Author: Kadampa Ryan

A Pure Life: How to Skillfully Train in the Eight Mahayana Precepts

Kadampa Ryan Precept Days

This is part two of a 12-part series on how to skillfully train in the Eight Mahayana Precepts.  The 15th of every month is Precepts Day, when Kadampa practitioners around the world typically take and observe the Precepts.

Most of us know the teachings Geshe-la has given on the correct attitude to have towards our vows and commitments, but sadly we sometimes don’t really believe him when he explains it.  We still tend to think of them in absolutist, black and white terms, when in reality each vow has many, many different levels at which we can keep it.  We think in terms of our ability to “keep” our vows instead of viewing them as trainings we engage in. 

When we go to the gym, there are all sorts of different exercise machines.  Each one works out a different muscle, and each person who uses the machine uses it at a different level (different amounts of weight, different number of repetitions, etc.).  But everyone in the gym uses the same equipment.  It is exactly the same with our vows.  Each vow is something we train in, not something we are already expected to be able to do perfectly at the maximum.  Each vow focus on strengthening different mental muscles, but doing all of them strengthens the whole of our mind.  We each train in the vow at different levels according to our capacity, but we know the more we train, the more our capacity will grow.  Everyone in the spiritual gym trains with the same vows regardless of our level.  In almost every way, the correct attitude towards a physical exercise regimen is exactly the same attitude we should cultivate towards our spiritual exercise regimen of the Eight Mahayana Precepts, and indeed all of our vows.  I often find it helpful to read the sports training literature, especially that of long-distance tri-athletes.  Our journey is very long and will require almost unthinkable stamina, but we must recall every Iron Man Champion was once a baby who couldn’t even lift their head. 

Geshe-la explains there are four main causes of the degeneration of our vows and commitments.  These are known as the ‘four doors of receiving downfalls’.  He says to close these doors we should practice as follows:

  1. Closing the door of not knowing what the downfalls are.  We should learn what the downfalls are by committing them to memory.  We should learn how they are incurred.  We should make plans to avoid such situations.  In this series of posts, I will try explain all of these things for each of the Eight Mahayana Precepts.
  1. Closing the door of lack of respect for Buddha’s instructions.  We can protect ourselves from this primarily by training in the refuge vows.  Refuge is not a difficult concept.  When we have a toothache, what do we do?  We turn to the dentist.  When we have a legal problem, what do we do?  We turn to a lawyer.  When we have an internal problem with our mind, what do we do?  We turn to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.  Dentists can fix our teeth and lawyers can solve our legal problems, but only the three jewels can help us with our inner mental problems.  In particular, we need to contemplate the benefits of each of the Eight Mahayana Precepts.  We need to think about how much better our life would be and all the karmic fruit that flows from training in them.  When we see the value of keeping the Precepts, we will naturally have respect for them.  Geshe-la said we should contemplate as follows:

“Since Buddha is omniscient, knowing all past, present, and future phenomena simultaneously and directly, and since he has great compassion for all living beings without exception, there is no valid reason for developing disrespect towards his teachings.  It is only due to ignorance that I sometimes disbelieve them.”

  1. Closing the third door of strong delusions. The reason why we engage in non-virtuous actions is we are currently slaves to our delusions.  They take control of our mind and then compel us to engage in harmful actions.  We may voluntarily participate in the process, but that is only because our delusions have so deceived us, we actually believe their lies.  Largely, the Eight Mahayana Precepts oppose our delusion of attachment.  Our attachment does not want to keep the precepts, and frankly views them as standing in the way of our fun.  We cannot keep our vows through will power alone.  Perhaps we can for Precepts Day itself, but if in our heart we still want to engage in these behaviors, what we will really do is simply do slightly more negativity before and after Precepts Day, so for the month as a whole, it is exactly the same amount of negativity.  That’s obviously not the point!  Our goal should be to train in the Precepts and gradually expand the scope of keeping their meaning throughout the month and indeed throughout our whole life.  To do this, we need to want to keep them more than we want the objects of attachment they oppose.  We are desire realm beings, which means we have no choice but to do whatever we desire.  The only way to sustainably train in moral discipline is to change our desires away from delusions and towards virtue.  This is primarily accomplished through a sincre and consistent practice of Lamrim.  Lamrim is a systematic method for changing our desires from worldly ones to spiritual ones. 
  1. Closing the fourth door of non-conscientiousness.  We should repeatedly bring to mind the disadvantages of incurring downfalls, and the advantages of pure moral discipline.  These have been explained in the previous post, and the specific karmic benefits of each Precept will be explained in the explanation of each Precept.

In brief, Geshe-la explains, we prevent our vows from degenerating by practicing the Dharma of renunciation, bodhichitta, correct view, generation stage, and completion stage. 

It is important to be skillful in our approach to all of our vows, including the Eight Mahayana Precepts.  We should not have unrealistic expectations or make promises we cannot keep.  It will happen to all of us in the early stages of our Dharma practice that when we are at some festival and feeling very inspired, we make these outlandish vows that we (at the time) intend to keep our whole life.  Then we get home, try at first, but eventually are forced to abandon the vow.  Gen Tharchin says when making promises, we should ask ourselves, “what can I do on my absolute worst day?”  We promise only to do that.  On any given day we will most likely do better than our promise, but then we will not actually break it.  It is a bad habit to make spiritual promises which we later break.  We will all make all sorts of what I call “beginner’s errors” with this one.  It does not matter.  When you break the promise, realize your mistake, recalibrate your promise and try again.  Eventually you will get the right balance. 

We should adopt our vows gradually, as each can be kept on many levels.  In this way, we can gradually deepen the level we are able to keep the vows.  If we are a teacher, we should explain the vows well and not encourage our students to promise to keep them all perfectly from the beginning.  Getting the correct attitude towards our vows is well over half the battle.  But keeping the vows gradually does not mean that we can temporarily put to one side the vows that we do not like.  We have to work with all the vows, gradually improving the way we observe them.

Finally, Geshe-la says we should begin to practice all the vows as soon as we have taken them.  Then we practice them to the best of our ability.  Geshe-la says we should never lose the determination to keep our vows perfectly in the future.  He says by keeping the intention to keep them purely in the future we keep our commitments, even if along the way we repeatedly fall short.  I can’t remember who, but some wise person once said, “the day you can keep all of your vows and commitments perfectly is the day you will no longer need them.  It is because we can’t keep our vows and commitments perfectly that we do need them.”  This is useful to always keep in mind.

All of that being said, the Eight Mahayana Precepts are unique in our training in moral discipline because on Precepts Days we do strive to keep them perfectly. On Precepts Days we make a point of emphasizing the practice of moral discipline and we strive our best to observe the vows as purely as we can. The literal meaning of many of the precepts is quite black and white, we either keep the vow or we do not. In this sense, we can say it is an exception to the otherwise gradual approach we take to our practice of moral discipline. But if we look beyond the literal meaning of the precept, we realize that they all also have many different levels at which they can be kept. Further, we can gradually expand the scope with which we engage in our precepts practice by observing their essential meaning throughout the month, not just on Precepts Days. In any case, we should not worry but always simply try our best. If we break our precepts, we can learn our lesson, retake them, and try again.

Happy Tsog Day: Motivation for doing series

Kadampa Ryan Tsog Days

In Guide to Dakini Land, Geshe-la explains Heruka said, “Practitioners who sincerely practise the tsog offering without missing the two ‘tenth’ days of each month will definitely be reborn in Dakini Land.” A tsog offering is, in effect, an enlightened party. When ordinary beings throw a party, they gather their friends and enjoy objects of delight. In a tsog offering, we generate ourself and others as the Guru-deity, gather together, and collectively accumulate vast merit that is in turn dedicated to gaining Dharma realizations and accomplishing spiritual goals for the sake of all living beings.

Once we take rebirth in the pure land, we will be able to receive teachings and empowerments directly from Heruka and Vajrayogini and be able to swiftly complete our spiritual training. A pure land is like a bodhisattva’s training camp, and once reborn there we will never again take an uncontrolled samsaric rebirth. If we wish to help those we love, we can send emanations – almost like drones or avatars in a video game – into the realms of samsara, but from our perspective, we remain safe in the pure land. Once we reach the pure land, our eventual enlightenment is guaranteed. Geshe-la explains many different ways to guarantee that we attain the pure land, such as reaching tranquil abiding on the generation stage object, reaching the fourth mental abiding on the Mahamudra, or dying with a pure mind of compassion. But the easiest and most certain way of reaching the pure land is to maintain our commitment to practice the tsog offering without missing the two tenth days of each month. Heruka himself explained this. Thus, practicing the tsog offering is like an insurance policy for attaining the pure land. What could possibly be more important than this?

The “tenth” days here refers to the 10th and 25th of every month when Kadampa practitioners traditionally engage in a “tsog” offering in the context of the practice Offering to the Spiritual Guide. If we miss a tsog day, we can just make it up on the weekend. If we cannot do it at the center, we can just do it at home on our own. If we cannot do it with physical offerings, we can just do it with imagined ones. If we do not have time to do it and our other daily commitments, we can just imagine our tsog puja indirectly fulfils our other commitments. If we do not have time to do it, we can just do it more quickly. If we cannot do any of that, Venerable Geshe-la says we can just double our normal daily mantra commitment. The point is, we should try find a way to remember tsog days.

To help mark the tsog days myself, and hopefully help others do the same, I am writing this 44-part series of blog posts which I will post on every tenth day over the next two years. During January, which is Heruka and Vajrayogini month, I will post separately on the 10th and 25th since they are Vajrayogini and Heruka day respectively, hence 44 parts instead of 48 parts.  This series will share my personal thoughts and reflections on engaging in the Offering to the Spiritual Guide sadhana with tsog. Geshe-la encourages us to “make our own commentary” to our practices to try deepen our understanding of them. When Shantideva wrote Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, he said his purpose in doing so was to consolidate his own thinking about the bodhisattva’s path, and if others received benefit from his explanations, then all the better. In the same way, I do not pretend that this explanation is in any way definitive – for that, we have the book Great Treasury of Merit – rather, I will share what my current understanding is of the practice. I write it to help consolidate my own experience and understanding of the practice, and if others also find benefit, then all the better.

In my mind, writing and posting this series of posts is my tsog offering to my spiritual guide. By writing it, I offer my practice, my faith, and my effort to try help the Kadam flourish in this world. I pray that those who read this will be inspired to always engage in tsog offerings every tenth day for the rest of their life, and thereby guarantee that they take rebirth in Keajra Pure Land. Once there, may they quickly complete their spiritual training and begin liberating all living beings from the vast, terrible ocean of samsara’s sufferings. 

Vows, commitments, and modern life:  Avoid committing the five heinous actions.

Kadampa Ryan Vows, commitments and daily life

Committing the five heinous actions.

The five heinous actions are actions that are so karmically awful that, barring some very unique circumstances, if we commit them, it is guaranteed we will take a lower rebirth in our next life.  The five heinous actions are:  killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, killing a Foe Destroyer, maliciously wounding a Buddha, and causing a schism within the Sangha.

There is little chance of us committing the first four, but it is quite easy to do at least a similitude of the fifth.  Anytime we engage in divisive speech with respect to anybody within the Sangha, we are committing a similitude of this action.  If we are a teacher or a senior member of a local center who has some degree of authority, we need to be especially careful to avoid this.  This happens most frequently in the context of discussing who is doing what work for the center.  Every Dharma center on the planet is understaffed and overworked.  There is not a single exception to this rule, I am sure.  This fact can quickly lead to resentment by the people who “do all the work” against those who “just come to the center as consumers and leave.”  Usually those who “do all the work” start talking badly about the “consumers,” and they use the Dharma they have learned to judge other members in the Sangha.  When they talk to the “consumers” they quite often will use the Dharma as a means of trying to manipulate the other person into doing more, or they will whine and complain about how they have to do all the work and nobody is helping out.  This, I think, is a nearly universal story in Dharma centers around the world.  It’s quite natural, when you think about it.

But it is also completely the wrong way to approach things.  The work of a Dharma center is by definition infinite.  We are, after all, working continuously until all the problems of all living beings for all their lives have been solved.  No matter how much more the people of a center “contribute” there will always be more work to do that needs to be done.  Clearly, the solution can’t lie in just getting people to work more.  What is required is a change in the center’s cultural attitudes towards working for the center.  If we relate to working for a center as “chores” and “tasks that grudgingly must be done” then our optic is completely wrong, and it is this attitude, more than anything else, that is creating obstacles to people stepping up and working for the center.  When we feel manipulated or judged, what do we do?  We resist and resent.  Others are no different.  So even if our manipulations succeed in getting the other person to do more or give more, they will be doing so out of guilt or resentment, not joy at the opportunity. 

If we were told we could go into our favorite store, and we had a half an hour to grab anything we wanted, what would our attitude be?  Our biggest concern would be not having enough time and not being able to grab enough things.  This is exactly what our attitude should be towards working for a center.  A Dharma center is a karmic gold mine we are given the keys to.  Each thing we do to help a Dharma center literally creates infinite pure karma because the center exists for the pure benefit of infinite living beings.  Just as it is a bit of work to pick up the items we want in the store as we race around, so too it is a bit of work to pick up the karmic gems from helping out.  We wouldn’t begrudge the effort it takes to pick up and put in our cart a new watch, so why do we begrudge the minimal effort it takes to create such pure karma for ourselves?  If other people don’t want to take advantage of the opportunity, that is unfortunate for them, but it is their choice.  It is because we want them to seize the opportunity that we must not try manipulate them to do things for the center.  Our manipulation will create obstacles more than anything else. 

Instead, we should show the example of somebody who joyfully is doing everything they can, and instead of bemoaning having to do everything we just feel lucky to have the opportunity we have.  When others see our joy and our enthusiasm, they will quite naturally seek to join in the fun.  And even if they don’t, what difference does it make to you?  Perhaps centers need to adjust their expectations of what all can get done, and some things will have to be set aside.  Such is life in a world of finite resources and time.  But we should use all these constraints as fuel for our bodhichitta, thinking not “others should help out more” but instead think, “I wish I could have emanations of myself so I could do even more.”  When people ask us to do more than we can reasonably do, our answer should not be frustration, rather it should be, “You know, I would really love to be able to help you with that, but I first need to do X, Y and Z so I can’t.  I wish I could, though.  Sorry.” 

Conflict and tension will arise in any human grouping, and it will do so in centers and in any grouping of Sangha.  But how we resolve such conflict and tension can vary considerably.  If we find ourselves “taking sides” or “choosing personalities over substance” or we find ourselves talking badly about others behind their backs, we are on very thin ground.  In general, it is best to reaffirm mutually agreed upon principles that both sides of a given conflict agree on, and then let them apply the principle themselves.  It is better to acknowledge, squarely and honestly, the legitimate views of both sides, even if that runs counter to our desired final objective.  Usually it is best to first encourage people to communicate with each other in a constructive manner before trying to resolve the substance of the matter, but we always speak in terms of “see past how the other person is talking and instead focus on the merits of what they have to say.”  It is almost always better to be a mediator of a given conflict than a protagonists in it, but when we find ourselves as one of the protagonists we should conduct ourselves in a forthright manner and affirm that we seek to resolve the dispute on the substantive merits of the matter at hand, not something extraneous like a dislike of the personalities involved.

Happy Tara Day: Why we turn to Tara

Kadampa Ryan How to Rely Upon Tara, Tara Days

This is the second installment of the 12-part series sharing my understanding of the practice Liberation from Sorrow.

Going for refuge

I and all sentient beings, until we achieve enlightenment,
Go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.   (3x)

Je Tsongkhapa explains the primary causes of going for refuge are fear and faith.  Fear of lower rebirth, samsaric rebirth, or solitary peace; and faith in the three jewels to provide us protection from these fears.  When we engage in Tara practice, even though the refuge prayer we recite is the same as in so many of our other practices, we should mentally generate a specific faith in Tara, understanding her function.  In particular, Tara promised Atisha that in the future she would provide special care for all of his followers.  Atisha is the founder of the Kadampa tradition, and all Kadampas take his Lamrim as our main practice.  Tara is, in many ways, the Buddha of Lamrim.  Her mantra reveals that her main function is to bestow upon our mind the realizations of the initial, intermediate, and great scope of Lamrim, thus protectingus from lower rebirth, samsaric rebirth, and solitary peace.  Viewing her as our spiritual mother and the Buddha of Lamrim, we go for refuge to her with deep faith.

Generating bodhichitta

Through the virtues I collect by giving and other perfections,
May I become a Buddha for the benefit of all.   (3x)

The way we generate bodhichitta is different for each practice we engage in, even if the words we recite are exactly the same.  Of course, our compassionate wish to become a Buddha for the sake of all living beings is the same, but the specific flavor of the bodhichitta we generate will depend upon the practice we are doing.  The difference is identified in how the practice we are about to engage in contributes to our enlightenment based on its uncommon function.  Tara helps us in ways that are different than say Manjushri or Avalokiteshvara, and so generating bodhichitta for Tara practice is different because it is informed by how she helps us.  The more clearly we understand her function, the more precisely we will understand how reliance upon her will help move us towards enlightenment, giving our bodhichitta prayers a unique Tara-like flavor.  What is Tara’s function?  She is our spiritual mother, she helps us gain Lamrim realizations, and she swiftly helps us dispel all fears.  We need a spiritual mother, the lamrim realizations, and fearlessness in order to progress swiftly towards enlightenment.  Wanting these things and understanding her power to help us attain them, we generate bodhichitta.

Generating the four immeasurables

May all sentient beings possess happiness and its causes,
May they be free from suffering and its causes,
May they never be separated from the happiness that is without suffering,
May they abide in equanimity, without feeling close to some out of attachment or distant from others out of hatred.

As with bodhichitta practice, our practice of the four immeasurables should also have a Tara-like flavor when we recite them.  To do so, we should not just generate the four immeasurable wishes in a generic sense, but we should try align ourselves with Tara’s four immeasurable wishes for all living beings.  How Tara feels and experiences these four immeasurable wishes will be informed by her own understanding of her function and how she helps people realize these four wishes.  If we are to align ourselves with Tara’s blessings, we need to not only generate faith in her, but we need to align our motivation with hers.

When Tara thinks may all sentient beings possess happiness and its causes, she does so as a spiritual mother would.  When she thinks may they be free from suffering and its causes, she does so as somebody who has the power to dispel all fears would.  When she wishes everyone never be separated from the happiness without suffering, she does so as somebody who has the power to bestow the lamrim realizations of freedom from lower rebirth, samsaric rebirth, and solitary peace would.  When she wishes everyone abide in equanimity, she does so as a mother would who loves equally all her children and wishes only that they also love each other.  As you engage in the four immeasurables, ask yourself, “how would Tara feel these wishes,” and then try to feel them in the same way she would.  This will make your practice particularly powerful and align your mind more precisely with her blessings.

Inviting Arya Tara

From the supreme abode of Potala,
Born from the green letter TAM,
You who liberate migrators with the light of the letter TAM,
O Tara, please come here together with your retinue.

Potala is her Pure Land.  Definitive Potala is the clear light Dharmakaya of all the Buddhas.  An enlightened mind is the union of the completely purified wind and mind.  The completely purified very subtle wind is the vajra body of the Buddha, and the completely purified very subtle mind is the vajra mind of the Buddha.  When bodhisattvas are progressing along the Tantric grounds, they imagine that out of the Dharmakaya their vajra body (or illusory body) emerges out of the Dharmakaya.  Their very subtle wind takes the form of a seed letter of the future Buddha they are to become.  For Tara, her seed letter is the green letter TAM.  Once a Buddha attains enlightenment, they send out countless emanations and blessings to help all living beings – these are their emanation bodies.  Taken together, this verse means from her inner pure land of Dharmakaya Potala, she emerges as her enjoyment body in the aspect of a letter TAM, which then sends out infinite light rays in all directions ripening and liberating all living beings, who then appear in the aspect of countless Taras surrounding her and the twenty one Taras.

Prostration

Gods and demi-gods bow their crowns
At your lotus feet;
O Liberator from all misfortune,
To you, Mother Tara, I prostrate.

Typically, gods and demi-gods bow to nobody thinking themselves superior to all, but when they are in Tara’s presence, they spontaneously bow their crowns out of respect a her lotus feet.  They do not do so out of fear or political loyalty, but deep respect understanding her to be the Holy Mother of all the Buddhas.  When we recite that she is the Liberator from all misfortune, we understand that she has the power to liberate all beings who are now around us in the aspect of Taras, and we imagine that all beings spontaneously bow down to her out of love and respect to her as our spiritual mother. 

The feeling this evokes for me is like in Game of Thrones with Daenerys Stormborn liberated countless slaves from their masters, and tens of thousands of them spontaneously started calling out to her as Mhysa, their liberating mother.  Tara is our Mhysa, and we imagine all living beings surrounding us feel the same loving respect. 

On Mixing Dharma and Politics – Not Letting Political Differences Divide the Sangha

Kadampa Ryan 4. Practicing in Daily Life , , , ,

For a lot of Americans, the political changes happening in the United States right now are deeply troubling. The same is true for a lot of non-Americans who see what is happening. Yet at the same time, there are a lot of other Americans who are pleased with what is happening. The same is also true around the world.

There is also no doubt within the global Kadampa Sangha we have many examples of people who are both pleased and displeased with the changes that are occurring. Yet let’s be honest here, the Kadampa community on the whole does tend to skew left politically, so I would guess there are many more people who are troubled by what is happening and others who are afraid to voice their support for fear of being judged by their spiritual community.

Perhaps because it is part of my job, I have given a lot of thought to the question of the relationship between Dharma and politics. On the one hand, VGL is very clear we should absolutely not have any mixing of Dharma and politics at all. When religion and politics mix, the politics do not become more enlightened, rather the religion becomes more political. The spiritual path is primarily about future lives. The Dharma has a lot of opinions about delusions and karma, it has absolutely no opinions about who’s in power and what direction they are taking a given country or the world. This causes many Dharma practitioners to fall into the extreme of thinking we shouldn’t think or talk about politics at all for fear of mixing the two. There are others who come to this same conclusion because each time politics is mentioned in Dharma circles it usually ignites a firestorm, like stepping on a bee’s hive, creating unnecessary division within the sangha. There are others still who might not share the dominant political views within the Kadampa community and when they express views that are contrary to the dominant view, they get attacked for being a bad Kadampa or something – how can you possibly support what is going on and be a good Kadampa??? Call it Dharma cancel culture if you want. This hurts, so they conclude it is better to just say nothing.

On the other hand, VGL is also very clear that our job is to attain the union of Kadampa Buddhism and modern life. He said he has given us the Kadam Dharma, we know modern life, our job is to unite the two. Politics and what is happening in the political realm is unquestionably part of modern life. We can’t bury our heads in the sand and pretend things like wars, revolutions, or major political developments that are affecting the lives of billions are not happening. This is especially true in democratic countries where power is first and foremost vested in the people. Politics is fundamentally about how power is shared and used. Power is inextricably part of modern life. Protecting others creates the causes for power. We cannot both protect others and not accumulate power. How we use the power we have is fundamentally a political question. Democratic systems are political systems – governing how power is shared and used.

So how can we reconcile all this? I would say by relying upon the wisdom realizing emptiness, remembering without inner peace outer peace is impossible, training in the instruction that everybody is welcome, and doing our part to uphold the internal rules of the NKT.

Each one of us has a different karmic point of view on what is happening in the world. There is no one single correct karmic perspective, there are just countless different ones. As a result of this different karma, we will each diagnose the ills of the world through different lenses. We are quite literally seeing different things, or at least different angles on the same thing depending upon our karmic positionality. Since we each see the world in different ways, it is entirely natural, normal, and not a problem that we will each have different political opinions about things. This creates some space in our mind to accommodate different political views among people who share a common love of the same Dharma.

VGL was very concerned about world peace and we should be too. We have Temples for World Peace, World Peace Cafe’s, and he often taught without inner peace, outer peace is impossible. In Toronto during the Iraq war, he famously said, “love is the real nuclear bomb that destroys all enemies.” So does this mean all Kadampas must be peaceniks? He also taught it is possible to kill virtuously if it is protecting even more others. Many Kadampas have different opinions about the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, and elsewhere. What is the Kadampa solution to all this? Inner peace. Our job is to internally be at peace with the world and everything that happens in it. Being at peace with everything does not mean being aloof or doing nothing, rather it means we are able to maintain our inner peace with whatever appears. If we are internally at peace with the world, we are already experiencing world peace even if war is raging all around us. How do we become at peace with the world as it is? By removing any and all delusions we have about whatever is appearing. We don’t deny what is appearing in political realms, we just do the inner work to be at peace with whatever is appearing.

VGL also extensively taught about how within the Kadampa community that “everybody is welcome.” Because the world will appear to us in different ways according to our karma, we will quite naturally have different political views and opinions – and we will act on those views and opinions, even if that means some Kadampas find themselves on opposite sides of various political aisles. What matters within the Kadampa community is not what your political views are – the Dharma doesn’t have a single political point of view on any question – rather what matters is are you applying the Dharma to overcome whatever delusions you might be having with respect to what is appearing in the political realm. For some, that will mean supporting whatever is happening, for others that will mean fiercely opposing it with every fibre of their being. And both are perfectly OK as long as each person is countering whatever delusions are ripening within their mind. After the George Floyd murder, many within the Kadampa community (like much of the rest of the world), became very concerned with questions of diversity and inclusivity also within the Kadampa community itself. Some others thought this was mixing Dharma and politics and many divisions within the sangha emerged. My answer to this is “everybody welcome.” That doesn’t just mean everybody is welcome regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, and so forth, but also regardless of their political views. If we make it seem like only certain political views are welcome in Kadampa communities and consistent with the Dharma teachings we are, in my view, fundamentally betraying one of VGL’s main legacies of purifying the Dharma of politics. Good Kadampas fight their delusions and yes the delusions in the world, but they can do so from any political point of view they happen to be coming from. As a spiritual community, we MUST create the space for people of any political persuasion to feel entirely welcome. Otherwise, we are not practicing “everybody welcome.” And again, to be honest, this primarily means creating more space for right-leaning views and eliminating any trace of cancel culture within Kadampa communities towards those who might hold different political views.

Finally, within the Kadampa community itself, people will have a wide variety of different opinions about how power is distributed and used within the Kadampa community itself. Some will criticize parts as being too authoritarian, some will criticize other parts as being too rebellious, some will criticize the pricing policies or how the profits are spent, and others will criticize how we take care of our sangha members in retirement. Some will feel threatened when any decision made is questioned, others will feel like they don’t have the space to say anything for fear of being exiled or fired. All of this is entirely natural and not even slightly a problem. VGL has given us the internal rules for navigating all such questions. It is our constitution. VGL has said he wants the International Kadampa Buddhist Union to be entirely democratic. Each one of us will have a different positionality or role within the internal rules, but we all equally take on the internal rules as part of our moral discipline of being a Kadampa. We should each fulfill our role within the internal rules as faithfully as we can, upholding the internal rules above our own individual interests or perspective. There will naturally evolve different schools of thought about how we interpret the internal rules, some strict constructionists, others originalists, others still viewing it as a living document. This is no different than how judges interpret the constitution in different ways. No problem, all that is normal. We each fulfill our role within the internal rules with the least delusions and the most wisdom we can muster. We fulfill our role within the internal rules in a way that is consistent with the Dharma we have been taught. We need to create the space for this tension within the Kadampa community. Democratic systems divide power, with each part checking and balancing all the others. It’s not a problem that different people will have different views about the decisions being made (and how they are being made). This is a feature of the system, not a bug.

Politics is an inevitable part of modern life, even within the Kadampa community. We do not need to fear political differences within the Sangha about what is happening in the world or even what is happening within the Kadampa community. What we need to fear is delusions and contaminated karma, we need to fear ordinary appearances and conceptions. We don’t mix Dharma and politics, but we do engage in our politics in a Dharma way. Because we each will have different delusions with respect to what is appearing, we will naturally support or oppose different things and that is perfectly OK. As long as we are all fighting delusions, we are building inner peace. From this inner peace, outer peace will naturally emerge.

Vows, commitments, and modern life:  Don’t disrobe others (even indirectly)

Kadampa Ryan Vows, commitments and daily life

Taking away saffron robes. 

This can be incurred directly only by those in positions of power in monastic communities.  If such a person, with a bad motivation, expels monks or nuns from the monastery by taking back their robes they incur a root downfall, even if those whom they have expelled have broken their ordination vows.

Fortunately, in modern times, instances of this happening are quite rare and extreme.  The reality is we don’t need somebody else to expel us, we implode upon ourselves just fine! 

In reality, though, there are subtle forms of this that happen in centers all the time.  It doesn’t take the form of expelling ordained people or taking away their robes, but it can take more subtle forms of making certain sangha members feel like they are not welcome, or not part of the “in crowd” at the center.  If we look at the life of Jesus, we see one constant pattern:  whatever situation he was in, he would find the person who was the most excluded and disdained and he would go straight to them and cherish them with particular attention.  He wouldn’t hang out with his most loyal and devoted students, but he would actively show the example of active inclusiveness by seeking out the most despised (tax collectors, prostitutes, gentiles, etc.).  We should be just like that.

It is very easy and very natural for us to spend most of our time hanging out with the people we like, talking behind the backs of the people we don’t like, and generally ignoring everybody else.  But is that consistent with what we are being taught?  Is that the best way to use the very limited time we have to be with Sangha?  Now of course we shouldn’t go to the other extreme of ambushing en masse every new person who walks through the door or every wall flower who is quietly observing from the corner.  We, of course, need to be skillful.  But the point is in every moment of every day, whether we are in a center, at work or amongst friends, we should have a special radar on the lookout for anybody who might be feeling excluded, and we should make a special effort to be kind to them and make them feel included.  They just want to be happy too. 

This vow also advises us to cut others some slack.  Dharma is a mirror with which we can identify our own faults not a magnifying glass for judging other people for their faults.  If we don’t understand how the Dharma is supposed to be used as a mirror, there is a real danger that the more Dharma we learn the more we become judgmental of others.  People often feel guilty about their mistakes and their delusions, and if we judge them for their shortcomings instead of “changing” they will most likely just go away so they don’t have to confront our judgment.  This is another subtle form of exclusion. 

Another subtle example of transgressing this vow is flirting with the ordained.  Because the Dharma is so beautiful, it is very easy for people to develop feelings of love or attraction to our Dharma teachers or ordained sangha friends.  This actually happens all the time, even if subtly.  We need to remember, just because somebody has become ordained does not mean they do not still get horny or feel tempted when people flirt with them.  This weakens and can eventually lead to them breaking their vows.  Of course, it is ultimately their responsibility to keep their own vows, but just as we would not offer a former alcoholic a drink, so too we should not tempt (even sub-consciously) somebody who has taken a vow of celibacy. 

How to Make Definitive Prayers and Requests to the Buddhas:

Kadampa Ryan 3. Tantra, 4. Practicing in Daily Life, 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden , , , ,

From one perspective, all Dharmakayas – the truth body of a Buddha, the ultimate, definitive Buddha – are the same nature of the union of bliss and emptiness of all phenomena, like the different spaces within different empty bottles that when broken merge together seemingly indistinguishably. But we would not say there is just one Dharmakaya – that would be grasping at singularity with respect to the Dharmakaya.

Yet, at the same time, we can and do distinguish different Dharmakayas. There is Heruka’s Dharmakaya, Dorje Shugden’s Dharmakaya, Medicine Buddha’s Dharmakaya, Tara’s Dharmakaya and so forth. But we would not say there are entirely distinct Dharmakayas, as that would be grasping at inherently existent plurality of Dharmakayas.

Now we could say from the perspective of Guru Yoga there is just one Dharnmakaya, the Dharmakaya of our spiritual guide, and all other Buddhas arise from that. But even that is grasping at a singular of our Guru’s Dharmakaya. Our guru is a mere name that emanates all the Buddhas and all the Buddhas come together to form our guru. Both are equally true, just from different perspectives.

We might think, “OK, that’s interesting, but it seems like a philosophical point with no practical value.” Not true.

When we dissolve all things into the Dharmakaya, we should not lose track of whose Dharmakaya we are dissolving things into. Dissolving all phenomena into different Dharmakayas accomplishes different functions. Each Buddha accomplishes a different function in dependence upon the specific bodhichitta they generated as bodhisattvas on the path. For example, Tara promised to help all Kadampas with their Lamrim practice and to provide protection from diseases and so forth, Dorje Shugden promised to help arrange all the outer and inner conditions necessary for our swiftest possible enlightenment, and so forth.

The essential point of the union of appearance and emptiness according to highest yoga tantra, as I understand it at least, is the subtle conventional truths of objects are ultimate truths that abide inside emptiness. Inside the emptiness of the table is the subtle conventional truth of the table, the mere name table. We do not say emptiness in the abstract, it is always the emptiness of something, in this case the emptiness of the table. Inside the emptiness of the table is still the mere name and function of the table. There has always only been an empty table, yet it still accomplishes the function of a table. The name and function of a table does not cease when we realize its emptiness, but they exist and abide inside its emptiness. It remains a mere lack of inherent existence, but of something that does something.

The same is true of the emptiness, or truth bodies, of the different Buddhas. We can think of it like ice cream. Mint chocolate chip and cookie dough are both equally ice creams, but they definitely have different flavors. In the same way, the Dharmakaya of Heruka, the Dharmkaya of Dorje Shugden, the Dharmkaya of Medicine Buddha, and the Dharmakaya of Tara all all equally Dharmakayas, but they have different names and functions. Emptiness itself may not do anything, but all empty things have specific names and functions.

What is the practical value of this understanding? The main value is it removes completely anything and everything that obstructs the different Buddhas from bestowing their blessings on our mind and accomplishing their functions in our life.

For example, imagine you are experiencing a very difficult situation in life. If you dissolve everything you normally see that is creating such difficulty for you into Dorje Shugden’s Dharmakaya, we are not just saying none of these appearances exist. Dissolving everything into emptiness is not just a profound way of putting our head in the sand, thinking it will all go away if we don’t look. Dissolving everything into Dorje Shugden’s truth body is a way of offering that which is giving us trouble to Dorje Shugden, requesting him to transform it into a cause of our enlightenment and to perform his function to arrange all the outer and inner conditions necessary for our swiftest possible enlightenment. After we have dissolved the appearances into his Dharmakaya, when they re-emerge we will see and understand them from Dorje Shugden’s perspective. We will have the wisdom to see how this difficulty is exactly perfect for our swiftest possible enlightenment. Dissolving everything into his Dahrmakaya is a way of purifying the contaminated karma giving rise to the obstacles in the ocean his truth body. So the karma giving rise to those appearances which are indeed obstacles will be purified and even our external situation might change.

We might say how is this any different than just requesting Dorje Shugden to accomplish his function with respect to our difficult situation? It’s not different, it’s just a more powerful and more profound way of making the request. It is more powerful because it is making the request free from any obstructions grasping at inherent existence of ourself, Dorje Shugden, or our difficult situation. No obstructions to our request means more power to receiving his blessings. It is more profound because this is how we make definitive prayers and requests. Dissolving the disturbing appearance into Dorje Shugden’s Dharmakaya is how we definitively make a prayer and request to him to accomplish his function in our mind and life. Subsequent to our request, all appearances that arise will be experienced directly as the fulfillment of our prayer and request, gradually at first, but then later completely. What was experienced as an “obstacle” will now be experienced as “perfect for our practice.”

The exact same thing is true for the Dharmakayas of all the different Buddhas. Dissolving all phenomena into Heruka’s Dharmakaya subsequently transforms all appearances into objects of compassion and non-dual appearance and emptiness. Dissolving all sick people and sickness into Medicine Buddha’s Dharmakaya subsequently transforms all appearances into objects of healing outer and inner sickness. Dissolving all things into Tara’s Dharmakaya subsequently transforms all appearances into objects of Lamrim, and so forth.

It is not unlike making mandala offerings. When we make a mandala offering, we offer all objects of attachment, aversion, and ignorance to our spiritual guide, freeing our mind from such delusions. Dissolving all phenomena into the Dharmakaya is like making a definitive mandala offering. Dissolving all phenomena into the different Dharmakayas of the different Buddhas is like making definitive mandala offerings requesting the specific blessing and function of each Buddha.

Making our offerings, prayers, and requests in this way takes them to a whole new level, increases their power, and enables us to train in the union of faith and emptiness every moment of every day. Faith and prayer are emptiness in action.

Happy Protector Day: Introduction to series

Kadampa Ryan Protector Days, Reliance upon Dorje Shugden, Uncategorized

The 29th of every month is Protector Day, when we emphasize our reliance upon the Dharma Protector for the New Kadampa Tradition.  In order to strengthen our connection with him, increase our faith in him, and learn how to practically rely upon him, on the 29th of every month, I will explain my understanding of how to rely upon Dorje Shugden, our Dharma protector.  All of Dharma essentially has one purpose:  to bring the mind under control.  Delusions are that which make our mind uncontrolled.  For me personally, I overcome about 90% of my delusions “merely by remembering” Dorje Shugden.  In this series of posts I will explain how.

Our ability to rely upon Dorje Shugden depends primarily upon one thing:  are we a worldly being or a spiritual being.  If we are a worldly being, reliance on Dorje Shugden will not work.  If we are a spiritual being, reliance on Dorje Shugden will change everything for us – we will never be the same again.  All fear, all anxiety, all grasping will vanish.  Our mind will become smooth, balanced, flexible and peaceful all of the time. 

There is one question we need to ask ourself:  what kind of being do I want to be, a worldly being or a spiritual being?  A worldly being is somebody who is primarily concerned with securing happiness in this life.  Their actions are aimed at securing worldly happiness in this life.  A spiritual being is somebody who is primarily concerned with securing happiness of future lives.  Their actions are aimed at laying the foundation for happiness in future lives, up to the supreme happiness of full enlightenment.

It is important to understand whether our life is a worldly one or a spiritual one does not depend on what activities or job we do, rather it depends on what mind we do these activities with.  Sometimes we think that our families, jobs, vacations and so forth are necessarily ‘worldly’, but this is not the case.  They are only worldly if we engage in them with a worldly mind.  If we engage in these same activities with a spiritual mind, then they become spiritual activities and part of our spiritual life. 

What does it mean to live our life with a spiritual mind?  It means what we are looking to get out of a situation is different.  For example, I have a close friend who is a very successful businessman.  He views everything through the lens of the business opportunity.  We went to Magic Mountain together once (Magic Mountain is an amusement park with very big roller coasters, etc.).  For my friend, because he looked at things through the glasses of a businessman, what he took home from his trip to Magic Mountain was lessons in business. 

For a worldly being, what they are looking to get out of a situation is external happiness in this life.  Their actions are aimed at improving their reputation, increasing their resources, receiving praise and experiencing pleasure (and avoiding the opposite of these things).  For a spiritual being, what they are looking to get out of a situation is opportunities to train their mind and create good causes.  They view situations from the perspective of the opportunity they afford the person to train their mind and create good causes for the future.  To be a spiritual being doesn’t mean we do not care about this life, rather it means we also care about future lives.  We include future lives in our calculations for how we use today and how we use this life.

Before we can actually become a spiritual being, we have to have at least some belief in future lives.  Without such belief, it is difficult to view our life as a preparation for them.  So how can we develop some conviction, or at least some virtuous doubt, about the existence of future lives?  The definitive reason which establishes everything in the Dharma is emptiness.  Emptiness explains that all phenomena, ourselves included, are mere karmic appearance of mind.  ‘Mere’ means they are like appearances in a dream, and ‘karmic appearance’ means that these appearances arise from karma.  This life and all its appearances are just mere karmic appearances of mind that were triggered by previous minds.  The quality of our mind determines the quality of the karma activated.  Every karmic seed has a certain duration, and when it exhausts itself the appearance supported by that karma will cease.  It is just like during a dream. 

The nature of the mind is clarity and cognizing.  Clarity means our mind itself is without form, shape, color, etc.  If our mind had a color, for example, then everything that appeared to our mind would be that color.  It is because it lacks any color that it can perceive or know any color; because it lacks any form, it can know any form and so forth.  Cognizing means it has the power to know objects.  Lacking form alone is not mind – there are many things that lack form, but do not know.  Only something that both lacks form and knows is a mind.  Our mind is like a formless field of knowing.  It is like a giant container in which new karmic appearances are projected.  Think back to two hours ago.  What is appearing to our mind now is completely different.  What used to appear no longer appears at all, yet our mind itself remains clarity and cognizing.  In the same way, when the appearances of this life and this body cease, our mind itself will remain clarity and cognizing, it will just know new appearances.

If none of these ideas work for us, then it is useful to consider even if we are not sure, it is nonetheless better to live our life as if there are future lives.  Why?  If there are future lives, but we assume there are not, then we won’t be prepared for them when they come and our future will be uncertain.  It is like somebody denying that there is a tomorrow.  If there are not future lives, but we assume there are, then we will at least be able to have the happiest possible life during this life because a spiritual outlook on life is simply a happier way to relate to the world.  Why is this so?

Why is it a good idea to adopt a spiritual way of life?  Doing so can make every moment of our life deeply meaningful.  Our lives are as meaningful as the goals towards which we work.  If our goal is to lead each and every living being to the complete freedom of full enlightenment, then since this is the most meaningful goal, our life in pursuit of this goal will be felt to be full of great meaning.  We can find a true happiness from a different source – the cultivation of pure minds. 

External happiness, if we check, is really just a temporary reduction of our discomfort.   Even if it does provide us with temporary moments of happiness, we have no control over it and so our happiness is uncertain.  We feel we cannot be happy without our external objects.  In Buddhism, we have identified a different source of happiness – a peaceful mind.  If our mind is peaceful, we are happy, regardless of what our external circumstances are.  The cause of a peaceful mind is to mix our mind with virtue, such as love, compassion, etc.  When we engage in the actions of mixing our mind with virtue, we plant the karmic seeds on our mind which will ripen in the form of the experience of inner peace.  Understanding this, we have an infinite source of happiness just waiting to be tapped.  When our mind is at peace, we can then enjoy all external things, not just the ones we like.

We are all going to die, and the only things we can take with us are the causes we have created for ourself.  Everything else we have we need to leave behind.  The only riches we can take with us into our future lives are the karmic causes we have created for ourself.   When we think about this carefully, we realize that only they matter.  The rest of this life is not guaranteed to happen, but our future lives are, and they are very long.  Now is the time to assemble provisions for our future lives.  We do not know when we are going to die. 

Vows, commitments, and modern life:  Don’t Abandon Dharma.

Kadampa Ryan Vows, commitments and daily life

Abandoning Dharma. 

We incur this downfall if we criticize any of Buddha’s teachings, declaring that they are not Buddhadharma and therefore should not be practiced.  We do not incur this downfall if we set aside some instructions for the time being because we do not see their relevance to our lives or they seem too difficult for our current level.  Buddha gave over 84,000 instructions and Geshe-la has written many many commentaries to Buddha’s teachings.  So clearly we work gradually with the instructions, incorporating and synthesizing their meaning in our lives over time until eventually we feel as if we practice – directly or indirectly – every single instruction every single day.  But it can decades before we feel this to be the case.

We also are not abandoning the Dharma if we used to go to every festival and to every teaching, but for whatever reason we no longer do so.  Karma changes and so it is normal that our ability to attend certain events will also evolve and change over time.  But we do incur this downfall if we come to some definite conclusions, “Buddha was definitely wrong about this.” 

Gen-la Losang said it does not matter how many people come to our centers, it only matters how many go away with a happy mind.  He said those who go away with a happy mind are actually more important than those who stay at the center for years for the simple reason that there are more of them!  If people go away having appreciated some point and it makes some positive impression on their mind, even if they never come back, a very powerful karmic seed will have been placed on their mind which can be activated in future lives in the form of them coming to the center and staying (even if only for a little longer than last time).  This is one of the reasons why the International Temples Project is such genius.  Busloads full of school children and tourists come visit the temples all the time, see the Buddhas and leave thinking, “hey, those Buddhists are kinda cool.”  Who is to say that the people who stay in this life were not the tourists of a previous life? 

The reality is there are many many people who come to our centers, attend classes for a shorter or longer amount of time, but then they move on.  It is very easy for the people who remain at the center or for the people who run the center to become attached to people coming to the center and then to be unhappy when people leave.  There have been many examples of people in centers making those who think about leaving feel guilty like they are abandoning the Dharma, they are breaking their vajra commitments, etc., etc., etc.  Of course the over-enthusiastic administrator or practitioner thinks they are helping the other person by saying such things, but in reality they are sabotaging that person’s spiritual future and causing the tradition to develop a reputation of being like a cult. 

The Dharma is like a diamond, like the sun, and like a medicinal tree.  Any amount is good.  Just because more is better doesn’t mean having only some is bad.  If we resort to spiritual manipulations to keep people coming to our center, it may work in the short run but the person will eventually come to resent coming.  This resentment will build in their mind and their view of the center and the tradition will sour.  Their mind will grow increasingly negative until eventually they leave altogether.  But instead of leaving with a happy mind towards the teachings and the center, they will leave with a bitter taste in their mouth, or worse.  Let’s be honest with ourselves, there are more than a few stories of where things like this have happened in the past.  If we can’t acknowledge our mistakes, we are certainly doomed to repeat them.  The good news is I have been with the tradition for several decades now, and I can say without a doubt that every year we get a little bit better about not making a total mess of things!  J  Most of these old ways are a thing of the past, but residuals do remain.  Of course we can’t control what other people and other centers do, but we do have a certain say over what we do and what our own local center does.

If we are an administrator of a local center, I think we need to be very careful when people approach us with problems they might be having with the center.  There has been so much external venom thrown our way, that it is very easy to allow our own sensitivities about some internal unhealed wounds to cause us to overreact, become defensive and act unskillfully when people do approach us.  It is very easy for major conflicts and power struggles to start and it can quickly poison the environment of a center with a cost to all.  It is perfectly possible that the person approaches us in an unskillful way, getting upset and angry and accusatory, but if we are a leader in a local center then presumably we have more experience with the Dharma and it seems to me it is incumbent upon us to respond in a constructive manner that doesn’t make the situation worse.  If we welcome their criticism and have an open, honest and sincere conversation with them where we admit our mistakes and clarify any misunderstandings without defensiveness, then our living embodiment of putting the teachings into practice will dispel far better than any words we might say any misconceptions the other person might be harboring.  We should say thank you, we apologize, and we should we show a willingness to learn.

Even if in the end the other person leaves over the issue, at least they will go away thinking we handled the situation with integrity and forthrightness.  They may disagree, but they will be less likely to reject us, and therefore they will harbor no ill will or cling tightly to what could be wrong views.

Happy Heruka Day: Enjoying An Ocean of Bliss and Emptiness

Kadampa Ryan 3. Tantra, 7. Kadampa meaning of special days

Today is Heruka Day, which takes place during Heruka and Vajrayogini month (otherwise known as January), and is a special day when his blessings are particularly powerful.  Most of all, on this day we can recall his kindness and make an effort to bring him to life in our world.

Who is Heruka?

Heruka is the manifestation of the compassion of all the Buddhas.  Out of his Truth Body, he emanates himself as a complete path from the deepest hell to the highest enlightenment.  He is Keajra Pure Land, which is not some distant place but rather a different way of looking at our world.  He emanates in this world as Spiritual Guides who in turn introduce us to Keajra Pure Land.  We then begin to connect with it, and as we do, we are guided progressively to purer and purer states of mind.  Geshe-la once said the mind of Lamrim is Akanishta Pure Land – a revealing way of phrasing things, a mind as a place.  Heruka is the principal deity of Akanishta Pure Land.  Our Spiritual Guides first guide us into Lamrim (Akanishta), then conventional Keajra Pure Land through generation stage, then definitive Keajra Pure Land through completion stage.  Finally, we attain union with definitive Heruka, the omniscient mind of great bliss realizing directly and simultaneously the emptiness of all things.  Heruka is not just this final state, he is the entire path to it.  He is the compassion of all the Buddhas manifesting as the quick path to enlightenment.

My favorite description of Heruka is Chakrasambara.  As Geshe-la explains in Essence of Vajrayana:

“Another term for Heruka is ‘Chakrasambara.’  ‘Chakra’ means ‘wheel,’ and in this context refers to the ‘wheel’ of all phenomena.  ‘Sambara’ means the supreme bliss, which is called ‘spontaneous great bliss.’  Together ‘Chakra’ and ‘sambara’ reveal that by practicing Heruka Tantra we gain a profound realization that experiences all phenomena as one nature with our mind of great bliss.  This realization directly removes subtle dualistic appearances from our mind, and due to this we quickly become definitive Heruka.”

This realization is called “meaning clear light,” and Geshe-la explains in Guide to Dakini Land that if we gain this realization, we can attain enlightenment within six months.  This does not mean we can attain enlightenment in six months from the time we start practicing Heruka.  It will take a long time to gain the realization of meaning clear light, but once we do, we can attain enlightenment in six months.  Practicing Heruka is the quickest method for attaining the realization of meaning clear light.  At a minimum, through our sincere practice of Heruka in this life, if we can die with a mind of compassion and faith in Heruka, it is definite we can be reborn in his pure land.  From there, we will be able to quickly attain meaning clear light and then enlightenment.  This is our incredible good fortune. 

Recalling the Kindness of Heruka

The very heart of the sadhana Offering to the Spiritual Guide is the Single-Pointed Request, which can be understood as a prayer to Heruka as Keajra Pure Land. 

You are the Guru, you are the Yidam, you are the Daka and Dharma Protector;

From now until I attain enlightenment I shall seek no refuge other than you.

In this life, in the bardo, and until the end of my lives, please hold me with the hook of your compassion,

Liberate me from the fears of samsara and peace, bestow all the attainments, be my constant companion, and protect me from all obstacles.  

The first line reveals the vastness of Heruka.  Heruka is by nature our Guru and our Guru is Heruka.  All Tantric practices are fundamentally trainings in guru yoga – a special way of viewing the deity and the guru as inseparably one.  Saying Heruka is our Guru and our Guru is Heruka evokes different meanings, and both are true simultaneously.  Heruka is also our Yidam or our personal deity.  He is the Buddha we seek to become and our ultimate role model.  Christians ask, “what would Jesus do,” we ask, “what would Heruka do,” and we seek to do that.  Heruka is also the Daka, which here refers to the Heroes and Heroines of his body mandala.  These deities are his retinue, but also his spiritual limbs.  Heruka is also the Dharma Protector.  He manifests Dorje Shugden as the Protector of the Guru’s words.  Conventionally, Heruka appears as the totality of his Pure Land, from the HUM at his heart to the principal deity (Yidam); to the body mandala deities (Daka); to his celestial mansion, Mount Meru, and the continents (his gross body); to the charnel grounds (his perception of samsara); to Dorje Shugden’s protection circle surrounding it all transforming whatever appears into a perfect condition for the enlightenment of all beings within Heruka’s pure land.

The second line explains how we rely upon Heruka.  It begins with an understanding of both why we go for refuge to him and for how long our commitment to doing so is – namely to attain enlightenment and until we do.  Geshe-la explains Heruka’s power is only unleashed within us in dependence upon our motivation of Bodhichitta, the wish to become a Buddha for the benefit of all. 

The third line makes our reliance upon Heruka pure.  In Joyful Path, Geshe-la explains what makes our spiritual practice pure instead of worldly is whether we are engaging in it for the sake of all of our future lives or the sake of this life.  We rely upon Heruka in this life, in the bardo, and in all of our future lives.  What do we request of him?  That he always hold us with the hook of his compassion.  The ocean of samsara is vast and it is easy to get lost at sea and drown, but out of his compassion for us, he throws us a hook we can grab onto.  If we never let go, he will pull us to safety.  What is this hook and how does it appear in our life?  It primarily appears as our Spiritual Guide, but it also manifests as the Daka and the Dharma Protector. 

The fourth line reveals Heruka’s main function; or put another way, the principal benefits of relying upon him.  His aspect of the Guru functions to liberate us from the fears of samsara and peace.  Peace here refers to the solitary peace of individual liberation, which is nice for us but useless for others.  We pray to never get trapped in solitary peace but instead strive to become a Buddha who works until the end of time to free others from their suffering.  His aspect of the Yidam functions to bestow all the attainments.  Bestow is a beautiful word as it implies the giving of something precious.  In truth, we attain enlightenment by the Buddhas bestowing the realizations of their mind upon ours, like a gift.  Of course, we must do certain things from our side to open up our mind to receive these precious gifts, but by nature, our future realizations of the stages of the path are actually by nature aspects of our Yidam’s mind.  His aspect of Daka functions to be our constant companion.  In other words, the deities of the body mandala – Heruka’s retinue – are his companions who not only bless our own channels, drops, and winds, but similarly bless all living beings as they fulfill Heruka’s wishes in this world.  His aspect of Dharma Protector functions to protect ourselves and all the beings inside Heruka’s mandala from all obstacles to our spiritual practice.  Nothing is an obstacle from its own side.  Things only become obstacles when we relate to them in a deluded way.  Dorje Shugden is first and foremost a wisdom Buddha, meaning he grants us the wisdom to be able to see how whatever arises is perfect for our spiritual training.  Since his protection circle envelopes all of Keajra, from the Charnel Grounds to the HUM at Heruka’s heart, he is likewise bestowing similar wisdom blessings on the minds of all living beings.  This is why for Heruka samsara appears as the Charnel Grounds.  In the Charnel Grounds, even though conventionally horrific things appear, they are all understood and seen as powerful Dharma teachings propelling us towards enlightenment.  When we have this wisdom, when others come to us with their difficulties, we fail to even see a problem, we see only spiritual opportunity.  We then share our perspective with others, empowering them to transform their life into a joyful path of good fortune. 

For myself, I recite the Single-Pointed request with these recognitions day and night as I go about my day.  It is my daily mantra, and with every recitation, it draws me closer to Heruka.  In my meditation itself, I try to gain experience for what it feels like to be Heruka in Keajra.

Bringing Heruka to Life in our World

We can sometimes feel like Heruka is not in this world and our attainment of union with him is very far off.  Both of these perceptions are completely wrong.  Heruka is the ultimate nature of everything in this world and attaining union with him is simply one recognition away.  How can we bridge the gap between these two very different views?  Through the practice of the Eight Lines of Praise of the Father.  This is a special method for activating Heruka’s function in this world through us.  On the basis of this feeling we simply recognize ourselves as Heruka.  Through continual training in this practice, the gap between our normal perception and our enlightened perception collapses until eventually, we experience ourselves directly as Heruka in this world performing his enlightened deeds for the benefit of all.   As Geshe-la says in Essence of Vajrayana, “By sincerely reciting these praises we swiftly purify our ordinary appearances and reach Heruka’s Pure Land.”

The Eight Lines of Praise are almost like words of a magical spell, which function to invoke or activate the different functions of Heruka we are praising. 

OM I Prostrate to the Blessed One, Lord of the Heroes HUM HUM PHAT

When we recite this line, we request Heruka’s body to become active in this world.  His body is the form aspect of Keajra Pure Land.  In Keajra, every form that appears is understood as a powerful Dharma teaching by all those who behold it.  Heruka manifests as whatever living beings need to be led to enlightenment.  While Keajra Pure Land is shaped like a mountain, it’s spiritual gradient is more like a funnel.  No matter where you drop something in a funnel, it is eventually guided down into the center of the funnel.  In the same way, no matter where you find yourself in Keajra Pure Land – from the Charnel Grounds to the principal deity’s body – you are inexorably drawn towards the indestructible wind inside Heruka’s heart chakra.  By activating Heruka’s form body in our world, we are “inviting all beings to be our guests” in our Pure Land where we engage in the pleasing supreme practices of enlightenment.  We then strongly believe that whatever forms appear to the minds of any living being, they are by nature emanations of Heruka’s form body, revealing the truth of Dharma and guiding all beings towards his heart. 

In particular, when we recite this line, we can imagine that our body is Heruka’s majestic body.  Our eyes may continue to perceive the body that we normally see, but our mind’s eyes of faith see ourselves as Heruka.  In Essence of Vajrayana, it explains the symbolism of Heruka’s body.  The short version is it reveals all of the essential stages of the path to enlightenment.  Buddhas can manifest their inner realizations as forms.  The main point is we should disregard, even forget, our body that we normally see and believe that through our recitation of this line of the prayer we perceive our body to be Heruka’s body.

OM To you with a brilliance equal to the fire of the great aeon HUM HUM PHAT

When we recite this line, we invoke/activate Heruka’s speech.  In Keajra, every sound is arising from Heruka’s enlightened speech and it functions to reveal the truth of Dharma.  When we recite this, we imagine that every sound, even the rustling of leaves in the wind, is actually vajra songs teaching Dharma.  His speech burns away the ordinary conceptions and ignorance of living beings like a great wisdom fire that radiates out and burns away all delusions.  In particular, we should imagine that from this point forward all of our own speech is actually Heruka’s speech being spoken through us.  Instead of saying whatever comes to our mind, we get out of the way and let him speak through us.  If we are practicing this at the level of completion stage, we can recall that the nature of sound is wind, and so all sounds are actually the whistling of Heruka’s pure winds blowing through the world.

OM To you with an inexhaustible topknot HUM HUM PHAT

With this line we imagine we invoke/activate Heruka’s mind in our world, symbolized by his topknot.  There are two aspects of his mind in particular worth noting.  First, his mind sees all past, present, and future phenomena directly and simultaneously.  He sees everything that has been, everything that is, and everything that will be as one inseparable ocean.  This wisdom knowing the three times is extremely effective for being able to help people because we can see the karmic why they are currently facing the situations they are facing and all of the different possible futures they will experience depending upon how they respond to their present circumstance.  Heruka sees everything as currents and continuums, like spiritual winds blowing through time, not static pictures that seem arbitrary and bewildering.  Second, his mind has the power to bestow the realizations of Chakrasambara on others, in other words, his mind functions to gather and dissolve all phenomena into the ocean of bliss and emptiness.  When impure winds cease to flow, the waves of appearance subside, and the ocean of our mind settles into a blissful clarity.  Heruka’s mind naturally draws all phenomena back into this original source of all purity.  When we recite this line, we feel as if these two powers of his mind are now active.  We start to see the three times as Heruka does and we feel all phenomena settling down into the ocean of our mind of clear light emptiness.

OM To you with a fearsome face and bared fangs HUM HUM PHAT

When we recite this line, we imagine we gain Heruka’s great wisdom knowing clearly and unmistakenly what are the objects to be abandoned and what are the objects to be attained, not only for ourselves, but for all living beings.  Not being clear about this is our fundamental problem and the source of all of our suffering.  In Modern Buddhism, Geshe-la makes a clear distinction between our outer problem and our inner problem.  If our car breaks down, normally we think, “I have a problem.”  No, our car has a problem.  Our problem is our inner problem of relating to this appearance in a deluded way.  We need a mechanic to fix our car, and we need to change our mind to solve our inner problem.  Fixing our outer problem will not solve our inner problem.  If we continue to have our inner problem, we will just project it onto some other external circumstance and think now that needs to be fixed too.  Worldly beings are convinced their problem is what is happening externally, and they expend all of their energy trying to solve all of their outer problems, but no matter how many times they do, they continue to have the same sorts of problems just with different faces or different sets of external appearance.  The reason for this is they have not solved their inner problem.  Heruka’s great wisdom enables us to see clearly that our own and others’ actual problem lies within.  Once we are clear that our problem is our inner problem, then his great wisdom helps us see clearly our delusions as mistaken minds.  It is one thing to identify that we have delusions, but if we do not see why they are wrong or deceptive, we will continue to follow them believing them to be true.  His great wisdom also helps us easily know what is the correct way of looking at things that leaves our mind peaceful and calm.  We not only know the wisdom way of thinking, we actually think that way – or at least believe it to be correct, even if the winds of our mind are blowing in opposite directions. 

When we recite this line, we have this wisdom not only for ourselves but also for others.  When others talk to us, we see clearly the difference between their outer and their inner problem, and with respect to their inner problem, we know and can explain in a way they can understand the objects to be abandoned and the objects to be attained.  Traveling outer paths is accomplished through taking steps, inner paths are traveled through knowing what thoughts to believe.  The great wisdom of knowing the objects to be abandoned and the objects to be attained is like always knowing which paths to travel so that we never get lost.  It is like an inner GPS that is always set for the City of Enlightenment, and no matter where we find ourselves, we always know how to get to where we want to go.

OM To you whose thousand arms blaze with light HUM HUM PHAT

When we recite this line we imagine we invoke/activate countless emanations of Heruka who spontaneously burst forth from his heart of compassion to benefit living beings through acts of loving-kindness.  This line refers to how Heruka is the compassion of all the Buddhas, he is the highest yoga tantra version of thousand-arm Avalokiteshvara.  Some people wonder how Buddhas gain the ability to send out emanations.  The answer is their compassion wishing to protect all living beings from all suffering is so great, emanations naturally burst out of their hearts.  Because they realize emptiness of all phenomena, their compassion is like blowing air into the soap of their realization of emptiness producing countless bubbles of emanations.  Normally, when people come to us for help, we think, “I can’t help all of these people,” and we wish some of them would go away and stop putting so many demands on us.  But a bodhisattva thinks, “I would want to help all of these beings, but right now, unfortunately, I can’t.  That’s why I need to become a Buddha because then I will be able to be with each and every living being every day.”  We imagine that through reciting this line, we gain this ability to send out countless emanations and to be like thousand-arm Avalokiteshvara, able to help living beings in countless ways.

OM To you who hold an axe, an uplifted noose, a spear, and a khatanga HUM HUM PHAT

With this line, we imagine we gain Heruka’s ability to engage in wrathful actions, and we invoke his wrathful actions pervade the entire universe.  What are wrathful actions?  They are the ability to use force out of compassion.  They are of two types:  outer and inner.  Outer wrathful actions are when somebody is hurting themselves or others and we can stop them through using whatever power we have (physical, our position, our speech, etc.).  We do this not out of anger, but to protect the person they are harming and to protect the person committing the harm from accumulating negative karma.  Our wish is not to harm the other person, but to protect them.  Sometimes outer wrathful actions take the form of telling people the hard truths of their situation, such as they are acting like a jerk or the only reason why they are suffering is that they are jealous or attached to companionship, or whatever.  Whether our outer wrathful actions are effective depends upon whether our mind is truly free from anger and whether the other person has enough faith in us to take well what we are saying.  If either of these two conditions is not met, our wrathful actions will just be anger or they will just be self-defeating.  Inner wrathful actions are the ability to be utterly ruthless with our delusions, but kind to ourselves.  We can only successfully engage in them if we have truly differentiated between ourselves and our delusions and we have realized that renunciation is true self-love or self-compassion.  It is loving or having compassion for our true selves, our pure potential.  Inner wrathful actions of a Buddha are powerful blessings that help people see clearly the error of their ways, sometimes at an epic scale, but without inducing guilt causing the person to beat themselves up.  When we recite this line, we imagine we gain the ability to engage in such wrathful actions and we imagine we invoke Heruka to engage in such wrathful actions through the appearances of this world.

OM To you who wear a tiger-skin garment HUM HUM PHAT

This refers to Heruka’s ability to pacify anger and conflict.  There is no evil greater than anger.  Almost all of the harm in this world is caused by anger.  Hell realms are the nature of anger, and those who remain consumed by anger in life wind up taking rebirth in hell after death because that is the nature of their mind.  Anger prevents us from accepting samsara as it is, making us wish it was different.  It leads to frustrations, great and small, leaving us always internally uncomfortable, agitated, and unhappy.  Guilt is anger directed at ourself and is a major obstacle to our ability to view Dharma as refuge instead of a mirror we perceive to be judging us for all of our failures and shortcomings.  Conflict in the world ranges from large-scale wars to spats between siblings, but it leaves a wake of pain wherever it goes.  In Eight Steps to Happiness, Geshe-la says the mind of cherishing others is like a magic crystal that has the power to heal whole communities.  In Toronto, he said, “love is the real nuclear bomb that destroys all enemies.”  Heruka’s compassion is his magic crystal and his love is his nuclear bomb that ends all conflict.  We imagine by reciting this line, we activate this power and it functions to pacify all anger, all guilt, and all conflict, not only in our own lives but in the whole world.  We feel as if his love radiates out, pulsing peace into the world.  In Transform Your Life Geshe-la says, “without inner peace, outer peace is impossible.”  We imagine through Heruka’s blessings, we bestow inner peace on all living beings, resulting in universal peace for all.

OM I bow to you whose smoke-coloured body dispels obstructions HUM HUM PHAT

In Essence of Vajrayana, Geshe-la explains:

“In the Condensed Root Tantra it is said that just by seeing a sincere Heruka practitioner we purify our negativities and attain liberation; just by hearing or being touched by such a practitioner we receive blessings and are cured of sickness; and just by being in the presence of such a practitioner our unhappiness, mental disturbances, delusions and other obstacles are dispelled.  Why is this?  It is because the actual Deities of Heruka abide within the body of the practitioner and therefore seeing the practitioner is not so different from seeing Heruka himself.”

When we recite this line of the Praise we recall this special quality of Heruka which makes merely being in their presence a cause of liberation for others.  There are two types of obstructions – the obstructions to liberation, or our delusions; and the obstructions to omniscience, or the karmic imprints of our past delusions.  Merely being in Heruka’s presence dispels both of these, just as being exposed to the sun will melt ice cream.  When we recite this line with faith, we imagine that our Heruka body attains these qualities and when others are merely in our presence, it functions as a cause of their enlightenment – even if we are doing nothing other than watching football together.  We further imagine that Heruka’s body pervades all phenomena, and while our ordinary eyes may perceive the things we normally see, our wisdom eyes see Keajra Pure Land, which is nothing other than Heruka’s pure form body.  By being in this world, the two obstructions of all living beings are dispelled away, all ordinary appearances and conceptions dissolve, and all beings awaken into a world of pure wonder. 

Through continuously engaging in the Eight Lines of Praise, we will gradually purify our mind and samsara will gather and absorb into the clear light, like clouds into a clear blue sky.  We will feel Heruka as Keajra Pure Land become increasingly manifest and we will realize it is not far away, but actually the true nature of all things.  Having activated these eight abilities of Heruka and feeling them work through us, we will have no difficulty generating a qualified divine pride thinking we are Heruka.  As our experience with these verses deepens, the duality between ourselves and our Yidam will dissolve away until we experience union with this marvelous being.  In this way, we will fulfill all of our own and others’ pure wishes.

Heruka day is a particularly auspicious day when Heruka’s blessings are especially powerful.  The karma we create familiarizing ourselves with Heruka in our life and drawing closer to him on this day will pay dividends for aeons to come.  If we have not yet memorized the Eight Lines of Praise, today is a perfect day to do so.  Once we have learned it, we can then practice it day and night and swiftly move out of samsara and into Keajra Pure Land!