Throughout his teaching about the "37 bodhisattva's practices", the Gyalwa Karmapa analysed our emotional ways of reacting and explained how to recognize them so as to establish a kindly relationship in all circumstances.

Here are a few words from Trinley Thaye Dorje :

"Once one has resolved to help all beings, our mothers, one one should accomplish it with determination, without fearing difficulties for oneself. One has to persevere without changing one's goal."

"If one has the intention to attain the ultimate enlightened state of Buddhahood, one has to keep considering others as more important than oneself; one has to exchange the importance of oneself with the importance of the other. If one does not have the capacity to do so, one should at least cultivate the wish to do so".

"Answering back to criticism through love and compassion is the right answer. If we react with anger, we develop the same behaviour as the one who criticizes us. This is due to ignorance. Answering with love and compassion is not easy, that's why I ask you to practice doing so."

"In order to develop devotion towards the spiritual friend, one should become aware of his enlightened qualities. Confidence will arise by being in contact with these qualities, namely, qualities of love and compassion towards all beings. The spiritual teacher, without ever getting discouraged, keeps helping others and teaches us how to develop in turn love and compassion towards others. This is how these enlightened qualities can ripen within ourselves."

"When one generates confidence towards the lama, the enlightened qualities can be transmitted to us. Confidence will get stronger through experiencing these qualities".

"The way of looking at things which is the most useful and the most simple is to become aware that all beings are trapped in the cycle of existences. Hence one should not stick to a personal opinion of others, but one should endeavour to free them from samsara".

This teaching is an edited transcript condensed from two talks which Rinpoche gave on Guru Devotion; the first at the KKBC, Singapore and the other at KKDS, Kuala Lumpur, in May 2002. The two Question and Answer sessions that followed the talks are reproduced here after the main talk.


Good evening everybody. For tonight I chose the subject of this Dharma talk to be on the qualities of the Guru and the devotion of the disciple. This is because we have just celebrated the birthday ceremony of His Holiness, the 17th Karmapa. As His Holiness's birthday was not very long ago, I thought that the subject would be beneficial, since we have all entered into the lineage of the Karma Kagyu, and are followers of the Karmapa.

The Karma Kagyu places a lot of emphasis on Guru Devotion - it says the Guru is just like a mould, and if the mould has a very clear carving and design inside, whatever you put in and print comes out very nicely and very beautifully. If the mould doesn't have any design inside, then when you print it, it just comes out as a shape only, and you can't see the beauty of the design.

Therefore, for the person who practices Mahamudra and the preparation for Mahamudra, it is essential to find a qualified Guru. A qualified Guru means a Guru who has all the knowledge and is able to teach you the Mahamudra, from the very basic level to the very advanced levels. The Guru is also one who is able to show you the nature of the mind and from there one can start to attain Liberation. All these have to be linked to the Guru - the disciple has to link up with the Guru, and the Guru's knowledge has to be transferred to the disciple. The disciple must also be the perfect vessel to receive the teachings.

Meaning of Guru
When you say the word, "Guru", what do you think it means? I think many, many races, even Malays, also use the term "Guru" which refers to the teacher. In Hindi, "Guru" also means teacher; in Sanskrit as well. In Tibetan, they call it "Lama", while in Chinese, we call him "Shi Fu" or "Fa Shi". The meaning of Guru, if we just simply translate or interpret it in ordinary life, is just "teacher". The person who teaches you how to cook, or how to read or anything relating to worldly knowledge is also a teacher, and he or she can be identified as a Guru to you.

But does anybody know what Guru literally means? In Sanskrit, "Guru" literally means something very heavily loaded; a person who is heavily loaded is called a Guru. What does that mean? It does not mean that his physical body size is big; it is not that he is carrying a big stone, but the load refers to his knowledge, his abilities or skilful means, and to his compassion - all of his good qualities. So therefore these knowledge and qualities are very heavy, heavier than anything in this world.

And usually, we are lacking in these good qualities - we are not fully loaded with them, and that is why we need to find someone who is fully loaded with these. The Guru is loaded with these because of his life-time's practice and development which gradually lead to his accumulation of such large qualities of knowledge and other qualities, such that an ordinary person cannot be compared to him.
Rinpoche giving talk on Guru Devotion
at KKDS, Kuala Lumpur (90kb)

Looking for the Guru
That is what "Guru" means. And we need to look for these qualities in a Guru; we should not look for a Guru whose appearance is nice, handsome, or who is sweet-talking, because although someone may possess these qualities, he may not have the qualities of being loaded with knowledge and compassion. So sometimes, judging the Guru fails if we just choose a Guru based on his appearance, his expression, the style of his talking, and then we take that person as the Guru straightaway, and develop a Guru-disciple relationship on the basis of feeling very nice and positive about these qualities.

Knowledge
But that should not be the way according to the Dharma. According to the Dharma, how do we look for a Guru who has these qualities? We should look for a Guru who firstly, has the knowledge, who is well-versed in the Sutras and Tantra, and who is well-versed in his practice. Of course, you cannot find one who is completely like the Buddha, because you have to find the Guru from humans. And humans cannot be a Buddha, because they are not full of perfections. But somehow, if you look into the positive side of a person, you are able to find quite a lot of good qualities. Even the worst person, if you look into the positive side of the person, has some good qualities somewhere. Therefore, you have to look at the positive side and what knowledge or achievements the Guru has. Judging from that, you find that the Guru is well-versed and knowledgeable-- not only knowledgeable-- but who is also a practitioner. On top of that, the Vajrayana Guru also needs to have an unbroken lineage; that means the Guru must have received initiations from his Gurus that continue up to where it started. The lineage is alive and unbroken. Also, that Guru must master each and every Tantric ritual, Mudra and visualization. He must be a master of all these in order to be a Vajrayana Guru to his disciple. That is the first part in looking for a Guru - the knowledge part.

Compassion

Secondly, if a person has that much knowledge, but does not have enough compassion, then it will not benefit others. Therefore, we must also look at the level of compassion; whether the Guru is very compassionate with all his disciples and to all sentient beings, because compassion is a very important quality of the Guru - not only with the Guru, but with everyone. When we are lacking in compassion, we need a lot of training in compassion from the Guru. To do that, the Guru himself must have great compassion so that he is able to train and influence the disciple. In that way, to choose a Guru, the second quality we must also look for is whether that Guru is compassionate or not; whether the Guru has the qualities of knowledge and compassion or not.

Abilities or Skilful Means
If this Guru has great fields of compassion and knowledge, eventually, after the application of all these, he will achieve the ability to help others, and the ability to teach others very effectively. He will have the ability to change the minds of others - such as the negative mind into the positive one by his teachings, or by showing them compassion. Likewise, there are many kinds of abilities, from the ordinary levels of ability, the ordinary level of the human Guru's ability, to the abilities of the Buddha. When that Guru has these abilities, then you should engage with the Guru.

As long as you seek someone who has these qualities as your master, you will never be neglected; you will be fully guided and protected from defilements, negative emotions and forces, and you will be directly led towards Enlightenment.

So, it is these three qualities together - knowledge, compassion and the ability. If the Guru has these, then the disciple should accept that person as his Guru. And once you have accepted him, you need to be fully reliant on the Guru. If you are fully reliant on the Guru, then are you able to receive all these qualities from the Guru.

Seeing Negatively

We should not look into the negative side of the Guru, because we have the kind of habit which always tends to look into a person's faults and defective side. Because when emotionally, the negative thoughts towards somebody have been developed, we will see that person as terribly negative, with many bad qualities. But most of the teachings say that it is our own negative qualities which we project onto people, and which we then see as negative. Therefore, once we engage with and take someone as a Guru, we should not look at him in a negative angle and find his faults. Instead, we should look from the positive angle to find the qualities of the Guru; we should always feel that these qualities the Guru has are so important and perfect, that you yourself also need these qualities for oneself, in order to ease the sufferings of sentient beings and to benefit them.

Faith and Devotion

That kind of feeling should be developed towards the Guru. That is about the qualities of the Guru. And then, when you have found someone with those qualities, what are you supposed to do? How are you supposed to take him as a Guru? It comes into Guru-devotion. Who will develop this devotion? The disciple is the one who has to develop this devotion; the disciple also must be the perfect vessel to receive the teachings, because the Dharma is unlike other ordinary knowledge. It is very important knowledge that one has to apply in order to be liberated from the sufferings of samsara. Therefore, the Dharma is not something simple, but should be taken very seriously. We should not just listen to the Dharma like we listen to a story or idle talk. Instead, we should listen to the Dharma just like when very, very hungry animals are just released into the grasslands. At that moment, that animal is so hungry that it does not have any other thought except to eat as much as it can. Once you have that type of attitude, you should listen to the Dharma very seriously, try to digest whatever one has listened to, and apply it to make a difference or change our lives.

In that way, the disciple must have faith and devotion; faith, devotion and trust are somehow interrelated. In the Karma Kagyu, this is usually called Guru-devotion. Some call it faith, but whatever it is, it is alright to phrase it as devotion. I do not know exactly what it means in English, but as long as it leads to that understanding, it is fine.

Next, I will talk about devotion. Devotion must come from oneself towards a Guru and not vice versa. What is devotion? One must know what this is in order to develop devotion to a Guru. Devotion is very difficult to identify; it looks like an emotion but yet it is something different from an emotion. Emotions such like feelings of love, etc everybody will have, whether it is aggressive or mild. But devotion is something which not everybody can have and it is difficult to identify.

For example, sometimes we feel something very wonderful and it looks like devotion, but when we really check, it may be just a feeling or emotion. Sometimes, it is an emotion that causes the feeling of sadness to arise and that is accompanied by strange feelings. And sometimes, emotions of happiness arise and these too are accompanied by a different feeling. I will explain to you the feeling of devotion and how it should be.

There are many examples or cases where a person listens to some chanting that has a very nice melody, and tears will fall. People may interpret that feeling as devotion and say that this person is very devoted because he cries when he listens to the chanting. However, sometimes this may not be devotion; it may just be an unbearable feeling that causes tears to fall; it may be a kind of attachment to the melody or to the meaning of words that is very touching, and that touching feeling creates certain kinds of vibrations which make that person feel very different and feel like crying.
But our version of devotion is very practical; it is not that kind of emotion or feeling. In fact, it is practical in the sense that devotion can be identified as faith. There are three types of faith: the longing type of faith, pure faith and the faith of trust or confidence.

These three are the main ways of identifying devotion and if you have them, you will be moved by them. Whatever expression you have that is caused by these three faiths is devotion. An expression can be anything-- crying or laughing can be an expression; doing nothing or not showing any expression is also an expression. As long as one has devotion and this arouses the feeling and causes some kind of vibration within oneself, that is actually devotion. In the arising of one's faith and devotion, pure faith will have to be developed first, then longing faith followed by confidence faith.

The Development of Pure Faith
To develop pure faith, one must be able to see the qualities of the Guru. You cannot expect that the Guru is a Buddha or a god who is totally free from defects. Yet, you must also have the ability to see the positive side of the Guru as well. Normally, we have the tendency to only see the negative side of things or persons, ignoring their positive qualities. In this way, we will only find lots of faults and find lots of bad or wrong things to say about the Guru. But in the first place, I told you there are certain qualities that a Guru must have: in practice, he must have the knowledge, compassion and skilful means.

If you look from the positive angle, you will see these qualities and realize how much of these qualities the Guru has, and the level of these qualities. If you find that these qualities are very great and overwhelming, you must use that as a judging point. You look into yourself to search for all such qualities too, and if you try to measure how many of these qualities you have, of course, you will find that you do not have many of these.
When you do not have these qualities or because your abilities are limited and not that accomplished, you will see that because of this, there are a lot of problems and suffering; you will see your own imperfection and the perfection of the Guru. In that way, you realize that the Guru is very pure, perfect and great.

Accordingly, you will develop pure devotion and faith, which will become the cause for the development of the next devotion of longing faith. Of course, if the Guru does not have these qualities, then he is not suitable to be a Guru. But if you do not look at the positive side and keep looking at the negative side, then that is your own problem and fault.

But if you look at the positive side and find a lot of such qualities, then it means this Guru really has such qualities, and you start to see the Guru as someone very pure and perfect. You develop pure faith because you see the Guru as being filled and overloaded with so many qualities.

If you do not have that kind of view or perception, then devotion cannot arise; devotion naturally develops through understanding; devotion is not something that can be forced to arise or develop. So, to develop that kind of devotion, the first step is to learn how to see the positive side of the Guru - the positive side does not mean the Guru's physical body, his appearance, his voice, his style of talking, actions, his expression or whatever. All these are not important things - they are just certain qualities of humans, that is all. The main thing is the inner wisdom the Guru has, together with the qualities I mentioned.

The Development of Longing Faith
Second is the development of longing faith. It is a kind of desire but it is not negative. Defilements are not defilements if used properly. Therefore, the desire is a good thing, it is perfect. It means "I do not have all the qualities that Guru has and I long to have them as well". It is a kind of desire, faith and devotion of longing. When the Guru has so many qualities which I do not have, I must get all these qualities in order to be like the Guru and benefit sentient beings.

So, developing all these qualities, one makes up one's mind and promises that "I will definitely develop these qualities of knowledge, compassion and skilful means or abilities. The wish to develop such skill and knowledge become so unbearable such that even a day without this knowledge and skill is too long. I must have these qualities as soon as possible". Just like a child who wants his parents to buy him toys; the child will nag and nag at the parent, wanting the parent to buy the toy immediately. Until they are able to get it, they will feel very impatient. Similarly, when you feel you do not have these qualities, you too feel very miserable and feel you must have the qualities of the Guru.
How to get those qualities? To develop them, it is natural that you must engage with that person who has those qualities. Just like if you want to get some money from somebody, you must engage with the person who has money; you cannot depend on a person who does not have money and expect money from him. You will not get any money from him. In the same way, it is the Guru who has these qualities, and you have to look at this Guru in order to get these qualities yourself.

The Development of Confidence Faith
So this longing-faith will develop very, very forcefully - you want to have these qualities, and you know somebody who has these qualities, so the next step is to jump into it. That is the trust, the confidence-faith where we must rely on the Guru-- "I need these qualities so I have to look for the person who has these". Supposing you want to get something that is very important for yourself, you can not look for it from someone who does not have it, because that person himself does not have it. You have to look for someone who has it. Similarly, now you have to look for this from that master, and to obtain that knowledge from him.

The first quality you need is trust or the confidence, feeling that "If I rely on this Guru, I won't be disappointed because through my investigation and understanding in various ways, I have checked that this Guru has such and such qualities. And because of all these qualities, if I rely on him, he will also bestow all the teachings and all his qualities that are shown to me. Therefore, I can easily develop all these qualities myself".
Within that moment, you are engaged with that Guru and since that moment, one should fully rely on the Guru, have full confidence in the Guru, and have full trust in the Guru's teachings. Confidence and trust are very important - if you lack these, the teachings may not be able to enter into your vessel and it becomes doubt; when it becomes doubt, one may not be able to apply the teachings. And if you do not apply it, you will not be able to get the result.
In order to develop Confidence Faith and to develop these qualities of the Guru, we go to the Guru and request the teachings. We have to take each and every one of his words as words of wisdom; we listen, contemplate and meditate on them. The teachings that we receive are very important and they are the key to the path of Enlightenment. Therefore, one should not waste a single word of the teaching but firstly, listen properly, secondly contemplate and taste them and thirdly, apply them to yourself and your experience.

In that way, one should not doubt the Guru's words or doubt the Guru's attitude towards oneself, because we know that the Guru is skilful; the Guru has the abilities and skilful means which can manifest in many ways. Sometimes, he can appear very loving to you or sometimes, he can also have a different attitude towards you such as the way Marpa appeared to Milarepa. Accordingly, there are also many hundreds of examples not only in our lineage but also in other traditions.

Therefore, one should never doubt the Guru's attitude towards you. Instead, one should regard it as lesson and take it positively. This is confidence faith or trust faith. If you start to doubt the Guru or if you start to think otherwise, it means that you do not trust the Guru or that you do not have the confidence towards the Guru, which means the devotion is no more there.

Although you can say that someone is your Guru, but when the devotion is no longer there, the Guru-disciple relation is somehow not strongly established. If that happens, you will not benefit much from the Guru; the Guru may give teachings, but the teachings are not properly preserved in your vessel because the vessel is already cracked or damaged or is already contaminated by certain poisons and whatever essence is poured into this vessel will also be contaminated.

This is a very important point we need to be aware of as in most cases, we tend to damage it on that side. The faith or devotion of confidence is very difficult to develop, but once you can develop this devotion, all the qualities of the Guru will spontaneously start to pour into you and you will be filled with all these qualities.

No Doubts
After examining all the qualities of the Guru, one should not have doubts after that with his teachings. His behavior and his actions sometimes may be terrible or not to you, but somehow, if you do not think of it in an emotional way, actually, it does not matter. What you want, ask for and are getting are his positive qualities, and the other part of his behavior and so on is actually not really to your interest. Therefore, if you can just leave it as neutral, it will be very safe for you, and it will not create any problems. Because as I say, you cannot really find a Guru who is an Enlightened one at this moment. Because of the degeneration of this time, all those great masters or enlightened beings are no longer here, although there may be some. But then, we may not also have the fortune to meet up with an enlightened Guru. So, somehow, we will meet a Guru who is on the Bodhisattva's path - which level of the Bodhisattva depends on our own karmic link and our own accumulation of merits. According to that, we come into contact with teachers.

Therefore, if he is not an enlightened master, he is still a human master. Being born as a human is nothing very wonderful; generally, the formation of the human body and then, the human senses are due to defilements. Of course, when you talk about the twelve links of interdependence, all start from ignorance, and from ignorance, gradually--from the very, very subtle levels, to the levels of the gross-- beings or persons are established. So the main cause of being human is neither wonderful, nor just because of ignorance. Therefore, being humans, the Guru may have a lot of good qualities, but they may also have some negative signs such as being hot-tempered, etc. But this part is not really of your interest and it does not contribute either, therefore one can just leave it neutral and focus your attention more on the positive side of the Guru.
Should we rely on the Teachings or the Guru?

In this way, one will not create any kind of negative consequences through the connection with the Guru and disciple and yet, one can absorb the qualities of the Guru every moment. And then, one can achieve these qualities and eventually, even more than that "one can attain Enlightenment. That is why, for the Vajrayana and particularly, the Karma Kagyu lineage, reliance on the Guru is the most important part. Other traditions - not the Vajrayana tradition, but the Theravada tradition and so on - do not emphasize so much Guru Devotion. They emphasize more, the Sutras and the teachings itself. This may also have its good points because if the Guru does not have all the qualities I mentioned, then it is rather dangerous to engage with someone who does not have such qualities. This can be misleading such as when the Guru does not have compassion, yet the Guru has a lot of knowledge of the Sutras and Tantra. When a person does not have compassion, he lacks a very important quality, and if they lack that, they can do anything - they can even harm because if they do not have compassion, they can do anything.

Therefore, in that kind of situation, the teachings should be the main way of learning, and the teacher is just a teacher, who can only give you a clearer idea of what the Sutra says. And that will be perfectly ok and safe. If the Guru is knowledgeable but lacks compassion or the abilities-- or some are lacking of all-- then, it is important to rely on the teachings. Then you will have to look into this when the situation comes.

But when we talk about the Vajrayana, the Guru is very important. We are referring to the Guru who has all these qualities. When the Guru has all these qualities, this Guru will not harm you and will not have any intention of cheating you. He is concerned with the disciple more than himself, because of his compassion and he is able to teach properly and accordingly, because he has the abilities and qualities to do so. In that situation, relying on the Guru is the main practice and the Sutras and Tantra can be a reference that gives you the understanding when the Guru is not present, or if you have not completely absorbed the Guru's teachings.

One should not cling to certain views or only one view, and then be forced to engage in that view. For example, I have heard many times from various people that the Guru is not important, and that the teachings are more important. That is what the Lower Vehicles say, so does that mean that the Vajrayana is wrong because the Guru is so important in the Vajrayana? They take it in that way but in the Vajrayana, they think that the Guru is everything, so the Theravada and the lower vehicles see that as wrong. Actually, neither position is wrong; both are correct! The reason why both are correct is because it depends on the situation, where the person is, and then accordingly, they need to follow up in the way which can benefit them most, whichever is most appropriate.

Different levels of Perceiving the Guru
In this way, we may perceive the Guru as a teacher, as an ordinary teacher or we may perceive the Guru as a special teacher or as an enlightened being; how we perceive him or her will depend on one's own level. If you have just taken Refuge or have just received some basic Dharma knowledge, normally you will just perceive the Guru as an ordinary human teacher; you see him as a nice or good teacher who teaches you what is good and what is not good, what you should do and what you should not do. That is the kind of good advice that the Guru would give you and it is something good.

When one is on the Mahayana path, the Guru will explain loving kindness, compassion and also the nature of mind, such as emptiness and so on. Then you will see the Guru as someone extraordinary or perfect. At the time, the Guru will be someone more than a teacher to you.

Next, when disciple starts to receive Vajrayana empowerments and instructions, he or she will see the Guru not just as an ordinary teacher or an extraordinary teacher, but as the living embodiment of the Buddha himself.

These are the three different levels, moments and ways of perceiving a Guru. Although a Guru can be one or many of them, we perceive them in these ways.

At the beginner's level, we do not have the ability to perceive the Guru as the enlightened one or as an extraordinary perfect teacher; we just take him or her as a teacher from whom we receive advice and whose advice we benefit from following. He will be the one who points the direction towards positive actions and thoughts.

After developing these positive actions and thoughts, we come to the second stage of development where we take Guru as an extraordinary teacher. At that time, we receive the Guru's advice and teachings on emptiness, the nature of mind. And at that moment, the teaching or the blessings that we receive will be greater then the beginner's level.

Finally, we receive the Vajrayana teachings and open the gate of the Vajrayana by receiving empowerments and transmissions. At that point, we perceive the Guru as the Enlightened one and similarly, we receive blessings directly form the Enlightened one which makes our path towards Enlightenment very rapid and smooth.


Seeing the Guru as Buddha

That is how we engage the Guru. Once you have received the empowerment, you have become a Vajrayana student, and becoming a Vajrayana student, you have to observe the Vajrayana commitments, which I think all of you may know. If you are in a good state of mind, you are supposed to see the Guru as enlightened. How do you see the Guru as an enlightened person, because what you see is just a human person? But the enlightened person should not be perceived in the person of the Guru; instead, the Enlightenment aspect should be sought from the wisdom of the Guru - the qualities of the Guru as I mentioned just now - compassion, knowledge and abilities and so on.

If you look into that side of the Guru, then you can not find any difference between the Guru and the enlightened state. In that way, the Guru's mind is an enlightened mind, therefore the Guru is the Buddha. And the teachings that he gives all show the path towards Enlightenment and give you the truth of the ground, path and fruit. Then, there is no difference from the Dharma; the Guru's speech is inseparable from the Dharma, the Buddha's teachings. And the physical Guru is himself observing his own principles, such as certain types of self-Liberation commitments or vows - he has to be there, but he must be in one. More suitably, he is in the Sangha. Even if the Guru is married, he may be observing the five precepts or something. Therefore, he still is under the category of the Sangha, under the category of those within commitments or vows. Therefore, the Guru's physical body is no different from the Sangha. In that way, we should perceive the Guru as the manifestation of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and that Buddha, Dharma, Sangha from a Vajrayana perspective we also should perceive as the Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya.

The Guru's mind is an enlightened mind which has all the wisdom; all the Enlightenment qualities are there, so it is no different from the Dharmakaya state. And the speech that liberates and benefits each and every sentient being, and guides them to the path of Enlightenment is no different from, and is the manifestation of the Sambhogakaya. The body which physically shows and leads and gives the example and so on is no different from the Nirmanakaya. So even in reality, the Guru who is inseparable from the Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya which are the manifestations of all the qualities of the Buddha, is in the person of the Guru. And therefore, with that kind of understanding and view, we perceive the Guru as an enlightened manifestation, and each and every action and word which comes towards you is a path directing and training you. That kind of understanding should be developed so that you are able to receive those enlightened qualities or blessings.

Why emphasize seeing the Guru as Buddha?

According to Mahayana and general Buddhist tradition, we do not really have to be so serious about emphasizing the Guru as the enlightened one, as you may not have the ability to think or see it in such a positive way. In that kind of situation, it is important to find the qualities of the Guru and look at them from the positive angle and see these qualities are very important. But besides this, one should regard every action and word of the Guru as guidance, and showing the path. It is just as though one was blind and someone had eyes, and you are going into a very terrible place where there is a lot of danger. When you have to pass through such terrible and dangerous places, you are completely dependent on the person who has eyes to bring you across the path. So you have to have the confidence and trust in that person, and you should always think of that person's kindness.

In the normal state of mind, to perceive the Guru is something very important. But in reality, we are blind actually, not because of the physical eye's blindness, but mentally. Due to this ignorance which covers us, we are always not able to see through it. The truth is always covered and therefore, we are always going towards the wrong directions and falling into the suffering state. If this kind of person is not blind, then who is? We are indeed very, very blind, always trying to look for happiness but always getting suffering. So there must be something wrong with your eyes - not this physical eye - but the more important eye that is inside you.

So, we need someone who has that very important eye open, and who is able to lead you. If that person is able to lead you, then you are free from the danger, because he is able to show you the right path and direction. Eventually, you are also able to open your own eye, and then you will be free from samsara, you will be free from suffering forever. For that, the Guru is very important, because he is the one who shows you the path; he is the one who leads you on the path; and eventually, he is the one who gives you that eye to see the truth.

Engaging the Guru

Therefore, in our tradition, it is not that we have no choice and have to engage the Guru. But it is important, and there is the need in our present stage-- to develop up to that state of Enlightenment, it is compulsory that we need to engage the Guru and therefore, we are looking for the master, looking for the teacher.
How we should look for the Guru, and how we should see the Guru, and how we should engage the Guru - we should not make any mistake in that, because the Guru-disciple relationship is something very, very important. If it goes correctly, with a little effort, you can achieve Enlightenment. Accordingly, it is also very dangerous and serious if you do not engage the Guru properly; it has very serious consequences, as what you have learnt from the samayas. It says that if you do not perceive someone that you have received teachings as the Guru, then there will be serious consequences such as falling into the lower realms and having to suffer there. There are a lot of uncomfortable things mentioned, which I do not want to elaborate on. So somehow, it is that important for us in our life, therefore, we should not take this as some kind of pleasure, fun or with the attitude that "since someone is doing it, I should also be doing it". Because, then, that does not really serve any purpose; even if you have a Guru, it does not mean anything.

If you have a Guru and engage that Guru with the proper manner accordingly, that makes a lot of difference and that totally changes your life from the very ordinary person to the very high level practitioner - that is very sure.

This Precious Human Rebirth

Therefore, firstly, after knowing all these factors, if we now look into our own present situation "we will see that we are indeed very fortunate to be born into this fortunate era, this fortunate time where the Lord Buddha has taught various levels of teachings. And the teachings still exist and compassionate teachers and intelligent and knowledgeable masters who have every ability to lead the disciple towards Liberation and Enlightenment still exist and can be found. On top of that, we enter the path of the Mahamudra lineage, which is the Karma Kagyu tradition.

Mahamudra is the essence of all the Buddha's teachings, particularly India's 84 great saints most of who practiced Mahamudra. Through Mahamudra, they attained the state of Enlightenment or they attained the state of Vajradhara. So, the Mahamudra we are practicing is the kind of nectar which comes from those Buddhas and the great saints, when they attained Enlightenment. So, they are expressing the ground, path, results and fruit of the Mahamudra-- how it is, how it looks; they extracted this from all their realizations. And that oral transmission is still alive. That kind of lineage which we are in-- accidentally or intentionally, which I do not know - but somehow, which you happen to be in--can not be accidental because everything must have a cause and effect and condition. Today, what you are comes from a certain cause, and you have definitely established that cause in the past and that is why you are getting this effect and this result now.

Therefore, you should say, due to the great accumulation of merit in the past, and today, we happen to enter into this path, and we gather every favourable condition to learn and to engage with this path. So, if that kind of situation is not taken seriously, then I think it would be very wasteful. It is like a person dying of thirst who is in front of the river - which is quite crazy, but is possible. Maybe that person is too lazy to move a little bit nearer to the bank of the river to drink, whichever way. We should not use that example in our real life - drink as much water as you can and then feel fresh so you can move. That is the very good choice and very smart way of doing it. So, when you have all these things here, where all these favourable conditions are present, you should engage this path-- you should very seriously engage-- and develop yourself and to make progress and development day by day, year by year.

Practicing Every Moment

In that way, to be born as a human in this fortunate time, and meeting with all these favourable conditions becomes meaningful as it can lead to the end of suffering. We should always try to think this way and put a little diligence into our day to day practice. The application of the teachings can actually be done every moment. That is what the Lojong has always advised - when you are talking with someone, you should also train your mind; when you are doing something, you can also train your mind at the same time. When you are dong nothing, you also can train your mind; when you are doing something, you can also train your mind; when you are sick, you also can train your mind; when you are healthy, you also can train your mind. So, every moment is an opportunity for us to train our mind. Every feeling, every emotion which arises are all opportunities for us to realize and understand and then accordingly, we can train ourselves.

With that, life becomes very meaningful. In whatever you are doing - whether you are in the temple and doing practice or if you are not able to go to the temple always to practice, but are somewhere outside doing your own thing, then the opportunity for constant development is always present. And when you have that kind of presence of constant development, then you have no fear of whatever arises; when suffering comes, it is also a part of the practice; when happiness comes, it is also part of practice; miserable things happening are also part of the practice. So, you are protected. In every situation, you should feel happy. Why should you feel suffering? Why should you feel miserable? Because there are a lot of good things even in the bad things, and sometimes, the bad and miserable things happening have so much positive qualities that even the good things are nothing. In that sense, the happiness of good practitioners is immeasurable, and cannot be described. Whatever miserable thing is happening, that state of mind is always full of joy; when good things happen, she or he is also full of joy.

Courage in the Face of Difficulties

What the mental training explains - how to develop the qualities - looks very difficult in the beginning. Therefore, we always think this is just written in the books - this is what all the masters simply say - but it is not practical for real life because it is too difficult. We always think that way and somehow, we try to ignore it. But when it comes to talking about it, we can talk about it in a big way! But actually, this is very, very possible - it is absolutely possible, and the hardship you experience in developing this does not last very long. It just needs some time of constant development and then eventually, it will come effortlessly. Then, you do not have to put in effort but you just pay attention and that state of mind will arise.

Anything that looks difficult does not mean that it cannot be done - that can be definitely done. And the more difficult it looks, the bigger results and fruits can be obtained. This is very natural - very easy work yields a small salary in your working life; very big and very important tasks yield a big salary and income. Even in our real life, we also experience that kind of example.

Practice and development also are similar. The only problem lies in our courage - we do not have much courage and because of our habitual tendencies. Our habitual tendencies are always towards the wrong direction. We feel so comfortable going in that direction that if we just try to change or turn away from that direction a little into another path, it is very, very difficult and we are not able to change it. We do not have the patience to do it--that is our weak point. The main weak point is the habit of defilement, the emotional habits. That habit is caused by the three poisons - ignorance, desire, hatred - which can be divided into other sub-defilements - which are the main thing. But then, if you try to apply a little force to change it, it can be changed.

When it changes, the defilements can eventually be transformed into wisdom and transformed into the state of Enlightenment. The work can be done, because to be in a state of Enlightenment simultaneously benefits sentient beings. So it is not really something impossible, but it is a way of thinking and how we should change our direction, and how we should put in a little effort at the initial stage to tackle those habits. And then eventually, things become easier and easier.

All this should be kept in mind-- the important points of the Guru-disciple relation, the qualities of the Guru and the devotion of the disciple - how to put it together and to learn and to practice to attain Enlightenment. That is what the entire Dharma is about, and for a person to succeed, from being an ordinary sentient being to Buddhahood.

Question and Answer Session - Kuala Lumpur

Q: Is there any visualization for the Lower Vehicle?
Rinpoche: There is no visualization in the Lower Vehicle; what you see is what you see. You do not need to see the Guru as the deity or whatever. The Guru is in front of you - how he looks like in real life is the Guru. Just appreciate his kindness and knowledge, and receive his teachings with full of respect; wanting to be sincere towards the Guru. In the Vajrayana, you visualize the Guru as the Buddha, the Vajradhara. That is according to which practice you are doing - you have to follow the instructions.

Q: (not clear, but according to Rinpoche's response, it runs along the lines of whether the person you take Refuge from, initiations, etc from is your Guru.)

Rinpoche: Taking Refuge is from one Guru, Vajrasattva intiation is from another Guru; Chenrezig initiation is asnother Guru; Manjushri intiation is from another Guru. It becomes very complicated overall. Actually, taking Refuge is under the Lower Vehicle so whoever gives you Refuge is your Guru, but he is not your Vajrayana Guru that you have to rely on and see as Vajradhara. It may not be necessary to do that, but he is an important Guru because he is the one who gave you Refuge and who was the witness of your taking Refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. So, he is an important Guru, but it is not that serious.

Actually, when you take Refuge, you do not take Refuge to that Guru - that mistake is always made. That master is just a witness only; he is just assisting you in your taking Refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. The Refuge Guru is actually an assistant and witness. Of course, you should also take him as a Guru because he is showing you something, he is also explaining to you something. If you listen to four sentences from someone and the Guru-disciple relation is established there, then accordingly, you have to observe the Guru-disciple relation. But that is not what you call your root Guru. The root Guru is not your Refuge Guru.
How do you interpret the root Guru? It is something important you have to know.
Audience: He is the one who shows you the nature of your mind.
Rinpoche: Yes, that is more or less true. But when? I think there are two more things. Literally, whatever we say - we can say root Guru, or we can say personal Guru-- they basically mean the same thing. But the actual root Guru is the one who leads you to realize the nature of your mind through his teachings or through any methods which awaken realizations into the nature of the mind. Whichever master who points that out is the root Guru and the Vajradhara to you. But before that, is a very long way and path that is very dangerous and very difficult. Along this, you still need one Guru, and he is more or less your personal Guru in that he must know your mentality and how to train you, and who has the patience to train you to keep going on. This is also the personal Guru.

Generally, everybody describes that as the root Guru but in actual fact, he is the personal Guru. The actual Guru is one who points to the nature of your mind, but that is a long way. So that personal Guru is very important.

There is a slight difference between the initiation Guru and the personal Guru. The initiation Guru should also be taken very seriously - as long as you receive that initiation accordingly and perceive, observe and keep the commitments--the Guru who gives such an initiation is also our Vajrayana Guru and in future, you should never think any negative or harmful thoughts about that Guru. Because the consequences will be very serious.
But the Guru who gives you Refuge or initiations are not your root Gurus, but they are very serious Gurus because anything to do with the Vajrayana should be taken very seriously. On top of that, the root Guru is even more serious. Compared with these two, the ordinary Guru, who teaches you basic or general Dharma, is less serious although it is also in a way, quite serious because according to the teachings, if you receive four sentences but you do not engage with the Guru, one may be reborn as a dog or something.

Q: Is Guru Devotion a form of attachment?
Rinpoche: Yes. Use attachment to counter attachment! Use the iron to cut the iron! It is perfectly fine. When a person has reached non-attachment, it somehow naturally becomes non-attachment; it is impossible-- he will not be attached. The attachment which we already have - how to make use of that attachment to progress and then later, to realize the nature of the attachment and to dismantle all this attachment - that is the tool we use to overcome defilements. It is not that, this is no good so we must throw it away, that is no good so it must be thrown away", because at last, we have nothing left. This is no good because it is interpreted through ignorance, and defilements. But if interpreted through wisdom, then, "this is also something, that is also something". So, all this becomes very important, and all this can combine and produce very wonderful things.
That is the Vajrayana way - using defilements to transform the defilements, and then using that defilement to ignite wisdom. That is how the Vajrayana works. You just can not abandon everything. Because, what are you going to do next? Nothing! You have this negative thought and you say it is not good because it causes a lot of negativities, so throw that away. Your desire of wanting to have this and that - you will also say, "this is no good, this is defilement, this is attachment, throw all that away". Eventually, there is nothing functioning because you have thrown all your qualities away. How can you expect something which is not functioning and cannot be used for anything to be used to attain Enlightenment and become full of wisdom? It is impossible. So, wisdom and Enlightenment are actually within our present defilements, within this present mind. It's always there, and we have to use proper methods to clear that ignorance and to come to our real true nature.
We do not have to make any efforts to move towards Enlightenment or bring that Enlightenment towards you-- Enlightenment is already there since beginningless time, and when you realize that, it means you are already there. That is it.

Q:?? (question is unclear, but is about what if the Guru rejects the disciple?)
Rinpoche: How to request the root Guru and be accepted? From what I think, to request is a kind of respect and acknowledgement to the Guru that you want to learn from the particular Guru and you humbly request to be his disciple. But whether the Guru will accept you or not - if he does not accept you, what is the reason? I think somehow, in most cases, acceptance by the Guru is not really a problem; it is not really a situation where the Guru will not accept someone as a disciple. If he does that.. What are the qualities of the Guru which I mentioned - the second quality - compassion - if the Guru does not have compassion... I think the worst people to those who are very good, are all his subjects, but the worst people need the Guru more than those who are perfect. In relation to that, if the Guru is a good one, there is no way the Guru will not accept you. He will definitely accept you. But, requesting is something humble - that is the proper way of showing your gratitude and sincerity.

So the Guru will accept you no matter what. Sometimes, it may take a little bit of time; if the Guru is very skilful, the Guru may not reject you completely, but he may not immediately say, ok, ok. But that is a very good and wonderful thing - that is to let you develop a little patience and develop a little understanding about the Guru's qualities. Whichever way - somehow, the Guru will accept any disciple. But the disciple must choose the proper Guru - that is very important. The Guru does need to choose his disciples, because all are his subjects as far as his compassion extends to all people. Only there is no way of communicating with most people, otherwise most people can also be the disciple of Guru Rinpoche!

Q: If the disciple already has a root Guru - can he still receive teachings from other teachers?

Rinpoche: Every Guru is a Guru whom you should learn from and respect. The root Guru is the root yidam, and both very close to you mentally. Therefore, the main stream of advice which you are calling is from your root Guru, but the other Guru's teachings are somehow complimentary to your main practice. In that way, do not think that if you are receiving teachings from other Gurus, your root Guru will be jealous. You should not think that way. It will never happen like that. In fact, they will always encourage you to gain more knowledge from various teachers as that is always good for your development.

But our minds should be strong and firm; if we are in this path, we should take that as our main stream and we don't change - today, this teaching is so nice, this initiation looks so wonderful - then, that is an attempt to move towards that direction but we can't. After a while, you receive another more attractive teaching from another more attractive Guru and you attempt to change again. That gets you nowhere and you become disappointed. So one should not be like that; one should follow one main stream and then engage the other teachings and advice to boost or to compliment your main stream practice. Your main stream practice teaches you how to develop compassion, it teaches you how to develop wisdom, it teaches you how to be kind. Your mainstream practice must always be progressing, no matter what. But at the same time, you can also benefit from various teachers and their teachings for your development. I think that is the way.

Question and Answer Session - Singapore

Q: When one receives an empowerment from a teacher, does that mean that the teacher whom one received the initiation from is one's Guru or one's root Guru?
Rinpoche: It depends whether the empowerment is received accidentally or with deliberate purpose. If you received the empowerment accidentally, the teacher is not the Guru or the root Guru. But if the motivation to go for that empowerment comes with full understanding and you know the greatness of the initiation, and you have also happily understood and made all the commitments, then he is regarded as your Guru.
But a root Guru is different from a Guru. The root Guru is someone who shows you the nature of the mind. The nature of the mind can also be shown through the initiation. If you are very fortunate or if you are very intelligent and the Guru is very skilful, the nature of the mind can be shown through the initiation; within the initiation, you will be able to realize the nature of the mind, such as when Marpa gave Milarepa the Hevajra initiation. At that moment, Milarepa suddenly saw Marpa no longer as Marpa but as Hevajra. From there, Hevajra spoke to Milarepa and within that moment, Milarepa totally and completely realized and actualized his ordinary state of mind and transformed into the state of Enlightenment.

Realization within an initiation is possible, but it is very rare, especially during this degenerate age where good masters also have some defects here and there, and for the disciple, do not talk about it! It is quite difficult, but it is quite possible. If it is not through an initiation but when you engage with the Guru for long period and receive many teachings, in the end, there will be a certain point where the Guru will guide you on how to see or to realize the nature of mind. From there on, if you practice, you will really able to realize that truth. The person who points to you the nature of mind is your Vajradhara; he is your root Guru.
The person who guides and leads you along the path, who cares for your progress is your personal Guru. But it is very hard to say that he is your root Guru. One can have only one Root Guru, and it is at that moment when he shows you and when you recognize your true nature of the mind. So far, nobody here has a root Guru; otherwise you would not be here!
But on the other hand, it is very common that we take someone as our personal Guru, and we call this Guru our root Guru.
There is nothing wrong in taking someone as one's root Guru even when he is actually your personal Guru. He does not actually have the effect of a root Guru, he is actually more of a personal Guru, but he can be called a root Guru. But the actual root Guru is someone who shows you the nature of mind.
Therefore, whatever name which you give is fine, as long as you yourself are not confused; we can call him our personal Guru or root Guru-- it is fine. But you must know all these factors well.

Q: Can Rinpoche explain the three bodies of Buddha?
Rinpoche: The three bodies, the Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya are the functions of Enlightenment. When one attains Enlightenment, one accomplishes these three functions.

First, the function of Dharmakaya is for oneself; that is to remain in the state of Enlightenment. Next, the function of Sambhogakaya is to benefit higher levels of Bodhisattvas, while the Nirmanakaya is the function which benefits the rest of all sentient beings.
An example would be the sun and its rays: the sun is like the Dharmakaya which benefits the world, while its rays are like the Sambhogakaya and the benefit, its warm feeling given to others is like the Nirmanakaya.

In that way, when one attains Enlightenment, one spontaneously performs all these functions effortlessly; this is how Enlightenment will bring benefits and Liberation to all sentient beings.

If that example is being applied to oneself: presently, the mind itself is imperfect. But once the mind is perfect, it is the Dharmakaya; our thoughts are imperfect, but if perfect, is the Sambhogakaya; our actions are now imperfect; but if perfect, it is the Nirmanakaya. When these transform to the state of Enlightenment, these three become the Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya.
Q: If one has not started or finished the four foundation practices can one have a root Guru after receiving an initiation?

Rinpoche: If the initiations are not received accidentally but done with deliberate purpose and during the initiation, you feel that you are completely in that mandala of the initiation and you keep the samaya bond, the Guru-disciple relation is already established regardless of whether you have started or finished the four foundation practices.

Of course, the four foundation practices are the more proper and easy way in terms of spiritual development.

For example, in order to reach the top of a building, it is easier to reach the final destination if you go from the first step to the second step and so on until you reach the final destination, rather than jump to the top from the ground; you may break your leg and so on! This is more risky and more difficult.
However, even if without any foundation, it is still possible that you go straight into the initiation and find someone who is very perfect and great as a Guru who gives you the teachings and from which you attain the Enlightenment. This Guru can then be your root Guru. I should say this is all possible but normally, this is not the proper way.
Q: Can one receive an initiation without observing the commitments?
Rinpoche: Commitments given in an initiation are part of the initiation; when you do not observe the commitments, then the initiation is not effective.

Q: What happens if during the initiation, one does not follow the process and does not know what is going on?

Rinpoche: Without understanding, you cannot receive an initiation. Taking the initiation has to come with full understanding; the whole process of initiation from the very beginning to the end consists of instructions.

From the Guru's side, the master has to develop himself as the deity and go through the process of giving blessings and empowerments while from the disciple's side, one has to develop as a perfect vessel.
And continuously one after another: the body empowerment, the speech empowerment, the mind empowerment, the activities empowerment and the qualities empowerment, etc-- which the master gives, the disciples have to receive.

The materials used for the initiation, such as the vase or whatever, are just symbolic; these do not really represent the initiation but they are symbolic. The important thing is that during those moments, the disciple has to be in meditation to receive these. Without all these, it is just a symbolic initiation you have received. It cannot be very effective for one's own practice, but it is still fine for blessing purposes and for purifying one's obstacles in order to create some kind of karmic link with the deities.

Q: Can a female attain Enlightenment within a single life time?

Rinpoche: Enlightenment within a single life time can be achieved regardless of whether the person is a male or female. In this practice, there is no difference or any discrimination between both sexes.
The important factor is that whoever is diligent and follows the path correctly can attain Enlightenment within a single lifetime or within several lifetimes.

Q: How does one practice if one has received many initiations of different deities and from different Gurus? How does one visualize one's Guru?

Rinpoche: When you have received many initiations, you will have many yidams to practice; let say you may have one hundred deities but in your practice, it is important that your focus must be on one main personal yidam. The remaining deity practices are just your general practice.
Similarly, in a way, there must be one hundred masters who have given you the one hundred initiations; all these masters are in a way, also your Gurus, but there must be one who is your personal Guru. That one Guru and your personal yidam will be your main focus.
When you visualize your Guru, it does not mean that all these Gurus must appear there. It is not really necessary in that way. You visualize your personal Guru, your personal guide whom you are depending on very much to show the path. The others are just complimentary; they can provide certain favourable conditions to boost your practices and understanding and support your main stream of practice.

Q: Can one's personal Guru not be the first Guru one has met?

Rinpoche: As long as you are not strongly bonded by the Guru-disciple relation with the first Guru, and subsequently, there is another Guru who is nice and suitable for you, you can take him as your main Guru.
It does not matter--the teachings and the yidam given to you by the first Guru (Guru A) can still be continued even with further instructions you have received from Guru B on that yidam practice. It is the same thing because it is not possible that the yidam that you get from Guru A would not be known by Guru B, as Guru B is supposed to be well versed as well.
As I have said earlier, you choose a Guru who is knowledgeable and skillful. It is the same yidam, only the lineage and lineage transmission you have received from the first and the second master are different. Having the same yidam practice from two different lineages is actually a bonus to you; the more you have received, the better it is as you are 'richer' in that deity and more informed.
Q: Can you please elaborate when the Guru and disciple relationship is being established?
Rinpoche: If you received an initiation the properly, the Guru-disciple relation is also established at that moment. If you just come to receive the initiation for blessings and for temporary measures to eradicate some problem, then it may not develop into that kind of serious relationship; the initiation becomes just a blessing.

Actually, the Guru and disciple relationship can be established somehow as long as you have received certain good advice from whomever, but this is not the Vajrayana kind of Guru and disciple relation.
Even though it is a Vajrayana initiation, when the person is not developed to the standard of the Vajrayana disciple, you still cannot receive those qualities from the Guru or the kind of bond in a Guru and disciple relation mentioned in the Vajrayana teachings.

Generally, the normal Guru and disciple relation is already established as long as you have heard four sentences that benefit your mind; this already establishes the Guru and disciple relationship.

This teaching is an edited condensation of two talks on Guru Devotion, given by Rinpoche at the KKBC, Singapore and the KKDS, Kuala Lumpur, in June 2002. The two Question and Answer sessions are reproduced after the main talk.

First of all, each practitioner should decide if he wants to be a genuine follower of Buddhism. If he does, he needs to study earnestly and cultivate Bodhicitta and the enlightened attitude. These will lead to enlightenment.

Now what is Bodhicitta? Bodhicitta is not a single attribute. It is the combination of many positive attributes such as the application of compassion, kindness, right view and wisdom. Development of these is, thus, development of Bodhicitta and all these positive actions lead a person towards enlightenment.

Bodhisattvas do not rest in their peaceful state. They have a great deal of loving kindness and compassion towards all sentient beings and they are neither trapped in samsara, nor have they entered into nirvana. They take on the role of bridging samsara and nirvana.

According to the Mahayana view, the great Bodhisattvas such as Avalokitesvara, Manjushri and others are nearing enlightenment, which means that they are not yet fully enlightened. Why are they nearing enlightenment? Because they have great compassion and want to serve all sentient beings. They have made a commitment that all sentient beings will enter nirvana and because of this commitment they choose to remain as Bodhisattvas and not enter the supreme enlightened state. On the other hand, the Vajrayana teachings state that all these manifestations were fully enlightened long ago, but for the accomplishment of others they function as Sambogakaya forms to benefit sentient beings unconditionally.

The Mahayana and Vajrayana viewpoints may seem contradictory on the surface. In actual fact, they are not. They merely appear contradictory, as people of different levels of understanding and awareness perceive different qualities in Bodhisattvas who have attained their status through the development of the aspiration and application aspects of Bodhicitta. Just as a king who is walking along the street may be seen and recognised by those who know him as a king; and by those who do not, as a merely distinguished, or noble-looking gentleman.

The aspiration aspect of Bodhicitta is when one learns and understands the result of the development of Bodhicitta and has the desire to achieve that goal. To do that one makes a commitment of aspiration Bodhicitta. Application Bodhicitta is when after one has made a commitment, one follows the path to fulfil that commitment and in the process becomes a Bodhisattva.

>We can develop Bodhicitta through loving kindness and compassion. Generally, each and every body has the ability to be kind and compassionate. Even tigers and snakes, which can be ferocious towards other animals, are compassionate to their offspring. This is true of many other sentient beings, including human beings, who do have a compassionate nature that is inherent. It is due to the lack of right view and wisdom that this inherent nature becomes corrupted loving and compassion. It is corrupted in that once the emotion forms an attachment, it generates defilement. That is why we are not able to develop with good results because we have the motive to benefit ourselves.

If we are kind to someone, we also expect to be kind to one we know and that kindness has self involved. The involvement of self-interest will contaminate the exercise of loving kindness and compassion and so the results of that are not so effective or pure. The development of a selfless kind of loving kindness and compassion is not an easy task. It is quite difficult and impossible at first, because we need a good basis and only from there are we able to develop accordingly. The good basis is that we must have a certain kind of understanding of loving kindness and compassion even though it may at first involve self-interest. Somehow we must know the characteristic of loving kindness and compassion so that we can express it with people we know and then gradually and increasingly to others. That kind of expanding improvement we will be to do if we have a good basis. Everybody has loving kindness even though some may initially be very weak and some very strong. We all have to develop from wherever we are. That basis is the starting point.

To develop the selfless view we have to start from the self and then, through wisdom and right view, gradually develop a selfless attitude. We develop loving kindness and compassion towards all sentient beings selflessly without any expectation. That is selflessness. The selflessness is initially generated by self and then it is transformed into selflessness through wisdom and right view. Poison can kill a person, but if used properly, poison can also save a life. Everything is inter-related. If one wants to know selflessness, first one needs to know selfishness and recognise it and then from the nature of that recognition, one realises selflessness.

The cause of all sufferings that we experience is the grasping of the self. It is clear that once one grasps the notion of self, for example, that I want to be happy, that I do not want to suffer or that I need material things, etc, then one has to undergo all the necessary processes in order to get things done. Yet all these processes are not easy to undergo. A great deal of effort is required at each stage. We may get what we want or we may not. At a certain point, there is usually uncertainty as to whether a goal can be accomplished or not.

Even when we get what we wish for, it does not bring lasting happiness and the achievement becomes a cause of suffering. All these processes cause us many sufferings. The root of the processes and the suffering is the attachment towards the self of 'I' or 'me'. So long as we have that attachment, things are always constantly torturing and bothering us. In order to be non-attached, we must meditate to investigate the 'I', to establish whether the 'I' exists or not. Whether it has form or colour, etc.

After investigation, we will realise that the 'I' cannot be found. The non-finding is the finding of the ultimate state of self itself. So that is why we do not grasp the existence and non-existence of phenomena; because both cannot be found. That state of mind is then free from the extreme; beyond description. We must develop that kind of realisation. As Buddha said, existence is one extreme, non-existence is another extreme. Therefore, beyond these two extremes is the middle way or path and that is the ultimate. So the Bodhisattvas have that level of understanding of the ultimate, and they do not want to rest in the state of meditation of peace, but to be constantly benefiting all sentient beings. Buddha accomplished the two purposes, the self-purpose and other-purpose. These two together are the causes of Buddhahood: that is developing the wisdom and the method. Method means development of loving kindness and compassion.

The power of compassion is very great. We experience much suffering, such as when enemies disturb us, or when physical and mental problems torture us. We suffer because we do not have the quality or perception to prevent or absorb the obstacles into the positive view. Therefore, everything becomes unfavourable to oneself. But loving kindness and compassion can convert all situations into favourable ones. So for all the 84,000 defilements, only one type of medicine can help and that is compassion. All the great masters and Bodhisattvas agree on this point. Of course that compassion must be pure, genuine and selfless. Therefore, that kind of compassion is the remedy for all our sufferings.

When practising Bodhicitta, cultivating the right intention is most important. Initially, when we try to develop the intention to benefit sentient beings, it may be difficult and we may waver. This is because of our habitual tendency of selfishness, which is firmly established in our mind. That is why the practice may sometimes flicker as we hesitate. Sometimes, we may even think of changing our mind or intentions. It is critical, therefore, that we first develop firm and full understanding about what we intend to do and what the result will be.

Once we are firm in our intention, then the next stage is for us to correct our behaviour so that any defilement will be effectively diminished. This cannot be accomplished merely with a one-off practice. Constant mindfulness and awareness have to be applied. Once these qualities are attained, we are closer towards the state of enlightenment and we also directly and indirectly benefit sentient beings constantly.

The Buddha, in the course of his development gave his body to needy people, a tiger, etc, without regret and without fear of pain but with joy and happiness. The Buddha dedicated himself to others and that most perfects kind of loving-kindness and compassion is what we need to develop. And so we need to change and develop our intention. In doing so, we have to examine our own capabilities and not force ourselves to do something beyond our abilities.

To work within our abilities, without hesitation and just for the benefit of others. This is the true Buddhist way of life.

This teaching was given by Ven. Shangpa Rinpoche at the centre on 5th May 1995 before the Vesak Day

This page created on 6 September 1998

Santideva, a very great master of India, composed many texts and commentaries, among which "Bodhicaryavatara is die most profound. Santideva composed these teachings without any pride or ego. He wrote them just for the benefit of all beings.

Therefore, this text is most effective for everybody. If a person writes with pride of intelligence, his explanations will not be suitable for every level of people.

BRIEF HISTORY OF SANTIDEVA'S LIFE

To begin with the teaching, it is good to understand a little background of Santideva's life story. Santideva was a prince born in Bengal. He renounced his position and sought many masters. He studied, practised and completed all his education at the Nalanda Buddhist College, the most famous Buddhist College during Ins time. He attained perfect realisation.

He was usually very humble and lived as simply as possible. Therefore, people usually did not see him as a very special and realised person. No one thought that he was a great Siddha. Most of those at Nalanda felt that he was wasting the Sangha's food. They could not see him as what the other masters do. What they saw was that he just ate and slept, without doing anything.

At that time the whole Sangha had a meeting. They thought: "The sangha's food and facilities were to be used for good purposes but this monk does nothing but eat and sleep. As such, he has been accumulating bad karma and misleading others. They wanted to expel him

Each month they had a ceremony to restore broken vows. During that ceremony, each master took turns to read the Sutras. They did not know Santideva's understanding and realisation from his outlook. So they thought, "If we invite him to read the Sutra, he would go off by himself if he doesn't know how to read.

Wanting to embarrass Santideva further, they put up a very high throne and invited him to sit on it and read the sutra. Santideva accepted the invitation.

He touched the throne by his hand and the throne went down. He sat on the throne and asked, "Do you want to hear the existing Sutras or something new?" The monks were very curious but did not know that he had the knowledge, so they asked him to explain his own commentary.

That was how the teaching of Bodhicaryavatara started. When the teaching reached the Wisdom chapter, he floated in the air, went higher and higher then became invisible. Later, all the sanghas regretted treating him in such a manner. They tried to find him but failed.

At last, at a mountain retreat, some people saw him. They observed that each day, a deer would go into his cave but they never came out. Everybody thought, "This master has been taking deer meat for such a long time." They carried weapons and went into his cave to beat him up; not knowing that he had already became a yogi, whose actions are not fixed like ordinary people. When they reached die cave, all the deer came out first; he came out last. To their surprise, the deer were very well dressed.

Actually, he was giving dharma talk to the deer. All the people regretted and confessed to him. All the sanghas also regretted what they had done and went to confess to him.

All the masters and great Arhants noted down all his teachings without leaving out anything. His teachings explained entirely the development of Bodhicitta. Even though it is now very famous throughout the Buddhist world, it was never heard of by anybody at that time. However, his teachings were not new.

It was still part of Buddha's teachings, although it was his commentary based on his own knowledge and practices.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

In the introductory chapter of the Text, Santideva said, "These commentaries may not be beneficial for others but they are very beneficial for myself and my mind stream".

This is a humble way of expression. Great masters always try to put down self and put up others. They try to get rid of their pride and ego in this way.

This teaching contains ten chapters or categories of explanation.

CHAPTER I - PRECIOUS HUMAN BODY

The first chapter talks about the precious human body and how we should make proper use of it. It also introduces Bodhicitta.

The commentary states that the precious human body, with all the right conditions is very difficult to obtain. Once it is fortunately obtained, if not properly used, it is not easy to obtain again in future. When obtained, the precious human body has lots of negative actions most of the time. So much so that the chances of reflecting positive thoughts are very slim

Sometimes, we do have good thoughts. This comes either through the blessings from the Buddha or the result of one's own good karma. Such good thoughts are like a dark night without moonlight or stars. Suddenly lightning comes. Instantly one can see things for just one second and it goes off again. Our daily life is just like that. We tend to have negative thoughts. It is so difficult for good thoughts to arise, just like the lightning that appears for only a second.

Once we have reflected positive thoughts, we have to combine it with good action and attitude. This will be the turning point of oneself. The accumulation of negative actions is so great that they are not so easy to purify or to get rid off. We have accumulated these negative actions since the beginning of time. Our accumulations of good actions are just like lightning. They come suddenly and go off in a second. So, it is very difficult to clear away our negative actions.

However, because of the compassion and skilful means of the Buddha, any amount of negative actions can be purified. This is done through the development of Bodhicitta to purify all our defilements in a short time. It is just like the burning of bushes that are as huge as a mountain with lust one matchstick 40 burn the whole thing effortlessly. No accumulation of merits can do this.

Our accumulation of negative actions is so much that we need eons to purify them. But if we use this profound method, we do not need so much effort. This Bodhicitta or Enlightened Attitude is able to turn one's ordinary state to the Enlightenment State, just like a formula that turns metal into gold. It can turn our body, which is so dirty and imperfect, into Enlightenment. So, the development of Bodhicitta is a very perfect method.

Compared with Bodhicitta, the other methods of accumulation of merits, such as doing good deeds, are very mild and very poor They are just like banana trees, once the fruits are grown, their trunks have to be chopped down as they cannot bear fruit again. The development of Bodhicitta is like other fruit trees. They keep producing fruits throughout their whole lifetime. The accumulations of merits do not have an end.

Bodhicitta has two parts: Aspiration Bodhicitta and Application Bodhicitta. Aspiration Bodhicitta is just like our Intention to go on a journey. For example, I want to go to the United States. Firstly, I must have the intention to go there. Next, I decide to go there. When I have decided to go there, that is Aspiration Bodhicitta. In practice we say, "For the benefits of all sentient beings, I must achieve Enlightenment".

Application Bodhicitta is like I have bought an air ticket and boarded the plane. Each moment of the time when the plane flies towards the destination, I am getting closer and closer to Enlightenment. In practice, we go through the path of purification, accumulation of merits and wisdom, etc, until we reach the Enlightenment State. This is Application Bodhicitta.

CHAPTER 2 - CONFESSION

In order to absorb this Bodhicitta, we do certain actions, i.e. offering, prostration, taking refuge and confession. These start with the offering of one's own body, speech and mind to the Buddha. It also includes whatever good things we have, such as the mandala offering, and whatever things we feel good, in order to get rid of attachment.

In order to absorb the qualities of the Buddha, we do prostrations and take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Buddhahood is the final destination we have to reach. We have to realize Buddhahood; therefore we take refuge in the Buddha. We have to rely on the Buddha.

Taking refuge in the Dharma, the teachings of Buddha is the Path to enable us to achieve our final destination. So, we also rely on the teachings of the Buddha.

The Sangha is the guidance. To follow the path securely, we need spiritual guidance from spiritual friends, that is, taking refuge in the Sangha.

The final part of this chapter is on confession. Whenever we examine our actions and ourselves in the past and present, we find a lot of actions, which are not favourable and are not according to the Dharma, or they are bad actions. If we don't recognise them as bad, we cannot abandon them. If we recognise, we can heal.

We should think, "I should not do this. Wrong actions will lead to sufferings." So, recognise our wrong actions and feel regret, and think, "I should stop doing this in future, since I know this is not good". We also rely on Buddha for forgiveness.

CHAPTER 3 - TAKING BODHICITTA VOWS

The third chapter is on taking the Bodhicitta Vows. We take the Bodhicitta Vows as all those great beings had done previously. They had treasured Bodhicitta, taken the Bodhicitta Vows, attained Enlightenment and benefited all sentient beings unconditionally. We say, "Likewise, today, I also want to follow their way of actions, so I take the Bodhicitta Vows. Henceforth, I will do all the actions which benefit sentient beings." This is the meaning of Bodhicitta Vows.

CHAPTER 4 - BEHAVIOUR

The fourth chapter is on correcting one's behaviour, such as morality. Once we have taken the Bodhicitta Vows, we are to observe the Vows and benefit the sentient beings. We have to engage. Once we study the qualities of Bodhicitta, we appreciate the Bodhicitta and how it is good, then we decide to take the Bodhisattva Vows and invoke the Bodhicitta. Then we are to observe the Path of a Bodhisattva. This is through your own wisdom, to understand the qualities and truly examine and check and find its perfection.

Once you engage, then you are not supposed to break the Vows, It is very stupid if you take the Vows when you feel like and break them when you don't feel like it. I mean, without using your own wisdom to understand the qualities, just blindly following the words of others those sons of very foolish things. Therefore, the commentary tries to explain that those who have wisdom and use their wisdom to decide certain things will never reverse their decision. They will go forward. That is the important point. Take the Vows and go forward. That means, we should not give up.

If we are not satisfied, then before we engage, we should study further and try to understand better. Once you go forward, try not to reverse. Once we have decided to attain Enlightenment for the benefit of sentient beings and we give up this attitude that means we have broken the Vows. When we break the Vows, we have betrayed all sentient beings. We have cheated all the sentient beings because we had promised to protect and liberate them from all sufferings. If you just give up half way, you have just ignored the sufferings of the sentient beings. That is considered as betrayal and cheating all sentient beings.

If, because of just one person whom you dislike, you think, "I want to save all sentient beings except this person, who is most irritating," then it is also considered as breaking the Vows. We have to liberate all sentient beings unconditionally.

The behaviour of a Bodhisattva, i.e. after you have taken the Bodhicitta Vows, must be always ready to help sentient beings for whatever is the need. If they need advice, use your best wisdom to give them advice. If they need shelter, try to provide shelter. Those who are already in the great path of a Bodhisattva even sacrifice their lives to the needs of others, but this is not at our level. Within our capacity, we try to benefit others as much as we can and totally avoid being harmful to others.

CHAPTER 5 - MINDFULNESS

When we observe the Vows of a Bodhisattva, we have to be very careful. We have to observe our mind consciously. If we do not observe our mind, then we cannot observe the Vows of a Bodhisattva. The mind plays a very important role. It is the first one to start, and then the action follows up with the mind. Therefore, observing the mind is very important.

The mind is just like a wild elephant. It can be very destructive but through mindfulness, we can train that mind. We can tame it until it becomes like a domesticated elephant. Our awareness or subconsciousness is just like a trainer. With patience, we can tame our mind. Once our mind is tamed, the environment or others do not affect it.

Like the sufferings in hell and the sufferings of hungry ghosts, they do not actually exist in a solid form somewhere. Are somebody punishing and somebody suffering continuously? It is not so. Santideva said, "Who makes the Burning Iron Ground and who creates all the beings and the person in the hell who is punishing everybody? There is no one who makes or creates these. These are the manifestations of our own confused mind. The suffering of hell is not somewhere else but is within the mind. Enlightenment is also not somewhere else, it is within the mind."

Therefore, in the whole world, there is nothing more destructive than the mind. The mind can manifest hell and the mind can manifest Enlightenment. So, the most important thing is observing our own mind. We have to be mindful. If we observe our mind, the rest of the actions will be naturally corrected.

Just like the ground that is covered with stones and thorns which cannot be stepped on. In order to make it safe, you cannot cover the whole ground with leather because that would be too much and you will never have enough to cover the whole world. You can just wear shoes and walk. That is very safe.

We do not have to tackle each and every negative action or consequence one by one. We try to tame our own mind, then we have tamed the rest of the defilements, the rest of the causes and conditions.

Without mindfulness, whatever good actions we do, It is not safe or secure. It can be very easily destroyed, once we don't have the mindfulness. Defilements are just like a thief without knowing it can take all our accumulation of good merits.

That means, when we don't have mindfulness, we become careless. When we become careless, unknowingly we may do a lot of wrong things. Without realising that which is wrong, we will go towards the wrong path and the wrong direction. In that way, all our accumulation of merits will vanish or be destroyed.

Mindfulness applies to any action we do. Even when I have to talk to somebody, I have to examine whether this kind of speech will cause negativeness or not, and whether it will affect someone badly or not. Not only speech, in whatever action we do, we must always examine first. We must always be aware, through our own investigation, that this is the right thing I should say or do. This is mindfulness.

If we just say whatever we think without any check, this is without mindfulness. If you say it just because you want to say it, without going through any examination, without going through any right or wrong check, this is without mindfulness. This can be very destructive to oneself and others.

CHAPTER 6 - PATIENCE

The sixth chapter is on Patience or Tolerance. This is also very important in order to develop Bodhicitta. Santideva said, "For thousands of eons, one has accumulated merits, generosity and offerings to the Tathagatas (Buddhas). Whatever good actions one has accumulated can be destroyed by one chance of hatred. Therefore, hatred is the most destructive and leads oneself to the lower realms. There is no greater sin than hatred.

This means hatred is the worst negative action and has the heaviest consequences that one has to experience, such as being in the hell.

Patience is the greatest merit and greatest practice. With patience, one can able to absorb all the qualities. Therefore, Buddha, in this teaching, emphasised tolerance or patience as the very important part.

Hatred does not only lead one to the hell or lower realms, or sufferings in the next life, it has also the immediate effect that you can experience the sufferings. Once a person is angry with someone, it is impossible for this person to have happiness or peace of mind. This person will suffer very deep confusion. That means he is suffering tremendously from mental disturbances. Even within an instance, one can also experience that kind of suffering.

With relevance to the next life, or that, which accumulates the habitual tendency, according to many Sutras and Tantras, hatred directly leads to sufferings in the hell. This atmosphere of confusion becomes real when a person is undergoing the next rebirth so that he will constantly experience the consequences of hatred as if he suffering in the hell.
Even though hatred is the greatest sin, it doesn't mean it is not unavoidable. It can be changed because there is nothing that cannot be corrected or changed in this world. Everything can be improved.

Therefore, Santideva advised: Try to develop patience when faced with very mild and very small harmful acts, move gradually to the more harmful ones, and then to the broader and most harmful ones. In this way, you can develop patience. Even though one may be very temperamental in the past, one can be tamed into a very patient person.

Whatever unfavourable things come your way from another party, one should not blame that person directly, because all these kinds of harm are done without intention and do not completely involve the individual himself. This is very much dependent on the conditions.

When causes and conditions are unfavourable, the person has no choice; he has to do it. Then comes the unfavourable result. One should not always blame that person. Rather, oneself should take part of the blame also, because oneself is also a condition to the effect. This is also a method of practice.

Normally, when these kinds of things happened, one always think oneself is perfectly faultless and the other is full of faults. When one tries to defend himself, it becomes worse. There is a method to contemplate in a way, not to blame the individuals. The example given is of a person who is possessed.

When a person is possessed, lie or she can be very violent and very destructive. But still the physician, or the one who treats will not care about this violence. He understands the cause of the violence and therefore does not react in anger. He knows exactly what is happening.

Actually, this is the same in our daily life. Hatred is the defilement and a very powerful defilement. Once one is possessed, he has not a single choice. He has to act violently. As long as you understand the teaching, the cause and condition, then you should not take it seriously. You should have more understanding, just like a physician who understands his patient. This is a very profound method of application during our daily life.

CHAPTER 7 - DILIGENCE

The 7th Chapter is on Diligence. Diligence is always an important goal because without effort one cannot go forward towards the Path. It is just like without wind, a boat does not move. Therefore, we have to develop diligence in order to progress in our development more rapidly.

How do we recognise diligence? A practitioner who has diligence is one who has a certain kind of joy towards the Path. That is the recognition of diligence. Once you have the joy, once you are clear and once you know that this is a very good thing towards the Path, diligence will naturally come. We don't have to put so much effort to do it. But once you have the joy, once you have that interest, then you will develop it accordingly. Joy towards the path is the meaning of Diligence.

In other words, diligence does not mean that you have to force yourself to work harden This is not perfect diligence as you will have the tendency to give up very easily. In order to develop this perfect diligence, you have to understand more things - understand the suffering of Samsara, understand the quality of Bodhicitta and understand the qualities of Enlightenment. So once you understand all these factors, then diligence will come effortlessly. You don't have to force yourself to do it. It will come spontaneously. That is the perfect Diligence.

To understand the suffering of Samsara and the qualities of Enlightenment, it does not mean that we must always think of the bad side of samsara. We can also think of the good side of samsara - certain limits of happiness and pleasure that one can also experience in samsara. But we must check what such happiness is. Such happiness Is part of certain good karma but the good karma is not perfect because it does not last long. This kind of happiness in the Samsara is just like licking honey on a razor You try to taste the honey, so you lick the razor and it cuts your tongue. So, you experience the good taste and sufferings as well. The Samsaric or worldly happiness is just like this kind of happiness.

Therefore, in Samsara, happiness is not perfect happiness and suffering is unbearable suffering. Even with such kind of imperfect happiness, we struggle and sacrifice our lives for it. What about Enlightenment, which is perfect happiness, permanent happiness and faultless? With these kinds of qualities, how should we contemplate?

We should not contemplate what worldly happiness offers. We should try to strive for more than the worldly happiness, that is, the Enlightenment State. This is all about Diligence.

CHAPTER 8 - MEDITATION

The next chapter is on Meditation or Meditative Concentration. In order to develop Wisdom, we need to have a stable mind. Therefore, we need to develop Meditation. Once an individual's mind is not controlled or is distracted, then that person is always in the risk of defilement, just like a person caught between the jaws of a crocodile. If our mind is distracted, then negative thoughts will come. We may follow the negative thoughts and do negative actions, and go towards the wrong direction and path. So, all our accumulation of merits can vanish or be destroyed. Therefore, if we don't have a stable mind, we are always at the risk of being attacked by defilements.

In order to subdue or pacify all these negative thoughts and negative actions, physically, we try to abandon all kinds of unnecessary actions. Mentally, we try to avoid unnecessary planning and unnecessary thinking of the future and past. Try to avoid the distractions caused by the body and the distractions caused by the mind.

The main obstacle of meditation Is attachment. Meditators try to subdue their attachment. Within one's capacity, one will try to subdue or reduce as much as one can. Only then will one be more successful when one tries to meditate.

The next is on meditation subjects. According to most Mahayana Sutras or teachings, they advise us to meditate on subduing one's own defilements first. Whatever defilement we have more aggressively, we put an antidote to subdue that defilement first.

If a person has more hatred, he should put every means of practice to develop loving kindness and compassion. That is the antidote of hatred.

If a person has more desire, then practise meditation on the imperfection of samsara and imperfection of the subject of the desire. In that way, one will be able to understand the nature of it and one able to reduce that particular defilement.

If a person has more Ignorance, contemplate on the twelve interdependent links, i.e. every suffering, every samsara experience is caused by ignorance. That ignorance, the confused mind, produces all the kinds of links. Therefore, try to reverse it.

If we try not to be confused, if we try to cut off this ignorance, then we will be able to cut off the rest of the confusions, the rest of the links. If we have more confusions or ignorance, then we should contemplate more on the twelve interdependent links.

Any kind of Samantha meditation is also applicable at this stage. Any method of Samantha meditation can also be practised.

CHAPTER 9 - WISDOM

The 9th Chapter is on Wisdom. We have to develop the perfect Wisdom in order to pacify our sufferings and in order to pacify our ignorance. Therefore we need to develop Wisdom.

Wisdom has two aspects: The Wisdom to understand the Relative Truth and the Wisdom to understand the Ultimate Truth.

Any wisdom that involves concepts is under the Relative Truth. Any wisdom that does not involve concepts is under the Ultimate Truth. There are many different views and different philosophy points, so this is a very difficult subject. Next time, if we have opportunity to explain then we can elaborate on it. I leave it here because it is too difficult.

CHAPTER 10 - DEDICATION

The last chapter is on Dedication. For every good deed or action that we do or complete, we must dedicate it to the good cause. We dedicate for both ultimate and temporary benefit.

Ultimate dedication is to dedicate to oneself for the attainment of Enlightenment so as to benefit all sentient beings.

Temporary dedication is this: "By this merit of my development of wisdom and so on, for a person, any being who is suffering, may they purify their suffering. Those who do not have food to eat, may they obtain food. Those who have no clothes, may they obtain clothes. Those who are in the hot hell, may they have cool showers to make them cool, and those who are in the cold hell, may they have heaters to make them warm.

You can dedicate as broad as you possibly can, for a small amount of merit. This can be very effective and can multiply up to a great extent. Dedication is very important according to the Mahayana Practice.

CONCLUSION

That completes the "Bodhicaryavatara", which covers the qualities of Bodhicitta, the activities of the Bodhisattvas and how to purify ourselves of gross and subtle defilements.

Geshe Palsang Gyaltso, a Gelupa scholar, gave the commentary of the Bodhicaryavatara". 'The actual "Bodhicaryavatara", without commentary, a direct translation of the Tibetan text, is known as "Entering the Path of Bodhisattvas' Action". In English, it could be written as "The Bodhisattvas' Way of Life". This text, without commentary is quite easy to understand but if you don't understand, you can find a text with commentary. I think there is one.

Let's dedication the merits accumulated through the teaching and listening of this talk to all sentient beings to attain Enlightenment.

There are two levels of benefit experienced by the practitioner of meditation. The first benefit is the immediate improvement in the conditions of daily life. The practice of meditation leads to a mind that is more peaceful, more tranquil and more at ease. Because the mind is more relaxed, events that usually disturb us seem to take on less importance and we stop taking them in such a serious way. Likewise, through meditation the mind gradually learns to be independent of external conditions and circumstances. This mind that is unaffected by outer conditions is then able to discover its own stability and tranquility. A stable mind, one that is not disturbed, leads to the experience of less suffering in our lives. These are the immediate benefits that come from regular meditation practice.

The long-term benefit of meditation is that when the mind is pacified, this gradually leads to purification of the mind's basic ignorance, which ultimately leads to buddhahood or enlightenment. In this state of enlightenment, the confusion of ordinary, everyday life no longer exists.

To experience pacification and tranquility, the mind must learn how to remain still. This is not our usual experience of mind. The mind is usually agitated, always in motion, thinking about many different things. We need to look deeply at the causes of this. Since beginningless time to the present moment we have cultivated a perception, a way of seeing things that is based on duality. We have a strong sense of ‘I,’ of personal existence due to what we call ego-clinging. This gives rise to the perception of external objects that are separate from the ego. This misconception inevitably involves a relationship between ‘self’ and the world around us, the objects with which we interact. This is the dualistic experience of the world that we all share. This fundamental sense of duality gives rise to all sorts of thoughts, ideas and movement in the mind. Therefore, when we initially sit down to meditate our experience of the mind is far from being peaceful or at ease. This is because the mind is completely distracted by strong activity in relation to external objects. This is the basic cause; this is how mental distraction comes about.

We need to apply a method to train this unstable mind to remain stable in one place. In this way, the mind becomes accustomed to the experience of stability. For this reason, in meditation we give the mind one single object to rest upon.

Before we begin to meditate, we should understand something about the qualities of mind, what the mind actually is. The mind is not a thing – it is not a material substance, a fixed object. It is comprised of the nature of knowing. It has this capacity. The mind is simply a succession of moments of consciousness, moments of awareness or moments of knowing. In essence, the mind is without obstruction, it is vast, it is unlimited. The mind is not an entity that exists as such and that lasts for a certain length of time. As the mind enters into relationship with objects, there arise a series of ever-changing instances of perception; therefore, the mind is not one continuous thing – it is impermanent. Thus, this mind, which has the capacity to know and is by nature unobstructed, must be trained to remain stable.

We need stability in order for the mind to recognize its true essence. Without this stability the mind is unable to recognize itself. The mind has the capacity to know or to recognize its own instability, its own impermanence. Because it is by nature something that knows, it can have knowledge of itself, i.e., knowledge of the fact that it is not stable. It is on the basis of that knowledge, that understanding of itself that the mind can then learn to be stable. So this mind, even though it is agitated, always in motion, nonetheless, it recognizes this instability and can transform it. This is quite different than the wind, for example. The wind is also constantly moving, but, because it is not comprised of mind, it cannot know that it is moving and therefore cannot calm itself down. It cannot stabilize itself. It is this knowing aspect of mind that allows the mind to work on itself.

The instability of mind will not be permanently removed simply by a meditation technique. In order to stabilize the mind, we need the mind to recognize its own nature. Once the mind has recognized its own nature it can reach true stability. Mind can experience itself directly. This means that the mind is capable of experiencing its true nature, unobstructed, free from grasping and fixation on the endless stream of mental content – our thoughts, perceptions and concepts. We habitually grasp at mind's appearances as if our own version is quite solid and real, thus losing the perspective to recognize the unobstructed quality of mind. We say that mind's true nature is emptiness. By empty, we mean that mind is clear; that it is empty of anything that is solid, permanent, or inherently self-existent.

If we do not meditate on the mind as it is, that is our personal experience of mind as it is in the moment, we will not be able to clearly see how the mind is agitated, how it is constantly distracted with an endless stream of thoughts. Once we realize that we are unable to experience a stable mind, we understand the necessity to train the mind, to tame it to bring it to a state of tranquility and stability. However, in order to train the mind, we need a reference point. We need to give the mind something to focus on. In the Buddha's teachings are explanations about the different supports or reference points to help stabilize the mind. Among those supports, the Buddha emphasized the method of resting the mind on the breath. The Buddha explained that in living beings, the mind is closely connected to the body. Therefore, mind and body are in close relationship, particularly mind and the subtle energy system of the body. This means that one way to experience tranquility is through working with the breath, because breathing is related both to the body and its subtle energies. This is why the initial meditation instruction recommends counting the breath.

The first meditation technique we use to tame the mind is called shamatha (Sanskrit) or shinay (Tibetan) meditation, which means 'calm abiding.' Shamatha consists of six steps – counting the breath, following the breath and resting on the breath are the first three steps. After you practice these for a long time, the mind will become tame. Then you progress to the next three steps that develop from concentration on the breath. Here we use analysis to see the connection between mind and the breath. Through this analysis you will realize the emptiness of the mind’s nature. You can develop an intuitive feeling for the mind and then you can play with it. You can change the concentration, the image upon which you focus and know that the mind is like a mirage – you can play with. After that you concentrate upon the nature of objects to see the essential emptiness of phenomena. This is how you complete shamatha, the concentration practice that trains the mind.

The purpose of a one-day teaching such as this is to give an overview of the different steps in meditation practice. When it comes to actually learning a meditation technique, then it is better to have a systematic series of explanations on a regular basis so that one can gradually develop one’s understanding of the practice of meditation.

When we are using the meditation method of counting the breaths, we count the breathing cycles (in-breath and out-breath being one complete cycle). We initially count continuously from one through five, the idea being to rest the mind on the breathing without any distraction until we reach five cycles and then continue to repeat the process. When we feel we can do this easily, we increase the number of cycles we count, but only for the duration of time we’re able to remain undistracted. All the time the mind is resting on the breathing and is not distracted elsewhere. With time we can actually reach a count of one thousand using this method without the mind wandering away from the breathing during that time. This constitutes the measurement of a certain level of stability wherein the mind is definitely under our control. This is what we call the pacified mind, tranquil or tamed mind.

Through this practice we develop in our meditation an inner experience of tranquility. As we improve our skills in this meditation technique, this ease and tranquility becomes an ongoing experience of the mind. This is the result of shamatha practice.

In general, when we receive teachings on meditation it is not customary to describe all the various different meditation techniques in the space of one single lecture. We have to systematically learn the practice of meditation, beginning with being able to sit in the correct posture. Sitting properly in meditation is the first subject that is taught. This is followed by a second series of explanations that describe how the mind learns to rest on the meditation object. This is followed by a third level of explanations where we learn to distinguish faults of incorrect meditation and how to prevent these kinds of defects from arising in our meditation. We also learn to recognize the qualities that arise in correct meditation. Actually, the initial meditation instruction is of very important because it provides the foundation for which development of our future meditation practices rest. Thus, the instructions on experiencing a mind that is tranquil and pacified are of utmost importance.

After practicing shamatha meditation where we've learned to develop the mind’s tranquility and stability, we then move into the second phase of meditation called vipashyana (Sanskrit) or insight meditation. This is a meditation practice in which we gain a profound insight into the true nature of mind. When we look into the mind we discover what is called primordial awareness. This primordial awareness is non-dualistic and it is only through insight meditation that we can access or recognize this non-dual mind. Without insight meditation we will always be caught up in dualistic clinging and the mind’s true nature – the wisdom or primordial awareness aspect – will remain obscured and we will not be able to access it at all.

Once we have seen into the nature of mind, then through further insight meditation we improve the quality of our experience of primordial awareness. With time, this becomes natural, something that will develop by itself. This is the point where there is spontaneous growth of our experience of primordial awareness. If the mind is agitated, however, we will not be able to see this primordial awareness. This is why it is important in the initial practice of meditation to cultivate mental calm, tranquility and stability.

This, then, is how one experiences through meditation the growth of primordial awareness in the mind. The method to develop this is the practice of insight meditation where we learn not to grasp at the reality or the fixed existence of external objects. Inwardly we recognize that the mind itself is not something that is dull or obscured, but is in fact the nature of clarity. When we encounter directly in our meditation the non-grasping at objects and the inner clarity of mind, these two work together to allow us to see the essence of mind. We can only see the essence of mind if the mind is unobscured by thoughts. A thought arises through the contact or the relationship between the mind as subject and an object that is being related to by the mind. Thus, thought is necessarily a dualistic process. When the mind is in a state of dualistic clinging it will think. When, however, the mind knows its own essence and can recognize its true nature, then this is the experience of non-dualistic, primordial awareness. In fact, the mind at that point is seeing itself.

To illustrate this process at this level of meditation, when we wake up in the morning the sunlight is already beginning to filter into the world and the day is getting lighter. As the day goes by the light increases as the sun gets higher and as the light increases the darkness is dispelled. This is the automatic effect of sunlight. This is analogous to what happens in our meditation. The more we see the nature of mind, the more clearly the nature of mind shines. This all happens because the mind has the capacity to know itself. It can initially recognize what is already there in the mind and because of that, the mind is no longer affected by uncontrolled thinking. This is like the unobscured, cloudless sky. The sunlight is free to shine without hindrance; just as through the gradual continuance of our insight meditation practice, the ability to light up or to see the nature of mind increases without interruption. Gradually, the practice becomes completely natural.

It is through the practice of meditation as outlined that we accomplish the last two of what are referred to as the six paramitas or the six transcendental virtues. These two are the practice of meditative concentration and the practice of full knowledge or full understanding, wisdom. Paramita is a Sanskrit word that means literally something that has reached its fulfillment. Here, we are talking about these two qualities of meditation and wisdom having reached their full achievement, their full accomplishment. The transcendental or fully accomplished meditative concentration, the fifth of the six paramitas, is related to the practice of tranquility meditation as explained earlier. It is through training the mind and the gradual development of our experience that we come to the complete fulfillment of this quality of mental stability or meditative concentration.

When we discuss the stability of mind, we often refer to the three stages of stability. The first stage might not seem like stability at all because it is in fact the recognition of just how agitated our mind really is. Our experience in meditation may be that there seems to be an increase in thought, that the mind is greatly agitated like a river flowing down a rocky mountain. This, however, is not a defect in our meditation. It just means that the mind is now calm enough to be able to recognize its own agitation. Not being involved in that agitation, it can actually recognize just how agitated it is.

Once we recognize this, we should not become stuck on it, but move on with our tranquility practice until the mind becomes more trained. At that point, we will experience mind as a constantly flowing river, gently moving along. This is the result of the mind being more pacified and trained. This is followed by a third stage of practice during which the mind is able to remain in a state of stability for as long as it likes. Here, one has complete control or mastery of the state of stability.

These three stages of meditative concentration are called the three stabilities. In the first stage we still need to teach the mind to stabilize itself by resting on an external reference point – some kind of object. This is absent in the second and third stages where there is no longer any need for a reference point.

In the second stage, while we do not have a reference point, there is still certain watchfulness. We need to observe when the mind is stable and when it is moving and thinking. We need to recognize these states and gradually stabilize the mind further. There’s a certain amount of deliberate effort required in this phase in order to maintain the quality of our meditation.

By the time we reach the third stage, mental pacification and tranquility automatically occur without any effort whatsoever. The second stage leads to the third stage without any intervention on our part. This third and final stage corresponds to the accomplishment of tranquility meditation. This is the equivalent of the accomplishment of meditative concentration or what we call the fifth paramita, the transcendental virtue of meditative concentration. It is from then on that we can enter into the phase of insight meditation.

The stage of insight meditation is much more difficult for us to actually judge or measure because it is endless. In fact, we continue insight meditation practice right up until the very moment of enlightenment. Therefore, it is not a practice that can be judged to last for a certain amount of time and then we do something else. Insight meditation will take us to enlightenment itself.

Insight meditation is so vast it is difficult from our point of view to comprehend what it really is; it is a realm of meditation that takes us beyond dualistic manifestation. Initially, insight meditation brings some minor experience of reality or the true nature of things. As we continue with this practice it expands and grows – it develops beyond our current ability to follow its progress. That’s why we say it is endless. Insight meditation is the perfection of wisdom, the sixth paramita or the sixth perfection.

Presently, we are unable to see the nature of mind, even though mind has the capacity to see its own nature. Right now our mind is full of obscurations. However, these very obscurations can become the means through which we can access the genuine qualities of mind. The minds of most all living beings are currently in a state of ignorance. This ignorance forms the basis upon which the obscurations of the mind appear. However, all of these obscurations can be purified and lead to the attainment of enlightenment. The capacity to transform obscurations into qualities is what we refer to as buddha-nature. Each and every living being has this capacity to transform their mental obscurations into the qualities of enlightenment.

To better understand obscurations, we will briefly discuss karma, the law of cause and effect. This will help us to understand the relationship between our actions and the results we experience. The practice of virtue is the remedy that allows us to purify all past karmic actions.

Karma is the accumulation of actions based on thoughts in our mind and actions that are produced by that thinking. If we look at how the mind thinks, or the ideas or concepts that come up in the mind, we see that they are based upon the interrelationship between mind and objects that is produced by the emotions. Sometimes the mind is influenced by ego-clinging or selfishness. Sometimes the mind is influenced by strong anger or aggression and sometimes by strong desire or attachment, pride, or jealousy. All of these emotional states cause the mind to create ideas and to perform actions that create what we call a karmic potential, a karmic seed. These karmic seeds are collected in the mind where they continue as habitual tendencies. As these tendencies ripen, as the karma created by confused thought or action comes to full fruition, this produces the experience of an event in our impression of the world around us. This is our karma, the manifestation of the confused mind. So karma can be either in the consciousness as a potential; it can be in the process of ripening; or it can be fully-ripened karma.

If instead of developing negative emotions in the mind such as desire, anger or jealousy, we develop the qualities of love and compassion, then we have good motivation as a basis for the actions we perform. The result will then be that all our actions will strengthen the quality of virtue. All actions that are motivated by genuine love and compassion are inevitably going to result in virtuous actions. There is no way that a genuine loving or compassionate action could produce a non-virtuous result. These virtuous actions are also collected in the mind stream and they will ripen into an experience of the world – an illusion or a manifestation around us that contains positive qualities and fortunate circumstances.

When we talk about positive and negative we have to view or understand these terms in relation to attaining enlightenment. We define fortunate karma as conditions that help us move closer to enlightenment and negative karma as unfortunate conditions that compromise our opportunity to reach enlightenment.

We talk about existence as being either fortunate or unfortunate. A fortunate existence is to be born as a human being with a human body in a human world with human friends. Our experience of life is a very positive one, giving us many opportunities to further our progress towards enlightenment. An example of an unfortunate rebirth is if we manifest as a ghost rather than as a human being. In that case we would have the body of a ghost; we’d live in a ghost world; we would perceive the world around us as the kind of manifestation experienced by a ghost and all our friends would be ghosts. Life would be very unfortunate indeed. However, things could get worse – we could have the karma to manifest as an insect. Even though the insect may be flying through the human world, it doesn’t have the ability to contact human beings and benefit from the human world. The world in which the insect is living is not a human world; it is a world that is experienced from the point of view of an insect. This means that in order for the insect to make meaningful contact with another living being, such a contact can only take place when it makes contact with another insect. If the insect makes contact with a human being the insect doesn’t perceive that as beneficial or of any use whatsoever. This is the life of an insect. The insect has various faculties and sense perceptions, as well as certain tendencies. Driven by its instinct to survive, an insect can easily commit a negative act; whereas, even though all beings have buddha-nature, in the insect realm accomplishment of virtuous actions is of extremely difficult.

Therefore, we can see how important it is to have a fortunate existence with all the faculties, potential and capacities to develop toward enlightenment. It is highly beneficial to have this kind of rebirth, this human situation. What do we do to ensure that it continues? We need to engage in actions and behaviors that are motivated by love and compassion. For instance, one of the kinds of actions that we can engage in is the practice of generosity, cultivating generosity based upon the motivation of love and compassion. If we practice generosity with this kind of pure motivation then everything we do will continue to create good fortune and fortunate conditions. This means that from year to year, from life to life, we will be getting closer to attaining enlightenment. That is the practice of generosity, the first paramita, the perfection of generosity.

The second paramita is the perfection of ethical conduct. This affects everything we do, including all the other paramitas. Here we work within the illusion that we are caught in order to develop something positive within that illusion. In these practices, whether it is meditation where we are dealing directly with the causes of the illusion, or the practice of generosity where we’re dealing with the situation of the illusion, we should not harm living beings by our actions. This is the essence of ethical conduct. It means that whatever our practice we should avoid causing any harm to living beings. Even in our practice of virtue, we must ensure that it doesn't cause harm to others. If we do this, then the mind can be more firmly rooted in positive karma and this will mean that our meditation progresses, the confusion of mind diminishes, the mind becomes freer and ultimately becomes more able to see its own true nature. All this is the result of the perfection of the paramita of ethical conduct.

The discipline of ethical conduct is to enable us to give up or renounce anything that can be harmful to our practice and to encourage all things that can be beneficial to our practice. The practice of ethical conduct becomes the basis for purification and improvement in whatever practice we are doing.

Concerning the third paramita, the practice of patience, there are two categories. Patience or tolerance can be exercised in relation to outer circumstances or to inner circumstances. If we look at outer circumstances, this means not replying in kind when we are attacked or insulted in some way, but instead reacting from the basis of love and compassion. We must learn to respond to aggression with love and compassion. As for the inner kind of patience, there is a strong practice and a more subtle practice. The more obvious practice of inner patience is accomplished when we cut off thoughts and feelings of anger as soon as we are aware they are arising in the mind. We don’t follow or engage with these thoughts and emotions. The more subtle practice of patience is related to overcoming the darkness of ignorance in the mind. This means that when any thoughts or ideas of a dualistic nature develop in the mind, we exercise the practice of wisdom – the practice of complete understanding of the nature of thoughts so as to not get caught up in dualistic thinking. In this way we see through or into the very nature of our thoughts. This is also patience.

Concerning the fourth paramita, the practice of perseverance, initially this is quite simply the exercise of cultivating exertion or will power in more circumstances and applying it. This is followed by a second stage that involves constant effort. That means our efforts to do anything should be continual, not off and on, but regular. There is then a third phase where our ability to persevere, to exercise energy and to deal with a situation is something that is easy, automatic and completely untainted by any deliberate effort because this is a natural functioning of the mind. This kind of ingrained or innate perseverance will lead us as we continue with this practice to the very threshold of enlightenment. As we travel the path it will allow us to be of great benefit to living beings.

The cultivation of the perfections of ethical conduct, patience and perseverance will be of great benefit to our practice of the other three perfections – generosity, meditation and wisdom. It is through the gradual accomplishment of all six paramitas that we progress on the path towards enlightenment.

First of all, each practitioner should decide if he wants to be a genuine follower of Buddhism. If he does, he needs to study earnestly and cultivate Bodhicitta and the enlightened attitude. These will lead to enlightenment.

Now what is Bodhicitta? Bodhicitta is not a single attribute. It is the combination of many positive attributes such as the application of compassion, kindness, right view and wisdom. Development of these is, thus, development of Bodhicitta and all these positive actions lead a person towards enlightenment.

In general when we practice the dharma and we commit ourselves to accomplishing positive actions we encounter obstacles and difficulties. This is due to the fact that our minds are laden with emotions. Of these negative emotions, the main one is pride which leads us to feel contempt for others (due to an over-estimation of oneself: I am the best, the strongest, etc). The existence of pride automatically gives rise to jealousy, hatred, or anger. With pride as its underlying cause, the emotion of anger creates the most powerful effects. This is because it leads us to carry out all kinds of seriously negative actions that will bring about future rebirths in the lower realms.

In Western societies, the distinction between pride and firmness of mind is often confused. A lack of pride is construed to be a weakness. Pride is a built-up and concentrated form of ego grasping. So in this respect, it is a weakness. A person can have great strength of character, and a strong resolve to achieve a goal, such as enlightenment, for example, without pride ever manifesting.

We need to dissociate pride - the affirmation of our own supremacy over others which suggests a certain blindness - from firmness of mind that is a quality free of all the negative aspects of pride. In the same way we often have a distorted view which equates humility with a weakness of character. What we really need is courage and strength of character, without developing pride.

Mental calm and stability

The meditation on love and compassion goes hand in hand with the cultivation of mental stability. Indeed, with respect to pride and anger, it is difficult for the beginner to give up these emotions straight away. Until we are able to do this we need to practice mental calm in conjunction with the meditation on love and compassion. This is the very essence of Shi'nay meditation.

For example we can examine the mental image or concept of anger. Think of a person who appears unpleasant to you, someone whom you regard as your enemy. If you do not have an enemy, try to think of a person who can make you angry. Once you actually feel the anger, do not act it out, as you may end up hurting someone. Instead, try to relate to the anger as a type of thought and try to see what it looks like and where it comes from? Does it come from the person or from yourself? If you think it comes from the mind, where does it arise from, how does it remain, and where does it go when it disappears? In this way one takes the anger itself as the object of meditation and reflection.

From time to time, you can practice a method of exchanging roles. Once you feel really angry with someone, you can put yourself in that person's place. For example, I am Shamar Rinpoche. I am angry with you. Then I imagine that I am you. In this way, I adopt a different viewpoint, your viewpoint. The same exchange can be applied to the emotions of jealousy and pride. This is a form of Shi'nay (the pacification of the mind). By observing the strong emotional state of anger and then a peaceful state of mind, you will come to observe the nature of mind itself. This is the superior form of insight which we call Lhaktong. If you can apply this method for all of the disturbing emotions, then it will be extremely beneficial for you.

If there are many thoughts in the mind and you manage to pacify them with this method, this is excellent. However when the emotions are so strong that we cannot control them, we need to stabilize the mind by focusing on our breathing. Concentrating on the in-and- out breaths in this case is more effective.

Many people often take this meditation to be a breathing exercise. In fact, the important point here is not in the breathing but in composing the mind, through being constantly aware of the in-and-out breaths without being distracted. The main point is really this concentration itself, this mental stability. Some people think that the physical aspect of the practice is significant, but this is not the case. What is essential is our familiarity with the practice. The success of meditations such as Shi'nay and Lhaktong does not depend on the conceptualization of these meditative states. Rather, the essence of these practices is in our becoming accustomed to the meditation process itself. We have to differentiate between Gompa which means to conceive and Sgompa which means to meditate, to train oneself or to become familiar.

The correct conception and understanding arises from meditation and familiarization with the practice. Therefore, the meditation itself must be established on very precise foundations. In order to obtain the state of a Buddha, we have to turn away radically from becoming, in other words from all the forms of worldly happiness associated with the different realms. One might, for example, aim to achieve a relative happiness in a higher state of existence, or to be free from the sufferings of the lower realms. One might aspire to acquire the peaceful state of the Shravakas where there is no possibility of benefiting others. However it is only in the ultimate state of enlightenment that the real power and capacity to act for the benefit of others can be found.

Love and compassion - Relative level

The remedy for an attachment to the happiness of becoming is to reflect on impermanence and the "four fundamental thoughts which turn the mind away from the cycle of existences." As our attachments start to weaken, we may experience a certain peace in our mind. Grasping, or clinging to this mental state of calm may then arise. The remedy for grasping on to this peaceful state is to meditate on altruistic love and compassion. We should develop love and compassion within us until they have become completely natural attitudes for us. Love and compassion are qualities that will accompany us throughout our entire spiritual progression: from the moment we first give rise to the enlightened attitude right up until we achieve Buddhahood itself. This enlightenment will then be endowed with the body, speech, mind and qualities of a Buddha.
Through the power of love and compassion, all unfavourable conditions, the disturbing emotions, samsara and its causes will be destroyed and completely annihilated. Without love and compassion, we simply do not have enough energy. Even while we remain trapped in this prison of samsara, subjected to the influences of the emotions and karma, the qualities of love and compassion allow us to be guided in the right direction.

This love and compassion has an object which is all beings. By beings, we do not simply mean those who are around us -- humans. Anything that possesses a mind is a being. And where there is a being, there is suffering. Just as we have a mind and through this we experience suffering, the same goes for all other types of beings. Here, we must distinguish between that which is living and that which has a mind. A living thing does not necessarily have a mind. But where there is mind, there is consciousness, and there is life. There are all kinds of beings, some which are very small like the insects. A common misconception is to attribute consciousness only to beings of a certain size. We often associate the existence of consciousness first with a certain degree of intelligence and then to a certain size. In this way, scientists and certain schools of philosophical thought are reluctant to acknowledge that smaller animals, insects, or tiny marine life possess a consciousness similar to ours even though they recognize that some larger sea dwellers such as dolphins do have consciousness.

In fact, even the tiniest and most miniscule of insects seeks pleasure and fears suffering. If we try to touch the fin of a small fish, its initial reaction is to move away. If it is tamed, then it may recognize the hand that feeds it to be a source of satisfaction. It will then approach the hand quite simply because, in the same way as humans, it seeks a state of well being and flees suffering.

Beings have various sizes, but the mind is not proportional to the physical appearance. The degree of suffering or happiness depends on individual karma. The same mind can reincarnate in a tiny feeble body, or in the body of a whale, or as a king endowed with a higher faculty of mind than that of an animal. However, size does not have any bearing on the quality or power of the mind.

Therefore, all beings, without any exception, should be the object of our love and compassion. Cultivate the same attitude for all beings as you would feel for your father, mother, or those whom you love the most. In traditional cultures, particularly in the East, family ties are extremely strong. The father and the mother are the people whom one reveres the most, and the idea of any harm coming to them is unbearable. For this reason, when we meditate on the enlightened attitude, we take this example considering all beings as our parents.
In the West, esteem for parents does not have the same intensity. But this difference does not matter for the meditation. Simply use someone whom you love the most and consider all beings as that person.

Of course, it is not possible for us to develop this love and compassion for each being individually. But we can regard all beings collectively as one entity and meditate on the fact that they, too, wish to have happiness with the same fervor as we do. We develop this intense wish for their happiness by putting ourselves in their place. However, be careful not to make the wish into a fixation or attachment. Rather, concentrate on what beings have to go through. We must then continue to maintain the mind in this aspiration for their happiness while applying the same contemplation of its essence as was previously mentioned for the emotions such as anger, pride and jealousy.

Love and compassion - Ultimate level

This love for all beings is, in the beginning, an artificial and fabricated attitude. We do not really feel it automatically. By training ourselves, it will develop gradually, and sooner or later this impartial love towards all beings will become a natural feeling. Right now, when we feel love for one or several beings, very often, this love is partial because it is selective, and it comes from our attachment. When we talk of spiritual love, this is not a partial and exclusive attitude, but it is founded in the nature of mind which is emptiness. It is from emptiness that everything manifests.

We meditate on love; its nature is emptiness, non-existence. The object of this love (i.e. beings) is also empty in nature from the ultimate point of view. However, its relative nature does exist; it arises without contradicting its essence. If it were different and the existence of an intrinsic ultimate reality were enough in itself; it would not enable relative phenomena to manifest. If a dream were real, it could not take place in the space of the mind. If the dream’s essence does not have an empty mirror-like quality, images cannot be reflected in it. Thus, the nature of beings’ confusion is emptiness. Otherwise, how could it appear, if it was exclusively solid, and material?

Although this contemplation of Bodhicitta’s ultimate nature is something that one must realize; this comes later on. In the beginning, it is advisable to cultivate mainly the relative aspect of love and compassion, in order to progress afterwards into a recognition of emptiness or ultimate Bodhicitta. Parallel to this meditation on ultimate Bodhicitta, a profound understanding will develop. If one meditates on love by means of emptiness, it becomes a superior love. Not only that, but at the same time, while meditating on the nature of love, we will achieve a stable pacification of mind (Shi'nay), and simultaneously the force of our positivity will increase. By constantly recollecting the enlightened attitude, we will be able to create a source of considerable benefit for others. Through the samadhi (complete absorption) of love, we will penetrate the ultimate and authentic benefit. Our mind will be united with the unchanging ultimate reality so that our consciousness will no longer be inhabited by anything other than love for all beings. It will never be separated from this.

By the force of our meditation, our love for beings will be like the mother hen's love for her chicks. This process will develop itself by its own nature, until it embraces all beings in the state of enlightenment. Gradually we will gain the capacity to be beneficial towards an increasing number of beings. This has nothing to do with telepathy or any particular intention, as if we were sending energy waves to help those who are inferior to us. But spontaneously, beneficial and positive activities will arise through the force of virtue. The power of this meditation is so strong that it has the ability to spread to others. This love extends outwards and radiates, and is born in the minds of other beings, particularly in small animals such as birds.

The most common method of Vajrayana is the practice of Deity Yoga. It involves prayers to develop oneself according to the visualisation in the text. There are two stages: the Development Stage and Accomplishment Stage. The procedure or cycle of practice is just like in real life, i.e. birth, adult, old age, death and the bardo stage.

The Development Stage is like from the birth of a child until it develops into adulthood. The Accomplishment Stage is like from a fully matured person to his death and bardo. When one is already in the midst of the Accomplishment Stage, he remains there in the Ultimate Nature. From this cycle of practice, oneself develops the qualities of the Deity. These we call Karim and Zogrim. Karim means development and Zogrim means accomplishment. Anything created by our own conceptual thoughts is Karim. When we create the deities in front of us or as oneself, that involves a concept. Zogrim is anything which does not involve concepts, having finally understood the nature of the deity and oneself - and so remain in that nature. That is the total non-duality between deity and oneself. That is the Ultimate Stage in the Development Stage, which involves concepts, we look at each part of the deity, develop and understand each quality one by one. We need to do karim because we are tied up with concepts due to our karma and habitual tendencies. We have no choice, but to refine our present concept to develop the non-conceptual by means of practising the Development Stage. When we create the deities and understand the qualities and symbols of each and every aspect, our concepts become more refined. These will purify the ordinary concepts and upgrade them to extraordinary concepts. From there, we develop the Ultimate State, to see the nature of that concept. Once you understand the nature of the concept, remain still in the unfabricated mind. That will accomplish the Ultimate Stage. During practice, we must involve the two stages. First, the Development Stage - visualisation of the deity to purify negative thoughts during that time so that one's thoughts become purer within the concept. Second, the Final Stage (Accomplishment Stage), after completing the visualisation of deity, when the deity and oneself becomes inseparable and we realise that the non-duality like space, cannot be explained or differentiated, ie the State of Ultimate Nature or the Dharmakaya. The Buddha Nature of the Deity and that of your own mind have no difference in size or any other aspects. So you can accomplish the Ultimate State, which is produced through the Development of the Deity.

The Development Stage is the practice of method, and the Accomplishment Stage is the practice of wisdom. in order to attain Buddhahood, we have to combine the two stages together, to realise the Relative Truth and the Ultimate Truth, and to produce the Perfect Enlightenment. Realisation of Relative Truth is the ability to manifest the Nirmanakaya and Sambogakaya. Realisation of the Ultimate Truth is manifested as the Dharmakaya. To attain Enlightenment, one has to attain the two Truths.

To become Buddha, one must have the three Bodies in order to accomplish the purpose of self and others. For the purpose of self, one attains the Dharmakaya. For the purpose of others, one manifests into the Sambogakaya or Nirmanakaya so as to create all the benefits just like sun and moon - effortlessly, spontaneously and unintentionally.

Accordingly from our daily spiritual development, we need to involve skillful means, or method and wisdom, even in our day to day life. All kinds of actions in the world can be developed as practice, as spiritual development. To be skillful means to be always mindful, knowing whether it is right or wrong to do before actual act, eg in speech. Whatever we do in our daily life, we must also try to understand that all appearances, sound, thoughts ultimately do not exist, just like dreams, illusions. That is the realisation of ultimate truth. Do these wherever you are and whatever you are doing. if you can do that, that means your spiritual development is in progress, not just during your recitation or meditation time. If you can do these in your whole life, it will be very good.

Last modified on 4 June 1998

Seven Points on Meditation

by HH ShaMarPa

The purpose of meditation is to realize the true nature of mind, the achievement of Buddhahood. Mind is the basis for both our present experience of conditioned existence and enlightenment. Enlightenment is realizing mind's true nature, whereas ordinary life is being unaware of this nature.

How should we understand everything to be an appearance of mind? Presently we experience confused states of mind which result in disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, stupidity, jealousy and pride. The true nature of mind is unaffected by disturbing emotions. When we experience disturbing emotions, we tend to act them out. These actions create imprints in our mind, like habits or tendencies to experience the world in a particular way. When such a tendency later is activated, it creates the appearance of an illusory world.

Even a tiny imprint in the mind can create a lifetime of illusion. The world we experience now is based on such imprints created by former actions. This is how mind perpetuates illusion. There is no limit to how many imprints can be stored in our mind, each of which will continue to create illusion. Conditioned existence, or the world as we experience it now, is therefore without beginning or end. In this way everything we experience is a product of our own mind.

The point of meditation is to provide skillful means for removing this illusion. When we can eliminate ignorance in one moment, then naturally all of the endless imprints of karma will fall away by themselves.

Different Buddhist lineages emphasize different kinds of meditation. In the Kagyu tradition it is Mahamudra. In the Nyingmapa tradition the main practice is Maha Ati (Tibetan: Dzogchen). In the Gelugpa and Sakyapa traditions the practice of yidam (deity) visualization involves a completion phase of dissolving the wisdom aspect of the yidam into oneself. This is a style of insight meditation, similar to Mahamudra. In the Theravada tradition, the first practice is to rest the mind on the breathing or on a statue of the Buddha, after which is the main practice of contemplation on egolessness.

All of these different kinds of meditation can be summarized into two general categories. The first is resting meditation. In Sanskrit this is called shamatha (Tibetan: shinay). The second is insight meditation, or in Sanskrit, vipashyana (Tibetan: lhagthong). So all Buddhist meditation practices can be grouped into resting and insight, or shamatha and vipashyana. What follows is the general presentation of shamatha and vipashyana, which are explained in seven points.

Point One - The Conditions for Practicing Meditation

The first point is the outer condition - the basis for practicing shamatha and vipashyana. This is to have a proper place to meditate, a place without obstacles. For example, in some places people are prejudiced against meditators, which can create problems. The best place for meditation is one that is blessed by great meditators of the past.

We also need certain inner conditions to meditate properly. The first quality is to not be too attached to outer sense objects and not so concerned about getting what we want. We simply should have few desires.

The second quality is to be satisfied or content with the situation we have. How to encourage these two qualities can be illustrated by how parents talk to their children about meditation. If the parents are good practitioners, they will encourage their children by saying,"Try not to be too ambitious. Don't strive too much for outer things. Be content and satisfied with what you have, and in this way you will be able to practice meditation. Otherwise you'll be wasting your time." Parents who do not practice meditation give the opposite advise: "You should strive very hard and be very ambitious. You should try to become very rich and get ahead. Acquire property and hold on to it. Otherwise you'll be wasting your time." So we can see here how to encourage these qualities properly.

The third quality is not to be involved in too many activities or responsibilities. If we are too busy, then we will not be able to practice meditation.

The fourth quality is to have good conduct. This means that we avoid negative actions which bring harm to others. All Buddhist vows are concerned with avoiding actions that produce negative karma. There are different kinds of vows, those of a lay-person, a novice monk, a fully-ordained monk, and a bodhisattva. When lay-people practice meditation, it is good to have taken the five lay-person vows, which in Sanskrit are called the upasaka vows. These are to avoid killing, stealing, lying, harming others sexually, and drinking alcohol and taking drugs.

Since our main practice is the bodhisattva path, it is important to take the bodhisattva vow, which can be practiced as a lay-person. Monks and nuns also take the bodhisattva vow. Both lay and monastic practitioners can combine the practice of a bodhisattva with the upasaka vows. For example, Marpa the translator was a lay-bodhisattva, whereas the Indian master Nagarjuna was a monk-bodhisattva. Both were enlightened.

Now we will discuss the requirements for practicing vipashyana. It is essential to follow and rely on a proper teacher, someone who can explain the teachings correctly. In the Theravada tradition a teacher must be able to explain meditation on selflessness from his own experience. In the Mahayana tradition a teacher must have an understanding of emptiness - the Madhyamaka or Middle Way teachings - and be able to explain it clearly.

The second quality for practicing vipashyana is to properly analyze the teachings we have received. If we have received Mahayana teachings on emptiness, then we should study different commentaries and receive instructions from our teacher on how to understand them. We then need to analyze and contemplate these teachings and instructions, which will benefit our vipashyana practice greatly.

Point Two - Obstacles for Practicing Meditation

The second of the seven main points is an explanation of the eight obstacles or mistaken states of mind which can prevent us from meditating properly.

1 - Agitation.
The first obstacle is agitation. Here mind becomes very active with wanting or disliking something. The mind then goes on and on thinking about it. Thinking and worrying about other things instead of meditating is called agitation.

2 - Regret.
The second obstacle is regret. Regret is thinking about something that has already occurred. It has passed and cannot be changed. Still we feel enormous regret.

3 - Heaviness.
The third obstacle is heaviness, which is connected to karma. Heaviness here means that you want to do something positive such as meditate, but you feel that you can't. You immediately feel tired and heavy both physically and mentally. But when you want to do something negative, you suddenly become very active and feel very fresh.

4 - Dullness.
The fourth obstacle is dullness or lack of clarity. Here we should distinguish between feeling heavy and feeling dull. Both are connected to karma, but dullness is more closely related to our health and physical state. An example is eating sugar. Sugar first brings the blood sugar way up and then it drops very low. Then you experience this kind of dullness.

5 - Doubt.
The fifth obstacle is doubt. This is actually a fundamental problem for practicing both shamatha and vipashyana. Doubt means that we feel uncertain. For example, we may think, "Maybe there is enlightenment but maybe there isn't." Then you will not meditate properly, because this doubt will drag you down. Sometimes you progress, but then doubt pulls you back again. Doubt is a very tenacious obstacle.

6 - Wishing harm.
The sixth obstacle is to wish harm on others or to think negatively. This means being ruthless, selfish or arrogant. You become jealous and start to dislike others intensely. This is also a serious obstacle for meditation.

7 - Attachment.
The seventh obstacle is not quite as serious, which is to be greedy or attached. This simply means having many desires.

8 - Drowsiness.
The last obstacle is drowsiness, becoming completely unaware and falling asleep.

For shamatha and vipashyana, there is another set of obstacles. These are called the five kinds of distraction.

1 - Engagement.
The first distraction is to abandon the Mahayana. The meditation practices of the Mahayana are extremely vast; hearing about them you might feel discouraged. Receiving teachings on the Hinayana, the Narrow Vehicle, you mistakenly think you can achieve liberation in this lifetime through Hinayana practices. Thus, even though Hinayana meditations are not as expansive as Mahayana, you are deluded to think you can achieve results much faster. Abandoning the Mahayana for the Hinayana is a great distraction.

2 - Outer distraction.
The second is outer distraction, meaning that you are overly concerned with sense pleasures such as wanting to become wealthy, to obtain luxury and so on.

3 - Inner distraction.
The third is inner distraction, which refers to the different states of mind which disturb meditation. These are especially agitation and dullness. Another inner distraction arises in more advanced practice. Becoming adept in meditation develops a pleasant inner tranquillity. This feeling of mental pleasure is one of comfort or relief, since mind has become very tranquil. Attachment to that tranquility is an obstacle.

4 - Miraculous powers.
The fourth distraction is connected to understanding the nature of things. We could also call it distraction of miraculous powers. From accomplishing shamatha, you can concentrate very deeply on the physical nature of things and can manipulate how they appear. It is control through concentration. In Buddhism it is taught that physical things are made up of four elements: earth, water, fire and air. Concentrating in the way of shamatha, you change the elements. Water becomes fire; fire becomes air, and so on. In our present state of development, we cannot understand how such a power could function. It is not something to be explained through the laws of physics. If you become attached to this miraculous power, this becomes an obstacle.

5 - Negative state of mind.
The fifth distraction is that of a negative state of mind. When one accomplishes shamatha it becomes very deep and stable. But shamatha is limited to resting the mind; ego clinging is actually still present. It is only through practicing vipashyana that ego clinging is eliminated. Therefore, continuing to practice shamatha, making it deeper and vaster, without applying vipashyana, brings the distraction of a negative state of mind.

At the present time, we have been reborn as humans and our bodies have been produced by actions from previous lives. When the karma for a human being is exhausted, we die and are reborn elsewhere in a state determined by our previous actions. If in this life we only practice shamatha without vipashyana, this creates the karma of being reborn in a state similar to deep meditation, which is still within samsara. Such a state of meditation can last a very long time. It is very peaceful, but it is not liberation. So when the karma for being in that state is exhausted, you will again fall back into the other realms of samsara. This distraction is described as a negative state of mind because meditation that is misused in this way does not lead to liberation but leads to rebirth within conditioned existence.

There are four meditation states which are fixated on tranquility. The first is an experience of endless space, the second is to experience mind as infinite, the third is an experience of nothing at all, and the fourth is an experience that things are neither there nor not there. But this is still not liberation, only experiences arising from mind. One can remain in these absorptions for millions of years. In one way this is of course pleasant, but it is not of any benefit, because eventually one can fall out of this state back into other realms of samsara.

The Remedies

1 - The first obstacle is agitation. Why does agitation occur? It comes from ordinary attachment to this life. We are born with a human body, we are naturally attached to that and concerned about it. Due to the habit of attachment we start to worry about it. However, in this human life there is nothing we can really achieve. Once we die our likes and dislikes do not exist. Remembering this, there is no reason to grasp or to be so irritated with what happens. Therefore, the remedy is to contemplate impermanence. Understanding this calms agitation.
We can contemplate impermanence both during meditation and during daily life. This can be done on a coarse level by meditating on the impermanence of the world and on the beings who live there. To contemplate the impermanence of the world, think about how the world changes over time. The years pass, and every year consists of different seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn. The seasons consist of months. The months consist of days. The days consist of hours. The hours consist of minutes. The minutes consist of seconds, and so on. Every moment the world changes.

We can also contemplate the impermanence of beings who live in this world. Here we can think that we and all other beings constantly grow older, and we are all going to die. First is childhood, then adulthood, then old age, and finally death. No one has escaped death so far.

You can also contemplate impermanence on a more subtle level. If we consider physical matter, it consists of tiny particles or atoms. These particles never remain the same but move around constantly. As they change all the time, each moment the particles cease in order to produce new particles in other combinations. Every moment of matter is therefore new, because its particles have changed since the previous moment.

The meaning of shamatha is to concentrate. The result of shamatha is to produce tranquillity of the mind. Although concentrating on impermanence is not the main shamatha practice, it also results in tranquillity.

In our daily life we can also contemplate impermanence to decrease our attachment, by training ourselves to consider impermanence. Whatever happens do not feel hurt or find things sensational. No matter what the problem, it helps to contemplate impermanence. Otherwise, you might be shocked when sudden obstacles arise. The problem itself may not change, but understanding impermanence softens your reaction to it.

2 - When feeling regret we should simply understand that it is a pointless feeling, because the past is already gone. We cannot change it even if we think a great deal about it. Therefore, we should just let it go and forget about it.

3 - The best way to overcome physical and mental heaviness is to develop strong confidence and trust in the qualities of the Three Jewels. Contemplate the superior qualities of the Buddha. Consider the qualities of the teachings that bring us to realization, the profound methods. The teachings are true; they actually work. Finally, we consider the qualities of the practitioners, the sangha. Here sangha does not refer to ordinary monks or laypeople, but to practitioners who have achieved realization. Through developing trust and confidence in the Three Jewels we can overcome the obstacle of heaviness.

4 - The next obstacle was dullness or lack of clarity. The way to work with this is to refresh yourself by encouragement and stimulation. When a general prepares for war, he begins by building up the morale of his people. If the soldiers hesitate, they could become fearful and petrified. But when properly encouraged they become quite brave, and can attack effectively. Dullness is a very subtle enemy arising in meditation, so you have to encourage yourself to defeat it.

5 - The remedy for doubt is simply concentration. Initially it is better not to follow your doubts, but to just continue to practice. Another way to remove doubt is to use logic. For example, if we doubt whether there actually is a path towards enlightenment, we should ask ourselves what does such a path consist of? The path is to remove ignorance. What is ignorance? Ignorance is a product of mind and is caused by clinging to an ego. By continuing to analyze in this way, you can clarify doubts and finally eliminate them. This is precisely the purpose of study. Not everyone has time to study, but then those who have studied a lot can help others by explaining things to them in a simple way.

6 - For the problem of wishing harm to others you should contemplate kindness, which can be done in two ways. One way is to look for the true nature of kindness. Kindness is not something solid. Even though it is empty in essence, a feeling of kindness arises. Another way is to generate kindness, first toward those you like, such as parents, children or friends. Gradually, extend this feeling out to more and more beings. These meditations on kindness are very powerful practices. Accomplishing them, you can even affect others. If a meditator practices alone in a cave, he could affect all the beings living in that area. People and even animals could naturally start to feel kindness also.

7 - Attachment or having many desires can be remedied by considering problems involved with having wealth and possessions, by contemplating cause and effect. If you are attached to your possessions, you have to put in a lot of hard work to preserve them. When you see how much effort this takes, your greed will naturally decrease. Another method is to contemplate the feeling of contentment, to understand how much freedom there is when you are content with what you have.

8 - The next obstacle is drowsiness. Here it helps to imagine light, like the red autumn sky at sunset. It is a clear, soft red light. Do not imagine light which is strong and direct like sunlight; this doesn't help.

Actually, once you get used to meditating and it has become completely natural for you, you are no longer bothered by all of these problems and obstacles. Meditation has become a part of you. When the mind has achieved this level, it also affects the body.

All the energies in the body become peaceful and tranquil; you feel very comfortable meditating. Normally we think that the body controls the mind, but at a deeper level, the mind really controls the body. Therefore, when meditation has become natural, the tranquil mind takes over our system and makes the body fit for meditation.

To develop natural meditation, we need two qualities: mindfulness and remembrance. Mindfulness is to be aware of what occurs in the mind, not missing anything. Through mindfulness, when you notice a problem in meditation such as agitation, then you must remember which remedy to apply. Mindfulness and remembrance always go together; they are essential in making meditation a part of you. When you become adept at meditating, you will understand how they work together.

Generally, all obstacles fall into two categories: agitation and dullness. As protection from these two obstacles some general advice is useful. Avoid having addictions to smoking, drinking, etc. Avoid eating too much, which develops dullness. Working people of course have to eat, but you can be aware of what you eat. Serious practitioners who sit a lot do not need as much to eat. That is why during the time of the Buddha, monks would not eat after one p.m. This brings success for shamatha practice and helps the mind. At this level, to forgo dinner does not affect your sleep. Normally monks are forbidden to drink alcohol, but vipashyana meditators are advised to drink a little. Of course you cannot get drunk. Vipashyana develops a lot of energy, and that energy can cause insomnia, which does not occur in other practices. Another piece of advice is to sleep at the proper time: go to bed after ten in the evening and get up at five. If you go to bed after midnight, although you may sleep eight hours, it is not really of benefit. So go to sleep before midnight.

Point Three - The Essence of Shamatha and Vipashyana

The third point is a concise explanation of how shamatha and vipashyana become natural. In the beginning stages of shamatha and vipashyana, our meditation is not natural. It is somewhat contrived. Meditation is only completely real when it is natural, as I explained briefly in point two.

What is meant by genuine shamatha? In the beginning of shamatha practice, the mind is directed on the object of meditation which is to keep the mind concentrated, rather than following thoughts. When meditation is natural, in true shamatha, effort is no longer required to keep the mind concentrated. At first one has to apply effort, but later it becomes completely natural.

I will give an example which illustrates the difference between contrived and genuine shamatha. There is a special kind of meditation which results in very clear recollection of the past, even to the extent of remembering previous lives. Mind never stays the same. It only exists moment to moment. The mind constantly changes. If we look at one moment, it first comes into existence, then stays, and finally disappears. It consists of past, present and future in this way. One moment arises, then it ceases in order to create space for another moment to come into existence, and so on. In this way, mind goes on as a continuous stream of moments of awareness. In this type of shamatha, the practice is to remain aware of each moment as it arises. Do not analyze, just focus and observe the moments arising, one at a time. Without missing any or mixing up their order, simply observe them passing by. Concentrate completely; stay focused on that. Again, this is how we could meditate now, in the fashion of contrived shamatha.

This becomes genuine shamatha when it becomes natural, when we no longer apply effort to keep the mind focused. There will simply be a natural awareness of the moments passing by. You become so used to it that once you focus on that awareness, it continues automatically, without the need to apply force. It just continues naturally.

When we achieve this level, a special kind of memory appears. We can remember the past and even former lives, the same extent that meditation has become natural. Memory expands in this way: first you remember everything in childhood, then the experience of being in the mother's womb, and after that, past lives. Since you have experienced all this before, it is possible to remember it, just as you remember what you did yesterday. When shamatha has become natural, this memory arises automatically.

What then is meant by true vipashyana? To continue with the same example, where you focus on each moment, vipashyana means to analyze the nature of each moment. During shamatha you only observed the moments without analyzing them, but now you examine them analytically. Vipashyana becomes natural when the analysis stops being intellectual. You have a direct experience of the nature of each moment, an experience where names and ideas do not apply.

When you look at something, in the very first moment there is a direct experience of it and only afterward do you name it. The Buddhist teachings distinguish between different kinds of direct experience. For example, right now we also have direct experiences, but we immediately project our ideas onto things, even though these ideas are not real. For example, in seeing a white piece, of paper, we mix up that direct experience with our concept of whiteness. The concept white is a general one that applies to many other things such as white cloth, white flowers, etc. The direct experience is much more complete than this. In real vipashyana, you have direct experience, of the world, you see the true nature of things. This is also called yogic direct experience.

To put it very simply, true shamatha and vipashyana are related to the removal of the meditation obstacles discussed in point two. Shamatha becomes genuine when heaviness, dullness and sleep have completely disappeared from meditation. Real vipashyana develops when agitation, regret and doubt have been completely neutralized. They then never arise during meditation. In post-meditation they still may occur, since you are not yet enlightened, and there still is a difference between meditating and not meditating. But when you experience the mature fruition of shamatha and vipashyana, meditation is free from these obstacles. This concludes the third point, the essence of shamatha and vipashyana.

Point Four - The Levels of Shamatha and Vipassana

This point will only be touched upon here, as it is explained completely in the detailed explanations which follow. There are nine levels of shamatha and four levels of vipashyana, which describe the stages of meditation.

The nine levels of shamatha are:

1 - to settle the mind inwardly

2 - to settle the mind continuously

3 - to settle the mind intactly

4 - to settle the mind intensely

5 - to tame the mind

6 - to pacify the mind

7 - to pacify the mind completely

8 - to make the mind one-pointed

9 - to settle the mind in equanimity

The four levels of vipashyana are:

1 - to distinguish phenomena

2 - to distinguish completely

3 - complete examination

4 - complete analysis

In Tibetan there are two different words for examination and analysis, where examination means a coarse examination and analysis implies a more profound and detailed analysis. So there is a difference between these two words in Tibetan which does not come across in English, that one is more subtle than the other. When shamatha has become natural, you can accomplish the four levels of vipashyana.

Point Five - The Order for Practicing Shamatha and Vipashyana

Generally, first you practice shamatha and after that you practice vipashyana. That is according to the Theravada tradition. But in the Mahayana, Vajrayana or Mahamudra tradition, it is not always the case. Sometimes they can be practiced simultaneously depending upon the individual practitioner. Your teacher should decide what is best for you, as long as the teacher is qualified in meditation.

One result of accomplishing shamatha is to know the minds of other beings. An accomplished teacher uses this ability to see what is best for their students. The method for doing this is the same as remembering the past, but here the teacher concentrates on the minds of others instead of on themselves. This is of course easy to say, but not so easy to do.

The normal order is to practice shamatha first then vipashyana, and it is best to do it this way.

Point Six - The Levels of Shamatha and Vipashyana

How to unite shamatha and vipashyana? It is possible to practice vipashyana without shamatha, but it is not advisable. You can go to a teacher and receive vipashyana instructions, and use your confidence and intelligence to accomplish the practice. Even though you can have direct experience of the nature of things, this experience will not become stable without first accomplishing shamatha. This is also true for practicing vipashyana without a shamatha practice that has become natural. It is comparable to a candle in the wind; although it provides light, it is very unstable. Similarly, you can have a direct experience through vipashyana, but without shamatha it remains unstable.

On the other hand, if you practice only shamatha without ever practicing vipashyana, you cannot become liberated from samsara. This was explained before, in the obstacles to meditation. Accomplish shamatha without practicing vipashyana carries the risk of being reborn in long-lasting meditation states, which are still in the domain of ego. In the final achievement of shamatha, mind is in a profound rest. It is deeply relaxed, beyond what we can now imagine. But ignorance, the root of illusion, has not yet been removed. That explains the necessity for practicing both shamatha and vipashyana.

How can we unite them into one practice? This is not something we can accomplish yet. You can work with them in certain ways, but it is only when you have achieved the highest level of shamatha, that you can unite them completely. The ninth level is to rest the mind in equanimity. At that point, vipashyana develops naturally, and the two practices become one.

Point Seven - The Result of Shamatha and Vipashyana

The result of accomplishing shamatha is that mind becomes completely pure, that all the gross disturbing emotions are subdued and purified. The result of accomplishing vipashyana is that wisdom becomes completely pure. This means that basic ignorance is purified and removed, and disturbing emotions are also removed.

Another way to express the results of these two practices is by the removal of the two kinds of bondage or veils. One veil is to be trapped by concepts or neuroses. The other is to be trapped by ignorance or illusion, and therefore continuing to be reborn in samsara. Shamatha releases the veil of concepts and vipashyana liberates from the veil of ignorance. Another result is that shamatha removes attachment to phenomena. It overcomes hopes, doubts and worries. We hope to get what we want, but when we don't get it, we worry. This comes from desire and attachment. The result of shamatha is that even if you try to achieve something, you never need to hope, doubt or worry, because attachment and desire have been overcome.

When you achieve true shamatha, there is also all the extraordinary play. From shamatha you achieve clairvoyance. You can see past lives and know the minds of others. But advanced meditators discourage us from playing with that, because there is a great risk of becoming attached to shamatha, and then our problems will increase. But if someone is strong enough, they can control it without attachment.

Devadatta was a cousin of the Buddha, and he was very wicked. He wanted to compete with Buddha, so he went to an advanced student of Buddha, an Arhat named Kashyapa, to learn shamatha. Arhats have the fault that they cannot use their powers except while they actually meditate. In his post meditation he could not see Devadatta's negative motivation. So he thought, "Before this man was very evil. Now he wants to learn meditation. I should teach him properly, so he may change." So he taught him shamatha, and Devadatta learned it very well. He achieved a powerful level of shamatha, and then used his powers against Buddha. First he deceived the king of that area, and then split the sangha into two, taking the old king on his side. Then he encouraged the young prince to revolt against his father, and with his monks he attacked Buddha. He did all this because he was jealous of Buddha, and he used powers accomplished through shamatha. That is why teachers encourage their students to do shamatha for liberation, but then discourage them from going too far. Special disciples such as Bodhisattvas with pure motivation will not misuse these powers.

The result of vipashyana is quite straightforward. It is liberation and enlightenment.