Dharma Roadside Dialogue.

Saturday November 30th at 1:30 pm East coast time (EST),  7:30 pm European time (CET).

Join us for a 90mn session of questions and answers by clicking this link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88203132402

This month we will discuss about:

CONVERT ADVERSITIES INTO THE PATH OF AWAKENING. 

AMONG ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY INSTRUCTIONS, BEGIN WITH THE FIRST.

There are both ordinary and extraordinary instructions on converting adversities into the path of awakening. In this case, we first examine the ordinary instructions. These are then followed by three different extraordinary instructions.

WHEN BEINGS AND THE WORLD ARE FILLED WITH EVIL, CONVERT ADVERSITIES INTO THE PATH OF AWAKENING.

Due to their self-clinging and negative actions, living beings (and therefore the world) are filled with evil. You should.call to mind that suffering is the maturing and passing of bad karma. Like everything else, negative karma is also impermanent – it will eventually run itself out. Since the results of your own actions always ripen on you, it is better to deal with them now as best you can and be done with them. The reason why the Lojong methods are so special is that they show you how to take advantage of your negative karma. You can deploy the methods to actually transform every undesirable circumstance into an opportunity to practice the dharma. How does this work? Your suffering connects you to the suffering of sentient beings by making you understand that suffering is universal. As you suffer, you can resolve to absorb all suffering.

Your motivation, however, must be genuine. When it is, adverse conditions essentially become a means for you to accumulate good karma, or positive merit. Think:

I am suffering. 

Through my suffering, may I absorb all the suffering of others and relieve them.

This wish, grounded in relative bodhicitta, purifies your karma and, in effect, reduces your resistance to your own suffering.

Among the three extraordinary instructions, the first is how conventional bodhicitta is used to convert adversities into the path of awakening:

HOLD ONE FAULT ACCOUNTABLE FOR ALL MISFORTUNES.

Whenever you suffer in negative circumstances or have conflicts with people, you should first know that it is the result of your own past negative actions.

Bring to mind the slogan:

hold one fault accountable for all misfortunes. 

That one fault is ego-clinging. It is the root cause of negativities. It is important to remember this truth. Finger pointing usually arouses more negative emotions and adds negative karma to your store, so don’t waste time assigning blame to others or getting tangled in the never ending rounds of who’s right. That only increases your suffering. By refraining from searching for an external cause for your suffering, you· will feel less anxious about having to deal with’ the problems.

Since beginningless time, the minds of sentient beings have been engaged in samsaric activities. Uninterruptedly we have taken rebirths in both physical and mental forms. Despite the fact that the forms themselves are unreal, they have held our minds without pause. For these. reasons, since beginningless time we have experienced the three kinds of suffering, to which you had a short introduction in the instructions on the shine meditation to remedy anger.

Our current state of mind is not perfect. It is, in fact, a state of ignorance. What we are ignorant of is the true nature of our own mind so we mistakenly cling to the notion of a self, and a self-clinging mind is. filled with suffering. That suffering, while

very subtle, pervades a mind of ignorance. In many commentaries it is only vaguely explained as the subtle suffering that pervades everything. It has been mistakenly interpreted to mean that it pervades all objects – the cups and plates in your kitchen, for example, could be said to be pervaded with this subtle suffering.

Based on my own investigation into how this form of suffering works I have drawn the conclusion that what is pervaded by subtle suffering is every moment of the mind-stream. Every moment of mind carries this suffering, and therefore every phenomenon perceived by it, every thought, every feeling is similarly pervaded by it. A mind that has not been tamed and that has not been pacified cannot experience even a single moment free from that pervasive suffering. This is particularly clear to those beings in the form and formless realms, highly accomplished in shine meditation, who

can accurately observe the suffering that thoroughly pervades the untamed and unpeaceful minds of beings in the desire realm- ourselves, for example. Then, of course, once you become a bodhisattva, you will see that the minds of all beings in the three realms are clearly untamed and not peaceful. In addition, as the great scholar Tsongkhapa observed, that suffering is the very basis for the experience of the other two forms of suffering. For after all, a mind that is tamed and peaceful is not laboring under the illusion that it is a self So in a mind free of the pervasive, subtle suffering, who is there to suffer? Who is there to feel it?1 In the Tenjur, the sacred commentaries on the Buddhist scriptures, it is said that ordinary living beings do not recognize the suffering of subtle, pervading suffering. It is said that they feel it just as they would a hair lying in the palm of their hand. Bodhisattvas, on the other hand, are as acutely aware of that subtle pervading suffering as they would be of a strand of hair in their eye. One who can really perceive this is only a short step from fully understanding.

I have taken the time to consult a number of trusted scholars and they agree with me. discovery. I have full confidence that this merely clarifies the teachings for disciples and does not change the meaning of the teachings. If there is, any mistake here, it is mine. the other three points that together explain the profound meaning of the first noble truth as it is explained in the Abhisamayalankara Prajnaparamita Upadesha shastra: impermanence, no-self, and emptiness.

At the same time, we experience some happiness mixed with the suffering. This happiness is captivating and our mind gets attached to it even though it is impure. It does not last. In fact, it is ever changing. The moment we feel separated from the happiness we want, we suffer. In this way, the basic, subtle pervasive suffering unfailingly churns out additional suffering for us. That is the second kind of suffering.

In the meantime, in our relentless pursuit of happiness we act negatively, by either taking advantage of others or outright hurting them to get what we want. We create causes that will eventually and inevitably ripen into negative effects. When they do, we will experience rebirths in the realms of suffering. This is the third type of suffering.

Suffering is endless in the mind that dings to a self, because our selfish actions are endless. The one fault is therefore self-clinging.

REFLECT ON THE GREAT KINDNESS OF ALL BEINGS.

If you can step away from self-clinging for a while, and try to reflect deeply, you will discover that there is an other mind. This mind gives a fresh attitude, one that is diametrically opposed to self-centeredness. It is an open mind that replaces habitual self concern with a genuine concern for the wellbeing of others. This mind of loving kindness is the very cause for you to break free of self-clinging mind.

A mind bent on benefiting others is a fertile field where virtues grow in abundance. Virtue, in any context, connotes an honest good free of any harm. Implicit in the meaning of ‘good’ is usefulness and benefit to others. Kindness, generosity, and patience, for example, are universally recognized virtues that benefit others.

The reason we feel gratitude towards all sentient beings is that they provide us with never-ending opportunities to cultivate these virtues. Not only do we practice taking their suffering as our own, but in our daily encounters with them we are granted a precious chance to put our virtues into practice: when they behave in a self-centered way we. can cultivate patience, kindness and generosity; and when they behave in  virtuous way we can cultivate sympathetic joy and make the wish to become as selfless as they. In either case, we owe our successful training to our encounters with all sentient beings and therefore feel gratitude towards them. Because they allow us to cultivate virtues, sentient beings are the direct cause of the perfect state of enlightenment. They are the immediate requisites for us to break free of samsara.

Indeed, we should feel very grateful towards them. Reflect on the fact that those who appear to cause you harm are not really harming you. They are helping you to see that the real cause of harm is you, your own ego. Without ego there can be no harm.

These are the instructions to embark on the path of awakening by transforming adversities with conventional bodhicitta.

Additionally, here I will add that a mind full of virtues reaps the excellent harvest of the bodhisattva bhumis. The ten bhumis are the extraordinary levels of realization of mind. By accomplishing them we will. ultimately be free of samsara and attain Buddhahood.

The second extraordinary instruction is how ultimate bodhicitta is used to transform adversities into the path of awakening:

CULTIVATE DELUDED APPEARANCE AS THE FOUR KAYAS; EMPTINESS IS THE UNSURPASSED PROTECTION.

‘Deluded appearance’ refers to the fact that all the suffering and obstacles that ·are experienced are illusions, the. deluded activity of a dualistic mind. When you really examine the negative or bad things that happen, you will clearly see that they are all like a dream. Using the techniques you have to analyze the empty nature of all phenomena and directly apply mindfulness to all experience, apply them to the sensations you experience as bad. You will discover hat these so-called bad experiences are the most useful to help you recognize the unborn nature of mind. Just as a small fire can quickly burn a large stack of hay, a bad feeling or experience, once analyzed, will effectively and quickly help you to understand the unborn nature of everything. A really good Mind Training practitioner who is in deep meditation will find even a disturbing ghost to be his or her number one helper. A disturbing ghost can do things like push you, call your name, cause you to experience discomfort or nausea. In short, they will provide you with many disturbances. When that happens, apply all your skills of analysis and direct mindfulness to it. You will undoubtedly come to the conclusion that everything that is experienced is nothing but mind. After some time, you will have absolute confidence and a totally relaxed mind. With that comes the spontaneous realization of the unborn nature of mind. In this way, each and every adversity can be used on the path to awakening, and, with this realization you will also see that in fact every adversity – when it is recognized as unborn – carries the truth nature, the dharmakaya.

The dharmakaya is one of four bodies, or kayas, of the Buddha. These four kayas are the four ways in which enlightenment manifests.

If we think of this in relation to a Buddha, they can be described a~ follows: the dharmakaya, or body of truth nature, is the timeless awakened wisdom of a Buddha, his purified mind; the sambhogakaya, or body of fulfilling joy, is a spectacular light form of the Buddha that is only perceived by highly accomplished practitioners; the nirmanakaya, or wish-fulfilling body, is the flesh and blood body of a Buddha that all living beings can perceive; and the svabhavikakaya, the essence body, is the totality of the three.

If we think of them in the context of how awakening manifests as the nature of mind, we can add to this description: the dharmakaya or body of truth nature, can also be understood as the unborn nature of mind; sambhogakaya or body of fulfilling joy, can also be understood as the unobstructed nature of mind; nirmanakaya or wish-fulfilling body, can also be understood as the non-abiding nature of mind; and svabhavikakaya, the totality and inseparability of the first three.

In fact, if you examine the illusions of deluded appearance you will find that they have the nature of unborn dharmakaya. Their quality of unobstructedness shows that they have the nature of sambhogakaya. Further, they are not trapped in the workings of dualistic conceptualization. This freedom from conceptualization demonstrates their natural flexibility and demonstrates the quality of nirmanakaya.

Finally, all three kayas share one nature; that is the svabhavikakaya, and the nature of the svabhavikakaya is emptiness.

One who is able to enter a state of meditation such that they experience deluded appearance as the four kayas is protected by emptiness. Emptiness is, in fact, the unsurpassable protection. The best example of this is when Shakyamuni was under the Bodhi tree on the very verge of enlightenment. Mara, the tempter, was so determined to prevent Shakyamuni’s success that he came with his armies and tried to destroy the physical body of the Buddha-to-be. Because Shakyamuni profoundly understood emptiness, that insight protected him and Mara’s arrows fell to the ground before him as a harmless rain of flowers. Of course he was nearly a Buddha at the time; dwelling on the 10th bhumi, so this is not applicable to every practitioner’s situation. We may draw a different example from the life of Milarepa, however, from when he was still relatively new to the path. One day after gathering firewood he returned to his cave to find five round-eyed demons waiting there for him. His first thought was to appease them, so made them offerings and praised them in the hopes that they would be satisfied and go away, but they proceeded to attack him. Then he invoked a wrathful deity to conquer them, but they became even more enraged. Finally he invoked the power of emptiness, really meditating profoundly on the nature of emptiness:

“I have already fully realized that all beings and all phenom~na are of one’s ·

own mind. And the mind itself is emptiness. What is the use of all

these efforts! How foolish I am to try to physically dispel these demons

and trouble-makers!” 

And with that utterance and realization, the demons were dispelled. Milarepa had to work hard to apply the remedy of emptiness, whereas for the Buddha it occurred quite spontaneously. But the cause is the same: realization of emptiness.

Therefore it is the supreme, unsurpassable protection.

THREE VIEWS ARE LIKE THE TREASURY OF THE SKY, THE UNSURPASSED PROTECTION OF THE YOGA.

When you implement bodhicitta on adversities you should develop and maintain three views that will alter your perspective profoundly and enable you to cut through the obstacles of hope and doubt. The three views are: happiness, gratitude, and purity.

Happiness:

Adversities that may at first seem harmful are in fact the complete opposite. They are extremely helpful. Obstacles and disturbances are actually reminders to you that you have not perfected the two bodhicittas. Be happy that you now have a clear reminder to work on your bodhicitta.

Gratitude:

Understand that adversities warn us to not be too relaxed, to not let our precious human life be taken for granted. We must use this precious life for the ultimate goal of awakening and not waste time on other things. If we misuse this opportunity now, we may fall into darkness for eons. In this way, adversities are as kind as parents to us. Therefore, you may go so far as to feel love for adversities, for they prevent you from misusing your precious human life.

Purity:

Think about how as a result of every obstacle and harm in your life, you may develop the greatest results from meditation. This type of harm is therefore not harmful at all. It is, rather, full  of remarkable qualities like a very bitter medicine that will completely cure your sickness. It is therefore completely pure, as pure as the most effective medicine.

Keeping these three views will protect your practice and allow you to develop from everything that happens. Maintaining these three views of happiness, gratitude· and purity will create and multiply merit as vast as the sky, enough to fill a treasury as limitless as the size of the sky. With this vast store of merit, the result is that you will spontaneously help sentient beings for countless eons.

‘Yoga’ is a complex word with many meanings. In this context, it is appropriate to examine how the term is used in Tibetan. The Tibetan word for yoga is neljor (mal ‘byor). ‘Nel’ is the original awakened nature of mind, the dharmakaya or truth nature. ‘Jor’ is a verb that means to reach or attain. ‘Neljor’, therefore, means to reach the original nature of mind. It is protection because for as long as you maintain this practice, you can implement the three views to overcome any obstacle.

Meditation manuals explain it this way: when water is absorbed into the air, water comes out. Like clouds and rain. In that way, you can say that water is removed by water. Each and every obstacle on your path, each and every harm suffered along the way, will in fact cause obstacles and harm to disappear. In that way, implementing the three views protects you from all obstacles.

The third is the extraordinary instruction to convert adversities into the path of awakening.

MASTERING THE FOUR PRACTICES IS THE SUPREME METHOD.

The four noble practices are: develop the cause of happiness; Abandon  the cause of suffering; make use of harm from others; and bring help from the positive and powerful nonhuman living beings. By employing them you will swiftly learn to turn all experiences into positive ones.

Develop the cause of happiness:

Happiness only comes from the right cause: merit, the fruit of generosity and other virtues. For example, knowing that generosity creates the cause of happiness, you embrace the spirit of generosity in your intentions, actions, and wishes. Whenever something good comes your way, you give and share it with others. Whenever you wish for something good to happen to you, concurrently wish the same for others as well. The result is the accumulation of incalculable merit and happiness both now and in the future.

Abandon the cause of suffering:

There is not one sentient being who wishes to suffer.The cause of suffering is all non-virtuous activities. Therefore, simply refrain from them:

Physical non-virtuous activities:

Refrain from all acts that harm others such as killing, stealing directly or indirectly the

property of others, and sexual misconduct.

Verbal non-virtuous activities:

Refrain from all negative speech such as slander, lies, deceit, manipulation, as .well as wild, loose talk.

Mental non-virtuous activities:

Refrain from negative states of mind like envy, harmful thoughts, and wrong views.

Make use of harm from others:

The ‘others’ in this case are ghosts or spirits who may cause you disturbances and obstructions. Prepare a suitable feast according to the desire filled illusions of the millions of ghosts. Mentally multiply your offerings as much as possible, and then offer them to the ghosts:

From the combined power of my conventional and ultimate

bodhicitta, I encourage all ghosts to engender the mind of loving

kindness and devotion to the Three jewels. Please enjoy this feast.

May your hunger be satisfied and your feelings of envy and jealousy

be purified.

I am on the path of the noble dharma practice. 

Please contribute to my success either helping me or harming me. 

Your harm will help me to accomplish my practice of patience and will

cause me to increase my compassion ever more for all beings in the lower realms. 

Additionally, any service and support you give me will be most appreciated.

Bring help from the positive and powerful nonhuman living beings:

Again, arrange a splendid feast of offerings for the positive nonhuman beings in accordance with their illusions. Multiply the offerings as much as possible in your mind. This is based in your bodhicitta; your deep wish to fulfill the needs of all other beings. Wish to make all these beings very happy and in return, ask them to support you in your dharma practice for the benefit of all sentient beings.

WHATEVER YOU ENCOUNTER IN THE PRESENT, USE IT IN YOUR MEDITATION.

Implement the Mind Training methods on every situation you encounter during the day. Good or bad, you can make it meaningful and useful to your practice. When you are happy, comfortable, and things are going smoothly for you, you should know that it is the ripening of good karma sown in the past. If you just enjoy and grasp at the many pleasures as much as you can, then very soon your good karma will run out. Like suffering; good fortune also passes. You can still engender bodhicitta when you are happy.

Recollect that all sentient beings must also be happy:

May I absorb the suffering of all sentient beings,

and relieve them completely!

The yogis deployed the Mind Training methods all day and all night long. Consequently, they experienced no problems whatsoever.

As your practice of Mind Training matures, you will feel your freedom expand increasingly. The usual walls of desire and aversion will begin to break down. Whatever happens to you, good or bad, will no longer make any difference to you. You will be open to anything because you can turn it all into the path of awakening.