Archive Result

16

20090522GRGR3P1 Fri eve

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Garrison

Topic 3 principles

Section 1

Transcriber Thornton

Date 5-30-09

Rimpoche begins with the Heart Sutra in Tibetan.

Welcome everyone who is here for this weekend retreat. First and foremost, check our motivation. Motivation: why I’m here? The purpose of why we are getting together is for us to achieve the ultimate possible achievement of spiritual development, stage of a buddha, the buddha stage. In other words, according to the Buddhist tradition, Buddhist teachings, the best whatever you can achieve out of spiritual practice is to become a buddha. So at that level we are saying I would like to become a buddha, not just for my own sake, but for benefiting all beings. Because when you need to help all beings, unless you have total knowledge and you are fully enlightened, your help will be very limited. We have limitations. In order to not to have limitations, I would like to become a buddha for which I would like to listen to this particular teaching and practice, and get the result that they say your are going to get. So that is the motivation we will be looking for.

Why you want it, why you are here, so that is only known to you. You may say it whatever the reason may be. Other than that you know yourself why you are here. If you think I am here to drive a truck, it might not be the right motivation. Does anybody here think that? You don’t know? If that is your motivation you have to change it because it is the wrong motivation. If you are here because so and so is here or this is a nice place to spend the weekend, it is not a good motivation. It may be acceptable, but it is not good motivation at all. The best motivation is at least I want to become a buddha, that is why I am here. If you cannot do that, at least think I would like to free myself from the suffering. At least I will make sure I will not fall into the lower realms or go to the hell realm or become a hungry ghost or an animal in the next life. At least this much is needed. Why? Because otherwise it does not become dharma. You know whatever you do, traveling her, what ever you took-motor, plane to come here, whether you have been flying, driving or walking, whatever you do to become dharma you need that motivation. Otherwise it doesn’t become dharma.

It may become good work or virtue, but it is not dharma. There is a big difference being dharma and just being good virtue. There is a big difference. Not only being dharma is not good enough. It should be Mahayana dharma. It is a Sanskrit word meaning maha-big, yana is vehicle, so big vehicle path. In order to become dharma, you need not only good motivation, but you need motivation of bodhimind. Without bodhimind it does not become Mahayana dharma. What is wrong if it is not Mahayana dharma? What is wrong, because any practice you do, if it is not Mahayana dharma it does not become a cause to become a Buddha. If you do not have the mind of at least looking for a better future, it doesn’t become dharma at all.

Remember these three yana levels. When you look in the three yana, what practice becomes what yana. If you think of the three levels, if it is not Mahayana dharma it does not become third level at all. So motivation is so important. To just do good things for me, for everybody, for all beings, for environment, for inhabitants, they are very good, but it does not become Mahayana dharma. When you go deep down in Buddha’s teachings, it is very good, positive and virtuous, no doubt. But it does not become dharma. Forget about Mahayana. It is very good positive, virtuous, but it is not Mahayana practice because it does not contribute to freeing the individual from samsara. Forget about common with the medium level. It is not common with the medium level. It does not even become small scope. Good virtue, no doubt. So when you talk about spiritual practice from the dharma point of view there are so many layers in there.

Many of you have been with me a number of years so you know. Many of you are quite new and you may not be aware of it. Some of you may have been with me a number of years, but probably did not pay much attention. Some did, it is human nature. It is my job to remind you all the time. Whatever effort you put in, to make it worthwhile, the best way to achieve. The usual American expression: it is not necessarily that you need to work hard, but you need to work smart. So the motivation is one of the keys to working smart. Without proper motivation you may go for eons try to purify and try to accumulate merit, and if you have been purified and accumulated merit it may become good work, but it does not become dharma. It could have been done better.

It is interesting. After the death of Atisha, Atisha’s closest disciple was Gom Rimpoche. He was going around with a number of Atisha’s outstanding disciples. So he asked many of them, “What are you doing?” Some of them said, “ I’m making mandala offerings”. Some said, “I am doing circumambulations. “ Some of them said, “I’m doing prostrations.” Oh that’s very nice,” he replied to each one of them, “however, how wonderful if you would do a good dharma practice.” That is what Gom Rimpoche said to many of them. He is not saying circumambulation is not dharma practice or that mandala offering is not dharma practice, but you know if you have good motivation and do something, rather than trying to do some kind of things just for something to do or something ritual oriented or something, you know, to keep you busy. What you need is to keep your mind busy and it is the motivation.

Particularity the teaching we would like to do this time is the three principle paths. In one way if you look at it, it is a tiny little short text. It is a letter written by Tsong Khapa to one of his disciples. He was leader in a semi-Chinese, semi Mongolian cast called “Tarko.” He Tsong Khapa wrote a letter. It is a couple of pages, but if you look in this, this is the essence of lamrim. Tsong Khapa always said lamrim is the essence of all of Buddha’s teachings, all Buddha’s teachings—that is the wisdom aspect and the compassion aspect, both. One little text book, right? Transcendental wisdom they call it. Or the shortest version, we had it earlier to day, the Heart Sutra. And there are a number decent versions of the Heart Sutra are available, but that is a very short one, right? So the longer one is a little longer that this, one volume, and longer than that is the twelve volumes out of the collected works of the Buddha, or the Buddhist canon they call it. There is another between, about 20 30 pages. The shortest of all is “Tayata, Gate Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate Bodhi Soha.” So Buddha called that the essence of the Buddha’s teachings. If you just say, “Tayata, Gate Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Soha,” that is it. Tsong Khapa wrote this letter of the three principles, which Tsong Khapa received from Manjushri. The bottom line of what Tsong Khapa received from Manjushri is the three principles. Principle 1 is cutting through obsession and attachment. Principle 2, developing compassion and love. Principle 3 is having wisdom. And this is the three principles.

Then each of one them has to be understood, has to have some perception and meaning of what it means to me and how to go about it. How do I know about it? How do I obtain it? How do I know I have obtained that? So the essence in the reality is that this is the total path that can lead the individual to total enlightenment. The words are little, does not need volumes. Without this there won’t be lamrim at all. Tsong Khapa wrote the big lamrim, called lamrim chenmo in three volumes. When Tsong Khapa started writing that, Manjushri spoke to Tsong Khapa and said my three principles are not enough so you write a big book? Tsong Khapa said no, this is your three principles, but the reality of the three principles is huge. Lucky for us to have in shorter letter form. It is Tsong Khapa’s advice to his disciple of what to do and how to live life, so it becomes extremely useful and extremely important. That is why we try to deal with these three principles.

There are a number of commentaries available on these three principles. Commonly known, the most well known, is the third Penchen Lama’s commentary on that. Probably be 50, 60, or 70 pages. There are a number of others. A number of times you received this on the root test, not root commentary, but this time I intend to read if I can Pabongka’s commentary. I cannot read the whole thing, but try to pick up the important points. I did receive Pabongka’s commentary from the secretary of Pabongka. After Pabongka passed away, he made the collected works of Pabongka. In Lhasa when we were young, he collected all those. Mostly of the works are held by one family. Every time a block was done, Jejuna came to Drepung Monastery and gave us copies of that—three copies, one of which was for me. So we received this oral transmission, after each block was done, he gave us the oral transmission of Pabongka’s work on his commentary on the three principle paths.

That is what we will do. We have the general meeting, sutra said, mandala offering done. Every time we do it is more for public. Those of you who think you are receiving, yes, you are receiving teaching. Those of you who think you are receiving lecture, you are receiving lecture. Teaching here means oral transmission. That is how it works. Without transmission, if you heard the teaching, it might be a lecture. Teaching, if you lose it, you have to repeat. If you miss a half hour, you ask someone else to repeat it. Motivation we talked about it, and bodhimind you understand, most of you, what bodhimind is all about. The three principle path will give you the compassion aspect. We do talk about bodhimind, but they will not talk much about how to develop bodhimind, although Pabonkga’s commentary may have talked about developing Bodhimind. Lojong is about how to train the mind to develop bhodhimind. Whether it is seven points, eight verses, or the wheel of sharp weapons, or the sun rays—all the different writings on lojong, these are on developing bodhimind. So the lamrim and lo jong combined together provide very strong and rich information on the Mahayana level, developing bodhimind particularly. We will talk about love and compassion, but they are not going to talk about step-by-step developing bodhimind. Bodhimind is ultimate love and compassion. The root text won’t talk about it, but the commentary might. By tomorrow we’ll know.

Wisdom also, same thing. That is why the lamrim is so rich. The purpose of the lamrim is focusing, meditating level, totally meditating level. Almost every word we say, it is meditating level, right? For a couple of months now we have been doing the Nyur Lam in Ann Arbor and New York. Some lamrims are talking points, but most of them are developed for that purpose. It is so important you should not look down on it. A number of people do look down on lamrim. It is foolish, showing how foolish you are: “Oh, this is just lamrim, it is not Vajrayana, not Guyasomaja, not Yamantaka, not Vajrayogini, thinking it is just a preliminary kind of thing, not that important… not for me.” It is really lack of understanding by yourself thinking it is not that important. You may be in Buddhism for 20 30 years, but do you really have the spiritual development that lamrim talks to you? Do you really have it? You have to check that. If you don’t have it, something is wrong with you. You have to be honest about that. If you don’t have it, you have to go back and develop it. Otherwise you are missing a step. Even those beautiful mandalas, retinues, sadanas, or terrifying looking Yamantaka, all of those are ice castles, built on a lake—so when the heat comes, Spring is here, they melt because they are not grounded at all. These three principles are very important to recognize. Really!

It is very interesting, Tsong Khapa has 3 principles, but if you look at the Sakyas, they have 3 or 4 attachments. The first attachment is if you have attachment for this life. This life can be material or non-material, smooth, and all that and it looks nice wonderful. He clearly says if you have attachment for that, you are not a dharma practitioner. It is not dharma. If you have attachment for that you are not dharma. If you have attachment samsara you are not seeking liberation. Now I forget what the others are, but it is almost the same. All of them have slightly different titles, different names. They will boil down to principle 1, no attachment. Nobody says “no attachment,” they say, “renounce attachment.” That doesn’t mean give up everything. Point number 2, love/compassion. Point number 3, wisdom. Every single effort we put into becoming a good dharma practitioner are these three. These three are the tools that we use.

Rimpoche then asks if there are new people at the meeting. (Names not repeated for privacy.)

I hope you will all find something good. The first is motivation. The moment you have some time, sit with your motivation. Even if you don’t know why you came here, change that into I would like to become enlightened. Why not give it a try? Honestly? That does not mean you will become buddha tomorrow. But at some point you may make it, because of these teachings. I am talking about Tibetan Buddhism. I am not saying others don’t have it. I am talking about what I know. Not in a single place did anyone say if you practice you are going to be rich or have this or that. They don’t make promises. Nowhere did they say that. The major teachings do not say that, they are not for that or for making longevity or health.

What it is for, is when you die you don’t have to go to the lower realms; you can become a buddha. Even flying in the air or be under water or under ground we have done a number of times. Now we try to make something different, forever. Life after life, no matter whoever says what is reality, you die, you don’t disappear. Your body disappears; you have to destroy it actually. You may bury, burn, cremate, bird feed or whatever you may do. But consciousness, the person, continues. If people don’t continue, what is the point of doing good? Do whatever you want to do. Because the consciousness continues that is why this makes a difference to our selves. It is the same old self in the future, not the same old body, but the same old person.

When I am in Holland, Jewel Heart Holland has made arrangements that I have to speak for one day with a Dutch medical doctor. He wrote a book called Consciousness Continues. It is supposed to be the most popular book in Holland. He gives lectures with total power point. He is discovering that consciousness continues. Emptiness is filled with memory looking like things. Anyway the consciousness continues. He almost talked as though he was talking from a Tibetan book. His total knowledge is from scientific experiment. He has drawings and doodles and all kinds of things showing how the consciousness continues. Really the truth is consciousness continues, not only the consciousness, but the individual continues. Not remembering does not mean it does not continue. We see that in life. People with Alzheimer’s disease don’t remember, but that doesn’t mean they are not the same person.

So consciousness continues and we become responsible for our deeds. If consciousness ends at our death, it doesn’t matter. If you did something good or bad, it is all gone. Maybe your memorial remains or people say he did this or that. But in fact whenever we did something good or bad, the impact continues. It is simple consciousness. When you have good motivation, this make the work what we do makes a difference. The additional methods make whatever you do makes you more successful (in this life) as well. Principle: do good and you have a good result. Do bad and you get a bad result. That and taking charge of your life, makes difference in our life and in our lives. One life, not that bad: lives you are talking about here, thousands! For that it is important. So I think that is the point. I think that is about it. We are looking forward to tomorrow and I will say, “good night and do a short mandala offering.”