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SHANTIDEVA’S GUIDE TO THE BODHISATTVA’S WAY OF LIFE CHAPTER 8: MEDITATION PART III

Oral explanations by Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche

20040810GRAABWL

Talk 2: 8-10-04

I am sure everybody is familiar with what we are doing here. We are doing the meditation chapter of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara. This is the 3rd series we have been running. We have reached verse 109, but I want to go back a little into the previous verses from 107.

Verse 107

Thus, because he loves to pacify the pains of others,

He whose mind is attuned in this way

Would enter even the deepest hell

Just as a wild goose plunges into a lotus pond.

I have told you the story of the king who was slaughtering that preacher Bodhisattva who chose to go and preach even though he knew he would be killed, because he could benefit millions of people. Likewise, the changing of one's joy and others' suffering is something impossible for us right now. Right now my happiness, my pleasure, my joy, are my big, strong goals. Even if we claim to be spiritual practitioners, who are trying to practice a spiritual path, almost everything we do is for 'me to be better off', for 'me who needs this and that', and it is 'this is not right for me'. This is our reality. We will deny that. There is no doubt about it. Almost everyone will say, "I am not doing that much for myself". But deep down - actually you don't have to go down that deep, it is right there - it is just me and for me. "I can't do this", "This is too tough for me", "That is too difficult for me". "ME" is the biggest issue we carry. To change that you have to say, "ME" is not the big issue, but "YOU" is the big issue. That is very difficult for us. Not only difficult, it is almost impossible. However, it is not impossible. It only depends on our understanding, on how much we can bring ourselves to the level of that preacher, who chose to get killed knowingly, for the sake of preaching. He did it. Forget about getting killed, if we just want to slightly change the perspective on who is the most important, if we want to do that much, we can. It depends on how much we can bring ourselves up to that way of thinking. You have to familiarize yourself with that way of thinking. Our culture, not only that of our society and country, but that of our personal behavior, is only built around "ME". When you try to change that, it is very foreign. That foreign thing not only has to be introduced to our mind but also made comfortable to us, and not only that, but make it enjoyable for us. When you can do that you will be able to follow the example of the Bodhisattva Me tog Da dze, "One who is more beautiful than a moon flower" - so much so that you will enjoy doing it, like a beautiful lake will invite the swans to come. They just have to go there, they are drawn to it.

That is not the only example. Bees circling around flowers are another example. The swans are happily drawn to the lake that has lotus flowers. Like that, we can happily and joyfully enter into helping people, even if we have to go into the deepest hell in order to benefit others. It is very shocking, foreign and surprising. However, this is the essence of unlimited, unconditioned love and compassion.

Normally, when we talk about love and compassion people are very happy, because there is no talk about hell realms and suffering. It is talking about the suffering of others and we can be the great saviors. So we are very happy and enjoy that. But the deepest, unconditional, unlimited love and compassion demands from the individual to go even to this level of commitment. It is not a literal commitment, but it gives you the idea what it is talking about.

Verse 108

Will not the ocean of joy

That shall exist when all beings are free

Be sufficient for me?

What am I doing wishing for my liberation alone?

Can you imagine how it feels when you can help all sentient beings? Try to imagine how you feel when you help just one person who is connected to you. Think of someone close to you, how it makes you feel when you can make them happy, how wonderful it is? That is why it is called 'ocean of joy' if you help so many of them. Just take one example. Think that you are teaching a student who has a handicap of learning. You put in efforts, you push them and bring that person together. When that person is able to learn something and passes certain exams and gets good grades, how satisfying it is to ourselves? That is just one little example.

If you have pets you will want to teach them a certain behavior. When they pick that up, how happy you are, how satisfying it is! When you can help a sick patient and you find that whatever you are doing is helpful and they are getting better, how satisfying that is! When you are giving physiotherapy to somebody and push and pull on their limbs here and there, and you see them beginning to walk again, how satisfying that is for you!

These are simple examples. Now think how it would be if you could actually liberate a person. The joy of that will be incomparable to those little examples I just gave you. That is why Shantideva calls that "Ocean of Joy". Then he says, "Will that not be sufficient for me? What am I doing, wishing for my liberation alone?" Naturally, when you are serving people and see them being liberated, that satisfaction is no comparison even to the experience when you are getting liberated yourself. No comparison. Just to get yourself settled in being free from samsara is still a selfish-oriented way of functioning, even though it is liberation. That is why the Mahayana is such a wonderful thing. There is no comparison to any self-interested spiritual path.

By mentioning this, the Mahayana path cannot be compared at all to any other spiritual path or any other method. I don't exactly know how to describe that. More or less, all our wishes are based on some kind of happiness that we want. That again is based on certain role models. And we don't have extraordinary role models. Therefore, most of our measurements of happiness and joy are very limited ones. There is no comparison at all. The Mahayana path is definitely going way beyond anything else. Even within Buddhism the methods of self discipline and self liberation are just aiming at removing one's own negative emotions and sufferings and just getting liberated. It is freedom from negative emotions and negative activities. The Mahayana is way beyond that. That is what this verse means: just getting liberated yourself, what fun is there in that? Practically none. You are definitely better than that.

Think about the satisfaction you get from helping people, serving people, liberating hundreds and thousands, about the joy that you generate. There is no comparison to the self liberation.

What am I doing wishing for my liberation alone?

But that's what we are doing, even if we are quite good spiritual practitioners. Until we seek liberation for ourselves, we are not even good spiritual practitioners at all. Up to that point we are just seeking happiness and joy. It is questionable whether that is even spiritual. It depends what you mean by "spiritual". According to Buddha, as taught in the lam rim tradition, the Three Principles and everywhere, we learn that if you seek joy and happiness alone, you are not a spiritual practitioner. That would be the strict definition according to Buddha's teaching. The line is drawn at the wish to have total freedom. Sakya Pandita said,

If you have strong attachment for this life, you are not a spiritual practitioner.

If you have strong clinging to samsara, you are not a liberation seeker.

That is clear cut division. Then in the Mahayana there is a further division. There they tell you, "You are seeking liberation just for yourself? What are you, a fool?" Put more nicely Shantideva says in this verse, "What am I doing, wishing for my liberation alone?" But if you put it straightforward it reads, "That is not sufficient. Don't be a fool."

There could be a little difficulty with the English translation. In Tibetan it says,

The great satisfaction of seeing countless people being liberated, don’t you think that this is superior to just seeking liberation?

The answer obviously is Yes, no doubt. You may not be sure. You may still think, "Yes, yes, people are getting liberated with my help. That's great. But when am I going to be happy, when will I be liberated?" So the "I, I, I" question is still there. But don't forget. Your liberation will be different from just having liberation from samsara. As long as you have the narrow self interest, there will be simply the liberation from samsara, nothing else. But when you have the commitment and the dedication of ultimate love and compassion, that liberation is going to be total enlightenment. In other words, we are going to get exactly what Buddha got. There will be no difference, nothing more and nothing less. We are eligible for that type of liberation. We can do it, we have every possible ways and means for doing it. So why not? Why settle for less? That's really the bottom line here. The motivation of self interest alone will drag us down. It will be like a heavy load on the eagle's foot. It can't fly that far. That will pull you down. When you let the self interest go, there will be nothing pulling you down. There will be total liberation. That is the indirect meaning of verse 108.

Verse 109

Therefore, although working for the benefit of others,

I should not be conceited or (consider myself)

wonderful.

And because of the joy there is in solely doing this,

I should have no hope for any ripening-effects.

Even if you could achieve that much, you should never have the great pride of "I did it". Never say that. Even a very humble way of claiming credit is not acceptable to the Bodhisattvas. Some people may be very humble, but they still claim credit.

I can't help remembering. I was traveling to Jew York. In the plane, next to me was Geoffry Feigel. During the whole flight I didn't say anything. When we landed in La Guardia I said, "You did great. There is a huge improvement on Michigan roads." He looked at me and said, "Yeah, I did a little bit there, didn't I?" I mean, it is really true. Remember how terrible the roads became during governor Engler's period? When Geoffrey Feigel ran on the basis of the road issue, the roads started improving, even though our roads are always being repaired during the summer and during the winter they are covered with snow and ice. But still, and then he took credit in a very humble way, saying "I might have contributed a little bit." But as a Bodhisattva, even if you are liberating someone you don't claim the credit. Claiming credit will bring up some kind of pride, not the pride of "I am good", but the pride beyond that. There are certain kinds of pride that will object to the qualities that you can gain because you think you are so great, plus everybody else is no good. We call that the lion's roar. You may do nothing, but you make a big sound.

The lion is always thinking, "I am the king of all animals" and will look down on all the other animals, including the rabbit. But the rabbit also knows how to get the lion. You know how the rabbit got the lion? Okay, the lion was sitting there, thinking, "I am great, no one can challenge me" and he was torturing the rabbit all the time. So the rabbit really wanted to get him. For a while he didn't know what to do until he walked past that big lake. The rabbit looked inside and saw another rabbit, worried a bit, backed off, looked again and after a while realized that it was just a reflection. So then he went to the lion and said, "You are great. You are the king. I am all for you and I feel I am under your protection. But there is another one here now, just like you." "Can't be, I am the king." "No, there is another one, just like you", the rabbit said, "I threatened him, because I know that you will come and help me. But whatever I threatened him with, he threatened me back more than that. So I got very scared and came to seek your help." The lion said, "Where is this one?" "I'll show you, follow me", said the rabbit and he went first and the lion came behind him. The rabbit took the lion to the lake and said, "He is down there". So the lion looks down into the lake and he sees there another lion just like himself. He raises a paw at the other one and he does the same to him. So he goes more and growls and finally he jumps in the lake! That's how the rabbit gets back at the lion.

That is the lion's pride. So if you have the pride "I did it, I did it", you are going to get it one day. That is why the Bodhisattvas are advised not to have that kind of pride. Also, don't think "I have done something wonderful". Maybe it was wonderful, but not a surprise. You just did your job. That's the good old American expression, "It's my job, that's all".

Audience: Usually, the expression is: It's not my job.

Rimpoche: [laughs] Whatever. Even if you think, "It's my job", it is not really right. We should think, "You did it." You should think that the other person pushed through and really did it. You only have been suggestive, instrumental and been a guide. You must give the credit to that person. The Bodhisattvas are supposed to think, "You did it. I did nothing." You should also function that way, not only just say it but also believe it.

One of the karmic consequences is that when you do something good and hope for some reward, your efforts are almost to 50 per cent wasted because of that hope of return. Instead of good spiritual work it becomes business. You are hoping for a return. One of the most important points in generosity is not to have any hope for return. You can't say, "I am doing this so that I can go to heaven." That is like buying a ticket. That sort of thing really doesn't work that well. Good actions will become your ticket to heaven, no doubt. But if you think that it might spoil it. It is one of the motivations you are not recommended to have. You are not doing it with hope of return but because you like serving people. You like helping people. That's your job. Better do it. If you keep on saying, "That's not my job", that's not right. We seek liberation, not material profit. We seek ultimate profit. Therefore, it is my job and I am happy to do it, without taking any reward for it. I dedicate myself to the benefit of people. I dedicate all my virtues to that. Therefore I do not seek any personal benefits.

There will be a side mind in your mind that will say, "Then what the hell am I doing here?" To satisfy that, karmic law is such that it is definite, whether you want it or not. Your good deeds will return to you and your bad deeds will get you. That is karmic law. Karma is definite. You don't have to worry about it or even think about it. Thinking and worrying will spoil it.

Verse 110

Therefore just as I protect myself

From unpleasant things however small,

In the same way I should act towards others

With a compassionate and caring mind.

When we get attacked by a mere word or "mine" has been attacked by a mere word - not physically, or financially, not that anybody has punished us or anything, just a word has been said - we cannot tolerate even a half sentence of criticism. We must intervene and be quick to protect and contradict. That is our habit. It is a bad habit we have. The mere word is not going to harm us at all. But challenging it is going to hurt us. Really true. All our problems come from that. We cannot take a word without having to challenge it. And then that challenge meets with another challenge. So you have to challenge again and that challenge will also be met with another challenge. Then comes a fist fight, punching each others' noses, if it is done in the usual, good old cowboy style.

Nowadays, the challenges take place with high tech weapons. Look at what is happening in Iraq and everywhere else. It starts with a mere word and then it becomes bigger and bigger. If you can challenge your own hatred or obsession, that is the place to begin. Then it is still easy, it has not caught fire yet. It is the beginning and easy to put out. You can simply put your foot on it and stop it, or you can pee on it or spit on it and stop it. But once it has started catching fire, then it becomes a problem. Anyway, that's our habit. Lets say "I cannot bear being accused to be a thief. Somebody calls me a clumsy, fat slob. It doesn't matter. No matter how many people call me sloppy, that doesn't make me any more sloppy than what I am. I am not going to become more clumsy just by being called clumsy. And I am not going to be fatter than what I am because of these words. Neither am I becoming slimmer by not being called fat. So it doesn't really make any difference at all. Let them say whatever they want to say. Let us have thick ears. Don't let that disturb our own mental peace, our own joy and harmony.

Not only do we want to protect ourselves in this way. I as a Bodhisattva, want to protect every living being in that position. Just as I protect myself I want everybody to be protected. If you protect one person only it becomes attachment. If you protect all persons it becomes compassion. It becomes love. That is the difference. We take as an example what we want and apply that to all sentient beings. Likewise, what we don’t want, we try to protect all other beings from as well. That is what love and compassion is all about. The next verse reinforces this.

Verse 111

Although the basis is quite impersonal,

Through (constant) familiarity

I have come to regard

The drops of sperm and blood of others as "I".

This translator is very gentle! He says that the basis is 'quite impersonal'. My body is my body, but it is not me, it is not mine. It is a drop of blood and sperm of people other than me - my parents, my father and mother. Their drops came together and I have learnt to call that "my body". True or false? Think about it. If you think it is false, then it would have to be your own sperm and blood. But you don't become that way, right? You may think, "Okay, they have provided the genes, but I have grown myself." You have not. You have been growing inside your mother's womb. If you didn't grow there, you wouldn't be able to grow now, for sure. So this body is not mine. But I learnt to say and think that it is mine and I learnt how to protect it. It is not so much learning as knowledge, but it has become habitual. Likewise, "me" is actually selfless. Okay, forget about it. I withdraw that. Like when a lawyer in court makes a statement, sometimes they say, "I withdraw". But because of my habit I will say "This is mine". I not only say that, but I understand it that way and I perceive and feel that way and accept it and protect it. But then you can do the same thing with other's bodies. If I can learn how to do that on me, why can't I learn to do that on you? You may say, "That's not me." But your body is not you anyway. It has become to be considered you. You have trained and learned and picked up the habit. You did that much. Therefore you can do the same thing based on others. You can do that. It is possible.

Tsong Khapa, on this particular point, wrote a very similar verse,

We learnt how to identify with other people's sperm and blood.

Learn exactly the same way to protect and promote others' bodies and benefits.

It is very simple.

Verse 112

So in the same way, why should I be unable

To regard the bodies of others as "I"?

Hence it is not difficult to see

That my body is also that of others.

Here you are coming to the actual exchange level. After all, from that point of view my body is others' body from the start (that of my parents). Why don't I appreciate all other bodies of everybody and protect and help them? It is simply a matter of how one's mind picks up. Therefore, exchanging is not something impossible.

Verse 113

Having seen the mistakes in (cherishing) myself

And the ocean of good in (cherishing) others,

I shall completely reject all selfishness

And accustom myself to accepting others.

What is exchange here? The self-cherishing has to be exchanged in my mind - in my way of looking and functioning, living, doing things. That is not easy, but also not that difficult, since we have followed through all the steps. These are meditative steps. We are not talking about the structure of the meditation. I am talking about that on Thursdays in New York. Here we are not talking about how to meditate, but what to meditate on. In this case it is a meditation on compassion, particularly the exchange stage of bringing compassion. It is exchanging my habitual pattern of self cherishing, of ignoring others, giving myself priority over others, for accepting others, cherishing others, maybe ignoring myself, maybe not. Maybe I am included with everybody else. This verse is telling you that self cherishing is the source of all our problems. We mentioned it earlier: from the family quarrel to the biggest nations fighting each other, all are caused by self cherishing. There is no single trouble that is not caused by self cherishing. The consequences of Saddam Hussein being captured and in jail today are caused by his own self cherishing. Everything, every trouble is like that. The problem of the terrorists is their self cherishing. They are willing to die for it - whether there are 70 virgins waiting for them or not.

But if you begin to look - if self cherishing is the source of all problems, cherishing others is the source of all joy. The lama chopa is the daily practice of many of us and there it says

DHOR NA JI PA RANG DHÖN KHO NA DHANG

THUP WANG ZHAN DHÖN BA ZHIH ZEY PA YI

KYÖN DHANG YÖN TEN YER WA TOG PEI LÖ

DHAG ZHAN NYAM JE NÜ PAR JIN GYI LOP

In short, the naive work for their aims alone;

While Buddhas work solely to benefit others.

Comparing the faults against the benefits,

Inspire me to be able to exchange myself for others.

Until today we have indulged in self cherishing and Buddha has practiced cherishing others. Who came out better at the end? In this lama chopa verse we are called 'childish ones'. Ever since we existed we have been under the influence of self cherishing, trying to make ourselves better and better, always chasing the geese of our own self-making. Even those who are considered to have "made it", are also chasing the same thing. I was talking with somebody this morning who said, "But some people do really make it, for example Donald Trump". Well, he is also chasing the same impossible thing, otherwise he wouldn't have to declare bankruptcy today. Self cherishing makes you do that. Buddha, on the other hand, always cherishes others. Who got better? We don't have to look very far.

If you want to do the best for yourself, true self cherishing, then follow Buddha. You will get there, just like Buddha. We did self cherishing for millions of life times. That's the essence of verse 113. By knowing this, you should give up self cherishing completely and begin to learn how to respect others and learn how to do this and meditate. Self cherishing happens because we consider it to be self respect. We have no concern for others, we ignore them completely. If we learn how to respect others, it will be different.

Verse 114

In the same way as the hands and so forth

Are regarded as limbs of the body,

Likewise why are embodied creatures

Not regarded as limbs of life?

This could be a little problem of translation. The first part is correct. Then, however, the Tibetan says, "Why are not people considered to be part and parcel of all sentient beings?" Just like hands and legs are part of the body, why is not each living being considered to be part of "people", part of all living beings? We are learning here to develop compassion for all living beings. Living beings - some are good, some are bad. But they are the people, they are human beings, they are the living beings. So they are all same. That's what we need to know.

Verse 115

Through acquaintance has the thought of "I" arisen

Towards the impersonal body;

So in a similar way, why should it not arise

Towards other living beings?

My body is actually self-less. It doesn't belong to me. But somehow our mind is so used to it. I do consider this as my and me. Likewise, why don't we, with our mind, which has no limit for whatsoever, let this mind get used to it to look at all sentient beings in the same way as we look at ourselves. It is definitely possible to grow that thought.

Verse 116

When I work in this way for the sake of others,

I should not let conceit or (the feeling that I am)

wonderful arise.

It is just like feeding myself -

I hope for nothing in return.

If such a thing grows, then even if you help some other people, there is nothing to be surprised or proud of. It is like you are eating your own food and you don't expect anybody else to give you a reward for eating your own food.

Verse 117

Therefore, just as I protect myself

From unpleasant things however slight,

In the same way I should habituate myself

To have a compassionate and caring mind for others.

Just I learnt to protect myself from even a mere word of attack, so likewise I should also learn to protect all living beings in the same way. That is what is called compassion. Why? Because it is the backbone of the Mahayana. With that it can function, without it, it cannot.

Verse 118

It is out of his great compassion

That the Lord Avalokiteshvara has (even) blessed his

name to dispel the nervousness

Of being among other people.

What happened is that Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion, in his kindness, always thinks of liberating all suffering living beings. Even a small suffering such as nervousness he would like to have totally cleared from all living beings. In order to do that he committed - he blessed his name - in other words, he dedicated all his positive virtues, so that whoever just says his name will be liberated and protected. That's why Tibetans say OM MANI PADME HUM all the time. The Chinese will say NAMO TA PEI KUAN SI YIN PU SA. The Japanese have their own way of saying it. We also know how to say the long and the short mantra of Avalokiteshvara. Even a total, sutra text, without Vajrayana influence, will tell you this mantra OM MANI PADME HUM. Everyone who says his mantra is protected because he dedicated the totality of all the virtues he ever accumulated. So that's good news.

I should stop here.

8/12/2004