by Dalai Lama
Reflection on dependent origination clears away a host of wrong views. Identifying that ignorance and actions in this life create the causes for future lives eliminates the wrong view that there are no previous or future lives. Seeing the variety of realms we may be born into ceases the incorrect idea that aside from the types of living beings we already know about, no others reside in the universe. The fact that formative actions bring fortunate or unfortunate rebirths dispels misguided notions that our actions have no effects or that virtue produces suffering and nonvirtue leads to happiness. Furthermore, because results arise from their concordant causes, not randomly, there is no purpose to justify, rationalize, or deny our harmful actions. They will always lead to suffering. Knowing this inspires us to be more mindful of our motivations and actions and to purify misdeeds.
In addition, we see that the causes of duḥkha exist within us, so relief from duḥkha must also be accomplished within our own mind. No miraculous drug can stop the cycle of rebirth, nor can cryonics conquer death. The only way to the deathless state — nirvāṇa — is by eliminating the causes of saṃsāric rebirth.
Contemplating each link individually accentuates its unsatisfactory nature. Cyclic existence is beginningless, and unless we make effort to cease it, its continuity will be endless. Now while we have the opportunity, we must develop a strong aspiration for liberation and live our lives according to this deep, heartfelt aspiration. What sense is there in seeking worldly pleasure when attachment to it simply leads to endless rebirth? As Togme Zangpo asks us in Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas, “When your mothers who’ve loved you since time without beginning are suffering, what use is your own happiness?” There has to be more to life; there has to be a way to realize reality, arrive at a state of lasting peace, and benefit all beings as well. This accords with Togme Zangpo’s response: “Therefore to free limitless living beings develop the altruistic intention [bodhicitta].” Inspired to make our lives meaningful, we put energy into generating bodhicitta and realizing the ultimate nature of reality.
Thinking about the beginninglessness of saṃsāra pulls us out of fixation on our own, often petty, problems — the molehills we make into mountains that preoccupy so much of our mental energy. Considering the larger perspective of many lives, the vast variety of life forms in this universe, and the numerous sufferings we and other sentient beings endure instigates compassion for all sentient beings. Our obsession with our happiness of only this life fades, and the aspiration for full awakening gives our lives greater meaning.
It is said that each of us has been born in every life form and done every activity in cyclic existence infinite times. What, then, is truly important to do in this very moment? Since saṃsāric pleasures arise due to causes and vanish when the causal energy is consumed, clinging to them does not make sense. Seeing that I and mine are dependent phenomena releases the tightness of having to prove or defend ourselves. We can relax and let go of trying to control everything and everyone around us. Instead, we will derive inner satisfaction from creating the causes for well-being, liberation, and full awakening. Such are the benefits of contemplating dependent origination.
Invigorating a Dry Dharma Practice
Some practitioners lament that they do not progress in their practice as rapidly as they would like. Many factors may be at play: having unrealistic expectations of quick attainments, being very self-critical, lacking sufficient study so we do not know how to practice properly, or living far away from a teacher and supportive Dharma community. The remedy for these hindrances is to approach the Dharma with a relaxed, cheerful attitude, rely on spiritual teachers, and study the teachings.
Other factors may also be at play, such as the three types of laziness: (1) postponing study and practice in favor of sleeping and lounging around, (2) being distracted from Dharma activities by involvement with meaningless works aimed only at the happiness of this life, or (3) feeling discouraged due to a self-defeating attitude or lack of self-confidence.
The first two types of laziness stem from attachment to the happiness of only this life. To overcome these, meditation on impermanence and death is recommended so that we appreciate our precious human life and use it wisely. Meditation on the defects of saṃsāra is also helpful in this regard. Without seeing these defects clearly, we may want to use the Dharma to make our saṃsāra more comfortable — for example, by employing Dharma methods to lessen our anger. Although this is helpful and reduces the destructive karma we create owing to anger, it alone will not lead to liberation. Looking into our minds, we may find that at some level, we see cyclic existence as a rather pleasant and familiar situation. Although we may intellectually know the six disadvantages of cyclic existence, three types of duḥkha, and eight unsatisfactory conditions, in our hearts we still think happiness can be found in cyclic existence — especially in beautiful objects, attractive people, social status, good looks, praise, and money and possessions. We remain attached to that type of happiness and forget that superior states of fulfillment and bliss are available if we make the effort to attain them.
To overcome distorted views and attachment to the joys of cyclic existence, we must meditate deeply and consistently on the disadvantages of saṃsāra as explained in the first truth and on the origins of duḥkha as detailed in the second truth. Some people are not eager to do analytic meditation on these topics. They prefer to visualize deities, engage in breathing meditation to develop concentration, recite mantras, or meditate on love. Of course these meditations are worthwhile, but without a genuine aspiration to be free from cyclic existence and attain liberation, these meditations lack energy and long-term effects. There is the danger that we do them simply to feel good, relieve stress, improve our relationships — all goals that are worthwhile but are limited in scope because they don’t look beyond this life.
We need to make our minds strong and courageous. While looking at the defects of cyclic existence may initially be startling or unpleasant, the sobering effect it has on our minds enables us to make wise choices and propels us toward sincere and continuous practice. By seeing that nothing of lasting purpose, pleasure, or worth exists in cyclic existence, our interest will naturally turn to the Dharma and we will be eager to transform our minds.
Sustained reflection on the opposite of four distorted conceptions helps us to generate the aspiration for liberation. Contemplating the impermanent nature of all saṃsāric pleasure, we understand that things such as financial security, relationships, and reputation are not fixed and stable as we had assumed. Seeing them as transient, we will accept them for what they are, use and enjoy them, but will not be sidetracked from Dharma practice by attachment to them.
Contemplation on the unattractive nature of our own and others’ bodies will relieve anxiety about our physical appearance and the effects aging will have on it. It also helps to release the fear we have about separating from this body at the time of death and dampens unrealistic notions about sexual relations. We’ll learn to relate to our bodies in a more practical way, keeping them clean and healthy — eating nourishing food, taking medicine when necessary, and avoiding substances that harm them — so that we can continue practicing the Dharma.
Meditation on the fact that whatever is produced by afflictions and karma cannot provide genuine happiness and peace helps us to relate to people and things in our environment in a more down-to-earth manner. Our unrealistic expectations will be waylaid, and we will be able to accept things for what they are rather than lament that they aren’t completely satisfying. When we recognize that saṃsāric happiness is deceptive and inferior, our craving for it will relax and our minds will turn to liberation, true peace, and bliss.
Reflecting that all the people and phenomena that seem so real do not exist as independent, self-enclosed units with semipermanent personalities expands our view. We’ll understand that the way things appear to exist from their own side is deceptive. They are dependent on other factors and empty of all the false modes
of existence that our ignorance projects on them. Since there are no inherently evil people, we won’t be so upset and angry and will maintain an optimistic attitude knowing that people can and will change. Aggravating situations in our daily lives will seem less dire, and our minds will be more peaceful. Dharma practice will become much easier, and with joyous effort we will be able to transform our minds without labored difficulty.
The third type of laziness is discouragement, which comes from thinking that we are incompetent, the path is too difficult, or the resultant awareness is too high to attain. I (Chodron) believe that this a big hindrance to people in contemporary Western society. Rooted in the view of a personal identity and the self-centered attitude, it makes us give up on ourselves before we even make any effort. Whether it comes from being taught original sin, being pressured to excel, or constantly comparing ourselves to others and never measuring up to our own satisfaction, this discouragement poisons our approach to the path. Examining and shedding our erroneous thoughts about the meaning of success, learning about buddha nature, and developing deep self-acceptance are antidotes to discouragement.
How can we accept ourselves when we are full of faults and have created so much destructive karma? First, we have to ease up on self-criticism and extend some kindness and compassion to ourselves. This enables us to accept ourselves for who we are at present, knowing that we can improve in the future. We recognize that in previous lives we created a tremendous amount of merit because we now have precious human lives with all the conducive conditions to progress on the path. In addition, we have the potential to become buddhas — a potential that can never be taken away or destroyed — and each of us has our own unique talents and gifts that we can contribute to the world.
Can a Leper Find Happiness?
Māgandiya was a wanderer who believed that experiencing a rich variety of sensual pleasures was the source of growth and should be pursued with great enthusiasm (MN 75). To help him assess if his view was correct, the Buddha described his own sensual, luxurious life in the palace during his youth and then explained that he came to understand the origin, disappearance, gratification, danger, and escape of sensual pleasures and relinquished craving for them.
The origin and disappearance of sensual pleasures refers to their transient nature — they are continuously arising and disintegrating, never remaining the same for even one moment and are thus unable to give long-term happiness. To explain gratification, danger, and escape, the Buddha gave the example of an attractive person (MN 13). Gratification is the pleasure we experience by looking at, hearing, smelling, touching, and thinking about the person. But this gratification cannot be sustained, and the danger is that the person will age and become frail, with broken teeth, white hair, age spots, and wrinkles. Eventually that person will fall gravely ill and die, the corpse being assigned to the charnel ground. Disappointment in sensual objects is assured. Escape is giving up desire and lust for them, wisely disentangling ourselves from those afflictions and objects that bind us to misery.
Having seen the origin, disappearance, gratification, danger, and escape with respect to sensual pleasures, the Buddha explained to Māgandiya that he chose to leave the palace, become a monastic, and adopt a simple lifestyle of sensual restraint. He did not envy those delighting in sensual pleasures, “because there is a delight apart from sensual pleasures, apart from nonvirtuous states, which surpasses divine bliss.” He thereby cultivated concentration based on the fourth dhyāna and attained arhatship with its inner peace and bliss. The joy he then experienced in no way compared with the insufficient pleasure derived from sensual objects.
The Buddha then spoke of a leper seeking happiness and relief from the unpleasant physical feelings of his disease. He gave some analogies that, ghastly as they are, accurately describe the leper’s situation as well as the situation of those of us addicted to wonderful sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and thoughts (MN 75.13):
Suppose there is a leper with sores and blisters on his limbs, being devoured by worms, scratching the scabs off the openings of his wounds with his nails, cauterizing his body over a burning charcoal pit. Then his friends and companions, his kinsmen and relatives bring a physician to treat him. The physician prepares medicine for him, and by means of that medicine the man is cured of his leprosy and becomes well and happy, independent, master of himself, able to go where he likes. Then he might see another leper with sores and blisters on his limbs, being devoured by worms, scratching the scabs off the openings of his wounds with his nails, cauterizing his body over a burning charcoal pit. What do you think, Māgandiya? Would that man envy that leper for his burning charcoal pit or his use of medicine?
The lesions on a leper’s body are home for worms. Their crawling in his flesh irritates him, and the itching is so terrible that he scratches the scabs off his wounds, giving more area for the worm infestation. In another attempt at relief, he cauterizes the wounds on his body. Scratching and burning his flesh provide some satisfaction, but it lasts only a short while and then the painful itching arises again, more intensely than before.
Similarly, we beings in the desire realm — overcome by the dissatisfaction of unfulfilled craving, tormented by and seeking relief from the itching brought on by craving to get more and better of whatever we find attractive — try to satisfy our desires. But like the leper, this worsens our situation because everything we get serves to increase the craving. It’s like drinking salt water: at first our thirst decreases, but then it returns more voracious and unbearable than before.
Just as someone cured from leprosy would not envy the happiness a leper gets from scratching his scabs and burning his wounds, arhats never envy the pleasure of beings in the desire realm.
The Buddha then related that after the leper was cured, two strong people dragged him to a charcoal pit as he wailed in fear and pain. “Is it only now that the fire is painful to touch, hot, and scorching, or previously too, when he was a leper, was the fire like that?” the Buddha asked Māgandiya. Māgandiya replied that it was hot, scorching, and painful before, only due to his illness the leper’s senses were impaired and he experienced the fire that was painful to touch as pleasurable. The Buddha explained that so too, beings who are devoured by craving for sensual pleasures, who burn with the fever of craving for more and better sensual experiences, have impaired faculties that cause them to believe that sensual pleasures, which are in fact painful, bring the highest delight. In fact, they would be much happier and less tormented by disappointment and dissatisfaction if they could see the origin, disappearance, gratification, danger, and escape of sensual pleasures and release craving for them.
This corroborates recent studies that found that money does not equal happiness. The Inuit of Greenland and the Maasai in Kenya report being just as happy as those on the Forbes 500 list of richest Americans. To conclude, the Buddha counseled Māgandiya:
The greatest of all gains is health,
nibbāna is the greatest bliss,
the eightfold path is the best of paths,
for it leads safely to the deathless [nibbāna].
At first Māgandiya misunderstood the meaning of health to be physical health. But once the Buddha explained that nirvāṇa, the cessation of craving and clinging, is the highest health, Māgandiya was overjoyed and requested monastic ordination. Practicing sincerely, he soon became an arhat.
REFLECTION
1. Contemplate the example of a leper seeking happiness. Then reflect that uninstructed worldly people live in a similar manner.
2. Apply this example to yourself.
3. Generate the determination to be free from cyclic existence and cultivate compassion for all other sentient beings.
Compassion for Ourselves and Others
Courage and clear-mindedness are necessary to see cyclic existence for what it is — a deceptive cycle of misery. The aspiration for liberation from saṃsāra is a reflection of the compassion we have for ourselves. When we recognize that
all other sentient beings are in the same predicament, compassion for them will also arise. Compassion gives us inner strength as we practice diligently to cease the causes of saṃsāra.
Puchungwa (1031–1106), a Kadampa geshe in Tibet, cultivated this compassion by contemplating duḥkha, its origin, its cessation, and the path to that cessation according to the perspectives of the three levels of practitioners. Initial practitioners, who focus on avoiding an unfortunate rebirth and attaining a fortunate one, reflect that under the influence of the ignorance of karma and its effects, they create nonvirtuous formative karma. When nourished by craving and clinging, the karmic seed matures into renewed existence and the seven resultant links of an unfortunate rebirth ensue. Seeing this process, initial-level practitioners will work to abandon the ignorance of karma and its effects, create virtuous karma, and purify previously created nonvirtue.
Middle-level practitioners contemplate the twelve links in terms of all saṃsāric rebirths. They focus on the process that brings fortunate rebirths — ignorance giving rise to polluted virtuous formative karma, and so on. But they go a step further and understand that staying in cyclic existence — even if they have peaceful rebirths in the form and formless realms — is unsatisfactory. They want to eliminate the root of saṃsāra, first-link ignorance. Aware of another weak spot in the chain, that between feeling and craving, they practice experiencing pleasant, painful, or neutral feelings — even the feeling of bliss and equanimity in the form and formless realms — without reacting with craving for pleasure to continue or for pain to stop. Generating the aspiration for liberation from all of saṃsāra, they practice the three higher trainings of ethical conduct, concentration, and wisdom.