December 7, 1997

CAUSATIVE PHENOMENA ARE IMPERMANENT

Causative phenomena do not last even within a second. They decay even within every second. That is the reality of causative phenomena, how they are, but they do not appear to us in that way. What we can see are the very gross changes, such as decay, like flowers wilting after some days. We are only aware of changes that happen gradually, such as getting older, even though all these changes are happening not only minute by minute but second by second, and within the second. This is the way our life is, but we don’t see it that way. Because of that, things appear to us as permanent. Causative phenomena, including our body and even beautiful flowers, appear to us as permanent.

As I mentioned the other day, the appearance of inherent existence is decorated over or projected onto the merely labeled object, merely labeled by our mind and from the negative imprint. The reason I call the imprint negative is because it projects the hallucination and therefore hinders us achieving enlightenment. It hinders the mind from becoming fully enlightened and from being able to see the whole past, present and future existence directly. This negative imprint is left by the past ignorance, the unknowing mind. It is something to do with the mind, a creation of mind; it has come from the mind.

Similarly, the appearance of permanence is not something that comes from the side of the object. It comes from the mind. This hallucination of holding impermanent phenomena as permanent also comes from the mind; it is projected by the mind.

As it is mentioned in the texts, causative phenomena are defined as “that which are impermanent because they are changing from second by second.” That is their nature but they do not appear to us in that way. They appear to us as not changing second by second, as permanent, which is the opposite to how they exist.

This then becomes the basis for attachment in this life and for all those emotional thoughts such as anger. Without talking about karma and long-term suffering, creating samsara, even just these everyday emotional minds rise up and torture us. They don’t give us any peace of mind.

As I normally mention, we do the meditation on impermanence to realize the impermanent nature of causative phenomena. If we can do that, we can control the disturbing thoughts, stopping them from arising. That is the immediate experience, and then, eventually, we can be liberated from the cause of all suffering, karma and delusions. That is how it gives us the everlasting happiness of liberation and not only that, but also ultimately full enlightenment. So, this is the advantage we get from meditating on impermanence and death.

On the other hand, if we don’t realize the nature of impermanence, if we don’t practice this kind of mindfulness, we let our mind be hallucinated and we believe in these hallucinated appearances. Then, what we get is the opposite of liberation; it is only suffering, only samsara, only the problems of this life and subsequent lives—many, many lifetimes of suffering.

These are the advantages we gain by meditating on the four noble truths. Each truth has four characteristics and by meditating on each of these characteristics we gain all these advantages.

THE REQUESTING PRAYER OF THE LINEAGE LAMAS VISUALIZATION

This morning, we will do the Heart Sutra meditation prayer, and then make strong requests to the lineage lamas of the path to grant us their blessings so that we and all sentient beings can gain all the qualities, all the realizations, within us.

Normally, when we do the requesting prayer to the lineage lamas, the visualization is the root guru seated on our crown, and then, with mindfulness of the guru as the embodiment of all the buddhas, from our side we motivate to achieve all the realizations of the path to enlightenment in order to be able to liberate all sentient beings from all suffering and bring them to full enlightenment.

This is the greatest benefit we can bring to ourselves and others, and for that we see the virtuous friend as an enlightened being, whether they actually are. By having devotion that this is so, however, from our side, we will be able to achieve the greatest profit, achieving all the realizations of the path, attaining all the bhumis and attaining full enlightenment. Then, we can also bring numberless sentient beings to the peerless happiness of full enlightenment. For that purpose, we practice mindfulness, devotion, looking from our own side at the virtuous friend as the embodiment of all the gurus and the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Looking at the virtuous friend as the manifestation of all the buddhas is in order for us to be liberated from all suffering and brought to full enlightenment.

So, normally the visualization is this. With the root guru seated on our crown, in front of us there is all the merit field. If we do the elaborate visualization of the merit field, we visualize all the lineage lamas, starting from Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, then the lineage of the profound path, starting with Buddha Shakyamuni and then Manjushri down to our own direct root guru, and then the lineage of the extensive path, starting with Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and then to Maitreya Buddha down to our own direct root guru.

In the center, we can visualize Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, with Buddha Vajradhara at his heart and the concentration being, the syllable HUM, at Vajradhara’s heart. Behind Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, there are the lineage lamas of the blessing of the practice; on his left, there are Manjushri and the lineage lamas of the profound path, and on his right side there are Maitreya Buddha and the lineage lamas of the extensive path.

After that there are the three groups of Kadampa geshes: those who try to achieve enlightenment by studying the extensive scriptures; those who try to achieve enlightenment by studying and practicing the lamrim rather than the extensive scriptures; and those who try to achieve enlightenment by relying on the oral instruction teachings and putting them into practice.

Below them is Lama Tsongkhapa surrounded by his followers, the followers of the new Kadam tradition, who are on the right and left of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. In the front of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, the root guru is seated, flanked by other direct gurus.

Below them are the deities of the Maha-annutara Yoga Tantra—Yamantaka, Chakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja, Kalachakra and so forth—and the deities of Yoga Tantra, Charya Tantra and Kriya Tantra. After that are the Thousand Buddhas of the Fortunate Eon, including the Thirty-five Buddhas and the seven Medicine Buddhas. Then, below that are the eight types of bodhisattvas, the sixteen arhats, the dakas, dakinis and Dharma protectors, the protectors of the graduated path of the lower capable being, of the middle capable being and of the higher capable being. The three main protectors are in the front and then the other protectors are around them.

All these are on a very extended, golden throne, beautifully decorated, with eight levels of lotus petals that they are all sitting on.

Then, there are four guardians that are not on the throne but on the edge; not on the throne but on clouds.

There is also a second merit field we visualize the second time we go over it while we are doing the preparatory practices, when we do the seven-limb prayer, the mandala offering, the outer, inner, secret and absolute offerings according to the Guru Puja, then we make requests to the lineage lamas to grant us blessings to gain realizations on the path to enlightenment. We visualize this merit field with the ocean of milk and the wish-granting tree, but all the rest is the same.

We can visualize the merit field as it is shown in the thangkas, according to Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo’s vision, how he saw the entire merit field, with Guru Shakyamuni Buddha at the center and then, relating this to tantra, at his heart is Buddha Vajradhara and at Vajradhara’s heart is the syllable HUM.

The other thing is that that we can visualize it as in the Guru Puja, with our own root guru in the aspect of Lama Tsongkhapa, inseparable from Lama Tsongkhapa and inseparable from Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, who is at the heart of Lama Tsongkhapa. Then, at the heart of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha is Buddha Vajradhara with the syllable HUM at his heart.

The HUM can be said to be the holy mind of all the buddhas, the dharmakaya, the nondual bliss and voidness, the absolute guru. There is the absolute guru and the conventional guru, so we can also visualize it this way, as our own root guru in the aspect of and inseparable from—these mean the same thing—Lama Tsongkhapa, Shakyamuni Buddha and Vajradhara.

It’s the same with the other visualization of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, with Buddha Vajradhara at his heart and the syllable HUM at Vajradhara’s heart. With that our own root guru is in the aspect of Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of the present Buddhadharma, and Vajradhara and the syllable HUM. It is in the shape of a HUM but it is the holy mind of all the buddhas, the dharmakaya, the absolute guru, which is eternal, which has no beginning and no end, which pervades all existence.

Because the holy mind of all the buddhas, the dharmakaya, the union of nondual bliss and voidness, which pervades all existence, which is everywhere, because it is bound with infinite compassion embracing all us sentient beings, never giving up even for one second, this dharmakaya, this absolute guru manifests in the various aspects of the Buddha, the various tantric deities, the various nirmanakaya aspects of the buddhas, such as the Medicine Buddha, the Thirty-five Buddhas and so forth, Then, each different aspect of the Buddha reveals the path of each deity to us.

To even guide one sentient being to enlightenment needs many different aspects of the Buddha, to do different functions, to overcome different obstacles. For even one sentient being, the dharmakaya, the absolute guru, manifests in so many different aspects, as the deities, the buddhas, like this.

Because our mind is currently so obscured, so impure, so deluded, we cannot directly see all the buddhas and receive teachings and guidance directly from them. There is no opportunity at the moment. Therefore, the dharmakaya, the absolute guru, manifests to us in an ordinary form. “Ordinary form” means manifesting as being impure, having mistakes, having anger, having attachment, having delusions, having the sufferings of samsara such as birth, old age, sickness and things like that, whatever problems there are in samsara. The guru shows the aspect of having whatever happens to ordinary people. Without manifesting to us in this way, there is no way we could see the guru because we are so obscured, so deluded. There is no other way we can directly receive guidance from the guru, no way we can gain peace.

In that way, the guru leads us, not only saving us from falling into the lower realms but also protecting us from the whole of samsara, liberating us from the danger of being caught in lower nirvana, where there is peace for ourselves but where the complete cessation of all our defilements is not completed, so we cannot do perfect work for all sentient beings.

It takes an incredible length of time to achieve enlightenment, so [by manifesting in an ordinary form, the guru] protects us from being caught in lower nirvana, by guiding us on the path to enlightenment, on the steps of the lamrim, liberating us from not only gross, disturbing thought obscurations, but even from subtle obscurations. At the moment, we have no other way to do this without depending on the guru manifesting in an ordinary aspect. There is no other way to receive guidance from them. If they were any purer, with our delusions we would not be able to see them.

The Essence of Nectar says,

Until we are free from our obscuring negative karma,
Even if all the buddhas without exception descended directly in front of us,
We have no fortune to see the sublime holy body adorned with the holy signs and exemplifications
—Only this present appearance.

“Only this present appearance” means appearing in an ordinary aspect, having delusions, immorality, showing mistakes in actions, and then experiencing all the suffering of samsara such as birth, old age, sickness and death, and so forth.

The verse starts, “Until we are free from our obscuring negative karma” meaning that until our mind becomes pure, there is no other way to see the guru and receive guidance directly. Only when our mind becomes free from the obscurations of negative karma will we be able to see the Buddha in a pure aspect, the supreme holy body adorned with the thirty-two holy signs and eighty holy exemplifications. Only then will we be able to receive guidance directly from the Buddha.

SERKONG DORJE CHANG AND MILAREPA

There is an extremely inspiring life story of Serkong Dorje Chang. Because most of you are quite new, before I mention what Serkong Dorje Chang said, I will mention who Serkong Dorje Chang is, otherwise it doesn’t mean much! Serkong Dorje Chang is a reincarnation or embodiment of the great enlightened being, Milarepa, the great Tibetan meditator who became enlightened in a brief lifetime of these degenerate times. For ordinary people, Marpa, Milarepa’s guru, appeared quite ordinary. After Milarepa had been taught black magic by another guru… I’m not getting involved in that story, because it gets longer and longer! I was not planning on talking about realizations but, because we were going through the requesting prayer for the lineage lamas, it happened.

Just to be very brief, Milarepa was born in a very poor family. The father had passed away, so there was his mother, sister, aunt and uncle. The aunt and uncle gave them such a hard time that the mother really hated them. So, she instructed Milarepa to go to learn black magic from a lama in order to harm them. He made a hole in the ground on the mountain in the same valley and did a retreat for seven or nine days, then he did his black magic when his uncle and aunt were having a wedding party.

Downstairs there were many horses and upstairs there were many people dancing and drinking. While this was happening, Milarepa did the black magic, causing all the pillars of the house to collapse and all the people upstairs and the animals downstairs were killed. His mother, who had been watching, put her pants on a stick, like a flag, and went on the roof! She was excited, rejoicing, and she screamed various things.

Afterwards, Milarepa felt regret. The lama who had taught him the black magic said that if he wanted to practice Dharma he should go to see a lama called Marpa Lotsawa. That’s how Milarepa was guided to this guru by the lama who taught black magic. When Milarepa saw Marpa, even though Marpa was already an enlightened being, Hevajra, Buddha Vajradhara, on the outside he had the appearance of a farmer, as nothing special, just an ordinary person with dirt on his clothes and body. He was plowing the field with his animals, drinking chang, wine, just a very ordinary farmer. Milarepa did not see the enlightened being, Hevajra, but still he offered himself, saying. “I have come from the north of Tibet. I am a very evil person; I have created so much negative karma. I now offer my body, speech and mind to you because I have nothing else to offer. Please give me Dharma as well as food and clothing.”

So anyway, Serkong Dorje Chang is the embodiment of Milarepa’s guru, who made Milarepa become enlightened in one brief lifetime of these degenerated times, within few years, by the way he guided him, the way he gave Milarepa so much hardship. For instance, after he got Milarepa to build a nine-story tower with his own hands, he made him tear it down again and put all the stones back where he found them. Then he told Milarepa to build it again, and then tear it down again. He got Milarepa to do this three times, causing him to bear so many hardships. Through carrying all those heavy stones, the skin on Milarepa’s back became blue and hard, callused, kind of worn out.

For a long time Marpa refused to give Milarepa any teachings; he only scolded him and beat him. If he found Milarepa sitting with the other students for teachings or initiations, he would kick him out. It was only after many years of Milarepa having to bear all these hardships, building houses and things like that, that Marpa’s secret consort mother begged Marpa to start giving Milarepa initiations. After teaching Milarepa, he sent him to a cave in the mountains as it was a good place to meditate and do the practice, to escape all the distractions. Milarepa went there, did all the practices advised by Marpa, and so achieved enlightenment in that life.

Now, because he has become famous, not only in the East but also in the West, from even just remembering Milarepa’s name or reciting the mantra of Milarepa we get liberated from the lower realms. Just hearing his name has this great advantage.

So, Serkong Dorje Chang is the embodiment, the incarnation, of the enlightened being Marpa. It was his skill that guided Milarepa to become enlightened quickly.

Now, this Serkong Dorje Chang … Now it’s lunch time! [Laughter] Serkong Dorje Chang is the embodiment of the enlightened being Marpa. This was not the one who lived in Nepal and passed away. This Serkong Dorje Chang was the one who lived in Tibet, a Gelugpa lama in the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition, who the Thirteenth Dalai Lama respected and recognized as a great yogi. In order to complete path enlightenment, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama allowed Serkong Dorje Chang to have a secret mother because of his realizations of the very high level of the tantric path.

There’s an extremely inspiring life story of him, how he practiced Dharma and benefited sentient beings so much. In it, he talks about His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I don’t remember the connection, but it says that His Holiness is showing an ordinary aspect, meaning whatever happens to an ordinary person happens to His Holiness. Serkong Dorje Chang explained what that meant. While I was reading Serkong Dorje Chang’s life story, it hit me like an atomic bomb. I found it so effective.

The absolute guru, this dharmakaya, is bound by infinite compassion, therefore the guru manifests in this ordinary aspect in order to guide us sentient beings. Without this conventional guru, without the dharmakaya manifesting in this ordinary aspect, our life would be totally lost, guideless. We can only communicate and receive teachings from the guru in this ordinary aspect; we can only receive guidance and go on to liberation and to enlightenment.

Maybe I’ll stop here.

DEVELOPING COMPASSION: EXPANDING OUR SCOPE

Maybe one or two words on what I was mentioning this morning.

When we have compassion for others, we don’t harm them; we only wish them to be free from the sufferings, to not have problems. Not only is there that wish, but we also try to do something to help those we have compassion for. We can relate that to our own feelings. When we have compassion in our heart for a human being or an animal, we try to help that being.

Now similarly, bodhisattvas have trained the mind in compassion toward all the sentient beings without exception. They have generated compassion not only for the poor and the sick, not only for the animals, not only for sentient beings who are experiencing the suffering of pain, not only for sentient beings who are experiencing the suffering of change, the samsaric pleasure, they have also generated compassion for sentient beings who are experiencing even the third type of suffering, pervasive compounding suffering. That means they have compassion for the numberless samsaric beings without exception—the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animal beings, human beings, sura beings and asura beings—in other words, the numberless desire realm beings, the numberless form realm beings, the numberless formless realm beings. No samsaric being is free from pervasive compounding suffering. Then, on the basis of this suffering, they have to experience the suffering of change and the suffering of pain, depending on which samsaric realm they are in.

The compassion that bodhisattvas generate is not just for friends, for sentient beings who love and respect them, who say nice things to them. They also generate compassion for those who are dangerous, those who hate them, who criticize or even harm them. 

Even a very new bodhisattva, somebody who has just generated the realization of bodhicitta today, has completely changed their attitude in that instant. In the past, they renounced others and cherished themselves. The main concern was for themselves; they sought happiness only for themselves; they worked for themselves. But once bodhicitta is actualized, their mind is completely transformed and their attitude is totally changed. Instead of renouncing others and cherishing themselves, with the realization of bodhicitta, they now cherish nothing except other living beings.

DEVELOPING RENUNCIATION

[We develop compassion for others] by first seeing how the whole of samsara is in the nature of suffering and training the mind in the renunciation of samsara. Seeing how our own samsara is totally suffering, we meditate on the shortcomings of samsara, all the sufferings: the general sufferings and the particular sufferings of each realm. Then, we meditate on the cause of suffering, the evolution of samsara, such as the twelve related limbs. In that way we develop a realization, an aversion to our own samsara, seeing all of samsara as like a prison that we are caught in.

Then, the wish spontaneously arises to be free from that prison. We can’t stand being caught in it for even a second. It is so unpleasant; it’s like we have fallen into the middle of a raging fire. Just as a prisoner doesn’t feel the slightest attraction to being in prison, there is not the slightest attraction to samsara. Or, as is mentioned in the teachings, it is like being caught in a nest of poisonous snake. What do you call those poisonous snakes? [Student: Cobra.] Cobra. Anyway, being in a nest of poisonous snakes is so unpleasant; it’s such a fearful place that there is not the slightest attraction to be there, for even one second! There is the wish to be constantly free from this. We realize that samsara is just like that. Having realized all the shortcomings of samsara, all the different types of suffering, we see just how terrifying it is living in samsara.

With a strong aversion to the whole of samsara, with a wish to be free from it all, we cannot find attraction for even a second in any realm, not just the human realm but even the god realm, no matter how incredible the sense enjoyments are there, millions and billions of times more than the riches of the most developed country or the richest human being. Their places are much more beautiful compared to what we humans would think is the most beautiful place. Our world seems very primitive, incredibly poor in comparison. Without talking about the god realm kings, even just one god’s sense enjoyment is beyond anything we can imagine. Even so, the god realm is still samsara; it is still in the nature of suffering, in the same way that the hell realm is.

Seeing how unbearable our own samsara is, with this realization of the renunciation of samsara, when we look at others we clearly see their suffering, how unbearable that is too. We are able to see and feel the suffering of others, just as, if we ourselves have AIDS, we understand how others with AIDS must feel, how they must go through life with this sickness. From having experienced AIDS in our life, we naturally feel great concern for other people who have AIDS and we want to help them. We want to join the organization that helps those with AIDS.

THE SPECIAL ATTITUDE OF BODHICITTA

So, by having the realization of renunciation of our own samsara, when we look at others we see all their sufferings very clearly and we feel it is unbearable. That is how compassion is generated for others. That is how we achieve the realization of compassion for other sentient beings. And, because of this unbearable feeling of compassion for the suffering sentient beings, we can attain bodhicitta. Understanding how we must experience our own samsara due to our mind being obscured, we see how it is exactly the same with them—their obscured minds are under the control of karma and delusions, making them experience the sufferings of samsara.

From that arises the special attitude, the determination, “I myself will free them from all the sufferings and cause them to have happiness. Those who do not have temporary happiness, I will cause them to have temporary happiness. Those who do not have ultimate happiness, liberation from samsara, I will cause them to have ultimate happiness, liberation from samsara. And those who do not have the peerless happiness of full enlightenment, I will cause them to have the peerless happiness of full enlightenment. I am going to do this work by myself alone.” In that way, we take the responsibility completely on ourselves.

This is the special attitude, the attitude that is vital if we are to attain bodhicitta and then enlightenment. Without it, without achieving the state of omniscient mind ourselves, we cannot do perfect work for other sentient beings. At the moment, we cannot perfectly guide even one sentient being. Even the arhats, who are completely liberated from all suffering and have ceased all karma and delusions, including the seeds of the delusions, even though they have skies of incredible qualities, such as psychic powers and clairvoyance, they still cannot do perfect work for other sentient beings because they still have subtle obscurations, the subtle negative imprints left on the mental continuum by past delusions, such as the wrong concept of inherent existence. There is still a subtle defilement that hinders their mind, causing them to make mistakes when they are guiding sentient beings.

For example, even the very high arhats cannot see the subtle karma of sentient beings because they have not abandoned the four unknowing minds. They cannot yet see the inconceivable secret actions of the buddhas. These actions are called secret because only buddhas themselves with their omniscient minds can see them. No matter how many realizations they have, no sentient being can see these secret actions because they still don’t have omniscience. And they cannot see the subtle karma of sentient beings. I think the other two unknowing minds should be checked, but my guess is that one is the inability to see things that happened an unbelievably long time ago, and the other is the inability to see things that are incredibly far away. These last two should be checked. [Rinpoche was correct] Therefore, even though those arhats have skies of unbelievable qualities, so many realizations, they still have not abandoned the four unknowing minds. Because of that, there is the possibility of making mistakes when trying to do perfect work for sentient beings.

This is true not only for arhats but even for bodhisattvas on the tenth bhumi, those who are close to achieving enlightenment. There is no question an arya bodhisattva on the tenth bhumi has unbelievable qualities, so much more than an arhat. But even the tenth bhumi bodhisattvas who are close to achieving enlightenment still have subtle defilements, the negative imprints that project the hallucinated appearance of inherent existence. That is the imprint and part of that hallucinated appearance, the obscuration to the omniscient mind, the obscuration to a fully knowing mind, called “obscuration to knowledge,” in Tibetan she drib.

Because there is still the possibility of a tenth bhumi bodhisattva making mistakes when trying to do perfect work for other sentient beings, the only way we can do this perfect work is by achieving omniscience. Therefore we must achieve omniscience.

It’s only when we meditate that we feel this. When we don’t meditate, it doesn’t happen. So, we must first meditate on the renunciation of our own samsaric suffering. And then, on the basis of that, we use whichever technique we want to train our mind in bodhicitta, either the seven techniques of the Mahayana cause and effect or equalizing and exchanging the self with others.

The seven-point technique starts with equanimity, realizing how all sentient beings are equal, and then recognizing how all sentient beings have been our mother, remembering their kindness, generating the thought of repaying their kindness and then generating loving kindness, which can be translated as the loving kindness of seeing sentient beings in beauty.

This beauty has nothing to do with the body, with the beauty of the shape of the body. This beauty is seeing how that person is so precious, how they have been so kind to us, and because of that we see their beauty. With that perception, we feel loving kindness. Then there is compassion and then the special attitude, where we take complete responsibility upon ourselves for other sentient beings. After that, there is bodhicitta.

The feeling of bodhicitta will only come when we do these techniques of the seven-point Mahayana cause and effect or the other technique, equalizing and exchanging self for others. Whichever technique we use, the feeling will come, otherwise the feeling will not arise.

That is what is called “skin bodhicitta.” You know when you buy candies, there is the candy, the actual confectionery, and then there is the wrapping. If you lick the wrapping, there’s some sweetness on that, isn’t there? Maybe not on all of them! The analogy we normally use is the skin of a sugar cane. We only feel the thought to achieve enlightenment for others when we meditate, but after we stop meditating, after the session, we don’t feel it. That’s called “bodhicitta like the skin of the sugar cane.” It’s not the actual realization of bodhicitta; it is what is called the effortful experience of bodhicitta, feeling bodhicitta when we are meditating on it but not when we are not. Of course, it has to happen like that at first.

Then, by continuously training the mind in bodhicitta, we start to feel it all the time, continuously, day and night. Not only during meditation, but even when we are not meditating, our mind remains in that attitude. We naturally feel that. Our mind naturally, spontaneously arises in that attitude all the time, while we are eating, working, talking—all the time, day and night, spontaneously, the thought arises to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings. Whenever we see any living being—human being, insect, animal—we spontaneously have this thought to achieve enlightenment for them. That is the realization of bodhicitta. That is like the actual sweet, not the skin of the sugar cane, but the inside sugarcane itself, the actual sweet.

Bodhisattvas who have the actual realization of bodhicitta feel this so strongly; they cherish others like we cherish ourselves. Every other single sentient being is so precious; every one is the most important one in the bodhisattva’s life. That is how a bodhisattva feels. Therefore, whatever they do they only do with this attitude, nothing else. There is no thought at all of working for the self, no thought of seeking happiness for themselves. The only thought is seeking happiness for others.

GEN JAMPA WANGDU

There was an old meditator in Dharamsala, who is one of my gurus. His holy name is Jampa Wangdu. Before he passed away, I received from this meditator the oral transmission of chu len, the technique you can use if you are going to a solitude place for a long time to do a retreat. If you are far away from a city and it is difficult to get food, if you are retreating in such places, using this technique you can live on pills, without eating food. But it is not like eating rice, not big piles of pills! You don’t subsist by eating big piles of pills. You only take very few pills. This is one way to save time for meditation. You are not wasting time on cooking and eating, so you have plenty of time for meditation. There are fewer distractions.

Gen Jampa Wangdu did this himself and attained shamatha, calm abiding, which has nine levels. Only by attaining shamatha can you have perfect meditation, free from attachment, free from attachment scattering thought and sinking thought. Sinking—S. I. N. K. I. N. G.—sinking, not singing and dancing! There is no other way to have perfect meditation.

Anyway, to make the story short! Gen Jampa Wangdu attained all nine stages of shamatha. He was the best Dharma friend of Lama Yeshe and me. Every time he came to see us, when he came from his cave, it was one of the best times, because he had so many inspiring, interesting things to say. Sometimes he talked about his life, how he was naughty when he was young in the monastery. Rather than study, he played and fought, beating up the other monks! He wasn’t the type of person the talk about his realizations. He hid his qualities, never revealing his achievements to other people. However, he often talked about other meditators who had realizations, in Dharamsala and other places. He would tell us that so-and-so had achieved this realization and so-and-so had achieved that realization.

The reason he had all this information was because he heard it from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Many of the meditators, especially those who lived in the mountains near Dharamsala and other places, went to His Holiness to report their realizations to His Holiness or to His Holiness’ guru, Trijang Rinpoche, depending on who they regarded as their root guru. They went to them and made offering of their realizations. When somebody had informed His Holiness, His Holiness would then tell Gen Jampa Wangdu.

Whenever Gen Jampa Wangdu went to see His Holiness, I think probably he knew the right time to see His Holiness from his side. Every time he went to see His Holiness, he never needed to go through the office by talking to the secretary, he just went straight through to see His Holiness, because he was somebody who had very successful realizations on the path to enlightenment and was therefore one of His Holiness’ heart disciples. Because he was very close, he didn’t need to go through the normal channels that most people had to go through. The only time that he said he had to go through in that way was when I requested to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama to request him to give the initiation of Gyalwa Gyatso, the secret Compassion Buddha. That was when I was living in Dharamsala for a long time, after Lama passed away. When I asked Gen-la, he said that this one time he may have to go through the secretary. I think this was because it was for an initiation and the office had to deal with the public.

Anyway, any information that His Holiness received from meditators who had achieved realizations of lamrim or highest tantra, he passed on to Gen Jampa Wangdu. Sometimes he also told stories of realizations of other meditators, and sometimes political things as well that others didn’t know he heard from His Holiness.

Each time Lama Yeshe and I spent time with Gen Wangdu was always a most enjoyable time. It was also very inspiring talking about Buddhadharma subjects, because he talked from experience and not just from books. During one of the conversations he mentioned that he had never been to anybody’s house in the previous seven years for his own sake, for his own benefit. He just said that much. He didn’t say that he had never been to anybody’s house, but that he had never been thinking of his own happiness, thinking of his own benefit. He just brought up one example like that. That means no activity he did in those seven years ago was for his own benefit, which implies that he had generated the realization of bodhicitta seven years before.

He was a great meditator who passed away some years ago. He not only attained the lamrim realizations, the three principal aspects of the path and realized emptiness, he also completed the Six Yogas of Naropa, a very high tantric practice, and the generation stage and completion stage of highest tantra, where the meditator experiences the five stages, including the clear light and illusory body, becoming completely free from the cycle of death and rebirth. When you achieve the clear light and illusory body in highest tantra, you have overcome death. You are free from the cycle of death and rebirth.

LAMA YESHE WAS A YOGI

It was the same thing with Lama Yeshe. In Lama Yeshe’s case, there’s no story of living in a cave or hermitage. His external lifestyle was totally different than those meditators in Dharamsala who live in the caves or hermitages, not seeing people and so forth. Although his external life was totally different, he had all the realizations, the achievements. Even in my ordinary view, he had the realization of the three principal aspects of the path and the generation and completion stage realizations: the realizations of the isolation of body, the isolation of speech, the isolation of mind, the illusory body and clear light. 

He had all these realizations of the highest tantric path, so he actually qualifies to receive the label “yogi.” Yesterday, your teacher was talking about the valid base. Lama Yeshe had the valid base that actually received the label “yogi.” He achieved all these realizations just as the yogis who live in caves can. He was not physically living in a cave but mentally he was. Mentally he was in a cave, a hermitage, even though he lived an extremely busy life outside, travelling around to all the meditation centers and giving teachings. Not only that, at the same time, he also sometimes wrote Dharma texts from his own experiences and guided all the students. He took care of all the students like a father, not just a Dharma teacher. He didn’t just teach the Dharma and leave, he guided all the students, perhaps maybe even more than a physical father, guiding all those who had problems and needed help.

Even when it was very late, he would teach and meet people, giving them lifetime advice. Even after midnight, he would still be advising students through correspondence, writing many letters to students who needed help in their Dharma practice or who had many personal problems. He gave consultations by letter to students in many parts of the world. For example, morning and afternoon he would go to watch the monks. At that time, there were far fewer than there are now—many are now coming from monasteries in India where the conditions are not so healthy, and even Tibet.

Lama showed so much concern for the monks. He went and watched them in class a lot while they were studying, then he watched them at lunchtime. He watched the food being served, tasting it and checking how it was made. In the morning after breakfast, he would also spend time in the garden, watering the flowers and vegetables. Lama liked gardening very much, both here and at Tushita Dharamsala. The main thing was so that when people came to the center, they would enjoy the place.

He also washed the dogs. We don’t have small dogs now, but we did before. In Dharamsala there were about thirteen new dogs, small ones who made a squeaky noise! Some were supposed to be half Pekinese and half Lhasa [Apso]. Even though he was so busy, Lama found the time to wash them to make them healthy and comfortable, and so make them happy. 

So, Lama was extremely busy, taking care of so many things, but at the same time he found time to meditate. With all these many things, with all this extremely busy life, what you can really admire is that Lama was at the same time able to develop his mind on the path to enlightenment. His inner development, his mind travelling on the path to enlightenment, was never missed out because he was busy.

No matter how busy he was externally, every single thing he did was Dharma. Every activity was Dharma with renunciation, Dharma with bodhicitta, Dharma with the lamrim. Every activity was done with the lamrim. It’s the most fantastic thing, to be able to develop mind on the path to enlightenment in the middle of such a busy life. There was no loss of the inner life; there was always a gain.

We wouldn’t normally see Lama doing many prayers or sitting in a meditation position. Lama’s practice was hidden. The whole time when he was sleeping was a meditation session. It’s all a meditation session for those tantric practitioners who have reached the higher levels of the completion stage. For them, the entire time spent sleeping is time to develop the mind on the path to enlightenment. It’s an extremely important time. 

Every afternoon after lunch Lama used to take what he called a rest, where he slept for at least an hour. Because of his heart disease, he needed to rest. That is what it seemed like to others but in reality all that time lying down in the afternoon was a meditation session. Externally, people knew that he was resting because of his heart. At that time, we couldn’t make any noise at all. It was very sensitive. There are other people who don’t want to hear any noise when they sleep. During that time, they cherish their sleep so much and they get angry if there is any noise. But with Lama it was not like that, it was different. In Lama’s case, it was a meditation session.

Some time ago, I think maybe the last time Lama was here or the year before that, a Tibetan family came to see Lama. They were close friends of Lama’s and I think one of the men was a monk in a sister monastery in Tibet. The day they visited, however, Lama missed out on what he called his rest hour and, after that, he sort of showed that he had lost something very precious. The reason was that it was the time where he was developing his meditation on the clear light, within the highest tantric path. It is the meditation to do with the extremely subtle consciousness, where the gross mind absorbs through meditation and then the extremely subtle consciousness manifests. Generally speaking, that meditation is to cease the defilements, to work for enlightenment.

The talk has extended and extended, getting longer and longer!

Anyway, publicly Lama Yeshe was not known as a great meditator. Only those Lama discussed his experiences with knew. As far as his practices, they were hidden practices, hidden realizations. Of course, other people could feel Lama was special. They could sense many qualities in him, but his realizations were hidden in the sense of not being revealed to others, not made public, like “I have this realization and that realization.”

He was very different from those other meditators in that he led an extremely busy life. Other meditators lived an ascetic life, in a cave or hermitage, without possessions. Lama always used to tease those other meditators who lived in the mountains, saying “My way of practicing the Dharma is by just enjoying it.” They were Lama’s friends, and he teased them when they came down from the mountains. 

There was also Geshe Thubten,¹ who lived in Switzerland, who was in the same class as Lama. While Lama was in Switzerland, he studied a little bit from Geshe Thubten. He was a very close friend and student from Buxa and maybe also from Tibet.

He also teased Gen Jampa Wangdu. Lama would tease those who were his friends, who meditated in the mountains, saying that was their way of doing it but with his way of practicing Dharma, the whole world came to him. His way of practicing the Dharma was by having and enjoying everything to practice the Dharma.

That was Lama’s style. His mind was clean, without attachment to this life, without attachment to even future lives’ samsara, without ego, the self-centered attitude; it was clean because of his bodhicitta. And there’s no question about the realization of emptiness. Because of that, his attitude was like the bodhisattva kings, who have everything—however much wealth and power, however many thousands of children and wives they have, everything is to benefit other sentient beings. In Lama’s case, since his mind was clean, however much comfort, enjoyment and possessions he had was purely for others, to benefit other sentient beings.

With such a lifestyle, while his life was extremely busy, he was still able to develop his mind on the path to enlightenment. He was still able to continuously practice. You can understand how somebody living in hermitages in the mountains can do that, but somebody living such a busy life mixing and working with people and at same time practicing Dharma, and especially having successful realizations—that was an incredible quality.

I think I was actually supposed to talk about guru devotion. I meant to but it happened that this came up and I thought to make a little clarification, but somehow the short talk became very long! Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’ll stop here.

[After a very long pause] Anyway, sorry, maybe I’ll just conclude with this one point. Otherwise it’s just hanging in the sky!

EXAMPLES OF THE BUDDHAS’ ENLIGHTENED ACTIVITIES

For a bodhisattva, day and night, continuously, there is nothing else except cherishing others, benefiting others. Their actions only benefit other sentient beings. It is like this even for a very new bodhisattva. Therefore, there is no question this is true when we talk about buddhas, enlightened beings.

Bodhisattvas have realized compassion but have not completed the mind training in compassion. Only when we become enlightened, only at that time have we completed the training in compassion. The main reason we can trust the buddhas and rely on them is because they have completed their training in compassion. Because of that attitude, there is no danger of misleading us sentient beings, of cheating us in any way. As I mentioned before, if even the bodhisattvas don’t have the slightest thought of seeking happiness for themselves, of cherishing themselves, there is no question about the buddhas. Therefore, there is no danger of them misleading or cheating us sentient beings.

Now, on top of having completed the mind training in compassion, with their omniscient minds they can directly see every sentient being’s mind, all our different characteristics, all our wishes, all our different levels of karmas, everything. And not only that, their omniscient minds can see all the various methods needed to guide us, to reveal the path to us that is suitable for our propensities and intelligence. The buddhas’ holy body, holy speech and holy mind also have perfect power to be able to manifest in numberless forms to do the various activities that exactly fit us sentient beings.

The holy mind of the buddhas can do the function of the holy body, and the holy body can do the function of the holy mind. For us, our mind cannot do the function of the body and the body cannot do the function of mind. Our body cannot do the function of perceiving objects and our mind alone cannot do the function of the body. Without talking about a buddha, even before becoming a buddha, for a very high tantric practitioner, after having achieved the unification of clear light and illusory body, their body can do the function of the mind. There’s no resistance. I have some idea it says that in the texts although I’m not a hundred percent sure. I have a vague idea that I’ve seen in it the scriptures and commentaries on tantra. Anyway, with buddhas, even the body can do the function of the mind and can see all of existence, past, present and future.

Each pore of a buddha’s body manifests so many numberless forms to do work for sentient beings. In each pore there are pure realms. The qualities of the holy body of a buddha are something beyond our imagination. It just doesn’t fit our concepts. It’s inconceivable. Each beam that emanates every second from a buddha’s holy body liberates numberless sentient beings from suffering and leads them to happiness.

In India, in Magadha² (where Bodhgaya is now), during the Buddha’s time, there was a couple where the husband was Hindu and the wife was Buddhist. One day the wife wanted to invite the Buddha and offer him a meal. Even though the husband didn’t believe that the Buddha would come, she said he would. So they prepared lunch, everything, and she stood at the door of the house, holding incense in her hand and making the invocation prayer we normally do. It is the same one in the original course book, called The Wish-fulfilling Golden Sun. Maybe we need another book now, maybe The Wish-fulfilling Golden Moon! Anyway, I’m joking! You can find this prayer in this ancient Kopan course book; it’s what we normally recite as the beginning prayer. First of all, there is the refuge prayer, then bodhicitta, then purifying the place, then blessing the offerings. Then, after that, there’s the invocation prayer, invoking the buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Savior of all beings without exception;
Perfect knower of all things; 
Divine destroyer of the intractable legions of Mara;
Bhagavan and retinue, please come here.

Standing outside her house at the door, she chanted this prayer, holding incense in her hand. When she did this prayer inviting the Buddha, first all the arhats and disciples came from the sky with their psychic power, riding on the different animals. Each one was so glorious, so magnificent, that the husband thought maybe this was the Buddha, but she said no. Then another one came and he thought maybe this was the Buddha, but again she said no. Then, maybe another one came and the same thing happened. Anyway, after all these disciples had come, the very last to come was the Buddha. The text mentioned the name of the place the Buddha came from, but I don’t know how far away that was. Anyway, it was very distant, but the Buddha traveled from there in the length of time it would take us to stretch our arms, which is a very short time! As the Buddha traveled to her house, going over valleys, the numberless animals, the numberless sentient beings in the forest on the ground were liberated, just in that short duration. So you see, like that the Buddha has the power to liberate sentient beings. With each beam he liberates so many sentient beings, even in one second.

Once, there was a king who played the violin. He spent his whole life playing the violin, thinking with unbelievable pride that he was the best in the world. One day, the karma to subdue his mind and meet the Dharma ripened, and the Buddha appeared, manifesting as a beggar outside the king’s house, playing the violin. When this king playing the violin heard the sound of the other violin, the thought it sounded much better than his, much sweeter, much more enchanting than his own music. He thought that there was somebody who was to able play better than him and he went out to see. Usually it takes many strings to produce the different sounds of the violin, but when he went out, he saw this beggar was playing with only one string! So many sounds came from that one string. When the king saw that, his pride was completely subdued.

In this way, the Buddha is unbelievable skillful in guiding sentient beings. To overcome the unbelievable pride of the king, he manifested as a beggar with a one-string violin from which he produced many beautiful sounds. According to that method, he guided him to liberation and enlightenment.

There is also the story of Nanda, the Buddha’s younger brother, who was unable to be separated from his wife. He was so attached to her that he could never leave his house. I’m not talking about divorce, but he couldn’t leave her for even a second; he was always with her. One day, his time to practice the Dharma ripened. On his daily alms round, the Buddha went to Nanda’s house to beg alms, but when Nanda came out with the food, the Buddha walked away. Nanda followed him, thinking the Buddha might turn back and receive the alms, but the Buddha kept walking on and on, and Nanda continued to follow him, until finally they reached the monastery.

The Buddha then told him to shave his hair [to become a monk] but after another monk had started to shave his head Nanda told him to stop. He was left to look after the monastery while the other monks went on their alms round, but he tried to escape back to his wife. However, when he closed one door of the monastery, another door opened, and when he closed that door, another door opened. Doors never stopped opening and closing. The Buddha wasn’t there in person—he was in town on his alms round—but this was his skillful means to keep Nanda in the monastery. 

Anyway, then Nanda went down a road which he thought the Buddha would never go down, but as he was escaping, he saw the Buddha coming back. Nanda tried to hide from the Buddha under some banana leaves, but as the Buddha passed, all the leaves flew up, exposing him. That was due to the Buddha’s skillful means.

In the Sutra of the Meeting of Father and Son the Buddha said,

I will work for sentient beings by manifesting as Indra and Brahma
And sometimes in the form of a mara,
But people in the world will be unable to recognize me.
I will also manifest in the form of women and even in the animal realm.
Even though I don’t have attachment, I will act as if I have attachment;
Even though I do not have fear, I will act afraid;
Even though I am not crazy, I will act crazy;
Even though I am not blind, I will act as if I am blind.
With various forms, I will subdue sentient beings. 
To sentient beings with strong anger, I will manifest as having strong anger.
To sentient beings with great attachment, I will manifest as having great attachment in order to guide them. 
Like this, I will manifest in whatever form fits sentient beings.

There are quotations by the Buddha himself, showing these ordinary forms for the benefit of us sentient beings; there are many quotations like this, where the Buddha manifests as a king, a minister or a judge. For example, in Tibet during the reign of the Dharma King of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, they made the law to practice the ten virtues. Then there were the sixteen human dharmas³ that were made into law to help the people live according to the Dharma.

Two men traveled from the lower part of Tibet to receive teachings from, I think, Songtsen Gampo. However, they saw that many people had committed negative karma, breaking the law, and their heads had been cut off and piled on the ground. Seeing that, the men were completely shocked and they developed heresy. Because of that, they didn’t take teachings from Songtsen Gampo. What happened was that Songtsen Gampo gave them a sack of earth each to take back with them. When they got back home, they opened the sacks and saw the earth had turned into gold. It seems they had the karma to become enlightened by taking teachings from Songtsen Gampo, but because they saw the bodies of all the people who had broken the law, they developed heresy to Songsten Gampo and so didn’t become enlightened. 

In reality, nobody had been killed. Songsten Gampo was himself the Compassion Buddha. In order to make the other people abandon negative karma and follow the ten moralities, he himself manifested as many criminals engaging in negative acts, and he himself killed his own emanations, cutting off the heads and piling them on the ground. But the ordinary people didn’t realize they were his own manifestations and actually no other sentient beings had been killed. If those two people hadn’t developed heresy for Songsten Gampo’s Dharma, they would have become enlightened in that life. But what they got instead by going to see Songsten Gampo was just a sack of gold.

Like that, the Buddha manifests as a judge, a king, a criminal, a prostitute, a crazy person, a beggar or a spirit. There’s nothing fixed. The Buddha manifests into various forms, whatever fits the minds of sentient beings to guide them from happiness to happiness to enlightenment.

There are many quotations where the Buddha said he would manifest as this or that. In the Hevajra tantra subject, he said that in the future time he would abide in the form of the guru, the lobpon, the vajra master. It also mentions that in order to benefit sentient beings, he will abide in an ordinary form, as a child or various other forms. He said, “I who am called Vajradhara, in order to benefit other sentient beings, will abide in ordinary forms.” 

There are many quotations like this. The Buddha not only works for human beings, he also works for animals and other non-human beings, guiding all sentient beings.

Therefore, we should think, “I have received a precious human body, with which I can communicate, I can understand the meaning of the teachings. Not only have I received a perfect human body, I have met the Buddhadharma. Because the Buddha guides other sentient beings, and not just human beings, the Buddha must guide me. He must be guiding me now, I who have more opportunity to learn and understand the Dharma.” 

As I mentioned before, if we have compassion for somebody, if we help that person, this is through the activities of the buddhas. By developing and completing their compassion, the bodhisattvas became buddhas. So now, with their omniscient minds, with all their power, the buddhas must definitely be working for sentient beings, so for sure they must be working for us.

THE GURU IS AN EMANATION OF THE BUDDHA

We should think like this: “All these virtuous friends who give me vows and ordination, who give me oral transmissions, commentaries and initiations, who give me explanations on tantra and instructions on the practice, what all these virtuous friends do for me is they definitely lead me to enlightenment.”

Even without talking of other things, just hearing the sound of an oral transmission, a mantra or a prayer, just hearing the sound of the words of the Dharma from the guru, from the virtuous friend, leaves a positive imprint on our mental continuum that ensures in the future we will receive a good rebirth, the body of the happy transmigratory being, a human being and we will meet the Dharma again. Then, it will be easy to understand the words and the meaning of the scriptures. Not only does receiving something like an oral transmission or a teaching from the virtuous friend in this life make it very easy to meet Dharma in the next life and understand the words and the meanings, the imprints left on the mind help us have realizations on the path that were revealed by the teachings. Just hearing those words helps us cease our gross and subtle delusions and attain omniscience. Even just receiving an oral transmission of a mantra or a teaching definitely has that effect; it definitely brings us to liberation and enlightenment. If that is so, then of course receiving all those commentaries, instructions and initiations and of course receiving vows definitely leads us to liberation and enlightenment.

All the activities of the virtuous friend, whatever they do for us, definitely brings us to liberation and enlightenment. Therefore, if that is so, the way to meditate is to see that there is no conclusion we can reach other than the virtuous friend is a manifestation of the Buddha. There is nothing else we need to find out—this is the Buddha’s manifestation and they are guiding us all the way to enlightenment. We need all these things to attain enlightenment—oral transmission, the various levels of vows, commentaries, initiations, explanations about tantra and so forth—and we can’t point to anyone else than the virtuous friend who can give these to us. 

Nobody else can do this for us; nobody else can bring us to enlightenment. Therefore, the virtuous friend, the guru, is definitely a buddha, manifesting in an ordinary form showing mistakes, in order to guide us and all sentient beings. They must be this; they must be the embodiment of all the buddhas.

When we get this point in our examination, it is very good to recite the names of all the gurus we have, making sure that nobody is missing, that we include every virtuous friend we have made a Dharma connection with. Then we make the conclusion that each of them must be the embodiment of all the buddhas. Each is Tara, each is Shakyamuni, each is Manjushri, each is Maitreya Buddha, each is Heruka, each is Vajrayogini and so on. All the gurus are all the enlightened beings, all the buddhas.

After we have become firmly convinced of this, we should not just rush to the next subject. We should examine how our gurus guiding us in this way proves they are embodiments of all the buddhas. However, because of our obscurations, we are unable to see them as such, therefore they must manifest in ordinary form in order to guide us. At that point, our mind is truly transformed into devotion for the guru, looking at the guru as a buddha and seeing a buddha. When that happens, we should not just stop our meditation but continue on, making our devotion stronger.

We should repeat, “Each of these virtuous friends is all the buddhas; each of all these virtuous friends is all the buddhas,” reciting it like a mantra for a mala or half a mala. Doing that strengthens our devotion, transforming our mind into one of strong guru devotion and allowing us to continuously keep our actions pure. This further strengthens our devotion to our virtuous friends, by seeing each of our virtuous friends is all the buddhas.

We can also recite, “Every action the gurus do is the action of a buddha, every action the gurus do is the action of a buddha,” again reciting it for a mala or half a mala, keeping the concentration on that. Before we did an analytical meditation on why the guru is a manifestation of all the buddhas, and now we are doing a fixed meditation. After the mind is transformed into this pure thought of devotion, this fixed meditation keeps the mind in that experience. It is very good to do it like that.

I think I’ll stop there.

The last part! No, I think maybe that’s enough for tonight. I think I’ll maybe mention the last part another time, maybe another year! 

Anyway, the last part comes back to what I spoke about this morning. The idea was that, anyway. This is a good way to start to understand how the buddhas definitely guide all of us. At first, we use ourselves as an example. Then, when we have loving kindness and compassion for others, seeing how those qualities allow us to help others, we can expand that to see how bodhisattvas and buddhas, with their perfect qualities, can perfectly guide others. That can help us understand how buddhas can guide us. We should go through all the qualities of the buddhas as extensively as we can, learning all their stories, all the qualities they have to benefit sentient beings. The more we can understand this, the stronger our devotion becomes. We gain firm faith that the buddhas definitely work for us, which helps our guru devotion, which then helps us attain the realizations of the whole path to enlightenment.

But here, I’m not advertising that I am a buddha! It’s not that. This is how we can meditate to make our mind pure. That is the point.

BASE AND LABEL QUESTION AND ANSWER

There is the mere appearance of the base. For instance, with a stick of incense, there are many different factors, the light, the smell and so forth. How does the incense come into existence? First, you see, there is the mere appearance of the base, the mere appearance of the base that can be lit with the purpose of producing a pleasant smell, maybe to stop bad smell! So, there’s the mere appearance of the base, which functions to produce a smell, and then the mind makes up the label “incense.” Is that right?

Student: You said that only the mere appearance of the base, then what happens to the incense smell?

Rinpoche: What makes the mind make up the label “incense?”

Student: [inaudible]

Rinpoche: The imprint on the mind. You mean from a past life? It’s only the imprint?

Student: Imprints from a past life?

Rinpoche: No, imprints from tomorrow! To be able to make up the label “incense,” you have to see something.

Student: [inaudible]

Rinpoche: Now, there’s different juice, OK? There are different glasses: one has Coca-Cola, one has orange juice, one has lemon juice, one has water. What makes your mind make the label “Coca-Cola?” There are different drinks and one drink is Coca-Cola. 

Student: I didn’t mean the difference between Coca-Cola.

Rinpoche: Besides that, do you need somebody to tell you every time that this Coca-Cola? All the time, every day, do you need somebody to tell you this is Coca-Cola, this is orange juice and so forth? 

Student: No, I was wondering, if there are a hundred juices, you decide in your mind that this is Coca-Cola. Then, the imprints are there, again and again, then when you see the base, that matches the mind’s [imprint].

Rinpoche: So, other people are telling you once is enough? You don’t need them to tell you again and again, every day, all the time, whenever this is Coca-Cola?

Student: No, one time is enough?

Rinpoche: One time is enough, yeah. Therefore, that’s the first thing. But what about if somebody tells you it looks like Coca-Cola, it’s similar to Coca-Cola, but it’s not?

Student: Like Pepsi!

Rinpoche: If somebody tells you Pepsi is Coca-Cola because it’s black like Coca-Cola? Do you still see Coca-Cola or not?

Student: [inaudible]

Rinpoche: So, you believe in your label? You labeled that one is “Coca-Cola” and you see Coca-Cola?

Student: [inaudible]

Rinpoche: You see Coca-Cola? You see Coca-Cola and you taste Pepsi! That’s very nice. So, you can enjoy two things. You can enjoy Coca-Cola by looking, and Pepsi by drinking! What did you say? You see Coca-Cola?

Student: Pepsi appears as Coca-Cola.

Rinpoche: So that person sees Coca-Cola. Anyway, let’s leave that one. Leave out that part. Now, we’ll go back to the other one. 

Other people are educating you for the first time, this is Coca-Cola, this is incense. By telling you only once, is that the only thing that makes you make up the label “Coca-Cola” or “incense?” You mentioned before, I think, that you see the base, right? Other people tell you and then you see the base. Therefore I’m saying it is the mere appearance of the incense, the mere appearance of the base. Then, on that mere appearance of the base, your mind makes up the label “incense” because what the base—the design, the shape—does, what its function is, is to produce the smell. On the mere appearance of this, the base, your mind makes up the label “incense.” Is that right? Is it like that?

Student: If there is the mere appearance of the base, the base is supposed to be form, so if the base is mere appearance, it can’t be form.

Rinpoche: OK, leave out the word “mere.” In reality, it is mere appearance of the base, then you make up the label “incense” on this mere appearance. On the particular taste and particular color, the mind makes up the label “Coca-Cola.” If that makes it complicated, there is the appearance of Coke, the appearance of that base—that liquid that has a particular taste and color—and then your mind makes up the label. Similarly, the label “incense” is given on the appearance of the base, right?

Student: The label “incense” is given on the base.

Rinpoche: Not on the appearance? So, you differentiate between the appearance and the base?

Student: Yeah.

Rinpoche: There’s a base? Right?

Student: Yes.

Rinpoche: I see. I’ll go this way. In order to label it “incense,” the base has to appear to your mind. Only then, you make the label “incense,” right? The base must have already appeared, then your mind makes up the label “incense.” Therefore, when you label, you label on that appearance of incense. Without the base appearing, there is no way to label it.

Student: Isn’t there a difference between the appearance of the base and the base?

Rinpoche: You’re the person answering and I’m the person questioning! The base appears, and then your mind makes up the label “incense.” Is the incense imputed on the appearance of base?

Student: No.

Rinpoche: Is there incense other than the view of sentient beings? Does incense exist without the view of the sentient beings, without the view of the base? Without the appearance of the base of the incense, does the incense exist?

Student: No.

Rinpoche: So, is there incense other than the view of incense?

Student: No, I don’t think so.

Rinpoche: Huh? There’s no incense other than the view of incense. OK, great! Now, there is no base, there is no incense, there’s no base of the incense other than the view of the base of the incense. These two are exactly the same. Right? There’s no base of the incense other than the view of the base of the incense, right? Therefore, when you label “incense,” you label on the view of the base of the incense. OK! So now we’ll go back to the dream!

Now, the appearance of an elephant in a dream. (I think you like elephants!) India has many big elephants. The appearance of the elephant in a dream is labeled exactly like this. The dream elephant is labeled on the appearance of the base: this big body with a piece of tail, long ears, strong, like that. The elephant is labeled on the appearance of the base of the elephant, right? OK. So now, does the elephant in the dream exist?

Student: No, it doesn’t exist.

Rinpoche: Yes, it exists.

Student: No!

Rinpoche: Why shouldn’t it exist? Because the base exists.

Student: Oh no, no, the base doesn’t exist.

Rinpoche: In the dream? The base?

Student: It doesn’t exist.

Rinpoche: Very good. It doesn’t exist.

Student: Therefore the valid base for the elephant doesn’t exist in the dream.

Rinpoche: Yeah, OK I see. Then, the valid base doesn’t exist, but the base exists?

Student: Yeah. There’s the appearance of the base.

Rinpoche: So, in the dream, the valid base doesn’t exist, but the appearance of the base exists.

Student: The base exists.

Rinpoche: You mean the base you see in the dream exists?

Student: We don’t see the base as it actually is in the dream.

Rinpoche: Huh?

Student: Like the base in the dream?

Rinpoche: Yeah, that base you see in the dream, does it exist?

Student: The base in the dream is only like the mental image of the elephant.

Rinpoche: What you see in the dream, does it exist?

Student: Oh, it exists.

Rinpoche: The base you see in the dream exists? OK, so if you dreamed last night that somebody gave you an elephant, did you have an elephant last night? That is the base you saw in the dream, so it exists. That means the elephant you saw in the dream exists. It’s the same thing. If you saw it, the base that you saw in the dream exists.

Student: It exists, but I didn’t see it in the way it exists.

Rinpoche: Huh?

Student: It exists, but I didn’t see it in the way it exists.

Rinpoche: What?

Student: The base that appears to us in a dream exists.

Rinpoche: Does that mean the elephant you saw in the dream exists?

Student: No.

Rinpoche: What is the difference?

Student: Please?

Rinpoche: Did you take precepts yesterday?

Student: No.

Rinpoche: No. OK. If you had taken the eight Mahayana precepts yesterday and then last night you dreamed you were eating food, that would mean you had a meal and broke your precepts. That’s because the base of the food exists. What you saw in the dream exists. If the base exists, the label has to exist; if the base does not exist the label does not exist. That is one definition, the main logic, why the label exists, because of the base. Why does the watch exist? Because of the base. If the base you saw in the dream existed, then, of course the label would have to exist. 

Normally, what we say is that the only reason that the I exists is because of the aggregates; there’s no other reason. The logic is that there is the base, the aggregates. There is no other reason why we label the I, why there is an I. It’s only because there is the base, the aggregates. The aggregates are the base that receives the label “I” and, because that base exists, the label “I” exists. Do you agree with that?

Student: Umm.

Rinpoche: Yes? The I exists because it has base and the base, the aggregates, exists. Therefore, in the dream, if the base you see in the dream exists, the label also has to exist.

Student: But it’s not ...

Rinpoche: If base of the elephant you see in the dream exists, then the elephant has to exist. The label “elephant” has to exist. It’s the same thing. Say, somebody gives you a million dollars, but you don’t have a million dollars but you have the papers. You have all those papers that have been printed with all the dollars, but you still say you don’t have a million dollars! So, it becomes the same.

So, anyway, what happened to the dream? You say the base of the elephant that you see in a dream exists, yeah?

Student: No, the base of the elephant which you see in a dream doesn’t exist.

Rinpoche: So it doesn’t. But doesn’t the definition of the existence of a label depend on the existence of the base? Why “elephant?”

Student: Why?

Rinpoche: In India there are many elephants. We say that there are elephants in India, because there are many bases. The aggregates, that shape of the animals’ bodies, exists.

Student: [inaudible] 

Rinpoche: What determines that there is an animal, an elephant, in India is defined by having the base of the elephant in India, right?

Student: Yeah.

Rinpoche: So, the base exists in India. The base of the label “elephant” exists in India.

Student: Yeah. You need the base and the label both.

Rinpoche: So why the label “elephant” exists in India is because the base of the label “elephant” exists in India, right?

Student: Why the elephant exists is because the base exists, yeah.

Rinpoche: Hmm. Therefore the elephant in the dream exists. 

Student: No.

Rinpoche: It exists because the base exists.

Student: No.

Rinpoche: Then the base of “elephant” in India doesn’t exist.

Student: No, that doesn’t exist. No.

Rinpoche: That’s why the elephant in the dream doesn’t exist.

Student: Yes.

Rinpoche: The elephant in the dream doesn’t exist because there’s no base of the elephant, other than your view of the elephant, the appearance of the base. There’s no base of the elephant other than the appearance of the base, at that point.

Student: It has to...

Rinpoche: Therefore, the appearance of the elephant in the dream exists, yeah?

Student: Yes.

Rinpoche: Yeah. So there’s no other base than the view of the base.

Student: There’s no other base.

Rinpoche: There’s no base other than the appearance of the base.

Student: Yes, but it has the appearance that is according to reality, that is concordant with reality.

Rinpoche: Is there no base other than this appearance of the base?

Student: No. There’s no base other than the appearance of the base.

Rinpoche: Yeah. 

Student: But just because there’s the appearance of the base doesn’t mean that there is the base.

Rinpoche: What? What did you say?

Student: Just because there’s the appearance of the base doesn’t mean that there is the base. If it’s the appearance of the base, it doesn’t mean that it is always the base.

Rinpoche: It doesn’t mean that there is a base?

Student: Not always.

Rinpoche: OK. You can have the appearance without the base. So, in the dream when you label “elephant,” there’s no base.

Student: There’s a base.

Rinpoche: In the dream when you label “elephant” there’s no base.

Student: There is a base.

Rinpoche: There is a base?

Student: Yes!

Rinpoche: So, there is a base, yeah?

Student: Yes.

Rinpoche: So, the base that you see in the dream exists?

Student: [inaudible]

Rinpoche: OK, now you label “elephant” on the view or the appearance—these are just different words for the same thing. You label “elephant” on the appearance of the base.

Student: Yes.

Rinpoche: Right? OK, so now the elephant exists. Now the elephant in the dream exists.

Student: No.

Rinpoche: It exists! It exists because the base exists. Basically because the appearance exists.

Student: The appearance exists?

Rinpoche: Is there permanence?

Student: There’s no pervasion.

Rinpoche: Remember yesterday, we talked about permanence.

Student: There’s no pervasion!

Rinpoche: The base exists, so then, how is possible the label doesn’t exist, that way? The appearance of the base exists, so the label “elephant” has to exist.

Student: [inaudible]

Rinpoche: There’s not even impermanence.

Student: But the base is not there.

Rinpoche: There’s not even impermanence. It is permanent! What exists, even that is permanent, therefore the elephant becomes permanent! Not only does the elephant in the dream exist but the elephant becomes permanent. Everything else is impermanent, but the elephant is permanent. Anyway, I just thought to analyze this.

Student: The final teaching? Is there a conclusion?

Rinpoche: There doesn’t have to be a conclusion. You need to analyze. If you make the conclusion too easy, it doesn’t help! [Laughter] 

I think I’ll stop there.

PROFOUND ANALYSIS IS NEEDED TO MAKE REALIZATIONS STABLE

One purpose of studying the philosophy, the extensive teachings of the Buddha, is to gain the realizations of the path. The other purpose is to use all the reasoning, all the logic, to help our understanding become stable, unshakeable. Then, we cannot be easily cheated or misled by other people with wrong explanations about the path to liberation or enlightenment. Whatever [their philosophy] is called, “achievement” or “hidden this and that” or whatever, with this extensive understanding of each of Buddha’s teachings, with the reasonings, our understanding is very clear and very deep and nobody can cheat or mislead us, nobody can have us accept wrong views. With the depth and clarity of understanding, our correct understanding becomes very stable and unshakeable and cannot be changed by other wrong explanations. Otherwise, even though our understanding might be correct, somebody could tell us something and our mind could easily be switched. Without a firm, logical understanding of Buddhism, we could be brainwashed by another explanation, we could be easily misled. If that happens, we not only waste our life, making it meaningless, we also create so much extra negative karma because of the wrong concepts. 

The study of extensive philosophy is important, especially Lama Tsongkhapa’s tradition, where debating [is emphasized] to help preserve the Dharma purely, not corrupted in any way, not mixed with misconceptions. When we can preserve the Dharma purely like that, there’s more freedom; we can explain the Dharma to others. For those who are more intelligent, we can explain it extensively, in depth, according to the level of their intelligence. For those who have middle intelligence or those who have lower intelligence, we can reveal the simple essence. To satisfy the needs of the various sentient beings of differing levels of intelligence, we can explain it in whatever way benefits them the most.

So, I heard Venerable Fedor [Stracke] debating very well at Sera Monastery. [Ven. Fedor is among the students.] Anyway, through the study of philosophy, we can gain a wider view about what is right and wrong. The more extensive our study, the more understanding we have of what is right and wrong, and then the less mistakes we make in our practice. For example, if somebody hasn’t learned all the aspects of how to drive a car, they can make mistakes, and when there is a problem they are unable to fix it. Anyway, something like that. 

I think that’s all. Goodnight!

[Background noise and murmuring]

Sorry, I wanted to ask something. Could people take turns with the three goats, like the other day, with three people circumambulating the temple and stupa here. If you could take turns, even during the lamrim retreat that May Won’s daughter is going to complete, but there also needs to be another two people. Sorry, I meant to say five times around the monastery and maybe six times around this stupa, and three times around this one. If you can take turns it helps you and the goats.

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Notes

¹ Rinpoche may be referring to Geshe Thubten Thinley. [Return to text]

² Magadha, situated in present-day Bihar, was a kingdom in ancient India where the Buddha spent most of his life. [Return to text]

³ These sixteen rules have been adapted to become the Sixteen Guidelines for Life, part of the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom’s main educational strategy. See 16guidelines.org. [Return to text]