From Padmasambhava’s navel center, multicolored rays of light stream forth and dissolve into your previous three centers as well as your navel center. This light purifies the negative karma created through a combination of body, speech, and mind, especially the defilement of habitual tendencies. By being conferred this fourth or precious word empowerment, you’re authorized to practice the path of Trekchö, the primordial purity of cutting through, and of Tögal, the spontaneous presence of the direct crossing. And you are given the fortune to realize the fourth kaya, the essence body.
Now imagine that Guru Rinpoche dissolves into light, which becomes indivisible from yourself so that your body, speech, and mind are indivisible from Guru Rinpoche’s Body, Speech, and Mind.
The essence of your mind is empty, the dharmakaya nature. The cognizant quality of your nature is the sambhogakaya, while your unconfined capacity, the indivisibility of the previous two, is the nirmanakaya. By resting evenly in the state in which your very identity is indivisible from the three kayas of all the buddhas of the past, present, and future, you are inseparable from Guru Rinpoche himself. You take the innermost refuge, and again you repeat the refuge prayer.
At this point we should remain evenly for a short while in the very intent that is pointed out through the four empowerments, the awareness wisdom. When I ring the bell, let the mere hearing of this sound remind you of self-existing awareness, so that simultaneously with the hearing of the sound you simply lapse into the uninterrupted state of self-existing wakefulness. [Rinpoche rings the bell. Period of silence.]
You should have some sharpness of presence of awareness. [Rinpoche rings the bell again.]
[Period of silence.]
STUDENT: Don’t we always have to take the support of a teacher to make sure that our practice is correct?
RINPOCHE: Of course we need to follow a spiritual teacher, and of course we need to receive instructions. Of course we need to put those instructions into practice. But if one spends one’s whole life trying to follow spiritual teachers, something is wrong there also. We need to supplicate our root guru in order to discover the indivisible nature of his mind and our own mind. That is definitely necessary. But it’s not good to think, “If I’m not with my teacher I won’t know how to practice,” or, “If I’m not with my teacher I can’t deal with disturbing emotions,” or, “If I’m not with my teacher, I am lost, I do not know what to do.”
In the old days, people had more opportunities because they were more free, not so busy, not so much work. People had the opportunity to stay with the master for three years, or six years or nine years. These days it is not like that. The teachers themselves are really busy and often have no time, and the disciples have no time also. They may only have four or five days to stay together, like us!
During the days of our retreat together, we should try to understand as much as we can. Whatever we understood we should put into practice, put to actual use. When we leave here, we should leave together with the true teacher, the teacher who is our intrinsic nature. That teacher can be our constant companion.
You know, we are soon going our different ways—I am going to Singapore and Malaysia; some of you are going back to your own countries or traveling to other places. Maybe we will meet again, maybe not—who knows? There is nothing sure in this world. Everything is impermanent; nothing is fixed or guaranteed. You should try your best to recognize the ground luminosity inside yourselves by means of the path of rigpa.
Somebody who hasn’t asked anything?
STUDENT: How do we receive blessings? Is it through faith and devotion?
RINPOCHE: Devotion is the root of blessings, the basis for receiving blessings. Blessings definitely do exist, so we should know what they are and what the role of devotion is in receiving blessings. Otherwise, there is not much point in devotion.
Blessings are contagious, so to speak, and are transmitted in a fashion that is rather like catching a cold. If somebody has a cold and you are too close, you catch a cold too. Likewise, if you get close to a master who has blessings, they can be transmitted to you. Blessings here mean the sense of some power of realization or power of samadhi, some kind of atmosphere of realization that is naturally present. You move close to him, in the sense of opening yourself up through devotion and making sincere, heartfelt supplications. In other words, you lower your defenses, whatever doubts and suspicions that prevent you from being “infected” with the blessings. The moment you do that, you catch a cold as well. Devotion is a very deeply felt and sincere emotion, which comes from the bottom of one’s heart. It is partly a sense of really rejoicing, rejoicing in the qualities that are embodied in the teacher. At the same time, there is a sense of gratitude for the teacher’s incredible kindness. This combination of rejoicing and gratitude is what opens us up, what generates devotion.
Devotion can be toward the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, in terms of truly rejoicing in and appreciating their amazing qualities, of knowledge and compassion, and so forth. To be open toward that and rejoice in those qualities is one aspect of devotion. At the same time, when we understand how it benefits ourselves to train in the recognition of our basic nature, we feel gratitude, an appreciation of the kindness.
Otherwise, there could be many kinds of devotion. There is the devotion that is simply love, love generated by the thought, “He was nice to me, so I like him.” There is devotion that is an admiration, in that you feel in awe of a person or thing. Then there is devotion inspired by some kind of longing to emulate someone—you want to be like that as well. However, in the beginning, devotion is some kind of fabrication. We are trying to feel in a certain way, trying to open up. It is artificial, but it makes us grow closer to understanding the view, in the sense that devotion opens us up to realize emptiness, makes it easier. When some authentic experience of emptiness strengthens devotion even further, at that point it is no longer artificial or contrived. We may begin by trying to feel devotion, and then, later on, actual experience allows it to become totally uncontrived. Uncontrived devotion springs out of the experience of the view. Because when there is some seeing in actuality of what is called rigpa or ordinary mind, the natural mind that really solves or liberates disturbing emotions—when the conceptual frame of mind is opened up by this recognition—then we have a personal taste of the value and the worth of the practice. It is that real appreciation that is uncontrived devotion. In this way, devotion and the view of emptiness mutually strengthen one another.
Adapted from Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Carefree Dignity (Boudhanath: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1998), “A Guided Meditation.”
21
THE EXCELLENCE OF BODHICHITTA
Shantideva
Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
1.
To those who go in bliss,a the Dharmab they have mastered, and to all their heirs,c
To all who merit veneration, I bow down.
According to tradition, I shall now in brief describe
The entrance to the bodhisattva discipline.
2.
What I have to say has all been said before,
And I am destitute of learning and of skill with words.
I therefore have no thought that this might be of benefit to others;
I wrote it only to sustain my understanding.
3.
My faith will thus be strengthened for a little while,
That I might grow accustomed to this virtuous way.
But others who now chance upon my words,
May profit also, equal to myself in fortune.
4.
So hard to find such ease and wealthd
Whereby to render meaningful this human birth!
If now I fail to turn it to my profit,
How could such a chance be mine again?
5.
As when a flash of lightning renders the night,
And in its glare shows all the dark black clouds had hid,
Likewise rarely, through the bu
ddha’s power,
Virtuous thoughts rise, brief and transient, in the world.
6.
Thus behold the utter frailty of goodness!
Except for perfect bodhichitta,
There is nothing able to withstand
The great and overwhelming strength of evil.
7.
The mighty buddhas, pondering for many ages,
Have seen that this, and only this, will save
The boundless multitudes,
And bring them easily to supreme joy.
8.
Those who wish to overcome the sorrows of their lives,
And put to flight the pain and sufferings of beings,
Those who wish to win such great beatitude,
Should never turn their back on bodhichitta.
9.
Should bodhichitta come to birth
In one who suffers in the dungeons of samsara,
In that instant he is called the buddhas’ heir,
Worshipful alike to gods and men.
10.
For like the supreme substance of the alchemists,
It takes the impure form of human flesh
And makes of it the priceless body of a buddha.
Such is bodhichitta: we should grasp it firmly!
11.
If the perfect leaders of all migrant beings
Have with boundless wisdom seen its priceless worth,
We who wish to leave our nomad wandering
Should hold well to this precious bodhichitta.
12.
All other virtues, like the plantain tree,e
Produce their fruit, but then their force is spent.
Alone the marvelous tree of bodhichitta
Will bear its fruit and grow unceasingly.
13.
As though they pass through perils guarded by a hero,
Even those weighed down with dreadful wickedness
Will instantly be freed through having bodhichitta.
Who then would not place his trust in it?
14.
Just as by the fires at the end of time,
Great sins are utterly consumed by bodhichitta.
Thus its benefits are boundless,
As the Wise and Loving Lord explained to Sudhana.f
15.
Bodhichitta, the awakening mind,
In brief is said to have two aspects:
First, aspiring, bodhichitta in intention;
Then, active bodhichitta, practical engagement.
16.
Wishing to depart and setting out upon the road,
This is how the difference is conceived.
The wise and learned thus should understand
This difference, which is ordered and progressive.
17.
Bodhichitta in intention bears rich fruit
For those still wandering in samsara.
And yet a ceaseless stream of merit does not flow from it;
For this will rise alone from active bodhichitta.
18.
For when, with irreversible intent,
The mind embraces bodhichitta,
Willing to set free the endless multitudes of beings,
At that instant, from that moment on,
19.
A great and unremitting stream,
A strength of wholesome merit,
Even during sleep and inattention,
Rises equal to the vastness of the sky.
20.
This the Tathagata,g
In the sutra Subahu requested,h
Said with reasoned demonstration,
Teaching those inclined to lesser paths.
21.
If with kindly generosity
One merely has the wish to soothe
The aching heads of other beings,
Such merit knows no bounds.
22.
No need to speak, then, of the wish
To drive away the endless pain
Of each and every living being,
Bringing them unbounded virtues.
23.
Could our fathers or our mothers
Ever have so generous a wish?
Do the very gods, the rishis,i even Brahmaj
Harbor such benevolence as this?
24.
For in the past they never,
Even in their dreams, conceived
Such profit even for themselves.
How could they have such aims for others’ sake?
25.
For beings do not wish their own true good,
So how could they intend such good for others’ sake?
This state of mind so precious and so rare
Arises truly wondrous, never seen before.
26.
The pain-dispelling draft,
This cause of joy for those who wander through the world—
This precious attitude, this jewel of mind,
How shall it be gauged or quantified?
27.
For if the simple thought to be of help to others
Exceeds in worth the worship of the buddhas,
What need is there to speak of actual deeds
That bring about the weal and benefit of beings?
28.
For beings long to free themselves from misery,
But misery itself they follow and pursue.
They long for joy, but in their ignorance
Destroy it, as they would a hated enemy.
29.
But those who fill with bliss
All beings destitute of joy,
Who cut all pain and suffering away
From those weighed down with misery,
30.
Who drive away the darkness of their ignorance—
What virtue could be matched with theirs?
What friend could be compared to them?
What merit is there similar to this?
31.
If they who do some good, in thanks
For favors once received, are praised,
Why need we speak of bodhisattvas—
Those who freely benefit the world?
32.
Those who, scornfully with condescension,
Give, just once, a single meal to others—
Feeding them for only half a day—
Are honored by the world as virtuous.
33.
What need is there to speak of those
Who constantly bestow on boundless multitudes
The peerless joy of blissful buddhahood,
The ultimate fulfillment of their hopes?
34.
And those who harbor evil in their minds
Against such lords of generosity, the Buddha’s heirs,
Will stay in hell, the Mighty One has said,
For ages equal to the moments of their malice.
35.
By contrast, good and virtuous thoughts
Will yield abundant fruits in greater measure.
Even in adversity, the bodhisattvas
Never bring forth evil—only an increasing stream of goodness.
36.
To them in whom this precious sacred mind
Is born—to them I bow!
The Dzogchen Primer Page 21