Sun Radiance: Thought Transformation, 6 March 1990, part 3

Being made here is that we have little, we have a small amount of scope of action for ourselves. But the Buddhists and the Bodhisattvas, their scope of actions are like the sky, as vast as the sky. So we want to try to mix ours with theirs and therefore until in that way this accumulation will never be exhausted. It’s like taking, as was explained, our drop of water skillful actions, and dropping into the ocean, skillful actions of all sentient beings. Until that ocean dries up, our drop of water will always remain.

Type of prayer is extremely beneficial and a very vast type of aspiration. So, is what is meant by the force of prayer or aspiration such that combining all our individual skillful actions with the skillful actions of all sentient beings and dedicating such that where the awakening heart has not been born, may it be newly developed. Where it has developed, may it be maintained. More than that, may it grow higher and higher until it comes to complete fruition. This is the force of prayer.

Then the fifth of the five powers is the power of forces, is the force of familiarity, familiarization. Previously, we’ve been discussing the Precious Awakening Heart. We talked about what great benefit it is and one should reflect upon this well. Having reflected upon it in that way, one should familiarize oneself and custom habituate oneself with the awakening heart no matter what one might be doing, whether it’s going, staying, sleeping, waking, working, whatever. It should be constantly familiarizing ourselves with the awakening heart uninterruptedly.

There is a quotation from Śāntideva in which he says, Ordinary people work for their own welfare. The Buddhas work for the welfare of others. Just look at the difference between them. So we have, from beginningless time, been involved in self centeredness and we are continuing to be involved in self centeredness and if we continue in the future by involvement of our self centeredness then our cyclic existence is never going to end. From the beginning of this time due to our self centeredness we have evolved in cyclic existence and been continually tortured by various types of suffering, but the Buddhas on the other hand, they by forgoing self centeredness and exchanging self for other centeredness have achieved their exalted state.

They have gone completely beyond cyclic existence. If we on our side continue in the way that we have been practicing since the beginning of this time, we have suffered in the past, we are suffering now, and we will continue to suffer in the future. The Buddhas have gone beyond all suffering and the method they used was exchanging self-centeredness for other-centeredness. There is no other method than this. Seeing this we should begin to familiarize ourselves with other-centeredness, the quality of the awakening heart whether we’re going, whether we’re sitting, sleeping, waking, whatever we’re doing.

This is the fourth force of familiarization. Seeking to familiarize ourselves with the awakening heart, that if we were to accustom ourselves with it today, the next day we would have improved that much. If we were to continue the day after that day, we would have improved, moved toward the awakening heart by that much. If we continue one month, one year, then it’s definitely that we will develop within our mind the awakening heart. Śāntideva said, There is nothing that does not become easier upon familiarization.

This is the quality of the mind that whatever we accustom it to, it becomes facilitated such that it becomes easier and easier and easier as time progresses the more we accustom the mind to it. This is applied also to the development of the awakening heart. So if we use an analogy for this quality of mind to facilitate whatever we, to become easier as we become more accustomed. As we accustom, the arising becomes easier. Analogy, from the beginning of this time up to now we have been habituating our mind to attachment.

When we see something good without any difficulty we become attached to it. We want it. We see a beautiful article or we see a flower or we see another person’s body, a beautiful body, a handsome body, we automatically, without any effort, without our control, we become attached and desire it. Even when we’re watching television, we see something beautiful on television. We become attached to it.

We desire it. It’s not even the real thing. It’s just an image and yet due to the force of habituation to attachment, to desire, we become attached to even a mere visual image on the television set. This is simply due to having accustomed or familiarized ourselves with attachment since from beginningless time. So there’s no reason why we can’t do the same with the awakening heart such that whenever we see anyone upon seeing them, there arises in our mind without any effort, uncontrollably that may I achieve Buddhahood for the sake of this sentient being.

A quotation from one of the masters of thought transformation, Geshe Chekawa, in which he says in describing the mind, its nature, This fault ridden mind has one great quality. It will develop in accordance with whatever way it is trained. Our present mind, though it’s ridden with many faults, it possesses many faults. Has attachment. It has anger, hatred.

It has confusion. It has jealousy, pride. All of these faults. But even though it has all of these faults, it has one great quality. What is that great quality?

It is that whatever it’s trained in, it will arise in accordance with that training. It will be transformed in accordance to whichever way it is habituated. Therefore, there’s no reason why we can’t develop an awakening heart. First, we develop it, then we maintain it, then we increase it. If we accustom ourselves to this process again and again, then it must definitely arise.

The mind will arise in that to which it’s habituated or accustomed and it will definitely arise from the awakening heart. So, the mind is really a wonderful thing. Has the quality that it develops in accordance with its training with whatever we familiarize it with. If we familiarize it with negative factors, then it becomes negative. If we familiarize it with positive factors, it becomes positive.

This is an attribute that develops in accordance with whatever it is exposed to. If we were to make use of these four former forces, the force of intention, white seed, repudiation, and prayer, and if we were to practice these every day then that awakening heart which we have not developed up to now would eventually be developed. It would go on to be maintained and finally would grow higher and higher. We could develop all of the qualities of the mind in this way. This way of practice is the force of familiarization.

So, we all know very well this quality of familiarization, how things become easier upon habituation. Previously, we didn’t know how to say A, ah, B. Through familiarization, we began to know the entire alphabet, and through training, we can train ourselves in various other languages. We can learn Tibetan language. We can learn Sanskrit language.

Through training, we can learn carpentry. We can learn accounting, whatever. Our degree of proficiency in all of these various areas is dependent upon the degree of training that we’ve engaged in and the same holds true with respect to our Dharma practice that the mind is a wonderful thing and that up to now we haven’t previously known the methods to create the awakening heart, but now once we have become exposed to these methods, if each day we begin to practice them, familiarize ourselves with them, to train in them, then if we do that today, tomorrow, next month, next year, day in and day out, then it’s definite. It will come by itself that the awakening heart will develop within our mind. In the case of a sprout.

If we plant a flower seed, if we collect together all the conditions and causes then the flower must grow. That’s the nature of function objects bringing together all the causes and conditions. Likewise, if we make use of these five forces as the causes and conditions, if we use them, if we familiarize ourselves, training them today and then again tomorrow and then again the next day, the next month, the next year, then by itself, by its very nature, the awakening heart will arise in our mind. There’s no reason why it won’t. We are the same as anyone else and they have generated the awakening mind, the Bodhisattvas of the past.

We could be very much like a farmer who is skilled in agriculture and he could easily grow an excellent crop. He knows all the ins and outs of agriculture and he could without difficulty make a good livelihood, but he forgoes it. He just sits idly about and not only does he not grow a good crop, but he has great difficulty maintaining his livelihood. Due to this, he goes through a great deal of suffering. Our mind is very much like that field.

It has the quality of Buddha nature and if we cultivate that field by the methods of listening, the activities of listening, reflecting, and meditating then it’s definitely that Buddhahood will come, that it will rise. We have the field, but it’s simply that we have not applied ourselves to its cultivation. Though we have Buddha nature, we act as if we are beggars having nothing and we continue to suffer. Alright. So, we can compare ourselves to a farmer and our field is the mind itself, this wonderful field of the mind.

That it has the potential for a vast growing a rich harvest that if we simply, that it has the potential or that is its very nature. But within this field of the mind we have to plant the seeds and cultivate the field to apply fertilizer using water. This process of cultivating the field itself is familiarization of these five forces. If we cultivate the field in this way through familiarization with the five forces then there will definitely grow the sprout of the awakening heart and nurturing that we will finally reap the harvest of Buddhahood. There’s no reason why we can’t.

We can take as our examples the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the past. We can see with our eye. This is in the case of looking at a farmer and seeing how he grew his field or her We can learn that skill, those agricultural skills, and there’s no reason why we can’t do that. Likewise, in the same way that we look at this farmer as an example of our potential, we can look as an example to the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas. We are just like they were and there’s no reason why we cannot cultivate our minds in the same way that they did and achieve the great harvest that they achieved.

So we have a golden opportunity, but we should understand that everything is in flux and everything is changing. If we don’t apply ourselves, there’s no surety that we’re ever going toif we don’t apply ourselves now while we have the opportunity, there’s no surety that we’re going to ever have a harvest. Even in the case of farmers, that though they have the seeds in the ground, the situation is such that if no rain came, they would lose their crop. For ourselves, though we have the opportunity, if the impermanence of death were to arise, we too are not going to have a harvest. Stop there for the day but we’ll take five minutes for questions.

So it’s not important. That’s my question. What is important is that we reflect upon these five forces that we just covered. These forces of intention, white seed, repudiation, prayer, and familiarization and to try to make them a part of your daily practice and thereby generate the awakening heart. Why do we listen to the Dharma and why do I explain the Dharma?

We listen and I explain in order that we generate the awakening heart which we have not generated previously and that we generate it and in order to maintain it and finally to increase it higher and higher. Just listening by itself can be just an academic pursuit that we have to put into practice what we listen to or it’s of no benefit. This is like if we went to a doctor and he examined this. He prescribed a treatment and he gave us medicine and yet there would be no benefit unless we took the medicine. Having the medicine in our possession really isn’t of any benefit.

We have to actually take it. We’ve been given the medicine of the Dharma and likewise, It is purposed ultimately to bring us the happiness in which there is no suffering. The taking of the medicine is analogous to our practices, what we have heard. If we don’t practice, though we have the medicine, it’s never going to alleviate our suffering.