Shantideva makes this final prayer, so beautiful the way he ends this chapter on wisdom.

(9.166) May I be able to extinguish the fires of suffering
That torment all these beings,
With a vast rain of happiness
Descending from the clouds of my merit;

(9.167) And, through sincerely accumulating a collection of merit,
While endowed with the wisdom realizing non-true existence,
May I teach emptiness to all living beings
Who suffer because of their self-grasping.

I feel this is one of our greatest responsibilities now, to teach emptiness, to teach emptiness to others.  Geshe-la has said many times at the real meaning a meeting Geshe Kelsang is the opportunity to learn about emptiness.  First of all, we must gain and deepen our understanding.  I think it is our responsibility to gain a clear and precise understanding of emptiness through our study.  If we really do have compassion for others then we will take that responsibility to study emptiness, to gain a clear precise understanding and teach emptiness, understanding there is no other way to bring an end to suffering than gaining a deep, deep experience of emptiness.

If we gain this experience, we will be able to teach emptiness like no other actually.  We will be able to teach emptiness in a very simple way.  The person who has the greatest understanding can teach in the simplest way.  So we’ll be able to teach in a simple way, we’ll be able to teach in a very, very practical way, and importantly a clear unmistaken way.  We will do so in dependence upon this foundation that we are building upon our study of emptiness.  We are taking that responsibility.

At some point in the future, I hope to do a similar series of blog posts on chapter 6 of chandrakirti’s guide to the middle way, which is our definitive explanation of emptiness. We can generate the wish to study Ocean of Nectar and be able to study such reasoning in a lot more detail, line by line, either on our own or as part of a study program.  I would say between now and when we do finally study such texts, there’s a lot of preparation to do to gain this practical experience.  On the basis of that, the reasonings will make sense.  I think all of us need to prepare ourselves well.  As a preparation, we can study books like Heart of Wisdom.  We can study the chapter on emptiness which appears in Transform your Life, Eight Steps to Happiness, and Mahamudra Tantra.  This is most important, actually, for where we are. 

We need to learn to love our study, make it a game.  We need to be like a child at play, constantly contemplating Dharma, and sharing with our Dharma friends our latest discoveries.  For us, it should be fun.  We dig deep into the Dharma trying to understand what it means, we play with it and contemplate it, and jewels will emerge.  Then we should put our understanding into practice and gain some experience of this insight.   Then, it will lead to deeper insights and new understandings, and more amazing contemplations and study.

I would say we need to meditate on emptiness as much as possible.  Yes, this means we must spend time on our meditation cushion, trying to mix our mind with emptiness, gaining a clear understanding through our study, trying to identify more and more clearly the object emptiness, mixing our mind with emptiness.  But off the meditation cushion, too, we must try throughout the day to meditate on emptiness.  When we are working with others, keep meditating on emptiness.   

We should try to keep the advice of being on retreat at all times.  We can remember the illusion-like nature of things throughout the day.  If we are mindful, if we’re concentrating, then definitely we will accomplish great results, just as we would do if we were in actual retreat.  In this way, definitely we create the cause to go into retreat, strict retreat, at some time in the future, when hopefully our mind will completely mix with emptiness, and we will destroy all traces of our grasping.

I think what is most important is that we appreciate the opportunity that we have been given as members of a Dharma center and a Dharma community.  This is the best opportunity.   We should not think other people have a better opportunity than we do to gain experience in exchanging self with others, to gain experience in the wisdom realizing emptiness.  No one has a better opportunity than we do.  Remember, we are the people who have the responsibility of teaching emptiness to all living beings.  We have been given the greatest opportunity.

Venerable Geshe-la is giving us the opportunity to bring about both external and internal growth of the Dharma in this world.   We must be bringing about an internal as well as an external growth – both – with the one helping the other.  We must feel that we have the best opportunity to gain experience, deep experience, of exchanging self with others.  The best opportunity to gain experience, deep experience of emptiness, the best.  There is no reason why, in dependence upon the opportunity that we have been given, that we cannot come to possess ultimate Bodhichitta, even in our lifetime.  It is possible, definitely it is possible.

If we appreciate our opportunity, then we will enjoy having this opportunity, we will enjoy the responsibility that we have.  We would not have it any other way.  I think more and more over time we must feel that we do have the greatest opportunity and the responsibility that we have, we are so lucky, really, so lucky to have.  So we can enjoy, we can enjoy.  We must over time be enjoying ourselves more and more and more.  As far as spiritual growth is concerned, I have to say that we have the best conditions of all.  We can become teachers of emptiness.  We can become valid teachers just like Geshe-la.

Finally, we need to be patient with ourselves.   We should not expect anything, just have a patient mind, we need to be patient, especially with understanding texts like this, Ocean of Nectar, and so forth.  We are not going to gain a clear, precise understanding after a few weeks or months. It is going to take years, maybe even lifetimes.  So if we understand that, then we consider it our lifetime’s work to understand clearly precisely the meaning of Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, Ocean of Nectar, and so forth.  We can be patient, we can enjoy creating the cause.  Everything will come naturally from that in time.

This concludes the ninth chapter of Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, entitled “The Perfection of Wisdom”.