Mind Training, 2011, part 3

So at present, on the opportunity of the or the occasion of the explanation of the teachings, one must generate the correct motivation to listen to these teachings. With such a motivation, the teachings become a cause for happiness within our own mind, and this is the goal of the teachings. What is this motivation? Through understanding clearly that sentient beings are infinite and boundless in numbers, and that just like us, they wish only for happiness and wish to be free from all suffering. And so seeing clearly that these numberless sentient beings, even though they wish for happiness and wish to be free from suffering, do not understand the causes for happiness, nor do they understand the means to abandon, to put an end to suffering, and are therefore, as it were, bludgeoned into a stupor of suffering.

We in turn give rise within our hearts to measureless compassion, which is that wish for all sentient beings without exception to be free of suffering and of the causes of suffering. And with this as a motivation, and not with a motivation of eliminating our own suffering, we in turn give rise to love and to bodhicitta, which is a wish to place all sentient beings without exception in a state of full enlightenment. With this as a motivation, we should listen to these unmistaken faultless teachings. So we will now meditate for a couple of minutes on this, and Rinpoche will then explain the Dharma. So as Je Tsongkhapa said, fortunate are we to receive these teachings which can transform our minds.

At present, it is important to understand how to listen to teachings, and how the teachings are to be listened to. Generally speaking, if the teachings are listened to appropriately or correctly, then our minds will be transformed. Otherwise, there will be no benefit for our mind. So if one understands clearly how to listen to the teachings, then in turn, one will be able to foster good qualities within one’s mind, and to eliminate the wrong ones. So at present, we are extraordinarily fortunate because we have obtained a human rebirth in which Dharma can be practiced.

We are able to listen to such Dharma. We have teachers who explain the Dharma, and we actually have the freedom to engage in Dharma practice. This is a sign of great good fortune, and we can practice whichever Dharma we choose to practice, whether it is the Suthrayana or the Tantrayāna, we can listen to whatever we choose to listen to in function of our wishes. So this is a sign of great good fortune. This center at present is close to us.

The Dharma taught here is pure Dharma and we have good Dharma friends. So instead of going far away and undergoing great hardship, we can with great ease listen to the teachings. And the Dharma to which we are listening is that Dharma which is taught by the Buddha Śākyamūni, which was examined using reasoning by the great pandits of ancient India, and which was realized and actualized by the great yogis. This is a Dharma which is unmistaken and authentic and very fortunate are we indeed to listen to these great teachings of Je Tsongkhapa. And reflecting on the fact that all of these teachings have been assembled and we are on the receiving end of such an extraordinary transmission, we should become very joyful.

And instead of being annoyed or irritated, we should smile and laugh and sit at ease. So if both the teacher and the students smile and laugh at each other during the teachings, then their minds will be at ease, and the students will understand with great facility the Dharma, it will enter in their minds. On the other hand, if the students are dull, depressed and upset, then nothing is going to enter into their minds at all. And regarding the way to actually listen to the Dharma, there are three faults which one must abstain from. Generally speaking, a person who listens to the Dharma can be compared to a vessel, the other recipient for the teachings, and if these any of these three faults are present, then the Dharma is of no benefit to them.

The first of these three faults is the fault of being a filthy vessel. In the same way as if a recipient for food is contaminated by something which is very dirty and very smelly, then whatever food we fully we pour inside, however the good the food might be, will also be contaminated. Likewise, using this as an example, we can see that if our minds are contaminated by anger or by desire, then the teachings are of no benefit to us, and therefore we must have an upright, an honest mind, which is not contaminated by desire or by anger, or for that matter by any worldly thoughts. The second fault is the fault of a vessel which is placed upside down. In worldly matters, we know that if we take a recipient and we place it upside down, whatever food we try to pour inside will never even enter the recipient, and there will be no benefit in trying to pour the food inside.

Likewise, if when we attend teachings, instead of concentrating on the teachings, listening carefully, and then allowing the teachings from our ears to penetrate our minds and to be held by our minds, we are absent minded and we think motivated by desire or anger of worldly matters, so that teachings do not even enter within our ears. Then the teachings do not have a chance to reach our minds, and in turn they cannot be practiced. Since the goal of attending teachings is to practice, there will have been no point in coming to teachings in the first place. Therefore, we must listen carefully, retain within our minds and practice. And the third fault is that of a vessel which is pierced.

We know very well that if we try to pour liquid into a vessel, which has a hole in its base, and however much we pour in the vessel, it does not accumulate, it just flows out to the base of the vessel. And this is a metaphor for what happens when one attends teachings and does not retain the teachings. Then however much one attends, however many teachings one listens to, they do not accumulate in the mind, they just flow straight out. And therefore it is capital, when one attends to teachings, to retain carefully what was taught, and if possible to enumerate them. This was taught first, this was taught second, this was a third topic.

If one is able to enumerate them in this way, then one will be able to remember the teachings. If one does not remember the teachings, it is impossible to practice them, and then there will have been no point in attending the teachings in the first place. One encounters for instance sometimes people who after attending teachings are asked, what did Geshe-la teach? And they say, well, he taught a lot of things, but I don’t remember anything. Then there’s not a lot of point in they having gone there in the first place.

So these three are faults to retaining and practicing the Dharma, and therefore they must be eliminated. We can eliminate them if we understand the benefit of the teachings. In the same way as in worldly matters, most of us understand clearly the benefit of money. We can see that with money we can have good food, we can go on vacations, we can have a nice house, and therefore most of us are engaged from morning till evening in the accumulation of money, because we love money and we understand its benefits. Now it is not the case that money is useless, money is very useful in this life, money can buy us most of the things which we need.

Unfortunately, money is useless beyond this life. At the point of death, we leave our body behind, and it is not the case that we go into nothingness. Instead, happens at the time of death is that our body and mind separate, and we leave our old body behind, and our mind moves onwards. Then where the mind goes has to be very much the question we ask ourselves. There are only two directions in which the mind can go at the time of death.

The mind can go up or it can go down. There is no third alternative. Going upwards, the mind basically moves to the higher realms, the realms of the human beings, of demigods, of gods, or for that matters, for the Hīnayāna practitioners it can move upwards to the status of an Arhat, or for the Mahāyāna practitioners via the path of the Bodhisattva all the way up to full enlightenment, or moving downwards, the mind sinks into the bodies of animals, of or even into the hell realms. Now whether the mind moves upwards or downwards, whether our next body is a body of the higher or the lower realms, depends exclusively on whether virtue or non virtue are present in the mind. If virtue is present in the mind, the mind will move upwards.

If non virtue is present, the mind will move downwards. Virtue in turn means that we experience happiness in future lives, and non virtue means that we experience suffering. Dharma is nothing else but the means to give rise to virtuous, worthy states of mind, whereas afflictions are nothing else but those non virtuous states of mind which lead us to the lower realms. We are very lucky because we accept the Buddhist teachings, the Dharma. Many do not accept the Dharma.

For instance, there are many who do not accept the reality of reincarnation of past and future lives. Then someone who does not accept reincarnation does not have the beginnings of the dharma. There is no place in that person’s mind for the dharma. They don’t have a clue what the dharma is about. And then such beings basically get caught in the affairs of this life.

They are worldly beings. They are totally preoccupied with worldly affairs in the same way as an animal for instance, who does not understand anything, who is basically stupid, is preoccupied exclusively with food and water. And if we were to give this animal money, the animal would not know what to do with it, because he does not understand the benefit he could derive from money. In the same way, someone who does not believe in past and future lives does not understand the benefit which he could derive from Dharma and therefore attaches no value to it. So Je Tsongkhapa says that we are very fortunate fortunate indeed to have met the teachings and it behooves us to practice them.

And therefore, these are the three interferences to hearing the Dharma. There are also in addition, three favorable conditions, actually technically six favorable conditions which should be present, the so called six recognitions. But when they are subsumed, they can be subsumed into three which are capital. These three which must be present for the teachings to be of benefit for us is first, the recognition of ourselves as a patient. Second, the recognition of the teachings of the Dharma as medicine.

And third, the recognition of the teacher of the Dharma as a doctor. The first recognition, the recognition of ourselves as a patient is fundamental. Because if we say, I am sick, then we will naturally try to find a doctor who can heal the disease. Otherwise, at if the beginning we do not recognize that we are sick, then we will not even bother to try to find the doctor. The doctor in question can give medicine to eliminate the disease.

A wise doctor, a learned doctor would understand clearly the disease he is trying to heal and would prescribe precisely the appropriate medicine. However, it is incumbent on the patient to take the medicine. If the patient does not take the medicine which is prescribed, however good it is, it will be of no benefit whatsoever. So this is the lay of the land for worldly diseases. Here we are speaking of Dharma diseases, the diseases of the mind.

To start with, we don’t recognize that we are mentally ill. It is clear that without this, there is no practice. In this world of ours, cancer is probably the worst disease. There is no real treatment. If you have have cancer, you will eventually die.

Now our mental diseases are of this order. These mental diseases are anger, which is a disease, envy, which is a disease, competitiveness, which is a disease. Desire, which is a disease. And here we are using bodily diseases, which are worldly diseases as a metaphor for the mental diseases. However, as long as we say I am not ill, I am not sick, the Buddhas can be of no help.

The medicine the Buddhas prescribe is the Dharma. It is medicine for the mind. When we are angry, Rinpoche says, we can see just how ill we are. Our face grows red and flushed. We lose all control over what we say.

When desire arises, we cannot sit still. When envy arises, we turn green and look at people Once we have these diseases from the dharma standpoint, they must be eliminated. And once we have eliminated these mental diseases, the bodily diseases eventually will disappear. An Arhat is none other but a being who has eliminated all mental diseases, all mental afflictions. Therefore, Dharma is what puts an end to mental diseases, and the doctor can in no way do so.

He who is able to eliminate mental diseases, to teach the way to be free from mental diseases, is the Buddha. Hence, the meaning of the mantra of the Dharani of the Medicine Buddha. Tayata, which means this is the one, or this is the one who can heal. Baisaje, or Baikaze in Tibetan, Baikaze, maha baikaze. Baikaze means doctor.

So here one is saying doctor, doctor two times. Means great doctor. Means king of the doctors. Is a term of entreaty in Sanskrit. It means please heal me from the disease.

And therefore, in dependence on the Buddha, we are able to eliminate the diseases of desire, of hatred, and of ignorance, which are the mental diseases. So there are many physical or bodily diseases. We have the so called cold cold diseases in Tibetan medicine, wind diseases, bile diseases and so forth. In the same way, there are countless afflictions, or perhaps can however be subsumed within three main afflictions, which are the worst afflictions. These are respectively desire, anger, and ignorance.

The antidote to the mental disease of desire has to be a mental phenomenon. It is a mental disease and can only be countered by a mental phenomenon. And therefore, the antidote is definite emergence or renunciation. Through meditating on definite emergence, it is possible to completely uproot desire. Regarding the second affliction or mental disease, which is anger, the antidote or the medicine for anger is love or bodhicitta.

Through meditating on love or bodhicitta, it is possible to totally destroy anger. The third mental disease or affliction is ignorance or nescience. To uproot this from the root, one must meditate on the view of emptiness. Through meditating on it, it is possible to uproot it. Ignorance is the root of the other two afflictions, desire and anger, and therefore ignorance is the worst of all afflictions.

In the same way as it is said, that diseases of the blood are the worst of all diseases. All of the afflictions rest upon desire, and for this reason, it is said that the Arhats in Tibetan drачомpa, those who have destroyed the enemy, the enemy here refers to afflictions and to ignorance. The Arhats therefore do not experience any suffering since they have eliminated all diseases. So the dharma doctor eradicates the diseases from the very root, whereas doctors are unable to eradicate even bodily diseases from the very root. Therefore, there are two categories of diseases, bodily and mental diseases.

We can now see that mental diseases are the worst, and we suffer, as we understand clearly, from the lot of them. We suffer from desire, from anger, from ignorance, from competitiveness, from spite and envy. And it is capital for us to understand that we have mental diseases, that we are mentally ill. Once we understand that we are ill, we will turn to a doctor and seek his help. So here the mental doctor, if you want the psychiatrist, is the Buddha.

However, we have not had the opportunity to meet with the Buddha. We have met with his surrogate, with his representative, with a spiritual teacher. And through understanding that we ourselves are ill, we will understand that we must ask for the Dharma, that we need the Dharma. And without this, it is impossible to eliminate mental diseases. However, it is not just enough to have the Dharma.

The Dharma must also be ingested, as we ingest a medicine. It must therefore be practiced. If we practice renunciation, we can eliminate desire. If we practice love and bodhicitta, we can eliminate anger and if we practice a view of emptiness, we can eliminate ignorance. Otherwise, if going to a doctor, we just receive the medicine and put it on the side table, it will be of no benefit to us at all.

If we practice, it is definite that we are able to eliminate the mental diseases which afflict us. In the past, many great beings and Arhats have done so. This is something we should plan on doing slowly, not only in this life, but life after life until we reach the goal. And both listening and explaining to the dharma has a a great goal, a great objective. It is none other than eliminating both afflictions and their karmic imprints from the very root.

Afflictions are akin to a foul substance which is poured within the mind, and even when it is removed, the scent of this foul substance still remains. This is what are the karmic imprints of the afflictions. Both of these, both this substance and the afflictions must be eliminated from the root, and he who eliminates these from the root is the Buddha. Through understanding that all sentient beings are none other than our fathers and mothers of past lives, one gives rise to the wish to eliminate completely suffering, and having attained the state of full enlightenment oneself, one can then place millions and millions of beings in a state of liberation. This is a great goal indeed.

So we have obtained a very valuable human rebirth, and for it not to go to waste, for it to be meaningful, we should practice Dharma. Otherwise, this rebirth is a waste. So if we want to accomplish our own goals, our own benefit, we need the Dharma, and if we want to accomplish the benefit of others, we need the Dharma too. Therefore, both for our own welfare and that of others, we need the Dharma. As for worldly matters, they cannot accomplish our ultimate benefit in any respect.

And therefore, we should practice in this way to help all sentient beings, understanding that it is the Dharma and the Dharma alone, which can lead to our true and ultimate happiness and goal, and eliminate completely from the root suffering. Worldly activities and worldly matters can in no way lead to our pure, true and ultimate goal, nor can they eliminate from the root suffering. In the past, Buddhas have practiced in this way. This is how we should practice. If every morning, when we wake up for days, weeks, months and years, we say to ourselves, today I will do my best to accomplish the welfare of all sentient beings, then we will have led this human rebirth to its true fruition.

Even though at present we are unable to benefit all sentient beings through everyday generating this motivation, the capacity, the force of our mind will increase over time until we are able to do so. So today, since this is the first session, we have covered the three interfering conditions, the three faults of the vessel. We have also covered the three discriminations, and Rinpoche has explained the purpose or the reason for listening to the Dharma. The purpose for listening to the Dharma is to eliminate all afflictions from our mind, and it is possible to do so if we meditate. This is proven by past practitioners.

If on the other hand we do not meditate, then it is impossible for this to happen. And as the Dharma which Rinpoche is presenting is Mahāyāna Dharma, then one has to train in bodhicitta as the antidote to self-cherishing. In this context, it is self-cherishing and the ignorance which apprehends itself as truly existent, which are the objects to be eliminated. So bodhicitta targets, is aimed at self-cherishing and can destroy self-cherishing, which is a fierce enemy. Likewise, the mind which realizes emptiness is targeted or is aimed at the ignorance, which apprehends the self as truly or inherently existent.

And once these two are destroyed, one self-cherishing and the ignorance which apprehends the self as truly existing are destroyed, then we will have attained full enlightenment. So a lot of work has fallen on our shoulders, Rinpoche says, and we should generate joy with the thought that we are aiming at attaining full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It’s not easy. So since we are inaugurating here a new year of teachings, Rinpoche wanted to explain clearly how to listen and how to explain to the teachings. And he would like to ask us to listen and to explain, or to have the teachings explained to us in a meaningful fashion.

It will only be meaningful if the teachings impact our minds, and if progressively the worthy, the virtuous states of mind increase, and the vicious, the evil states of mind decrease. In past lives, we have been overwhelmed by the evil and non virtuous states of mind, and the virtue states of mind have been very weak in their capacity to manifest. But he says, now the time has come to smash the evil states of mind. This is the opportunity to do so, and to allow the virtuous states of mind to increase. The more we become accustomed to this, the easier it will become.

There is nothing which becomes harder as one becomes accustomed to it. Instead, as we become accustomed, it will become easier and easier, and we will reach our goal. All sentient beings will reach full enlightenment. Rinpoche says, many eons ago, Buddha Śākyamūni was just like us, transmigrating in cyclic existence under the power of his delusions, and yet he met a spiritual friend, spiritual teacher, he relied upon him, he trained his mind, and he attained full enlightenment. We ourselves can also do the same thing.

This is definite. Okay. Rinpoche would like to ask us to keep what he said today in our minds, to fuse our minds with it, and then our minds will improve. Otherwise, if put it aside when we leave the teaching, there will have been no benefit. Most definitely our minds can improve, Rinpoche says.

If we think of a child which attends school, the child progresses almost imperceptibly from class to class, and suddenly he’s grown up into a university student. Geshe Chekawa, who was a great bodhisattva in Tibet, had a marvelous expression. He said regarding this afflicted mind of ours, this afflicted mind of ours has one great quality, whatever it wants to attain, it understands how to attain. Okay? I