Mahayana
Doctrine |
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The fundamental
doctrine for Buddhism is the Four Noble Truths. It "...has always been
the nucleus of this religion from its primitive states to the developed
form of Mahayanism through its long history of twenty-four centuries."
(Tachibana, 14). However, there are many other Buddhist doctrines
besides the Four Noble Truths, one being the bodhisattva doctrine.
Early Buddhism had the term referring to the belief in just one Buddha,
but as time passed, the term came to encompass the belief in many
Buddhas. Many forms of the religion uphold the bodhisattva doctrine,
but the Mahayana bodhisattva doctrine differs from the rest in that
"...the Mahayana insistence that the goal of all religious practice is
buddhahood itself, making all those whose conceive of the aspiration to
be liberated bodhisattvas, or future Buddhas." (Buddhism, 459) |
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The Mahayana
bodhisattva doctrine is centered around the goal of liberation from
suffering. People who set their eyes on this goal commit themselves to
ceaseless work for the benefit of others. They concentrate and aspire
to reach perfect awakening, the bodhicita (Buddhism, 369). In trying to
reach perfect awakening, these people are also pressing towards
actually becoming bodhisattvas. As travelers walk along their paths,
they are helped along by celestial bodhisattvas. "Celestial
bodhisattvas are powerful beings far advanced in the path, so perfect
that they are free from both rebirth and liberation, and can now choose
freely if, when, and where they are to be reborn. They engage freely in
the process of rebirth only to save living beings." (Buddhism, 369)
Once people attain perfect awakening and become celestial bodhisattvas,
they too, can help others along their paths. |
What is Buddhism? |
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Buddhism is a
most profound and wholesome educational path taught by Shakyamuni
Buddha to all people....... In his forty-nine years of teaching,
Shakyamuni Buddha explains the true nature of life and the universe.
"Life" refers to ourselves, and "universe" refers the environment in
which we live....... Those who understand these truths are called
Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. Those who do not understand are called worldly
people....... Cultivation is the process of changing the way we think,
speak, and act towards people and towards the universe from an
erroneous way to a proper way....... The guidelines for cultivation are
awareness, right understanding, and purity. Awareness is the opposite
of delusion. Right understanding is the opposite of deviation. Purity
is the opposite of pollution. These three qualities can be achieved by
practicing the Three Learnings of self-discipline, concentration, and
wisdom....... The Three Basic Conditions are the foundation of
cultivation and study. When interacting with people, follow the Six
Harmonies, and when dealing with society, practice the Six Principles.
Follow the Vows of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva and focus your mind on
attaining rebirth in the Pure Land. This completes the purpose of the
Buddha's Teachings. |
The Mahayana Buddhism |
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The Mahayana is
more of an umbrella body for a great variety of schools, from the
Tantra school (the secret teaching of Yoga) well represented in Tibet
and Nepal to the Pure Land sect, whose essential teaching is that
salvation can be attained only through absolute trust in the saving
power of Amitabha, longing to be reborn in his paradise through his
grace, which are found in China, Korea and Japan. Ch'an and Zen
Buddhism, of China and Japan, are meditation schools....... It is
generally accepted, that what we know today as the Mahayana arose from
the Mahasanghikas sect who were the earliest seceders, and the
forerunners of the Mahayana. They took up the cause of their new sect
with zeal and enthusiasm and in a few decades grew remarkably in power
and popularity. They adapted the existing monastic rules and thus
revolutionised the Buddhist Order of Monks. Moreover, they made
alterations in the arrangements and interpretation of the Sutra
(Discourses) and the Vinaya (Rules) texts. And they rejected certain
portions of the canon, which had been accepted in the First
Council...... According to it, the Buddhas are lokottara (supramundane)
and are connected only externally with the worldly life. This
conception of the Buddha contributed much to the growth of the Mahayana
philosophy. The ideal of the Mahayana school is that of the
Bodhisattva, a person who delays his or her own enlightenment in order
to compassionately assist all other beings and ultimately attains to
the highest Bodhi. |
Chinese Buddhism: Mahayana Lineages
Imported
from India |
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Madhyamika
(San Lun, Ch.) Based on the Chinese translation of Nagarjuna's (second
century) Madhyamika Karika and two other works of uncertain authorship,
this lineage emphasized the notion of shunyata (emptiness) and wu
(nonbeing). So rigorous was the teaching of this lineage, that it
declared that the elements constituting perceived objects, when
examined, are really no more than mental phenonena and have no true
existence....... • Yogacara Founded in the third century by
Maitreyanatha and made famous by Asanga and Vasubandhu in the fourth or
fifth century, this school held that the source of all ideas is vijñana
("consciousness"), which is seen as the fundamental basis of existence.
Ultimate Reality is therefore only perceived but has not real
existence....... Indigenous Mahayana Lineages...... • T'ien T'ai Named
after the mountains on which the founder Zhi Yi (d. 597 C.E.) resided,
this lineage is based on a scheme of classification intended to
integrate and harmonize the vast array of Buddhist scriptures and
doctrines. This scheme of classification is based on the Buddhist
doctrine of upaya ("skilful means"). The most important form of
Buddhism for this lineage is the Mahayana devotionalism found in the
Lotus Sutra....... • Avatamsaka (Hua Yen, Ch.) This lineage takes its
name from the Avatamsaka Sutra, its central sacred text, and like the
T'ien T'ai school is oriented towards a classification of sutras. Basic
to this lineage is the assertion that all particulars are merely
manifestations of the absolute mind and are therefore fundamentally the
same....... • Pure Land (Amitabha) Based on the Sukhavati Vyuha ("Pure
Land Sutra"), this lineage was founded in 402 C.E. by Hui Yuan. The
Pure Land lineage held that the spiritual quality of the world has been
in decline since its height during the lifetime of the Buddha and
taught followers to cultivate through prayer and devotion a sincere
intent to be reborn in the heavenly paradise of the Buddha
Amitabha....... • Ch'an Its name is derived from the Sanskrit term
dhyana ("meditation"), this lineage emphasises meditation as the only
means to a spiritual awakening beyond words or thought, dispensing
almost entirely with the teachings and practices of traditional
Buddhism. Ch'an is thought to have been brought to China by the
enigmatic South Indian monk Bodhidharma in about the year 500 C.E. |
Mahayana Ethics |
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Many religions
seem to have certain ethics in common. For instance Buddhism shares the
ethics of do not kill, do not steal, and so on with other religions
such as Catholicism and Christianity. However, there are a set of
ethics which set Buddhism apart from other religions. All forms of
Buddhism pretty much retained similar codes of ethic. So what was seen
in the early Theravada traditions can be seen in the Vajrayana and
Mahayana traditions as well. However, the Vajrayana and Mahayana
Buddhists developed certain aspects of ethics to a very great extent.
Such is the case with Mahayana Buddhism and the bodhisattva ideal. |
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"The
Mahayanists developed the bodhisattva ideal to such an extent that it
became the single most important element in Mahayana ethics."
(Buddhism, 500) A Mahayanist’s purpose is to help others. "The
bodhisattva’s salient trait is altruistic compassion for all sentient
beings." (Buddhism, 501) In helping others, a Mahayanist aids others in
achieving spiritual release and well as attaining material riches. In
order to help others, though, a Mahayanist must refuse to enter nirvana
(state of supreme happiness), for if he entered nirvana, he could be of
no help to those who are still in samsara, who according to Donald K.
Swearer, is the "cycle of birth, suffering , death, and rebirth." To
prevent himself from entering nirvana, the Mahayanist takes a vow such
as the following: "I shall not enter into final nirvana before all
beings have been liberated." (Buddhism, 501) After taking the vow, the
Mahayanist goes through disciplined development which lasts practically
forever. During the course of development, the Mahayanist goes through
successive rebirths, each time gaining more power, strength, and
wisdom. This development continues, the Mahayanist all the while
progressively reaching a state of perfection. |
Pure Land Buddhism |
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Pure Land
Buddhism: The Path of Serene Trust ... Key Concepts |
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In order to
understand Pure Land Buddhism it is helpful to be familiar with some
specific aspects of Buddhist teaching: |
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MERIT AND ITS
TRANSFER. There are benefits to be derived from the non-attached
practices of Wisdom and Compassion; these practices include the
Buddhist Precepts which are guidelines for enlightened living. These
benefits, or "merit," may be accumulated and subsequently transferred
to any or all sentient beings for their benefit (transpersonal) or
rededicated so as to transform it into a benefit for one's self
(personal)....... OTHER BUDDHAS. Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha of
our age, is not the only Buddha to ever have existed. Indeed, all
beings have the nature to become totally awakened to the Truth of the
Universe. One of the first Buddhas other than Shakyamuni to be
mentioned in the Buddhist tradition was the Buddha Maitreya, the next
Buddha who will appear in our own world-system which is known as the
Saha World. BUDDHA-REALMS or BUDDHA-FIELDS. Buddhas spread their
influence over a system of worlds in which they teach Dharma and exert
their benevolence. Shakyamuni is the Buddha of our own world system.
Buddha-realms may be seen as both literal and metaphorical....... A
BODHISATTVA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH A BUDDHA. Bodhisattvas are
"Enlightenment Beings" who are on the path toward Nirvana, the end of
suffering, the realm of Perfect Peace. They work not only for their own
Enlightenment, but also for the Enlightenment of all sentient beings.
Once Bodhisattvahood is attained, the Bodhisattva is instructed by a
Buddha. Shakyamuni Buddha's teacher was the Buddha Dipamkara; in turn,
Shakyamuni Buddha is the teacher of the Buddha to come, Maitreya. |
Origins |
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Shakyamuni
Buddha taught about a Buddha named Amitabha ("Boundless Light," also
known as Amitayus, or "Boundless Life") who presides over a
Buddha-realm known as Sukhavati, a realm of rebirth in which all
impediments to the attainment of final Enlightenment are nonexistent.
This realm, or Pure Land (also known as the Realm of Bliss) is the
result of the accumulated merit of the Bodhisattva Dharmakara, who
practiced for eons before becoming the Buddha Amitabha. Dharmakara
vowed that when he attained Buddhahood, the realm over which he would
preside would include the finest features of all the other
Buddha-realms. These other realms were revealed to Dharmakara by his
teacher, the Buddha Lokesvararaja....... Pure Land Buddhism is
described as the Path of Serene Trust, or "prasada" in Sanskrit. This
term is broadly interpreted as "faith," and means that one has serene
trust and confidence in the power and wisdom of Buddhas, or that one
has the firm conviction that the Bodhisattva Vow made by all Buddhas,
namely, to lead all sentient beings to Enlightenment, has been or will
be fulfilled....... Praising a Buddha's virtues and keeping a Buddha in
mind at all times has been practiced since the earliest days of
Buddhism. Indeed, the act of taking refuge in the Buddha means to put
one's trust in the Buddha as an honored teacher. In the Pratyutpanna
Sutra, an early Buddhist text, Shakyamuni Buddha talks about the
practice of Pratyutpanna Samadhi, in which one can directly perceive
the Buddhas of the Ten Directions face to face....... The object of
Pure Land Buddhism is rebirth into the Realm of Bliss. This may be seen
as literal rebirth into the Buddha-realm called Sukhavati and/or as
experiencing the direct realization of the realm of the Purified Mind,
in which a person becomes one with the limitless Compassion and Widsom
which are the prime characteristics of Buddha Amitabha. Pure Land
Buddhism rests on the following tripod: |
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Faith.......
Aspiration or the Vow for Rebirth....... Practice, single-minded effort
aimed at Buddha Remembrance Samadhi, "Buddhanusmrti" in Sanskrit,
"Nien-Fo" in Chinese. Buddhanusmrti means "To stay mindful of the
Buddha," and has been a central practice of Pure Land Buddhism since
its beginnings. Nien-Fo also refers to the recitation of the Buddha's
name, among other practices....... The Pure Land tripod of Faith,
Aspiration and Practice was modified in 12th century Japan. The 18th
vow of Dharmakara was interpreted to mean that one only need to recite
Amitabha's name to attain rebirth (see next section). The teacher
Shinran further narrowed this interpretation to say that the Nembutsu
(Japanese for Nien-Fo) is recited until the Mind of Faith manifests
itself, and that faith in Amida Buddha (the Japanese term for Amitabha)
is sufficient for rebirth. The Japanese Pure Land schools are still
characterized as "faith-only" schools, while classical Pure Land
Buddhism still relies on the tripod of Faith, Aspiration and Practice
as expedients. |
The Vows |
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Bodhisattva
Dharmakara made 48 vows regarding the nature of his yet-to-be
Buddha-realm. Among these are four very crucial vows, the 18th, 19th,
20th and 22nd. These vows are enumerated in the Larger Sukhavati Sutra,
one of the three main Pure Land scriptures...... The 18th vow states
that anyone who has vowed to be reborn into the Realm of Bliss and has
dedicated their roots of merit to this rebirth will indeed be reborn
there, even if this vow has been sincerely made as few as ten times.
The 19th vow states that Amitabha Buddha will appear at the moment of
death to one who cultivates virtue, resolves to seek awakening, and
single-mindedly aspires to be reborn into the Realm of Bliss...... The
20th vow guarantees rebirth into the Realm of Bliss for those who have
cultivated virtue, have sought awakening, and have single-mindedly
aspired to be reborn into this realm...... The 22nd vow states that
once reborn into the Realm of Bliss, one may either complete the
Bodhisattva Path and attain Perfect Full Awakening, or may take what
are known as the Vows of Samanthabhadra, namely to follow the full
Bodhisattva Path and to return to the cycle of rebirth to save all
sentient beings. |
The Sutras |
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The principal
Pure Land sutras are: The Smaller Sukhavati Sutra, in which Shakyamuni
Buddha speaks to his disciple Sariputra about the Realm of Bliss,
giving a concise description of Amitabha's Buddha-realm. This is
probably the most recited of the three main Pure Land sutras....... The
Larger Sukhavati Sutra, in which Shakyamuni Buddha gives his disciple
Ananda a detailed description of the Realm of Bliss. He also recounts
the history of the Bodhisattva Dharmakara and describes the 48 vows in
detail...... The Visualization Sutra or Kuan Wu-Liang-Shou-Fo Ching,
which was composed in China. This sutra, also regarded as a meditation
manual, gives a detailed description of the features of the Pure Land.
This includes descriptions of the characteristics of Amitabha Buddha
and the attendant Bodhisattvas: Avalokitesvara, representing engaged
compassion, and Mahasthamaprapta, representing wisdom. Avalokitesvara
means "Regarder of the Cries of the World," while Mahasthamaprapta
means "The One Who Has Attained Great Strength." |
Self-Power/Other-Power |
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Whenever Pure
Land Buddhism is discussed these two important concepts usually arise.
Self-Power refers to to methods we practice on our own, the power of
our own mind. Other-Power refers to the power of the vows of Amitabha
Buddha which facilitate rebirth in the Realm of Bliss, as well as the
manifestation of these vows through the transference of Amitabha's own
merit to us...... In classical Pure Land Buddhism, Self-Power and
Other-Power work together. Through recitation, meditation and
visualization practices, vowing to be reborn and manifesting the mind
of faith, we attain Buddha Remembrance Samadhi, uniting one's
Self-Power with the Other-Power of Buddha Amitabha, the essence of
Universal Compassion and Wisdom...... In Japanese Pure Land Buddhism
however, there is an exclusive reliance on Other-Power. Reciting the
Buddha's name with faith is all that is necessary, and Other-Power
practices are seen as essentially useless. A person is totally reliant
on the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha; essentially, the saying of the
Buddha's name arises solely from the power of Amida's vows. This causes
Japanese Pure Land to be more of a salvation-based form, unlike the
classical Pure Land Buddhism that originally developed in China. |
Practices |
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Recitation is
one of the central practices of Pure Land Buddhism. It involves the
concentrated and heartfelt repetitive recitation of "Namo Amitabha
Buddha" (Homage to the Buddha of Boundless Compassion and Wisdom). In
Chinese this phrase is "Namo Omito-Fo," in Japanese, "Namu Amida
Butsu."....... Recitation practice has long been recognized as an easy
practice that carries with it the benefits of practice offered by the
major schools of Buddhism: It encompasses the Meditation School because
concentrated recitation enables us to rid ourselves of delusions and
attachments....... It encompasses the Sutra Studies School because the
sacred words "Amitabha Buddha" contain innumerable sublime
meanings....... It encompasses the Discipline School because deep
recitation purifies and stills the karmas of body, speech and
thought....... It encompasses the Esoteric School because the
recitation of the words "Amitabha Buddha" have the same effect as when
one recites a mantra....... Visualization is another practice that is
central to Pure Land Buddhism. Most of the visualizations are of
Amitabha Buddha, the attendant Bodhisattvas and the Realm of Bliss
itself. These visualizations, 16 in all, are described in detail in the
Visualization Sutra....... Yet another practice is the reading of the
Pure Land sutras. This practice assists us in keeping the name of
Amitabha Buddha firmly in mind, as well as strengthening our resolve
for rebirth. |
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The elements of
most Pure Land rituals are based on the Buddhist philosopher
Vasubandhu's concept of the Five Gates of Mindfulness: Praise and
Veneration. Visualization. Sutra Recitation. Making the Vow for
Rebirth. Dedicating Merit....... One fact become undeniably clear: Pure
Land practice can accommodate people of any and all capacities. This is
why Pure Land Buddhism is a marvelous path for those who are seeking
liberation in this modern age when there are so very many distractions
and impediments to Enlightenment. Also, be sure to see our Daily Pure
Land Practice page. |
The Unified Practice |
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The unified
practice of Ch'an and Pure Land is the unified practice of Compassion
and Widsom. Pure Land practice allows one to open up the heart, thus
developing Compassion; Ch'an practice shows one how to concentrate the
mind, thus developing Wisdom. When Compassion and Wisdom combine in a
dynamic relationship, our True Mind is realized, our True Heart comes
forth, and Enlightenment is assured (For a comparison of Ch'an/Zen and
Pure Land, see Comparing the Paths....... The unified practice of Ch'an
and Pure Land, known in Chinese as "Ch'an-ching I-chih," has a long
history. As early as the 4th century C.E., the Chinese Ancestor
Hui-Yuan (334-416), considered to the be first Pure Land Ancestor,
incorporated meditative discipline into Pure Land practice.......
Ancestor Tao-Hsin (580-651), the Fourth Ancestor of the Ch'an school,
taught what he called the "Samadhi of Oneness," utilizing the
recitation of the Buddha's name to pacify the mind. It should be noted
that since this practice involved reciting the name of any Buddha, a
practice dating back to the origins of Buddhism, it was not
specifically designed to produce rebirth in the Realm of Bliss; but it
did act as a bridge linking Ch'an and Nien-Fo practices. Tao-Hsin
taught that the Pure Mind is the Pure Buddha Land....... The unified
practice was also advocated by the Fifth Ch'an Ancestor Hung-Jen
(601-674) who saw recitation as a good practice for beginners. Hung-Jen
also advocated the visualization practices laid out in the
Visualization Sutra....... Buddha recitation not concerned with rebirth
was taught by a number of Hung-Jen's disciples including Fa-Chih
(635-702), the Fourth Ancestor of the Ox-Head School of Ch'an. It was
also put forth by the Ching-Chung School which was descended from
Chih-Hsien, one of the Fifth Ch'an Ancestor's 10 eminent disciples, in
the early 8th century C.E....... Descendents of Chih-hsien who
advocated the unified practice included Wu-Hsiang, a former Korean
prince who made invocational Nien-Fo practice a key part of the Dharma
Transmission Ceremony. Although the practice was still not centered
around Buddha Amitabha or rebirth in the Realm of Bliss, it marked the
first time that Nien-Fo practice was explicitly adopted as part of a
Ch'an school. Subsequent schools which taught Nien-Fo as part of their
training included the Pao-T'ang School, the Hsuan-Shih Nien-Fo Ch'an
School and the Nan-Shan Nien-Fo Ch'an School....... Ancestor Tz'u-Min
(679-748) is said to have been the first Pure Land Ancestor to advocate
harmonizing Pure Land practice and Ch'an. Tz'u-min developed his Pure
Land faith after a pilgrimage to India, where he was inspired by
stories centered around Buddha Amitabha and Bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara....... The Ch'an Ancestor Pai-Chang Huai-Hai (720-814),
who wrote the "20 Monastic Principles" which were the blueprint for
Ch'an monastic practice, included "Recitation of the Name of Buddha
Amitabha." Pai-Chang stated, "In religious practice, take Buddha
Recitation as a sure method." The practice of chanting Amitabha's name
during a Ch'an monk's funeral was also put forth by Master
Pai-Chang....... The T'ang Hui-Ch'an Persecution (845 C.E.) and the
Huei-Ch'ang and Shih-Tsung Persecutions of the late Chou Dynasty (10th
century C.E.) served to bring Ch'an and Pure Land even closer together.
These government crackdowns on Buddhist sects enervated the
academically oriented Buddhist schools such as the T'ien-t'ai and
Hua-yen sects....... Correspondingly, the rise of Neo-Confucianism drew
many speculative thinkers away from those schools. But the Ch'an and
Pure Land schools, marked by their emphasis on practice, their extreme
degree of portability and their non-reliance on Imperial patronage,
survived intact. By this time, the Ch'an school had incorporated true
Nien-Fo Amitabha practices into its training regimens, and the Pure
Land school had incorporated more meditational elements into its own
system....... The Ch'an monk and Pure Land practitioner Yung-Ming
Yen-Shou (905-975) is said to have been the key figure in the synthesis
of Ch'an and Pure Land during this period. He taught that the Pure Land
is the Realm of the Purified Mind....... The unified practices were
taught in Vietnam by the Thao-Duong School, founded by the Chinese monk
Ts'ao-Tang, who was taken to Vietnam as a prisoner of war in 1069 C.E.
Other eminent Chinese monks who promoted unified practice were Chu-Hung
(1535-1615) and Han-Shan (1546-1623)....... During the 17th century
C.E., the monk Yin-Yuan Lung-Chi, known as Obaku in Japanese, brought
the unified Ch'an/Pure Land practice to Japan. His school is known as
the Obaku Zen School, and survives to this day as a minor sect in the
shadow of the much more influential Soto and Rinzai Zen sects.......
The unified practice of Ch'an and Pure Land continues to this day,
although it was de-emphasized in the major Japanese Zen schools. The
large Shin sect of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism discounts any efforts on
one's own part to attain Enlightenment; superficially, Japanese
"Other-Power" Pure Land Buddhism and "Self-Power" Zen Buddhism do not
complement each other the way the Chinese Ch'an and Pure Land schools
do. However, there are recent movements which may yet be influential in
returning Japanese Zen to its syncretic roots....... In the 1970s, the
formation of the Zen Shin Sangha by Rev. Koshin Ogui in Cleveland, Ohio
was one of the first instances of a Shin Buddhist priest in the United
States combining Japanese Zen and Pure Land practices. Similar
movements have been reported in England, continental Europe and
India....... As the esteemed Ch'an Master Hsu-Yun (1840-1959) put it,
"All the Buddhas in every universe, past, present and future, preach
the same Dharma. There is no difference between the methods advocated
by Shakyamuni and Amitabha."....... Namo Amitabha Buddha! |
Four Great Vows |
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Ordinary-beings
are innumerable I vow to liberate them all... Defilements are endless I
vow to eliminate them all... Buddha's teachings are unlimited I vow to
learn them all... The ways of enlightenment are supreme I vow to
achieve them all....... I vow to liberate all ordinary-beings from my
mind... I vow to eliminate all defilements from my mind... I vow to
embrace every teaching of my self-nature... I vow to achieve the way of
enlightenment from my self-nature. |
Buddhism: A Method of Mind Training |
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Buddhism: A
Method of Mind Training / by Leonard A. Bullen Bodhi Leaves |
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When you hear
something about Buddhism in the daily news you usually think of it
having a background of huge idols and yellow-robed monks, with a thick
atmosphere of incense fumes. You never feel that there is anything in
it for you, except, maybe, an exotic spectacle. But is that all there
is in Buddhism? Do the news photographers take pictures of the real
Buddhism? Do the glossy magazines show you the fundamentals, or only
the externals? Let us see, then, what Buddhism really is, Buddhism as
it was originally expounded and as it still exists underneath the
external trappings and trimmings. Although generally regarded as a
religion, Buddhism is basically a method of cultivating the mind. It is
true that, with its monastic tradition and its emphasis on ethical
factors, it possesses many of the surface characteristics that
Westerners associate with religion. However, it is not theistic, since
it affirms that the universe is governed by impersonal laws and not by
any creator-god; it has no use for prayer, for the Buddha was a teacher
and not a god; and it regards devotion not as a religious obligation
but as a means of expressing gratitude to its founder and as a means of
self-development. Thus it is not a religion at all from these points of
view. Again, Buddhism knows faith only in the sense of confidence in
the way recommended by the Buddha. A Buddhist is not expected to have
faith or to believe in anything merely because the Buddha said it, or
because it is written in the ancient books, or because it has been
handed down by tradition, or because others believe it. He may, of
course, agree with himself to take the Buddha-doctrine as a working
hypothesis and to have confidence in it; but he is not expected to
accept anything unless his reason accepts it. This does not mean that
everything can be demonstrated rationally, for many points lie beyond
the scope of the intellect and can be cognized only by the development
of higher faculties. But the fact remains that there is no need for
blind acceptance of anything in the Buddha-doctrine. Buddhism is a way
of life based on the training of the mind. Its one ultimate aim is to
show the way to complete liberation from suffering by the attainment of
the Unconditioned, a state beyond the range of the normal untrained
mind. Its immediate aim is to strike at the roots of suffering in
everyday life. All human activity is directed, either immediately or
remotely, towards the attainment of happiness in some form or other;
or, to express the same thing in negative terms, all human activity is
directed towards liberation from some kind of unsatisfactoriness or
dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction, then, can be regarded as the starting
point in human activity, with happiness as its ultimate goal.
Dissatisfaction, the starting point in human activity, is also the
starting point in Buddhism; and this point is expressed in the formula
of the Four Basic Statements, which set out the fact of
dissatisfaction, its cause, its cure, and the method of its cure. The
First Basic Statement can be stated thus: |
Dissatisfaction is Inescapable in
En-Self-Ed
Life |
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In its original
meaning, the word which is here rendered as "dissatisfaction" and which
is often translated as "suffering" embraces the meanings not only of
pain, sorrow, and displeasure, but also of everything that is
unsatisfactory, ranging from acute physical pain and severe mental
anguish to slight tiredness, boredom, or mild disappointment. Sometimes
the term is rendered as "dissatisfaction" or "unsatisfactoriness"; in
some contexts these are perhaps more accurate, while at other times the
word "suffering" is more expressive. For this reason we shall use both
"suffering" and "dissatisfaction" or "unsatisfactoriness" according to
context. In some translations of the original texts it is stated that
birth is suffering, sickness is suffering, old age is suffering, and
pleasure is suffering. In English, this last statement fails to make
sense; but if we restate it as "pleasure is unsatisfactory" it becomes
more readily understandable, for all pleasure is impermanent and is
eventually succeeded by its opposite, and from this point of view at
least it is unsatisfactory. Now the Buddha-doctrine teaches that
dissatisfaction or suffering is inescapable in en-self-ed life; and the
term "en-self-ed life" needs some explanation. In brief, the doctrine
teaches that the self, considered as a fixed, unchanging eternal soul,
has no reality. The central core of every being is not an unchanging
soul but a life-current, an ever-changing stream of energy which is
never the same for two consecutive seconds. The self, considered as an
eternal soul, therefore, is a delusion, and when regarded from the
ultimate standpoint it has no reality; and it is only within this
delusion of selfhood that ultimate suffering can exist. When the
self-delusion is finally transcended and the final enlightenment is
attained, the ultimate state which lies beyond the relative universe is
reached. In this ultimate state, the Unconditioned, suffering is
extinguished; but while any element of selfhood remains, even though it
is a delusion, suffering remains potentially within it. We must
understand, then, that the First Basic Statement does not mean that
suffering is inescapable; it means that suffering is inescapable in
enselfed life, or while the delusion of selfhood remains. We can now
move on to the Second Basic Statement, which says: |
The Origin of Dissatisfaction is Craving |
|
If you fall on
a slippery floor and suffer from bruises, you say that the cause of
your suffering is the slippery floor. In an immediate sense you are
right, of course, and to say that the cause of your bruises is craving
fails to make sense. But the Second Statement does not refer to
individual cases or to immediate causes. It means that the integrating
force that holds together the life-current is self-centered craving;
for this life-current--this self-delusion--contains in itself the
conditions for suffering, while the slippery floor is merely an
occasion for suffering. It is obviously impossible, by the nature of
the world we live in, to cure suffering by the removal of all the
occasions for suffering; whereas it is possible in Buddhism to strike
at its prime or fundamental cause. Therefore the Third Basic Statement
states: |
Liberation May be Achieved by Destroying
Craving |
|
It is
self-centered craving that holds together the forces which comprise the
life-current, the stream of existence which we call the self; and it is
only with self-delusion that unsatisfactoriness or suffering can exist.
By the destruction of that which holds together the delusion of the
self, the root cause of suffering is also destroyed. The ultimate aim
of Buddhist practice, then, is to annihilate the self. This is where a
great deal of misunderstanding arises, and naturally so; but once it is
realized that to annihilate the self is to annihilate a delusion, this
misunderstanding disappears. When the delusion is removed, the reality
appears; so that to destroy delusion is to reveal the reality. The
reality cannot be discovered while the delusion of self continues to
obscure it. Now what is this reality which appears when the delusion is
removed? The ultimate reality is the Unconditioned, called also the
Unborn, the Unoriginated, the Uncreated, and the Uncompounded. We can,
inadequately and not very accurately, describe it as a positive state
of being. It is characterized by supreme bliss and complete freedom
from suffering and is so utterly different from ordinary existence that
no real description of it can be given. The Unconditioned can be
indicated--up to a point--only by stating what it is not; for it is
beyond words and beyond thought. Hence, in the Buddhist texts, the
Unconditioned is often explained as the final elimination' from one's
own mind, of greed, hatred and delusion. This, of course, also implies
the perfection of the opposite positive qualities of selflessness,
loving-kindness, and wisdom. The attainment of the Unconditioned is the
ultimate aim of all Buddhist practice, and is the same as complete
liberation from dissatisfaction or suffering. This brings us to the
last of the Four Basic Statements: |
The Way of Liberation is the Noble
Eightfold
Path |
|
The eight
factors of the path are these: 1. Right understanding, a knowledge of
the true nature of existence. 2. Right thought, thought free from
sensuality, ill-will and cruelty. 3. Right speech, speech without
falsity, gossip, harshness, and idle babble. 4. Right action, or the
avoidance of killing, stealing and adultery. 5. Right livelihood, an
occupation that harms no conscious living being. 6. Right effort, or
the effort to destroy the defilements of the mind and to cultivate
wholesome qualities. 7. Right mindfulness, the perfection of the normal
faculty of attention. 8. Right concentration, the cultivation of a
collected, focussed mind through meditation. Now you will see that in
this Noble Eightfold Path there is nothing of an essentially religious
nature; it is more a sort of moral psychology. But in the East as well
as in the West people as a whole demand external show of some sort,
and--on the outside at least--the non-essentials have assumed more
importance than the essentials. While some external features in the
practice of Buddhism must of necessity vary according to environment,
the essential and constant characteristics of that practice are summed
up in the following outline of the Noble Eightfold Path, the Middle Way
between harmful extremes, as taught by the Buddha. Although it is
convenient to speak of the various aspects of the eightfold path as
eight steps, they are not to be regarded as separate steps, taken one
after another. On the contrary, each one must be practised along with
the others, and it might perhaps be better to think of them as if they
were eight parallel lanes within the one road rather than eight
successive steps. The first step of this path, right understanding, is
primarily a matter of seeing things as they really are--or at least
trying to do so without self-deceit or evasion. In another sense, right
understanding commences as an intellectual appreciation of the nature
of existence, and as such it can be regarded as the beginning of the
path; but, when the path has been followed to the end, this merely
intellectual appreciation is supplanted by a direct and penetrating
discernment of the principles of the teaching first accepted
intellectually. While right understanding can be regarded as the
complete understanding of the Buddha doctrine, it is based on the
recognition of three dominating characteristics of the relative
universe, of the universe of time, form and matter. These three
characteristics can briefly be set out in this way: 1. Impermanence:
All things in the relative universe are unceasingly changing. 2.
Dissatisfaction: Some degree of suffering or dissatisfaction is
inherent in en-selfed life, or in life within the limitations of the
relative universe and personal experience. 3. Egolessness: No being--no
human being or any other sort of being--possesses a fixed, unchanging,
eternal soul or self. Instead, every being consists of an ever-changing
current of forces, an ever-changing flux of material and mental
phenomena, like a river which is always moving and is never still for a
single second. The self, then, is not a static entity but an
ever-changing flux. This dynamic concept of existence is typical of
deeper Buddhist thought; there is nothing static in life, and since it
is ever-flowing you must learn to flow with it. Another aspect of right
understanding is the recognition that the universe runs its course on
the basis of a strict sequence of cause and effect, or of action and
reaction, a sequence just as invariable and just as exact in the mental
or moral realm as in the physical. In accordance with this law of moral
action and reaction all morally good or wholesome will actions
eventually bring to the doer happiness at some time, while unwholesome
or morally bad will-actions bring suffering to the doer. The effects of
wholesome and unwholesome will-actions--that is to say, the happiness
and suffering that result from them--do not generally follow
immediately; there is often a considerable time-lag, for the resultant
happiness and suffering can arise only when appropriate conditions are
present. The results may not appear within the present lifetime. Thus
at death there is normally a balance of "merit" which has not yet
brought about its experience of happiness; and at the same time there
is also a balance of "demerit" which has not yet given rise to the
suffering which is to be its inevitable result. After death, the body
disintegrates, of course, but the life-current continues, not in the
form of an unchanging soul, but in the form of an ever-changing stream
of energy. Immediately after death a new being commences life to carry
on this life current; but the new being is not necessarily a human
being, and the instantaneous rebirth may take place on another plane of
existence. But in any case, the new being is a direct sequel to the
being that has just died. Thus the new being becomes an uninterrupted
continuation of the old being, and the life-current is unbroken. The
new being inherits the balance of merit built up by the old being, and
this balance of merit will inevitably bring happiness at some future
time. At the same time, the new being inherits the old being's balance
of demerit, which will bring suffering at some time in the future. In
effect, in the sense of continuity, the new being is the same as the
old being. In just the same way--that is, in the sense of continuity
only--an old man is the same as the young man he once was, the young
man is the same as the boy he once was, and the boy is the same as the
baby he once was. But the identity of the old man with the young man,
and with the boy, and with the baby, is due only to continuity; there
is no other identity. Everything in the universe changes from day to
day and from moment to moment, so that every being at this moment is a
slightly different being from that of the moment before; the only
identity is due to continuity. In the same way, the being that is
reborn is different from the previous one that died; but the identity
due to continuity remains as before. These teachings are basic to the
Buddha-doctrine--the illusory nature of the self, the law of action and
reaction in the moral sphere, and the rebirth of the life-forces--but
there is no need for anyone to accept anything that does not appeal to
his reason. Acceptance of any particular teaching is unimportant; what
is important is the continual effort to see things as they really are,
without self-deceit or evasion. So much for a brief outline of the
doctrine under the heading of right understanding. The second step,
right thought or aim, is a matter of freeing the intellectual faculties
from adverse emotional factors, such as sensuality, ill-will, and
cruelty, which render wise and unbiased decisions impossible. Right
speech, right action, and right livelihood together make up the moral
section of the path, their function being to keep the defilements of
the mind under control and to prevent them from reaching adverse
expression. These defilements, however, cannot be completely eradicated
by morality alone, and the other steps of the path must be applied to
cleanse the mind completely of its defilements. Now in the next
step--right effort--we enter the sphere of practical psychology, for
right effort in this context means effort of will. In other words, the
sixth step of the path is self-discipline, the training of the will in
order to prevent and overcome those states of mind that retard
development, and to arouse and cultivate those that bring about mental
progress. The seventh step of the path is also one of practical
psychology; this is the step called right mindfulness, and it consists
of the fullest possible development of the ordinary faculty of
attention. It is largely by the development of attention--expanded and
intensified awareness--that the mind can eventually become capable of
discerning things as they really are. The primary function of the,
seventh step, right mindfulness, is to develop an increasing awareness
of the unreality of the self. However, it functions also by continually
improving the normal faculty of attention, thus equipping the mind
better to meet the problems and stresses of the workaday world. In the
Buddha-way, mindfulness consists of developing the faculty of attention
so as to produce a constant awareness of all thoughts that arise, all
words that are spoken, and all actions that are done, with a view to
keeping them free from self-interest, from emotional bias, and from
self-delusion. |
|
Right
mindfulness has many applications in the sphere of everyday activities.
For example, it can be employed to bring about a sharpened awareness, a
clear comprehension, of the motives of these activities, and this clear
comprehension of motive is extremely important. In right concentration,
the last of the eight steps, the cultivation of higher mind-states--up
to the meditative absorptions--is undertaken, and these higher
mind-states serve to unify, purity, and strengthen the mind for the
achievement of liberating insight. In this ultimate achievement the
delusion of selfhood, with its craving and suffering, is transcended
and extinguished. This penetrating insight is the ultimate goal of all
Buddhist practices, and with it comes a direct insight into the true
nature of life, culminating in realization of the Unconditioned. While
the Unconditioned is the extinction of self, it is nevertheless not
mere non-existence or annihilation, for the extinction of self is
nothing but the extinction of a delusion. Every description of the
Unconditioned must fail, for it lies not only beyond words but beyond
even thought; and the only way to know it is to follow the Noble
Eightfold Path to its end. This, then, is the original Buddhism; this
is the Buddhism of the Noble Eightfold Path, of the path that leads
from the bondage of self to liberating insight into reality. |
The 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas |
|
I pay homage
through my three doors, To my supreme teacher and protector, Chenrezig,
Who while seeing all phenomena lack coming and going, Makes
single-minded effort for the good of living beings. Perfect Buddhas,
source of all well-being and happiness, Arise from accomplishing the
excellent teachings, And this depends on knowing the practices, So I
will explain the practices of Bodhisattvas. |
|
1. Having
gained this rare ship of freedom and fortune, Hear, think and meditate
unwaveringly night and day In order to free yourself and others from
the ocean of cyclic existence -- This is the practice of
Bodhisattvas..... 2. Attached to your loved ones you are stirred up
like water. Hating your enemies you burn like fire. In the darkness of
confusion, you forget what to adopt and discard. Give up your homeland
-- This is the practice of Bodhisattvas....... 3. By avoiding bad
objects, disturbing emotions gradually decrease. Without distraction,
virtuous activities naturally increase. With clarity of mind,
conviction in teaching arises. Cultivate seclusion -- This is the
practice of Bodhisattvas..... 4. Loved ones who have long kept company
will part. Wealth created with difficulty will be left behind.
Consciousness, the guest, will leave the guesthouse of the body. Let go
of this life -- This is the practice of Bodhisattvas..... 5. When you
keep their company your three poisons increase, Your activities of
hearing thinking and meditating decline, And they make you lose your
love and compassion. Give up bad friends -- This is the practice of
Bodhisattvas..... 6. When you rely on them your faults come to an end
And your good qualities grow like the waxing moon. Cherish spiritual
teachers even more than your own body -- This is the practice of
Bodhisattvas..... 7. Bound himself in the jail of cyclic existence,
What worldly god can give you protection? Therefore when you seek
refuge, take refuge in The Three Jewels which will not betray you --
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas..... 8. The Subduer said that all
the unbearable suffering of bad rebirths Is the fruit of wrongdoing.
Therefore, even at the cost of your life, never do wrong -- This is the
practice of Bodhisattvas..... 9. Like dew on the tip of a blade of
grass, pleasures of the three worlds Last only a while and then vanish.
Aspire to the never-changing supreme state of liberation -- This is the
practice of Bodhisattvas..... 10. When your mothers, who have loved you
since time without beginning, Are suffering, what use is your own
happiness? Therefore to free limitless living beings, Develop the
altruistic intention -- This is the practice of Bodhisattvas..... 11.
All suffering comes from the wish for your own happiness. Perfect
Buddhas are born from the thought to help others. Therefore exchange
your own happiness For the suffering of others -- This is the practice
of Bodhisattvas..... 12. Even if someone out of strong desire Steals
all of your wealth or has it stolen, Dedicate to him your body, your
possessions And your virtue, past, present and future -- This is the
practice of Bodhisattvas..... 13. Even if someone tries to cut off your
head When you have not done the slightest thing wrong, Out of
compassion take all his misdeeds Upon yourself -- This is the practice
of Bodhisattvas. 14. Even if someone broadcasts all kinds of unpleasant
remarks About you throughout the three thousand worlds, In return, with
a loving mind, Speak of his good qualities -- This is the practice of
Bodhisattvas..... 15. Though someone may deride and speak bad words
About you in a public gathering, Looking on him as a spiritual teacher,
Bow to him with respect -- This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.....
16. Even if a person for whom you have cared Like your own child
regards you as an enemy, Cherish him specially, like a mother Does her
child who is stricken with sickness -- This is the practice of
Bodhisattvas..... 17. If an equal or inferior person Disparages you out
of pride, Place him, as you would your spiritual teacher, With respect
on the crown of your head -- This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.....
18. Though you lack what you need and are constantly disparaged,
Afflicted by dangerous sickness and spirits, Without discouragement
take on the misdeeds And the pain of all living beings -- This is the
practice of Bodhisattvas..... 19. Though you become famous and many bow
to you, And you gain riches to equal Vaishravana's, See that worldly
fortune is without essence, And do not be conceited -- This is the
practice of Bodhisattvas..... 20. While the enemy of your own anger is
not subdued Though you conquer external foes, they will only increase.
Therefore with the militia of love and compassion Subdue your own mind
-- This is the practice of Bodhisattvas....... 21. Sensual pleasures are
like saltwater: The more you indulge, the more thirst increases.
Abandon at once those things which breed Clinging attachment -- This is
the practice of Bodhisattvas...... 22. Whatever appears is your own
mind. Your mind from the start is free from fabricated extremes.
Understanding this, do not take to mind [inherent] signs of subject and
object. This is the practice of Bodhisattvas..... 23. When you
encounter attractive objects, Though they seem beautiful Like a rainbow
in summer, do not regard them as real, and give up attachment. This is
the practice of Bodhisattvas..... 24. All forms of suffering are like a
child's death in a dream. Holding illusory appearances to be true makes
you weary. Therefore, when you meet with disagreeable circumstances,
See them as illusory -- This is the practice of Bodhisattvas..... 25.
When those who want enlightenment must give even their body, There is
no need to mention external things. Therefore without hope of return or
any fruition Give generously -- This is the practice of
Bodhisattvas..... 26. Without ethics you cannot accomplish your own
wellbeing, So wanting to accomplish others' is laughable. Therefore
without worldly aspirations Safeguard your ethical discipline -- This
is the practice of Bodhisattvas..... 27. To Bodhisattvas who want a
wealth of virtue Those who harm are like a precious treasure. Therefore
towards all cultivate patience Without hostility -- This is the
practice of Bodhisattvas..... 28. Seeing even Hearers and Solitary
Realizers, who accomplish only their own good, Strive as if to put out
a fire on their head, For the sake of all beings make joyful effort
Toward the source of all good qualities -- This is the practice of
Bodhisattvas..... 29. Understanding that disturbing emotions are
destroyed By special insight with calm abiding, Cultivate concentration
which surpasses The four formless absorptions -- This is the practice
of Bodhisattvas..... 30. Since five perfections without wisdom Cannot
bring perfect enlightenment, Along with skillful means cultivate the
wisdom which does not conceive the Three spheres [as real] -- This is
the practice of Bodhisattvas..... 31. If you do not examine your
errors, You may look like a practitioner but not act as one. Therefore,
always examining your own errors, Rid yourself of them -- This is the
practice of Bodhisattvas..... 32. If through the influence of
disturbing emotions You point out the faults of another Bodhisattva,
You yourself are diminished, so do not mention the faults Of those who
have entered the Great Vehicle -- This is the practice of
Bodhisattvas..... 33. Reward and respect cause us to quarrel And make
hearing, thinking and meditating decline. For this reason give up
attachment to the households of Friends, relations and benefactors --
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas...... 34. Harsh words disturb the
minds of others And cause deterioration in a Bodhisattva's conduct.
Therefore give up harsh words Which are unpleasant to others -- This is
the practice of Bodhisattvas..... 35. Habitual disturbing emotions are
hard to stop through counter actions. Armed with antidotes, the guards
of mindfulness and mental alertness Destroy disturbing emotions like
attachment at once, as soon as they arise -- This is the practice of
Bodhisattvas..... 36. In brief, whatever you are doing, Ask yourself,
"What is the state of my mind?" With constant mindfulness and mental
alertness Accomplish others' good -- This is the practice of
Bodhisattvas..... 37. To remove the suffering of limitless beings,
Understanding the purity of the three spheres, Dedicate the virtue from
making such effort to enlightenment -- This is the practice of
Bodhisattvas..... |
|
For all who
want to train on the Bodhisattva path, I have written The Thirty-seven
Practices of Bodhisattvas, Following what has been said by excellent
ones, On the meaning of sutras, tantras and treatises. Though not
poetically pleasing to scholars, Owing to my poor intelligence and lack
of learning, I have relied on the sutras and the words of the
excellent, So I think these Bodhisattva practices are without error.
However, as the great deeds of Bodhisattvas, Are hard to fathom for one
of my poor intelligence, I beg the excellent to forgive all faults,
Such as contradictions and non sequiturs. Through the virtues from this
may all living beings, Gain the ultimate and conventional altruistic
intention, And thereby become like the Protector Chenrezig, Who dwells
in neither extreme -- not in the world nor in peace. This was written
for his own and others' benefit by the monk Togmay, an exponent of
scripture and reasoning, in a cave in Ngulchu Rinchen. |
|
Gyelsay Togmay
Sangpo (Geshe Sonam Rinchen) was the author of The Thirty-Seven
Practices of Bodhisattvas. He lived from 1295 to 1369, being born in
southwestern Tibet near Sakya. This work by him is about training the
mind. This means ridding ourselves completely of all disturbing
emotions and their imprints. At the very least it should help us to
prevent their coarser forms and gradually to decrease them. |
Confusion |
|
Confusion / by
Ngakpa Rig'dzin Dorje |
|
"Confusion in
dealing with the situation of life as a fixed thing seems to be a sane
approach. So what seems to be insane is enlightenment". - Vidyadhara
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. |
|
When some
monstrous towering tidal-wave of Form erupts out of Emptiness, and
hurtles towards one up the narrow gulf of karmic vision; or implodes
thunderously down into its own empty nature, sucking like a maelstrom
at the quaking core of one's being; there is a choice. It is always the
choiceless choice, between compassion and compulsion. One could simply
remain in the clear open dimension in which one is not separate from
the ocean, the wave and the maelstrom; because they are the
self-luminous nature of Mind, which joyously communicates itself. Or
one could follow the wavey grain of ingrained coping-strategy, up its
ever-dry river-bed into the arid back-country of the Six Realms, where
the ripples of one's wake coalesce, rebuild and relaunch the identical
hungry wave of one's nightmares....... A Sanskrit scholar recently
brought to my attention the word pritagjana, which he had found in the
commentaries to the Prajnaparamita Sutras. It is a reference to
unenlightened people, and it literally means 'separate people' or
'separation people'. In the words of the Heart Sutra, the heart of
Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen: "Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is Form. Form
is not other than Emptiness; Emptiness not other than Form." If one
tends to lack confidence in the open dimension, the reflex is to look
away from the vastness of one's inherent enlightenment, in the hope
that one might be able to locate some more concrete form of security
elsewhere. To possess that would mean separating Form from Emptiness,
which is impossible; but the effort in itself is what curdles the
ever-youthful freshness of ecstatic atheism into a search for happiness
'somewhere else'. This is taking refuge in activity which ironically
divides one against oneself. Such is the characteristic nature of what
is called samsara, 'circling'; because, as the English playwright Tom
Stoppard put it, "A circle is the longest way back to the same place."
There is no life-crisis which is not fundamentally this....... Whether
Buddhism can offer any kind of resource in the circumstances has to
depend, first of all, on whether one is a Buddhist. This is not an idle
point: it depends on whether Buddhism is one's Refuge. "The Refuge that
one may recite is not the Refuge itself". The ultimate Refuge would be
never to lose confidence in self-knowing inseparable Mind-and-Space.
Then, attraction, aversion or indifference could only arise as non-dual
experience within the nature of mind, one's essential condition, beyond
the tension of trying to keep subject and object divided. Only the
liberated karmas of the Buddhas would then apply: increasing,
pacifying, controlling and destroying, directed spontaneously towards
whatever situation arose, whatever beings were in need. That option
would be actual compassion, appropriate activity, the spontaneous,
choiceless reflex of Wisdom-Mind. |
Heart and Mind |
|
Among the Major
Religious Traditions of the world, Buddhism has continued as a living
tradition for over 2,500 years. It was founded in the East by
Shakyamuni Buddha, yet that fact does not mean that Buddhism is simply
an oriental custom or culture. From a Buddhist point of view,
spirituality is basic and fundamental to all people without exception.
Each person has the inherent potential to attain the highest possible
sanity--the complete awakened mind. What is introduced through Buddhism
is the means to recognize and experience this potential, no matter who
we are. It is important to recognize that true spirituality can be
assimilated into and permeate a culture, but on the other hand a
particular set of customs and beliefs cannot become assimilated into
what is spiritual. Since Buddhism addresses what is basically and
fundamentally true of the phenomenal world and our own existence, it is
not confined to a set of beliefs or customs designed for a particular
group or locality....... There are two ways in which we can relate to
the phenomenal world and to ourselves. One point of view is the way we
normally perceive the phenomenal world and ourselves, and the other is
the point of view of knowing things as they really are, fundamentally
and ultimately. Most of the time our relationship to the world around
us accords not with its basic nature but with our perceptions of it. We
do not experience our own basic nature, the potential for the
completely awakened state of mind; instead we experience only what we
see. The result is that we experience tremendous conflict in our lives.
No matter how hard we try to work things out, there is always disorder
and dissatisfaction, always something missing. No matter how much we
seem to have accomplished, there is still more to achieve. This
dissatisfaction continues and its scale increases, because what we are
fundamentally and how we perceive are not the same....... When we act
according to our mistaken perception of the world and cling to it as
fundamentally true, we react to chaos and dissatisfaction as if it came
from the outside. We feel threatened or victimized by external
situations, and feel that we must run away from the causes of
dissatisfaction. Our confusion is compounded by the fact that we take
these problems to be very real. We try many different means to escape,
but never really think about the possibility of working with
ourselves....... There might be a more workable situation if we began
to work with our own existence rather than some external reference
point. Our present situation includes both the object outside,
something to be held by consciousness, and consciousness itself, which
holds and acknowledges, accepts or rejects these objects. We fail to
recognize this dual involvement of subject and object, fail to
recognize that it is not simply the thing out there, on its own, that
is threatening us and causing chaos, and so we blame the object as the
cause of our chaos, our problems, our dissatisfactions. When we begin
to have some sense of the relation between subject and object, we may
begin to see that it is our own mental projections that are reflected
back into our mind. Instead of recognizing them as our own, however, we
think of them as problems existing outside of us and try to work them
out externally. The fact that the chaos and dissatisfaction continue
shows that going along with our perceptions is really mistaken.......
The Tibetan word for Buddhism, nangpa, has the meaning of
internalizing, indicating that we need to turn inward and work within
ourselves. By doing so and gaining a clearer sense of who we really
are, we develop a sense of our existence as it relates to all that
surrounds us. If we look outside and try to figure out what is out
there based on confused mental projections, we will never recognize who
we are. What is fundamentally true is that the experience of pain or
pleasure is not so much what is happening externally as it is what is
happening internally: the experience of pain or pleasure is mainly a
state of mind. Whether we experience the world as enlightened or
confused depends on our state of mind....... Another cause of our
confusion is a misunderstanding of how things originate. As far as our
relationship to the world is concerned, this phenomenal world exists
based on interdependent origination. Nothing whatsoever, not even the
most minute particle, exists independently or permanently on its own.
No matter how truly, how permanently, or how reliably an object may
seem to exist, as far as the true nature of world and phenomena are
concerned, it lacks true existence. This also applies to our own mind.
When we relate to the phenomenal world from a point of view contrary to
its real nature, we create problems for ourselves....... From a
Buddhist point of view, any problem, any dissatisfaction comes directly
from ourselves. We must understand this in order to establish a healthy
basis for our lives and come to see dissatisfaction as an expression of
our mental habits. We have become addicted to these patterns, because
we have not recognized our own resources. We have inherited a basic
richness and wealth, but through habitual clinging, we have acted
contrary to who we are and what we have, and so experience conflict. It
is like a child who has been spoiled: the child did not start out that
way, but was exposed to all kinds of influences that made him or her
into a spoiled child....... It is also interesting to recognize that we
constantly go about making the claim that 'I' am doing this or that,
but the basic expression of our life in the world is that we are
completely powerless. We have no control, as our thinking and knowing
mind is constantly distracted. We have no real knowledge or memory of
what is happening. We are a machine run by the play of external
phenomena, by the glamour of what we see, and yet we maintain the
fixation that 'I' am doing it, that 'I' am in charge of any particular
situation. When we have proper mindfulness--an alert and attentive
mind--then we really begin to have power, in the sense that we
understand what is happening within and around us. It is a matter of
being alive or not being alive. The way we run our lives seems like an
enormous joke, as if each one of us were a big, important leader in
name and credentials, but had no power at all and didn't even know what
was happening. We certainly do have a big name, 'I.' 'I' wants the
world to know 'me' but it is all parroting, the machine is being
operated from behind, because there is no alertness, no sense of being
present or really alive. Our life is governed, dictated by our habits
of confusion, obscuration, and distraction....... In order to change
this situation, Buddhism introduces the skillful means of meditation
practice. We must begin to learn to sit with ourselves and feel more
comfortable with who we are. Meditation practice does not mean that we
have something to meditate upon, or that something new or totally
different is going to happen in our lives....... Meditation simply
means cultivating a wholesome and sane habit, which becomes an antidote
for the unwholesome, confused, destructive habits that we have
developed. Meditation practice enables us to experience our own
thinking and knowing. Meditation is mindfulness, and in order to
experience this we must repeatedly apply the methods, because any
habit, wholesome or unwholesome, is developed by repetition....... In
short, Buddhism is something universal, based on what is fundamentally
true of the world and ourselves, no matter who we are, what problems we
might have, or what our particular historical background might be. |
|
This teaching
was given by His Eminence at NY State University, Albany, on October 7,
1985. It was translated by Ngodup Burkhar and edited by Laura Roth, and
appeared in Densal Vol. 7 No. 1. |
OM MANI PADME HUM |
|
OM MANI PADME
HUM / By His Holiness the Dalai Lama |
|
It is very good
to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you
should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables
is great and vast. The first, Om is composed of three letters, A, U,
and M. These symbolize the practitioner's impure body, speech, and
mind; they also symbolize the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a
Buddha.......... Can impure body, speech, and mind be transformed into
pure body, speech, and mind, or are they entirely separate? All Buddhas
are cases of beings who were like ourselves and then in dependence on
the path became enlightened; Buddhism does not assert that there is
anyone who from the beginning is free from faults and possesses all
good qualities. The development of pure body, speech, and mind comes
from gradually leaving the impure states arid their being transformed
into the pure.......... How is this done? The path is indicated by the
next four syllables. Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of
method-the altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and
love. Just as a jewel is capable of removing poverty, so the altruistic
mind of enlightenment is capable of removing the poverty, or
difficulties, of cyclic existence and of solitary peace. Similarly,
just as a jewel fulfills the wishes of sentient beings, so the
altruistic intention to become enlightened fulfills the wishes of
sentient beings.......... The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus,
symbolize wisdom. Just as a lotus grows forth from mud but is not
sullied by the faults of mud, so wisdom is capable of putting you in a
situation of non-contradiction whereas there would be contradiction if
you did not have wisdom. There is wisdom realizing impermanence, wisdom
realizing that persons are empty, of being self-sufficient or
substantially existent, wisdom that realizes the emptiness of
duality-that is to say, of difference of entity between subject an
object-and wisdom that realizes the emptiness of inherent existence.
Though there are many different types of wisdom, the main of all these
is the wisdom realizing emptiness.......... Purity must be achieved by
an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final
syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility. According to the sutra
system, this indivisibility of method and wisdom refers to wisdom
affected by method and method affected by wisdom. In the mantra, or
tantric, vehicle, it refers to one consciousness in which there is the
full form of both wisdom and method as one undifferentiable entity. In
terms of the seed syllables of the five Conqueror Buddhas, hum is the
seed syllable of Akshobhya - the immovable, the unfluctuating, that
which cannot be disturbed by anything.......... Thus the six syllables,
om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path
which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform
your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech,
and mind of a Buddha. It is said that you should not seek for
Buddhahood outside of yourself; the substances for the achievement of
Buddhahood are within. As Maitreya says in his Sublime Continuum of the
Great Vehicle (Uttaratantra), all beings naturally have the Buddha
nature in their own continuum. We have within us the seed of purity,
the essence of a One Gone Thus (Tathagatagarbha), that is to be
transformed and fully developed into Buddhahood. |
THE DHARMA TREE |
|
The Dharma Tree
/ An Essay by Prof. R.P. Hayes |
|
This message is
for relative beginners to Buddhism. It may be insufficiently
sophisticated for the tastes of advanced practitioners, seasoned
scholars and self-styled lobsters. It is also long, so you may wish to
print it out and read it at your leisure....... Buddhism comes in a
bewildering variety of schools and traditions, and a newcomer can spend
quite some time being lost in apparently meaningless detail. Even after
thirty years of studying Buddhism as an academic and practicing in
several different traditions, I still find myself overwhelmed by the
complexity of it all and have long since resigned myself to having a
very superficial understanding of most of Buddhism and an only slightly
less superficial understanding of a few specific traditions. So, since
my understanding is superficial, it may be of some use to a few others
who are also just beginning to scratch the surface....... It is helpful
to think of Buddhism by picturing a very large and old tree. Such a
tree usually has a single trunk, a number of main branches rising out
of the trunk, some limbs on each branch, some twigs on each limb and
some leaves on each twig. Beneath the surface of the earth is a root
system that, like the part above the ground, branches into ever smaller
units....... In imagining such a tree, think first of the single trunk
that arises out of the roots and that supports all the many branches,
limbs and twigs. This trunk is the action of going for refuge. It is
the one thing that every Buddhist does, and it is the most important
aspect of any Buddhist's study and practice. Every doctrine within
Buddhism, every school and every practice can be seen as a particular
outgrowth of this one essential action, which a Buddhist repeats again
and again, namely, the action of going for refuge. In Pali this action
is called sarana-gamana. Gamana means going. Sarana means shelter,
support, help or guidance. Going for refuge to something means going to
it for help and guidance and support. Almost invariably, it is
something that one first does as a result of some crisis in one's life,
some bit of unwelcome reality that one just cannot deal adequately with
on one's own. So one turns to something outside oneself for help.......
What makes a Buddhist a Buddhist is not just the fact of going for
refuge. Most people go for refuge to something or another:
acquaintances, alcohol, their careers, drugs, education, entertainment,
experts, family, physical fitness clubs, psychiatrists, religion,
sexual conquests, study, support groups, travel, or even the zoo. What
makes a Buddhist a Buddhist is that he or she goes for refuge to the
Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha....... The three principal roots of
the tree, therefore, are the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. But
there is not any one single meaning to any of these words. Each of them
has many meanings to a Buddhist, so we can imagine each of the three
main roots in the root system sending out branches. To describe each
main root in detail is not necessary just now. Let's just sketch out
each one briefly....... The central root is the Dharma. This word has
several meanings. The most important meaning in a Buddhist context is
Nirvana, which is seen by all Buddhists as the greatest possible good.
Nirvana means the eradication (uprooting) of the root causes of all
dissatisfaction. All Buddhists are striving for that final elimination
of dissatisfaction. So that is the principal meaning of dharma. But the
word Dharma also means that which helps one to achieve that final goal
of Nirvana. What helps one to achieve that goal is a positive and
healthy mentality; a single word for that is the word "virtue". So a
secondary meaning of the word "dharma" is "virtue" in the sense of good
character. But "dharma" also means that which helps one acquire virtue.
So a tertiary meaning of "dharma" is a teaching. Any teachings that
help one achieve Nirvana can be considered dharma, but usually
Buddhists take refuge especially in the teachings preserved in the
Sutras (recorded sermons and conversations of the Buddha and his most
trusted male and female disciples) and in the Vinaya (the disciplinary
code for monks and nuns, people who renounced the household life in
order to dedicate all their time and energy to working for
Dharma)....... The other two main roots are the Buddha and the Sangha.
There are several different views about what exactly the nature of a
Buddha is, but everyone agrees that there have been many Buddhas
throughout history and that the most recent was Siddhartha Gautama (or
in Pali, Siddhattha Gotama), also know as the silent sage (muni) of the
Sakiya (Sanskrit, Shakya) people; the Sakiyas were a tribal people,
probably racially and certainly culturally distinct from the Aryans. So
when Siddhartha Gautama went into the cities of Benares and so forth in
the Ganges valley, he probably looked and talked like a foreigner and
acted in ways that people found a bit odd. There are several texts in
which people comment on the fact that he is a barbarian and therefore
unworthy of the kind of respect that one normally shows to civilized
people. But, despite his foreign origins and a certain amount of
prejudice against him, the Buddha managed to win the respect of quite a
few important people, including several Kings and military leaders and
wealthy merchants and learned scholars of his day. All of these people
respected him as a teacher and guide. So when one goes for refuge to
the Buddha, one honours him as the best teacher of human beings and
gods, the finest man to walk on two feet. In other words, he is a
Buddhist's principal role model....... The word "Sangha" means a group
or community. The Sangha to which a Buddhist goes for refuge is the
ariya-sangha, which means the Noble Community of people who have
attained insight and virtue and who have either attained or come very
close to attaining Nirvana. It is important to realize that not all
members of the Noble Community are monks or nuns, and that not all
monks or nuns are members of the Noble Community. So a Buddhist does
not go for refuge to the community of monks or nuns or even to the
community of people who declare themselves to be Buddhists, but to the
community of all excellent people everywhere whose insight and purity
of character is significantly superior to that of the average human
being. The word "Sangha" can also refer to other communities, such as
the community of monks (bhikkhu-sangha), the community of nuns
(bhikkhuni-sangha), the community of householders who support the monks
and nuns (upasaka-sangha) and to the entire community of people who
heard the Buddha and formally went to him for refuge (savaka-sangha).
Sometimes some Buddhists find it convenient to think of the community
of Buddhists as a whole as a kind of concrete symbol of the much more
abstract notion of the Noble Sangha of excellent people to which they
go for refuge....... These three roots support the trunk of the tree,
which is the single act of going for refuge, the essence of Buddhism as
an organized religion. There are many different ways of going for
refuge. Ultimately, you could say that there are as many ways as there
have been individual Buddhists throughout the history of Buddhism,
because ultimately going for refuge is an individual decision that each
individual has to figure out how to put into practice is his or her
life. We can think of the individual Buddhists as the leaves on the
tree. Leaves grow on twigs attached to limbs that grow out of branches
out of the main trunk. So now let's look at the main branches.......
The branches of the tree can be seen as being based mostly on
collections of books that are believed to contain teachings of the
Buddha and his most trusted disciples (and disciples of his disciples
down through the ages). One main branch was known as the Savaka
(Sanskrit Shravaka) branch. These people chose to base their practice
on doctrines that were believed by everyone to be the public teachings
of the Buddha to his monks and lay disciples. At one time there were
many limbs of this Savaka branch, but only one of them has lived to
modern times. That is the limb known as Theravada, which means the
teachings of the elders. An elder is a monk who has been ordained for a
minimum of ten years and who is acknowledged to have attained insight.
Officially, the Theravada school is based only on what has been
transmitted by these elders down through the ages. This body of
teachings have been preserved in a pali, a word that means a straight
line. The English word "canon" comes from a Greek word meaning a
straight line or a straight-edge, so early translators of Buddhist
texts translated the word "pali" as "canon" and redundantly named the
works of this school the Pali Canon. The language in which that canon
is preserved is called the Pali language. While many Theravadin
teachers admire and study and refer to individuals and writings that
are not in the Pali canon, the framework within which all teachings are
interpreted is provided by the Pali canon. The Theravada school exists
nowadays in Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon), Myanmar (formerly
called Burma), Thailand (formerly called Siam), Laos, Cambodia and
parts of Vietnam....... A second branch of the tree is one that itself
immediately branches into a lot of different limbs. What all the limbs
on this branch have in common is that they accept the authority of
texts that the Shravaka branch explicitly rejected as being the
teachings of the historical Buddha. This branch can be called the
Mahayana branch. The number of Mahayana texts is so large that no one
can hope to read them all within a single lifetime, so usually Mahayana
Buddhists specialize by focusing on just a few texts or sometimes only
one text. The Zen school, for example, is said to have originally been
based on the transmission of one text, called the Lankavatara Sutra
(the full title of which means the introduction of the true dharma into
Sri Lanka, a country that had both Theravada and Mahayana branches of
Buddhism). The so-called Pure Land schools of Buddhism were based on
texts describing beautiful realms into which one could be reborn in
order to pursue dharma more easily than is possible in our difficult
world. There are several twigs growing out of a limb known as Lotus
Buddhism, which is based on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, a sutra
that attempts to reconcile all the branches of Buddhism into one; one
of the best known twigs on this limb is Nichiren Buddhism, out of which
has grown a twiglet known as Soka Gakkai International, which has made
quite an impact in the United States (and throughout the world) through
its energetic proselytizing. Quite a lot of these limbs intertwine and
grown together in various ways, rather like the tangled mess of a
banyan tree or a briar patch....... Mahayana Buddhism once thrived in
China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia. It is now very weak in
China and has been for most of this century. It has completely
disappeared from Indonesia, which is now a Muslim country. Only about
one-third of the population of Korea is still Buddhist; the majority of
Koreans are now Christians. In Vietnam, there is now one single form of
Buddhism, which resulted from combining Theravada and Mahayana into a
single school. It has been considerably weakened by all the wars and
revolutions in that country, and by the recent passion for
modernization. In Japan interest in Buddhism is rapidly declining in
most sectors of the population and is being displaced by hundreds of
so-called New Religions (some of which pay at least a token respect to
something vaguely Buddhist in character). It is quite possible that
Mahayana Buddhism could disappear from Asia within the next twenty-five
years. Sadly, this once-strong and healthy branch is now rotting and
may collapse of its own weight....... The third branch of the tree is
the Vajra branch. (It might be more accurate to say this is a limb
growing out of Mahayana, but it has become distinctive enough to be
regarded now as a separate branch unto itself.) The word vajra means a
clap of thunder. It also means a diamond. The texts upon which this
branch is based are known as tantras, so this form of Buddhism is also
called Tantric Buddhism. Tantras are usually written in a kind of code
so that their meaning is not apparent to someone who has not been
initiated into them. Unlike other forms of Buddhism, tantric Buddhism
is therefore esoteric. One cannot study it or practice it without a
special teacher, who confers special baptisms (abhisheka) that give
people a special grace or power by which they can put the teachings
into practice. Tantric Buddhism is the main form of Buddhism in Tibet
and Mongolia (which got it from Tibet). There are also tantric forms of
Buddhism in China, which in turn transmitted tantric forms to Vietnam,
Korea and Japan. Even forms of Buddhism that are not strictly speaking
purely tantric (if there is such a thing) have been influenced by
tantric thinking and some tantric practices. So, for example,
Vietnamese Buddhism is now a very interesting and healthy synthesis of
Theravada, several limbs of Mahayana such as Zen and Pure Land and
scholasticism, and tantric Buddhism. Korean Buddhism is now a synthesis
of Zen, Pure Land and various scholastic forms of Mahayana Buddhism,
with elements of tantra appearing here and there....... The roots, the
single trunk and the branches have now all been explained. All that
remains is to discuss what the whole tree is made of. It is made of two
ingredients, wood and sap. The wood, which is the substantial core of
all Buddhism, is Wisdom. The sap, which keeps the tree alive by
transmitting nourishment from the deep roots to the individual leaves,
is Compassion. Without the sap of compassion running throughout the
tree, the whole tree would quickly die. Without the wood of wisdom, the
sap would have no means of flowing and would quickly evaporate. So
neither can be seen as more essential than the other. The two together
are the life force of the tree of dharma. |
|
If I may, I
would like to end by recommending two books, one that is full of
information, and the other that has tips about practice. Both are
easily ordered through your local bookstore or directly from their
publisher, Windhorse Publications....... Andrew Skilton. "A Concise
History of Buddhism." Windhorse Publications, 1994. [Offers an
intelligent and readable thumbnail sketch of the different branches of
Buddhism and their spread into different geographical areas within
India and then outside India]...... Paramananda, "Changing Your Mind."
Windhorse Publications, 1997. [A very readable, informative and
practical guide to traditional Buddhist meditational practices, written
especially for modern Westerners.]...... The address of Windhorse
Publications in England is Unit 1-316 The Custard Factory Gibb Street
Birmingham B9 4AA...... In America the address of the main distributor
is: 14 Heartwood Circle Newmarket, NH 03957 |
Namo Amitabha
Life’s most
awesome event is death, and death comes to all without regard to wealth, beauty, intelligence or fame.
Death is inevitable, but how you die—terrified and confused, or with confidence and spiritual
mastery—is within your control.
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