37 Bodhisattva Practices Series:
Verse 9:
"The pleasure of the three realms is as fleeting as a dewdrop on the tip of a blade of grass, vanishing in a single moment. Striving for the supreme state of never-changing liberation is the bodhisattvas’ practice."
The three existences are the human's on the earth, the gods above, and the nagas below. All beings in these realms are attached to the pleasures of sensory enjoyments. We are not liberated because we are attached to samsara, because we think that we can actually find true happiness by finding gratification for our senses. We can understand rather easily that hatred is the cause of suffering, and we are ready to give up this negative emotion. It is much more difficult for us to realize that the actual cause of still wandering in samsara is our mistaken belief that we will, in the end, find some happiness here. It is thus more difficult to recognize our desire for samsaric bliss. We are not free from suffering, because we can't let go of it. But no matter how hard we try, even if we get what we were striving for, it will not last. When we die we are forced to let it all go. What will stay, however, are the negative imprints, the karmas that we created in order to obtain worldly pleasures. Everything is impermanent, changing moment by moment; nothing lasts, like a dewdrop on the tip of a blade of grass. To cling to the permanence of things is extremely ignorant. Patrul Rinpoche said, "The attachment to sights is like a moth attracted to a fire flame. The attachment to sound is like a deer enchanted by the hunter's flute. The attachment to taste is like a fish taking a baited hook. The attachment to touch is like an elephant mired in a swamp. The attachment to smell is like a bee flying into a carnivorous flower." For example, the elephant finds it very blissful to be in the cool mud, but he is so heavy that he easily becomes mired in the swamp and will die there if he can’t get out. Likewise, we think that samsara is pleasurable. In the beginning we enjoy ourselves, in the middle we experience misery, and in the end we will find no liberation, like an elephant sinking in a swamp. In the beginning, we are convinced that obtaining our object of desire will bring us satisfaction. When we get it, it becomes the cause of suffering. If the good qualities and the faults of an action are equal, or if the faults are predominant, you should not engage in the action. This is how you should consider before partaking of something pleasurable. For example, if you consider carefully, you will not drink alcohol excessively. There is nothing wrong with drinking only a little bit of alcohol, it can be medicinal. But if you drink excessively and get drunk, then eventually you will drink yourself to death. If you are honest, the pleasures of this life, many times are the cause of much suffering.
The 37 Bodhisattva Practices Series:
Verse 8:
"The Subduer said that all the unbearable suffering of the three lower realms is the fruition of wrongdoing. Therefore, never committing negative deeds, even at peril to one's life, is the bodhisattvas' practice."
All the unbearable suffering of the lower realms is created by our afflictive emotions. The Buddha did not invent or create a certain belief, but rather, having realized how things really are, the Buddha compassionately explained what causes suffering and what causes happiness. He taught, "If you wish to be happy, this is what you need to do. If you wish to avoid suffering, this is what you must give up." "The very nature of hatred is hell. The very nature of love is the pure land." Hell is not a place someone sends you to in order to punish you. It is just the nature of hatred to produce hell, or the nature of hatred is hell. This is just how things are. Sometimes people doubt the reality of hell. Even Buddhists sometimes think "it is just a state of mind. If its just mind then its not real, so it can't be that bad." However, while it is true that hell does not inherently exist, neither does this human life! If you experience this life as a reality, hell will be experiencedin the same way. For as long as there is negative karma, for as long as there is self-grasping, suffering is a real experience. Only when one attains enlightenment and realizes emptiness, one realizes that the realms, including the pure lands do not inherently exist.In addition, we can see the suffering of all realms in our world. There are humans who experience the suffering of hell and hungry spirits. What is the cause of all suffering? The cause of all suffering is self-grasping and the afflictive emotions arising from it. Thus you should observe your own mind and if you find that you possess afflictive emotions such as anger, the result will certainly ripen in the future. Milarepa said, "The root of the lower realms is hatred, therefore practice patience even at the cost of your life." When you understand the suffering resulting from hatred, you will naturally wish to abandon it. If you do not understand this you may even mistakenly justify anger. From hatred arises hell, from greed appear the hungry spirits and from ignorance the animals. For instance, some people are unaware and destroy their life by drinking alcohol and taking drugs. This creates a propensity of ignorance leading to birth as an animal.There is outer and inner karma. Outer karma refers to our external activities. One may think, “I am not killing, or stealing, I'm not doing anything wrong.” But what is more important is the inner karma. Even if one is not engaging in negative deeds externally, if one fails to give rise to compassion and only thinks about oneself, negative thoughts will accumulate in the mind like snowflakes falling continuously day and night. If we keep following the afflictive emotions, we will not find freedom for countless eons. That is only due to the actions we have committed based on this body. Karma, cause and effect, is infallible.
The 37 Bodhisattva Practices Series:
Verse 7:
"What worldly gods, themselves also bound in the prison of cyclic existence, are able to protect others? Therefore, when refuge is sought, taking refuge in the undeceiving Triple Gem is the bodhisattvas’ practice."
The reason why we should not seek refuge in worldly gods is because they, themselves, are not yet liberated from suffering. They may be very powerful and magnificent, but this is only the temporary ripening of various karmas. Because they themselves have not eliminated the actual cause of suffering, the afflictive emotions, they cannot provide us with ultimate protection from suffering. Only someone who has transcended suffering can protect us from suffering. The Buddha is the one who has achieved lasting peace and happiness and is free of all suffering and all causes of suffering. Therefore, the Buddha has the ability to help us to become ultimately free of suffering. The method to become free of suffering is the Dharma, the teachings of the Buddha. If we follow the prescription of the Buddha, we will become just like the Buddha ourselves. Although the Dharma consists of 84,000 teachings, they have a single essence - bodhichitta.In order to progress along the path of Dharma we need to rely on a companion, someone who has walked the path and thus possesses the ability to guide us on the path. This companion is the Sangha. Having taken refuge in the Three Jewels will protect us from suffering because the Three Jewels teach us what to do and what not to do. If we practice accordingly we will be protected, in this sense we are actually protecting ourselves. Ultimately, thus, we rely on the inner Three Jewels. When we understand that the Three Jewels are actually complete within our own mind, we will become free of suffering. The inner Buddha is your own mindful awareness, the inner Dharma is love and compassion, and if you practice their union, your mind is the Sangha. Since taking refuge means to ultimately take refuge in compassion, we will be protected from suffering. The essence of the Mahayana refuge vow is to think: "I shall not forsake bodhichitta, even at the cost of my life.From this time onwards, until attaining the heart of enlightenment, I shall remain inseparable from wisdom and compassion."
37 Bodhisattva Practices Series
Verse 10:
"When mothers who have been kind to one since beginningless time are suffering, what's the use of one's own happiness? Therefore, generating the mind of enlightenment in order to liberate limitless sentient beings is the bodhisattvas' practice."
Since time without beginning we have taken birth in cyclic existence, over and over again. In all these incalculable past lives we have had parents. If we were to pile up the bones of all our past bodies, it would be greater than Mount Meru. If we were to gather all the tears we cried, it would fill up a limitless ocean. Since we incarnated infinitely, there is not a single being who has not been our parent in a past life. At that time, they cared for us with great love and sacrificed their lives for our sake. Just like our present parents, they have committed many negative deeds in order to protect us. As a result of these negative deeds they now suffer in samsara endlessly. How could we turn our backs at them and leave them alone? Because they are our mothers, and thus very dear to our heart, we want them to be happy. The wish for the happiness of others is love. If you love someone you cannot bear to see them suffer. This is compassion. We wish for all others to be free from suffering. The root of suffering is the self-clinging mind. Although sentient beings are limitless, self-clinging is the single root of all suffering. If you give rise to love and compassion for all sentient beings, your mind will become vast and all-pervasive. When love pervades all beings, self-grasping diminishes. In this way you accomplish the dual purpose of others and yourself. Ultimately, there is a single ground within which all beings are one. Because we are connected to all beings on the ultimate level, we can pervade them with love. They can actually receive our love. For instance, a dog or a cat will naturally come close to a person with great love, and they will run away if one is very angry. This is a sign that of the single ground. In addition, when you think of others, you do not think about a self. If you are self-centered, your mind becomes narrow, like a block of ice. But when you let go and send out love to others, you will notice how your mind expands. The mind become open and spacious, like a vast ocean or the sky. Bodhichitta is the preliminary practice, bodhichitta is the main practice, and bodhichitta is also the result. Therefore be courageous and do not abandon even a single sentient being for as long as samsara exists.
37 Bodhisattva Practices Series
Verse 10:
"When mothers who have been kind to one since beginningless time are suffering, what's the use of one's own happiness? Therefore, generating the mind of enlightenment in order to liberate limitless sentient beings is the bodhisattvas' practice."
Since time without beginning we have taken birth in cyclic existence, over and over again. In all these incalculable past lives we have had parents. If we were to pile up the bones of all our past bodies, it would be greater than Mount Meru. If we were to gather all the tears we cried, it would fill up a limitless ocean. Since we incarnated infinitely, there is not a single being who has not been our parent in a past life. At that time, they cared for us with great love and sacrificed their lives for our sake. Just like our present parents, they have committed many negative deeds in order to protect us. As a result of these negative deeds they now suffer in samsara endlessly. How could we turn our backs at them and leave them alone? Because they are our mothers, and thus very dear to our heart, we want them to be happy. The wish for the happiness of others is love. If you love someone you cannot bear to see them suffer. This is compassion. We wish for all others to be free from suffering. The root of suffering is the self-clinging mind. Although sentient beings are limitless, self-clinging is the single root of all suffering. If you give rise to love and compassion for all sentient beings, your mind will become vast and all-pervasive. When love pervades all beings, self-grasping diminishes. In this way you accomplish the dual purpose of others and yourself. Ultimately, there is a single ground within which all beings are one. Because we are connected to all beings on the ultimate level, we can pervade them with love. They can actually receive our love. For instance, a dog or a cat will naturally come close to a person with great love, and they will run away if one is very angry. This is a sign that of the single ground. In addition, when you think of others, you do not think about a self. If you are self-centered, your mind becomes narrow, like a block of ice. But when you let go and send out love to others, you will notice how your mind expands. The mind become open and spacious, like a vast ocean or the sky. Bodhichitta is the preliminary practice, bodhichitta is the main practice, and bodhichitta is also the result. Therefore be courageous and do not abandon even a single sentient being for as long as samsara exists.
The 37 Bodhisattva Practices Series:
Verse 11:
"All suffering without exception comes from wishing for one's own happiness. The perfect buddhas arise from the altruistic mind. Therefore, completely exchanging one's own happiness for the suffering of others is the bodhisattvas' practice."
All the buddhas of the past, present, and future arise from bodhichitta. In the beginning, the Buddha Shakyamuni was an ordinary being like us. Having given rise to bodhichitta, the Buddha then accumulated merit throughout three endless eons, and finally attained complete enlightenment. What we call merit is nothing else than love and compassion for sentient beings. If we practice virtue with compassion for all beings, it is called merit. If we practice virtue without compassion it is not called merit. If we truly love others, we will easily exchange our own happiness for their suffering. Some people are naturally very compassionate, this is due to the merit they have accumulated in the past. We are compassionate because we love others. If we would not love them, we would not care about them. But if you love others and see that they experience endless suffering, an unbearable feeling will overcome you. You cannot bear to see them suffer, you want to do anything to free them from suffering. This is compassion. The root of all the endless suffering is self-clinging. The only thing that destroys self-clinging is love. Thus what those beings need is love and compassion. If love permeates their mind, their negative karma and suffering will melt away. For example, if all the people in a war-zone would give rise to love all of a sudden, their suffering would end. Their hatred and jealousy will disappear right there. Thus their negative karma would become purified. Bodhichitta is the most powerful way to purify negative karma and dispel suffering. When negative karma and obscurations become purified, they melt away like snow melting in the sun. If the snow mountain is very large you will not notice that some snow has melted, nevertheless, change happens moment by moment. If you really understand the pain that is created by self-clinging, if you really trust that striving for your own happiness is the cause of suffering and has never brought you happiness since beginningless time in samsara, you will be able to generate the inner strength to transform your mind. If you really understand the extent of the wealth of merit gained from bodhichitta, it will be easy and joyful to benefit others. For example, we believe that we are tired because we work too much. In reality we are resentful because our payment is not good enough. Imagine someone were to tell you: "I will offer you 10 million dollars if you work for me today." Would you be too tired to do it? Most likely you would be at your best behavior that day. The merit gained from giving rise to bodhichitta is a far greater wealth than 10 million dollars. Understanding the benefits of bodhichitta, bodhisattvas are tireless. When you see how your love touches others, it will become your happiness to give your happiness to others.
In March 2012 Gar Drolma Center asked Garchen Rinpoche to describe the deity Vajrakilaya for those new to the Dharma. He gave a magnificent description of the arising of wrathful deities:
“The transformation that occurs when the afflictive emotions are subdued with sharp discriminating awareness is the arising of the wrathful deities. The actual nature of the afflictive emotions is primordial wis
Q&A with HE Garchen Rinpoche during 2012 Amidewa Retreat in Singapore
Q: When we are chanting the mantra, do we keep up the entire visualisation all the time?
GR: You do not have to keep visualising all the time during mantra recitation. In the beginning when we recite the visualisation for the mantra recitation, you should generate the visualisation as explained in the text. Then you begin reciting the mantra with this visualisation. When your mind then becomes clear and calm you do not have to visualise anything. You can just sustain this state of clarity and tranquillity as you recite the mantra. If distracting thoughts or emotions again arise you should come back to the visualisation to help you mind return to focus. When there are no thoughts you can just rest in the empty natural state of mind, abide free from fixation, not separating self and others.
Q: When we do the practice at home, do we have to do all the offerings as the sadhana suggests?
GR: There is no need to assemble all the prescribed offering substances. You should assemble whatever you can such as flowers, water bowls, a statue or picture, and so forth, and the rest you can visualise. It is important to understand the meaning behind making these offerings. The point is to overcome ego-clinging. When we practice making offerings, we are practicing to give away what is precious to us, thus we release attachment. Ordinarily we are attached to the sense pleasures, for this reason we offer them. The deity actually has no need or desire for these sense pleasures, but offering them releases our own attachment and we accumulate great merit. As a result of having made offerings we will experience the result that is similar to the cause in future lifetimes, for example a beautiful complexion, or a long life span, and finally it serves as the cause for attaining awakening.
Q&A with HE Garchen Rinpoche during 2012 Amidewa Retreat in Singapore
Q: Rinpoche said that whoever realizes the nature of mind is Buddha. Can Rinpoche please explain this further?
GR: Sentient beings believe in a subject-object duality, they think that they themselves are separate from the others out there. When you directly experience the natural state, all these ideas and fixations fall apart. When the thinking of self and others falls apart, when one doesn't cling to the habitual discursive thoughts, one realizes that the nature of mind is actually like space. There is no separation or duality in space. Separation is only a mental construct. When these mental fabrications collapse one will know the endless space-like nature of mind. There is a sense of ease and peace. Knowing that sentient beings have not realized this reality, one maintains unconditioned compassion. Abiding in the natural state of mind is a most peaceful and joyous state. But sentient beings have not seen their own true nature, with confused minds the endlessly suffer in illusory samsara. This is a great pity, thus the compassion of those who know reality naturally prevails.
Video teaching by Garchen Rinpoche
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/winter-teachings-2012---garchen-rinpoche#/channel/winter-teachings-2012---garchen-rinpoche
Apart from sustaining mindfulness throughout the day and night there is no other clear light yoga. It begins with being able to sustain mindfulness throughout the day. When your mind is very clear and sharp during the day, eventually it will carry through the night. When you fall asleep continuing to sustain mindfulness, in a union of clear awareness and emptiness, you will first recognize the dream state. This recognition is called "recognizing the luminosity of the dream."
Then eventually, through consistent mindfulness, even the dream state will disappear, and you will rest in clarity naturally; awareness will remain. Eventually clear awareness will even remain during the deep sleep state. It is like the illumination of a lamp flame. There are no thoughts, and there is a subtle feeling of your sleep's rest. This is accomplished when you sustain clear awareness continuously--remain free from the slightest distraction--throughout day and night.
Finally, in deep sleep you will recognize the clear light of deep sleep. What we call clear light is your ability to outshine thoughts and emotions or feelings with clear awareness. These thoughts, while arising, dissolve without having affected you or leaving a trace behind. A beginning practitioner will sustain mindfulness sometimes, and then will again become unmindful. This must first be overcome during the day. You must first be able to destroy whatever habitual thoughts arise, then habituate sustaining clear awareness. Then when you go to sleep, uphold mindfulness by falling asleep practicing the OM AH HUNG Vajra Recitation. At times you might remember the OM AH HUNG during the dream state, and eventually mindfulness will remain even in the deep sleep state.
Below are some pointers Garchen Rinpoche gave on the mahamudra texts. He was teaching to a mainly Tibetan Buddhist monastic audience based on Chetsang Rinpoche’s commentary on Tilopa’s Ganges Mahamudra, Saraha’s Mahamudra Song for the People, and Jigten Sumgon’s teaching on Coemergent Mahamudra.
With the mahamudra teachings, Rinpoche began by emphasizing the most important point is to focus on the meaning of the teachings, not any rules associated with it. The mahamudra seems like a gentle remainder to not become too attached to the conceptual, philosophical, or habitual elements of one’s practice.
Jigden Sumgon said that you miss the point if you become attached to the teachings. The key point is enlightenment and it doesn’t change from one vehicle or path to another. To think one can attain it through a philosophical system is wrong.
Like Buddha taught, the mind is a union of emptiness and luminosity. You can’t ascribe conceptual qualities to it or actively seek to attain certain ends. Rinpoche clarified how in a clear mind state you are not trying to abide in a particular state, conceptualizing, or fabricating. We are taught in meditation the mind is like luminosity. But we can try to focus on this and miss the point.
We are all also distracted by many things during meditation. The idea that discursive thoughts should be stopped is an illusion and ignorant.
You also can’t be liberated when you are attached to the physical body. You are liberating the mind not the body.
When there is no hope, expectation or fear, then fruition manifests. Chetsang Rinpoche’s commentary on the mahamudra says how when you are abiding without recollection of the past or without following after thoughts of the present, or evoking thoughts of the future, then you are liberated. Normally we have a strong fixation on this life. The degree that you fixate is the degree to which you miss the nature of true reality.
The point is that whatever arises is not real. Ultimately its nothing more than like being in a dream. It is a dream. When you are in a mindful state you realize wisdom and don’t have to contrive anything. Thoughts are like waves. A yogi knows they will arise and settle back down. A great meditator knows no antidote is necessary.
When you are free from thought, like a drop of mercury falling in the dust, the mind cannot become contaminated by others’ clouded minds. However, if one faces others with his own mind corrupted by afflictive emotions and discoursive thoughts, like a drop of water, the dust sticks. With afflictive emotions, he explained, when you blame others, we give our power to them, and we can even go to a hell-like state through a simple afflictive emotion like anger. Yogis know anger is caused without blaming another person or object: anger is part of the nature of the mind. You are liberated when you see it this way.
Even if you abide in a clear mind state, you must couple it with compassion and the 37 practices of the boddhisattvas. The point is to take insights learned from practice and to apply them in your daily life. If you have seemingly wonderful mediation practices but don’t apply them in your real life when afflictive emotions arise, or lack compassion when others’ afflictive emotions arise, it is cause for reflection on your practice.
The Single Sufficient Remedy
"In prison Khenpo Munsel Rinpoche taught me this: 'The extent of your realization will be known when you encounter difficult circumstances. You will not know the extent of your realization when things go well.' When you find yourself in a troublesome situation, when you are in great pain, when an intense emotion arises, only then will you know where you are at with practice.
He added: 'Adverse circumstances reveal your hidden faults.' If you are able to hold awareness unwaveringly during such a time, and thus if you are not carried away by the force of the emotion, it is a sign that you have gained experience in practice.
If you were to practice mindful awareness with great diligence for just a month, if you were to recognize even the slightest thought and not allow your mind to wander off into delusion for that time, even in such a short time you would witness great changes.
Fierce afflictions would not faze you so much any more, because you would have gained personal experience in observing the illusory play. There is in fact just one remedy necessary—mindful awareness. It is the single sufficient remedy that transforms difficulties inside and out."
--H.E. Garchen Rinpoche