THE
BUDDHADHARMA
to His Western Disciples
This article was copied from the book "Counsels from My Heart" with the sole aim of disseminating this to wider audience because the article is one of the most concise and clear introduction to Buddhadharma with explanations on the difference between Thervada, Mahayana and Vajrayana paths. May it help all readers achieve greater understanding of the Buddhadharma and dispel ignorance!
Faithful
Dharma friends gathered here, I am very happy to be able to talk to you a
little about the Buddha’s teaching!
All of us here, human beings of
this world, from every race and background, feel an instinctive and genuine
devotion for the supreme Dharma. We have gained a clear confidence in it and
have entered the door of the profound teachings. We are so very fortunate!
What we call the sacred Dharma is
something unbelievably precious and difficult to find. Our present wish to
commit ourselves to it, and the fact that we have all the favorable
circumstances and good fortune of actually being able to practice-all this is
happening to us thanks to the enormous reserves of merit we have generated in
the past.
The Three Vehicles
What
is the origin of this supreme teaching? It has come to us from the perfect
Buddha, the fourth of the one thousand and two Buddha’s due to appear in the
course of the fortunate kalpa. And we
ourselves are living at a time when his teaching still exists. Moreover,
although all the buddhas are alike in expounding the Dharma of the three
vehicles, it was only Buddha Shakyamuni who revealed-in a period when the life
span of humankind was about one hundred years-the diamond vehicle of Secret
Mantra.
According to the fundamental doctrines of
the shravakas and pratyekabuddhas, our teacher Shakyamuni was a person of sharp,
superior faculties, who first accumulated merit for three immeasurable kalpas,
purified defilements for a further three, and at length attained the perfection
of Buddhahood. According to this point of view, he was an ordinary man who
achieved enlightenment through the accumulation of merit and the purification
of defilements. The view of the Secret Mantrayana of the Great Vehicle, however,
is that the Buddha actualized the dharmakaya,
thus accomplishing his own fulfillment, innumerable kalpas in the past. It was
his rupakay, his body of manifestation
that compassionately descended into this world for the sake of others,
appearing as Buddha Shakyamuni. An emanation of compassion, “coming from
above,”necessarily appears for the benefit of the inhabitants of this samsaric
world, and, in order to help them, manifests in a form that harmonizes with
their condition. This is why the Buddha displayed the twelve deeds of an
enlightened being-descending from the heaven of Tushita, taking birth in this
human world, and finally manifesting his enlightenment.
Afterward, the Buddha turned the
wheel of Dharma for the sake of beings, teaching according to their varying
needs and particular outlook. For those with limited capacity of mind and a
smaller stock of karmic fortune, he set forth the path of the shravakas and
pratykabuddhas, where the main emphasis is on the avoidance of nonvirtue in
word and deed. For those with greater capacity and excellent merit, he gave the
teachings of the Mahayana, where the emphasis is on mind-training, which is the
cultivation of bodhichitta. Here the
vows and precepts relating to body and speech are taught as auxiliaries.
Finally, for those whose mental horizons and reserves of merit are even
greater, and who are ready to receive them, the Buddha set forth the teachings
of the resultant vehicle of the Secret Mantra of the Mahayana, which go far
beyond the doctrines of the causal vehicles.
Refuge and Bodhichitta
So,
to begin with, what is it that brings us into the Buddha’s teaching? What is
the door through which we must enter, the “mental soil,” so to speak, in which
we can plant the seed of Dharma? It is taking refuge. This marks the difference
between a Buddhist and a non-Buddhist, between one who is inside the teachings
and one who is outside. To take refuge is to recognize the Three Jewels of
Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha as one’s unchanging protectors, and to turn to them
sincerely and with full confidence. This opens the door of the Dharma at the
very outset.
When we have taken refuge in the
Three Jewels, what should our fundamental attitude be? We should understand
that the whole of space is pervaded by living beings; there is not one there is
not one of them that has not been, at one time or another, our father or our
mother. We should recognize that they have been our parents and feel gratitude
toward them for the love and kindness they have shown us. We should also
realize that all these beings, once our mothers, are sinking in the ocean of
the sufferings of samsara. We should cultivate the attitude of bodhichitta,
taking the decision to practice the supreme Dharma for their sake. Bodhichitta
is thus the fundamental preparation and basis of our practice of the path.
Those who have the attitude of
shravakas or pratyekabuddhas are not able to appreciate that the whole of space
is filled with beings who were once their parents, and that it is for their
sake that they should practice Dharma. They are satisfied simply with the idea
of freeing themselves from the ocean of samsaric sorrow. And it is in
accordance with this deal of individual liberation that they observe ethical
discipline, abstaining from evil actions of word and deed. They spend their
lives in the practice of purification and meditation, through which they reach
the level of pratyekabuddha. This happens, however, only after practicing for
as long as one measureless kalpa, or at least for three lives, sixteen lives,
and so on.
People who have the attitude of
the Mahayana think that it is somehow shameful to want liberation only for
themselves, when other beings who were once their loving parents are sunk in
the ocean of suffering. They are unable to imagine anything worse, and resolve
to practice the Dharma in order to be able to lead beings, their parents, to
liberation. They are determined to do this regardless of the consequences, and
are ready to remain in samsara for as long as it takes to accomplish the task.
This is the vast, great-hearted attitude that we too must have.
Nothing we do-not a single prostration
or recitation of a single mani, not a
single meditation on the stages of creation and perfection, no practice, no sadhana – should be without prayers of
refuge and bodhichitta at the beginning, and prayers of dedication aspiration
at the end.
The sacred Dharma, as we have been
saying, is extremely vast and profound, containing innumerable instructions. It
is said that to suit the different mental capacities of individuals, the Buddha
set forth no less than eighty-four thousand sections of doctrine. When we
practice, our task is to condense all these teachings into a single, essential
point. But how are we to do this? In fact, although the Buddha gave innumerable
teachings, the crucial message of all of them is contained in one verse:
Abandon
every evil deed,
Practice
virtue well,
Perfectly
subdue your mind:
This
is Buddha’s teaching.
The Buddha did indeed say that we
should not do evil but practice virtue. Well, then, what is an evil action? An
act of body, speech, or mind is an evil when it brings harm to others. And as Buddha
said, we must refrain from doing
anything that injures others. Conversely, actions are positive or virtuous when
they bring benefits to others.
What is the root of all this, the
source of both good and evil? The doer of all virtue is the mind, when it makes
positive use of body and speech, its servants. The doer of all evil is also the
mind, when it uses the body and speech negatively. The root and cause of good
and evil is in the mind itself. Nevertheless, in a sense, this mind of ours is
something unknown to us. It does anything and everything, like a lunatic
running here and there at the slightest impulse. This is how it accumulates
karma.
The mind is the root of every
defilement. It is here that anger is
born; and from anger, every kind and injury to others: fighting, beating and
the rest. The mind is the soil in which all this grows: all malevolence, envy,
desire, stupidity, arrogance and so forth. That is why the Buddha told us to
get a grip on our minds. Having realized that the mind is the root of all afflictions,
we must be vigilant in keeping it under control, holding down our defilements
as much as we can. We have to be completely focused on this, gaining mastery of
whatever arises.
The mind can move in a positive
direction as well. It can recognize the qualities of lamas and Three Jewels,
thanks to which it experiences faith, and so takes refuge. Through the practice
of Dharma, the mind can also accumulate the causes for its own liberation and
that of others. Therefore, since the mind is the root of good and evil, it
stands for the reason that it must be corrected and transformed. The
examination of one’s mind is thus the principle features of the practice; the
mind is the common concern of all vehicles of Dharma. This is particularly true
of the tantra teachings. Once again, it is the mind that enters the mandala of
the Secret Mantra of the Vajrayana and accomplishes all the practices.
The
Secret Mantra of Vajrayana
It
is thanks to the lama, our spiritual friend, that we have been able to cross
the threshold of the profound teachings of the sacred Dharma. We did not have
the good fortune, defiled and impure as we were, to meet the Buddha in person
while he was alive. But we have had the good fortune to encounter the Dharma,
his teachings, and this is actually better than meeting him in person. These instruction,
which reveal to us what we must do and what we must refrain from doing, have
been given to us by our teacher. It is crucial to understand that we are
incredibly fortunate to have been accepted by a spiritual friend. It is a lama
who opens our eyes to what we must do and what we must avoid. It is he who
points out the defilements we must abandon, and in so doing, he fulfills the
activity of the Buddha himself. If we truly assimilate and carry out all that
he says with regard to actions to be done and actions to be avoided, we will
attain our objective, namely liberation.
It is important to understand how to
practice the buddhadharma properly. We have to do it well, condensing all the
hundreds of methods into a single point. If we do this, our practice will
become easy and very effective. What is more, the teachings of Secret Mantra,
the Vajrayana, have not yet vanished from the world. They still exist. To have
entered them and to abide in them is our supreme good fortune. We are amazingly
lucky.
Why, you may ask, are the Mantra
teachings to be kept secret? It is not because of their profundity, but rather
to preserve them from people of limited and narrow attitudes.The path of Secret
Mantra has unusual features such as ease, rapidity, great subtlety, and
skillful techniques. In other words, it is endowed with many methods, it is
without difficulty, it is for those with sharp mental faculties, and its
practice is very subtle. Those who are naturally fitted to the Secret Mantra
will by this means attain the fruits of Buddhahood easily and quickly. Indeed,
the very word mantra combines the
notions of ease and swiftness.
The difference between the view and
practice of Secret Mantra and that of the other paths is often illustrated by
the image of a field in which a poisonous plant has sprouted. People of little
courage, narrow minds, and limited resourcefulness think that if they eat the
poisonous plant, they will certainly die. So they cut down the plant and throw
it far away. And fearing that new shoots might grow from plant’s root, they dig
it up. This is what people without much courage do.
The poison in this image represents
ignorance. And since even the tiniest fragment of the poisonous root must be
removed from the soil and thrown away, it is evident that such people must go
to a lot of trouble to extract it.
This
is comparable to the way in which the fruit of liberation is attained by
practicing according to the view of the shravakas and the pratyekabuddhas.
Now suppose an ingenious,
stout-hearted person comes along and asks the people what they are up to. They
will say that if the poisonous plant is allowed to grow, it will be very
dangerous. Not only must they cut it down, they must uproot it so that no trace
of it is left in the soil. Now, what will be the approach of the clever person?
He will agree that the plant must be properly disposed of, but he will know
that it is not necessary to go to such lengths to make sure that the plant
stops growing. He will point out that the plant can be killed easily by pouring
boiling water over its roots. His approach is similar to the way defilements
are dealt with according to the Bodhisattvayana. To remove defilements, it is
not necessary to go through the same difficulties as the shravakas at the level
of adoption and abandonment of actions. Nevertheless, in the Bodhisattvayana,
it is still necessary to use antidotes. Meditating on love, for example, is a
remedy for anger. Antidotes are certainly adopted with the understanding that
they are different and separated from defilements they are intended to cure.
What if a doctor were to come
along and ask the people what they were doing? On being told that they were
getting rid of the dangerous plant, he would say, “Ah, but I’m a doctor. I know
how to make medicine from this plant. I can use this plant to make an excellent
remedy to the very poison that it contains. Indeed, I have been looking for a
long time. Give it to me. I’ll take care of it.” This doctor is like a
practitioner of secret Mantra. He can concoct powerful medicines from the poison.
Such a practitioner does not need to go through the trouble of avoiding
defilements, considering them distinct from the remedy. Defilements themselves
can be transformed into wisdom. This is the path of secret Mantra.
Finally, imagine that a peacock
comes upon the poisonous plant. Without a moment’s hesitation, it will eat it
with great relish and its plumage will become even more ravishing. For the
peacock, which represents the practitioners of the Great perfection of the
secret Mantra, poisonous plants are not something to be shunned at all.
Practitioners of the Great Perfection are aware that there is no such thing as
a real, solid defilement to be abandoned. Just as the peacock consumes the
poison, with the results that its feathers become more and more beautiful, the
practitioner of Secret Mantra does not reject defilements but brings to
perfection the enlightened qualities of the kayas and wisdoms. This
gives us an idea of the differences between and lesser paths.
Only a peacock is able to nourish
itself on poison. In the same way, the teachings of the Great Perfection of the
Secret Mantra are found in no other spiritual tradition. On the other hand,
different people belong by their character to different paths, and these may be
greater or lesser. It is essential for them to train according to their
capacity, otherwise they will be in great danger. In order to be able to
practice the Great Perfection, it is essential to be completely convinced, to
be absolutely certain, of the view. For this reason, I am going to say a few
words about it: the view of the Great Perfection of the Secret Mantra of the
Mahayana.
The
Great Perfection
The
manner in which we, devoted yogis and yoginis, should practice the teaching of
the Great Perfection has been taught by Guru Rinpoche, the precious Master. He
said that while our view should be that of the Great Perfection, our actions should not get lost in the view.
What did he mean? The view is normally understood as the certainty that all
phenomena, both of samsara and of nirvana, are empty. This, however, is
something that we practitioners are not yet able to realize directly, and until
we do, the fact is that we experience benefits and harm, virtue and non-virtue,
and the so-called karmic process of cause and effect. All this exists for us.
So if, while still in our present condition, we go around saying, “Everything
is empty. It’s all one. There’s no such thing as virtue,no such thing as sin,”
and if we do anything and everything we like, this is called “losing one’s
actions in the view.” If this happens to us, it will be as Guru Rinpoche
himself said. We will fall into the evil view of demons.
The view, then, refers to great
emptiness. If we have a correct understanding of the ultimate status of
phenomena, and if we are able to maintain and assimilate this through
meditation, we will find in due course that dualistic perception will fall
apart all by itself. There will come a moment when there is no such thing as
benefit or harm, no such thing as happiness or sadness. It is then and only
then that we will really have mastered the view. Guru Rinpoche said, “My view
is higher than the sky, but my attention to actions and their results is finer
than flour.” We may well have an intellectual understanding of the view, the
ultimate state of emptiness, but with regard to the practice, it is important
to preserve this ultimate state continually, until our dualistic perceptions
completely collapse.
On the other hand, Guru Rinpoche
also said that we should not “lose our view in our actions.” What did he mean
here? Simply understanding and saying that things are empty does not make them
empty. Our bodies and minds, and all the things that stimulate our thoughts,
will stay just as they were; they won’t just vanish! As a result, we may lose
confidence in the view and concentrate exclusively on physical and verbal
activities, dismissing the view as unimportant. If this happens, a clear
realization of the view will never come to us. The teachings say therefore that
we should avoid one sided attitudes regarding the view and action. Like eagles
soaring in space, we should be clearly convinced of the view, but at the same
time we should heed the karmic principle of cause and effect, as finely as if
we were sifting flour.
As Buddhists, we rely on the
teachings of the Buddha, and must therefore have heartfelt confidence in the
supreme Dharma. Whoever we are, we need to have a good heart, sincere and without
deceit. At all times and on all occasions, we must maintain an irreversible
trust in the sacred Dharma, and our minds must be steady and constant. These
three things are our firm foundation: steady faith, sincere devotion, and
constancy. Furthermore, whatever the Dharma contains, it is all Buddha’s
teaching. We must therefore have pure perception and an appreciation of all Dharma traditions, those of others
as much as our own. We must respect them all. Finally, we must nourish within
ourselves a constant, uninterrupted affection for our Dharma brothers and
sisters.
The Three Supreme Methods
Whatever
practices we do, whether the common ones of taking refuge and making
prostrations, the various trainings in bodhichitta, the methods for purifying
the defilements of body and speech, or the uncommon practices of the Secret
Mantra (the visualization and recitation of Vajrasattva, guru yoga, or
meditation on the yidamdeity), all
that we do- and this is very important-should be accompanied by the three
“supreme methods.”
The first of these methods is the
attitude of bodhichitta. All beings possess the tathagatagarbha, the seed of Buddhahood, but this is obscured and
veiled. As a result, they wander in samsara. The first method is therefore to
be determined to liberate them from this ocean of suffering. The second supreme
method is to have a mind free from conceptualization, which means to practice
without distraction. Even if we make only a single prostration, we should not
just go through the motions mechanically, with our thoughts and words
elsewhere. On the contrary, we should practice with a concentrated mind, and
never be carried away by distraction. The third supreme method is to conclude
with dedication. Whatever merit has been generated must be dedicated for sake
of beings, who are as many as the sky is vast. In fact, if we forget to round
off our practice with the excellent attitude of bodhichitta, dedicating the
merit to others, this merit could be destroyed in a moment of stronger anger or
defilement. For this reason, all positive actions should immediately be
followed by act of dedication for the welfare of all beings. The benefits of
this supreme method are immense; dedication renders merit inexhaustible and
causes it to increase constantly.
What is the sign that someone
has received the teachings of the supreme Dharma and is practicing them?
Whoever has heard and absorbed the teachings becomes serene and self-possessed.
Ours is not a tradition that inculcates anger and encourages us to fight; it
does not encourage us to get involved with our defiled emotions. On the contrary,
the Buddha has taught us to get rid of our defilements as much as possible. The
point is that, having received the dharma teachings, we should find when we
examine ourselves, that, even though we may not have been able to eradicate our
defilements totally, our anger has at least diminished a little. We should find
that, even if we do get angry, we are less involved and are able to keep
ourselves in check. This is sort of sign we should be looking for. The sign
that we are assimilating the teachings is an increase in serenity and
self-control. It is said that if practitioners do not examine themselves
frequently, and if they fail to practice correctly, the Dharma itself will lead
them to the lower realms. Some people claim to have received the teachings, but
they don’t practice them. On the other hand, it is obviously impossible to
eradicate defiled emotion just by listening to the teachings. We have been in
samsara from beginning less time and are immersed in the habits of defilement.
These cannot be whisked away by the mere act of listening to something. So turn
inward and examine your minds. You should at least have a glimmer of
understanding!
In addition, we have all
entered the Vajrayana. We have received profound empowerments and instructions of the Secret Mantra. This
is said to be very beneficial but it is also very dangerous. Even if we are
unable to bring our practice to accomplishment, if we keep our samaya unbroken, it is said that
liberation will be achieved in seven lifetimes. After crossing the threshold of
the secret Mantra, however, if we ruin our samaya by displeasing the lama,
causing havoc among our fellow Dharma practitioners and so on, the only
possible destiny for us is the vajra
hell. The saying goes that practitioners of secret mantra either attain
Buddhahood or go to hell. There is no third alternative. It’s like a snake
inside a cane: it must go either up or down. There’s no way out halfway! Think
carefully about the benefits and hazards of samaya, and observe it purely and
perfectly. To do this, it is crucial to keep a close watch on your mind, a
practice in which all the essential points of the teachings are condensed. It
is vital to examine and atch your mind. You have all received instructions
through the kindness of your teachers. This is what your Dharma practice should
be like.
Samsara
and Ego-Clinging
But
now I must tell you one or two things. In the mind of everyone, of every
living, sentient being, there is a fundamental nature or ground, the so-called sugatagarbha. This is the seed of Samantabhadra, the
seed of Buddhahood. Although this is something we all have, we do not recognize
it. It is unknown to us. This ground, which is our spontaneous awareness, has
been with us “from the beginning.” It is like a mirror. When someone with a
happy face looks in a mirror, the reflection of a happy face appears. When
someone with a sad face looks into it, a sad face appears. The primordial
ground is just like a mirror.
The reflection of a person with a
happy face looking into a perfectly clear mirror, the primordial ground, is
like Samantabhadra, who awoke to his ultimate nature. Samantabhadra, it is
said, “captured the citadel of the primordial ground, awoke, recognized his own
nature, and was free.” But we ordinary beings fail to recognize this nature,
the mirrorlike primordial ground. For us, the situation is like someone with a
downcast face looking into the mirror: a sad reflection appears! This is
precisely what happens when, through our habit of samsara, the primordial
ground is transformed into the so-called alaya. A subtle
ego-apprehending consciousness emerges from it, and the sense of “I” and
clinging to “I” manifest. When this happens, another mental state occurs,
projected outward onto objects, which are perceived as being outside and
separate from the mind.
The primary mechanism of “I
apprehension” maybe compared to a house with six doors, corresponding to the
six consciousnesses. This is how it works: “I-apprehension,” the thought of
“I,’ expands into other mental states.
Thus
a second thought arises and is projected (let’s say through one of the doors of
the house) toward various patches of color that are the objects of the visual
sense. After this, there is a thought of recognition: the object is identified
and named as this or that. The apprehension of the characteristics of colors
and so on, grasped as outer objects, is the definition of visual consciousness.
Similarly, a consciousness projects onto objects of hearing, so that we hear
sounds.
Then other, even coarser, thoughts develop and run after the sound,
recognizing it as this or that, this word, that word, apprehending it as
pleasant or unpleasant. The coordinator of these thoughts is the auditive or
ear consciousness. Then there is a consciousness that projects out, toward
objects of smell. Steadily adverted to, these are apprehended as outer realities
and are experienced as pleasant or unpleasant, and thus we have the smell
consciousness.
Again, another consciousness expands out toward objects of
taste, apprehended as delicious or revolting, sweet or sour. This is the taste
consciousness. Finally, there is a consciousness projected onto the body, the
consciousness of touch, which apprehends physical contact, rough or smooth, as
the case may be. We can see therefore that, based on the state of mind that
thinks “I” is experienced as somehow inhabiting the body, which is in turn
regarded as a single entity, the five kinds of consciousness project outward by
means of the five sense organs. There
are six consciousnesses altogether: the five sense consciousnesses plus the
mental consciousness, and it is thanks to these that samsara unfolds.
Samsaric activity proceeds apace
and we remain in delusion. The root of delusion is ignorance, and the root of
ignorance is ego- apprehension, the idea of “I.” Samsara occurs simply because
we do not recognize our true nature. It is on accounts of this “I,” this clinging
to the notion of self, that we conceive of “others.” As a result, we enter into
subject- object relationships, and these prevent us from escaping from samsara.
Because we have a sense of “I” and
cling to self, pride occurs. Because we cling to self, anger and the other
emotional poisons arise. If we are practicing according to the lower vehicles,
we must discard these emotions by the application of antidotes – remedies that
vary according to the poisons and sense objects in question. But for us
practitioners of the Secret Mantra, only one supreme instruction is necessary,
a single antidote that liberates everything. We must acquire a deep conviction
regarding the true nature of phenomena. Once again, the root of delusion is
ignorance. And what is ignorance? It is clinging to slef.
What
is the Mind?
Well,
then, where is this self-clinging? That which clings to “I” is the mind: that
which clings to ”other” is also the mind. So the next question is: where is the
mind? It must be somehow in the body, because when the mind is not present, we
have only a corpse. So ask yourself, is it in the top part of the body or the
lower part? How big is it? What color is it? If you pull a hair out of you
head, it hurts, doesn’t it? If you prick
your foot on a thorn, it hurts, doesn’t it? The mind and body must be somehow
coextensive, musn’t they? It’s as though
the mind and body were stuck to each other. On the other hand, when someone is
killed in an accident, where does the mind go?
How did it leave the body and from where? It’s only when we examine the
mind correctly that we discover how many false assumptions we have- false
assumptions that, for the moment, are completely unnoticed. We cling to things
as though they were permanent and will last forever. This is the measure of our
delusion, tightly fettered as we are by this so-called “I” of ours-this “I,” in
the interests of which, our mind enslaves our body and our speech, and creates
all sorts of difficulties and hardships.
When we arrive at the correct
understanding of the mind, we can see that our present thoughts are just like
waves on the water. At one moment they arise; at another they dissolve. And
that’s all there is to it: the mind is nothing but thoughts. The mind, which is
empty, arises as thought, and that is also empty. The stream of consciousness,
which is empty, is carried away by thoughts that are likewise empty. This is
how the mind falls and remains in six realms of smasara. It is the mind itself
that fabricates samsara, and it does so because it fails to recognize its own
nature.
Now that we have some idea of
the minds nature and how it works, we must bring it under control and master
it. In order to do this, it is said that we must keep our body perfectly still.
Moreover, if the body is straight, the subtle channels will be straight. If the
subtle channels are straight, the wind-energy will be unobstructed. And if the
wind-energy is unobstructed, the mind will rest in its natural, unaltered flow.
Therefore, keep your body still and reduce your speech to a minimum. Don’t
think about what you have just been doing. Don’t think about what you are going
to do later. Without concern for the past or the future, let your mind rest in
its natural state. This state, in which the mind is left as it is, untampered
with and natural, is called “rest” or “stillness.” This “stillness” is actually
just the mind itself. You could call it the “mind of the present moment,” or
the “awareness of the present moment.” But whatever you call it, it is what-in
this way moment-is actually knowing and joyfully aware.
A mind that is not agitated by
thoughts concerning the past, present and future, a mind that is thought free,
is a state that is stunningly vast and open. It is full of joy. Even when the
mind’s nature is recognized, it is impossible to describe. It is empty. It
rests in awareness. But this resting in the radiance of awareness does not last
long. There is nothing permanent about it, for thoughts will certainly arise,
strong and clear.
We talk about “arising” because
thoughts flash into appearance like lightning in the sky, or swell like waves
on the ocean. They are in constant movement. At the outset, thoughts appear and
disappear in endless continuity. So, when beginners like us meditate, we must
recognize thoughts as they arise. If we fail to recognize them, their movement
continues unnoticed below the surface and we are carried away by them.
Meditating like this is of no help to us.
If you are able to continue
meditating properly, certain signs will appear. For instance, some people
experience a kind of physical well beings. Others, because of the particular
disposition of their subtle channels and energies, experience a powerful sense
of bliss. For others, it is more like a deep sleep or an all-engulfing
darkness. Whether you experience bliss or clarity, avoid any kind of
expectation. Do not think to yourself, “Oh, my meditation is working. I’m
making progress. If only I could have more of these experiences!” on the other
hand, if you experience a kind of darkness, a thoughtless blankness, clear it
away over and over again. If you don’t, your meditation will sink slightly.
Some people have lots of thoughts when they meditate-an unstoppable flood. If
this happens to you, don’t get upset and think that your meditation is a
failure. It is just a sign that you are becoming aware of all the thoughts that
under ordinary circumstances pass unnoticed. So don’t let it bother you. Don’t
think you have to suppress or eliminate your thoughts. Whatever happens, it is
said that you must meditate without hope or fear, doubt or expectation. That’s
the main thing.
It is thanks to the blessings of
the lama that realization will dawn. Therefore pray to him, mingling your mind
with his. If you do, there will come a moment when you will see that what is
called the Buddha is not different from your own awareness, and that there is
nothing to subdue or master other than your own thoughts. The sign that your
meditation has hit the mark is that your devotion to the lama will deepen and
your compassion for beings will gain in strength. You will be your own witness
and you will gain great confidence in the practice.
If you gain control over your
mind, then even if you are at the point of death, you will understand that it
is only because of a particular thought that there is an impression of
dying-but that the nature of mind is utterly beyond both birth and death. It
would be excellent if you could gain this confidence.
So keep this little, essential,
instruction in your hearts. This conviction and confidence is what we call the
Dharma-the inner qualities that you gain. If you vacillate and think of Dharma
as something extraneous to you thought up by somebody else, you will not
benefit from it. Instead, do yourself a favor and get out of samsara! Be convinced
that your mind must separate from
samsara, with its karma and defilements. If you do, everything will be fine.
Please practice. Pray constantly that you will have no obstacles on your path
and that you might be able to capture, in this very life, the primordial
citadel. And I will add my prayers to yours.
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Acknowledgement for typing this text: Thanks to Ms Rinchen Lhadon, graduate of Gedu College 2019 and Ms. Yeshey Choden, graduate of Taktse College 2019, for typing this while they were working as interns at Thimphu TechPark in February 2020.
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