Mind Training, 2011, part 2

So we will meditate for one or two minutes on generating the motivation for listening to these teachings. This must be a good motivation which here refers to that supreme of all motivations, the motivation of bodhicitta, which is the wish to place all sentient beings without exception in the state of unalloyed perfection which is full enlightenment, and through realizing that oneself is unable to do so at present, the wish to attain oneself enlightenment for that purpose. So as you remember from the quote of Āryadeva Rinpoche gave last time, regarding the increasing scarcity of the teacher of the Dharma, the Dharma heard and the hearers of the Dharma, leading to the question whether cyclic existence has an end or not. Rinpoche would like to address the issue at present of the beginning beginninglessness and endlessness of cyclic existence or not. As Rinpoche mentioned last time, there is a preliminary introduction to cyclic existence which Rinpoche has given.

cyclic existence is presented in terms of the six realms. These are the beings which circumambulate in cyclic existence. These circumambulators, these are persons. Then the aggregates of these beings are actual cyclic existence. That is what is called cyclic existence.

The question which arises is whether this cyclic existence is bounded, is finite or infinite. Buddha himself said that cyclic existence is finite, that there is an end in as much as all sentient beings will eventually reach enlightenment. For that matter, Rinpoche says, when one becomes an arhat, cyclic existence has ceased for oneself. However, Āryadeva says that it is difficult for cyclic existence to end. It is difficult because, if you remember in the quote, the hearers are the Sangha, the heard topic is the Dharma, and the utterer is the Buddha.

All three of these are rare within this world of ours. Therefore, it is difficult for cyclic existence to end. How could it end? Buddha himself said, I do not cleanse sins with my hand, nor do I cleanse them through bestowing my blessing. It is through the practice of Dharma that sins are cleansed.

The meaning of this quote is that unlike some tirthikas, some non-Buddhist practitioners who believe that through bathing, in the Ganges for instance, it is possible to purify evil karma, and unlike those who believe that through the power of prayer and blessing alone, it is possible to purify non virtue. The teachings of the Buddha is that sentient beings must purify their non virtue through the practice of Dharma. This is what leads to the end of cyclic existence. If in this context, Buddhism serves are rare in this world, and Dharma is rarer, and the Sangha yet rarer again, how is it possible for cyclic existence to end? And if we reflect on the cycles, the cosmological cycles, we can understand this better.

The cosmological cycles are divided in three. We have first first twenty eons of destruction, then 20 empty eons, and finally twenty eons of abiding. During the first twenty eons of destruction of our universe, the Buddhas do not come. Likewise, during the first 20 empty eons, in which there is nothing, the Buddhas do not come either. So this makes 40 eons which are called the eons of obscuration, in which the Buddhas do not manifest.

They do not manifest because the Buddhas manifest to benefit beings, and during these forty eons there would be no benefit. The Buddhas only manifest in the 20 last eons, the twenty eons of abiding, which are also called the twenty eons of liberation. During this period however, during the first phase, which is one of increase of lifespan, the Buddhas do not manifest because again there would be no benefit. Therefore, the length of time during which the Buddhas manifest is very small, and the odds of meeting a Buddha are very small indeed. If one does not meet a Buddha, it is impossible to practice the Dharma he taught.

So it is very difficult, therefore, to practice the Dharma. This Dharma, is the abandonment of the 10 non virtues, training in the 10 virtues, and so forth, can only be practiced through receiving teachings through a Buddha. Therefore, many sentient beings will be unable to encounter these teachings, and therefore unable to practice them. The Dharma, and therefore the practice of the Dharma, can affect only a very small number of trainees. Of these, the supreme, the best trainees, will attain full enlightenment, middling trainees will attain liberation, and the lowest trainees will attain again a human rebirth.

So, Śāntideva compares saṃsāra to a jail. It is a jail in which we move through the power of karma and afflictions. So through the power of karma and afflictions, we pass from old aggregates, are abandoned, to new aggregates, which in turn are abandoned, to other aggregates which are also abandoned. Passing from these aggregates to each other is akin to being changed from one cell in the jail to another. We remain in jail throughout.

The only way to be freed from jail is the practice of Dharma. For this, we need a Buddha who imparts Dharma. Regarding the practice of Dharma, there are practices central to lay people and practices for those who are ordained. For the lay people, it is the practice of lay vows. For those who are ordained, it is practicing the novice vows or the vows of a fully ordained monk.

Without these, this practice, it is impossible in the future to meet with a Buddha. And without meeting in the future with a Buddha, it will be impossible for us to attain liberation. As Śāntideva says, countless Buddhas came in the past and through our own faults we did not meet them, we did not encounter with them. The Buddhas are akin to the sun which shines equally on all in the same same way as the sun views all beings as its children, in the same same way does the Buddha’s. Unfortunately, beings from their own side can erect obstacles which prevent the light of the sun from shining through.

At this point, there is no light under the obstacle, but only darkness and shadows. From the standpoint of the Buddhas, all sentient beings are equal, and from our standpoint, however, not encountering a Buddha is a direct result of our own faults. As Śāntideva said, in the same same way as in a dark night, briefly for an instant a flash of lightning illuminates all. This quote, Rinpoche says, is to be understood as present, as follows.

At present, imagining that we are in a situation in which heavy rain is falling, and this darkness surrounds us is illuminated for a slight instant by a flash of lightning. That slight instant of time is the duration of time in which a Buddha’s Buddha manifests, when compared with the total darkness surrounding it. So it is very difficult to meet with a Buddha because both of our own extreme state of abasement, the sins we have accumulated, and because of the very great poverty in virtue we are in. And therefore, it is difficult to say that cyclic existence has an end. One can say that Buddhas and Arhats have put an end to their own cyclic existence, but the fact that Buddhas and Arhats have put an end to their own cyclic existence affects in no way other sentient beings.

The other sentient beings cyclic existence still subsides. And Buddhas and Arhats have put an end to their own cyclic existence through the wisdom which cuts through ignorance. It is therefore through one’s own Dharma practice that one can overcome one’s own ignorance and be freed from cyclic existence. We should reflect on our own liberation and not preoccupy ourselves with how others practice or do not practice. Precisely because we ourselves do not practice, we are not liberated.

So it is because of our own thoughts that we at present experience this state of affairs. The question has to be whether there is an end to our own cyclic existence or not. And this is a question we alone can decide. It is within our hands. If we abandon ignorance, there is an end to our own cyclic existence, otherwise there is not.

We ourselves must therefore practice and instead of this, we engage only in constant hearing of Dharma. We listen, we listen, we listen, we attend teachings and we never practice. This does not lead to any liberation. If we do not practice, then it is very difficult for us to progress. We do not understand what suffering means and therefore do not believe that we suffer.

We do not understand what it means to practice virtue and for what virtue is, and therefore do not practice virtue. If one does not practice virtue, there is no attainment of liberation. And then if one behaves in any which way, then one can only experience rebirth as a dog or as an animal. Once reborn as a dog, what hope is there to practice any type of Dharma? The body we have for the establishment of Dharma is destroyed.

Once we born as an animal, as a dog, a cat, what hope is there for us in any respect? So if we practice Dharma well, then in future lives there is hope for us to get a human rebirth, otherwise it will not happen. At present in this world of ours, we have not only obtained a precious human body for the practice of Dharma, but Dharma itself is present. There are teachers, there are friends in the Dharma, Sangha, who can help us. Whether we will encounter or not these conditions in the future is very difficult to say.

Then there will only be suffering, raw suffering. As Śāntideva says, if I do not practice, then what? I will only be obscured by suffering, and the sound of Dharma will not even penetrate my ears for countless eons. If we do not practice Dharma, if we do not practice virtue, then we will experience inconceivable suffering, and once we are stupefied by suffering for countless eons, what hope is there to understand any Dharma? At this point, we can only experience being reborn for eons in the lower realms.

So someone who understands the Dharma and who does not practice the Dharma will be reborn in the lower realms. Someone who has no understanding in the slightest of the Dharma and does not practice does not do virtue will also be reborn in the lower realm. So as far as their destination is concerned, are exactly identical. Both will be reborn in the lower realms. However, the first, the person who attended many teachings and never practiced the Dharma is much worse because he or she knew and he never put in, he or she never put in any effort.

As for the second, what can one say? This person never had a chance. So we are in the case of the first person. We go to teaching after teaching, we never practice anything, and we prepare ourselves a future in the lower realms. What can be said?

There was in Tibet a man called Tashi, who as we would say in English, a wastrel. He was loved by all running left and right. People said, Tashi is such a nice man. Tashi is doing this. Tashi is doing that.

He was a very busy man by all accounts. And one day he fell terribly ill. And facing death, he realized that all his life running around had been completely wasted. He had had no dharma of any type. And he collapsed and burst into tears tearing his hair out and cried out loud, I am not Tashi.

I abandon being Tashi. Therefore, there was a monk who was asked once, what exactly are the results of running around, gathering money, doing business and so forth in this life? And he said, the results of running around in this life are more running around in this life. The results of running around in the next life are reborn in the hell realms as a preta or as an animal. And the reason for this is that running around, trying to get money, to get food and so forth, is actually a set of activities ruled by desire.

in dependence on desire, one is reborn in the lower realms. Therefore, which is not saying we should not engage in the necessary activities for this life, we have to eat, but for instance, if we take one day, it should be divided in three One part dedicated to worldly affairs, second part we have to dedicate to sleep, and the third part we should dedicate to Dharma. If we do this, then this is a reasonably well spent life. A life which is totally spent running after food, money and the affairs of this life is truly a wasted life. It is a life of Tashi of which Rinpoche spoke.

Okay. So, we’re on page 41, the middle stanza, Rinpoche says, this is a collection of advice which is given by the great bodhisattvas to lesser bodhisattvas. Now we ourselves are unable to practice the practice of the great bodhisattvas, for that matter it hurts our ears to hear about it because it is so profound and so difficult for us to practice. Nonetheless, in the past, we never encountered such great teachings, we never heard them, and therefore at present, it is appropriate for us to listen to them and to try to implant karmic imprints within our minds. The verse on page 41 reads, when troubled by desire and anger, whatever I do, since it is because of stubbornly engaging in unsuitable evil traits of character that the sword of evil karma has revolved back upon me, at present I will expunge you, I, from my presence. So here this refers to the situation where following our teacher’s advice, his instructions, we are trying to practice virtue, we are reciting our commitments and so forth, and yet we are unable mentally to practice.

Our mind is troubled when we practice by desire, desire, by anger, and so forth. This is the result in the second verse, in this life and of having in this life and in former lives, engage in unsuitable evil traits of character, dark and evil aspects of the mind, such as desire, hatred, the ignorance which apprehends the true existence of phenomena, self-cherishing and so forth. Through habituation with these, we have in turn experienced the result expounded by the third verse, in other words, sword of evil karma has revolved back upon me. Therefore, we take the resolve in the first and fourth verse at present, in which he says, from now onwards, I will expunge you I from my presence. Here, the reading must be broader than this.

We must expunge also desire, anger, self-cherishing in all its forms, the mind which apprehends the I as inherently existent and so forth, so that we no longer experience mental disturbance when we try to practice sincerely such as reciting our commitments and so forth. And the stanza on page 42. When whatever I practice the goal is not attained since it is through having been possessed by wrong views, that the sword of evil karma has revolved back upon me. At present whatever I do I will do for very sake of others. So this stanza refers to situations where whenever we practice, in other words we meditate, since practice here is meditation.

And this can refer to meditating in long retreats, the three year and three month retreat, in shorter retreat, or just in meditation sessions, or engaging in mantra recitation, meditation on oneself as a deity and so forth. Therefore, when whatever I practice, the goal is not attained. The goal of practice is the elimination of the afflictions within our mind. When that goal is not attained, in other words, afflictions are not eliminated, but let alone this, Rinpoche says, when as a result of practice, not only are the afflictions not eliminated, but they actually increase and desire and anger increase within our mind stream. This, in other words, completely defeats the purpose of practice.

Then, what is explained in the second line is the cause of this state of affairs, since it is through having been possessed by wrong views. This is the situation in which in past lives, one was possessed by wrong views, such as apprehending the self as truly existing, self-cherishing, wrong views in general, or the view of the permanence of phenomena, and when our mind was pervaded by this, and we asserted there are no such things as past and future lives, there is no such thing as karma and causality, I believe in a truly existing self, then as a result of this, in this third verse, the sword of evil karma has revolved back upon me. Therefore, one takes a resolve in the fourth verse, to do whatever we do, no longer for the sake of self-cherishing, as formerly, but for the very sake of others, in other words, for other cherishing. And the verse at the bottom of, the stanza at the bottom of page 42, when even though practicing virtue, one’s continuum remains untamed, since it is because of thinking of the vanities of this life that the sword of evil karma has revolved back upon me.

At present, I will focus on the wish for liberation. So the first verse, when even though practicing virtue refers to both practicing virtue and abandoning sins and non virtues. One engages in the practice of virtue with as a goal, the taming of one’s continuum. However, when even though practicing virtue, one’s continuum remains untamed. In other words, self-cherishing, competitiveness, spite, envy, and all evil thoughts increase in one’s continuum, then this is the result of what is explained in the second verse, having in a past life thought of the vanities of that life, having thought in a past life of the importance of being learned, of being wealthy, of being famous, and as a result of having become accustomed to that in the past life, thinking in this life as well of becoming famous, learned, and wealthy.

In other words, practicing in this very life under the influence of past life, karmic predispositions with a bad motivation. As a result of this, in the third verse, the sword of evil karma revolves back upon me. And in the fourth verse, we have the resolve at present. In other words, from now onwards, having understood that it is inappropriate to behave in this way, I will give up thinking of the vanities of this life and I will focus on the wish for liberation from cyclic existence. So, this verse clarifies the fact that in dependence on non virtues, in dependence on envy, in dependence on competitiveness from past lives, and this life as well.

We, our mind naturally gravitates in the same direction. This is called the result, which is concordant with the cause karmically. And therefore for that reason, however much hardship we engage in this life, are unable to attain results in our practice. The remedy to this is to create a good state of mind, and then in dependence on a good state of mind in this life. In future lives, a good state of mind will naturally arise.

in dependence on creating in this life a mind which wishes to help others, in future lives as well, such a mind will spontaneously arise. in dependence on giving up the mind which wishes to harm others, in future lives such a state of mind will not arise. And in turn, if in this life we are constantly negative and critical, and see thieves everywhere and hostile to all, then in future lives as well, this will carry over. Therefore, we should create a continuum of goodness within our minds, a continuum of cherishing of others, and this will carry through into future lives. Okay.

Thank you. So, as Buddha Śākyamūni said, such is the karma, like is the result. This is the very crux of the Buddhist teachings. Whatever we do to others is in turn done to us. Therefore, when we harm others, we ourselves are harmed down the line.

When we help others, we ourselves are helped down the line. And therefore, if we analyze, we can see that when we harm others, two persons are harmed. Others are harmed and we ourselves are also harmed. Likewise, when we help others, two persons are helped. We ourselves are helped in the short term and we ourselves are helped in the long term.

Therefore, the key practice of Bodhisattvas is exclusively to help others and not to harm them in the slightest. In so doing, bodhisattvas accomplish their own goal. That is why Je Tsongkhapa said the Buddha himself attained full enlightenment through practicing only for the sake of others. Practicing for the sake of others alone, the Buddha fulfilled his own goal, his own aim. Now, we ourselves do not understand this, and we think that actually taking care of ourselves, protecting ourselves, and harming others is the way forwards in life.

In so doing, we do not only do not help ourselves, we harm ourselves. We have been behaving in this way since beginningless time, and we have absolutely nothing to show for it. On the other hand, if we were as the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas exclusively to practice for the sake of others, exclusively to help others, then we would experience on our side only happiness and only help. There are some who only harm others. They not only do not experience happiness, but they in return will only experience suffering and harm.

Therefore, in a nutshell, the crux of the Buddha’s teachings is at least do not harm others. And if in addition to that, one can help them, so much the better, one should help them as much as possible. Otherwise, if one cannot help them, at least one should rest on this foundation of not harming them. Because everything we inflict on others, we throw out to others, comes back to us. So Rinpoche would like to ask you to keep this in your mind and to please practice.

He is an old monk in his upper eighties and he only taught this because he thought they would be of benefit, it would be of benefit. If we practice, it will be of benefit. If we do not practice, it will not be of benefit. Okay.