[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
how you think now.
There is also a nationalistic-mind. "My country is the best." All these concep-
tualistic minds should be dropped when it comes to the Dharma. Dharma prac-
tice does not require a party-mind, a leader-mind, or a nationalistic mind.
The Buddha taught the 35 Buddhas practice with all three sections of practice.
It is from the Sutra of the Buddha. It was taught by the Buddha to sentient be-
ings for them to become enlightened. And we are the ones who want to be en-
lightened, aren t we? We have chosen the Buddha s teachings as opposed to
those of Jesus, Mohammed, or Krishna. The three sections of practices to the
35 Buddhas, which have now been presented to you, are very effective in help-
ing you to attain enlightenment. This is the reason why the Buddha taught
them. The lineage of this practice has been passed down to us unbroken, and it
is a practice within the Mahamudra lineage.
You should do the practice. When you do, try not to apply the party-mind of
worldly thinking. This means you should not think that you belong to
Kagyüpa, Nyingmapa, Sakyapa, or Gelugpa..., etc. Don t bring the group-
mind into it. You are here now for enlightenment, that is your focus. You want
to purify your bad karma so you use an effective way to achieve the desired re-
sult. The Dharma is not a competition for market share between companies
like Suzuki versus Toyota. That kind of mentality is not needed here. Rather,
your only concern is to be cured of your sickness, which is your only objective.
Here, your sickness encompasses samsara, bad karma, negative emotions, and
ignorance. They are your problems, so you want to apply the right methods to
be rid of them.
You should not discriminate among the Buddhas. You should not be like the
followers of Sarasvati (goddess of wisdom). They refuse to pray to Norjuma, or
WWW.BODHIPATH.DK 78
Lakshmi (goddess of wealth). Why? It is because both Sarasvati and Lakshmi have
the same husband. Both devis are married to one god, the king of Desa, which is a
kind of Asura realm. Followers of this religion believe that by praying to Lakshmi,
Sarasvati would kill them out of jealousy. For the same reason, those who follow
Lakshmi also do not follow Sarasvati. But Buddhism is for enlightenment, so you
will have no problems with the Buddhas. There are no problems between them. So,
there is no need to worry about shifting .
The approach to the Dharma for enlightenment should be: first, engender Bodhi-
citta towards all sentient beings. Second, focus on enlightenment by knowing the
method-practices, and the wisdom-practices. A method-practice is for the accumula-
tion of merit. And a wisdom-practice aims for enlightenment that comes from your
own mind.
The worldly mind should never be applied to the path of enlightenment. Worldly
mind means self-clinging, or ego, which entails a lot of discrimination in the mind.
If you apply it to Dharma practice, you will never achieve a good result. Everybody
should be clear about this point. Forget the worl
*******
WWW.BODHIPATH.DK 79
The Bodhisattva Vow
I will begin with a short instruction on the Bodhisattva Vow and then I
will give the Vow.
'Bodhi' means enlightenment, and 'sattva' means a mind committed to en-
lightenment, or a mind that has the courage to attain enlightenment.
The three kinds of Bodhisattvas
There are three different kinds of Bodhisattvas according to one's motiva-
tion. A shepherd's motivation is to first take care of the sheep, and then one-
self. A Bodhisattva with a shepherd's motivation therefore tries to liberate all
sentient beings first, and then achieve enlightenment oneself. The second
kind of Bodhisattva is like a boatman or sailor, where everyone including
oneself are in a boat, and cross the water together to get to the other shore.
The third kind is like a king where one becomes a king first, and then pro-
tects one's people.
These three distinctions in motivation will come into play only when a Bod-
hisattva has reached the higher level of the Path of Accumulation and the
Path of Junction, or the Path of Application. Only when he has come to these
levels of achievement will he have some freedom to choose how to proceed
through the Buddha, or Bodhi levels. Until then, a Bodhisattva embraces one
of these three motivations as an inner commitment.
When a Bodhisattva attains the final level of the concentration practice, his
mind will be very flexible and powerful, very clear and stable. With the sup-
port of this stability of mind, his mind will develop prajna, or wisdom. This
wisdom mind is like a bright light that clears away the darkness. In this con-
text, prajna means Lhakthong, insight, or 'the meditative absorption in the
perfection of wisdom'. However, he is not yet on any of the Bodhisattva bhu-
mis. The Bodhisattva will use prajna to hit the different defilements as if they
were targets, to ignite and to eliminate them. In other words, he will apply
his wisdom against the many different nyönmongpas, or defilements, or dis-
turbing states of mind. Like shining a spotlight on each defilement, he is
then able to know every single one by knowing its essence. Prajna removes
defilements just like the light eliminates darkness.
There is, however, one small attachment to the body that is not targeted for
elimination. Instead, a Bodhisattva keeps it to use it. And it is the desire be-
tween the male and female genders. Sexual desire is the cause of rebirth,
even though a good or bad rebirth depends on other karmas. The sexual de-
sire for rebirth does not refer to any sexual misconduct. It is the sexual desire
that is natural, which the Bodhisattvas use for the purpose of rebirth. The
shepherd-minded Bodhisattvas use it. They want to stay longer in the realms
of sentient beings. They like to be with the beings in order to help them.
Therefore, they won't particularly eliminate this habit from their minds.
However, it does not mean at all that they would engage wildly in it.
The Arhats in the Theravada, on the other hand, train to eliminate every-
thing, to cut off any cause for rebirth. Their accomplishment would see a
WWW.BODHIPATH.DK 80
complete breakthrough to attain a level called 'no more return to samsara'. Hav-
ing not much involvement with sentient beings, Arhats have not conscientiously
accumulated merit, since merit comes from extending help to sentient beings.
The main causes of being helpful to sentient beings come about in two ways. The
first is through the dedication of merit: you make wishes to be helpful yourself,
and you make wishes that are beneficial for beings. An example: "I want to be
like this and this, in order to be helpful to sentient being." In Shantideva's 'A
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life', there is a chapter on how Bodhisattvas
make wishes. The second cause is to actively help beings through actual actions.
Such actions include the giving of food to animals, up to the practice of limitless
generosity.
By joining the causes and wishes together, and using the natural desire for re- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl wyciskamy.pev.pl
how you think now.
There is also a nationalistic-mind. "My country is the best." All these concep-
tualistic minds should be dropped when it comes to the Dharma. Dharma prac-
tice does not require a party-mind, a leader-mind, or a nationalistic mind.
The Buddha taught the 35 Buddhas practice with all three sections of practice.
It is from the Sutra of the Buddha. It was taught by the Buddha to sentient be-
ings for them to become enlightened. And we are the ones who want to be en-
lightened, aren t we? We have chosen the Buddha s teachings as opposed to
those of Jesus, Mohammed, or Krishna. The three sections of practices to the
35 Buddhas, which have now been presented to you, are very effective in help-
ing you to attain enlightenment. This is the reason why the Buddha taught
them. The lineage of this practice has been passed down to us unbroken, and it
is a practice within the Mahamudra lineage.
You should do the practice. When you do, try not to apply the party-mind of
worldly thinking. This means you should not think that you belong to
Kagyüpa, Nyingmapa, Sakyapa, or Gelugpa..., etc. Don t bring the group-
mind into it. You are here now for enlightenment, that is your focus. You want
to purify your bad karma so you use an effective way to achieve the desired re-
sult. The Dharma is not a competition for market share between companies
like Suzuki versus Toyota. That kind of mentality is not needed here. Rather,
your only concern is to be cured of your sickness, which is your only objective.
Here, your sickness encompasses samsara, bad karma, negative emotions, and
ignorance. They are your problems, so you want to apply the right methods to
be rid of them.
You should not discriminate among the Buddhas. You should not be like the
followers of Sarasvati (goddess of wisdom). They refuse to pray to Norjuma, or
WWW.BODHIPATH.DK 78
Lakshmi (goddess of wealth). Why? It is because both Sarasvati and Lakshmi have
the same husband. Both devis are married to one god, the king of Desa, which is a
kind of Asura realm. Followers of this religion believe that by praying to Lakshmi,
Sarasvati would kill them out of jealousy. For the same reason, those who follow
Lakshmi also do not follow Sarasvati. But Buddhism is for enlightenment, so you
will have no problems with the Buddhas. There are no problems between them. So,
there is no need to worry about shifting .
The approach to the Dharma for enlightenment should be: first, engender Bodhi-
citta towards all sentient beings. Second, focus on enlightenment by knowing the
method-practices, and the wisdom-practices. A method-practice is for the accumula-
tion of merit. And a wisdom-practice aims for enlightenment that comes from your
own mind.
The worldly mind should never be applied to the path of enlightenment. Worldly
mind means self-clinging, or ego, which entails a lot of discrimination in the mind.
If you apply it to Dharma practice, you will never achieve a good result. Everybody
should be clear about this point. Forget the worl
*******
WWW.BODHIPATH.DK 79
The Bodhisattva Vow
I will begin with a short instruction on the Bodhisattva Vow and then I
will give the Vow.
'Bodhi' means enlightenment, and 'sattva' means a mind committed to en-
lightenment, or a mind that has the courage to attain enlightenment.
The three kinds of Bodhisattvas
There are three different kinds of Bodhisattvas according to one's motiva-
tion. A shepherd's motivation is to first take care of the sheep, and then one-
self. A Bodhisattva with a shepherd's motivation therefore tries to liberate all
sentient beings first, and then achieve enlightenment oneself. The second
kind of Bodhisattva is like a boatman or sailor, where everyone including
oneself are in a boat, and cross the water together to get to the other shore.
The third kind is like a king where one becomes a king first, and then pro-
tects one's people.
These three distinctions in motivation will come into play only when a Bod-
hisattva has reached the higher level of the Path of Accumulation and the
Path of Junction, or the Path of Application. Only when he has come to these
levels of achievement will he have some freedom to choose how to proceed
through the Buddha, or Bodhi levels. Until then, a Bodhisattva embraces one
of these three motivations as an inner commitment.
When a Bodhisattva attains the final level of the concentration practice, his
mind will be very flexible and powerful, very clear and stable. With the sup-
port of this stability of mind, his mind will develop prajna, or wisdom. This
wisdom mind is like a bright light that clears away the darkness. In this con-
text, prajna means Lhakthong, insight, or 'the meditative absorption in the
perfection of wisdom'. However, he is not yet on any of the Bodhisattva bhu-
mis. The Bodhisattva will use prajna to hit the different defilements as if they
were targets, to ignite and to eliminate them. In other words, he will apply
his wisdom against the many different nyönmongpas, or defilements, or dis-
turbing states of mind. Like shining a spotlight on each defilement, he is
then able to know every single one by knowing its essence. Prajna removes
defilements just like the light eliminates darkness.
There is, however, one small attachment to the body that is not targeted for
elimination. Instead, a Bodhisattva keeps it to use it. And it is the desire be-
tween the male and female genders. Sexual desire is the cause of rebirth,
even though a good or bad rebirth depends on other karmas. The sexual de-
sire for rebirth does not refer to any sexual misconduct. It is the sexual desire
that is natural, which the Bodhisattvas use for the purpose of rebirth. The
shepherd-minded Bodhisattvas use it. They want to stay longer in the realms
of sentient beings. They like to be with the beings in order to help them.
Therefore, they won't particularly eliminate this habit from their minds.
However, it does not mean at all that they would engage wildly in it.
The Arhats in the Theravada, on the other hand, train to eliminate every-
thing, to cut off any cause for rebirth. Their accomplishment would see a
WWW.BODHIPATH.DK 80
complete breakthrough to attain a level called 'no more return to samsara'. Hav-
ing not much involvement with sentient beings, Arhats have not conscientiously
accumulated merit, since merit comes from extending help to sentient beings.
The main causes of being helpful to sentient beings come about in two ways. The
first is through the dedication of merit: you make wishes to be helpful yourself,
and you make wishes that are beneficial for beings. An example: "I want to be
like this and this, in order to be helpful to sentient being." In Shantideva's 'A
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life', there is a chapter on how Bodhisattvas
make wishes. The second cause is to actively help beings through actual actions.
Such actions include the giving of food to animals, up to the practice of limitless
generosity.
By joining the causes and wishes together, and using the natural desire for re- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]