Archive Result

Soundfile 20071006GRGRVaj3

Speaker Gehlek Rimpoche

Location Garrison

Topic Vajrayana

Section 3

Transcriber John Thornton

Date date on which you finished this transcript

I should do this very carefully and in detail, but if I do then the whole time is going to go. Basically, as we very much emphasized, the beginning level starts with guru devotional practice. With common with the lower level, after guru devotional practice, precious human life, we covered refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Then we get to common with the medium level –the four noble truths, recognizing the root of samsara and attacking it and gaining freedom. Each has been introduced. That is common with the medium level. Medium level is the individual achieving some kind of thing, mediocre things. Thereby gaining freedom for yourself from samsara, the suffering and the causes. Up to this level is common with the medium level.

Then we go to the mahayana level, the vehicle the Buddha calls the mahayana. I am not going to go into proving this in detail. There are many buddhalogists and Buddhist practitioners who say mahayana is not Buddhism. It is very common in the theravadin world, nothing surprising. But if you are looking in the mahayana window in detail, then without the hinayana path, there is no possibility of the mahayana at all. The mahayana is actually built on top of the hinayana path. Without gaining freedom from samsara, there is not way the individual can help anyone else at all. It is the totally altruistic path. It is also not just a common altruism. The altruistic mind is built on the basis of global compassion, greater compassion.

The difference between compassion and greater compassion is the focal point. Greater compassion is almost impossible. It is not focused on one person or limited at all. It is unlimited and focused on all living beings. Global compassion is focused on all living beings, not some living beings or limited living beings, especially that mind is one of gaining freedom from the pain of experience. It focuses on the suffering of all living beings, their pain, and making them free of that pain. That is something to think about. That is the job, the desire to do that, the specification, and the responsibility of the greater compassion. It is not selecting, it is for all living beings; the desire to remove from the pain for all. When limitations come in it is breaking the criteria. It is not so simple. When you talk about it, it is easy. When you think about it, it is almost impossible. When you do it, you cannot do it. So it is an unimaginable thing. When you say greater compassion/ bodhimind it is simple, but it is not.

The moment you are leaving out one—there are funny stories like Drugpa Kunleg. Drugpa Kunleg. Drugpa Kunleg is the founder of the Drugpa Kagyu tradition. Drugpa Kunleg is an interesting teacher. I believe the way he dresses is that he doesn’t wear monks’ robes. He dresses like a hunter. He carries a bow and arrow and has a dog with him. The way and how he does work is he makes interesting remarks everywhere. He doesn’t look like a holy person at all. People who know about him, know how holy he is. Otherwise, he looks like some crazy guy hunting the animals, using dogs and hunting the animals. Why did I say that? I had that in my mind and I forgot!

I remember something else. At the time of Drugpa Kunleg, one of the greatest masters available was Sakya Pandita. He was the some kind of person of whom there was no equivalent. Sakya Pandita had the habit of being very proud of being Sakya Pandita. So wherever he went in Tibet he put up letters saying-Sakya Pandita is there. He went to upper Tibet and put up these letters, it is only me Sakya Pandita. Same for lower Tibet and middle Tibet wherever he went he put up the huge letters, like we put up posters. When Drugpa Kunleg saw them, he said “Oh” and Drugpa Kunleg changed the Tibetan letter to ngu making the letters say “cry.” So the letters said Sakya Pandita cries-in the upper, lower and middle part! That is how he functions.

There was an old lady who died. Before she died, she had nice turquoise she kept on her hair. She told her family and said the moment I die, take this turquoise to Drugpa Kunleg The family looked at the turquoise and saw that it was very expensive, so they got another turquoise and gave it to Drugpa Kunleg and said so and so died, could you pray for her? Drugpa Kunleg took the turquoise and said the fake turquoise should go into the drain and the old lady should go into the hell realm and he threw it into the drain. So the family talked about it and found the right turquoise and gave it to Drugpa Kunleg. He said this small little turquoise goes into my arrow holder and the old lady goes into liberation. That is how Drugpa Kunleg functions.

The main reason I talked to you about Drugpa Kunleg is there were a group of monks in a monastery behind my house. Those monks are sometimes a little crazy and wild. Drugpa Kunleg collected a lot of people and went to this monastery and said, “I take refuge to Buddha, refuge to Dharma and refuge to the Sangha, except this monastery!” He was shouting this and the people with him repeated this after him and he took the monastery out. If you take one sentient being out of your compassion, the criteria of being greater compassion is no longer there. Drugpa Kunleg had a reason, you know. Drugpa Kunleg would like to correct the errors of the monks and that is why he did that. In other words if a criteria of being a monk is not completed, you are not included. If there is not greater compassion to all living beings, then the root of bodhimind is gone. Then you have to say mine is not greater compassion. To have compassion to loved ones is not difficult. To have compassion to enemies tough, but having compassion to all living beings is almost impossible.

But our mind is such that if you handle it carefully and handle well, there is no such thing this mind cannot achieve. Even total enlightenment is achievable by this mind.

So the quality of the mind we have and the quality we have is able to give us enlightenment. The same mind may be in a dog’s body cannot communicate as this life can. Maybe it is the same mind at the dog level, but the capacity of the mind changes because it is in a dog’s body. It is causes and conditions. We are dependent on causes and conditions. Dogs and animals, they may have their own language, but they are limited in their ability to understand and communicate as we do. I don’t think it is difficult to understand this.

This is the human beings’ special benefit. With this life, with this capacity, even impossible to achieve can be achieved by us. This is the quality of this life important and difficult to find,

Instead of taking a step back, we don’t have to do this. The more you look back you see the quality of this life. With vajrayana you get much more capacity. Impossible things can be done by us. This is because the impossible things can be done by our mind due to the condition it is in. That is the difference. You need to do mission

Impossible, honestly! So this compassion itself is not just compassion, it is the focus to all living beings. You can’t say all living beings but my mother-in-law or all living beings except my enemy. You can’t. If you as a Tibetan say compassion to all sentient beings except Chairman Mao, it won’t work. It will not work. If you except Chairman Mao, it makes your compassion not great compassion.

I am saying this so you will know what greater compassion is. If you take out one sentient being from your compassion, then you have to think about it. That is a very

good example of disqualify you from being a bodhisattva, from being a mahayana fractioned. So it is focus to all living beings and the desire to separate from any sufferings whether in the hell realms or a little discomfort. That makes difference. That mind does not develop easily unless you have compassion for yourself and bring yourself closer to every living beings. You have to see them as one of your most important, your survival is dependent on every living being. You have to really bring it to that level. That is the actual member of your own family and that includes the fish down the river, the dog, the little tick in the courtyard, that little cockroach popping up from the drain. That is called equanimity. Real equanimity you are talking, that is what it is. So see how impossible it is.

That is why the Buddha said look at all other beings as your mother, because it makes a difference in our lives. Easy for us to talk, but when you really have to do it, it is next to impossible. But remember our mind and our life has the capacity. We have the opportunity, without which you are never going to be able to enter the mahayana path or into enlightenment. Then you may say, everyone who enters total enlightenment has got to be a Buddhist. What about Christians, Jews or Hindus? Whether you claim it as mahayana compassion, you have to have compassion to all if you are Jewish or Christian.

That’s why all these lojong’s are so important. Lojong is training your mind. Today we use lojong for feel good. That is most of the lojong we see. The original idea of lojong is making the mind to do the impossible things to do. That is why lojong is very famous. It is not for feel good or feel nice at all. It is meant for training the mind. If you read the wheel of sharp weapons, it does that. So, this is what lojong means. It does not mean feel good, look nice, feel wonderful. Lojong does the opposite of it. So that is why mahayana is almost impossible. Everything we are doing we are pretending to be. It is imposter. In the 1940’s and 50’s the Chinese call it a paper tiger. It looks like tiger but when you take the paper off, it is a donkey, or if it is Republicans it is elephant. So that is where we are. We pretend to be mahayana and we pretend to follow the path. But in reality we are all donkeys.

Then we try to imagine doing this and pray that we may be able to do this. Keep on doing it day by day, month by month l year by year, life by life. Can you imagine cutting a piece of flesh and giving it to another? Then go pick up worms. Keep on putting the tongue out and try to pick up the worms from the wounds of the dog. And Maitreya said, “You did not see me. I was there the day that you started.” “But,” he said, “You saw me today because of your compassion.” That is why great compassion is one of the strongest aspects of bodhimind. Asanga did not see Maitreya by praying and giving mudras. Asanga saw Maitreya by having compassion to cut flesh from his on side without any hesitation. That allowed him to see Maitreya. That is the power. He also saw him by reducing negative emotions, which brought him to see reality, those living beings. What do you think happens when the individual reaches the second path and the third stage? What happens? It is because the blocks have been cleared. Once they are cleared the enlightened beings will talk to you and information will come to you.

Why do we study? We study because we have blocks and they have to be cleared. We clear them by study and thinking about it and that is how we break through. So the bodhimind, compassion, greater compassion is almost impossible but it functions. Not only does that compassion work, but it really pushes the individual not to do something, but to do everything to free all living beings. We free all living beings to deliver all living beings into the state of buddhahood. We say those who are not liberated will be liberated. Remember? This is what we are talking about: greater compassion. Not just do something, do everything. It did not say I put you into liberation, but I put all beings into liberation. We say we will free all. Right?

Every bodhisattva vow and every mahayana vow has that. So the definition of greater compassion is focus to all human beings and the desire to free them from suffering. That is the special mind, the mind that wants to do everything. That mind brings the desire to become enlightened, and the reason whey you need to become enlightened. It is because you need to be enlightened to guide and help them. How can I do it if I am not a buddha. You need unlimited capability. That becomes seeking a buddha state totally dedicated to all living beings. Otherwise it becomes double mind. It looks like I do it for myself then all living beings. It is not that. It is doing everything, which makes you to have that mind. Otherwise, how can we liberate all living being by doing one by one. It is impossible. That is why bodhimind seeks buddha-state to liberate all living beings.

The bodhimind is that which has two wishes: wishing to become totally enlightened to be able to free all living beings. It is possible. So if you being to develop this mind. The developing of this mind is also done by others and accumulation is done by others, and every effort is adding up to total enlightenment. The root of bodhimind is greater compassion, please remember. Then the buddhas and bodhisattvas take care of the new ones and praise them. Mostly you know about it, but I am trying to remind you about it. The young bodhisattvas have the problem about finding someone to play with, so the buddhas and bodhisattvas play with them.

Compassion is such that wherever it touches, it brings good ness. It never brings harm or suffering. People connected with bodhisattvas have joy. Even if you have a harming the bodhisattvas, your connection is a source of joy. Wherever compassion goes, whatever it touches, everything becomes worthwhile. It is not like hatred. Whereever hatred goes, it brings trouble. The joy is for this life and future lives. It is very clear. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to make that choice.

That is why we are extremely fortunate to be able to touch this teaching of the Buddha. It is really, really great. So we have to appreciate our own good fortune. If we don’t appreciate it, then it is wasted. It is like a bag full of gold, but he did not realize it had a hole in it and he didn’t fix it. Then it is less and less and less and finally it is nothing left. So, not to do that. We have to realize and appreciate what we have., It is not to make you happy but for you to take this opportunity to move forward, not move backwards. It is very important. If we look around at our own family and at our companions, how many people realize this? Very few. It is important to realize and appreciate and not to waste. Develop bodhimind. Remember there are two types-wishing and action. Wishing means we pray and action means you do everything. In order to help yourself you do six parameters. In order to help others you do four parameters, the four immeasurable. Say the right things and doing the right things. These are the four parameters. So that is that. Then the tradition is taught first generate bodhimind and accumulate merit for four countless eons. Every enlightenment will take place in the pure land, a Tushita pure land, in the sutra Mahayana tradition. From the mahayana point of view the Buddha was in the Tushita pure land. Buddha was in Maitreya’s pure land. Buddhas are normally born. Shakyamuni was born as a prince. Maitreya Buddha became an official buddha to be born as a Brahmin.

According to the mahayana, Shakyamuni went into this family and meditating, almost like a performance. According to the Theravadin tradition, this is reality and how he became a buddha. We never say one is right and the other is wrong. When you get into tantra, a lot of things will come. You never say your dharma is bad mine is great or yours is horrible and mine is right. People do that very often. You do present the qualities of your own tradition, people get hurt thinking that you are criticizing their tradition. Chandrakerti said if you present your own

tradition and others get insulted there is no fault. But if you have the mind of insulting others’ tradition, then it is a downfall. This is definitely a vajrayana downfall too. If you stay too long in others’ house, this is the reason, to avoid this down fall. This is in the long six-session yoga. This applies to sectarians too. You can’t say you are a Nyingma, so you are horrible. It happens in Tibet, but it is not good. It is breaking dharma and not right. Every teaching tradition coming from the Buddha has a quality. We are not here to find faults. We are here to find benefits. Just leave it alone. You don’t have to emphasize or say anything if it has no benefit. People will say it is mis-information. Even if that is the case, we are not the world police or missionaries. That is how it works.

Now in order to avoid three countless eons of accumulation merit, the Buddha shared the path of vajrayana with us. The reasons why the Buddha shared vajrayana with us, is that all of us our supposed to be very well established in this greater compassion and this special mind. The sixth parameter is wisdom. We are all supposed to have developed wisdom. However, I don’t know if we have a single qualification or not, but we are very fortunate to meet with this teaching. So if we don’t take the opportunity, we may never have the opportunity. When Buddhism came over to Tibet, no one knew what it was. Somehow the book and image was presented to the Tibetans and they did not know how to read it. So Simuconga was supposed to be Atisha and he said, “Within five generations they may know what this book it about.” So what they did was to make it a great secret, a book which no one knew anything about, they called it a big secret, top secret. It was named the most sacred of the sacred treasure, kept for five generations not understanding anything about it. This is how even Tibetans received Buddhism at the beginning. It is not like today.

So today, we talk about it. It remained a top-secret thing. Only the royal families and trusted senior ministers may be able to see the book and that little piece of wood that cam with it. Then finally after five generations they began to be able to read and to understand what the book is all about. It happened to be Avaloketishvara sutra and his image. That is why we Tibetans are considered to have a special connection with Avaloketishvara. Not only the Dalai Lama, but also the Tibetan kings were considered manifestations of Avaloketishvara. The first Buddhism that came to Tibet was Avaloketishvara. And then there are a lot differences between mantras. And darameeds. Anyway like the Avaloketishvara mantra, there are a lot of subtle differences. Even that Avaloketishvara mantra has so many subtle things. The first thing that came to Tibet was vajrayana, not sutrayana. It happens to be Avaloketishvara. The first thing that came to Tibet was Avaloketishvara. That is why ”Om Mani Pedme Hum” is known by all Tibetans. Even kids. Maybe it is the culture, who knows. So it is vajrayana.

How am I going to talk about vajrayana now? When you talk about vajrayana, there are four types or categories of vajrayana. I will probably to explain vajrayana by talking about the system for the Mahayana Yoga Tantra and then the differences with the other tantras and how the other types of vajrayana work with it. We do have outlines in power point, but this will not work well with outlines. You do have the outline there. If I follow the outline, I will take a lot of time with the lower tantras. We may not have enough time for the lower tantras. We need the Mahayana Yoga Tantra, so I will start there.

So the Mahayana Yoga Tantra point. Lets say and describe the basic four outlines. Hartmut, can you take it down? Okay. We have to name those outlines. The first one we have to say is (1) How does one individual make the individual fit to meditate vajrayana? Traditional Tibetans would say you are fit once you are a bodhisattva, but we don’t want to say that. We say, “Fit to meditate vajrayana.” (2) How does one keep vows and commitments? (3) How does one practice? (4) What is the result you are hoping for? We always look at base, path and result. It is a Buddhist principal. It must be there. Here we have provided the base- that is how does the individual become fit to meditate vajrayana. Then once you are qualified how do you practice and then what do you hope to gain. So we have who, how and then what do we expect to achieve, the desired end result. We are missing one. It is why. I don’t know about the why. Who is perfect, how is okay, what is fine, but why does not fit well in here.

First, what makes the individual qualified to practice vajrayana? You know the normal teachings will say that the common and special paths have fully made the practitioner’s mind very smooth. Common we have talked about. Common is the lower and medium level and the special is the bodhisattva path. So those are the prerequisites, not preliminaries. That includes wisdom. Don’t leave wisdom out. It is the perception that we go on that the individual has just at least the Lam Rim basis. So we restrict who can take vajrayana initiation. If you have not studied the Lam Rim, we object. At least I do. It is not right to let someone enter with out this, because they have made no attempt to become qualified. If you look at Tibetan practitioners perhaps 90 percent are vjrayana practitioners. Then if you have the perfect prerequisites, I don’t even one percent of us have that. That is why they call this a degenerated age. Not because we travel in the air or because Buddhism is growing in red face. It is a valid reason, because the conditions have changed so much. Even Buddha told us that. Even in this place. Ribur Rinpoche said that. He said within the chapters people write today no one gets enlightened. The prerequisites are not there for most of us, we pretend. That is why so many lamas who give tantric initiation spend so much time talking about the Lam Rim stage. That is the reason why. Then at least you have heard about the Lam Rim stage. We think the Lam Rim stage has met the prerequisites. It has not completely nothing. That is the degenerated age.

Without bodhimind and without compassion vajrayana is dangerous, not only for your self but it is dangerous for others too. Why, because if they have developed some little thing or achievement by saying mantra and you don’t have compassion, you start to use it against living beings. That is the most horrible thing for one individual. It is just like Bush had no reason to go into Iraq. You know, a vajrayana practitioner who develops some little mantra power and starts using it against a living being, it is the worst possible negativity.

I must tell you a story. It happened many years ago in Malaysia, not East Malaysia but on the east side. Normally, they say there is a ghost, so I try to run away. I will not entertain ghosts. I will not. Why should I? This is when I am giving a talk, a little girl walked in with her father and three other strong people. The little girl started running up to me and I didn’t know what to do. I gave her a funny look and she stopped. So when the teaching is over there was a little rope there and the father and the people said she is going to beat you up. She is so powerful that four of us cannot control her. And I don’t know what to do. So I started thinking a bout bodhimind and compassion and she started running away from me. There was a little closet, and she tried to get inside the closet. The other people are puling her back. He said go see Rinpoche. She says there is a horrible blue man standing there. Then I started talking to her and I said who are you and why are you here? Then a ghost went away. It turned out there was a wealthy woman in the area whose driver killer her. Earlier, a teacher had come and the little girl had beaten him up! Then the wealthy woman appeared and she said talk to my guru. Then there were 11 of the ghosts including one dressed like a monk. They all wanted revenge and I talked with them and asked them to leave the little girl alone and they finally agreed to leave, and I agreed to offer an Avaloketishvara fire puhja to them. I said you are wearing a monk’s robe and you are doing this for how many years? He said, for decades. I did offer the fire puhja and the 11 monks were gone by that time. So even a monk could jump into that ghost life if he did something wrong and did not have compassion.

So that is what I mean: if without bodhimind and without compassion, you achieve something, then the most horrible things, taking revenge on living beings, happen. The idea of revenge can lead that much consciousness into such a state for so many years. That is why these prerequisites are so important.