the I. We realize how the I is a subtle dependent arising. The subtle dependent arising of the I, the self, is the way of realizing the conventional truth.
Lama Tsongkhapa highly praised Guru Shakyamuni Buddha for having the realization of dependent arising and giving teachings and guiding sentient beings in this way. So far I haven’t managed to memorize it well, but the boys have memorized it well. They recited it there on the hill, on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, the day before yesterday. I think it was the first prayer recited.
This mind that is completely empty from its own side, that is empty by nature, ignorance apprehends and believes to have inherent existence. This mind doesn’t have the inherently existent nature that the wrong view, ignorance, apprehends and believes.
This nature of the mind that is empty, this is the clear light. The nature of the mind is clear light. And this is the race of the buddha abiding in nature. This is buddha nature. This is buddha potential. This is the essence of the buddhas. There’s no difference between the ultimate nature of a buddha’s holy mind, the omniscient mind [and our mind]. There are differences in the base of our mind and a buddha’s mind, but as far as the ultimate nature there’s no difference.
Regarding the support, the base of the mind, at the moment we haven’t actualized the remedy path thus this mind is not separated from the temporary obscurations. But the obscurations are not permanent. They are not forever. These mistakes of the mind are not forever because the ultimate nature of the mind, clear light, is not oneness with the mistakes of the mind, not oneness with the obscurations. These obscurations are temporary and therefore they can be eliminated. From this we can understand how all the rest of the sufferings are temporary. These problems are also temporary; they’re not permanent, including the hell realm. Even though hell exists it’s not permanent, it’s temporary.
The ultimate nature of the mind is not oneness with the obscurations; it’s not mixed with them. In that sense, it’s pure. It’s the same as the ultimate nature of a buddha’s holy mind.
MAITREYA’S NINE EXAMPLES OF BUDDHA NATURE
In Uttara Tantra Maitreya Buddha gave nine examples, nine meanings, of buddha nature, the essence of the buddha that is within the minds of us sentient beings that is obscured now. What obscures the buddha essence is explained using nine examples. Lama Tsongkhapa’s disciple, Gyaltsab Rinpoche, gave a commentary to the Uttara Tantra, the teaching by Maitreya Buddha.
Even though a sentient being’s mind is pure by nature, it abides inside delusion. It’s inside delusion, which is temporary, which is a temporary stain, and that stain is not mixed with the nature of the mind. The stain is not mixed with the nature of the mind. We can understand how the stain is not mixed with the nature of the mind through these nine examples.
As is mentioned in the root text, Uttara Tantra, the buddha nature is covered by delusion just as honey is covered by bees. The buddha nature is the honey and the delusions are the bees that cover it, so just as we can’t see the honey for the bees, we can’t see our buddha nature for the delusions.
And the essence, the grain, is hidden inside the husk. The essence is the buddha nature that we have within our mental continuum. In this example, it’s like the grain, the essence, that is inside the husk, that is covered by the husk. So the stains are the husk.
Or just as gold is covered by kaka, or something dirty. There’s another example I’m not going to use. Anyway, the gold in the kaka. I don’t know the term for that dirty stuff, anyway. Gold is inside the dirty stuff. The buddha nature that we have is like the gold that is inside dirty stuff. The stains are like the dirty stuff that covers the gold.
It’s like the treasure under the ground. The buddha nature that we have is like a treasure that is under the ground. The stains are like the ground that covers the treasure.
The next one seems a little bit of a repetition. I’ll check. Maybe it’s a fruit. I’m not a hundred percent sure, maybe it’s a fruit. Before it was grain, the husk, and inside the essence. But maybe this is a fruit. Maybe this is a coconut, I’m not sure, or this fruit that has a fantastic smell. [Ven. Roger: Durian.] Durian. Maybe durian. I’m joking. No, I’m joking.
It says a small seed covered by the fruit. Maybe a fruit, I’m not sure. Inside the fruit there’s a seed, the essence, and the seed is covered by the outside fruit. But that has to be checked. If that is the example, then the seed inside the fruit is like the buddha nature and the stains are like the cover.
The next example is a statue of the Buddha inside a ragged, garbage cloth, a rag. Again, it’s the same. A buddha statue is covered with the garbage cloth, with a dirty rag cloth. The statue of a buddha is our buddha nature. The reason the text uses a statue of a buddha whereas it could, for example, be a diamond or gold covered by the garbage cloth is because a statue of a buddha is much more precious. There’s no comparison. There’s no comparison.
BUDDHA STATUES, MERIT AND OBSCURATIONS
The reason a statue of a buddha is used in this example is because we use the statue for developing devotion, to do various practices such as prostrations and so forth, and to purify the obscurations. We use the statue to make offerings and to accumulate merit. Whatever positive actions we do with the statue of a buddha, everything becomes the cause of enlightenment. Every single positive action that we do toward a buddha statue, every single thing becomes the cause of enlightenment. Every single offering, even making an offering of a tiny grain of rice or a handful of sand by visualizing it as gold. Even if we have nothing to offer and the only thing we can offer is sand, and even if we can’t visualize it as gold but just sand itself, just offering sand itself.
Whether it’s a small offering or a large offering, every single positive action that is done—offerings, prostrations, respect, circumambulation, anything that is done—everything becomes the cause to achieve enlightenment. Every single action we do toward a buddha statue leads us to enlightenment. It causes us to generate all the realizations of the path to enlightenment. It brings all the success of this life. As much as we do those practices, prostrations, offerings, circumambulations and so forth, we have more success in this life, more success in the happiness of this life and more success in the happiness of future lives, and of liberation and enlightenment. The most important one is every single thing becomes the cause of enlightenment. Every single positive action that is done toward the buddha statue leads us to enlightenment.
The merit of making offerings to Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s statue is the same as if we had actually met and made offerings to Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. It’s said in the teaching by the Buddha himself, it’s the same merit. Seeing the Buddha and making offerings isn’t higher and making offerings to the statue isn’t lower. There’s nothing like that.
It’s said in the teachings that even to be able to see a buddha statue is extremely fortunate. Remember I mentioned the other day, on one of the days, all the objects we see in our view, all these appearances are creations of our own mind. The appearance comes from our own mind. How much the appearance is pure and impure depends on the level of the mind. It depends how pure or impure the mind, the perceiver is, that produces the appearance, that creates the view. It depends on the quality of the mind.
I gave the example of the drink, the liquid in a bowl. To a deva’s mind it’s nectar. For those who have more merit, and of course for the buddhas, who have finished the work of accumulating the two types of merit—the merit of wisdom and the merit of fortune—whose minds are completely free from all the gross and subtle stains, there’s no question this liquid in the bowl, the container, appears as the highest quality, the highest enjoyment, in the nature of the greatest bliss. For human beings, it appears as water. For those who have less merit, us human beings, it appears as water. For preta beings, it appears as pus and blood, much more impure. The liquid that is in this one container, in the same container, appears to the preta beings, the lower beings, as pus and blood, much more impure.
Therefore, even if we are born as a human being that doesn’t mean everybody has the karma to see the statues. Even as a human being. Being born as a human being doesn’t mean everyone has the karma to see the buddha statues, that they have the mind that can see the statues. It doesn’t mean everyone has the karma to see these holy objects.
Generally in the world, it is like this. Even in Tibet there are stories that show this. Once a person came to Lhasa to see the Shakyamuni Buddha statue in the Lhasa temple. The Shakyamuni Buddha statue is one of the most precious holy objects in Tibet because it was made during the Buddha’s time. The Buddha put his own hand on the head of the statue and so the statue was blessed by the Buddha himself. The Buddha advised having the statue made because his mother would miss seeing him when he went to Tushita during the rainy season retreat. During the three or four months in the middle of the summer there were so many insects in the air and on the ground that the Buddha made this Dharma law that the Sangha should stay in the monasteries and do retreat in order to not harm them by stepping on them. During that time the Sangha should abide more in the monastery to receive teachings and do retreat.
The Buddha had to go to Tushita for this retreat, and his mother said that she would miss him very much during those times because she couldn’t see him. Thus, the Buddha advised making a statue of the Buddha for her to see, for her devotional object. So this statue was made. That was what caused the statue to be made, in India. After the statue was completed the Buddha put his hand on the head of the statue and predicted that this statue would be in India for this number of years and then it would go to Mongolia and benefit so many sentient beings there. After that it would go to China for many years and benefit so many sentient beings. Then it would go to Tibet after India, Mongolia, China—which one was first, I’m not sure. It would go to the Snow Land in Tibet for many years to bring extensive benefit to so many sentient beings.
The statue was predicted by the Buddha and the Buddha blessed it by touching it with his hand. That’s why this statue is so precious. That’s why everyone comes from all over Tibet, month after month, walking on foot from their home, for many months doing prostrations on the road, until they reach to the temple, where they see the statue.
When I was in Tibet, going to Amdo, on the way there were many people coming from Amdo, from very far away, doing prostrations. They were traveling by doing prostrations, for many months, to see the statue.
I asked Geshe Lama Konchog how these people could do it because they couldn’t carry anything while they were doing prostrations. They couldn’t do prostrations with all their luggage, the sleeping things and the food and so forth. They couldn’t do prostrations with all the luggage. I wondered how they managed, where their luggage was. Geshela said that they have animals. I don’t remember seeing animals with them, but they have animals, sheep or goats. The goats carry the food, the tsampa and the pots and the Tibetan blankets. The person does the prostrations and the goat follows. They kind of go together or something like that. We were going by bus but I didn’t see any goats.
Anyway, a Tibetan person came one day and could not see the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, and he couldn’t even see the lights in the shrine room. He couldn’t even see the butter lamps, the lights; it was completely dark. He regretted it so much he went to see a high lama. I’m not sure which one, maybe Chusang Rinpoche. This lama advised him to do many, many prostrations. Many, many prostrations. And he should do much confession, much confession, many prostrations. I think it might have been reciting the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names. I don’t remember a hundred percent but I think it might have been the prayer, Confessing the Downfalls, and reciting the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names. Each buddha is mainly to purify different negative karmas, and reciting each buddha’s name purifies many eons of negative karma.
By reciting the first name, Shakyamuni Buddha, 84,000 eons of negative karma get purified by reciting it one time. With the other buddhas, each one is to purify different negative karmas. One buddha purifies having killed, having done the negative karma of killing. One buddha is to purify the negative karma of sexual misconduct, and one is to purify the negative karma of telling lies. Another one is to purify the negative karma of stealing and so forth. Each buddha mainly manifested to purify the different negative karmas of us sentient beings.
Anyway, when he had done much purification and gone back to the temple he could see the light but he could still not see the statue. Thus he had to do a lot of purification again.
Another Tibetan person came and where there was a statue, he could not see it. All he could see was big piles of dried meat. Probably if you’re going on the street around there, maybe you’ll see some dried meat. Instead of a statue, he saw big piles of meat. There are many stories like this.
The first person was a butcher who had done a lot of killing in his life. Due to his heavy karma, he could not see even what the common people were able to see.
Anyway, as I mentioned, preta beings cannot even see water, which we human beings are able to see. Therefore, it’s said in the teachings that animals—cats, dogs and so forth—cannot see holy objects.
When our mind is more purified we see an actual buddha. Now we can see a statue but when our mind is more purified, like this liquid in the pot, we can actually see a living buddha. At the moment our mind is not that purified thus we just see a statue, like the liquid in the container.
Therefore, we should realize that we are extremely fortunate even being able to see holy objects. It’s said in the sutra teaching that even if we look at a statue or a drawing of a buddha on the wall out of anger, that causes us to gradually see tens of millions of buddhas. Even looking at a drawing of a buddha done on the wall out of anger causes us to gradually see tens of millions of buddhas.
Generally, for an action to become virtue depends on the motivation, but there are exceptions. Generally, for an action of body, speech and mind to become virtue, the motivation has to be virtuous. Only in that way can we make the action virtuous, as Rinpoche explained this morning, with Nagarjuna’s quotation.
There are some exceptional actions that do not depend on motivation in order to become virtue. By the power of the object it becomes virtue, such as with these holy objects, with the Three Jewels. Even a statue of a buddha or a drawing of a buddha done on a wall, if we look at it out of anger, just seeing it but the mind is angry, even that action becomes good, virtue. It becomes purification. It purifies so many obscurations. Just by seeing the paintings of the buddhas, by seeing the mandala paintings, it purifies unbelievable obscurations. Gradually it causes us to actually meet tens of millions of buddhas.
There is a story about one of Guru Buddha Shakyamuni’s main disciples, Shariputra. There are two arhats, disciples, on the right- and left-hand side of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. One is Maudgalyayana, who is excellent in psychic power and the other is Shariputra, who is excellent in wisdom.
The reason Shariputra was able to be with the Buddha all the time, to serve Buddha and to receive teachings from the Buddha, why he had this chance was because in one of his past lives when he was traveling he stopped at a temple, at a house. As he was fixing his shoes, sewing his shoes, there was light in front of him as he was taking rest, so he looked up and saw a painting of the Buddha on the wall. He thought, “How wonderful it is.” He was very impressed by it, thinking how wonderful it was. As he was sewing, from time to time he stopped and looked at it. That planted an imprint on his mind. Then, in his next life, when the Buddha was in India, he was born as a human being and became a monk and a direct disciple of the Buddha. He was able to be with Buddha all the time, and was able to serve him and receive teachings from him.
Like this, we are able to gradually come to see so many buddhas. There’s unbelievable benefit even just to look at them, even just to look at them. We don’t know this because we’re not aware of karma, we don’t know action and result. We don’t know that the action of seeing these holy objects, the action of doing prostrations to these holy objects, of making offerings to them, of respecting them, such actions have all these inconceivable results, the inconceivable result of happiness, the inconceivable result of success, from each action that we do, we don’t know. It’s even difficult for us to understand how this action becomes virtue, the cause of happiness. Even that is difficult to understand, leave aside all the benefits, all the inconceivable benefits, the results, including the highest, enlightenment. Leave aside that one, even just how these actions become virtue, even that is difficult to understand. It’s just because we don’t know karma.
Therefore, we are unbelievably lucky, incredibly fortunate, to have as many as possible of these holy objects, and to look at them every day, to look at them all the time or as much as possible. Not only that, to make offerings and do prostrations, any method.
It’s the purpose of the buddhas to manifest as statues. The purpose of the existing statues is for us to purify the cause of sufferings, to purify the obstacles, and to accumulate merit, the merit of wisdom and of fortune, and to achieve enlightenment so we can bring everyone to full enlightenment. Thus, having these holy objects has unbelievable, infinite merits. It’s very important; it has great purpose.
That’s it. The story just happened.
Now you can see how a buddha statue is unbelievably precious. Without depending on virtuous motivation, any positive action—prostrating, circumambulating, respecting and so forth—that we do toward a holy object becomes the cause of enlightenment. Even if we pile up mountains of diamonds, big mountains of dollars, millions of dollars piled up, and we do prostrations to that, and circumambulations, and show respect, it doesn’t become virtue. Generally in the world, money is regarded as very precious, but none of these actions that we do—prostrations, circumambulation, even looking at a holy object or whatever—becomes purification. Those actions don’t become virtue: they don’t become the cause, the method, of accumulating merit.
There are huge differences. There are unbelievable differences between that and the value, the benefits of looking at one painting or statue of a buddha, whatever the size, whether it’s the size of a grain or the size of a mountain.
That’s the example of the buddha statue covered by the garbage cloth. The nature of the mind, the buddha essence within our mind, is like the precious buddha statue, and the stains are like the cover, the garbage cloth.
MORE OF MAITREYA’S NINE EXAMPLES OF BUDDHA NATURE
Another of Maitreya’s nine examples is a wheel-turning king in the womb of a polluted woman. It’s not saying all women. It’s not saying in the wombs of all the polluted women that there are. Who has the child? The woman, not the man, so I think, it’s reality, it’s a woman. That’s the reality. What this is saying is that within the womb of a polluted woman, inside there is a wheel-turning king. I don’t know what that would look like, I’m not sure, anyway, inside there is a wheel-turning king. A wheel-turning king with all his entourage! I’m joking. I’m joking about that. It didn’t say with all the entourage, I’m joking. With the bodyguards. With the Mercedes cars. With the Mercedes cars outside.
Anyway, the text says there is a wheel-turning king in the womb of a polluted woman. The buddha essence which is within us is like the wheel-turning king who has great potential, who can do so much benefit for others, for many millions and millions of people, for the whole world. The stains which cover the buddha essence are like the womb that has pollution.
Another example is precious things made of gold that are covered by earth. Again that example is materials made out of gold. The buddha essence that we have is like the precious things. It is pure in essence, not mixed with the mental stains that temporarily obscure it in the same way that the golden objects are not mixed with the earth that covers them.
All these examples show the same thing, how the essence of our mind, our buddha nature, is pure, unmixed with the stains, the obscurations. For example, the seed has potential. We plant it and it can produce so much fruit and branches, and other trees that themselves produce so much fruit, and then it goes on and on. From there it goes on and on. One seed that is inside a fruit or covered by a husk or whatever, has so much potential.
This shows how the ultimate nature of our mind, our buddha nature, our buddha essence, is like that. It shows that we can completely cease all the gross consciousnesses, all the impure minds, and, especially on the base of the three principal aspects of the path and by practicing the Highest Yoga Tantra, we can purify even the subtle impure minds. Then the mind becomes a vajra holy mind, the extremely subtle holy mind, the dharmakaya, and the body is transformed into the holy vajra body. Here, it’s not talking about this body made out of flesh and blood.
In the Bodhicaryavatara it says,
[Bodhicitta] is like the supreme nectar
Because it transforms this impure body we have
Into a buddha’s holy vajra body, which is priceless.
Therefore, firmly seize the Awakening Mind.35
By having taken this impure body, we achieve the completely pure vajra holy body, which is priceless, because we are able to completely abandon, completely stop, this suffering body. Having done that we achieve the completely pure, indestructible vajra holy body, which covers all existence, which has no resistance at all, as I think I explained at the beginning of the course. All this is due to the buddha essence, the buddha nature, that we have within our mind.
Maybe tonight I should stop here.
It’s a question of attempting, from our side, to open our heart. Even though many qualified gurus, virtuous friends, have passed away, and there are so many less than in the past, still there are many existing who can reveal the complete path. There are not as many as before but there are still many existing who can reveal the whole path with experience, the entire teachings of the Buddha, that which is the unmistaken path, that which has the complete path to liberation and enlightenment. The Buddhadharma has not completely degenerated yet. It still exists.
From our side, it’s a question of opening our heart, opening our mind, and leaving space in our mind to allow these understandings, these wisdoms, these realizations of the path, to develop. It’s a question of attempting to do this from our own side. The mind is full of potential and because there’s all this potential, there’s every hope.
Notes
32 Ch. 8, vv. 134 & 135. [Return to text]
33 Ch. 8, v. 172. [Return to text]
34 Ch. 8, v. 171. [Return to text]
35 Ch. 1, v. 10. [Return to text]
