The
Teaching of Preliminary Practices
by Tulku Pema Rinpoche on Friday, Saturday and Sunday
6th to 8th, October 2000 / 8:00pm eveynight.
4 Commom Foundations
(Human Form, Impermanance, Karma & Suffering)
4 Un-common Foundations (6 Refuge, Purification, Offering
& Guru Yoga)
Brief Commentary on 4 Foundation Training ( Tib. Ngöndro)
by
Khenpo Tsewang Gyatso;
As the foundation of the teachings of the Buddha Dharma,
Ngondrö consists of contemplation, insight, purification,
offering and devotion practices. First are what is known
as the outer preliminaries which turn the mind towards the
practice through contemplating the preciousness of human
birth, impermanence, suffering, how cause and effect ("karma")
works, and so on. Anyone Buddhist or not can practice the
outer preliminaries. Second, are the inner preliminaries.
This includes Refuge and Bodhicitta (loving-kindness practice),
the Manadala Offering, Vajrasattva Purification, and Guru
Yoga. Traditionally the student needs to complete 100,000
repetitions of each part of these preliminaries although
the master may require more or less as the master judges
from the student's capacity.
by
Venerable Kalu Rinpoche II;
In the Hevajra Tantra it is said that sentient beings are
buddhas, but, because of their obscurations they do not
recognize this. If sentient beings can dispel these obscurations,
they will become buddhas. There are two ways to do this.
One way is comprised of four practices that are called the
foundational practices in Tibetan Buddhism. These involve
an accumulation of prostrations, refuge vows, purification
mantras, mandala offerings, and supplications to the tsaway
lama. Additionally, this way focuses upon bringing the visualization
practice through the development and completion stages of
vajrayana meditation. The other way was evolved in the hinayana
traditions. It involves various methods of meditation that
fall into two main categories: zhinay (shamatha), or tranquility
meditation, comprised of methods with and without support;
and lhatong (vipashyana), or insight meditation, which includes
many different methods of meditative approach. Either way,
these methods can lead to the realization of mahamudra,
or true liberation.
In either approach, it is important to meditate using zhinay,
translated into English as tranquility. In defining the
two Tibetan words that represent the concept of zhinay,
we find the terms pacification and abiding. These refer
to the pacifying of the mind of its mental afflictions or
emotions, and through this the gaining of the ability to
abide with the mind resting one-pointedly. It is considered
that without some development of tranquility of mind, one
will not be able to perform any other kind of meditation.
This is the reason why zhinay is important. According to
one tradition, one begins by meditating upon zhinay before
one performs the foundational practices of Tibetan Buddhism,
while another tradition says that one should begin by performing
the foundational practices and there-after meditate upon
tranquility and insight.
The reasoning upon which both methods are based is equally
correct, thus either method may provide results. The effectiveness
of the first tradition lies in one beginning with mastering,
or at least experiencing, tranquility before commencing
the foundational practices; this procedure allows one to
gain control over one’s mind so that the objects of meditation
appear very clearly. The other tradition states that one
will not be able to perform zhinay properly without first
dispelling one’s obscurations through practices of purification,
thus accumulating the merit and wisdom gained from the foundational
practices. If one performs the zhinay practice after the
foundational practices, then one will be able to perform
excellent and effortless zhinay.
Both viewpoints are correct. In introducing these approaches
to recognizing the true nature of the mind, it is appropriate
to encourage you to strive within your abilities to grasp
these concepts and to apply them in your life. knowing a
little of the mind’s nature can be very beneficial, even
in a worldly sense. You can generally improve any meditation
practice you use by recognizing that the intense clinging
to a belief in a self (with its emotions, thoughts, etc.)
as being some-thing real makes it almost impossible to meditate.
If you wish to hold the mind in equipoise and meditate one-pointedly,
such clinging prevents this from happening. Even if you
wish to give rise to the very clear visualization of the
yidam, this dinging also veils your view. If, however, you
recognize and see mind’s true nature as emptiness, clarity,
and unimpeded awareness, then all meditation becomes easy.
