Lecture 14

November 23, 1980 (evening)

THE FOUR QUALITIES OF THE LAMRIM: ALL TEACHINGS ARE FREE FROM CONTRADICTIONS

We will start this teaching by generating the motivation to achieve enlightenment. “I must achieve enlightenment in order to benefit all sentient beings. Therefore I am going to listen to the commentary on the graduated path to enlightenment.”

As we saw before, in Hymns of Experience it says,

It helps to recognize all teachings to be free of contradictions; 
It helps the dawning of all scriptures as pith instructions; 
It helps to find easily the enlightened intention of the conquerors; 
It helps also to guard against the abyss of grave negative deeds.

It describes the four qualities of lamrim. The first one is realizing there is no contradiction in all the teachings. The second quality is that each and every teaching appears as advice. The third quality is that you can immediately and easily find the view of the Victorious Ones. And the fourth quality is that you are protected against falling over a precipice into the lower realms caused by doing negative actions.

The way of realizing that there are no contradictions in any of the Buddhadharma is by understanding that all the teachings of the Buddha are solely to lead the practitioner to enlightenment; they all describe the gradual process of getting to enlightenment. When you look at the teachings within the Theravada, the Paramitayana and the Vajrayana, the words might appear to be contradictory, in some ways they might often seem to directly oppose each other, but all these teachings are only for the practitioner to achieve enlightenment.

For instance, meat and wine are part of the practice of Secret Mantra, and you need them in order to practice, whereas in other teachings you read that you should renounce them. Similarly, the tantric teachings talk about how enlightenment is born from attachment. Enjoying the objects of the five senses is a method to attain enlightenment. This looks very contradictory to the advice given in the other two vehicles, but all this different advice is for you to gradually progress to enlightenment. 

For example, if you have a heavy illness, the doctor might advise you to give up an unhealthy diet such as wine and meat, the types of food that raise your blood pressure. If you don’t give them up it will be dangerous for your life. Afterwards, however, when the illness subsides, because you are not eating strong food, your body might have wind disease and the doctor could advise you to have some wine and meat, the very things you were told before not to have. The two advices appear contradictory, but in fact they are two different advices relevant to two different circumstances, both needed at different times if you are to fully recover from the illness—first not consuming wine and meat and then consuming them. In that way, there is no contradiction.

Similarly, there are different advices in the Lesser Vehicle teachings and the Mahayana or Paramitayana teachings and different advices yet again in the tantric teachings. It is not that one lot of teachings is for you to subdue your mind to some degree but not to become enlightened and the other teachings are for that. It’s not like that at all. All these teachings were expounded by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha in order to reach enlightenment.

One week ago a group of people came here with a few Zen masters. A question was asked by an old Zen master, “How do you practice tantra while you are a monk?” It seemed contradictory to him. The idea is very common in the West. They have the idea of tantric sex, not exactly what is in the tantra teachings, but the idea of an ordinary life’s couple in union rather than practicing tantra with a wisdom-female consort. Because the Zen master asked the question, I talked about the stages of the path of Secret Mantra, those extremely advanced practices that are done with the body of a wisdom-female being. Only when you reach that level does it become the method to achieve enlightenment more quickly. If you practice it at the right level with the support of the wisdom-female being, there is no danger. If you haven’t reached that level, however, it is very dangerous for the practitioner. They must take care during that time; if the practitioner loses the seed, they lose the realization. It becomes a distraction to successfully generating the realizations of the Secret Mantra. 

Before that level, the practitioner must be able to control all the chakras, being able to open them and release the knots. They must be able to bring the mind into the chakras and allow it to abide there, as explained in the completion stage tantric teachings.

The Zen master also asked some Tibetan lamas who were in America whether they thought it was contradictory to have a married life and be a monk. If somebody has a wife, he is not monk. He can teach the Dharma; he can teach others what he knows. That is the best thing. There is no contradiction. I don’t know why he was asking those kinds of questions! 

The realizations of the graduated path of the lower capable being and the middle capable being—the realization of impermanence, the renunciation of samsara, moral conduct, shamatha, and wisdom—and of the higher capable being—the Mahayana teachings on bodhicitta, the six paramitas and the tantric teachings on the generation and completion stages—are all instructions to lead a person to enlightenment. There is no contradiction. 

Each one of us must follow the whole practice to achieve enlightenment. All these realizations explained in the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, the Mahayana and the Secret Mantra path must be generated in our minds. That’s how the teachings of the realizations are not contradictory, even though the words might seem to contradict each other.

There is not one single teaching of the Buddha that does not benefit you, that does not lead you to enlightenment. A bodhisattva’s main concern is to work for every sentient being. In order to do that, they reveal the path that best fits the mind of that sentient being, whether it is the path of the hearer, the solitary realizer or the Mahayana. Without knowing those paths, the bodhisattva cannot do that. They have to understand all three paths completely. They have to not only understand all three paths but also generate them in their mind—the path of the hearer, the path of the solitary realizer and the Mahayana path to enlightenment. So, you see, the teachings are not contradictory. 

THE FOUR QUALITIES OF THE LAMRIM: EVERYTHING APPEARS AS ADVICE

The second quality of all the teachings of Buddha is that each and every teaching appears as advice to achieve enlightenment. Until you come to understand the entire graduated path to enlightenment, you cannot really see all the teachings of the Buddha as advice. 

From all the teachings of the Buddha and all the commentaries of the Buddha’s teachings, not even one syllable can be omitted. There is not even one syllable that doesn’t appear as advice. Being able to appreciate that every letter of the scriptures is advice that leads to enlightenment is the definition of “Kadam.” Kadampas are those practitioners who see the Buddha’s teachings and commentaries of those teachings in every single letter, where nothing can be left out; every single letter appears as advice to reach enlightenment.

The lamrim encompasses every single teaching of the Buddha, everything from guru devotion all the way up to shamatha, emptiness, bodhicitta, right up to the attainment of enlightenment. Whatever other extensive teachings you might listen to or study, you are always able to relate them to the gradual path to enlightenment. If it is about the path of the guru, by recalling the outline of the teachings of the lamrim on the practice of the guru, you can bring those teachings into that practice. If it is teachings about the nature of mind or the nature of birth and death, by recalling the outlines from the gradual path of the middle capable being, you can meditate on that. If it is teachings on bodhicitta, by recalling the outlines of the lamrim bodhicitta teachings, you can meditate on that. Whatever teachings of the Buddha you see, right away you can relate them to the lamrim meditations that you practice, right away you can relate the outlines of the meditation to that. When you are able to do this, that is the definition of how you receive Buddha Shakyamuni’s advice. 

In this way, no matter how many various scriptures you study, it doesn’t confuse your practice. Once you understand the lamrim meditations completely, from the beginning to the end, you can relate to anything in the scriptures without the slightest confusion. 

Sometimes you might feel you are receiving so many teachings and you don’t know which one to practice. You don’t know how to integrate all these different teachings into your practice. Understanding the lamrim, you can examine them and determine which is best for you.

It’s then like receiving some food ingredient you didn’t have before. Say you had some wheat, some barley, some sugar, but not much salt. Then, somebody gives you a bit of salt. You can add that to the recipe, enhancing the flavor. You don’t get confused by receiving something extra. Similarly, once you understand the whole of the lamrim, whatever extra scriptural teachings you receive only add to your understanding; they are not the cause of confusion. 

Because you have met the lamrim and understand all the complete meditations for the whole of the lamrim from the beginning to the end, besides other teachings of the Buddha, even when you hear people talking about what is good and what is bad, you can immediately relate it to the lamrim. Any article from a newspaper can be brought into your lamrim meditation. You can relate it to many different lamrim subjects, such as thinking of it in terms of the six or eight types of suffering or in terms of emptiness. You can certainly relate much of what you read in newspapers to impermanence and death! And it can also bring compassion to your meditation session because it talks about the suffering of other sentient beings. The whole thing can become a meditation on great compassion.

When you practice lamrim, whatever good or bad thing you hear—from movies, television, newspapers and so forth—can become a lamrim teaching. As Milarepa said in one of his hymns, “the whole thing appears as advice.”

I think I will stop here.

THE MERELY LABELED I DOES NOT APPEAR TO US AS MERELY LABELED

Realizing the I is empty, you are not realizing that what you thought was real doesn’t exist at all. It’s not like that. As it says in the Heart Sutra, the essence of Prajnaparamita teachings, “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” Meditating on the I as empty is not trying to realize the I that exists somehow doesn’t exist. It’s not as if you have an I that exists and, through meditation, you make it nonexistent. There is an I that exists, but it exists as merely labeled on the base of the aggregates. You cannot make that I that actually exists nonexistent. That’s impossible. 

The I is empty of its own nature. You realize the I is empty of the truly existent I, of existing from its own side. While there is no such I that exists from its own side, to your mind it appears as if it does. With analytical meditation and one-pointed meditation, you are trying to realize that which is empty that you haven’t recognized as empty before. For that you need to find the object of ignorance, the object to be refuted, which is the truly existent I. It’s quite different to find. 

Whatever you do, there seems to be a truly existent I—when you meditate, when you are in love—it seems to be constantly there, appearing from its own side, as if it exists from its own side. It’s there right now, but you don’t recognize it if you don’t have that view.

When you have trained your mind and have a little understanding of emptiness, you will be able to recognize this truly existent I and see it as the object you need to negate. Otherwise, you might find this appearance of a truly existent I and think that therefore the I does exist from its own side. So, on one hand, when you don’t meditate on emptiness, you won’t recognize the falsity of the truly existing I, but also, on the other hand, you might be able to recognize the object to be negated but mistakenly think it is real. 

You must see that there is an I that doesn’t exist—the truly existent I— and there is an I that exists, which is nothing more than merely labeled on base of the aggregates. Ignorance, seeing the I that is based on the aggregates, mistakenly sees it as completely existing from its own side, as completely true. But when you search for this truly existing I, you can’t find it anywhere. If you search your body you can’t find it; if you search your mind you can’t find it; and it can’t be found on both the body and the mind or separate from the body and mind. From the head down to the feet, wherever you search it cannot be found.

Each time that you label “I” onto these aggregates, this isn’t the real I. Each time you think, “Now I’m going to meditate;” “Now I’m going to eat food;” “Now I’m going to have tea;” “I’m hungry;” “I’m thirsty;” “I’m tired;” “I’ve been listening to Rinpoche for a long time!”—each time you say this you label an “I” onto the aggregates. Even though you are putting the name “I” there, you are merely labeling on the labeling base, the aggregates. However, that is not how it appears to you; you are not aware of it as merely labeled. The I that is merely labeled on this labeling base of the aggregates appears as though it truly exists from its own side. 

This object to be negated doesn’t exist at all; it is a complete hallucination, but we all completely believe in this and grasp on it, and that is the source of the whole of samsaric suffering. So, it is very important to realize it is empty.

It is very good to use a very simple method to meditate on emptiness, one that doesn’t require much logical thought. When you do that, your mind becomes more and more aware. The benefits of meditating on how the I is dependent are very good to understand; this meditation is very effective for the mind.

First, bring your mind inside, be aware inside. Then, slowly become aware of what you are doing. Then, whatever you are doing, try to be aware of the I at the same time. One part of the mind is spying on what the I is doing. At the same time, whatever you are doing, you watch to see how the I appears, how you think of the I. Watch the ways in which you believe in this I, how you experience it. That gives you the answer. 

When you look at me, nobody at all can identify that I am teaching, except on the labeling base of the body that is teaching. On the reason that the body is teaching and the description—that’s all. There is no other reason to identify that I am teaching here. No other profound reason can be found. Stay in this state a little while. There is nothing else at all except the body sitting here.

Enquire about whatever continuously comes up in your mind. As the questioner you have to be totally aware. What experience comes? How do you feel the I exists? Can you sense that the I is nothing more than what is merely labeled onto the aggregates, the body and mind? That’s all, nothing else. 

After meditating for quite a while, again hook the mind, become aware again of how it sees the I. You ask, “What am I doing here? I am meditating. Why am I meditating?” There is no reason at all, only the labeling base, the mind thinking these questions. The I that is meditating is just a name given to this process; there is nothing else at all. There is nothing else you can identify as the I that is meditating.

Do this over and over, constantly checking your experiences. Also ask the question, “What experience comes when I don’t analyze, when I don’t think how the I is dependent?” Try to find out whether there are differences or not in the two ways of perceiving the I.

I think that’s all.

Lecture 15

November 24, 1980

GANDEN LHA GYÄMA: VISUALIZATION OF THE MERIT FIELD

Before I start, I want to explain the visualization to do with the prayer that we have said already. It is very effective for the mind if you know the visualizations. Little by little I shall describe the preliminary practices, as simply as possible and as short as possible.

Before you start you say the refuge prayer, at least the short one like this. There is a longer version in the Jorchö, the preparatory practices. 

“I and all sentient beings have been experiencing the various sufferings in samsara from beginningless samsaric lifetimes.”

Remember all your past experiences. It is extremely difficult to comprehend the death of samsara, the end of samsara. The end of death is very different from our ordinary death. 

Think, “At this time, when I have found a perfect human body and have met the teachings of the Buddha, if I don’t try to be liberated from samsara forever, I will have to experience the various sufferings of samsara endlessly. Therefore, at this time, I must achieve enlightenment, the fully enlightened state, for the benefit of all mother sentient beings.” 

Before generating this virtuous thought, after saying, “If I don’t try to be liberated from samsara forever, I will have to experience the various sufferings of samsara endlessly,” then ask, “Who has the power to guide me and all the sentient beings from all the sufferings in samsara? The guru and the Triple Gem who are in front of me have the power. Therefore, I must achieve the fully enlightened state for the benefit of all sentient beings. Therefore, I and all sentient beings are going to take refuge.”

That means from the bottom of your heart you can rely on the guru and the Triple Gem. Then you request them to purify all the general and particular obscurations accumulated since beginningless time and to generate all the general and particular realizations that they have. 

In front of you, at the same level from the ground as the center of your two eyebrows, there is an extremely large, jeweled throne, beautifully adorned with bright jewels, raised up by eight snow lions, as you see in the thangkas. Generate the field and visualize like that. The eight snow lions signify the eight bodhisattvas or the eight qualities of the Buddha.

The attitudes of the lions are significant—how they have open mouths, how their faces look up towards the merit field and so forth. There are many details. On this extensive large throne there are five thrones. One is in the center, one on the right side, one on the left, one behind and one in front. On the center throne, which is higher, sits your root guru, the one who revealed the teachings of the holy Dharma to you. The essence is the root guru, in the aspect as the founder, Shakyamuni Buddha.

The purpose of visualizing is this. Not only when doing the refuge practice but also at any time when you are meant to visualize whatever aspect of the Buddha—Tara, Manjushri, Chenrezig, Vajrasattva—anything you are meant to visualize, they are the embodiment of your own guru, the dharmakaya of all the buddhas. As they are like this, then you practice. If you can remember this, it is very effective. First remember the essence of your own guru, then remember the particular aspect of that buddha. That way there is also a feeling of closeness when you do the meditation. By visualizing that the deity is the essence of your guru, you receive greater blessings and, by visualizing the guru in the aspect of the Buddha, you receive the blessings quicker. There is great purpose like this.

As you meditate like this on Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, do the same with the rest of the merit field. The one purpose of visualizing the essence of Shakyamuni Buddha, the merit field, the guru, is because you receive all the realizations of the path to enlightenment completely by depending on the kindness of the guru. Therefore looking at the essence of your guru in the aspect of Shakyamuni Buddha is because Shakyamuni Buddha is the founder of the present teachings. He revealed the teachings in order to show their relevance.

The Buddha’s right hand is in the mudra of controlling the earth, which signifies having destroyed the mara who is the son of the worldly gods and who interferes with our practice. When people try to practice the Dharma or when monks and nuns go through their ordination, that is when this mara tries to disturb their lives.

In his begging bowl is nectar that is the natural medicine that ceases the suffering of samsaric disease. The nectar also signifies having destroyed the mara of the aggregates, having eliminated samsara, which is bound by karma and the unsubdued mind. It is also undying long-life nectar, which destroys the mara of the Lord of the Death; and the undiluted, transcendental wisdom nectar, which destroys the mara of the unsubdued mind. Guru Shakyamuni has already finished destroying his own four maras; he has overwhelmed them. He has become victorious over the four maras. So we should think that the signification of the “controlling earth mudra” is to quickly destroy our own four maras. These four maras can be gross ones and subtle ones. There are two types. 

Relating to tantric practice, at the heart of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha there is the transcendental wisdom of Vajradhara. At his heart is the concentration being, the syllable HUM. 

If you have many gurus who have revealed the lamrim teachings to you, which one are you going to choose? Whoever has benefited your mind the most should be your main guru, but you should not think there is a separation from the other ones. That guru is just the main guru.

On the right in the front, there is the Maitreya Buddha. He is surrounded by the lineage lamas of the extensive conduct. On the left in the front, there is Manjushri. He is surrounded by the lineage lamas of the profound view. Behind is Vajradhara surrounded by the lineage lamas of the blessing of the practice. In front of the Buddha is your own root guru in the aspect as you see them. Then, around Guru Shakyamuni Buddha are the other gurus.

In Tibet, we say that if someone who has given us a commentary, lung, an initiation, tantric explanations or advice has an imperfect body, such as missing limbs, missing fingers, blind and so forth, you shouldn’t visualize them exactly like that. If there are defects like that, you should think of them with a perfect body. If you visualize an imperfect body, it disturbs the development of the mind. It degenerates the realization and becomes a hindrance for that. 

There are different ways to visualize the position or mudra of the root guru according to what practice you wish to achieve. Generally, because the teacher is like the cause to generate that realization in your mind, the left hand is in the mudra of concentration, holding the long-life vase filled with the long-life nectar. That signifies that while the root guru is concentrating on emptiness they are simultaneously revealing the holy Dharma. That means they must be a buddha because only a buddha is able to teach while in samadhi. 

The right hand is in the mudra of explaining the Dharma, signifying persuading sentient beings who are the object to be subdued, who are listening to the teaching. They have listened and understood the teaching and the guru has persuaded their mind to practice Dharma, putting it into action. 

The principal hindrance to practicing the Dharma is ignorance, which disturbs the mind. The principal hindrance to accomplishing the Dharma practice is the Lord of Death, which destroys the body. These two are the principal hindrances. The mudra of the right hand explaining the Dharma is the remedy to destroy ignorance. Holding the long-life vase filled with undying nectar signifies destroying the Lord of the Death. 

There are also different mudras when you practice tantra, when you are completing the experience of the tantric path. So you should visualize whatever number of gurus you have a guru/disciple relationship with surrounding Guru Shakyamuni, facing him. The gurus who are still living are seated on cushions, very soft ones which very easy to fall off, and those who have passed away are seated on a lotus and moon disc. You should visualize it like that. The guru teaching you now should be in front of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha.

I think I’ll stop there.

There are very fixed ways to visualize each lineage lama in different positions and mudras and sometimes different ways of sitting. Manjushri and Maitreya face Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and then the fourth pandit. All the pandits are lined up like this with all the Kadampa geshes. Then in front there’s Lama Tsongkhapa and the rest of the lineage lamas. They are all facing Shakyamuni Buddha in the center.

Behind Vajradhara are the lineage lamas of the blessed practice and all around are the four kinds of assemblies of the four tantra divisions such as Heruka, Hevajra, Chenrezig and Tara. Behind them are the thousand buddhas of this fortunate time, also in the nirmanakaya aspect, similar to Shakyamuni Buddha. 

Then, there are the eight Medicine Buddhas. Praying to the Medicine Buddhas brings the result of your wish very quickly. It is very powerful in these degenerated times. So, before you start off, visualize the eight Medicine Buddhas, then the Thirty-five Buddhas, particularly manifesting in that form to purify the negative karma and obscurations of sentient beings. Because of that, it is important to visualize all Thirty-five Buddhas to purify obscurations. 

Below that are the other buddhas and bodhisattvas and behind that are the arhats, the solitary realizers and the hearers, and at the edge of that are the dakas and dakinis. 

At the edge of those are the protectors who are beyond samsara. These are principally the protectors of the three capable beings—of the lower capable being, the middle capable being and the higher capable being. In the front is the protector of the higher capable being, Six-arm Mahakala. In order to complete the generation of the graduated path of the higher capable being—bodhicitta and the six perfections—you rely on Six-arm Mahakala.

In order to complete generation of the graduated path of the middle capable being—morality and the renunciation of samsara—you should rely on Vaishravarana [Tib: Namtöse]. And in order to complete the generation of the graduated path of the lower capable being, you should rely on the protector, Kalarupa. 

These three are recognized as the three practices to generate the three principal aspects of the path. The sport of Mahakala is to generate bodhicitta; the sport of Kalarupa, the one who is riding on a buffalo, is to realize emptiness; and the sport of Vaishravarana, the protector riding on the snow lion, is to realize renunciation. If you are going to have protectors to quickly accomplish the graduated path to enlightenment, these are the protectors that you should rely on or take refuge in. 

The important thing to remember, though, is that all these protectors, all the dakas and dakinis that harm evil-doers, all the bodhisattvas, all the deities of the four tantric divisions, all the lineage lamas—the whole thing is the dharmakaya, the holy mind of the Buddha. That is the way to think of them, even though they are in different aspects.

There is a slight difference in the visualization of the merit field according to different lamas.

This is the elaborate way to visualize the merit field when you take refuge. There are some thangkas of the merit field of the lamrim where behind Lama Tsongkhapa the merit field doesn’t have the wish-granting tree. This one has the lineage lamas of the profound practice behind Lama Tsongkhapa. That is according to Pabongka.

Other merit fields are basically the same but with a few minor differences, where you visualize all the lineage lamas of the profound and extensive paths behind Lama Tsongkhapa.

There are also the four side protectors, the four great kings. Sometimes they are above the throne, sometimes they are below it on a cloud. If the four great kings are above the throne, they are beyond samsara; if they are below on the cloud, they are worldly beings. This is the reason there is this difference.

When I asked His Holiness the Dalai Lama about the visualization, he explained that it doesn’t have to necessarily be done exactly like this, with the lions and everything. You can visualize it in whichever way you find more comfortable. Basically, it is explained like that in the teachings, but if you find another way more comfortable, it is better to do it that way.

From whatever direction you see Guru Shakyamuni Buddha he seems to be looking straight at you. For one being over there, he seems to be looking at them; for another in completely the opposite direction, he seems to be looking straight at them. Each thinks the Buddha is looking at them, that they are facing toward Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and are able to see the holy face. It is a miracle that it appears like that. It doesn’t have to be concrete, like us! If you turned your back on somebody, they would see only your back, not your face. 

With the refuge prayer, think, “At any rate I must reach enlightenment for the benefit of all mother sentient beings, therefore I am going to listen to the commentary on the graduated path to enlightenment.” Have faith in the teachings by generating the motivation of bodhicitta.

THE FOUR QUALITIES OF THE LAMRIM: THE MEANING IS EASILY FOUND

The third quality of the lamrim is that you can easily find the views of the Victorious Ones. You understand the meaning of the Buddha’s teachings and the commentaries, seeing that they are the best advice. 

But without depending on and understanding the advice of the guru and the teachings on the graduated path to enlightenment, you cannot easily find the ultimate view of the Buddha just from those great scriptures. If you don’t depend on the lamrim and the advice of the guru, even if you find the ultimate view of Buddha from the scriptures, it takes much time and you have to undergo many hardships. Whereas, by depending on the understanding you gain from the lamrim and the advice of the guru, you can immediately find what is explained in those great extensive scriptures without taking much time. 

The advice of the guru is like a key to a house where all the precious treasures are kept. If you don’t have the key, you cannot get what you wish. Without depending on this advice of the guru and the lamrim, the key, you cannot understand the difficult, subtle points of the great scriptures and realize the ultimate view of the Buddha.

What is the ultimate view of the Buddha? Generally, it is the path of the three capable beings, particularly the three principal aspects of the path. Among all these, the ultimate view of the Buddha is the complete pure view, emptiness. As Lama Tsongkhapa said in the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, this ultimate view of the Buddha is the Buddha’s intention.

If the appearance of dependent relation,
Which is unbetraying, is accepted separately from emptiness,
And as long as they are seen as separate,
Then one has still not realized the Buddha’s intent.

As long as emptiness is seen as separate from dependent origination, as long as you see these two understandings as separate, you still haven’t realized the view of Shakyamuni Buddha. Lama Tsongkhapa’s point is that while you see these two as separate, when you cannot unify these two on one base, while you might be able to see how the I is a dependent arising, you will never be able to explain how the I is empty of inherent existence. And conversely, while you might be able to see how the I is empty of inherent existence, you will never be able to explain how the I is a dependent arising. Therefore, you will never be able to unify the dependence of the I with its emptiness. You can either accept one view or the other.

As long as you continue to have this confusion, you have still not understood the intention of the Buddha, whereas when you are able to put these two things together—dependent arising and emptiness—without finding any separation, you have understood the Buddha’s view. Then, whenever you see the emptiness of the I, you see its dependence—how it arises in dependence on other factors—and whenever you see its dependence, you understand this means it must be empty of true existence. Thus, emptiness and dependent arising are seen as unified. That is the definition of having realized the right view, the pure, incredible right view of the Buddha.

By depending on the lamrim, you will immediately understand the important points of how to generate the three principal aspects of the path in your mind, which is the subject of great extensive scriptures. You will be able to understand them immediately, without experiencing much hardship. 

The extensive scriptures are like an ocean. The three principal aspects of the path—the intention or the view of the Buddha—are like the jewels in the ocean. The teachings of the lamrim are like the ship. The lama who reveals the teachings of the lamrim, the one who guides you, is like the captain. If there are jewels in the ocean, without depending on the ship, you can never find them. If you tried to collect the jewels from the ocean, there is a danger you might lose your life. Without knowing the lamrim, even if you read the great scriptures extensively, it is very difficult to find the view of Buddha. If you depend on a skillful captain—the lama—and if you enter into the ship of the graduated path to enlightenment, you can go on the great ocean of the extensive scriptures and easily find the jewels, the view of the Buddha.

THE FOUR QUALITIES OF THE LAMRIM: ALL THE GREAT NEGATIVITIES ARE STOPPED

The fourth quality of the lamrim is that it helps you guard against the abyss of grave negative deeds. As Lama Tsongkhapa explained, if you have no definite understanding of the other three qualities, if you see the lamrim as just teachings to be studied or debated but not practiced, this is a big mistake.

If you discriminate like this, you create the very heavy karma of renouncing the holy Dharma. For instance, it’s easy to have more respect for some teachings and less respect for others, thinking some teachings are to be practiced and others are not. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha said in the sutra teachings that this kind of obscuration of avoiding the holy Dharma is very subtle and very heavy.

Some people discriminate, saying that certain teachings explained by tathagatas are pure and good, whereas others are bad. What they are actually doing, by saying these teachings can be practiced and these teachings can’t be, is criticizing the tathagatas, the buddhas. That is avoiding the holy Dharma.

Some people say that these teachings are only taught for bodhisattvas and those are only for hearers and solitary realizers and therefore not what bodhisattvas practice. If you say this, it is avoiding the holy Dharma. Similarly, if you discriminate that these teachings are Theravada and only for the followers of the Lesser Vehicle and not for us Mahayana practitioners, that is avoiding the holy Dharma. “We are Mahayanists, so those teachings are not for us,” or “We are Theravadins, we do not take Mahayana teachings, the bodhisattva teachings, the practice of the six perfections. They are not for us.” People also say these are not Buddha’s teachings. Without knowing exactly why, just by saying words of dislike like this, besides being avoiding the Dharma, it also becomes an obstacle to attaining enlightenment.

In Tibet there are four sects. The Gelugpa teachings are very pure and correct, but so too are the teachings of the Nyingma, the Kagyü and the Sakya. The teachings of all the four sects came from Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and, when practiced, can lead a practitioner to enlightenment. However, you hear some people say that the teachings of the other sects are corrupt, that only their own teachings are pure. Gelugpas say Nyingma teachings are no good; Nyingmapas say Gelug teachings are no good, and the same with the other sects. That kind of discrimination and generalization is avoiding the holy Dharma.

Such mistakes that create the very heavy negative karma of avoiding holy Dharma are due to people not having understood the lamrim well. They have not even understood the refuge practice let alone the subjects of the lamrim.

Similarly, when you find it hard to understand the teachings, when they are not clear for your mind, the thought might arise that these teachings are not fun. That is also avoiding the holy Dharma. You should have the wish to understand, even though they seem too difficult to at this point. You should think, “May I be able to practice that in the future.” Even though that practice doesn’t fit the present level of your mind, you shouldn’t dismiss that practice, thinking that this teaching is not for you. You should wish and pray to be able to practice it in the future. All the teachings that the Buddha taught are to gradually lead you to enlightenment, so thinking like that is avoiding the holy Dharma.

As I mentioned before, in each sect there is the complete path to enlightenment from guru devotion up to enlightenment, in the general path and in the tantric path, the path of Secret Mantra. There are the pure teachings in each sect. Like a skillful captain who knows the whole trail, who knows how to guide, a skillful teacher has complete understanding of the whole path from the beginning up to the end, from guru devotion up to enlightenment, without missing anything.

The skillful disciple is the one who practices as advised by the skillful teacher, the one with perfect, complete advice of the path from the beginning up to the end with nothing missing. If the skillful disciple of any of the four sects practices in that way, without taking much time, without depending on accumulating merit for three eons, they can quickly achieve enlightenment. This is because there is complete infallible advice to achieve enlightenment in one brief lifetime in all the four sects.

Even though the teachings are pure, if the teacher doesn’t show the complete infallible advice of the whole path to enlightenment, or if the disciple practices incorrectly, then they will be unable to reach enlightenment, but that is no fault of the sect. Therefore, disrespecting other sects, making generalized assumptions about their teachings, creates very heavy negative karma.

Guru Shakyamuni Buddha explained the shortcomings of avoiding the holy Dharma in the teachings. It is much heavier karma than destroying all the holy stupas in this world or killing arhats equaling the number of grains of sand in the river Ganga.

If you have a definite understanding of the first three qualities of the lamrim then you can easily see that there is nothing to leave out from the teaching of the Buddha and there is not one thing that is not to be practiced. You can easily see that all of the Buddha’s teachings are to be practiced. In that way, respect arises for all the teachings of the Buddha. Even though the teachings in the four sects are presented with different terms, you respect all of them in the same way. 

When you appreciate the lamrim, many heavy negative karmas such as avoiding the holy Dharma are avoided. Particularly relating to the teachings on guru devotion in the lamrim, when you correctly reflect on how to follow the guru, you no longer create all the negative karmas in your relationship with the guru and you purify the negative karmas you have received from mistakes you have already made in your relationship. 

When you reflect on any subject, you stop the negativities that arise in relation to your mistaken views on that subject. For instance, by understanding the perfect human rebirth, with its eight freedoms and ten richnesses, and impermanence and death, you overcome all the negativities concerned with clinging to this life. Understanding the difficulties of attaining this human body and the fragility of this life cuts off the attachment clinging to this life. When you cut off clinging to this life, all the negative karmas that arise from that are naturally stopped. 

Similarly, when you understand that the whole of samsara is suffering, you cut off the thought that clings to samsaric perfections, the karmas that cause you to endlessly circle in the cycle of death and rebirth. Both get stopped. And when you train the mind in the meditations on bodhicitta, the self-cherishing thought is cut off. As your mind becomes more and more transformed into bodhicitta then the self-cherishing thought becomes less and less and so the negative karmas that arise from cherishing the self become less and less. 

Similarly, as you train your mid in emptiness, in seeing that there is no truly existing self, the negative karmas associated with ignorance, grasping the truly existing I, become less and less. All negative thoughts and all suffering stem from the thought that grasps the I as truly existing, so when you have finally developed the wisdom realizing selflessness completely all the negative karmas that arise from the unsubdued mind are stopped.

Training the mind in all the meditation subjects of the lamrim is the method to overcome all the wrong concepts that trigger negative actions and cause you to suffer in samsara, therefore one of the great qualities of the lamrim is that all the great negativities are naturally stopped.

HYMNS OF EXPERIENCE COMMENTARY: HOMAGE TO THE DHARMA

The ninth and tenth verses of the Hymns of Experience say,

Therefore this most excellent instruction that is sought after 
By numerous fortunate ones like the learned ones of India and Tibet, 
This [instruction of the] stages of the path of persons of three capacities, 
What intelligent person is there whose mind is not captured by it? 

This concise instruction distilling the essence of all scriptures, 
Even through reciting it or listening to it only once, 
The benefits of teaching the Dharma, listening to it, and so on, 
Since such waves of merit are bound to be gathered, contemplate its meaning.

Who of powerful mind would not be captured by it? It’s much simpler in Tibetan—it has more taste—where it sort of says, which of all the learned holy beings of India and Tibet with their great intelligence would not be attracted to these teachings? There are none who would not be enchanted by the supreme advice of the gradual path of the three capable beings, the supreme advice that many fortunate beings follow.

Lama Tsongkhapa said this directly but it also implies that the ignorant ones are not enchanted by these teachings, they have no attraction for the teachings of the lamrim that contain the advice of the many fortunate beings who came before. He implies that the ignorant ones are unfortunate.

One session of hearing the teachings of this tradition that embodies the essence of all Buddha’s words collects waves of merit equivalent to hearing all teachings of the Buddhadharma.

This explains the benefits of explaining and listening to the lamrim teaching, not only in general but specifically here—that it encompasses all the Buddhadharma. All the 84,000 teachings that comprise three baskets or divisions of teachings, the Tripitaka, are contained in the teaching of the gradual path of the three capable beings. According to the Tibetan, it says the essence of all the teachings is contained in the three baskets of the teaching and all that is contained in the lamrim teachings. It can be understood in that way.

Because of that, by reading and listening to it once, you receive incredible benefits, multitudes of benefits; benefits as great as if you had expounded all the holy Dharma, as if you had listened to all the teachings of the Buddha. Even though the lamrim does not contain every word the Buddha taught, it contains all the meaning of his words. 

When he was giving a lamrim teaching, a Kadampa geshe said, “When I talk about the lamrim, it shakes the heart of all the teachings that are in the world.” 

Even if you just recite the short Lama Tsongkhapa lamrim prayer without a wandering mind, this encompassed the entire lamrim, and, while concentrating on the prayer, in that few short minutes, it becomes a direct meditation on all the teachings given by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. Reciting the short or medium lamrim prayer, within that time, you receive the same benefits as if you had read all the teachings of the Buddha.

By listening to the holy Dharma, you understand the qualities of the Triple Gem and then you become devoted to them. Because of that, you strive to accumulate merit, such as making offerings, doing prostrations and so on to the Triple Gem.

You develop faith in karma, seeing that karma is definite and by understanding the teachings. Your mind becomes happy, knowing what the cause of happiness is and what to practice, and knowing what the cause of suffering is and what to refrain from practicing. Before, you were ignorant and unable to discriminate. Your mind was completely dark and you ignorantly did the wrong practice. Now, with faith and the wisdom of Dharma, you know which karma brings happiness and which brings suffering, thus you have so much freedom. You are a hundred percent confident, knowing exactly what you are doing. 

By understanding each of the four noble truths—true suffering, the true cause of suffering, the true cessation of suffering and the true path—you can generate the wisdom realizing emptiness and then eliminate ignorance, grasping onto the I as truly existing. Then you can achieve the sorrowless state. 

You receive infinite benefits from listening to the holy Dharma. Even if it costs a thousand golden coins for one verse, as it said in the sutras, or if you have to cut your own flesh to receive one word, it is worth it. When the Buddha was a bodhisattva he had to undergo many hardships just to receive one verse of the holy Dharma, such as putting thousands of nails into his holy body. You don’t have to cut your flesh, you don’t have to bear hardships like this, just to receive teachings. However, you must attempt to listen to the teachings as much as you can, bearing whatever hardships there might be. Despite any hardships, you should try listening to the teachings as much as possible.

THE THREE INCORRECT WAYS OF LISTENING TO THE DHARMA

When you listen extensively to the teachings, there are many different ways of reflecting. As you understand more teachings and more meditation practice, it becomes quicker to generate the experience. 

The texts say that when you listen to the teachings, there are three hindrances to avoid and six recognitions. The three incorrect ways of listening to the Dharma use the analogy of the pot. Of the first mistake, the mind is compared to a pot that is upside down. The purpose of a pot is to collect water, but if you keep the pot upside down, when you pour water over it, it can’t fill the pot. Similarly, when you hear the Dharma, if you are not paying attention, or if you let your mind wander—thinking about work or returning to the family or traveling to the beach or around India—there is no benefit. If you let your mind wander to travel like this, you have no idea what teaching the lama has taught. It’s like not being in the land of Dharma. 

A previous lama’s advice is that you must listen to the teachings like an animal whose mind is completely hooked, completely attached to a sound. The animal doesn’t move its body; the whole time it sits still and raises its ears to where the sound comes from. Listening to the Dharma, your mind should be one-pointed like that, not distracted. You should pay undivided attention, like when an animal listens to a sound. The animal is so attached to the sound that even if the hunter shoots it, it can’t feel it. 

Even though the pot is not upside down, if it is dirty or polluted, you cannot enjoy whatever is put in it, no matter how delicious it might be. What was the best quality food becomes inedible. Similarly, even if you listen to the teachings well, if your motivation is only the thought of seeking the happiness of this life, it’s no good. Maybe you are listening in order to become an expert, so when you go back to your country you can speak about the Dharma and show other people how much Dharma you know. You do it seeking reputation, rather than with the compassionate thought to benefit others.

When the motive for listening to the teachings is to seek happiness only for yourself, it is like drinking poison. There is no pure motivation, only crazy thoughts. In that way, the teachings don’t become beneficial for you.

The third way listening to the Dharma can be incorrect is, even though the pot is not upside down or dirty, it has a hole in it. No matter how much you try to put in it, even the most delicious nectar, nothing stays inside. Similarly, listening to the Dharma, even if you pay attention well and your motivation is good, you are unable to retain the teachings or you don’t try to remember them. After you have heard them, you immediately forget. 

It might be extremely difficult to remember the whole of the teachings, but by having the root text, the main text, and by having the outline of the lamrim or the complete lamrim text that contains the subject, you should be able to remember. There are methods to remember, such as discussing what you have just heard among your Dharma friends, thinking about the importance of the main subject.

THE FIRST THREE OF THE SIX RECOGNITIONS

There is also a list of six recognitions, ways to consider how to listen to the teachings.

The first way is recognizing yourself as a patient. That is the extremely important one. If you have this recognition, all the other recognitions come naturally. Unless you think of yourself as a patient, that is a mistake. It’s no good thinking “I am a patient” while feeling that you have no pain. The serious illness you are suffering from is the deluded way of thinking; this is the great illness in the mind. 

Whenever there is attachment, there is pain in the mind; whenever there is anger, there is pain in the mind; whenever there is confusion, there is pain in the mind. When you are confused, when you don’t know what to do, what to practice in life, you have mental pain. Then, there are all the other pains, such as the pain of pride and the pain of jealousy—there are so many other deluded minds that are painful. 

From that, the second recognition is recognizing the holy Dharma as medicine. If you constantly see yourself as a patient, then the wish to be free from that serious disease naturally arises. You can then recognize that the nature of the Dharma is to help you recover from the disease of the deluded views, the unsubdued mind. With this understanding naturally comes the determination to act, by practicing the Dharma, to unblock the obscurations that keep you trapped in your delusions. 

You then see the teachings as personal instructions. You might even think, “This teaching is just for me, not for somebody else!” When you know you are sick, of course you seek medicine. Recognizing the extent of your delusions, of course you seek the remedy, the holy Dharma, which is like medicine. It is the only medicine to pacify the disease of the unsubdued mind.

The next recognition is recognizing the virtuous friend as a skillful doctor. Without a doctor, the patient can easily make a mistake in taking the medicine. You might know you are sick but not know which medicine to take or you take one that helps at the end of the disease or vice versa, causing great danger to your life. With a serious illness, you must consult a skillful doctor. 

It is a mistake to think that just reading the scriptures is enough, without any teacher, without a virtuous friend. If you just read books and meditate, no experience comes; nothing happens to the mind. The mind just becomes more and more unsubdued, and less and less peace comes. 

If you want to practice the holy Dharma, you should carefully follow the advice of the virtuous friend, who is like a skillful doctor. Patients who find the correct medicine and the skillful doctor and who know they are going to be cured are extremely happy. They listen to whatever the doctor advises, and they greatly respect the doctor. Like the patient who follows the doctor, after you have found the virtuous friend, you should respect them and follow their advice carefully.

QUESTION AND ANSWER

Somebody wrote a question two or three days ago. “Why is being a woman considered a lower rebirth than a male?” Generally, that doesn’t mean in every society, I don’t think. In India, Laos, Thailand, all those countries, why are there so many monks but few nuns? Do you know why? [The students discuss, inaudible] 

I think that could bring the answer. Somebody replied that women bear the children. While everybody is the same on a fundamental level, while there is the same opportunity for both to achieve enlightenment, it is not the society that makes the law. There is freedom from your own side. There is no law. It is just a matter of what the individual wishes, of individual choice.

Another way of phrasing the question is whether boys or girls have more opportunity. Your question becomes the answer! I think, in Tibet and in countries where there are as many women as men and where both sexes can choose whether to ordain, even though women have the same freedom to decide on that life, there are still less nuns. I think that’s because there are more hindrances. 

For example, if a woman wishes to live alone in a solitary place, it is more difficult somehow. It is more difficult for her to make determination and there are hindrances from outside—so, hindrances from inside and hindrances from outside. Generally men are less scared of being attacked and have less internal and external hindrances. This is a general position. For many women, it is more difficult to make the decision to renounce attachment.

The next question is the number of monks and nuns in the West. I didn’t count them! When I was in New Zealand I did count, and I think there was one monk extra. I think it is exactly the same in the West, it mainly depends on their own capabilities, their education and their understanding. 

The next question is whether women have a lower rebirth. There might still be some difference here on how that is recognized. It’s not exactly as it was in Tibet. While monks can have a full ordination, in Tibet, nuns haven’t been given certain ordinations.

However, depending on their way of life and their education, there won’t be much difference. Generally, there will still be something generating more hindrances and a more difficult life and in practicing the Dharma. Generally it is like this, but not for everyone. Overall, it’s the same. Men can become enlightened and women can become enlightened. They are the same.

The next question is whether there have been many women who attained very high tantric realizations. There have been many. 

[Another inaudible question] I think it does depend so much on the role of culture. It also depends on the personality. Why there are less nuns, even though they have the same freedom and opportunities, depends on the personality. There are more hindrances, both internal and external, to live their life in that way, practicing the Dharma. The hindrances from outside are also because of the body and things like that. That’s why I think there are less nuns than monks. It’s not as if they are being forbidden from becoming nuns. It can be affected a little bit by society and by people’s attitudes in general, but it always depends on their minds.

Is that enough? Another question. [Question inaudible] The culture is not made by mind? The culture is not the result of karma? Of course! You see, women are also free. They can leave home and go to live in a monastery. Nobody will stop them. They have the same freedom as men in that regard. So much comes from individual trust; so much comes from individual choice. It’s not that somebody is controlling it. Sometimes there are parents controlling them, but mostly it is not like that. It comes from individual determination. So, you have to think about why there are less women becoming nuns. The difference comes from the individual’s decision.

I’ll stop here.

Lecture 16

November 25, 1980 (morning)

THE EIGHT MAHAYANA PRECEPTS

The reviving and purifying Mahayana ordination is different from the eight precepts of the pratimoksha, which is liberation for the self. This one is taken by visualizing being in the presence of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, the holy objects you take the ordination from. That is the difference. Also, the lama who grants the ordination should be visualized as Shakyamuni Buddha, in that aspect, surrounded by numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas.

The second difference from the eight pratimoksha precepts is the range of those who can take it. The one-day Mahayana ordination can be taken by full monks or by anybody. Taking this other ordination is no danger to somebody who is living in the thirty-six precepts or higher. Another difference is the motivation. For this Mahayana ordination, the motivation is bodhicitta.

For this ordination to become the cause to achieve enlightenment, please generate the motivation, the precious thought of bodhicitta. Feel this from your heart. As I mentioned in the words on motivation, feel it comes from the heart.

Think this. “I and all sentient beings, numberless times from the beginningless samsaric lifetimes, have been experiencing the general suffering of the suffering and the particular sufferings of the three lower realms. Through the beginningless experience of suffering in samsara, we are still following the wrong conceptions, believing the I to be truly existent, grasping on to the I as truly existent. 

“While the body is impure, dirty, containing impurities, I and all others completely believe it to be clean. Even though the body is in the nature of impermanence, we believe the wrong concept of permanence. We have such a short time to live, but we believe the body is going to live for a long time. This is the wrong concept of permanence. 

“I and all sentient beings hold the wrong concept that believes that samsaric pleasures, which are only in the nature of suffering, are ultimate, pure happiness. As long as I and all others hold these wrong concepts, we will suffer in samsara endlessly.

“If I think of all the endless suffering in samsara which I will be experiencing through these wrong concepts, it is something that shakes the heart, that causes the heart to crack. To experience the same suffering again and again that I have experienced in the past, on and on endlessly, is something I cannot stand. I need to eliminate these wrong concepts to be free from samsara. 

“Buddhas such as Guru Shakyamuni Buddha have taken these Mahayana ordinations, followed the path and became enlightened for the benefit of sentient beings. In the past Guru Shakyamuni Buddha has enlightened numberless sentient beings, and even now he is still guiding numberless sentient beings to enlightenment, including us.

“By revealing just this method, the Mahayana ordination, and by leading us to accumulate merit, by allowing us to keep the precepts, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha can guide us from happiness to happiness, to enlightenment.

“Each of us has the same potential to achieve enlightenment in order to benefit other sentient beings, to do the infinite works for other sentient beings. Just seeking liberation for myself is selfish and no difference from foolish animals, from sheep and goats who seek happiness only for the self. When they find a small clump of grass, the only thought they have is their own happiness, without any concern for the happiness of other sentient beings. Finding water, they drink it thinking only of their own happiness, without concern for other sentient beings. If I were to seek liberation just for myself, there would be no difference. 

“The mother sentient beings I have received both the three times’ happiness and perfections from are extremely kind. There is no happiness, great or small, that I can experience without depending on the kindness of mother sentient beings. There is not one single possession that I have received that has not depended on the kindness of mother sentient beings. Mother sentient beings are the kindest, the most powerful condition to enable me to begin my Dharma practice. That is due to the kindness of mother sentient beings. Only due to their kindness will I be able to complete my Dharma practice and attain enlightenment. Therefore, they are extremely kind.

“The kind mother sentient being are devoid of temporal happiness and ultimate happiness; they are forced to endure suffering endlessly. They must experience the three types of suffering continuously. 

“I must cause them to be free from every type of suffering and achieve every type of happiness. May I be able to do this. To do that, I must achieve the state of omniscience. Without creating the cause, the omniscient mind will not be achieved. 

“To attain the omniscient mind, I must protect my moral conduct, protect my karma, renouncing negative karma and creating only virtuous karma. Therefore, in order to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, I am going to take the eight Mahayana precepts until sunrise tomorrow.”

With that visualization, put your palms together at the heart and take the eight Mahayana precepts.

[Rinpoche gives the eight Mahayana precepts]

Dedicate these merits, thinking that even hearing the name of a place where there are bodhisattvas, may all their prayers be fulfilled. With the bodhisattva prayer, all sentient beings become enlightened. Pray like that. 

[Chanting in Tibetan]