Details
Approaching the Buddha 1
Teachers:
Collection:
- Sadhanas and Prayers
Location:
- Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling
Translator:
- Catherine Dalton
Length:
- Full Length Session
Features:
- Subtitles ,
- Transcripts
Excerpt
Lama Tenzin Sangpo presents a complete roadmap for practicing the Treasury of Blessings sādhana, blending precise guidance on posture, visualization, and ritual with the deeper purpose of uniting samatha and vipashyana to realize the Buddha’s enlightened qualities. His teachings emphasize pure motivation, devotion, and consistent effort, showing how sincere practice leads from calm abiding into transformative insight that benefits both oneself and all beings.
Description
Lama Tenzin Sangpo provides an in-depth guide to the Treasury of Blessings sādhana, illuminating its completeness as a path to awakening through the integration of samatha (calm abiding) and vipashyana (insight). He stresses the indispensable role of pure motivation, devotion, and correct preparation—covering topics like prostrations, offerings, posture, visualization, and the seven-branch practice—as a foundation for meaningful meditation. Through clear instruction, Lama explains how to stabilize the mind by focusing on the Buddha’s form, progressively working through stages of meditative experience, and overcoming obstacles with practical methods. He underscores that the ultimate goal is to transition from stable focus into deep insight, recognizing the union of appearance and emptiness, and cultivating qualities that mirror the Buddha’s enlightened mind. Lama’s teachings repeatedly highlight that authentic transformation arises when practice is sustained with faith, joy, and a commitment to benefiting all sentient beings, both in formal meditation and in daily life.
Related Course Info
- A Treasury of Blessings – The Liturgy of Shakyamuni A complete guide to practicing A Treasury of Blessings, featuring a chanted sadhana with Tibetan and English subtitles, introductory teachings by Khenpo Pema Namgyal, and a full series of in-depth teachings by Lama Tenzin Sangpo, culminating in a profound session with Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche on the inseparability of compassion and emptiness.
Video
Audio
01:32:03
Well, Rinpoche gave a command, so I
have no choice but to give a teaching.
We are all students of the same teacher. In one sense, in the general sense actually, all of us are followers of the teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha. But in addition to that, in a more specific way, all of us have many times together received teachings from the same Lama, so that makes us Dharma family.
So there's no division of some of us being better and others of us worse. We're all the same.
Every morning we are reciting together the Treasury of Blessings practice.
And actually, if we really have a profound understanding of the Dharma teachings, the teachings here in this sādhanā are actually tremendously profound. The words of the text are tremendously profound.
In fact, we can think of it as something that would be suitable to be our practice for this whole life, just this.
And on the basis of just this practice, the sādhanā of Shakyamuni, it is possible to attain the state of awakening.
Sometimes for some people who are beginning practitioners who haven't studied so extensively, when they encounter this practice, sometimes they feel a little bit uncomfortable in the sense that it's kind of like worship, right? Like the Buddha, I'm down here and the Buddha is there, making offerings and prayers. And for some people, especially for beginning practitioners, sometimes that feeling can be a little bit uncomfortable. not so attraction, whatever. So... exciting... So then people aren't so excited about doing the Shakyamuni sādhanā sometimes.
This particular sādhanā for the practice of Shakyamuni, the Treasury of Blessings, was composed by Mipham Rinpoche, Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche.
And it's not that Mipham Rinpoche just kind of made it up. Actually he really brought together the intent of many sūtras so like Lalitavistāra Sūtra, Samādhirāja Sūtra, the Gandavyūha Sūtra really bringing together the heart of the intention of these sūtras and putting them together into a practice. It's only about 15 pages long actually, but a way in which the real intent of many different sūtras is brought together in a way that we can easily put it into practice.
And then as a supportive text in relation to this sādhanā, Mipham Rinpoche also wrote kind of a commentary. That's 1,200 pages long that contains the supportive instructions and sort of supportive text for this practice. It's called the White Lotus.
And that larger text by Mipham Rinpoche, there's also a sort of a text that condenses the main points of the meaning of that, composed by Khyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, that sort of condenses the main parts of this larger supportive text by Mipham Rinpoche, which again supports the practice of this sādhanā.
And really we can say that the root of the practice of the Treasurey of Blessings is the practice of samatha and vipassanā. These two.
And actually we could say that when it comes to the real core of all of the Buddhist teachings, there is nothing apart from the practice of samatha and vipassanā. 100%, we can say that for sure.
Even a single prostration, a beginning practitioner to do a single prostration, that act also involves the practice of samatha. And for somebody who has reached a higher level of experience in their practice, then for that person they can do a prostration with the practice of vipassanā.
And so actually anything that we do, cleaning the temple, making offerings, offering flowers, doing a circumambulation, any of those practices, whatever it is that we are doing, as Rinpoche said this morning, we have always to bring a pure motivation to that practice. And if we do that with a pure motivation, whatever virtuous deed we engage in, physically, verbally, mentally, whatever it is actually, if we are practicing with that kind of pure motivation and we put it into practice, we are practicing also samatha and vipassanā. There is no act actually, no practice that we could do that is outside of that framework.
A lot of Western people are not so into all of this like reciting, you know, reciting a practice and all this kind of banging and banging around and this kind of all that stuff, not so motivated by these kind of practices. But like to do meditation. That's what Westerners often like. And then Eastern practitioners, meaning Nepalese and Bhutanese and you know, people from this part of the world, tend to not be so interested in doing meditation, but they really like going on pilgrimage and doing prostrations and doing all sorts of things like that actually.
A lot of Westerners also have kind of a feeling or hesitation when it comes to the practice. If we have to recite all this stuff, we have to chant all this and we have to recite all these mantras, we don't have time to meditate. Where's the meditation time? We run out of time. We have to move around and do this and do that and recite this and chant that. Then there's no time for meditation. A lot of people actually have that kind of hesitation about practice.
And then a lot of Easterners, Eastern practitioners from the East, think of meditation as being something that's like a very high level of practice, only for somebody who has a very, very high level of practice and experience. And so then they're so humble and have a feeling that, oh, you know, I couldn't possibly even do that. And so then they don't take up those kind of practices.
So actually, one thing that's so important is that from the very beginning, we have a really good understanding of what is meant by meditation.
So in general, we can say that meditation refers to not getting distracted by other things, but keeping the mind one-pointedly attentive and focused on something. That's one way of understanding what is meant by meditation.
And the word samadhi has the sense, or we sometimes translate that as meditative concentration, has the sense of one-pointed attentiveness.
And then another way we can understand, like the master Śāntideva said, it's not about meditation, it's about getting used to something, familiarizing yourself with something.
And that is really a helpful way for us to understand meditation, actually, in the sense of getting used to something, habituating ourselves to something, creating positive habits, beginning with a state in which we're not very tamed, in which we're not very calm, but habituating ourselves, getting used to being a certain way, which creates a situation in which we become more and more tamed, more and more calm. Getting used to that, that's a way that we can understand what is meant by meditation also fits with exactly what Śāntideva said.
And also, again, any of the practices, the methods that are taught by the Buddha, we can say there is no method taught by the Buddha that is not somehow part of samatha and vipassanā.
But in short, we can say, actually, that if our motivation is pure, if we have a genuinely pure motivation, then if we're doing practices that involve a lot of chanting, a lot of recitation, a lot of movement, physical and verbal movement and activity, if we're doing it with a pure motivation, then we will end up within the practice of samatha or vipassanā in that practice. We will get there through that method. And if we are someone who is not so interested in doing all these physical and verbal things, if we don't have that kind of interest or inclination, and we're much more interested in only training in a way that focuses the mind, then also, again, as long as our motivation is pure, that will bring us to samatha or vipassanā, one or the other. So in either case, we end up in the same place.
In terms of how they appear outwardly, they may appear different. In fact, even contradictory. But in terms of where they take us, they take us to the same place.
Isn't that the case? And in fact, that's why we can say that the Buddha is so incredibly compassionate and skillful, despite the fact that beings are so different and have so many different inclinations, he taught in different ways that all lead us to the same place.
So what, then, is the definition of samatha that we find in the instruction manuals and meditation practice? What is meant by samatha? The definition is that it is to keep the mind resting one pointedly on a virtuous object. That's what is meant by samatha.
So we talk about samatha, if we were to translate that term, we might translate it as calm abiding. And in fact, that is what it means, that the mind abides or remains in a state of calm.
What keeps our mind from remaining calmly? What keeps our mind from abiding calmly? Well, it's when we are motivated by the negative emotions, and with the motivation of the negative emotions we do things physically, verbally, mentally. Then that's non-virtue, right? And what non-virtue does is that it disturbs our mind. And when our mind is disturbed, it can't abide calmly.
And the opposite of that, the remedy for that, is to keep the mind remaining one pointedly on something.
And so when we have that kind of virtuous thought, then meaning a virtuous motivation, then whatever we do, whether we are reciting something with our voice, chanting, or if we are physically doing something like a prostration, we have that kind of inspiration of a positive attitude, a positive motivation. And that inspiration then makes whatever we do virtuous. It allows us to remain within a virtuous state, focused on that virtuous state. So again, the motivation itself, having a pure motivation as the inspiration for what we do physically and verbally, can bring us into this state of calmly abiding, remaining, resting one pointedly on a virtuous object, and not getting caught up in the obstacles to that kind of practice.
When we remain in a state of calm abiding, when the mind remains calmly, then that's actually a very honest, sincere state, isn't it?
And so when our mind itself is in a state which is honest and sincere, then the judgments that we make with the mind out of that place are also going to be honest and sincere.
And that allows us to know the natural state of the way things actually are, correctly, from that place we can.
And that is vipassanā. Right?
So when our mind is very calm and at ease, we are able to very clearly and directly see whatever it is that we are directing ourselves towards. We can see it very clearly. But when our mind is really all over the place, very kind of jumping here and there and not remaining calmly, even if something is sitting right there, right in front of us, sometimes we don't even see it. Isn't that the case? So when our mind is calm, then we can see so clearly whatever it is that we direct our attention to, as opposed to the mind bouncing, jumping all over the place, and not being able to see something right in front of our own nose.
And that's why it said in the instruction manuals, if the mind remains calmly, that is if we have samatha, then we are able to see clearly. That is to say we are able to practice vipassanā.
So when it comes to vipassanā, sometimes it is described as the mind that completely or perfectly discerns phenomena. And so that then sounds often to people like a type of contemplation. And of course, in fact, we do often begin with an analytical meditation. But the analytical meditation then becomes the basis for a resting meditation. So we can apply the term correctly or fully discerning, perfectly discerning phenomena in either one of those cases. But sometimes when we hear that in terms of the definition, it makes sense. But when we come to the aspect of the way in which we train with the pith instructions, then sometimes we can feel it doesn't fit, actually.
And so that's how we do also in the Tara, the online Tara's Triple Excellence Meditation Practice. First we begin with an analytical meditation, but then the analytical meditation leads us next into a resting meditation.
And so sometimes also we begin with the progression of training in devotion. And actually guru yoga, before coming to the practice of vipassanā, it comes that way in the system of this program as well. And in that sense, when we think of it in that way, the guru yoga practice is actually a form of samatha that we engage in as a support for and before coming to the practice of vipassanā. So that's the style of the pith instructions, practicing in accordance with the pith instructions.
So then guru yoga doesn't become just some kind of nonsense. It actually has a very important point.
Because, you know, I mentioned that because also there's a lot of people who sometimes get a little tired with the guru yoga practice.
Some people say Tibetan Buddhism is not even Buddhism, it's Lamaism. There's all this guru yoga stuff, right?
But actually that practice is a form of samatha. It is precisely samatha practice, in fact.
And through that kind of faith and devotion that we cultivate in that way, then that makes the non-conceptual wisdom of vipassanā pierce us, hit us, penetrate us through the faith and devotion that we have cultivated through that practice.
So sometimes it's mentioned all of the philosophies arise as or appear as pith instructions. That's when we get to that point.
And then the realization of the Buddha and an accomplished practitioner is the same.
And so, in that way, when we make progress, then eventually that's where we end up. But whatever path we are following, whether it's the path of the Sūtra or especially in the path of Vajrayāna, when it comes to Vajrayāna, there's really no way to do it without a good guru. We have to have a guru and it has to be a good guru. It's just there is no other way in the Vajrayāna without that.
Just like Nagarjuna said, we begin remaining first in a state of discipline. We study and reflect and then put that into our experience, bring that into our experience through meditation.
And so, at the very least, in our practice, we have to begin with avoiding the ten non-virtues, to whatever extent we are able to really do it perfectly, a hundred percent. Obviously, that would be best. But we have such a strong habit of engaging in those kind of negative deeds that it's maybe difficult for us to fully and completely avoid all of the ten non-virtues all the time. But at the very least, we should acknowledge that there are things that we shouldn't do. Right, Um we should. Often, actually, we have such a habit of lying. It's one thing if it's like something that is done with a positive intention, but, or with some kind of intention. But we lie without even thinking about it. Right. So many pointless lies sometimes. And to at least sort of switch our perspective to viewing these negative things as negative and paying attention and thinking, Oh, that's something that I shouldn't do. Of course, it would be best if we could fully and completely avoid any of the ten non-virtues. But if that's too much to ask, at the very least, we have to be aware and really, as much as we possibly can, try to avoid those non-virtuous deeds.
That's not something that the Buddha just made up.
These are sort of like natural laws, actually.
And, you know, of course, maybe it's not everybody is able to do it all the time, but everybody, anybody, would rejoice in and admire someone who avoids those non-virtuous deeds, right?
And it's important that we know that, because otherwise we might think, Oh, well, this is just like the Buddha's command and therefore I have to do it just because the Buddha said there's some kind of rule or law. But it's not like that at all.
And so, whether we're, you know, this is what makes us have a life which is healthy, living in a healthy way. It depends on whether we're actually following or not following this kind of conduct.
And Rinpoche says, doesn't he, so often that we need to live moment by moment, happily and healthily? No? We do.
And so when we talk here about discipline and keeping the basis of good discipline, when we do that, if we're able to behave in a disciplined way, then it's like starting out with a clean cup. That's really important.
And so if into that clean cup of discipline we put the very pure contents of listening and contemplating and meditating, then that itself is able to remain there in a very pure and clean way, because the cup itself was clean to start with.
And if we enjoy that drink, then it's good for the body, nice for our stomach, and everything turns out very nicely, no?
And all of the benefits that they say about those things, we actually get them, no?
And so listening to the teachings is something that we must do, we must receive teachings from a spiritual teacher, from a guru, we must.
If we haven't learned anything, then we don't have anything to contemplate.
And without having listened to the teachings and contemplated them, just like Rinpoche said already this morning, we don't know how to practice. We don't know what to do.
We all have a lot of merit, and we're all incredibly fortunate.
So we have all these incredible outer conditions that make things possible for us. You came from so many different countries, far, far away, and yet many of you could make it here within five or six hours in an airplane, even though you came from quite far.
And in the past, right, from the U.S. to here, it might take years, a year, and whether you would even, you know, walking and then all these other methods of getting here, and whether you would even actually make it or not was questionable, no? In the past.
And in fact, in the past, you didn't even know where to find a teacher, right? Like, where would you even go? how could you... Even just to find a teacher would be so difficult, actually, if you think about it.
These days, you just... and then you can find out everything you need to know.
So that actually is a function of our merit.
And we should know that that is merit, that is our merit.
And so when we acknowledge our own merit, and we're able to rejoice in that, it's very important. Because it gives us a feeling of really being alive, actually. Without that, if we don't have that kind of awareness, then yeah, maybe we just kind of feel like, what difference between me and a corpse? No.
And when we acknowledge the merit that we have to have these positive circumstances, conducive circumstances for practicing, when we have appreciation for that fact, that inspires us to practice. We feel a sense of joy and confidence and encouragement, actually, to practice the Dharma, when we can acknowledge that.
And then when we practice meditation, yeah, we feel somehow different. There is some change in our experience through practicing with that kind of attitude.
And when we really have the feeling, wow, what an amazing opportunity to be able to practice meditation, then that changes the quality of our meditation, right? The meditation itself becomes somehow different through that.
And then our mind, actually, when we have that kind of inspiration and courage, that changes our own experience.
And when we think about it like that, then actually we do have some hope of being able to improve.
And if we don't have that kind of situation, then what happens from the beginning to our... we start the session, then the session ends, and then we didn't really change. Nothing really happened, yeah?
And then tomorrow we do another session, and again we don't change.
And then we don't make any improvement, we don't change, we don't change, and then we're not getting anywhere, actually, in our practice.
And when it comes to attaining Buddhahood, actually we have to gradually improve in order to eventually arrive at the state of awakening, no? That's the only way.
And especially in the Vajrayanā we talk about attaining awakening in this life, in this very body, right?
And so if we're not making any improvements within a year or two of practice, then the idea of Buddhahood in one lifetime becomes kind of difficult, no?
And I really think, and this is like what Rinpoche also has said, the problem is not that we haven't received the instructions. It's not that we lack the instructions. That is not our problem.
And so, actually when we receive these kind of pith instructions, it's important that we realize how precious it is. We should really think to ourselves, you know, like, I am so fortunate. I met a teacher like this. I got these kind of instructions. This is really amazing. These are really precious. And when we regard the teachings that we have as being that precious, then we don't want to waste them. And we won't waste them. And then we will practice. And then when we practice with that kind of inspiration and confidence, then we change.
And in the best case scenario, we should be practicing all day long and all night long. That's best.
But for beginning practitioners, that's a little bit difficult.
And that's why for beginners, meditation sessions are really important.
And in the best case scenario, we would be doing six sessions every day. That's like a great practitioner who's doing that.
Then, like, the second best would be to do four sessions every day.
Then third best, two sessions a day.
And the fourth best, one session, one session every day.
And then the worst would be like, we're not doing any.
And so for the online Tara program, we have two sessions each day. That's how we've made the program.
Doing four sessions a day is difficult unless one is in a retreat setting.
And all of the guru's actually teach us that we can practice the Dharma wherever we are.
And so for monks and nuns and ngakpas, these kind of people, it's not so difficult to find the time to practice because they don't have other work in their lives. But for people like you, if you're a householder practitioner, you have maybe a family and a job. And to find the time to do four sessions a day is maybe difficult in the midst of those responsibilities. But two sessions a day, if you're really dedicated, you can find the time for that.
And usually the most convenient is in the morning and in the evening.
Get up a little early in the morning.
And then before you go to bed at night, do another session.
And when you do the sessions, do it really well.
And if you've done your session really well, then even after the session, actually, you will be more vigilant, attentive, mindful, careful. And this sense of the Dharma practice can be carried from the session into the rest of your daily activities in a way that is different from if you haven't done that session.
And then the power of that gradually decreases through your day and then you recharge the battery again with your second session.
And if we keep up that progression again and again and again, what happens is that we get better and better and better.
And then eventually we come to a time where even without thinking so much about it, we have a very natural habit to engage in virtue. And it continues, actually, this kind of natural inclination towards virtue.
And then eventually we come to a place where no matter what kind of difficult situation we encounter, it doesn't change our mind.
And that's when we talk about arriving at the state of realization.
And Milarepa said, realization is like space. It doesn't change.
But in order to get there, we do meditation sessions and we have to be really careful about our practice in those sessions.
For this short life, how much difficulty do we undergo? How much study do we do? How much work do we do? Just for the benefit of things within this one short life.
And we know that that's for me and therefore knowing that, we somehow feel able to bear those difficulties.
If it was for somebody else, yeah, we're probably not able to put forth so much effort.
The Dharma is also for our self.
But it's not just for one lifetime. It's for life after life after life.
If we don't cut the root of samsara, if we don't cut through its root, samsara doesn't end.
If we wanted to put into a heap the bones and flesh from the live, all of the births we have taken in samsara since the beginning, it would be bigger than Mount Meru, is what the lamas say.
And if we were to pull together the tears that we have cried from the suffering of all of our lives in samsara, it would overflow the ocean.
Right? Even in this life, think about how many tears you've cried. As kids, we cry a lot. But even when we grow up, we still cry, no? Lots of tears.
And as we get older and older, if we haven't really practiced, if we're not practitioners, we again have more and more cause to cry, just like kids. We're crying a lot, actually.
Physically, we shrink as we get older, right? And then our senses lose capacity, and then we're so emotional, right? This happens.
And then sometimes we have the feeling that all of these things that appear to us, they... like all of our experiences arise as enemies, actually. Sometimes it seems like that.
And so we think, oh, everybody's looking down on me, everybody's saying bad things about me. Even if it's not happening in our minds, sometimes we end up with that feeling, don't we? And then we cry a lot, no?
And so we've gone through that, right? For many lifetimes. We've done that. And now, this life, with this opportunity, if we don't practice, if we don't cut through the root of samsara now, then it's going to keep going, repeat, on repeat, again and again and again. If we don't cut through its root, samsara will not end.
We have to recite the twenty-one praises to Tara seven times, repeating it seven times a week. So tired, like, oh, seven times I have to repeat it?
Well, think about how many times we've been repeating this samsaric experience. Quite many more times than that. Yeah, we can see easily, like, even Tulku Yangsi, those who've been in the previous, very, like, almost like Manjushri, and then reincarnation come and has to go through Ka ka Ga nga learning.
All of us, we're all like that.
We show up empty-handed in the world.
Totally empty-handed, totally empty-handed. No money, no food, no clothes, not even a word that we can speak from our mouths. That's how we show up in this world, right? Again. And then if we don't cut the root of samsara, again, and again, and again. We show up like that. Isn't that difficult?
Wouldn't it be tiring? Isn't it tiring to just keep doing that?
So, if we practice the Dharma, then we don't have to keep repeating that process.
So, it's like a... lasting, stable, lasting food that will last for all of our lifetimes, a house that will last for all of our lifetimes, clothing for all of our lifetimes. That's what we're putting together here through practice.
So, when it comes to, like, should we put forth effort to do that, to practice in that way? Yes, definitely. Of course. Right? That's the answer. Very clearly.
So, then we have to bring our mind to the state of naturalness and really know, really be familiar. A practitioner is somebody who is able to think about what has happened in the past, what will happen in the future, and what's going on now. Being able to really think about that whole span of things. That's what a practitioner can do and does.
And somebody who's not a practitioner, it's really kind of just like an animal. What's here right now? Take it, eat it, enjoy it, and then, like, just hear in focusing, only what's going on right now.
So, if we think about what a person is, generally we say the definition of a person is somebody who can speak and understand what is said.
And so, we bring that mind into our state of naturalness, then actually everything can go quite well. But otherwise, when we don't remain in that state, then we just make so many mistakes again and again and again, don't we?
And in the text it says, Dharma practitioners make mistakes, but they know that they've made mistakes. People who are not practitioners make mistakes without even being aware that it was wrong.
So, don't think that making mistakes is always bad, yeah? You don't have to think of it that way.
And Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche said that for a practitioner, even more than positive circumstances, negative circumstances are like a sidhi, an accomplishment for us. In fact, sometimes when we have good circumstances, that becomes an obstacle for our practice. And bad circumstances actually aid in our practice. They can bring us accomplishment.
So, don't get too excited when you end up in a good circumstance, okay?
Be worried, like, okay, maybe, uh-oh, no, maybe some kind of like this, it could appear as an obstacle, a demon, yeah? Be careful, be careful.
And so, when you end up in difficult circumstances, don't get too upset or depressed about it. Think, hey, this is my accomplishment. I got some accomplishments. You should think like that.
So then, actually, you get some benefit from that, some profit. And as practitioners, we have got to find something that's profitable here for us, no?
So, if something good happens, if we're happy, we have to be able to take that, to carry that. And likewise, if we end up in a very difficult situation, we also have to be able to carry that, to take that. It's important.
In fact, for most of us, when good things happen, when we're happy, we can't deal with that. And then when bad things happen, then also we can't deal with that. And then we never get the opportunity to really have like a... you know, tashi delek, auspicious circumstances, positive auspicious circumstances kind of never happen for us.
And for a practitioner, though, that's somebody, if they're in a positive circumstance, if good things happen, they can handle it, they can take it. If bad things happen, they can take it. And that means that there's some kind of stability, some kind of mental stability, some stable aspect that comes through our practice.
So let's see. I guess our topic was really supposed to be the treasure of blessings and texts. We didn't really get to that today, so maybe we'll open it up and get into it tomorrow. The text itself, but that's okay. One thing that it's important to know, and I think most of you know this, when we talk about doing a meditation session, what's most important is not like doing the session for X number of minutes, the time. That's not what's important. What's most important is really doing the practice in a genuine way.
And if you're familiar a little bit with this kind of sādhanā and ritual practices, then it's very good to, and it's very important actually, to set out offerings for the practice. And so do that, if you know how to do that.
So if in the place where we do our meditation, we are able to place representations of the awakened body, speech, and mind, then it's really good to do that.
And when we have these images of awakened body, speech, and mind, it's very important that, like, if we have a statue, for example, that we fill the statue properly and especially that we have it consecrated by a real master. Because if a genuine master consecrates an image, let's say it's an image of the Buddha, then once it has been consecrated, actually having that statue is identical to having the Buddha present in front of us, once it's been consecrated by a truly powerful teacher.
And then that statue then becomes the samaya form.... the support for the samaya.
Sorry, the statue is the samaya being in this case, and then when the teacher consecrates it, he or she brings the wisdom beings into that samaya being, which is the image, and they mingle indivisibly and remain.
And actually just the image itself, whether it's made of wood, whether it's made of metal, whatever it's made of, that image, speaking honestly, it is never anything other than emptiness.
And so that's actually the sense when we talk about the samaya being, the samaya means to never go beyond something, and this image, no matter what it's made of, it never goes beyond the state of remaining as emptiness.
And when a genuine teacher consecrates that image, bringing in, inviting in the wisdom beings, in fact, really, truly, genuinely, that image is the Buddha, just like the Buddha walked into my house, just like that, he's right there.
And so then that image will give us a positive energy feeling.
But whether or not I receive blessings from that depends on my own trust and devotion.
In the sādhana itself, actually, this sādhanā, the Treasury of Blessings, it's mentioned whoever has trust and faith, the Buddha is present for that person and receive his blessings. They receive his blessings. It's mentioned actually in our text. And the Buddha himself said that. And the Buddha doesn't lie, right?
And when we have the trust and the confidence that this image here, that I have this statue, is the Buddha, he's really truly there, then we receive blessings through that, and then our meditation actually is improved through those blessings.
And then in front of that image, if we would like we can place the traditional seven offerings, but even if not that, whatever is beautiful, whatever we like, flowers, a lamp, something that we find beautiful and that we want to offer, if we place those offerings in front of that image, then through the practice of making those offerings we gain merit.
And it's said that someone, a person who has merit is able to accomplish his or her aims. So if someone has merit, then they're able to do what they want to accomplish.
Especially in order to be able to practice the Dharma well, we have to have merit.
So sometimes people really have an interest in doing Dharma practice, but always some kind of condition carries them away. So they really want to, but then, oh today somebody called me and I have to do this, and then tomorrow I've got this other thing that I've got to do. They have the interest, they really want to,but it seems like there's always some kind of condition that's getting in the way. What is that all about? Well, we have to have merit. In order to practice, to be able to practice, we have to have merit.
It's my experience when we have one month retreat, three month retreat. Always some people have always problem, in the middle of the retreat they have something to do for paper, government paper or something you know.
Yeah, and that kind of thing happens. It's an obstacle, right? If you're trying to practice and then something comes up. That's an obstacle. And it doesn't happen to everybody. It happens sometimes for some people. And really, when it comes to practice, to actually have the circumstances and the conditions to be able to practice, we can't do it without merit. We have to have merit.
You know, there's also sometimes some people who they get the idea, I want to do a three-year retreat. Everything comes together, boom, they did a three-year retreat. Other people spend their entire life planning to do a three-year retreat and never manage to do it the whole life. Right? It happens like that sometimes. Some problem with the parents. Need to take care parents. Then... And then suddenly parents pass away. Then something, another thing happens. Then, then slowly collapses. Their self-body starts to collapse.
So merit is really important, actually. So when you do practice like this, make offerings. It's a really good way to accumulate merit. And it's important that we do that, right? When you have the circumstance and you have the ability to make, set forth some offerings. It doesn't have to be super extensive and vast. It can be simple. And then with your mind, you imagine actually that it is extensive. You emanate, mentally emanate more offerings than you have actually set out there. But making offerings and having that kind of attitude of wanting to make offerings and making the prayer that with these offerings that my meditation will go well, that the obstacles to the meditation are cleared away,and that I will be able to have the circumstances to be able to continue to practice. This is really important, having that kind of attitude when you make offerings. And I'm not trying to, if you don't have any inclination at all ever to make an offering, I'm not trying to push and force. But if you have, sometimes it happens that you actually are inclined to do it. But then you just kind of let, you know, leave it to the side. Don't think of it as being something that's not so important and you don't do it, even though you actually do have some inclination to do it. So I'm saying if you have that inclination, really you should use it, go for it, because it's really not something to sideline. It's something that really makes a difference, accumulating merit in that way.
So merit is in this way, it's like a result, right?
And the cause that brings about the result of merit is virtue. Virtue is the cause that brings about the result, merit.
So we talk about accumulating, gathering the accumulations, accumulating merit, right? And gaining virtue. And the way that we do this actually is again and again and again repeatedly bringing to mind these kind of positive attitudes, virtuous attitudes, again and again and again cultivating that virtue. Then through that we are able actually to gather merit. And I just remembered before Lama was mentioning when we make offerings, another thing that we should pray is that we are able to gain merit and also to purify our negativities, our obscurations, and then to be able to continue to practice.
So what is the result that comes from gathering a lot of virtuous habits, gathering the habit of virtue and doing a lot of virtue? The result of that is merit.
So what is merit?
So what is the word, what is merit mean? What's it like? Khenpo Ngakchung says that merit, the word in Tibetan is sonam and here the word "so" has the sense of getting rid of, destroying. And so what is merit? It is destroying a lot of non-virtuous habits. That's one aspect of it.
And so when we have destroyed, overcome a lot of negative aspects, what happens? Then the second syllable "nam" which has the sense of this coming together of virtuous circumstances, positive things come together. So destroying the negative and bringing together the positive.
And actually that's just the nature of things. If you do a lot of virtuous actions and a lot of virtuous deeds, you accumulate a lot of virtue, then quite naturally a lot of negative things go away. That's just how it works, no?
And that's why as Nagarjuna said, by this merit may all...
by this merit may all beings gather the accumulations of merit and wisdom and may they attain the sacred two kayas that result from that merit and wisdom.
And if we understand that then it's important because then we have some sense of what is meant by gathering the accumulations and accumulating merit and why it's important and what it is. Otherwise sometimes we get tired of it. We think like, oh it just means like giving something. That's what merit is, like giving something, putting something somewhere. And then it becomes like tiresome actually if we understand it that way. Generally giving is very nice. You don't need to take care.
Like for example if I have a car and I give it to somebody else then I don't have to like take care of the car anymore, right? That's nice. So we don't have duty for cleaning, putting oil and tags, insurance, all these things and worried when we will be damaged or somebody will stool or somebody will shoot down and all.
So actually that brings us a lot of relief from worries to do that, no? So in some sense it's kind of like life release, like just releasing it and then it should be really great but we don't do that so much because we have such a strong habit to not do that. To hold on to things.
So when we have a certain amount of, a car's amount of wealth then we have a car's worth of worries, of suffering also, no? It's like that.
So actually it should be that if we just give that away we get rid of all those worries, it should be very nice but we don't have that habit, we have the habit of holding on so then we have this idea like giving it away actually is painful for us in fact. So but now we understand the marriage, produce is not really truly connected with the material.
Actually when we have things, material, we cling. It's mine. And then you already feels your responsibility. Then in all the ten directions it's like targeting, yeah? And you get suffer. So it's actually good but people not easy so but...
But if we can even just mentally offer it, we can gain merit.
All this topic came because of the altar. So it's not just tradition, it's also some kind antidote, method. So it's not useless or pointless.
So when we meditate, meditation is actually a really important activity. And so when we're doing something that's really important, it's also important that we prepare for it well.
We want to eat a tasty meal, we have to do a lot of preparation to make that happen, don't we?
So then if we're going to do a meditation session, then it's important that we also prepare for that, right? And so if you can, make these kind of preparations, setting out the offerings and so on. Okay, that's our session today.
So I'm not sure precisely what the program is for tomorrow afternoon, but presuming that we continue with this same program in the afternoon, then what I would like to do tomorrow is to read to you some of this text by Mipham Rinpoche that is kind of the supportive teachings for this sādhana. Obviously we can't read the whole thing because it's more than a thousand pages long, but maybe five or six pages, I think, would actually be really of great benefit just to read that. I don't have to explain it even because it's so clear. I think that would be very helpful, so I'd like to do some of that tomorrow afternoon. So please enjoy the seminar. I mean, some of you are also first time in Nepal, so don't do like your tourists, okay?
Then all your energy of seminar will be disappeared, so just feel you came only for seminar, not for sightseeing.
Then you can listen very well teaching from Rinpoche. It's opportunity, yeah? When you have opportunity, you need to use opportunity. Opportunity is not all the time. When we say opportunity, only sometimes, sometimes, no? So then when you go back home, you will go with happy. Otherwise you think you are first time and you go here, there, and taking pictures, photos, and then your mind is... even your body is in the teaching session, but your mind is hanged around stupa, area, and then you are not really listening well and you don't really get it exact what Rinpoche is really trying to give you, you know? He's try... Because he knows you all came from all the different corners and he know you all came also giving so many important tasks and find solution that you could come here for ten days or two weeks. And so your time limited and many of you also have financially also very limited. So you cannot come again and again also, regularly. So thereby Rinpoche trying to give all the important key points. And so key points can come any time, you know? Any time. Might Rinpoche give some time little bit like commercial teachings, he will be make joke and certainly can come important key point, you know? So thereby if your mind is always not in teaching hall or teaching session, your space out, you will gonna miss that. So thereby your mind has to be, Rinpoche mentioned, with pure motivation. And the best teaching say you listen with six pāramitā.
First make aspiration bodhicitta and then you listen with six pāramitā and then you will get everything what you see.
And since your mind is totally there, you get all instruction in your heart, not in brain. And then you have opportunity to pump up. Otherwise half listening, half here and there, you don't get teachings complete. And then you have came here with big expectation, big hope. And then it's not going to happen. And then you going with dissatisfied, dissatisfied or unhappy. So everything in your hand. What Buddha said?
The Buddha said if you want to know what you did in the past, if you want to know about your past actions, look at your present body. And if you want to know about your future circumstance, then look at your present actions. So keep that in mind. And when you are here in the teaching session, really stick to the teaching session. Don't let your mind wander around here and there. Really receive the Dharma teachings and then you will really get something out of it.
If you listen to the teachings really really genuinely very well, then listening to the teachings itself becomes practice for you actually.
And so then you are receiving the teachings and practicing, doing retreat as well.
And especially when in the presence of a genuinely realized teacher, we are receiving these kind of really profound instructions. If we are listening very carefully, there is a big chance that the wisdom, the genuine wisdom of the lineage of realization can be transferred into our own experience. That opportunity is there.
One teacher gives a single instruction to a hundred students and there are many, many, many, different experiences from the side of the students.
Right? The highest caliber of student, middle caliber, lower caliber, it's different.
Even it's the same instruction from the teacher.
And of course from the teacher's side there is zero bias when it comes to the students. None at all.
But actually from our side as the students, whether we are listening well or not, carefully or not, that actually changes, right? We put ourselves at a different level depending on how much we are paying attention.
So we really need to attend the teachings, the whole thing from the beginning to end without missing anything. And really in a genuine way listen with the appropriate preliminaries, main part and concluding part of the practice.
So we'll stop here today.
We are all students of the same teacher. In one sense, in the general sense actually, all of us are followers of the teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha. But in addition to that, in a more specific way, all of us have many times together received teachings from the same Lama, so that makes us Dharma family.
So there's no division of some of us being better and others of us worse. We're all the same.
Every morning we are reciting together the Treasury of Blessings practice.
And actually, if we really have a profound understanding of the Dharma teachings, the teachings here in this sādhanā are actually tremendously profound. The words of the text are tremendously profound.
In fact, we can think of it as something that would be suitable to be our practice for this whole life, just this.
And on the basis of just this practice, the sādhanā of Shakyamuni, it is possible to attain the state of awakening.
Sometimes for some people who are beginning practitioners who haven't studied so extensively, when they encounter this practice, sometimes they feel a little bit uncomfortable in the sense that it's kind of like worship, right? Like the Buddha, I'm down here and the Buddha is there, making offerings and prayers. And for some people, especially for beginning practitioners, sometimes that feeling can be a little bit uncomfortable. not so attraction, whatever. So... exciting... So then people aren't so excited about doing the Shakyamuni sādhanā sometimes.
This particular sādhanā for the practice of Shakyamuni, the Treasury of Blessings, was composed by Mipham Rinpoche, Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche.
And it's not that Mipham Rinpoche just kind of made it up. Actually he really brought together the intent of many sūtras so like Lalitavistāra Sūtra, Samādhirāja Sūtra, the Gandavyūha Sūtra really bringing together the heart of the intention of these sūtras and putting them together into a practice. It's only about 15 pages long actually, but a way in which the real intent of many different sūtras is brought together in a way that we can easily put it into practice.
And then as a supportive text in relation to this sādhanā, Mipham Rinpoche also wrote kind of a commentary. That's 1,200 pages long that contains the supportive instructions and sort of supportive text for this practice. It's called the White Lotus.
And that larger text by Mipham Rinpoche, there's also a sort of a text that condenses the main points of the meaning of that, composed by Khyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, that sort of condenses the main parts of this larger supportive text by Mipham Rinpoche, which again supports the practice of this sādhanā.
And really we can say that the root of the practice of the Treasurey of Blessings is the practice of samatha and vipassanā. These two.
And actually we could say that when it comes to the real core of all of the Buddhist teachings, there is nothing apart from the practice of samatha and vipassanā. 100%, we can say that for sure.
Even a single prostration, a beginning practitioner to do a single prostration, that act also involves the practice of samatha. And for somebody who has reached a higher level of experience in their practice, then for that person they can do a prostration with the practice of vipassanā.
And so actually anything that we do, cleaning the temple, making offerings, offering flowers, doing a circumambulation, any of those practices, whatever it is that we are doing, as Rinpoche said this morning, we have always to bring a pure motivation to that practice. And if we do that with a pure motivation, whatever virtuous deed we engage in, physically, verbally, mentally, whatever it is actually, if we are practicing with that kind of pure motivation and we put it into practice, we are practicing also samatha and vipassanā. There is no act actually, no practice that we could do that is outside of that framework.
A lot of Western people are not so into all of this like reciting, you know, reciting a practice and all this kind of banging and banging around and this kind of all that stuff, not so motivated by these kind of practices. But like to do meditation. That's what Westerners often like. And then Eastern practitioners, meaning Nepalese and Bhutanese and you know, people from this part of the world, tend to not be so interested in doing meditation, but they really like going on pilgrimage and doing prostrations and doing all sorts of things like that actually.
A lot of Westerners also have kind of a feeling or hesitation when it comes to the practice. If we have to recite all this stuff, we have to chant all this and we have to recite all these mantras, we don't have time to meditate. Where's the meditation time? We run out of time. We have to move around and do this and do that and recite this and chant that. Then there's no time for meditation. A lot of people actually have that kind of hesitation about practice.
And then a lot of Easterners, Eastern practitioners from the East, think of meditation as being something that's like a very high level of practice, only for somebody who has a very, very high level of practice and experience. And so then they're so humble and have a feeling that, oh, you know, I couldn't possibly even do that. And so then they don't take up those kind of practices.
So actually, one thing that's so important is that from the very beginning, we have a really good understanding of what is meant by meditation.
So in general, we can say that meditation refers to not getting distracted by other things, but keeping the mind one-pointedly attentive and focused on something. That's one way of understanding what is meant by meditation.
And the word samadhi has the sense, or we sometimes translate that as meditative concentration, has the sense of one-pointed attentiveness.
And then another way we can understand, like the master Śāntideva said, it's not about meditation, it's about getting used to something, familiarizing yourself with something.
And that is really a helpful way for us to understand meditation, actually, in the sense of getting used to something, habituating ourselves to something, creating positive habits, beginning with a state in which we're not very tamed, in which we're not very calm, but habituating ourselves, getting used to being a certain way, which creates a situation in which we become more and more tamed, more and more calm. Getting used to that, that's a way that we can understand what is meant by meditation also fits with exactly what Śāntideva said.
And also, again, any of the practices, the methods that are taught by the Buddha, we can say there is no method taught by the Buddha that is not somehow part of samatha and vipassanā.
But in short, we can say, actually, that if our motivation is pure, if we have a genuinely pure motivation, then if we're doing practices that involve a lot of chanting, a lot of recitation, a lot of movement, physical and verbal movement and activity, if we're doing it with a pure motivation, then we will end up within the practice of samatha or vipassanā in that practice. We will get there through that method. And if we are someone who is not so interested in doing all these physical and verbal things, if we don't have that kind of interest or inclination, and we're much more interested in only training in a way that focuses the mind, then also, again, as long as our motivation is pure, that will bring us to samatha or vipassanā, one or the other. So in either case, we end up in the same place.
In terms of how they appear outwardly, they may appear different. In fact, even contradictory. But in terms of where they take us, they take us to the same place.
Isn't that the case? And in fact, that's why we can say that the Buddha is so incredibly compassionate and skillful, despite the fact that beings are so different and have so many different inclinations, he taught in different ways that all lead us to the same place.
So what, then, is the definition of samatha that we find in the instruction manuals and meditation practice? What is meant by samatha? The definition is that it is to keep the mind resting one pointedly on a virtuous object. That's what is meant by samatha.
So we talk about samatha, if we were to translate that term, we might translate it as calm abiding. And in fact, that is what it means, that the mind abides or remains in a state of calm.
What keeps our mind from remaining calmly? What keeps our mind from abiding calmly? Well, it's when we are motivated by the negative emotions, and with the motivation of the negative emotions we do things physically, verbally, mentally. Then that's non-virtue, right? And what non-virtue does is that it disturbs our mind. And when our mind is disturbed, it can't abide calmly.
And the opposite of that, the remedy for that, is to keep the mind remaining one pointedly on something.
And so when we have that kind of virtuous thought, then meaning a virtuous motivation, then whatever we do, whether we are reciting something with our voice, chanting, or if we are physically doing something like a prostration, we have that kind of inspiration of a positive attitude, a positive motivation. And that inspiration then makes whatever we do virtuous. It allows us to remain within a virtuous state, focused on that virtuous state. So again, the motivation itself, having a pure motivation as the inspiration for what we do physically and verbally, can bring us into this state of calmly abiding, remaining, resting one pointedly on a virtuous object, and not getting caught up in the obstacles to that kind of practice.
When we remain in a state of calm abiding, when the mind remains calmly, then that's actually a very honest, sincere state, isn't it?
And so when our mind itself is in a state which is honest and sincere, then the judgments that we make with the mind out of that place are also going to be honest and sincere.
And that allows us to know the natural state of the way things actually are, correctly, from that place we can.
And that is vipassanā. Right?
So when our mind is very calm and at ease, we are able to very clearly and directly see whatever it is that we are directing ourselves towards. We can see it very clearly. But when our mind is really all over the place, very kind of jumping here and there and not remaining calmly, even if something is sitting right there, right in front of us, sometimes we don't even see it. Isn't that the case? So when our mind is calm, then we can see so clearly whatever it is that we direct our attention to, as opposed to the mind bouncing, jumping all over the place, and not being able to see something right in front of our own nose.
And that's why it said in the instruction manuals, if the mind remains calmly, that is if we have samatha, then we are able to see clearly. That is to say we are able to practice vipassanā.
So when it comes to vipassanā, sometimes it is described as the mind that completely or perfectly discerns phenomena. And so that then sounds often to people like a type of contemplation. And of course, in fact, we do often begin with an analytical meditation. But the analytical meditation then becomes the basis for a resting meditation. So we can apply the term correctly or fully discerning, perfectly discerning phenomena in either one of those cases. But sometimes when we hear that in terms of the definition, it makes sense. But when we come to the aspect of the way in which we train with the pith instructions, then sometimes we can feel it doesn't fit, actually.
And so that's how we do also in the Tara, the online Tara's Triple Excellence Meditation Practice. First we begin with an analytical meditation, but then the analytical meditation leads us next into a resting meditation.
And so sometimes also we begin with the progression of training in devotion. And actually guru yoga, before coming to the practice of vipassanā, it comes that way in the system of this program as well. And in that sense, when we think of it in that way, the guru yoga practice is actually a form of samatha that we engage in as a support for and before coming to the practice of vipassanā. So that's the style of the pith instructions, practicing in accordance with the pith instructions.
So then guru yoga doesn't become just some kind of nonsense. It actually has a very important point.
Because, you know, I mentioned that because also there's a lot of people who sometimes get a little tired with the guru yoga practice.
Some people say Tibetan Buddhism is not even Buddhism, it's Lamaism. There's all this guru yoga stuff, right?
But actually that practice is a form of samatha. It is precisely samatha practice, in fact.
And through that kind of faith and devotion that we cultivate in that way, then that makes the non-conceptual wisdom of vipassanā pierce us, hit us, penetrate us through the faith and devotion that we have cultivated through that practice.
So sometimes it's mentioned all of the philosophies arise as or appear as pith instructions. That's when we get to that point.
And then the realization of the Buddha and an accomplished practitioner is the same.
And so, in that way, when we make progress, then eventually that's where we end up. But whatever path we are following, whether it's the path of the Sūtra or especially in the path of Vajrayāna, when it comes to Vajrayāna, there's really no way to do it without a good guru. We have to have a guru and it has to be a good guru. It's just there is no other way in the Vajrayāna without that.
Just like Nagarjuna said, we begin remaining first in a state of discipline. We study and reflect and then put that into our experience, bring that into our experience through meditation.
And so, at the very least, in our practice, we have to begin with avoiding the ten non-virtues, to whatever extent we are able to really do it perfectly, a hundred percent. Obviously, that would be best. But we have such a strong habit of engaging in those kind of negative deeds that it's maybe difficult for us to fully and completely avoid all of the ten non-virtues all the time. But at the very least, we should acknowledge that there are things that we shouldn't do. Right, Um we should. Often, actually, we have such a habit of lying. It's one thing if it's like something that is done with a positive intention, but, or with some kind of intention. But we lie without even thinking about it. Right. So many pointless lies sometimes. And to at least sort of switch our perspective to viewing these negative things as negative and paying attention and thinking, Oh, that's something that I shouldn't do. Of course, it would be best if we could fully and completely avoid any of the ten non-virtues. But if that's too much to ask, at the very least, we have to be aware and really, as much as we possibly can, try to avoid those non-virtuous deeds.
That's not something that the Buddha just made up.
These are sort of like natural laws, actually.
And, you know, of course, maybe it's not everybody is able to do it all the time, but everybody, anybody, would rejoice in and admire someone who avoids those non-virtuous deeds, right?
And it's important that we know that, because otherwise we might think, Oh, well, this is just like the Buddha's command and therefore I have to do it just because the Buddha said there's some kind of rule or law. But it's not like that at all.
And so, whether we're, you know, this is what makes us have a life which is healthy, living in a healthy way. It depends on whether we're actually following or not following this kind of conduct.
And Rinpoche says, doesn't he, so often that we need to live moment by moment, happily and healthily? No? We do.
And so when we talk here about discipline and keeping the basis of good discipline, when we do that, if we're able to behave in a disciplined way, then it's like starting out with a clean cup. That's really important.
And so if into that clean cup of discipline we put the very pure contents of listening and contemplating and meditating, then that itself is able to remain there in a very pure and clean way, because the cup itself was clean to start with.
And if we enjoy that drink, then it's good for the body, nice for our stomach, and everything turns out very nicely, no?
And all of the benefits that they say about those things, we actually get them, no?
And so listening to the teachings is something that we must do, we must receive teachings from a spiritual teacher, from a guru, we must.
If we haven't learned anything, then we don't have anything to contemplate.
And without having listened to the teachings and contemplated them, just like Rinpoche said already this morning, we don't know how to practice. We don't know what to do.
We all have a lot of merit, and we're all incredibly fortunate.
So we have all these incredible outer conditions that make things possible for us. You came from so many different countries, far, far away, and yet many of you could make it here within five or six hours in an airplane, even though you came from quite far.
And in the past, right, from the U.S. to here, it might take years, a year, and whether you would even, you know, walking and then all these other methods of getting here, and whether you would even actually make it or not was questionable, no? In the past.
And in fact, in the past, you didn't even know where to find a teacher, right? Like, where would you even go? how could you... Even just to find a teacher would be so difficult, actually, if you think about it.
These days, you just... and then you can find out everything you need to know.
So that actually is a function of our merit.
And we should know that that is merit, that is our merit.
And so when we acknowledge our own merit, and we're able to rejoice in that, it's very important. Because it gives us a feeling of really being alive, actually. Without that, if we don't have that kind of awareness, then yeah, maybe we just kind of feel like, what difference between me and a corpse? No.
And when we acknowledge the merit that we have to have these positive circumstances, conducive circumstances for practicing, when we have appreciation for that fact, that inspires us to practice. We feel a sense of joy and confidence and encouragement, actually, to practice the Dharma, when we can acknowledge that.
And then when we practice meditation, yeah, we feel somehow different. There is some change in our experience through practicing with that kind of attitude.
And when we really have the feeling, wow, what an amazing opportunity to be able to practice meditation, then that changes the quality of our meditation, right? The meditation itself becomes somehow different through that.
And then our mind, actually, when we have that kind of inspiration and courage, that changes our own experience.
And when we think about it like that, then actually we do have some hope of being able to improve.
And if we don't have that kind of situation, then what happens from the beginning to our... we start the session, then the session ends, and then we didn't really change. Nothing really happened, yeah?
And then tomorrow we do another session, and again we don't change.
And then we don't make any improvement, we don't change, we don't change, and then we're not getting anywhere, actually, in our practice.
And when it comes to attaining Buddhahood, actually we have to gradually improve in order to eventually arrive at the state of awakening, no? That's the only way.
And especially in the Vajrayanā we talk about attaining awakening in this life, in this very body, right?
And so if we're not making any improvements within a year or two of practice, then the idea of Buddhahood in one lifetime becomes kind of difficult, no?
And I really think, and this is like what Rinpoche also has said, the problem is not that we haven't received the instructions. It's not that we lack the instructions. That is not our problem.
And so, actually when we receive these kind of pith instructions, it's important that we realize how precious it is. We should really think to ourselves, you know, like, I am so fortunate. I met a teacher like this. I got these kind of instructions. This is really amazing. These are really precious. And when we regard the teachings that we have as being that precious, then we don't want to waste them. And we won't waste them. And then we will practice. And then when we practice with that kind of inspiration and confidence, then we change.
And in the best case scenario, we should be practicing all day long and all night long. That's best.
But for beginning practitioners, that's a little bit difficult.
And that's why for beginners, meditation sessions are really important.
And in the best case scenario, we would be doing six sessions every day. That's like a great practitioner who's doing that.
Then, like, the second best would be to do four sessions every day.
Then third best, two sessions a day.
And the fourth best, one session, one session every day.
And then the worst would be like, we're not doing any.
And so for the online Tara program, we have two sessions each day. That's how we've made the program.
Doing four sessions a day is difficult unless one is in a retreat setting.
And all of the guru's actually teach us that we can practice the Dharma wherever we are.
And so for monks and nuns and ngakpas, these kind of people, it's not so difficult to find the time to practice because they don't have other work in their lives. But for people like you, if you're a householder practitioner, you have maybe a family and a job. And to find the time to do four sessions a day is maybe difficult in the midst of those responsibilities. But two sessions a day, if you're really dedicated, you can find the time for that.
And usually the most convenient is in the morning and in the evening.
Get up a little early in the morning.
And then before you go to bed at night, do another session.
And when you do the sessions, do it really well.
And if you've done your session really well, then even after the session, actually, you will be more vigilant, attentive, mindful, careful. And this sense of the Dharma practice can be carried from the session into the rest of your daily activities in a way that is different from if you haven't done that session.
And then the power of that gradually decreases through your day and then you recharge the battery again with your second session.
And if we keep up that progression again and again and again, what happens is that we get better and better and better.
And then eventually we come to a time where even without thinking so much about it, we have a very natural habit to engage in virtue. And it continues, actually, this kind of natural inclination towards virtue.
And then eventually we come to a place where no matter what kind of difficult situation we encounter, it doesn't change our mind.
And that's when we talk about arriving at the state of realization.
And Milarepa said, realization is like space. It doesn't change.
But in order to get there, we do meditation sessions and we have to be really careful about our practice in those sessions.
For this short life, how much difficulty do we undergo? How much study do we do? How much work do we do? Just for the benefit of things within this one short life.
And we know that that's for me and therefore knowing that, we somehow feel able to bear those difficulties.
If it was for somebody else, yeah, we're probably not able to put forth so much effort.
The Dharma is also for our self.
But it's not just for one lifetime. It's for life after life after life.
If we don't cut the root of samsara, if we don't cut through its root, samsara doesn't end.
If we wanted to put into a heap the bones and flesh from the live, all of the births we have taken in samsara since the beginning, it would be bigger than Mount Meru, is what the lamas say.
And if we were to pull together the tears that we have cried from the suffering of all of our lives in samsara, it would overflow the ocean.
Right? Even in this life, think about how many tears you've cried. As kids, we cry a lot. But even when we grow up, we still cry, no? Lots of tears.
And as we get older and older, if we haven't really practiced, if we're not practitioners, we again have more and more cause to cry, just like kids. We're crying a lot, actually.
Physically, we shrink as we get older, right? And then our senses lose capacity, and then we're so emotional, right? This happens.
And then sometimes we have the feeling that all of these things that appear to us, they... like all of our experiences arise as enemies, actually. Sometimes it seems like that.
And so we think, oh, everybody's looking down on me, everybody's saying bad things about me. Even if it's not happening in our minds, sometimes we end up with that feeling, don't we? And then we cry a lot, no?
And so we've gone through that, right? For many lifetimes. We've done that. And now, this life, with this opportunity, if we don't practice, if we don't cut through the root of samsara now, then it's going to keep going, repeat, on repeat, again and again and again. If we don't cut through its root, samsara will not end.
We have to recite the twenty-one praises to Tara seven times, repeating it seven times a week. So tired, like, oh, seven times I have to repeat it?
Well, think about how many times we've been repeating this samsaric experience. Quite many more times than that. Yeah, we can see easily, like, even Tulku Yangsi, those who've been in the previous, very, like, almost like Manjushri, and then reincarnation come and has to go through Ka ka Ga nga learning.
All of us, we're all like that.
We show up empty-handed in the world.
Totally empty-handed, totally empty-handed. No money, no food, no clothes, not even a word that we can speak from our mouths. That's how we show up in this world, right? Again. And then if we don't cut the root of samsara, again, and again, and again. We show up like that. Isn't that difficult?
Wouldn't it be tiring? Isn't it tiring to just keep doing that?
So, if we practice the Dharma, then we don't have to keep repeating that process.
So, it's like a... lasting, stable, lasting food that will last for all of our lifetimes, a house that will last for all of our lifetimes, clothing for all of our lifetimes. That's what we're putting together here through practice.
So, when it comes to, like, should we put forth effort to do that, to practice in that way? Yes, definitely. Of course. Right? That's the answer. Very clearly.
So, then we have to bring our mind to the state of naturalness and really know, really be familiar. A practitioner is somebody who is able to think about what has happened in the past, what will happen in the future, and what's going on now. Being able to really think about that whole span of things. That's what a practitioner can do and does.
And somebody who's not a practitioner, it's really kind of just like an animal. What's here right now? Take it, eat it, enjoy it, and then, like, just hear in focusing, only what's going on right now.
So, if we think about what a person is, generally we say the definition of a person is somebody who can speak and understand what is said.
And so, we bring that mind into our state of naturalness, then actually everything can go quite well. But otherwise, when we don't remain in that state, then we just make so many mistakes again and again and again, don't we?
And in the text it says, Dharma practitioners make mistakes, but they know that they've made mistakes. People who are not practitioners make mistakes without even being aware that it was wrong.
So, don't think that making mistakes is always bad, yeah? You don't have to think of it that way.
And Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche said that for a practitioner, even more than positive circumstances, negative circumstances are like a sidhi, an accomplishment for us. In fact, sometimes when we have good circumstances, that becomes an obstacle for our practice. And bad circumstances actually aid in our practice. They can bring us accomplishment.
So, don't get too excited when you end up in a good circumstance, okay?
Be worried, like, okay, maybe, uh-oh, no, maybe some kind of like this, it could appear as an obstacle, a demon, yeah? Be careful, be careful.
And so, when you end up in difficult circumstances, don't get too upset or depressed about it. Think, hey, this is my accomplishment. I got some accomplishments. You should think like that.
So then, actually, you get some benefit from that, some profit. And as practitioners, we have got to find something that's profitable here for us, no?
So, if something good happens, if we're happy, we have to be able to take that, to carry that. And likewise, if we end up in a very difficult situation, we also have to be able to carry that, to take that. It's important.
In fact, for most of us, when good things happen, when we're happy, we can't deal with that. And then when bad things happen, then also we can't deal with that. And then we never get the opportunity to really have like a... you know, tashi delek, auspicious circumstances, positive auspicious circumstances kind of never happen for us.
And for a practitioner, though, that's somebody, if they're in a positive circumstance, if good things happen, they can handle it, they can take it. If bad things happen, they can take it. And that means that there's some kind of stability, some kind of mental stability, some stable aspect that comes through our practice.
So let's see. I guess our topic was really supposed to be the treasure of blessings and texts. We didn't really get to that today, so maybe we'll open it up and get into it tomorrow. The text itself, but that's okay. One thing that it's important to know, and I think most of you know this, when we talk about doing a meditation session, what's most important is not like doing the session for X number of minutes, the time. That's not what's important. What's most important is really doing the practice in a genuine way.
And if you're familiar a little bit with this kind of sādhanā and ritual practices, then it's very good to, and it's very important actually, to set out offerings for the practice. And so do that, if you know how to do that.
So if in the place where we do our meditation, we are able to place representations of the awakened body, speech, and mind, then it's really good to do that.
And when we have these images of awakened body, speech, and mind, it's very important that, like, if we have a statue, for example, that we fill the statue properly and especially that we have it consecrated by a real master. Because if a genuine master consecrates an image, let's say it's an image of the Buddha, then once it has been consecrated, actually having that statue is identical to having the Buddha present in front of us, once it's been consecrated by a truly powerful teacher.
And then that statue then becomes the samaya form.... the support for the samaya.
Sorry, the statue is the samaya being in this case, and then when the teacher consecrates it, he or she brings the wisdom beings into that samaya being, which is the image, and they mingle indivisibly and remain.
And actually just the image itself, whether it's made of wood, whether it's made of metal, whatever it's made of, that image, speaking honestly, it is never anything other than emptiness.
And so that's actually the sense when we talk about the samaya being, the samaya means to never go beyond something, and this image, no matter what it's made of, it never goes beyond the state of remaining as emptiness.
And when a genuine teacher consecrates that image, bringing in, inviting in the wisdom beings, in fact, really, truly, genuinely, that image is the Buddha, just like the Buddha walked into my house, just like that, he's right there.
And so then that image will give us a positive energy feeling.
But whether or not I receive blessings from that depends on my own trust and devotion.
In the sādhana itself, actually, this sādhanā, the Treasury of Blessings, it's mentioned whoever has trust and faith, the Buddha is present for that person and receive his blessings. They receive his blessings. It's mentioned actually in our text. And the Buddha himself said that. And the Buddha doesn't lie, right?
And when we have the trust and the confidence that this image here, that I have this statue, is the Buddha, he's really truly there, then we receive blessings through that, and then our meditation actually is improved through those blessings.
And then in front of that image, if we would like we can place the traditional seven offerings, but even if not that, whatever is beautiful, whatever we like, flowers, a lamp, something that we find beautiful and that we want to offer, if we place those offerings in front of that image, then through the practice of making those offerings we gain merit.
And it's said that someone, a person who has merit is able to accomplish his or her aims. So if someone has merit, then they're able to do what they want to accomplish.
Especially in order to be able to practice the Dharma well, we have to have merit.
So sometimes people really have an interest in doing Dharma practice, but always some kind of condition carries them away. So they really want to, but then, oh today somebody called me and I have to do this, and then tomorrow I've got this other thing that I've got to do. They have the interest, they really want to,but it seems like there's always some kind of condition that's getting in the way. What is that all about? Well, we have to have merit. In order to practice, to be able to practice, we have to have merit.
It's my experience when we have one month retreat, three month retreat. Always some people have always problem, in the middle of the retreat they have something to do for paper, government paper or something you know.
Yeah, and that kind of thing happens. It's an obstacle, right? If you're trying to practice and then something comes up. That's an obstacle. And it doesn't happen to everybody. It happens sometimes for some people. And really, when it comes to practice, to actually have the circumstances and the conditions to be able to practice, we can't do it without merit. We have to have merit.
You know, there's also sometimes some people who they get the idea, I want to do a three-year retreat. Everything comes together, boom, they did a three-year retreat. Other people spend their entire life planning to do a three-year retreat and never manage to do it the whole life. Right? It happens like that sometimes. Some problem with the parents. Need to take care parents. Then... And then suddenly parents pass away. Then something, another thing happens. Then, then slowly collapses. Their self-body starts to collapse.
So merit is really important, actually. So when you do practice like this, make offerings. It's a really good way to accumulate merit. And it's important that we do that, right? When you have the circumstance and you have the ability to make, set forth some offerings. It doesn't have to be super extensive and vast. It can be simple. And then with your mind, you imagine actually that it is extensive. You emanate, mentally emanate more offerings than you have actually set out there. But making offerings and having that kind of attitude of wanting to make offerings and making the prayer that with these offerings that my meditation will go well, that the obstacles to the meditation are cleared away,and that I will be able to have the circumstances to be able to continue to practice. This is really important, having that kind of attitude when you make offerings. And I'm not trying to, if you don't have any inclination at all ever to make an offering, I'm not trying to push and force. But if you have, sometimes it happens that you actually are inclined to do it. But then you just kind of let, you know, leave it to the side. Don't think of it as being something that's not so important and you don't do it, even though you actually do have some inclination to do it. So I'm saying if you have that inclination, really you should use it, go for it, because it's really not something to sideline. It's something that really makes a difference, accumulating merit in that way.
So merit is in this way, it's like a result, right?
And the cause that brings about the result of merit is virtue. Virtue is the cause that brings about the result, merit.
So we talk about accumulating, gathering the accumulations, accumulating merit, right? And gaining virtue. And the way that we do this actually is again and again and again repeatedly bringing to mind these kind of positive attitudes, virtuous attitudes, again and again and again cultivating that virtue. Then through that we are able actually to gather merit. And I just remembered before Lama was mentioning when we make offerings, another thing that we should pray is that we are able to gain merit and also to purify our negativities, our obscurations, and then to be able to continue to practice.
So what is the result that comes from gathering a lot of virtuous habits, gathering the habit of virtue and doing a lot of virtue? The result of that is merit.
So what is merit?
So what is the word, what is merit mean? What's it like? Khenpo Ngakchung says that merit, the word in Tibetan is sonam and here the word "so" has the sense of getting rid of, destroying. And so what is merit? It is destroying a lot of non-virtuous habits. That's one aspect of it.
And so when we have destroyed, overcome a lot of negative aspects, what happens? Then the second syllable "nam" which has the sense of this coming together of virtuous circumstances, positive things come together. So destroying the negative and bringing together the positive.
And actually that's just the nature of things. If you do a lot of virtuous actions and a lot of virtuous deeds, you accumulate a lot of virtue, then quite naturally a lot of negative things go away. That's just how it works, no?
And that's why as Nagarjuna said, by this merit may all...
by this merit may all beings gather the accumulations of merit and wisdom and may they attain the sacred two kayas that result from that merit and wisdom.
And if we understand that then it's important because then we have some sense of what is meant by gathering the accumulations and accumulating merit and why it's important and what it is. Otherwise sometimes we get tired of it. We think like, oh it just means like giving something. That's what merit is, like giving something, putting something somewhere. And then it becomes like tiresome actually if we understand it that way. Generally giving is very nice. You don't need to take care.
Like for example if I have a car and I give it to somebody else then I don't have to like take care of the car anymore, right? That's nice. So we don't have duty for cleaning, putting oil and tags, insurance, all these things and worried when we will be damaged or somebody will stool or somebody will shoot down and all.
So actually that brings us a lot of relief from worries to do that, no? So in some sense it's kind of like life release, like just releasing it and then it should be really great but we don't do that so much because we have such a strong habit to not do that. To hold on to things.
So when we have a certain amount of, a car's amount of wealth then we have a car's worth of worries, of suffering also, no? It's like that.
So actually it should be that if we just give that away we get rid of all those worries, it should be very nice but we don't have that habit, we have the habit of holding on so then we have this idea like giving it away actually is painful for us in fact. So but now we understand the marriage, produce is not really truly connected with the material.
Actually when we have things, material, we cling. It's mine. And then you already feels your responsibility. Then in all the ten directions it's like targeting, yeah? And you get suffer. So it's actually good but people not easy so but...
But if we can even just mentally offer it, we can gain merit.
All this topic came because of the altar. So it's not just tradition, it's also some kind antidote, method. So it's not useless or pointless.
So when we meditate, meditation is actually a really important activity. And so when we're doing something that's really important, it's also important that we prepare for it well.
We want to eat a tasty meal, we have to do a lot of preparation to make that happen, don't we?
So then if we're going to do a meditation session, then it's important that we also prepare for that, right? And so if you can, make these kind of preparations, setting out the offerings and so on. Okay, that's our session today.
So I'm not sure precisely what the program is for tomorrow afternoon, but presuming that we continue with this same program in the afternoon, then what I would like to do tomorrow is to read to you some of this text by Mipham Rinpoche that is kind of the supportive teachings for this sādhana. Obviously we can't read the whole thing because it's more than a thousand pages long, but maybe five or six pages, I think, would actually be really of great benefit just to read that. I don't have to explain it even because it's so clear. I think that would be very helpful, so I'd like to do some of that tomorrow afternoon. So please enjoy the seminar. I mean, some of you are also first time in Nepal, so don't do like your tourists, okay?
Then all your energy of seminar will be disappeared, so just feel you came only for seminar, not for sightseeing.
Then you can listen very well teaching from Rinpoche. It's opportunity, yeah? When you have opportunity, you need to use opportunity. Opportunity is not all the time. When we say opportunity, only sometimes, sometimes, no? So then when you go back home, you will go with happy. Otherwise you think you are first time and you go here, there, and taking pictures, photos, and then your mind is... even your body is in the teaching session, but your mind is hanged around stupa, area, and then you are not really listening well and you don't really get it exact what Rinpoche is really trying to give you, you know? He's try... Because he knows you all came from all the different corners and he know you all came also giving so many important tasks and find solution that you could come here for ten days or two weeks. And so your time limited and many of you also have financially also very limited. So you cannot come again and again also, regularly. So thereby Rinpoche trying to give all the important key points. And so key points can come any time, you know? Any time. Might Rinpoche give some time little bit like commercial teachings, he will be make joke and certainly can come important key point, you know? So thereby if your mind is always not in teaching hall or teaching session, your space out, you will gonna miss that. So thereby your mind has to be, Rinpoche mentioned, with pure motivation. And the best teaching say you listen with six pāramitā.
First make aspiration bodhicitta and then you listen with six pāramitā and then you will get everything what you see.
And since your mind is totally there, you get all instruction in your heart, not in brain. And then you have opportunity to pump up. Otherwise half listening, half here and there, you don't get teachings complete. And then you have came here with big expectation, big hope. And then it's not going to happen. And then you going with dissatisfied, dissatisfied or unhappy. So everything in your hand. What Buddha said?
The Buddha said if you want to know what you did in the past, if you want to know about your past actions, look at your present body. And if you want to know about your future circumstance, then look at your present actions. So keep that in mind. And when you are here in the teaching session, really stick to the teaching session. Don't let your mind wander around here and there. Really receive the Dharma teachings and then you will really get something out of it.
If you listen to the teachings really really genuinely very well, then listening to the teachings itself becomes practice for you actually.
And so then you are receiving the teachings and practicing, doing retreat as well.
And especially when in the presence of a genuinely realized teacher, we are receiving these kind of really profound instructions. If we are listening very carefully, there is a big chance that the wisdom, the genuine wisdom of the lineage of realization can be transferred into our own experience. That opportunity is there.
One teacher gives a single instruction to a hundred students and there are many, many, many, different experiences from the side of the students.
Right? The highest caliber of student, middle caliber, lower caliber, it's different.
Even it's the same instruction from the teacher.
And of course from the teacher's side there is zero bias when it comes to the students. None at all.
But actually from our side as the students, whether we are listening well or not, carefully or not, that actually changes, right? We put ourselves at a different level depending on how much we are paying attention.
So we really need to attend the teachings, the whole thing from the beginning to end without missing anything. And really in a genuine way listen with the appropriate preliminaries, main part and concluding part of the practice.
So we'll stop here today.
01:32:02
Well, Rinpoche gave a command, so I
have no choice but to give a teaching.
We are all students of the same teacher. In one sense, in the general sense actually, all of us are followers of the teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha. But in addition to that, in a more specific way, all of us have many times together received teachings from the same Lama, so that makes us Dharma family.
So there's no division of some of us being better and others of us worse. We're all the same.
Every morning we are reciting together the Treasury of Blessings practice.
And actually, if we really have a profound understanding of the Dharma teachings, the teachings here in this sādhanā are actually tremendously profound. The words of the text are tremendously profound.
In fact, we can think of it as something that would be suitable to be our practice for this whole life, just this.
And on the basis of just this practice, the sādhanā of Shakyamuni, it is possible to attain the state of awakening.
Sometimes for some people who are beginning practitioners who haven't studied so extensively, when they encounter this practice, sometimes they feel a little bit uncomfortable in the sense that it's kind of like worship, right? Like the Buddha, I'm down here and the Buddha is there, making offerings and prayers. And for some people, especially for beginning practitioners, sometimes that feeling can be a little bit uncomfortable. not so attraction, whatever. So... exciting... So then people aren't so excited about doing the Shakyamuni sādhanā sometimes.
This particular sādhanā for the practice of Shakyamuni, the Treasury of Blessings, was composed by Mipham Rinpoche, Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche.
And it's not that Mipham Rinpoche just kind of made it up. Actually he really brought together the intent of many sūtras so like Lalitavistāra Sūtra, Samādhirāja Sūtra, the Gandavyūha Sūtra really bringing together the heart of the intention of these sūtras and putting them together into a practice. It's only about 15 pages long actually, but a way in which the real intent of many different sūtras is brought together in a way that we can easily put it into practice.
And then as a supportive text in relation to this sādhanā, Mipham Rinpoche also wrote kind of a commentary. That's 1,200 pages long that contains the supportive instructions and sort of supportive text for this practice. It's called the White Lotus.
And that larger text by Mipham Rinpoche, there's also a sort of a text that condenses the main points of the meaning of that, composed by Khyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, that sort of condenses the main parts of this larger supportive text by Mipham Rinpoche, which again supports the practice of this sādhanā.
And really we can say that the root of the practice of the Treasurey of Blessings is the practice of samatha and vipassanā. These two.
And actually we could say that when it comes to the real core of all of the Buddhist teachings, there is nothing apart from the practice of samatha and vipassanā. 100%, we can say that for sure.
Even a single prostration, a beginning practitioner to do a single prostration, that act also involves the practice of samatha. And for somebody who has reached a higher level of experience in their practice, then for that person they can do a prostration with the practice of vipassanā.
And so actually anything that we do, cleaning the temple, making offerings, offering flowers, doing a circumambulation, any of those practices, whatever it is that we are doing, as Rinpoche said this morning, we have always to bring a pure motivation to that practice. And if we do that with a pure motivation, whatever virtuous deed we engage in, physically, verbally, mentally, whatever it is actually, if we are practicing with that kind of pure motivation and we put it into practice, we are practicing also samatha and vipassanā. There is no act actually, no practice that we could do that is outside of that framework.
A lot of Western people are not so into all of this like reciting, you know, reciting a practice and all this kind of banging and banging around and this kind of all that stuff, not so motivated by these kind of practices. But like to do meditation. That's what Westerners often like. And then Eastern practitioners, meaning Nepalese and Bhutanese and you know, people from this part of the world, tend to not be so interested in doing meditation, but they really like going on pilgrimage and doing prostrations and doing all sorts of things like that actually.
A lot of Westerners also have kind of a feeling or hesitation when it comes to the practice. If we have to recite all this stuff, we have to chant all this and we have to recite all these mantras, we don't have time to meditate. Where's the meditation time? We run out of time. We have to move around and do this and do that and recite this and chant that. Then there's no time for meditation. A lot of people actually have that kind of hesitation about practice.
And then a lot of Easterners, Eastern practitioners from the East, think of meditation as being something that's like a very high level of practice, only for somebody who has a very, very high level of practice and experience. And so then they're so humble and have a feeling that, oh, you know, I couldn't possibly even do that. And so then they don't take up those kind of practices.
So actually, one thing that's so important is that from the very beginning, we have a really good understanding of what is meant by meditation.
So in general, we can say that meditation refers to not getting distracted by other things, but keeping the mind one-pointedly attentive and focused on something. That's one way of understanding what is meant by meditation.
And the word samadhi has the sense, or we sometimes translate that as meditative concentration, has the sense of one-pointed attentiveness.
And then another way we can understand, like the master Śāntideva said, it's not about meditation, it's about getting used to something, familiarizing yourself with something.
And that is really a helpful way for us to understand meditation, actually, in the sense of getting used to something, habituating ourselves to something, creating positive habits, beginning with a state in which we're not very tamed, in which we're not very calm, but habituating ourselves, getting used to being a certain way, which creates a situation in which we become more and more tamed, more and more calm. Getting used to that, that's a way that we can understand what is meant by meditation also fits with exactly what Śāntideva said.
And also, again, any of the practices, the methods that are taught by the Buddha, we can say there is no method taught by the Buddha that is not somehow part of samatha and vipassanā.
But in short, we can say, actually, that if our motivation is pure, if we have a genuinely pure motivation, then if we're doing practices that involve a lot of chanting, a lot of recitation, a lot of movement, physical and verbal movement and activity, if we're doing it with a pure motivation, then we will end up within the practice of samatha or vipassanā in that practice. We will get there through that method. And if we are someone who is not so interested in doing all these physical and verbal things, if we don't have that kind of interest or inclination, and we're much more interested in only training in a way that focuses the mind, then also, again, as long as our motivation is pure, that will bring us to samatha or vipassanā, one or the other. So in either case, we end up in the same place.
In terms of how they appear outwardly, they may appear different. In fact, even contradictory. But in terms of where they take us, they take us to the same place.
Isn't that the case? And in fact, that's why we can say that the Buddha is so incredibly compassionate and skillful, despite the fact that beings are so different and have so many different inclinations, he taught in different ways that all lead us to the same place.
So what, then, is the definition of samatha that we find in the instruction manuals and meditation practice? What is meant by samatha? The definition is that it is to keep the mind resting one pointedly on a virtuous object. That's what is meant by samatha.
So we talk about samatha, if we were to translate that term, we might translate it as calm abiding. And in fact, that is what it means, that the mind abides or remains in a state of calm.
What keeps our mind from remaining calmly? What keeps our mind from abiding calmly? Well, it's when we are motivated by the negative emotions, and with the motivation of the negative emotions we do things physically, verbally, mentally. Then that's non-virtue, right? And what non-virtue does is that it disturbs our mind. And when our mind is disturbed, it can't abide calmly.
And the opposite of that, the remedy for that, is to keep the mind remaining one pointedly on something.
And so when we have that kind of virtuous thought, then meaning a virtuous motivation, then whatever we do, whether we are reciting something with our voice, chanting, or if we are physically doing something like a prostration, we have that kind of inspiration of a positive attitude, a positive motivation. And that inspiration then makes whatever we do virtuous. It allows us to remain within a virtuous state, focused on that virtuous state. So again, the motivation itself, having a pure motivation as the inspiration for what we do physically and verbally, can bring us into this state of calmly abiding, remaining, resting one pointedly on a virtuous object, and not getting caught up in the obstacles to that kind of practice.
When we remain in a state of calm abiding, when the mind remains calmly, then that's actually a very honest, sincere state, isn't it?
And so when our mind itself is in a state which is honest and sincere, then the judgments that we make with the mind out of that place are also going to be honest and sincere.
And that allows us to know the natural state of the way things actually are, correctly, from that place we can.
And that is vipassanā. Right?
So when our mind is very calm and at ease, we are able to very clearly and directly see whatever it is that we are directing ourselves towards. We can see it very clearly. But when our mind is really all over the place, very kind of jumping here and there and not remaining calmly, even if something is sitting right there, right in front of us, sometimes we don't even see it. Isn't that the case? So when our mind is calm, then we can see so clearly whatever it is that we direct our attention to, as opposed to the mind bouncing, jumping all over the place, and not being able to see something right in front of our own nose.
And that's why it said in the instruction manuals, if the mind remains calmly, that is if we have samatha, then we are able to see clearly. That is to say we are able to practice vipassanā.
So when it comes to vipassanā, sometimes it is described as the mind that completely or perfectly discerns phenomena. And so that then sounds often to people like a type of contemplation. And of course, in fact, we do often begin with an analytical meditation. But the analytical meditation then becomes the basis for a resting meditation. So we can apply the term correctly or fully discerning, perfectly discerning phenomena in either one of those cases. But sometimes when we hear that in terms of the definition, it makes sense. But when we come to the aspect of the way in which we train with the pith instructions, then sometimes we can feel it doesn't fit, actually.
And so that's how we do also in the Tara, the online Tara's Triple Excellence Meditation Practice. First we begin with an analytical meditation, but then the analytical meditation leads us next into a resting meditation.
And so sometimes also we begin with the progression of training in devotion. And actually guru yoga, before coming to the practice of vipassanā, it comes that way in the system of this program as well. And in that sense, when we think of it in that way, the guru yoga practice is actually a form of samatha that we engage in as a support for and before coming to the practice of vipassanā. So that's the style of the pith instructions, practicing in accordance with the pith instructions.
So then guru yoga doesn't become just some kind of nonsense. It actually has a very important point.
Because, you know, I mentioned that because also there's a lot of people who sometimes get a little tired with the guru yoga practice.
Some people say Tibetan Buddhism is not even Buddhism, it's Lamaism. There's all this guru yoga stuff, right?
But actually that practice is a form of samatha. It is precisely samatha practice, in fact.
And through that kind of faith and devotion that we cultivate in that way, then that makes the non-conceptual wisdom of vipassanā pierce us, hit us, penetrate us through the faith and devotion that we have cultivated through that practice.
So sometimes it's mentioned all of the philosophies arise as or appear as pith instructions. That's when we get to that point.
And then the realization of the Buddha and an accomplished practitioner is the same.
And so, in that way, when we make progress, then eventually that's where we end up. But whatever path we are following, whether it's the path of the Sūtra or especially in the path of Vajrayāna, when it comes to Vajrayāna, there's really no way to do it without a good guru. We have to have a guru and it has to be a good guru. It's just there is no other way in the Vajrayāna without that.
Just like Nagarjuna said, we begin remaining first in a state of discipline. We study and reflect and then put that into our experience, bring that into our experience through meditation.
And so, at the very least, in our practice, we have to begin with avoiding the ten non-virtues, to whatever extent we are able to really do it perfectly, a hundred percent. Obviously, that would be best. But we have such a strong habit of engaging in those kind of negative deeds that it's maybe difficult for us to fully and completely avoid all of the ten non-virtues all the time. But at the very least, we should acknowledge that there are things that we shouldn't do. Right, Um we should. Often, actually, we have such a habit of lying. It's one thing if it's like something that is done with a positive intention, but, or with some kind of intention. But we lie without even thinking about it. Right. So many pointless lies sometimes. And to at least sort of switch our perspective to viewing these negative things as negative and paying attention and thinking, Oh, that's something that I shouldn't do. Of course, it would be best if we could fully and completely avoid any of the ten non-virtues. But if that's too much to ask, at the very least, we have to be aware and really, as much as we possibly can, try to avoid those non-virtuous deeds.
That's not something that the Buddha just made up.
These are sort of like natural laws, actually.
And, you know, of course, maybe it's not everybody is able to do it all the time, but everybody, anybody, would rejoice in and admire someone who avoids those non-virtuous deeds, right?
And it's important that we know that, because otherwise we might think, Oh, well, this is just like the Buddha's command and therefore I have to do it just because the Buddha said there's some kind of rule or law. But it's not like that at all.
And so, whether we're, you know, this is what makes us have a life which is healthy, living in a healthy way. It depends on whether we're actually following or not following this kind of conduct.
And Rinpoche says, doesn't he, so often that we need to live moment by moment, happily and healthily? No? We do.
And so when we talk here about discipline and keeping the basis of good discipline, when we do that, if we're able to behave in a disciplined way, then it's like starting out with a clean cup. That's really important.
And so if into that clean cup of discipline we put the very pure contents of listening and contemplating and meditating, then that itself is able to remain there in a very pure and clean way, because the cup itself was clean to start with.
And if we enjoy that drink, then it's good for the body, nice for our stomach, and everything turns out very nicely, no?
And all of the benefits that they say about those things, we actually get them, no?
And so listening to the teachings is something that we must do, we must receive teachings from a spiritual teacher, from a guru, we must.
If we haven't learned anything, then we don't have anything to contemplate.
And without having listened to the teachings and contemplated them, just like Rinpoche said already this morning, we don't know how to practice. We don't know what to do.
We all have a lot of merit, and we're all incredibly fortunate.
So we have all these incredible outer conditions that make things possible for us. You came from so many different countries, far, far away, and yet many of you could make it here within five or six hours in an airplane, even though you came from quite far.
And in the past, right, from the U.S. to here, it might take years, a year, and whether you would even, you know, walking and then all these other methods of getting here, and whether you would even actually make it or not was questionable, no? In the past.
And in fact, in the past, you didn't even know where to find a teacher, right? Like, where would you even go? how could you... Even just to find a teacher would be so difficult, actually, if you think about it.
These days, you just... and then you can find out everything you need to know.
So that actually is a function of our merit.
And we should know that that is merit, that is our merit.
And so when we acknowledge our own merit, and we're able to rejoice in that, it's very important. Because it gives us a feeling of really being alive, actually. Without that, if we don't have that kind of awareness, then yeah, maybe we just kind of feel like, what difference between me and a corpse? No.
And when we acknowledge the merit that we have to have these positive circumstances, conducive circumstances for practicing, when we have appreciation for that fact, that inspires us to practice. We feel a sense of joy and confidence and encouragement, actually, to practice the Dharma, when we can acknowledge that.
And then when we practice meditation, yeah, we feel somehow different. There is some change in our experience through practicing with that kind of attitude.
And when we really have the feeling, wow, what an amazing opportunity to be able to practice meditation, then that changes the quality of our meditation, right? The meditation itself becomes somehow different through that.
And then our mind, actually, when we have that kind of inspiration and courage, that changes our own experience.
And when we think about it like that, then actually we do have some hope of being able to improve.
And if we don't have that kind of situation, then what happens from the beginning to our... we start the session, then the session ends, and then we didn't really change. Nothing really happened, yeah?
And then tomorrow we do another session, and again we don't change.
And then we don't make any improvement, we don't change, we don't change, and then we're not getting anywhere, actually, in our practice.
And when it comes to attaining Buddhahood, actually we have to gradually improve in order to eventually arrive at the state of awakening, no? That's the only way.
And especially in the Vajrayanā we talk about attaining awakening in this life, in this very body, right?
And so if we're not making any improvements within a year or two of practice, then the idea of Buddhahood in one lifetime becomes kind of difficult, no?
And I really think, and this is like what Rinpoche also has said, the problem is not that we haven't received the instructions. It's not that we lack the instructions. That is not our problem.
And so, actually when we receive these kind of pith instructions, it's important that we realize how precious it is. We should really think to ourselves, you know, like, I am so fortunate. I met a teacher like this. I got these kind of instructions. This is really amazing. These are really precious. And when we regard the teachings that we have as being that precious, then we don't want to waste them. And we won't waste them. And then we will practice. And then when we practice with that kind of inspiration and confidence, then we change.
And in the best case scenario, we should be practicing all day long and all night long. That's best.
But for beginning practitioners, that's a little bit difficult.
And that's why for beginners, meditation sessions are really important.
And in the best case scenario, we would be doing six sessions every day. That's like a great practitioner who's doing that.
Then, like, the second best would be to do four sessions every day.
Then third best, two sessions a day.
And the fourth best, one session, one session every day.
And then the worst would be like, we're not doing any.
And so for the online Tara program, we have two sessions each day. That's how we've made the program.
Doing four sessions a day is difficult unless one is in a retreat setting.
And all of the guru's actually teach us that we can practice the Dharma wherever we are.
And so for monks and nuns and ngakpas, these kind of people, it's not so difficult to find the time to practice because they don't have other work in their lives. But for people like you, if you're a householder practitioner, you have maybe a family and a job. And to find the time to do four sessions a day is maybe difficult in the midst of those responsibilities. But two sessions a day, if you're really dedicated, you can find the time for that.
And usually the most convenient is in the morning and in the evening.
Get up a little early in the morning.
And then before you go to bed at night, do another session.
And when you do the sessions, do it really well.
And if you've done your session really well, then even after the session, actually, you will be more vigilant, attentive, mindful, careful. And this sense of the Dharma practice can be carried from the session into the rest of your daily activities in a way that is different from if you haven't done that session.
And then the power of that gradually decreases through your day and then you recharge the battery again with your second session.
And if we keep up that progression again and again and again, what happens is that we get better and better and better.
And then eventually we come to a time where even without thinking so much about it, we have a very natural habit to engage in virtue. And it continues, actually, this kind of natural inclination towards virtue.
And then eventually we come to a place where no matter what kind of difficult situation we encounter, it doesn't change our mind.
And that's when we talk about arriving at the state of realization.
And Milarepa said, realization is like space. It doesn't change.
But in order to get there, we do meditation sessions and we have to be really careful about our practice in those sessions.
For this short life, how much difficulty do we undergo? How much study do we do? How much work do we do? Just for the benefit of things within this one short life.
And we know that that's for me and therefore knowing that, we somehow feel able to bear those difficulties.
If it was for somebody else, yeah, we're probably not able to put forth so much effort.
The Dharma is also for our self.
But it's not just for one lifetime. It's for life after life after life.
If we don't cut the root of samsara, if we don't cut through its root, samsara doesn't end.
If we wanted to put into a heap the bones and flesh from the live, all of the births we have taken in samsara since the beginning, it would be bigger than Mount Meru, is what the lamas say.
And if we were to pull together the tears that we have cried from the suffering of all of our lives in samsara, it would overflow the ocean.
Right? Even in this life, think about how many tears you've cried. As kids, we cry a lot. But even when we grow up, we still cry, no? Lots of tears.
And as we get older and older, if we haven't really practiced, if we're not practitioners, we again have more and more cause to cry, just like kids. We're crying a lot, actually.
Physically, we shrink as we get older, right? And then our senses lose capacity, and then we're so emotional, right? This happens.
And then sometimes we have the feeling that all of these things that appear to us, they... like all of our experiences arise as enemies, actually. Sometimes it seems like that.
And so we think, oh, everybody's looking down on me, everybody's saying bad things about me. Even if it's not happening in our minds, sometimes we end up with that feeling, don't we? And then we cry a lot, no?
And so we've gone through that, right? For many lifetimes. We've done that. And now, this life, with this opportunity, if we don't practice, if we don't cut through the root of samsara now, then it's going to keep going, repeat, on repeat, again and again and again. If we don't cut through its root, samsara will not end.
We have to recite the twenty-one praises to Tara seven times, repeating it seven times a week. So tired, like, oh, seven times I have to repeat it?
Well, think about how many times we've been repeating this samsaric experience. Quite many more times than that. Yeah, we can see easily, like, even Tulku Yangsi, those who've been in the previous, very, like, almost like Manjushri, and then reincarnation come and has to go through Ka ka Ga nga learning.
All of us, we're all like that.
We show up empty-handed in the world.
Totally empty-handed, totally empty-handed. No money, no food, no clothes, not even a word that we can speak from our mouths. That's how we show up in this world, right? Again. And then if we don't cut the root of samsara, again, and again, and again. We show up like that. Isn't that difficult?
Wouldn't it be tiring? Isn't it tiring to just keep doing that?
So, if we practice the Dharma, then we don't have to keep repeating that process.
So, it's like a... lasting, stable, lasting food that will last for all of our lifetimes, a house that will last for all of our lifetimes, clothing for all of our lifetimes. That's what we're putting together here through practice.
So, when it comes to, like, should we put forth effort to do that, to practice in that way? Yes, definitely. Of course. Right? That's the answer. Very clearly.
So, then we have to bring our mind to the state of naturalness and really know, really be familiar. A practitioner is somebody who is able to think about what has happened in the past, what will happen in the future, and what's going on now. Being able to really think about that whole span of things. That's what a practitioner can do and does.
And somebody who's not a practitioner, it's really kind of just like an animal. What's here right now? Take it, eat it, enjoy it, and then, like, just hear in focusing, only what's going on right now.
So, if we think about what a person is, generally we say the definition of a person is somebody who can speak and understand what is said.
And so, we bring that mind into our state of naturalness, then actually everything can go quite well. But otherwise, when we don't remain in that state, then we just make so many mistakes again and again and again, don't we?
And in the text it says, Dharma practitioners make mistakes, but they know that they've made mistakes. People who are not practitioners make mistakes without even being aware that it was wrong.
So, don't think that making mistakes is always bad, yeah? You don't have to think of it that way.
And Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche said that for a practitioner, even more than positive circumstances, negative circumstances are like a sidhi, an accomplishment for us. In fact, sometimes when we have good circumstances, that becomes an obstacle for our practice. And bad circumstances actually aid in our practice. They can bring us accomplishment.
So, don't get too excited when you end up in a good circumstance, okay?
Be worried, like, okay, maybe, uh-oh, no, maybe some kind of like this, it could appear as an obstacle, a demon, yeah? Be careful, be careful.
And so, when you end up in difficult circumstances, don't get too upset or depressed about it. Think, hey, this is my accomplishment. I got some accomplishments. You should think like that.
So then, actually, you get some benefit from that, some profit. And as practitioners, we have got to find something that's profitable here for us, no?
So, if something good happens, if we're happy, we have to be able to take that, to carry that. And likewise, if we end up in a very difficult situation, we also have to be able to carry that, to take that. It's important.
In fact, for most of us, when good things happen, when we're happy, we can't deal with that. And then when bad things happen, then also we can't deal with that. And then we never get the opportunity to really have like a... you know, tashi delek, auspicious circumstances, positive auspicious circumstances kind of never happen for us.
And for a practitioner, though, that's somebody, if they're in a positive circumstance, if good things happen, they can handle it, they can take it. If bad things happen, they can take it. And that means that there's some kind of stability, some kind of mental stability, some stable aspect that comes through our practice.
So let's see. I guess our topic was really supposed to be the treasure of blessings and texts. We didn't really get to that today, so maybe we'll open it up and get into it tomorrow. The text itself, but that's okay. One thing that it's important to know, and I think most of you know this, when we talk about doing a meditation session, what's most important is not like doing the session for X number of minutes, the time. That's not what's important. What's most important is really doing the practice in a genuine way.
And if you're familiar a little bit with this kind of sādhanā and ritual practices, then it's very good to, and it's very important actually, to set out offerings for the practice. And so do that, if you know how to do that.
So if in the place where we do our meditation, we are able to place representations of the awakened body, speech, and mind, then it's really good to do that.
And when we have these images of awakened body, speech, and mind, it's very important that, like, if we have a statue, for example, that we fill the statue properly and especially that we have it consecrated by a real master. Because if a genuine master consecrates an image, let's say it's an image of the Buddha, then once it has been consecrated, actually having that statue is identical to having the Buddha present in front of us, once it's been consecrated by a truly powerful teacher.
And then that statue then becomes the samaya form.... the support for the samaya.
Sorry, the statue is the samaya being in this case, and then when the teacher consecrates it, he or she brings the wisdom beings into that samaya being, which is the image, and they mingle indivisibly and remain.
And actually just the image itself, whether it's made of wood, whether it's made of metal, whatever it's made of, that image, speaking honestly, it is never anything other than emptiness.
And so that's actually the sense when we talk about the samaya being, the samaya means to never go beyond something, and this image, no matter what it's made of, it never goes beyond the state of remaining as emptiness.
And when a genuine teacher consecrates that image, bringing in, inviting in the wisdom beings, in fact, really, truly, genuinely, that image is the Buddha, just like the Buddha walked into my house, just like that, he's right there.
And so then that image will give us a positive energy feeling.
But whether or not I receive blessings from that depends on my own trust and devotion.
In the sādhana itself, actually, this sādhanā, the Treasury of Blessings, it's mentioned whoever has trust and faith, the Buddha is present for that person and receive his blessings. They receive his blessings. It's mentioned actually in our text. And the Buddha himself said that. And the Buddha doesn't lie, right?
And when we have the trust and the confidence that this image here, that I have this statue, is the Buddha, he's really truly there, then we receive blessings through that, and then our meditation actually is improved through those blessings.
And then in front of that image, if we would like we can place the traditional seven offerings, but even if not that, whatever is beautiful, whatever we like, flowers, a lamp, something that we find beautiful and that we want to offer, if we place those offerings in front of that image, then through the practice of making those offerings we gain merit.
And it's said that someone, a person who has merit is able to accomplish his or her aims. So if someone has merit, then they're able to do what they want to accomplish.
Especially in order to be able to practice the Dharma well, we have to have merit.
So sometimes people really have an interest in doing Dharma practice, but always some kind of condition carries them away. So they really want to, but then, oh today somebody called me and I have to do this, and then tomorrow I've got this other thing that I've got to do. They have the interest, they really want to,but it seems like there's always some kind of condition that's getting in the way. What is that all about? Well, we have to have merit. In order to practice, to be able to practice, we have to have merit.
It's my experience when we have one month retreat, three month retreat. Always some people have always problem, in the middle of the retreat they have something to do for paper, government paper or something you know.
Yeah, and that kind of thing happens. It's an obstacle, right? If you're trying to practice and then something comes up. That's an obstacle. And it doesn't happen to everybody. It happens sometimes for some people. And really, when it comes to practice, to actually have the circumstances and the conditions to be able to practice, we can't do it without merit. We have to have merit.
You know, there's also sometimes some people who they get the idea, I want to do a three-year retreat. Everything comes together, boom, they did a three-year retreat. Other people spend their entire life planning to do a three-year retreat and never manage to do it the whole life. Right? It happens like that sometimes. Some problem with the parents. Need to take care parents. Then... And then suddenly parents pass away. Then something, another thing happens. Then, then slowly collapses. Their self-body starts to collapse.
So merit is really important, actually. So when you do practice like this, make offerings. It's a really good way to accumulate merit. And it's important that we do that, right? When you have the circumstance and you have the ability to make, set forth some offerings. It doesn't have to be super extensive and vast. It can be simple. And then with your mind, you imagine actually that it is extensive. You emanate, mentally emanate more offerings than you have actually set out there. But making offerings and having that kind of attitude of wanting to make offerings and making the prayer that with these offerings that my meditation will go well, that the obstacles to the meditation are cleared away,and that I will be able to have the circumstances to be able to continue to practice. This is really important, having that kind of attitude when you make offerings. And I'm not trying to, if you don't have any inclination at all ever to make an offering, I'm not trying to push and force. But if you have, sometimes it happens that you actually are inclined to do it. But then you just kind of let, you know, leave it to the side. Don't think of it as being something that's not so important and you don't do it, even though you actually do have some inclination to do it. So I'm saying if you have that inclination, really you should use it, go for it, because it's really not something to sideline. It's something that really makes a difference, accumulating merit in that way.
So merit is in this way, it's like a result, right?
And the cause that brings about the result of merit is virtue. Virtue is the cause that brings about the result, merit.
So we talk about accumulating, gathering the accumulations, accumulating merit, right? And gaining virtue. And the way that we do this actually is again and again and again repeatedly bringing to mind these kind of positive attitudes, virtuous attitudes, again and again and again cultivating that virtue. Then through that we are able actually to gather merit. And I just remembered before Lama was mentioning when we make offerings, another thing that we should pray is that we are able to gain merit and also to purify our negativities, our obscurations, and then to be able to continue to practice.
So what is the result that comes from gathering a lot of virtuous habits, gathering the habit of virtue and doing a lot of virtue? The result of that is merit.
So what is merit?
So what is the word, what is merit mean? What's it like? Khenpo Ngakchung says that merit, the word in Tibetan is sonam and here the word "so" has the sense of getting rid of, destroying. And so what is merit? It is destroying a lot of non-virtuous habits. That's one aspect of it.
And so when we have destroyed, overcome a lot of negative aspects, what happens? Then the second syllable "nam" which has the sense of this coming together of virtuous circumstances, positive things come together. So destroying the negative and bringing together the positive.
And actually that's just the nature of things. If you do a lot of virtuous actions and a lot of virtuous deeds, you accumulate a lot of virtue, then quite naturally a lot of negative things go away. That's just how it works, no?
And that's why as Nagarjuna said, by this merit may all...
by this merit may all beings gather the accumulations of merit and wisdom and may they attain the sacred two kayas that result from that merit and wisdom.
And if we understand that then it's important because then we have some sense of what is meant by gathering the accumulations and accumulating merit and why it's important and what it is. Otherwise sometimes we get tired of it. We think like, oh it just means like giving something. That's what merit is, like giving something, putting something somewhere. And then it becomes like tiresome actually if we understand it that way. Generally giving is very nice. You don't need to take care.
Like for example if I have a car and I give it to somebody else then I don't have to like take care of the car anymore, right? That's nice. So we don't have duty for cleaning, putting oil and tags, insurance, all these things and worried when we will be damaged or somebody will stool or somebody will shoot down and all.
So actually that brings us a lot of relief from worries to do that, no? So in some sense it's kind of like life release, like just releasing it and then it should be really great but we don't do that so much because we have such a strong habit to not do that. To hold on to things.
So when we have a certain amount of, a car's amount of wealth then we have a car's worth of worries, of suffering also, no? It's like that.
So actually it should be that if we just give that away we get rid of all those worries, it should be very nice but we don't have that habit, we have the habit of holding on so then we have this idea like giving it away actually is painful for us in fact. So but now we understand the marriage, produce is not really truly connected with the material.
Actually when we have things, material, we cling. It's mine. And then you already feels your responsibility. Then in all the ten directions it's like targeting, yeah? And you get suffer. So it's actually good but people not easy so but...
But if we can even just mentally offer it, we can gain merit.
All this topic came because of the altar. So it's not just tradition, it's also some kind antidote, method. So it's not useless or pointless.
So when we meditate, meditation is actually a really important activity. And so when we're doing something that's really important, it's also important that we prepare for it well.
We want to eat a tasty meal, we have to do a lot of preparation to make that happen, don't we?
So then if we're going to do a meditation session, then it's important that we also prepare for that, right? And so if you can, make these kind of preparations, setting out the offerings and so on. Okay, that's our session today.
So I'm not sure precisely what the program is for tomorrow afternoon, but presuming that we continue with this same program in the afternoon, then what I would like to do tomorrow is to read to you some of this text by Mipham Rinpoche that is kind of the supportive teachings for this sādhana. Obviously we can't read the whole thing because it's more than a thousand pages long, but maybe five or six pages, I think, would actually be really of great benefit just to read that. I don't have to explain it even because it's so clear. I think that would be very helpful, so I'd like to do some of that tomorrow afternoon. So please enjoy the seminar. I mean, some of you are also first time in Nepal, so don't do like your tourists, okay?
Then all your energy of seminar will be disappeared, so just feel you came only for seminar, not for sightseeing.
Then you can listen very well teaching from Rinpoche. It's opportunity, yeah? When you have opportunity, you need to use opportunity. Opportunity is not all the time. When we say opportunity, only sometimes, sometimes, no? So then when you go back home, you will go with happy. Otherwise you think you are first time and you go here, there, and taking pictures, photos, and then your mind is... even your body is in the teaching session, but your mind is hanged around stupa, area, and then you are not really listening well and you don't really get it exact what Rinpoche is really trying to give you, you know? He's try... Because he knows you all came from all the different corners and he know you all came also giving so many important tasks and find solution that you could come here for ten days or two weeks. And so your time limited and many of you also have financially also very limited. So you cannot come again and again also, regularly. So thereby Rinpoche trying to give all the important key points. And so key points can come any time, you know? Any time. Might Rinpoche give some time little bit like commercial teachings, he will be make joke and certainly can come important key point, you know? So thereby if your mind is always not in teaching hall or teaching session, your space out, you will gonna miss that. So thereby your mind has to be, Rinpoche mentioned, with pure motivation. And the best teaching say you listen with six pāramitā.
First make aspiration bodhicitta and then you listen with six pāramitā and then you will get everything what you see.
And since your mind is totally there, you get all instruction in your heart, not in brain. And then you have opportunity to pump up. Otherwise half listening, half here and there, you don't get teachings complete. And then you have came here with big expectation, big hope. And then it's not going to happen. And then you going with dissatisfied, dissatisfied or unhappy. So everything in your hand. What Buddha said?
The Buddha said if you want to know what you did in the past, if you want to know about your past actions, look at your present body. And if you want to know about your future circumstance, then look at your present actions. So keep that in mind. And when you are here in the teaching session, really stick to the teaching session. Don't let your mind wander around here and there. Really receive the Dharma teachings and then you will really get something out of it.
If you listen to the teachings really really genuinely very well, then listening to the teachings itself becomes practice for you actually.
And so then you are receiving the teachings and practicing, doing retreat as well.
And especially when in the presence of a genuinely realized teacher, we are receiving these kind of really profound instructions. If we are listening very carefully, there is a big chance that the wisdom, the genuine wisdom of the lineage of realization can be transferred into our own experience. That opportunity is there.
One teacher gives a single instruction to a hundred students and there are many, many, many, different experiences from the side of the students.
Right? The highest caliber of student, middle caliber, lower caliber, it's different.
Even it's the same instruction from the teacher.
And of course from the teacher's side there is zero bias when it comes to the students. None at all.
But actually from our side as the students, whether we are listening well or not, carefully or not, that actually changes, right? We put ourselves at a different level depending on how much we are paying attention.
So we really need to attend the teachings, the whole thing from the beginning to end without missing anything. And really in a genuine way listen with the appropriate preliminaries, main part and concluding part of the practice.
So we'll stop here today.
We are all students of the same teacher. In one sense, in the general sense actually, all of us are followers of the teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha. But in addition to that, in a more specific way, all of us have many times together received teachings from the same Lama, so that makes us Dharma family.
So there's no division of some of us being better and others of us worse. We're all the same.
Every morning we are reciting together the Treasury of Blessings practice.
And actually, if we really have a profound understanding of the Dharma teachings, the teachings here in this sādhanā are actually tremendously profound. The words of the text are tremendously profound.
In fact, we can think of it as something that would be suitable to be our practice for this whole life, just this.
And on the basis of just this practice, the sādhanā of Shakyamuni, it is possible to attain the state of awakening.
Sometimes for some people who are beginning practitioners who haven't studied so extensively, when they encounter this practice, sometimes they feel a little bit uncomfortable in the sense that it's kind of like worship, right? Like the Buddha, I'm down here and the Buddha is there, making offerings and prayers. And for some people, especially for beginning practitioners, sometimes that feeling can be a little bit uncomfortable. not so attraction, whatever. So... exciting... So then people aren't so excited about doing the Shakyamuni sādhanā sometimes.
This particular sādhanā for the practice of Shakyamuni, the Treasury of Blessings, was composed by Mipham Rinpoche, Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche.
And it's not that Mipham Rinpoche just kind of made it up. Actually he really brought together the intent of many sūtras so like Lalitavistāra Sūtra, Samādhirāja Sūtra, the Gandavyūha Sūtra really bringing together the heart of the intention of these sūtras and putting them together into a practice. It's only about 15 pages long actually, but a way in which the real intent of many different sūtras is brought together in a way that we can easily put it into practice.
And then as a supportive text in relation to this sādhanā, Mipham Rinpoche also wrote kind of a commentary. That's 1,200 pages long that contains the supportive instructions and sort of supportive text for this practice. It's called the White Lotus.
And that larger text by Mipham Rinpoche, there's also a sort of a text that condenses the main points of the meaning of that, composed by Khyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, that sort of condenses the main parts of this larger supportive text by Mipham Rinpoche, which again supports the practice of this sādhanā.
And really we can say that the root of the practice of the Treasurey of Blessings is the practice of samatha and vipassanā. These two.
And actually we could say that when it comes to the real core of all of the Buddhist teachings, there is nothing apart from the practice of samatha and vipassanā. 100%, we can say that for sure.
Even a single prostration, a beginning practitioner to do a single prostration, that act also involves the practice of samatha. And for somebody who has reached a higher level of experience in their practice, then for that person they can do a prostration with the practice of vipassanā.
And so actually anything that we do, cleaning the temple, making offerings, offering flowers, doing a circumambulation, any of those practices, whatever it is that we are doing, as Rinpoche said this morning, we have always to bring a pure motivation to that practice. And if we do that with a pure motivation, whatever virtuous deed we engage in, physically, verbally, mentally, whatever it is actually, if we are practicing with that kind of pure motivation and we put it into practice, we are practicing also samatha and vipassanā. There is no act actually, no practice that we could do that is outside of that framework.
A lot of Western people are not so into all of this like reciting, you know, reciting a practice and all this kind of banging and banging around and this kind of all that stuff, not so motivated by these kind of practices. But like to do meditation. That's what Westerners often like. And then Eastern practitioners, meaning Nepalese and Bhutanese and you know, people from this part of the world, tend to not be so interested in doing meditation, but they really like going on pilgrimage and doing prostrations and doing all sorts of things like that actually.
A lot of Westerners also have kind of a feeling or hesitation when it comes to the practice. If we have to recite all this stuff, we have to chant all this and we have to recite all these mantras, we don't have time to meditate. Where's the meditation time? We run out of time. We have to move around and do this and do that and recite this and chant that. Then there's no time for meditation. A lot of people actually have that kind of hesitation about practice.
And then a lot of Easterners, Eastern practitioners from the East, think of meditation as being something that's like a very high level of practice, only for somebody who has a very, very high level of practice and experience. And so then they're so humble and have a feeling that, oh, you know, I couldn't possibly even do that. And so then they don't take up those kind of practices.
So actually, one thing that's so important is that from the very beginning, we have a really good understanding of what is meant by meditation.
So in general, we can say that meditation refers to not getting distracted by other things, but keeping the mind one-pointedly attentive and focused on something. That's one way of understanding what is meant by meditation.
And the word samadhi has the sense, or we sometimes translate that as meditative concentration, has the sense of one-pointed attentiveness.
And then another way we can understand, like the master Śāntideva said, it's not about meditation, it's about getting used to something, familiarizing yourself with something.
And that is really a helpful way for us to understand meditation, actually, in the sense of getting used to something, habituating ourselves to something, creating positive habits, beginning with a state in which we're not very tamed, in which we're not very calm, but habituating ourselves, getting used to being a certain way, which creates a situation in which we become more and more tamed, more and more calm. Getting used to that, that's a way that we can understand what is meant by meditation also fits with exactly what Śāntideva said.
And also, again, any of the practices, the methods that are taught by the Buddha, we can say there is no method taught by the Buddha that is not somehow part of samatha and vipassanā.
But in short, we can say, actually, that if our motivation is pure, if we have a genuinely pure motivation, then if we're doing practices that involve a lot of chanting, a lot of recitation, a lot of movement, physical and verbal movement and activity, if we're doing it with a pure motivation, then we will end up within the practice of samatha or vipassanā in that practice. We will get there through that method. And if we are someone who is not so interested in doing all these physical and verbal things, if we don't have that kind of interest or inclination, and we're much more interested in only training in a way that focuses the mind, then also, again, as long as our motivation is pure, that will bring us to samatha or vipassanā, one or the other. So in either case, we end up in the same place.
In terms of how they appear outwardly, they may appear different. In fact, even contradictory. But in terms of where they take us, they take us to the same place.
Isn't that the case? And in fact, that's why we can say that the Buddha is so incredibly compassionate and skillful, despite the fact that beings are so different and have so many different inclinations, he taught in different ways that all lead us to the same place.
So what, then, is the definition of samatha that we find in the instruction manuals and meditation practice? What is meant by samatha? The definition is that it is to keep the mind resting one pointedly on a virtuous object. That's what is meant by samatha.
So we talk about samatha, if we were to translate that term, we might translate it as calm abiding. And in fact, that is what it means, that the mind abides or remains in a state of calm.
What keeps our mind from remaining calmly? What keeps our mind from abiding calmly? Well, it's when we are motivated by the negative emotions, and with the motivation of the negative emotions we do things physically, verbally, mentally. Then that's non-virtue, right? And what non-virtue does is that it disturbs our mind. And when our mind is disturbed, it can't abide calmly.
And the opposite of that, the remedy for that, is to keep the mind remaining one pointedly on something.
And so when we have that kind of virtuous thought, then meaning a virtuous motivation, then whatever we do, whether we are reciting something with our voice, chanting, or if we are physically doing something like a prostration, we have that kind of inspiration of a positive attitude, a positive motivation. And that inspiration then makes whatever we do virtuous. It allows us to remain within a virtuous state, focused on that virtuous state. So again, the motivation itself, having a pure motivation as the inspiration for what we do physically and verbally, can bring us into this state of calmly abiding, remaining, resting one pointedly on a virtuous object, and not getting caught up in the obstacles to that kind of practice.
When we remain in a state of calm abiding, when the mind remains calmly, then that's actually a very honest, sincere state, isn't it?
And so when our mind itself is in a state which is honest and sincere, then the judgments that we make with the mind out of that place are also going to be honest and sincere.
And that allows us to know the natural state of the way things actually are, correctly, from that place we can.
And that is vipassanā. Right?
So when our mind is very calm and at ease, we are able to very clearly and directly see whatever it is that we are directing ourselves towards. We can see it very clearly. But when our mind is really all over the place, very kind of jumping here and there and not remaining calmly, even if something is sitting right there, right in front of us, sometimes we don't even see it. Isn't that the case? So when our mind is calm, then we can see so clearly whatever it is that we direct our attention to, as opposed to the mind bouncing, jumping all over the place, and not being able to see something right in front of our own nose.
And that's why it said in the instruction manuals, if the mind remains calmly, that is if we have samatha, then we are able to see clearly. That is to say we are able to practice vipassanā.
So when it comes to vipassanā, sometimes it is described as the mind that completely or perfectly discerns phenomena. And so that then sounds often to people like a type of contemplation. And of course, in fact, we do often begin with an analytical meditation. But the analytical meditation then becomes the basis for a resting meditation. So we can apply the term correctly or fully discerning, perfectly discerning phenomena in either one of those cases. But sometimes when we hear that in terms of the definition, it makes sense. But when we come to the aspect of the way in which we train with the pith instructions, then sometimes we can feel it doesn't fit, actually.
And so that's how we do also in the Tara, the online Tara's Triple Excellence Meditation Practice. First we begin with an analytical meditation, but then the analytical meditation leads us next into a resting meditation.
And so sometimes also we begin with the progression of training in devotion. And actually guru yoga, before coming to the practice of vipassanā, it comes that way in the system of this program as well. And in that sense, when we think of it in that way, the guru yoga practice is actually a form of samatha that we engage in as a support for and before coming to the practice of vipassanā. So that's the style of the pith instructions, practicing in accordance with the pith instructions.
So then guru yoga doesn't become just some kind of nonsense. It actually has a very important point.
Because, you know, I mentioned that because also there's a lot of people who sometimes get a little tired with the guru yoga practice.
Some people say Tibetan Buddhism is not even Buddhism, it's Lamaism. There's all this guru yoga stuff, right?
But actually that practice is a form of samatha. It is precisely samatha practice, in fact.
And through that kind of faith and devotion that we cultivate in that way, then that makes the non-conceptual wisdom of vipassanā pierce us, hit us, penetrate us through the faith and devotion that we have cultivated through that practice.
So sometimes it's mentioned all of the philosophies arise as or appear as pith instructions. That's when we get to that point.
And then the realization of the Buddha and an accomplished practitioner is the same.
And so, in that way, when we make progress, then eventually that's where we end up. But whatever path we are following, whether it's the path of the Sūtra or especially in the path of Vajrayāna, when it comes to Vajrayāna, there's really no way to do it without a good guru. We have to have a guru and it has to be a good guru. It's just there is no other way in the Vajrayāna without that.
Just like Nagarjuna said, we begin remaining first in a state of discipline. We study and reflect and then put that into our experience, bring that into our experience through meditation.
And so, at the very least, in our practice, we have to begin with avoiding the ten non-virtues, to whatever extent we are able to really do it perfectly, a hundred percent. Obviously, that would be best. But we have such a strong habit of engaging in those kind of negative deeds that it's maybe difficult for us to fully and completely avoid all of the ten non-virtues all the time. But at the very least, we should acknowledge that there are things that we shouldn't do. Right, Um we should. Often, actually, we have such a habit of lying. It's one thing if it's like something that is done with a positive intention, but, or with some kind of intention. But we lie without even thinking about it. Right. So many pointless lies sometimes. And to at least sort of switch our perspective to viewing these negative things as negative and paying attention and thinking, Oh, that's something that I shouldn't do. Of course, it would be best if we could fully and completely avoid any of the ten non-virtues. But if that's too much to ask, at the very least, we have to be aware and really, as much as we possibly can, try to avoid those non-virtuous deeds.
That's not something that the Buddha just made up.
These are sort of like natural laws, actually.
And, you know, of course, maybe it's not everybody is able to do it all the time, but everybody, anybody, would rejoice in and admire someone who avoids those non-virtuous deeds, right?
And it's important that we know that, because otherwise we might think, Oh, well, this is just like the Buddha's command and therefore I have to do it just because the Buddha said there's some kind of rule or law. But it's not like that at all.
And so, whether we're, you know, this is what makes us have a life which is healthy, living in a healthy way. It depends on whether we're actually following or not following this kind of conduct.
And Rinpoche says, doesn't he, so often that we need to live moment by moment, happily and healthily? No? We do.
And so when we talk here about discipline and keeping the basis of good discipline, when we do that, if we're able to behave in a disciplined way, then it's like starting out with a clean cup. That's really important.
And so if into that clean cup of discipline we put the very pure contents of listening and contemplating and meditating, then that itself is able to remain there in a very pure and clean way, because the cup itself was clean to start with.
And if we enjoy that drink, then it's good for the body, nice for our stomach, and everything turns out very nicely, no?
And all of the benefits that they say about those things, we actually get them, no?
And so listening to the teachings is something that we must do, we must receive teachings from a spiritual teacher, from a guru, we must.
If we haven't learned anything, then we don't have anything to contemplate.
And without having listened to the teachings and contemplated them, just like Rinpoche said already this morning, we don't know how to practice. We don't know what to do.
We all have a lot of merit, and we're all incredibly fortunate.
So we have all these incredible outer conditions that make things possible for us. You came from so many different countries, far, far away, and yet many of you could make it here within five or six hours in an airplane, even though you came from quite far.
And in the past, right, from the U.S. to here, it might take years, a year, and whether you would even, you know, walking and then all these other methods of getting here, and whether you would even actually make it or not was questionable, no? In the past.
And in fact, in the past, you didn't even know where to find a teacher, right? Like, where would you even go? how could you... Even just to find a teacher would be so difficult, actually, if you think about it.
These days, you just... and then you can find out everything you need to know.
So that actually is a function of our merit.
And we should know that that is merit, that is our merit.
And so when we acknowledge our own merit, and we're able to rejoice in that, it's very important. Because it gives us a feeling of really being alive, actually. Without that, if we don't have that kind of awareness, then yeah, maybe we just kind of feel like, what difference between me and a corpse? No.
And when we acknowledge the merit that we have to have these positive circumstances, conducive circumstances for practicing, when we have appreciation for that fact, that inspires us to practice. We feel a sense of joy and confidence and encouragement, actually, to practice the Dharma, when we can acknowledge that.
And then when we practice meditation, yeah, we feel somehow different. There is some change in our experience through practicing with that kind of attitude.
And when we really have the feeling, wow, what an amazing opportunity to be able to practice meditation, then that changes the quality of our meditation, right? The meditation itself becomes somehow different through that.
And then our mind, actually, when we have that kind of inspiration and courage, that changes our own experience.
And when we think about it like that, then actually we do have some hope of being able to improve.
And if we don't have that kind of situation, then what happens from the beginning to our... we start the session, then the session ends, and then we didn't really change. Nothing really happened, yeah?
And then tomorrow we do another session, and again we don't change.
And then we don't make any improvement, we don't change, we don't change, and then we're not getting anywhere, actually, in our practice.
And when it comes to attaining Buddhahood, actually we have to gradually improve in order to eventually arrive at the state of awakening, no? That's the only way.
And especially in the Vajrayanā we talk about attaining awakening in this life, in this very body, right?
And so if we're not making any improvements within a year or two of practice, then the idea of Buddhahood in one lifetime becomes kind of difficult, no?
And I really think, and this is like what Rinpoche also has said, the problem is not that we haven't received the instructions. It's not that we lack the instructions. That is not our problem.
And so, actually when we receive these kind of pith instructions, it's important that we realize how precious it is. We should really think to ourselves, you know, like, I am so fortunate. I met a teacher like this. I got these kind of instructions. This is really amazing. These are really precious. And when we regard the teachings that we have as being that precious, then we don't want to waste them. And we won't waste them. And then we will practice. And then when we practice with that kind of inspiration and confidence, then we change.
And in the best case scenario, we should be practicing all day long and all night long. That's best.
But for beginning practitioners, that's a little bit difficult.
And that's why for beginners, meditation sessions are really important.
And in the best case scenario, we would be doing six sessions every day. That's like a great practitioner who's doing that.
Then, like, the second best would be to do four sessions every day.
Then third best, two sessions a day.
And the fourth best, one session, one session every day.
And then the worst would be like, we're not doing any.
And so for the online Tara program, we have two sessions each day. That's how we've made the program.
Doing four sessions a day is difficult unless one is in a retreat setting.
And all of the guru's actually teach us that we can practice the Dharma wherever we are.
And so for monks and nuns and ngakpas, these kind of people, it's not so difficult to find the time to practice because they don't have other work in their lives. But for people like you, if you're a householder practitioner, you have maybe a family and a job. And to find the time to do four sessions a day is maybe difficult in the midst of those responsibilities. But two sessions a day, if you're really dedicated, you can find the time for that.
And usually the most convenient is in the morning and in the evening.
Get up a little early in the morning.
And then before you go to bed at night, do another session.
And when you do the sessions, do it really well.
And if you've done your session really well, then even after the session, actually, you will be more vigilant, attentive, mindful, careful. And this sense of the Dharma practice can be carried from the session into the rest of your daily activities in a way that is different from if you haven't done that session.
And then the power of that gradually decreases through your day and then you recharge the battery again with your second session.
And if we keep up that progression again and again and again, what happens is that we get better and better and better.
And then eventually we come to a time where even without thinking so much about it, we have a very natural habit to engage in virtue. And it continues, actually, this kind of natural inclination towards virtue.
And then eventually we come to a place where no matter what kind of difficult situation we encounter, it doesn't change our mind.
And that's when we talk about arriving at the state of realization.
And Milarepa said, realization is like space. It doesn't change.
But in order to get there, we do meditation sessions and we have to be really careful about our practice in those sessions.
For this short life, how much difficulty do we undergo? How much study do we do? How much work do we do? Just for the benefit of things within this one short life.
And we know that that's for me and therefore knowing that, we somehow feel able to bear those difficulties.
If it was for somebody else, yeah, we're probably not able to put forth so much effort.
The Dharma is also for our self.
But it's not just for one lifetime. It's for life after life after life.
If we don't cut the root of samsara, if we don't cut through its root, samsara doesn't end.
If we wanted to put into a heap the bones and flesh from the live, all of the births we have taken in samsara since the beginning, it would be bigger than Mount Meru, is what the lamas say.
And if we were to pull together the tears that we have cried from the suffering of all of our lives in samsara, it would overflow the ocean.
Right? Even in this life, think about how many tears you've cried. As kids, we cry a lot. But even when we grow up, we still cry, no? Lots of tears.
And as we get older and older, if we haven't really practiced, if we're not practitioners, we again have more and more cause to cry, just like kids. We're crying a lot, actually.
Physically, we shrink as we get older, right? And then our senses lose capacity, and then we're so emotional, right? This happens.
And then sometimes we have the feeling that all of these things that appear to us, they... like all of our experiences arise as enemies, actually. Sometimes it seems like that.
And so we think, oh, everybody's looking down on me, everybody's saying bad things about me. Even if it's not happening in our minds, sometimes we end up with that feeling, don't we? And then we cry a lot, no?
And so we've gone through that, right? For many lifetimes. We've done that. And now, this life, with this opportunity, if we don't practice, if we don't cut through the root of samsara now, then it's going to keep going, repeat, on repeat, again and again and again. If we don't cut through its root, samsara will not end.
We have to recite the twenty-one praises to Tara seven times, repeating it seven times a week. So tired, like, oh, seven times I have to repeat it?
Well, think about how many times we've been repeating this samsaric experience. Quite many more times than that. Yeah, we can see easily, like, even Tulku Yangsi, those who've been in the previous, very, like, almost like Manjushri, and then reincarnation come and has to go through Ka ka Ga nga learning.
All of us, we're all like that.
We show up empty-handed in the world.
Totally empty-handed, totally empty-handed. No money, no food, no clothes, not even a word that we can speak from our mouths. That's how we show up in this world, right? Again. And then if we don't cut the root of samsara, again, and again, and again. We show up like that. Isn't that difficult?
Wouldn't it be tiring? Isn't it tiring to just keep doing that?
So, if we practice the Dharma, then we don't have to keep repeating that process.
So, it's like a... lasting, stable, lasting food that will last for all of our lifetimes, a house that will last for all of our lifetimes, clothing for all of our lifetimes. That's what we're putting together here through practice.
So, when it comes to, like, should we put forth effort to do that, to practice in that way? Yes, definitely. Of course. Right? That's the answer. Very clearly.
So, then we have to bring our mind to the state of naturalness and really know, really be familiar. A practitioner is somebody who is able to think about what has happened in the past, what will happen in the future, and what's going on now. Being able to really think about that whole span of things. That's what a practitioner can do and does.
And somebody who's not a practitioner, it's really kind of just like an animal. What's here right now? Take it, eat it, enjoy it, and then, like, just hear in focusing, only what's going on right now.
So, if we think about what a person is, generally we say the definition of a person is somebody who can speak and understand what is said.
And so, we bring that mind into our state of naturalness, then actually everything can go quite well. But otherwise, when we don't remain in that state, then we just make so many mistakes again and again and again, don't we?
And in the text it says, Dharma practitioners make mistakes, but they know that they've made mistakes. People who are not practitioners make mistakes without even being aware that it was wrong.
So, don't think that making mistakes is always bad, yeah? You don't have to think of it that way.
And Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche said that for a practitioner, even more than positive circumstances, negative circumstances are like a sidhi, an accomplishment for us. In fact, sometimes when we have good circumstances, that becomes an obstacle for our practice. And bad circumstances actually aid in our practice. They can bring us accomplishment.
So, don't get too excited when you end up in a good circumstance, okay?
Be worried, like, okay, maybe, uh-oh, no, maybe some kind of like this, it could appear as an obstacle, a demon, yeah? Be careful, be careful.
And so, when you end up in difficult circumstances, don't get too upset or depressed about it. Think, hey, this is my accomplishment. I got some accomplishments. You should think like that.
So then, actually, you get some benefit from that, some profit. And as practitioners, we have got to find something that's profitable here for us, no?
So, if something good happens, if we're happy, we have to be able to take that, to carry that. And likewise, if we end up in a very difficult situation, we also have to be able to carry that, to take that. It's important.
In fact, for most of us, when good things happen, when we're happy, we can't deal with that. And then when bad things happen, then also we can't deal with that. And then we never get the opportunity to really have like a... you know, tashi delek, auspicious circumstances, positive auspicious circumstances kind of never happen for us.
And for a practitioner, though, that's somebody, if they're in a positive circumstance, if good things happen, they can handle it, they can take it. If bad things happen, they can take it. And that means that there's some kind of stability, some kind of mental stability, some stable aspect that comes through our practice.
So let's see. I guess our topic was really supposed to be the treasure of blessings and texts. We didn't really get to that today, so maybe we'll open it up and get into it tomorrow. The text itself, but that's okay. One thing that it's important to know, and I think most of you know this, when we talk about doing a meditation session, what's most important is not like doing the session for X number of minutes, the time. That's not what's important. What's most important is really doing the practice in a genuine way.
And if you're familiar a little bit with this kind of sādhanā and ritual practices, then it's very good to, and it's very important actually, to set out offerings for the practice. And so do that, if you know how to do that.
So if in the place where we do our meditation, we are able to place representations of the awakened body, speech, and mind, then it's really good to do that.
And when we have these images of awakened body, speech, and mind, it's very important that, like, if we have a statue, for example, that we fill the statue properly and especially that we have it consecrated by a real master. Because if a genuine master consecrates an image, let's say it's an image of the Buddha, then once it has been consecrated, actually having that statue is identical to having the Buddha present in front of us, once it's been consecrated by a truly powerful teacher.
And then that statue then becomes the samaya form.... the support for the samaya.
Sorry, the statue is the samaya being in this case, and then when the teacher consecrates it, he or she brings the wisdom beings into that samaya being, which is the image, and they mingle indivisibly and remain.
And actually just the image itself, whether it's made of wood, whether it's made of metal, whatever it's made of, that image, speaking honestly, it is never anything other than emptiness.
And so that's actually the sense when we talk about the samaya being, the samaya means to never go beyond something, and this image, no matter what it's made of, it never goes beyond the state of remaining as emptiness.
And when a genuine teacher consecrates that image, bringing in, inviting in the wisdom beings, in fact, really, truly, genuinely, that image is the Buddha, just like the Buddha walked into my house, just like that, he's right there.
And so then that image will give us a positive energy feeling.
But whether or not I receive blessings from that depends on my own trust and devotion.
In the sādhana itself, actually, this sādhanā, the Treasury of Blessings, it's mentioned whoever has trust and faith, the Buddha is present for that person and receive his blessings. They receive his blessings. It's mentioned actually in our text. And the Buddha himself said that. And the Buddha doesn't lie, right?
And when we have the trust and the confidence that this image here, that I have this statue, is the Buddha, he's really truly there, then we receive blessings through that, and then our meditation actually is improved through those blessings.
And then in front of that image, if we would like we can place the traditional seven offerings, but even if not that, whatever is beautiful, whatever we like, flowers, a lamp, something that we find beautiful and that we want to offer, if we place those offerings in front of that image, then through the practice of making those offerings we gain merit.
And it's said that someone, a person who has merit is able to accomplish his or her aims. So if someone has merit, then they're able to do what they want to accomplish.
Especially in order to be able to practice the Dharma well, we have to have merit.
So sometimes people really have an interest in doing Dharma practice, but always some kind of condition carries them away. So they really want to, but then, oh today somebody called me and I have to do this, and then tomorrow I've got this other thing that I've got to do. They have the interest, they really want to,but it seems like there's always some kind of condition that's getting in the way. What is that all about? Well, we have to have merit. In order to practice, to be able to practice, we have to have merit.
It's my experience when we have one month retreat, three month retreat. Always some people have always problem, in the middle of the retreat they have something to do for paper, government paper or something you know.
Yeah, and that kind of thing happens. It's an obstacle, right? If you're trying to practice and then something comes up. That's an obstacle. And it doesn't happen to everybody. It happens sometimes for some people. And really, when it comes to practice, to actually have the circumstances and the conditions to be able to practice, we can't do it without merit. We have to have merit.
You know, there's also sometimes some people who they get the idea, I want to do a three-year retreat. Everything comes together, boom, they did a three-year retreat. Other people spend their entire life planning to do a three-year retreat and never manage to do it the whole life. Right? It happens like that sometimes. Some problem with the parents. Need to take care parents. Then... And then suddenly parents pass away. Then something, another thing happens. Then, then slowly collapses. Their self-body starts to collapse.
So merit is really important, actually. So when you do practice like this, make offerings. It's a really good way to accumulate merit. And it's important that we do that, right? When you have the circumstance and you have the ability to make, set forth some offerings. It doesn't have to be super extensive and vast. It can be simple. And then with your mind, you imagine actually that it is extensive. You emanate, mentally emanate more offerings than you have actually set out there. But making offerings and having that kind of attitude of wanting to make offerings and making the prayer that with these offerings that my meditation will go well, that the obstacles to the meditation are cleared away,and that I will be able to have the circumstances to be able to continue to practice. This is really important, having that kind of attitude when you make offerings. And I'm not trying to, if you don't have any inclination at all ever to make an offering, I'm not trying to push and force. But if you have, sometimes it happens that you actually are inclined to do it. But then you just kind of let, you know, leave it to the side. Don't think of it as being something that's not so important and you don't do it, even though you actually do have some inclination to do it. So I'm saying if you have that inclination, really you should use it, go for it, because it's really not something to sideline. It's something that really makes a difference, accumulating merit in that way.
So merit is in this way, it's like a result, right?
And the cause that brings about the result of merit is virtue. Virtue is the cause that brings about the result, merit.
So we talk about accumulating, gathering the accumulations, accumulating merit, right? And gaining virtue. And the way that we do this actually is again and again and again repeatedly bringing to mind these kind of positive attitudes, virtuous attitudes, again and again and again cultivating that virtue. Then through that we are able actually to gather merit. And I just remembered before Lama was mentioning when we make offerings, another thing that we should pray is that we are able to gain merit and also to purify our negativities, our obscurations, and then to be able to continue to practice.
So what is the result that comes from gathering a lot of virtuous habits, gathering the habit of virtue and doing a lot of virtue? The result of that is merit.
So what is merit?
So what is the word, what is merit mean? What's it like? Khenpo Ngakchung says that merit, the word in Tibetan is sonam and here the word "so" has the sense of getting rid of, destroying. And so what is merit? It is destroying a lot of non-virtuous habits. That's one aspect of it.
And so when we have destroyed, overcome a lot of negative aspects, what happens? Then the second syllable "nam" which has the sense of this coming together of virtuous circumstances, positive things come together. So destroying the negative and bringing together the positive.
And actually that's just the nature of things. If you do a lot of virtuous actions and a lot of virtuous deeds, you accumulate a lot of virtue, then quite naturally a lot of negative things go away. That's just how it works, no?
And that's why as Nagarjuna said, by this merit may all...
by this merit may all beings gather the accumulations of merit and wisdom and may they attain the sacred two kayas that result from that merit and wisdom.
And if we understand that then it's important because then we have some sense of what is meant by gathering the accumulations and accumulating merit and why it's important and what it is. Otherwise sometimes we get tired of it. We think like, oh it just means like giving something. That's what merit is, like giving something, putting something somewhere. And then it becomes like tiresome actually if we understand it that way. Generally giving is very nice. You don't need to take care.
Like for example if I have a car and I give it to somebody else then I don't have to like take care of the car anymore, right? That's nice. So we don't have duty for cleaning, putting oil and tags, insurance, all these things and worried when we will be damaged or somebody will stool or somebody will shoot down and all.
So actually that brings us a lot of relief from worries to do that, no? So in some sense it's kind of like life release, like just releasing it and then it should be really great but we don't do that so much because we have such a strong habit to not do that. To hold on to things.
So when we have a certain amount of, a car's amount of wealth then we have a car's worth of worries, of suffering also, no? It's like that.
So actually it should be that if we just give that away we get rid of all those worries, it should be very nice but we don't have that habit, we have the habit of holding on so then we have this idea like giving it away actually is painful for us in fact. So but now we understand the marriage, produce is not really truly connected with the material.
Actually when we have things, material, we cling. It's mine. And then you already feels your responsibility. Then in all the ten directions it's like targeting, yeah? And you get suffer. So it's actually good but people not easy so but...
But if we can even just mentally offer it, we can gain merit.
All this topic came because of the altar. So it's not just tradition, it's also some kind antidote, method. So it's not useless or pointless.
So when we meditate, meditation is actually a really important activity. And so when we're doing something that's really important, it's also important that we prepare for it well.
We want to eat a tasty meal, we have to do a lot of preparation to make that happen, don't we?
So then if we're going to do a meditation session, then it's important that we also prepare for that, right? And so if you can, make these kind of preparations, setting out the offerings and so on. Okay, that's our session today.
So I'm not sure precisely what the program is for tomorrow afternoon, but presuming that we continue with this same program in the afternoon, then what I would like to do tomorrow is to read to you some of this text by Mipham Rinpoche that is kind of the supportive teachings for this sādhana. Obviously we can't read the whole thing because it's more than a thousand pages long, but maybe five or six pages, I think, would actually be really of great benefit just to read that. I don't have to explain it even because it's so clear. I think that would be very helpful, so I'd like to do some of that tomorrow afternoon. So please enjoy the seminar. I mean, some of you are also first time in Nepal, so don't do like your tourists, okay?
Then all your energy of seminar will be disappeared, so just feel you came only for seminar, not for sightseeing.
Then you can listen very well teaching from Rinpoche. It's opportunity, yeah? When you have opportunity, you need to use opportunity. Opportunity is not all the time. When we say opportunity, only sometimes, sometimes, no? So then when you go back home, you will go with happy. Otherwise you think you are first time and you go here, there, and taking pictures, photos, and then your mind is... even your body is in the teaching session, but your mind is hanged around stupa, area, and then you are not really listening well and you don't really get it exact what Rinpoche is really trying to give you, you know? He's try... Because he knows you all came from all the different corners and he know you all came also giving so many important tasks and find solution that you could come here for ten days or two weeks. And so your time limited and many of you also have financially also very limited. So you cannot come again and again also, regularly. So thereby Rinpoche trying to give all the important key points. And so key points can come any time, you know? Any time. Might Rinpoche give some time little bit like commercial teachings, he will be make joke and certainly can come important key point, you know? So thereby if your mind is always not in teaching hall or teaching session, your space out, you will gonna miss that. So thereby your mind has to be, Rinpoche mentioned, with pure motivation. And the best teaching say you listen with six pāramitā.
First make aspiration bodhicitta and then you listen with six pāramitā and then you will get everything what you see.
And since your mind is totally there, you get all instruction in your heart, not in brain. And then you have opportunity to pump up. Otherwise half listening, half here and there, you don't get teachings complete. And then you have came here with big expectation, big hope. And then it's not going to happen. And then you going with dissatisfied, dissatisfied or unhappy. So everything in your hand. What Buddha said?
The Buddha said if you want to know what you did in the past, if you want to know about your past actions, look at your present body. And if you want to know about your future circumstance, then look at your present actions. So keep that in mind. And when you are here in the teaching session, really stick to the teaching session. Don't let your mind wander around here and there. Really receive the Dharma teachings and then you will really get something out of it.
If you listen to the teachings really really genuinely very well, then listening to the teachings itself becomes practice for you actually.
And so then you are receiving the teachings and practicing, doing retreat as well.
And especially when in the presence of a genuinely realized teacher, we are receiving these kind of really profound instructions. If we are listening very carefully, there is a big chance that the wisdom, the genuine wisdom of the lineage of realization can be transferred into our own experience. That opportunity is there.
One teacher gives a single instruction to a hundred students and there are many, many, many, different experiences from the side of the students.
Right? The highest caliber of student, middle caliber, lower caliber, it's different.
Even it's the same instruction from the teacher.
And of course from the teacher's side there is zero bias when it comes to the students. None at all.
But actually from our side as the students, whether we are listening well or not, carefully or not, that actually changes, right? We put ourselves at a different level depending on how much we are paying attention.
So we really need to attend the teachings, the whole thing from the beginning to end without missing anything. And really in a genuine way listen with the appropriate preliminaries, main part and concluding part of the practice.
So we'll stop here today.
