Pages

Tuesday 31 July 2012

DEATH AND REBIRTH


              La Via Del Nirvana by Gedun Tharchin - English translation of the Fifth chapter.




DEATH AND REBIRTH


In Buddhism it is very important to engage in any activity with the correct motivation. By adapting a different intention and motivation, we can change the way we see things.
All the traditions use prayer as an instrument for the development of this valid motivation. In Buddhism prayer is understood as the process of familiarisation with the correct motivation. Prayer does not necessarily have to be something which is verbally recited, but it is more of an attitude coming from the heart. This is the most important type of prayer. From a Buddhist point of view, the mind is the principal key that allows us to transform the other elements we are made of, mainly body and awareness. Especially in the beginning, it is very important for Dharma practitioners to place the emphasis on their mental activity. All the chants, rituals and ceremonies we may assist are secondary instruments of development and transformation of the mind.

The mind in a transformed state is the element that enables us to modify our intention in regards to any kind of activity we want to entertain in daily life. By changing our intention and motivation we can change the course of our present life and the course of all the lives to come.

The topics of the teachings are based on the Four Noble Truths. Today we will go into a different subject: the concept of living and dying according to the Vajrayana vehicle. The concept of living and dying is very important and should be brought into our practises. In fact, our lives can be regarded as the result of small deaths we endure every day. I very much believe in this lack of certainties and when I go to sleep at night, I am not sure whether I am going to wake up the next morning. The basic process we run through in order to achieve the phase of deep sleep is, in a way, similar to the process we go through when we die. Deep sleep is the result of many small deaths. The topic of death is a very interesting one and also a simpler subject than one would think it to be. We must not see death as something scary and difficult to face.

The fact of being alive brings us joy thanks to our special abilities such as mindfulness and the capacity of acting, but in fact, being alive in and of itself would not be possible if it were not resulting from the phase of death we have been talking about before. We can say, for instance, that a good day is the result of a good rest we had during the night. In fact, when we fall asleep we lose contact to a certain reality and remain in a semi-unconscious state. This state is necessary in order to be able to accumulate energy and through that to be more active during the day. Therefore, a good nights’ sleep is necessary in order to have a positive and active day. But the opposite is also true. When we spent a pleasant day, rich of satisfactory and well concluded activities, the results of this day will lead us to get good quality sleep. Therefore, we see a certain interdependence between a good sleep and an active and positive day, between a boring day and bad quality sleep. It is very difficult to talk about techniques and methods that allow the development of good quality sleep. The Buddhist tradition holds a view about “methods” that enable us to decide what type of sleep we want to get, or even to decide at what time we want to wake up the next morning. One can get acquainted with these topics through mental activity. What I am trying to explain is the relationship between the nocturnal cycle during which we sleep and the active cycle of our day. One influences the other and vice versa. Generally speaking, when we sleep we attain a phase of relaxation during which we cannot do particular activities. In the Vajrayana vehicle it is affirmed that there are some practitioners who manage to practise the Dharma better while they are asleep than in the awake state. This means that one can also use sleep as an instrument for the practise of Dharma. It follows that a high level practitioner can actually practise Dharma twenty-four hours a day. By practising the Dharma we intend the correct development of intentions, correct mindfulness and the correct development of all our qualities. A person who looks at life as an instrument for practising the Dharma will inevitably regard death as another moment to use for the practise of Dharma. From a Vajrayana practitioner’s point of view, death is an event that occurs only once in life and is an irretrievable chance to increase and let their own realisations grow. Death represents a great treasure and a precious opportunity to develop amazing qualities for a great practitioner Going trough this experience offers the possibility to expand and increase our own realisations. According to the Vajrayana tradition, the moment of death of us ordinary beings is the only moment, in which the so called “innate mind” appears. When this innate mind manifests in the moment of death and we manage to keep a mindful state and to recognise this appearance, we can then utilise the innate mind to ripen our experience and increase our realisations. In the moment of death we come into contact with the innate nature of the mind and we are given the possibility to deepen the truths expressed in the Dharma. If we do not manage to develop this mindfulness and limit ourselves to a conventional and superficial type of knowledge about the truth, which we have developed during our lives, the perception of everything we will encounter, will be the one of ordinary beings with a gross level of mind.

In order to recognise the manifestation of the innate mind, it is necessary to mainly get acquainted with the process of disintegration of the five aggregates, which is the process we will have to go through when we die. The “I” is composed of five aggregates. During the process of death, these five aggregates dissolve by following an elaborated process of different phases, which takes place more or less in the same way for everybody. The dissolution of the five aggregates is linked to the four elements. The five aggregates are composed of the four elements. Consequently, the disintegration of the first ones leads to the dissolution of the others. These four elements are: earth, water, fire and air (winds). The order in which the four elements are aligned, is the same in which they dissolve: the first one to dissolve is the earth element, water is the second element, the third one is the fire element and the last one to dissolve in the last stadium of consciousness is the air element (winds). When the dissolution of the earth element occurs, specific internal experiences happen within the dying person. The manifestation of internal experiences specific to this phase will also take place when the water element dissolves. The same occurs during the process of dissolution of the fire and wind elements. This last element produces particular signs within our consciousness. This process of disintegration is connected to our five senses, so that when the disintegration of the four elements progresses, our five senses disintegrate and dissolve too. While we sleep parts of these elements dissolve as well. This explains why the five senses do not function and are not active. Practitioners therefore try to follow the process of death but also the moment of changeover from the awake state to dormancy. Going to sleep is an excellent opportunity for great practitioners to try and recognise these signs. Therefore, if we go to sleep very late and are tired out from our daily work, we cannot engage in this type of practise. It would therefore be accurate to go to sleep with a bit of physical and mental energy left to be able to engage in this practise. After the dissolution of the four elements our external senses are completely blocked. This is when we are declared clinically dead. The Vajrayana tradition though does not define it as death, as it is considered that there are four more phases to be passed, before the dissolution of the consciousness is completed.

Our consciousness can be observed from two main levels. The first level, which is gross and superficial, consists of afflictive emotions. The second level of mind is more subtle. When we talk about the gross level of consciousness, we refer to three emotions: attachment, aversion and ignorance. These three afflictive emotions are dissolved in the order we have enunciated before. Once all of the three afflictive emotions have dissolved, what is known as the “clear light” appears to us. The “clear light” could be defined as the innate nature of the mind. Trying to explain the concept of “clear light” in an easily understandable language, I would say that it is the essence of our deepest level of mind. In this phase, when we refer to attachment, aversion and ignorance, we do not talk about their practical expression, but we actually mean the signs that the expression of these three afflictive emotions can generate. When these three types of signs dissolve, four internal signs appear within us. The moment when the innate nature of mind, the essence of our mind, emerges following the dissolution of the three afflictive emotions, is the moment when we can implement our whole knowledge accumulated during our existence and through that yield results. This is a very important phase as it represents the moment when we place the emphasis on the flow of our awareness.

Great practitioners (yogis) are able to make use of this innate mind, to use it for meditation, practise and for the implementation of all the realisations they have gained during their life.
I can testify for the existence of great lamas, who in fact are clinically dead and are still able to remain in a state of meditation. On a physical level they do not seem to be dead, but when they end their meditation, their body collapses and falls. In this case, when I mention great Lamas, I do not mean people to whom great position and honour have been bestowed, but very simple people who have practised the Dharma for a long time. When this meditation ends, they separate the mind from the body by using the innate mind, and at the same time migrate into the intermediate state called “Bardo”.

All these words to define life, death and the various phases occurring between one and the other are important. Though, not as important as our willingness to get acquainted with these events through our daily practise and familiarisation. In short, it is about having constant mindfulness of all our experiences during our daily life.

According to what the historical Buddha stated in the Sutras, good practitioners are able to be mindful of all the phases in their life: when they are awake, when they eat, when they sleep……and they are also able to remember in an intuitive way any moment of their life because they try to remain in a constant state of good and correct mindfulness. Consequently, if we do not maintain this mindfulness in daily life, during all our activities, it will be impossible to remember our experiences as something spirited that must be used when we go to sleep or in the moment of our death. The same Buddha also said that frequent introspection and attention is necessary to be able to maintain a good level of mindfulness every day. This mindfulness, which is the capacity to take a moment before doing an action, allows us to value if the action we are about to do is correct or not. The capacity of taking time before jumping into an activity is the actual practise of mindfulness. This practise is the only one that allows us to lead a virtuous life. In the Vajrayana vehicle, the practise of mindfulness is neglected in some verses as it is taken for granted that mindfulness is part of other practises. Therefore it is not specifically studied. In the Theravadan tradition the word mindfulness comes up more frequently. When we ask a Theravadan master which type of practise he would suggest we engage in when the moment of death occurs, he will certainly reply that we should die by trying to keep our mindfulness. If, on the other hand, we ask a Vajrayana teacher, he will give us a line-up of complicated subjects like the four elements, all the processes of dissolution and eventually we will not be able to remember any of that. The connection between these two traditions consists in the common aim of wanting to die with a positive mental attitude, with a virtuous mind. As we are the lucky ones to live in the Western world, where many Buddhist traditions have met, we should try and apply both methods. We must have done a good practise of mindfulness, in order to be able to take cognisance of the moment of death, even if we do not know all the details of the dissolution process. Therefore, we must focus on our ability to maintain a positive mental attitude and a virtuous mind.

Since I have been in the West, I have had the opportunity to come across many different traditions: apart from Chan/Zen and Theravada, which were not part of the Tibetan context, I got to know other lineages like Kagyu and Nyingma. I did not know much about them when I studied in my monastery, and obviously I also got acquainted with Christianity. We can draw from all these beautiful traditions, in order to further add to our knowledge. This is one of the advantages that our Western culture offers. The advantage of living in a multicultural and democratic environment that allows us to get to know various things without that mental closure that leads us to think: “What I do is better than what others do.” This attitude is wrong and shows the ignorance which is the root of all our problems. Destroying this attitude and opening ourselves to others is one of the objectives of the practise of Dharma. When we open ourselves to others, we have the opportunity to receive much and to carry further our personal spiritual growth.

The word “ignorance” in Buddhist terms could be explained in many ways and with different levels of introspection. In this context, we interpret it as mental closure. Accepting or considering something as positive only because it is mine, is a symptom of mental closure and selfishness. According to a Tibetan definition, this attitude can be translated as “self-grasping”. The root phrase to define this wrong mental attitude reads: “This is good because it belongs to me”. In order to define this concept, students of philosophical schools study piles of books to describe in a deeper way what we are saying here. Ignorance can be described as small-mindedness and grasping to the self. That is how we clarify the relation between ignorance and self-grasping. One of the aims is to destroy these wrong mental attitudes because they are perceived as the root and the origin of all our problems. It is also true that many Buddhist practitioners show great ignorance. Sometimes there are people who are considered to be great practitioners with a deep level of knowledge about Buddhism, who also show great ignorance as their mind seems to be closed. In some cases, to possess an exclusive knowledge of Buddhism without knowing anything else, can be the reason for small-mindedness. Even if this opinion of mine may be regarded as wrong.
Living and dying, both have to be part of our existence and be experienced with mindfulness. Living with mindfulness and dying with mindfulness is the advice given in the Theravadan tradition, which from my point of view captures the essence of the Dharma in the most straightforward way.

Question: what happens to a person in the course of an accidental death?

Answer: it is a more difficult kind of death. If ones lapses into a coma due to an illness and one gets there gradually, this process of dissolution can take longer. Those dying of an illness that gradually takes them to the moment of death are more fortunate because this process in stages allows them more time to bring all their experiences to their mind and to make the most of this opportunity. It is a good opportunity to reflect in a slow and gradual way. Good practitioners, whether they die from an accident or a violent event of any kind, possess the ability to bring all their experience to their mind in no time into that very particular moment. But in order to be able to achieve this, it is necessary to be gifted with extraordinary mindfulness. In the moment of his death, after he had been shot, Gandhi managed to invoke the name “Ram”, the equivalent to God. The deadly attempt on his life was not an event that would disturb him to the point of losing his mental stillness. Gandhi was able to keep his peaceful state of mind intact….. great mindfulness.

Question: does the way we die influence our rebirth?

Answer: the kind of future rebirth will be determined by the imprint given to the innate mind in that particular moment. Death is a unique opportunity. In a certain sense we practise all our life to prepare for that particular moment. If we influence the moment of death by giving it an imprint marked by feelings of anger, this can be the cause of a reincarnation in the lower realms. It is like writing an e-mail, we can type so many messages on our computer, but if we make a mistake with the address of the receiver, we lose all the work….. a lifetime’s work. It is one of the secrets of Buddhism.

Friday 27 July 2012

Buddhist Science




The article published on The Middle Way Journal of the Buddhist Society, London - November 2011


Buddhist Science

Venerable Geshe Gedun Tharchin
From a talk given in Rome 21 Novembre 2010


When I was asked to be deliver a short talk on Buddhist Science. I didn't know exactly what  “Buddhist Science” in Western cultural and social context.

In the Tibetan language we have a term often used in our scriptures, “Nang Don Rig Pa”. This is a very formal way of saying “Buddhism”. However, the literal meaning of the term in English could be translated as Buddhist Science, but it means more than that. Literally “Nang Don” means “inner meaning and value” and “Rig Pa” means “arts of learning.” Therefore, it's literal interpretation should be “The arts for learning the inner meaning and value.” This is what Buddhism and Buddhist Science means to Tibetans.

Actually, Buddhism is a foreign culture for Tibetans because it was adopted from India, Nepal and China, 8th. century. During the Tibetan Emperor Song Tsan Gampo's time, his two foreign wives, a Chinese princess and a Nepalese princess, built the first two Buddhist temples the Jo Khang and Ramo Che in Lhasa, Tibet. They were built to enshrine the Buddha statues that their parents had given them. If you look back to the history it is quite silly the way that Buddhism arrived to Tibet for the first time!

By the eighth to eleventh century, Tibet was already a quite civilized society both culturally and politically. The country was very successful and quite competitive among its neighboring countries. Tibetans received Buddhism as a “Nang Don Rig Pa” or as an “art for learning the inner meaning and value” rather than as a Religion as we think of in the West.

Unfortunately later Tibet’s whole culture, history, and economy ended up under the domination of Buddhist hierarchy, which is very much like what happened to the Roman Empire when it ended up under the domination of the Christian Church.

That aside, the real significance of the Dharma is how the Buddha experimented and realized within him the inner meaning and value of life. He demonstrated it to others in order to heal humanity and the world from illnesses driven by the three poisons of life, namely Ignorance, Attachment and Hatred.

The Buddhist arts of learning the inner meaning and values essentially consist of what are called the three higher trainings. These are morality, concentration and wisdom. These trainings transform human life into a realistic and healthy way of living and then eventually completely eliminate the poisons, which is what is known as nirvana: a life completely free from any influences of those three poisons.

If we want to start Nang Don Rig Pa, (the arts of learning the inner meaning or values) we should start with reflecting on some basic questions:
  • Why are there so many pains and sufferings in all human life?
  • Are there causes to those pains and sufferings?
  • If so, is there a possibility that one could live without them?
  • What would be the means to do this?
To ask these questions properly we need to be in a spirit of oneness between the questioner and the questioned. We ourselves need to be physician, patience and nurse. This is the essence of the quest for understanding and realizing the true meaning of life. Historically Lord Buddha laid down his whole realization in these four questions. This blue print for finding the inner meaning is called the Four Noble Truths.

To approach this quest we start with analyzing the first Noble Truth, the Truth of suffering. This is a very crucial point of meditation and reflection. We must face this question within ourselves, deeply and profoundly experiencing our own feelings of pain and suffering.

In terms of actual Nang Don Rig Pa application, we must leave behind all our intellectual understanding of pain and suffering. We must simply and directly touch the pains and suffering that we experience every day. We are constantly tortured and we haven’t been able to escape or find a way out. There is no solution to the fatigue and drudgery of our inner world.

However, the noble truth of suffering is not the suffering itself. The suffering we are talking about is in the psychological or spiritual dimension. It has to do with wrong thoughts and wrong concepts. This truth lies within the suffering itself but is not the same as it. The pain is the source from which we find the truth of suffering. There is something on which suffering relies, and it is very important to know what this is if we wish to be free of it.

Discovering and obtaining the realization of the truth of suffering naturally leads us to its relief. We can say that a fire burns wood, but we could also say that wood creates the fire. The potential for fire is inherent in the wood. Similarly, while the experience of the truth of suffering ends the suffering, the potential for relief is inherent in the suffering itself.
Analyzing in this way will lead us towards the second question: What are the causes of our suffering?

Psychological and spiritual sufferings are most probably products of our wrong concepts regarding happiness, entwined with our mistaken thoughts. In Buddhism, there are four wrong concepts which drive this process. We perceive:
  • impure things as pure
  • suffering as happiness
  • impermanent as permanent
  • things that are empty of self as concrete selves.
These wrong thoughts and mistaken ideas are the producers of an illusory world. Such an illusory world becomes the basis for human psychological miseries.

But, is durable and pure happiness possible? To answer this question, as we have to reflect upon nirvana, a state of mind or psycho/physical dimension where one can live in a painless state free from suffering. When we see the fact that our present mind can be transformed into a nirvana state of mind this means we have established the basis of our prospective journey towards the inner meaning and value.

Having established that an end to suffering is possible, we then go on to examine what process we can implement to achieve nirvana. That is what we called “La Via della Nirvana”, those three higher trainings. In more basic language, we could call them:
  • Simplicity (renunciation) and love and compassion.
  • Concentration, or single pointed mental state, which can be energetically focused on any desired objectives in order to intensify our mental capacity to struggle with the problems.
  • Wisdom realizing right views – such as the four right views – seeing suffering as suffering, the impure as impure, the impermanent as impermanent and the empty of Self as empty of Self.
The realizations of these three faculties of mind will eradicate our psychological pains and sufferings and allow us to achieve a full and complete freedom which we can dedicate for the global peace and universal happiness of the humanity, including all sentient beings.

Mastering the arts of realizing the inner values or inner meaning can be very easy if someone really wanted to apply it with a strong determination and authentic interest. It is neither a mere philosophical articulation nor a psychological trick. It is a very practical and solid means of resolving human suffering for every member of the human family. Based on unconditional love and indiscriminating wisdom, it is known as the Dharma, Sanatana Dharma, the Holy Spirit or a thousand different names. But no words can fully define its meaning. One can only experience it within oneself by the force of one's own determination and diligence.

Buddha said “You yourself are both your master and enemy” and “Buddha’s can't wash away negative actions or get rid of the sufferings of humanity. Buddha’s can't transfer their realizations to others. Buddha’s liberate sentient beings only through showing the Truth.” Furthermore, Buddha said: “I have shown you the path to liberation, but if you wish to find it, you must find it within yourself.”

I understand that the purpose of this congress was to consider the differences and similarities between Eastern and Wetsern scientific conclusions. However, due to my limited time, I thought it best to present a concentrated, classical interpretation of Buddhist science, its contemplations of human suffering, solutions, and methods without expanding the discussion to include a comparison with the modern Western views of psychology, neuroscience and quantum physics.






Tuesday 17 July 2012

THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF THE PATH


             
                             THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF THE PATH
                                                      Venerable Lobsang Drakpa


Homage to the foremost Lama.


            1, I will explain as well as I can
The essential meaning of all scriptures of the Buddha,
The path praised by the excellent Bodhisattvas,
The doorway for the fortunate ones longing for liberation.

            2, Whoever is not attached to the pleasures of mundane existence,
Whoever strives in order to make leisure and fortune worthwhile,
Whoever is inclined to the path admired by the Buddha,
Those fortunate ones should listen with a pure mind.

            3, Without a completely pure renunciation
There is no way to stop seeking pleasurable effects in the ocean of existence.
Also, craving cyclic existence thoroughly binds the embodied beings.
Therefore, in the beginning renunciation should be sought.

            4, Leisure and fortune are difficult to find and life has no duration,
Through familiarity with this, emphasis on the appearance of this life is reversed.
If you think again and again about karma and its inevitable effects And the sufferings of samsara,
The emphasis on the appearances of future lives will be reversed.

            5, If, having meditated thus, you do not generate admiration
Even for the prosperity of cyclic existence,
and if an attitude seeking liberation arises day and night,
Then renunciation has been generated.

            6, Also, if this renunciation is not combined with the generation of
a complete aspiration to highest Enlightenment,
It does not become a cause of the marvellous bliss of unsurpassed Awaken State.
Thus, the wise should generate supreme Bodhicitta.

            7, Samsaric beings are carried by the continuum of the four powerful currents.
Are tied with the tight bonds of karma difficult to oppose,
Have entered into the iron cage of the self grasping attitude
Are completely obscured by the thick darkness of ignorance,

            8, Are born into limitless samsara, and in their births
Are tortured ceaselessly by the three sufferings.
Thinking thus of the condition of mothers who have come to such a state,
Generate the supreme altruistic intention to become Awaken one.

            9, If you do not have the wisdom realizing the way things are,
Even though you have developed renunciation and Bodhicitta,
The root of samsara cannot be cut.
Therefore work on the means of realising dependent arising.

            10, Whoever sees reality of cause and effect of all phenomena
in samsara and nirvana as infallible,
Thoroughly destroys the mode of misapprehension of
those objects and has entered the path that is admired by the Buddhas.

            11, As long as the two realisations of appearances, The infallibility of dependent arising
And the realization of emptiness, the non-assertion,
Seem to be separate, there is still no realisation
Of the thought of Shakyamuni Buddha.

           12, When the two realisations exist simultaneously, without alternation,
           And the view of infallibility of dependent arising will entirely cease,
           The mode of apprehension of the conception,
           Then the analysis of the view is complete.

           13, Further, the extreme of existence is excluded by appearance,
And the extreme of non-existence is excluded by Emptiness.
If within Emptiness the appearance of cause and effect is known,
You will not be captivated by extreme views.

            14, When you have realised thus just as they are
The essentials of the three principle aspects of the path,
Resort to solitude and generate the power of enthusiastic perseverance.
Accomplish quickly your final aim, my son.


(Colophon: This is taught by the learned monk Lobsang Drakpa Pal (Tsongkhapa) to Gyalrong Tsa Kho Vonpo Ngawang Drakpa)


Glossary:

Lama (Tib., Skt. guru): A spiritual guide or teacher. Literally: rich of spiritual quality

Scriptures of the Buddha (Tib. Gyal wai sung rab, Kagyur, Tengyur and Sungbum):
Buddhist canon, classical Buddhist literature of Indian and Tibetan masters

Bodhisattva (Skt.): One who possesses Bodhicitta

Liberation (Skt. Mokya): Destruction of all afflictive emotions or delusions, attainment of the state of an Arhat, path of no more learning of the sarvakabuddha and the pratikabuddha

Pleasure of mundane existence: Pleasure directed by attachment to sensual pleasures

Leisure and fortune: Having good facilities and conditions to practice Dharma

Fortunate ones: Those who have met the Dharma and are able to practice

               Renunciation: Authentic intention to leave samsara and reach nirvana

Ocean of existence: (Skt. Samsara, Tib. Khor wa)

Emphasis on appearance of this life: Being concerned with aspects regarding our present life only

Samsara (Skt.): Contaminated aggregates of a sentient being, which since beginningless times have lead to the recurrence of the cycle of death and rebirth under the control of delusion and karma, and have lead sentient beings to be fraught by the sufferings of the six physical/spiritual realms

Emphasis on appearance of future lives: Concern with the aspects regarding future lives in samsara

Aspiration to highest Enlightenment: (Skt. Bodhicitta, Tib. jang chub kyi sem )

Unsurpassable Awaken State: Buddhahood

Bodhicitta (Skt.): Authentic aspiration to reach complete Enlightenment in order to
bring all sentient beings to the state of complete Enlightenment

Four powerful currents: rebirth, aging, sickness and death

Actions (Skt. Karma, Tib. Les): A subtle imprint on the mind stream coming from
previous experiences, giving impulses for mental and physical actions

Apprehending self (Tib. Dag zin): Mistaken view which grasps at a self or an I as being inherently existing

Three sufferings: Suffering of pain, suffering of change, suffering of condition

Mothers: All sentient beings, the most dear ones, those who have benefited us the most

An altruistic intention to become Awaken one: Refers to (Skt. Bodhicitta) in this context

Wisdom: Realisation of Emptiness

Way things are: Empty of existing inherently, ultimate mode of existence of things

Root of Samsara: Ignorance of not seeing the truth, opposite to wisdom

Dependent arising (Tib. ten byung): Mode of being of things and events, existing interdependently

Nirvana: Beyond suffering, end of suffering

Appearance, the infallibility of dependent arising: Conventional reality or conventional truth
Emptiness, the non-assertion: Ultimate reality or ultimate truth

Thought of Buddha Shakyamuni: Non-dual nature of the two truths

View: Ultimate reality

Extreme existence: A view of things exist only inherently or from it’s own side.

Extreme of non-existence: View of things not exist, if not inherently exist.

Emptiness: Suchness of non-inherently existing phenomena

Appearances: Common vision

Extreme views: Nihilistic view and eternality view

The three principle aspects of the paths: Renunciation, Bodhicitta and Wisdom

Enthusiastic perseverance: Joyous effort in the practise of Dharma

Final goal: Complete Enlightenment, Buddhahood

My son: Directly referred to Tsakhowa Ngawang Dakpa, indirectly to all his disciples.

(Translated and added the glossary by Geshe Gedun Tharchin)

Sunday 8 July 2012

EIGHT VERSES OF THOUGHT TRANSFORMATION

 

   
EIGHT VERSES OF THOUGHT TRANSFORMATION
Kadampa Geshe Langri Tangpa

         1 May I always cherish
all sentient beings as
excelling even the wish-granting gem
with intention of accomplishing their supreme goal (1),

         2 Whenever I am in the company of others,
May I regard myself as inferior of all
And from the depths of my heart
Cherish others as supreme.

        3 In all my actions may I guard my mind
           And as soon as an afflicting emotions (2) arise.
           Since endangering myself and others,
           May I forcefully face and avert it.

        4 When I see beings of wicked nature
Overwhelmed by violent negative actions (3) and sufferings (4)
May I cherish them as rare ones,
As if I have found a precious treasure.

        5 When others out of envy treat me wrong
with abuse, insult me or the like,
May I accept defeat,
And offer the victory to them.

         6 Even someone I have helped
And in whom I have placed great hopes
Gives me terrible harm,
May I see even such as an excellent spiritual friend (5).

         7 In brief, both directly and indirectly,
May I offer every benefit and happiness to all mother(6) beings;
May I secretly take upon myself
All their harmful actions and suffering.

         8 May also the practices not be defiled
By thoughts of the eight worldly concerns. (7)
By the awareness of all things as illusory
May I be un-grasping, gain freedom from bondage.(8)

(This short text belongs to the teachings on lo jong (9), and was composed during the period of Buddhist history when the ka dam(10) school was flourishing in Tibet.)
  1. Highest goal: The state of complete Enlightenment, Buddhahood.
  1. Afflicting emotions: In Tibetan nyon mong, meaning mental defilements such as anger, attachment, ignorance etc.
  1. Negative actions: In Tibetan dig pa, a negative mental disposition caused by a negative action that one has committed.
  1. Sufferings: In Sanskrit du kha, the Truth of Suffering, which has three levels:
    • suffering of pain
    • suffering of change
    • conditioned suffering of samsara.
  1. Spiritual Friend: In Tibetan ge wei she nyen / Geshe, who helps to bring about virtuous actions.
  1. Mothers:
    • All sentient beings have been our mother
    • The most dear one or the most helpful one
  1. Eight wordly concerns: the views generated by looking through the eyes of attachment and aversion are: liking and disliking, gaining and losing, praise and blame, fame and disgrace
  1. Bondage: in Tibetan ( khor wa, in Sanskrit samsara, desirous attachment to worldly things, which causes one to remain in the circle of suffering or dissatisfaction.
  1. lo jong, (Tibetan):
    • lo means mind, thought, consciousness, but in this context it rather refers to intention. jong means transforming, training, practicing, here translated as “thought transformation” as in the title of the text
    • lo jong, the short form of jang chub kyi sem la lo jong wa means transforming the ordinary mind into Bodhicitta (11), a technique for the practise of Bodhicitta
    • lo jong is the name of a specific technique for the practice of Bodhicitta, based on the so called “Seven-Point Mind Training”.
  1. ka dam, (Tibetan): A Tibetan Buddhist tradition that has its origins in Indian Buddhism. It was brought to Tibet by Atisha and spread by gyal wa dom ton pa, who was one of the main Tibetan disciples of Atisha. Literally, ka means all teachings of the Buddha, dam means secret instruction, and pa stands for a person who follows the ka dam tradition. Therefore, ka dam pa is a person who believes that all teachings of the Buddha, without contradiction, are one instrument that leads to liberation.
  1. Bodhicitta, (Sanskrit): A genuine inspiration to attain Buddhahood, in order to lead all sentient beings to the state of complete Enlightenment.
(Translated and added the notes by Geshe Gedun Tharchin)