Modern Bodhisattva’s Way of Life: Introduction to the Guide

November 28, 2015November 28, 2015 Kadampa Ryan 2. Modern Bodhisattva's Way of Life

In reality, the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life is the Lamrim for Bodhisattva’s. Atisha put together all of Buddha’s instructions in a special presentation called the Lamrim. Shantideva did the same thing for Bodhisattva’s. By practicing the instructions in his guide, we are directly or indirectly practicing everything.

When Geshe-la first came to the West, he had only a few books in hand, the most prominent of which was Shantideva’s Guide and Chandrakirti’s Guide to the Middle Way. Shantideva’s Guide was the first book that Geshe-la systematically taught. In particular, Eight Steps to Happiness, Universal Compassion, the Bodhisattva Vows and of course Meaningful to Behold all emerge, directly or indirectly, from Shantideva’s Guide. Meaningful to Behold is considered the final book in the Foundation Program sequence, essentially wrapping up into a final package how all of the Foundation Program instructions are to be practiced. It is, in effect, the very synthesis of Foundation Program.

There is a huge difference between taking Dharma at an intellectual level and putting it into practice. Taking Dharma purely at an intellectual level will change the way we think, putting it into practice changes the way we act with our body, speech and mind. In other words, we need to learn how to allow ourselves and our actions be influenced by the instructions so that we change. In reading about and studying the instructions our main focus should be, “what does this mean in terms of how my actions should change?” “How do I need to change my actions in response to these instructions?” If we take Dharma at a purely intellectual level, it is just Dharma chess and not very useful. Shantideva says there are many Buddhist scholars in hell.

The definitive meaning of instructions is found in our personal experience of them. Normally people fall into one of two extremes: either a scholar or a practitioner. A scholar takes things too intellectually and a practitioner often fails to grasp the inter-connections between the different practices. The ideal we strive for in our tradition is to be like Je Tsongkhapa, who was a scholar-practitioner.

In broad terms, every Dharma instruction has three layers of meaning. There is the instruction itself, namely the meaning we can derive from looking at the instruction in a vacuum, all by itself. As Geshe Chekawa says, the instructions are “like a diamond, like the sun and like a medicinal tree,” meaning that even a small fragment of them has incredible value. The second layer of meaning is viewing the instruction within its context, namely seeing the instruction within the context of the overall system of instructions. This is primary understood when we realize an individual instruction within the context of a special presentation of all of the instructions, such as that found within the Lamrim or as found in Shantideva’s Guide. When we have attained this level of meaning of the instructions, then our direct study of any one instruction indirectly reinforces our experience and understanding of every other instruction. At this point, the Lamrim ceases to feel like 21 different practices, and instead comes to feel like one practice with 21 parts. The third and final layer of meaning is that discovered through personal experience of the truth of the instruction. Here our understanding arises from our practice of the instruction. This is the final, definitive meaning of the instruction we are after. When we have personal experience of the instructions we effortlessly understand the intellectual levels at a very deep level, and things make sense.

We hear in Dharma all the time, “we need to put the instructions into practice.” What exactly does it mean to put the instructions into practice? It means to use them as the solution to our problems. The point of departure where one becomes a spiritual practitioner is a redefinition of the problem. There are two problems in every situation: the external one and the internal one. Geshe-la gives the example of our car breaking down. The outer problem is the car doesn’t work any more. Dharma can’t help us solve this problem (directly, at least). Our internal problem – our actual problem – is the deluded mental reaction we have to the outer problem. This deluded reaction destroys our inner peace and it creates unpleasant feelings within our mind. Dharma is used to solve that problem. We then use the instructions to change our mind, and thereby solve our inner problem.

The secret to being able to put the instructions into practice is to adopt the six recognitions of listening explained in the Lamrim, in particular viewing ourselves as a sick person. Before attending any Dharma teaching or reading any Dharma instructions, we should take a few moments to correctly identify what our inner problem is and how it is creating difficulties for us. We see ourselves as somebody sick with the disease of delusions. With this in mind, we then view Shantideva as the supreme spiritual doctor and the instructions he is providing us are our personalized medicine. In short, we bring our problem to the instructions.

Modern Bodhisattva’s Way of Life: Making the decision to enter the Bodhisattva’s Path.

November 21, 2015November 21, 2015 Kadampa Ryan 2. Modern Bodhisattva's Way of Life

There are several different things we need to consider to make the decision to enter the Bodhisattva’s Path.

First, our lives are as meaningful as the goal towards which we work. The goals that we are working towards determines what kind of life we have. There are many different types of goals we can adopt. Worldly goals are goals aimed at external happiness in this life alone, such as money, a good reputation, power, a pleasant partner, etc. Spiritual goals are internal goals of spiritual realizations that protect us in this and all our future lives, such as closing the door on the lower realms by purifying all our negative karma and creating no new negative karma; or attaining liberation by overcoming all of our delusions and thereby gaining the ability to choose our next rebirth. The highest of all goals is to solve all the problems of all living beings for all their lives. Essentially we make a promise to lead each and every being out of the mentally created prison of samsara. Someone who works for this goal is a Bodhisattva. We need to make a conscious decision about what we find to be worthwhile and work towards that goal. It is not enough to allow the momentum of our life to carry us along. To choose the life of a bodhisattva does not mean you have to abandon your external life, but you do have to completely change the mind with which you do it. We strive to integrate all of your activities into the accomplishment of our primary objective.

Second, we have worked incredibly hard to give ourselves this opportunity. Nothing happens without a cause. It is impossible for us to experience anything if we didn’t create the cause to do so. We now have everything. We have a precious human life, we have access to a Dharma center where we can receive teachings, we have a strong interest in accomplishing spiritual goals, we have access to Tantric instructions which enable us to attain enlightenment in one lifetime, and we have the opportunity to engage in a Bodhisattva’s actions through the center. I did the math once, and an opportunity like this comes around only once ever 550 trillion lifetimes. We worked exceedingly hard over many lifetimes to get this opportunity. We accumulated good causes for ourself and they are all ripening as this present opportunity. In many ways, this present opportunity is our self-created spiritual destiny. To not seize this opportunity would be like studying for 12 years to become a doctor and then in the last semester dropping out. Or it is like running our whole life for president and finally getting elected, and then not showing up for work on the first day. It is actually far worse than that.

Third, if we don’t fully seize this opportunity while we have it, we will lose it forever. It would be as if all our Dharma karma has ripened in the form of this present opportunity and we have nothing left on our mind. If we don’t take full advantage of this opportunity, we will burn up the causes which created it and have nothing left on our mind. If instead we fully seize this opportunity we will create the causes for it to continue until eventually we attain the final goal.

Fourth, we each have an inescapable rendez-vous with death. We are going to die and we don’t know when. The only thing we can take with us are the imprints we have placed on our mind. Everything else, we have to leave behind. If we invest all our energy of this life into external things to be enjoyed in this life, we will arrive at death empty handed and have no protection for our future lives. Do not allow yourself to arrive at death and realize too late what you could have accomplished spiritually if only you had been motivated enough.

We make this decision when we choose to take the Bodhisattva vows. Over the next several months of posts, we will work to prepare ourselves to be able to make this decision. Essentially, the purpose of these next many posts is to lead up to us being able to make this promise to living beings. We should give ourself this opportunity to really examine this opportunity we have in front of us and make a concsious and informed decision about what we want to do with this life and the rest of eternity. After the discussion of preparation for the bodhisattva vows, we will then likely spend the next three years explaining how to actually embark on a Bodhisattva’s path and live a Modern Bodhisattva’s way of life.

Modern Bodhisattva’s Way of Life: The fork in the road

November 14, 2015November 14, 2015 Kadampa Ryan 2. Modern Bodhisattva's Way of Life

Before we begin exploring the guide itself, some foundations must first be laid to appreciate its meaning. The next several posts will provide this foundation.

All of Buddha’s teachings on wisdom come down to one thing: we are being deceived by our own mind. The rest is explanations of how we are being deceived. We think we are awake and that we are free, but in reality we are asleep and imprisoned. Everything we see around us is the prison of our contaminated mind projected by our self-grasping and self-cherishing. So complete is this deception that we have no idea that this is the case. In reality we are dreaming uncontrolledly, and it can quickly turn into a nightmare. At present, what appears to our mind is rather benign, but we have the karma on our mind for things to turn terribly bad. And it can happen at any time. The tsunami of death is coming yet we remain oblivious.

The prison of our ordinary mind need not exist. We could be abiding in the infinitely wide open freedom and bliss of the Dharmakaya. A Bodhisattva is somebody who has seen the other side or knows there is a pure world beyond the prison of samsara and has dedicated himself or herself to getting everyone out. Shantideva has come to wake us up and tell us what we need to do to get out. More than that, he is presenting us the path for gaining the ability to get everyone else out too. The question now is what are we going to do? We have arrived at the fork in the road where we will decide our fate and the fate of those we love. This is no exaggeration.

One way to think about it is this: we have two selves – an external self and an internal self. Our external self is our contaminated aggregates – our ordinary body and mind. With our ordinary body and mind we can accomplish some external things. It’s not bad compared to a slug, for example. But we know the future of this body: it will get sick, it will get old, it will hurt and it will die. We also know the nature of this mind. It gets angry, jealous, has attachment, and when we are feeling miserable there is very little we can do to stop it. Its greatest deception is it is convincing us to use our precious human life for the external interests of this life alone. As a result of this, we will arrive at death empty handed having wasted this unique opportunity. Our external self is like the Titanic, after it has already hit the iceberg. It is definitely going down, and there is nothing we can do to stop it. What can we really accomplish with our external self? Not much. The most we can do is rearrange the deck furniture so it is a little more comfortable as we go down.

Our internal self is our true self, or our pure potential. This is our Buddha nature, and when purified it will turn into the omniscient mind of a Buddha. The literal translation of a Buddhist is ‘an inner being.’ Buddhas are beings who abide in the realm of the mind. They live beyond the prison walls of samsara. Our inner self can accomplish anything, and can become an omniscient, immortal being that has the ability to enter into the minds of each and every living being every day and gradually lead them out – they have committed themselves to this task and will work for as long as it takes.

We are now being given a choice. Shantideva has come and laid at our feet a flawless method for ripening fully our pure potential and becoming a Buddha. Shantideva’s Guide is effectively a special presentation of the Lamrim for Bodhisattva’s. The entire lamrim is contained within the Guide, and it is organized in a special presentation for Bodhisattva’s. In particular, it is a systematic attack on our self-cherishing and our self-grasping, which are the generators of our samsara. Shantideva tells things as they are. He hides nothing and pulls no punches. His words are as strong and direct as you can find. But he tells the absolute truth. Everybody who has put this method into practice has accomplished the same result. There is no reason why we would be any different.

Before we didn’t even know about our pure potential, much less have an opportunity to fully ripen it. But now we do. So now we have to decide: do I go back to my ordinary life and pretend this never happened; or do I enter the path of a bodhisattva? We need to ask ourselves: what am I going to do with my life – pursue ordinary goals or pursue spiritual goals? What am I going to do with the rest of eternity – get thrown uncontrolledly from one samsaric rebirth to another or break free and then help others do the same. This is a decision that will radically alter eternity for ourself and for others.

Modern Bodhisattva’s Way of Life: Motivation for doing series

November 7, 2015July 21, 2024 Kadampa Ryan 2. Modern Bodhisattva's Way of Life

When I was in college, I was quite arrogant (I still am, but that’s another story). There was nothing I felt I could not do. I was eating breakfast one sunny morning outside Collins Dining Hall with a good friend, and he just started laughing at me uncontrolledly. I asked him what was so funny, and he said “you.” He went on, “everything in your life has come easy for you only because you have only done easy things. If you want a real challenge, learn to master your own mind.” Then he laughed some more. After I got over my wounded pride, I asked him how. He said I should start meditating. Thus began my spiritual life. Looking back, this was probably the most important day of my life, and the kindness my friend showed me by laughing at my face was the greatest I have ever received. Without that day, nothing would be the same.

I then started going to the book store, finding books on meditation and then going home to try them out. I devoured many books and felt like I was making progress, but it was all quite ad hoc. In the bookstores, I kept running into the book, “Meaningful to Behold.” I would look at it, see it was quite advanced, and put it back. This happened in bookstore after bookstore, wherever I went, this book would follow me around and I kept putting it back. I then went on a trip to Europe and once again, in a London bookstore, the book found me again. This was too much, so I finally bought it. I read it on the plane ride all the way back to L.A. I couldn’t put it down. I had always held as a life philosophy that there is no point doing anything other than the most you can possibly do with your life. I had thought myself quite ambitious at the time, but after reading this book I realized I was nothing but a child setting his sights on the insignificant. This book presented a life challenge – a goal – that far surpassed anything I had ever imagined. In fact, it seemed to me the challenge of a bodhisattva was literally the greatest of all: take responsibility to solve all the problems of all living beings for all of their lives. I could not think how any goal could even possibly be greater, and I said to myself, “that’s what I am going to do.” Thus began my life as a Kadampa.

I then bought and read all of Geshe-la’s books. The difference between his integrated and complete presentation and everything I had read up until then was so vast that everything else simply fell by the wayside. My first class in a Kadampa Center was the beginning of Joyful Path Foundation Program. When the teaching concluded, Gen Lekma made eye contact with me and I mouthed to her, “thank you.” I knew I had found home. I continued to attend classes, later moved to France and studied under a particular teacher, then moved to Geneva and eventually became Resident Teacher there. This enabled me to go to the International Teacher Training Program at Manjushri in the Summers, where the first book I studied was Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. The next three years of teachings I received on this book were probably the best I had ever received. Once again, Shantideva became the guide of my life.

After a few years, through a variety of life events that caused us to lose our home, lose the schooling of our kids and lose all of our money, we went back to the U.S. As a result of all of this, I had to give up completely on teaching, going to teachings and even festivals. The karma just wasn’t there to be able to do so. For me, it was like a death. The spiritual life I had known died, and now I had to start over from scratch with a new life. I had a period of limbo for a couple of years, wound up joining the State Department and was then posted for my first assignment to Brussels.

The book Modern Buddhism had recently been published, and almost overnight the entire tradition seemed to have reorganized itself around this book. At this festival, Gen-la Dekyong said, “with the publication of Modern Buddhism, Geshe-la has said the central mission of the tradition now is ‘to attain the union of Kadampa Buddhism and modern life.’” Upon hearing these words, I felt as if I had been given my marching orders. I understood why I had died and been reborn in this new life. I had been given a completely normal ‘modern life’ (job, kids, etc.), and now my job was to attain this union. Thus began my modern Kadampa life. I then began this blog in earnest. The goal was to try share what I was learning in my efforts to attain this union. But in the beginning, I struggled to find the right mental space for writing a blog. I knew a blog cannot – should not – be a teaching platform, but what should it be? I found myself growing attached to how many people would read my articles, etc. My mind wasn’t relating to the blog correctly.

Once again, Shantideva came to the rescue. At the very beginning of his Guide, he says:

(2) There is nothing written here that has not been explained before,
And I have no special skills in composition.
My reason for writing this is to benefit others
And to keep my mind acquainted.

(3) Thus, the strength of my faith and my virtuous realizations
Might for a while be increased by this,
And perhaps others who are as fortunate as I
Might also find this meaningful to behold.

When I had read this initially way back when I first read Meaningful to Behold, I always dismissed this as what seemed to me to be a form of false humility that great masters often showed. But when I re-read these verses I realized, “no, like everything else in the Guide, Shantideva is telling the absolute truth.” He wrote his Guide with the intention of simply acquainting his own mind the Dharma and to clarify his own thoughts by having to write them down. If other people reading it found benefit, then all the better. I then realized this is precisely how a Kadampa should approach a blog. It was then that I decided, “one day, I will go verse by verse through Shantideva’s guide and explore how we can put into practice his advice in the context of our modern lives.” That day has finally arrived.

Writing this blog, for me, is part of my practice. It is my opportunity to acquaint my mind with the teachings I have received. By writing it, it forces me to clarify my own thoughts and understanding. By doing so, my familiarity with the teachings grows and hopefully my practice will improve. If other people receive benefit in reading this, then it is icing on the cake. But for me, embarking upon this project is like engaging in an extensive meditation and self-study of Shantideva’s Guide. My goal is to discover how to integrate Shantideva’s timeless wisdom into my modern life as a parent and as a working professional. In this way, I hope to bring my modern life into alignment with the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. My intention is to discover what it means to be a Modern Bodhisattva. I don’t know where this will lead, but I am eager to get started. If others reading along find something useful, then all the better.

Avoiding cult-like behavior

March 21, 2015March 23, 2015 Kadampa Ryan 2. Modern Bodhisattva's Way of Life, 4. Practicing in Daily Life

When joining or belonging to a religious tradition, the question can sometimes arise, “is this a cult or is it a pure tradition?” The answer is all religious traditions are nothing from their own side. The real question is do we as spiritual practitioners relate to our tradition in a cult-like way or do we relate to it in a qualified way? If we relate to it in a cult-like way, for us our tradition will be a cult and our relationship with it will be unhealthy and destructive. If we relate to it in a qualified way, for us our tradition will be a pure tradition and our relationship with it will be liberating and enlightening. How do we protect ourselves from relating to our tradition in a cult-like way and instead relate to it in a qualified way? Geshe-la has given us the answer. Here, I have tried to collect my understanding of all of that advice in one place. Indeed, this advice is equally applicable to any spiritual person relating to any spiritual tradition, Buddhist or non-Buddhist, Kadampa or non-Kadampa.

The short answer is we need to avoid extremes in our relationship with our tradition. If the bulk of practitioners of a given tradition relate to it in a cult-like way, then in this world it will conventionally function as if it were a cult. If the bulk of practitioners relate to it in a qualified way, then in this world it will conventionally function as if it were a pure tradition. What it is in this world, ultimately, depends upon the behavior of its practitioners. It is because we cherish the tradition we belong to and we wish for it to bring infinite benefit to the beings of this world that it is our responsibility to make sure we are relating to it in a qualified, healthy way, free from extremes. If we relate to our tradition in a healthy way, our spiritual friends, students and so forth will likewise be more likely to do the same. Our friends and family will not fear we have joined some crazed cult. If we get it right, our tradition “may flourish forevermore.” If we get it wrong, we may inadvertently destroy our precious lineage in this world. The stakes are high.

Many students of spiritual traditions become confused, not knowing what to do or how to react when they see cult-like behavior among their spiritual friends, including their teachers. They love and cherish their tradition, they see wrong behavior, it creates for them a crisis of faith, and they enter into a terrible intermediate state where they are too attached to their tradition to leave it but too averse to some of the things they see in it to be able to receive any benefit from it. Geshe-la touchingly says, old people “have many special sorrows.” In the same way, so too do those who become trapped in such an intermediate state. These practitioners have many special sorrows. If we relate to them with compassion, we can lovingly bring them back into the fold; if we become defensive, they will feel attacked and mistreated and eventually leave the tradition at best or become virulent critics of it at worst. How should we respond when we see cult-like behavior among our spiritual friends? How should we respond with compassion when one of our spiritual friends has found themselves with these many special sorrows? More on that below. First, it is important for us to learn how to get our own relationship with our own tradition right. Above all, Dharma is a mirror against which we can identify our own faults, it is not a magnifying glass for criticizing others. To get our own relationship with our tradition right, I find it useful to be mindful of the many different sets of extremes we can sometimes fall into.

Remain faithful while striving to do better

The first set of extremes arises from relating to our tradition as if it existed from its own side. One extreme is becoming a religious fanatic. Here we grasp at our tradition as being inherently good from its own side. Anybody who criticizes our tradition or calls its purity into question gets branded an “enemy” who needs to be defended against and even destroyed. Some fanatics use words like “heretic” and “infidel,” but regardless of what language we use, we all know who our “enemies” are. Anybody who doesn’t likewise share our exalted view of our tradition is deemed lesser, inferior or a threat. We become paranoid, thinking others are out to destroy our pure spiritual tradition in this world. When faults, mistakes or scandals do appear, our first reaction is to cover them up or make excuses for them, which always makes things worse. In short, our extreme attachment to our view and to our tradition makes us hostile towards others who might think differently about it. Our interactions with others become dominated by pointing out all of the different ways in which the other person is wrong and we feel greatly threatened when they do the same towards us. Any deviation or any departure from a strict, literal reading of things is seen as “degeneration,” and such views must be snuffed out to preserve the religious “purity” of the tradition, even if that means resorting to what can only be described as spiritual bullying. Divisive speech becomes the norm. Veritable “witch hunts” become commonplace where those who are critical are made to feel in no uncertain terms that they are no longer welcome. They either fall into line, or they can find the door.

The other extreme is becoming a religious critic. Here, we grasp at a tradition as being inherently faulty from its own side. In the early stages of being a critic, we may still go to teachings but we receive little benefit because we primarily see the faults of the teacher and the hypocrisy of everyone around us preaching goodness, but then acting otherwise. Eventually, we focus more and more on the perceived faults until they are all we can see. Not wanting to lose our connection with the spiritual tradition we have invested so much in, we keep our doubts bottled up, but they fester and grow like a cancer until at some point, in a flurry of passive-aggressive behavior, we get upset and voice our criticism. We may have once belonged to the “in group,” ascribing to the fanatics view of things, but now we somehow find ourselves on the wrong side of cult-like divisive speech and we became a target for purge ourselves. We then grasp very tightly at all of the perceived faults and wrong behavior we see in our former organization. Having been a “victim” of their fanatical behavior, we then feel it is our duty and responsibility to “protect others” from becoming ensnared into the cult. In the Lamrim, Geshe-la describes the stages by which delusions develop. First, we grasp at our observed object as having certain faults or qualities from its own side, then, in dependence upon inappropriate attention, we exaggerate those faults or qualities, sometimes well beyond reasonable recognition. We then relate to our exaggeration as if it were somehow “objectively true.” Both the fanatic and the critic make the same mistake, just from two different sides.

The middle way between these two extremes is to “remain faithful while striving to do better.” I remember feeling very frustrated when I first read the teachings on faith in Understanding the Mind. Faith was defined as the principal opponent of non-faith; and non-faith was defined as the opposite of faith. This seemed confusing at best and tautological at worst. But faith is the mother of all virtues and the root of the path, so we must learn to understand it correctly. Faith primarily functions to oppose the perception of fault in an object of refuge. Non-faith perceives such faults in an object of refuge. Without wisdom, this can easily be misunderstood. Practically speaking, non-faith is grasping at our objects of refuge as being faulty from their own side. If faith is the opposite of non-faith, we could wrongly conclude that faith, then, is grasping at our objects of refuge as being faultless from their own side. Then, when these objects appear faulty, we are left with a dilemma: either we say what is faulty is somehow correct (rationalizing wrong behavior as somehow being sublime) or our faith becomes shattered and we lose everything. The opposite of non-faith is not grasping at our tradition as being inherently faultless, the opposite of non-faith is the wisdom mind that realizes our objects of refuge are nothing at all from their own side. If we relate to our objects of refuge as existing from their own side, we will quickly develop all sorts of attachments to them causing us to become a religious fanatic or aversions to them causing us to become a religious critic.

Pure view does not mean trying to view our objects of refuge as being perfect from their own side, rather it means learning how to view our objects of refuge in a perfect way where we receive spiritual benefit regardless of how they appear. This is not hard to do. When our objects of refuge appear to do something right, we should be inspired to emulate their example. When they appear to do something wrong, we should learn from their example what not to do. Either way, we receive perfect spiritual benefit. Avoiding the perception of fault in our objects of refuge does not mean turning a blind eye to the faults that appear, rather it means ceasing relating to those appearances in a faulty way. To “remain faithful” means to do precisely that. We are able to remain faithful not despite the appearance of fault, but rather thanks to the appearance of fault. Venerable Tharchin says we should take refuge in the Dharma, not the person. If we take refuge in the person and the person makes some mistake, we lose everything; if we take refuge in the Dharma and the person makes some mistake, we learn a valuable lesson.

To “strive to do better,” quite simply, means to act on the lessons we learn from observing the behavior of our objects of refuge. When we see particularly skillful behavior, we seek to emulate it ourselves. When we see particularly wrong behavior, we look within ourselves to see where we are making the same mistake and we try stop doing so. Remaining faithful while striving to do better protects us from falling into the extremes of being a religious fanatic and a religious critic. We appreciate the good qualities we see and adopt them for ourselves and we learn valuable lessons from the mistakes we see, vowing not to repeat them ourselves. We realize our tradition isn’t a cult nor a completely pure tradition from its own side, rather there are just different individual practitioners relating to it in different ways. Instead of becoming distracted by defending its greatness or lambasting its faults, we strive to put its teachings sincerely into practice.

Remain grateful while clarifying misunderstandings

The second set of extremes we can sometimes fall into arises from how we relate to criticism of ourself or of our tradition. One extreme is the extreme of defensiveness. Here, we feel as if we are being unfairly attacked by the other person. We feel like they don’t appreciate all that we do or our many good qualities. We exaggerate what the other person is supposedly saying, thinking they are saying we are all bad with no redeeming qualities. Because we exaggerate the scope of their criticism, we find it most unfair. Pride, ultimately, is a reaction to our underlying insecurity. We have projected within our own mind an exaggerated view of how great we are, and our feelings of self-worth depend upon maintaining that illusion. When others call it into question, it forces us to confront our false self-narrative which is sometimes quite painful. Seeking to avoid that pain, we feel it necessary that the other person stop saying such things, and we use a wide variety of different methods to try to silence them, not because we are trying to protect them from negative karma but because we dislike being criticized. Our efforts to silence them often lead us to engage in actions in direct contradiction with the many teachings we have received. We become like the United States when it used torture, sacrificing its very ideals in the name of supposedly defending them. Our mind immediately begins to find fault in the person who is criticizing us, focusing on all of their many mistakes and shortcomings. We often are then driven to retaliate against them, pointing out all of their many faults and inflicting upon them penalties for highlighting ours. The dynamic then quickly spirals out of control, with both sides so absorbed in their mutual war of words that they don’t realize their own behavior is consistently proving the other person right.

The opposite extreme of defensiveness is abject surrender or passive behavior. We allow the other person to criticize us, assenting to their negative view of us being inherently faulty. We develop all sorts of feelings of guilt, worthlessness and helplessness, eroding away at our confidence. Motivated by a misguided attachment to outer peace and a deep-seated aversion to any form of conflict, we allow the other person to spread wrong views about us unopposed. We correctly think their harsh words are the ripening of our negative karma of having unjustly criticized others in the past, but we do nothing to oppose it thinking doing so will somehow rob us of our atonement through suffering. We think nothing of the negative karma the other person is creating for themselves by criticizing us or our tradition, nor the harm they are doing by destroying the faith of others. We passively do nothing while all that we have built and cherish is gradually destroyed by an unrelenting current of misplaced criticism and false accusation. We seek to appease our attacker by giving them what they want, even if that means sacrificing fundamental pillars of our own beliefs.

The middle way between the extremes of defensiveness and abject surrender is to “remain grateful while clarifying misunderstandings.” If we are honest with ourselves, every criticism, even the most unfair, contains a morsel of truth. Rightly or wrongly, we are appearing to others in certain ways, and we bear some responsibility for that appearance. Yes, it’s true, what appears to others minds depends upon their own delusions and karma, but it is a cop out to say all the fault lies with them while pretending that we are perfect. Sadly, all too often we do precisely that. In my view, this is a misuse of the Dharma. We are using the precious teachings on emptiness to escape judgment and dodge uncomfortable criticism. When we do this, the person who courageously voiced their criticism feels as if the victim has been blamed and then (correctly) concludes we are a self-righteous charlatan blind to our own faults. They then give up hope of finding refuge within the tradition we belong to and they leave disheartened, discouraged, confused and sometimes quite bitter. They may leave jaded towards all religions, setting them back possibly countless lifetimes before they find a spiritual path again; or they join a new tradition that identifies itself primarily through its opposition to us. Who benefits from this? Nobody.

Geshe-la says when we are criticized, we should express gratitude. How can we possibly improve if we don’t know what we are doing wrong? Alertness is the ability to distinguish faults from non-faults; great wisdom is the wisdom that knows the objects to be attained from the objects to be abandoned. Due to our pride, sometimes the only way we can become aware of our mistakes is when others point them out to us. The correct reaction to criticism should be genuine gratitude because now we can do better. If we are making mistakes, we should forthrightly acknowledge them, make amends for any harm we may have caused, and strive diligently to not repeat them.

But this does not mean we should not seek to clarify misunderstandings when the criticism against us is unfounded. We should not sit idly by while our self and our tradition are unfairly attacked. But when we do seek to clarify misunderstandings, it is vital that two conditions are met. First, that our motivation is genuine compassion wishing to protect the other person from accumulating negative karma for themselves as a result of their false accusations; and second, that we do not act in ways in contradiction with the teachings we have received in the name of defending them – for if we do so, we transform ourselves into our own worst enemy. Most of the time, our clarifying of misunderstandings will take the form of a grateful yet apologetic conversation where we acknowledge our mistakes yet clarify where the person has misunderstood. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to use other means to clarify misunderstanding or even cut the power of false words in this world. But at no time should we violate these two essential conditions.

Remain inspired while following your own path

The third set of extremes that we can sometimes fall into arises from how we relate to teachings of other traditions. One extreme is the extreme of rejection. Here, we reject any and all teachings different from our own as being wrong, inferior, misguided and possibly even harmful. We believe our tradition has the monopoly on the truth and all others must, by default, be wrong, or at best only partially right. We grasp at there being one valid truth, one valid path for all people, and we possess it. We feel very threatened when people practice in ways different than our own, and feel it incumbent upon ourselves to point out all of the ways the teachings from other traditions are somehow wrong. Some Christians, for example, believe if people do not accept Christ as their savior, then those people will be subject to eternal damnation. They then feel it necessary to “convert” others in an effort to “save their souls.” Some Catholics think if it is not Catholic it is cult. Likewise, some Buddhists haughtily look back on Christians as being small minded and superstitious. If the Buddhist is feeling generous, they might acknowledge that there is some overlap between the Christian faith and the initial scope of the Lamrim, but then they all share a good laugh with their fellow Buddhists about those Christians who believe in God as creator. Some Muslims, some Jews and some Hindus develop similar misguided views towards other religions. Even within a religion, different individual traditions will develop similar rejectionist views of other traditions, such as Catholics vs. Protestants, or the scorn cast towards Mormons or 7^th Day Adventists. Likewise, such views can arise amongst Buddhists, such as Hinayanists vs. Mahayanists, Gelugpas vs. Nyingpas, or Dorje Shugden practitioners vs. non-Dorje Shugden practitioners. Regardless of the example, the mind is always the same: we are universally right, everyone else is wrong.

The other extreme is the extreme of mixing traditions. Here, we say that every tradition has something useful to contribute and our job is to mix and match the good bits from the different traditions while leaving out the bad bits, and in this way we synthesize all of the teachings down into an inner essence that is equally true for everybody. On the surface, it can certainly seem like such an approach is open-minded and non-sectarian. The first extreme of rejection is a form of gross sectarianism. This second extreme of mixing traditions is in fact a form of subtle sectarianism. How so? First, it is a subtle form of rejectionism where we are leaving out what we deem to be the “bad bits.” Second, it grasps at its synthesized essence as the only valid way of looking at things, and hypocritically accuses all those who wish to follow their own tradition purely without mixing of being sectarian. Thinking that only the synthesized mix is valid is just another form of gross sectarianism, the only difference being the content of one’s views is a mix of different traditions as opposed to an individual tradition. Practical problems also arise because when we mix we transform ourselves into our own Spiritual Guide who arrogantly thinks we can lead ourselves to enlightenment by putting it all together. Perhaps we may succeed, but the odds of us doing so are quite low; and even if we do, it will surely take us longer to forge a new path on our own then follow a proven one.

The middle way between these two extremes is to “remain inspired while following your own path.” The Heart Commitment of Dorje Shugden is to “follow one tradition purely without mixing while respecting all other traditions as valid for those who follow them.” For me, the best analogy for explaining this is imagine you are trapped in a burning room with many different doors out. What do you do? You find the door nearest to you, and you head straight out. You don’t head towards one door, then another, then another because then you never leave the room. You don’t head towards the average of two doors, because then you run into a wall. You don’t head towards all doors simultaneously, because that will split you into many parts. Your selection of the door nearest you is in no way a judgment on the validity or utility of other doors for those who stand closer to them. If you see your best friend close to one exit and you are closer to a different one, you don’t fight with your friend trying to get them to go out your exit, instead you tell them to take their exit while you take yours.

It is exactly the same with different spiritual traditions. There are many different spiritual “doorways” out of this world of suffering. Different people stand karmically closer to different doors. What should you do? Find the door closest to you and head straight out following its path. This is the meaning of follow one tradition purely without mixing. If we start along one path, then another, then another, we never escape. If we follow an average of two paths we are not led to an exit and will quickly become confused as we try reconcile the two seemingly conflicting views. If we follow all paths simultaneously we will spiritually tear ourselves apart while going exactly nowhere. Our choice of one door as being best for us does not in any way mean other doors and paths are not better for those who are karmically closer to them. If we see our cousin or partner or friend stands karmically closer to a different spiritual door following a different spiritual path, we shouldn’t fight with them trying to get them to take our path to our door, rather we encourage them to head along their path purely without mixing because that is what’s best for them. We respect all paths as being valid for those who follow them.

Does this mean we ourselves should reject all other paths for ourself while appreciating their value for others? No. Milarepa said, “I do not need Dharma books because everything teaches me the truth of Dharma.” Where does the wisdom to do this come from? It comes from following one tradition purely without mixing. A religious tradition is, in the final analysis, a way of looking at things. The more purely and consistently we look at things in a single way, the more universally we can look at everything and receive teachings. When we read the newspaper, go out to dinner with our friends or go to an art museum, everywhere we go, everything we do, everything we encounter will reveal to us the truth of Dharma (or the Gospel, or the Quran, etc., depending on our religious inclinations). Some things teach us the faults of self-cherishing, some things reveal to us the preciousness of our human life, some teach emptiness. But because we are clear on our point of view, everything teaches us something. If we can do this with a good Beatle’s song, why can we not also do this with the Sermon on the Mount? Why can we not be inspired by the faith of Christians, the wholesomeness of Mormons, the example of Ghandi? This does not mean we mix the teachings of these different traditions into our own, rather it means we can without fear look at these things from a Kadampa point of view and extract Kadampa lessons from them. Doing so is not mixing, it is using the whole world as a Dharma book.

It is important to also note that respecting all other traditions as valid for those who follow them also includes showing respect for those who choose to mix traditions. If for some people mixing traditions is what works best for them, then we should be happy for them and respect their spiritual choices. Just as it is wrong for them to judge us for following one tradition purely without mixing, it is likewise wrong for us to judge them for mixing. They do their thing, we do ours, let’s all be inspired by each other’s wish to become a better person. This is likewise true for those who wish to mix Kadampa teachings with non-Kadampa teachings. It is entirely normal that there will be a wide spectrum of degrees to which one mixes their mind with the Kadampa teachings. Some will wholeheartedly commit themselves in this and all their future lives to follow this tradition purely without mixing, others will by happenstance cross a quote by Geshe-la when they are searching images on Google. And there will be countless examples in between. All are good, none are bad. If we present the Kadam Dharma as if it is an “all or nothing” proposition, then the vast majority of people will choose nothing because they are not yet ready to accept everything. If instead, we present the Kadam Dharma as “take what you find to be helpful, and set aside the rest as possibly something for later,” then people will feel free to engage with the Dharma on their own terms, according to their own karma, needs and dispositions. If we tell people they have to be vegetarian to be Buddhist, they will choose to not be Buddhist because they are not ready to be vegetarian. If we tell people they don’t have to be vegetarian, they then become Buddhists and later perhaps from their own side choose to be vegetarians. The same logic is true for everything else.

Remain natural while changing your aspiration

The final set of extremes I like to try keep in mind are those arising from grasping at their being only one way to practice. One extreme is the extreme of the exaggerating the importance of the external aspects of practice. For centuries, our tradition has primarily been a monastic one, so it is only natural that we tend to hold up the example of an ordained person, living in a center, dedicating all of their time to working to cause the Dharma to flourish as the example of what we are supposed to be doing. Some ordained people develop pride thinking this is the case and they look down on all those who “can’t let go of samsara.” Some lay people develop all sorts of doubts thinking everything in their life that prevents them from adopting this monastic way of life is somehow an “obstacle to their practice.” They then find themselves torn between what they think they should be doing if they were a pure practitioner and their commitments to their spouse, kids, job and so forth. They grasp at these latter activities as being somehow inherently mundane and non-spiritual, while living and working at the center attending every puja, teaching and festival as being somehow inherently spiritual. When they aren’t able to live as the person in the center, they start becoming frustrated with their loved ones, job and so forth and they feel this great tension between their spiritual life and their daily life. If spiritual teachers are not careful, they can easily fall into the trap of mistaking their own personal choices as somehow being best for everyone else. The skillful teacher understands different people have different karma and so therefore will follow the same set of teachings in different ways. People who exaggerate the external aspects of practice find themselves suddenly dressing differently, bathing less, abandoning their non-Sangha friends or activities, beginning every sentence with “Geshe-la says,” and likewise standing in judgment over all those who continue to have kids, partners, professional careers, go on normal vacations to something other than a festival, or those who don’t attend every puja, teaching or festival.

The other extreme is exaggerating the internal aspects of practice. Here, we neglect doing anything other than our practice. We think the only thing I need to change is my mind. I can remain cloistered alone in my room, avoiding contact with the rest of the world fooling myself into thinking I am being a bodhisattva. When we are on this extreme, we look down on those who act in this world for normal charities or other good causes, we judge those who engage in political or social activism, and we give up on trying to make the world a better place concluding it is hopelessly broken so why bother. Venerable Tharchin tells the story of when he was on long-retreat at Tharpaland. After several years of retreat, he told Geshe-la, “I feel like I am very close to enlightenment; if I stay on retreat for a while longer I will make it.” Thinking that Geshe-la would be delighted and tell him to remain on his retreat, Venerable Tharchin was greatly surprised when Geshe-la told him, “then now is the time to leave your retreat.” Geshe-la continued, “if you stay on your retreat, you will attain enlightenment, but if you do you will become a ‘worthless Buddha’ because you will have no karmic connections with living beings.” Geshe-la then sent him to Canada to teach, where he formed some of the best teachers of the tradition who are now teaching other students. Geshe-la then sent Venerable Tharchin back to Tharpaland to lead it as a retreat center, where he established how exactly a retreat center within this tradition should operate. Those he taught then fanned out to the other retreat centers around the world. Venerable Tharchin concluded the story by saying our ability to help others primarily depends on two things, the quality of our inner realizations and the depth of our karmic relationships with others. We need both.

The middle way between these two extremes of exaggerating the external or internal aspects of our practice is to “remain natural while changing our aspiration.” Our primary task is to internally change our motivation from a selfish one to a selfless one. When we do so, our external behavior will naturally change. We can’t make external changes to try live up to some fixed notion of what it means to be a Dharma practitioner and think that will bring about internal transformation. It is perfectly possible to get ordained, live in a center or spend our entire life on retreat and remain just as deluded and ordinary as before. It is likewise perfectly possible to change diapers, work long hours in a demanding career, and otherwise lead a completely normal modern life and have it be the Quick Path to enlightenment. All situations are equally empty, therefore all ways of life can equally be the Quick Path. It all depends upon how we relate to that life. If we respond to what arises in our life with Dharma minds, then regardless of what those life appearances might be, we are living a Kadampa way of life. If other people don’t understand this and continue to judge the choices we make, that is only coming from their ignorance grasping at there being only one way of practicing Dhama. We need to be engaged in the world, helping in every way we can. Geshe-la said our job now is to “attain the union of Kadampa Buddhism and modern life.” He has given us the Kadam Dharma and we already have a modern life, our job now is to completely unite the two realizing their non-contradiction.

This does not mean there is some fault in becoming ordained, living in a center or dedicating our life to retreat. Of course that is wonderful and is a life that should be rejoiced in. If every life is equally perfect for our practice, then that must also be true for somebody who follows a more traditional approach to practice. The fault comes when we grasp at there being only one valid way of practicing, regardless of whether we think it is a traditional way of doing so or a more modern way of doing so.

What do we do when we see our spiritual friends engaging in cult-like behavior?

Having explored in depth the four different sets of extremes we can fall into with our relationship to the tradition, we can now return to the question of what we should do when we see our spiritual friends, including our teachers, engaging in cult-like behavior.

There is something about religious teachings that just naturally tends to bring out extreme behavior in people. The reason for this is quite simple: they are very powerful. I had a friend once who loved all sorts of two-wheeled vehicles, from his first bike, the scooter he drove around in college to his prized Harley. One day, he went to visit a friend who just bought a racing bike, which he affectionately called his “crotch rocket.” Quite naturally, my friend wanted to try it out. The owner of the bike said, “be careful, it’s really powerful.” My friend said, “yeah, yeah, I know. Let me give it a try.” So my friend got on the bike, started out slowly, drove around a bit, and then turned a corner where he found himself at the beginning of a long, straight country road. Wanting to see what the bike was capable of, he hunched down and decided to gun it, throwing the throttle to the maximum. The bike suddenly lurched out in front of him, he found himself doing a wheelie, and the bike kept going throwing my friend back skidding along the road and trashing the bike in the process. Spiritual teachings are just like this. We hear about them, try them out carefully at first, but then once our initial doubts and hesitations are overcome we might decide to really go for it. Our mind can race off in an unbalanced way and we will find ourselves skidding along the spiritual road, trashing the bike of our spiritual life in the process. We start out just trying to become a better person and find a little inner peace, but before long we have transformed ourselves into a crusading spiritual zealot. Such is the power of spiritual teachings.

So we shouldn’t be surprised when our spiritual friends, including our teachers, might sometimes start acting in cult-like ways, relating to the tradition in one of the extreme ways outlined above. We all have experienced this from time to time. I would say my time with the Kadampa tradition can be divided into two distinct phases. For about the first decade, the normal view students tended to adopt towards their teachers was viewing them as “Buddhas.” People would routinely joke about their teachers “miracle powers,” and anytime somebody had a problem with the behavior of the teacher, it was the student who needed to “maintain pure view.” Teachers felt like they had to go along with the pretense of being a Buddha because it seemed to help students generate faith, and therefore take the teachings to heart. But it had many unintended, indeed unhealthy, side effects. Some teachers let this go to their head and started believing they were infallible, refusing to continence that they were making any mistakes. Some teachers would engage in all sorts of spiritually manipulative behavior, thinking themselves Marpa taming a bunch of unruly Milarepas. Some teachers wound up repressing all of their delusions, pretending that they didn’t have any to maintain the external image, but the end result was quite predictable. They increasingly felt trapped, incapable of discussing with their spiritual friends their delusions and struggles, the repressed delusions would fester and grow like a cancer under the surface until one day they would blow in a variety of dramatic fashions, from sudden disrobings, sexual scandals to breaking off from Geshe-la wanting to establish one’s own tradition and lineage.

Students likewise began having all sorts of unhealthy, cult-like relationships with their teachers, desperately trying to get the teacher to love and approve of them, but never quite succeeding. When confronted with wrong behavior on the part of their teacher, they would be told it was their wrong views and delusions, and they would tie themselves into all sorts of spiritual knots trying to say what is wrong is somehow right. They would feel it is wrong to ask questions or challenge their teacher on the things they would say, growing increasingly confused as one misunderstanding compounds another. So deeply scarred by such relationships some students became that they felt the need to flee the tradition or they remained and even to this day constantly judge themselves as spiritually falling short.

Geshe-la, then, one year at a Summer Festival gave a teaching which changed everything. He said, clearly and unequivocally that we should view our teachers as Sangha jewels, not Buddha jewels. They are practitioners, just like us, who are trying their best to put the instructions into practice, but still struggling with their delusions and making mistakes. He said when teachers are teaching on the throne, the students should feel as if an emanation of Je Tsongkhapa enters into them and teaches through them. In this way, they become a “temporary emanation.” But that when they come down from the throne, we should relate to them “exactly as normal.”

He said when our teachers appear to make a mistake, with a mind of cherishing love for the teacher, the student has a responsibility to approach the teacher with their concerns. He said, if we fail to do this the wrong behavior will continue and it could threaten the future of the tradition. When we approach our teacher, he said we should do so respectfully saying, “first, I want to thank you for all you have done for me. However, I have noticed that you tend to do XYZ. Perhaps I am wrong, but it seems to me that this is not right for ABC reasons. But perhaps I am misunderstanding, and I am hoping you might be able to clarify your perspective on this.” Geshe-la then told us how the teacher is supposed to respond. The teacher should first thank the person for raising the issue, honestly acknowledge any and all mistakes that the person is pointing out, and then clarify any remaining misunderstandings. The student should then listen with an open-mind to the teacher’s explanation. If we do this, he said, only good comes. The teacher is made aware of their mistakes, so they can do better in the future. The student feels as if their concerns have been acknowledged and addressed, and so go away happy. If the student is right and the teacher changes, then the student’s faith in the teacher will deepen because they see the teacher sincerely putting the instructions into practice. If the student is wrong, then the teacher’s patient explanation clarifying any misunderstandings will help the student see things more clearly in the future. If we do not do this, only harm comes. The teacher continues with their mistaken ways and the student remains stuck with their doubts and appearances of fault. They then lose all refuge. While not explicit in his advice, implicitly I think his meaning is also that if a teacher sees a student is trapped behind doubts, the teacher should compassionately approach the student and try clear the air so all concerned can go into the future free from problems.

After he gave this teaching, it took many years for things to really change, but year by year things have definitely gotten better. There are still, of course, residuals of the old behavior. Old habits die hard. But by and large, with this clarification things are definitely trending in the direction of getting better and better. The Dharma may be flawless, but we remain deeply flawed beings, so it is only natural that we will from time to time make a real mess of things. That’s perfectly normal and not a problem. As long as we are learning from our mistakes, it’s all part of the path.

In the end, nobody wants to be part of a cult. Geshe-la certainly doesn’t want us to become one. No spiritual tradition is, from its own side, either a cult or a pure tradition. If we relate to our spiritual tradition in cult-like ways, such as the extreme behaviors described above, we transform our tradition into a cult. But if we instead relate to our tradition in a healthy, balanced way then we transform our tradition into a pure one. We all have a responsibility to carry the lineage forward in a way we can be proud of. As it says in the sadhana Dakini Yoga, “all my actions from now on shall accord with this noble lineage; and upon this lineage pure and faultless, I shall never bring disgrace.” This does not mean we will not still make mistakes and become cult-like in our behavior, rather it means when we do so we will recall the teachings and make another honest stab at finding the middle way.

May all conflict and tensions between religious traditions cease and may they all respect and be inspired by one another. May all extreme behavior quickly cease, may we all find the humility to admit to and learn from our mistakes, and may all those who suffer from the many special sorrows associated with cult-like behavior find peace. Above all, may my own behavior continuously improve so that I can, in my own small way, help the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa flourish forevermore.

How to deal with the death of a loved one

March 15, 2015 Kadampa Ryan 2. Modern Bodhisattva's Way of Life, 3. Tantra, 4. Practicing in Daily Life

Unless we love no one, all of us will one day or another have to deal with the death of a loved one, such as a parent, a child or someone very close who has meant a lot to us. For most people, this is one of the hardest things we will ever deal with in life. We feel helpless, we feel as if we are losing something, and we feel as if our life will never be the same again. Fortunately, there are things we can do to help, nothing is being lost and, even though our life will never be the same again, this need not be a bad thing. The following is offered in the hopes of helping facilitate the passing of your loved ones and in helping all of us constructively transform the mourning process. I have tried to put everything I know in one place in the hopes it might prove useful when the time comes.

When the death of a loved one comes, we often feel helpless as if there is nothing we can do. From one perspective, this is completely true. We cannot stop death from coming, no matter how much we might wish we could. This feeling of helplessness makes it very difficult to deal with the suffering of losing a loved one, and we can quickly become depressed, discouraged or resentful. But there are things we can do to help.

As our loved one approaches death, there are five main things we can do to help. First, we should help them re-interpret the different physical and mental pains associated with death. Pain only becomes “suffering” when we don’t know how to use it. The suffering of death arises from the dying person’s unwillingness or inability to let go of their current body and mind. The habitual practice in society is to tell the person to “hang on, fight for your life and refuse to accept death.” When seriously ill but with a chance of recovery, this is good advice. When terminally ill with no chance of recovery, this is disastrous advice. When dealing with somebody who is terminally ill, we should help them let go. Regardless of the person’s spiritual inclinations (Buddhist, non-Buddhist or atheist), help them reinterpret the pain of death as “God encouraging you to let go of this body so that you may now go to heaven. The more it hurts, the more you are being encouraged to let go identifying with this body.” Adapt the language as appropriate depending upon the person’s spiritual beliefs. Similarly, help them mentally let go of all that they will leave behind. This may be as simple as telling them, “don’t worry, I’ll deal with everything.” Ideally, if your karmic relationship with the dying person allows for this, help them plan how they want to give everything away upon their passing. Much of the mental anguish of death is grasping on to the things they will need to leave behind. If beforehand they mentally give it all away, it will be much easier to let go.

Second, help them die without regrets. Obviously the best way to avoid dying full of regret is to use one’s precious human life to the fullest. When one hasn’t done so, however, it is quite natural to develop all sorts of regrets for the mistakes made throughout life. This regret can easily transform into guilt (a form of self-hatred, which is a delusion), which may in turn activate negative karma at the time of death leading to a lower rebirth. To protect against this, we help the person die without regrets. We should help them understand it is never too late to learn life’s lessons. If we admit our mistakes and learn from them, we will die with valuable lessons learned on our mind which we can carry with us into our next life. It is likewise never too late to make amends. We can help the dying person reach out to those they have wronged in an effort to make amends, even if it is only helping them draft a letter of apology to be passed along after death. Help the dying person realize they did the best they could so that they can also forgive themselves. But don’t allow inappropriate attention to focus just on the mistakes, also help the dying person recall all of the good things they have done, accomplishments they have had, virtues they have engaged in. Rejoicing in our own virtue is a wisdom mind which lays the foundation for a future life of continued goodness.

Third, heal our own relationships with those that the dying person also loves, especially the close members of their family. When the relationships within a family are strained, everyone in that family pays a price. This is especially true for the dying person. One of the best ways we can repay the kindness of the dying person is to heal our own relationships with those that the dying person also loves. The dying person loves both us and the other person, and when we are estranged from the other person, it quite literally rips the dying person’s heart in two. Healing our relationship with the other person heals this rift in the heart of the dying. Fortunately, the truth of death usually cuts through our petty differences with others and both sides agree it is time to bury the hatchet. But even if the other person is unwilling to do so, from our own side we can let go of our own animosity and we can choose to not add any more fuel to the fire, even when provoked. One common source of tension amongst the loved ones being left behind is anger about how others within the family or close circle of friends are responding to the impending death of the common loved one. This anger can arise from disagreements over when it is time to accept the inevitable and shift the focus from avoiding death to preparing for its coming, scheming with regards to how the assets of the deceased will be divided, frustration with how the other person is responding to the impending death in a different way than we are or even petty jealousy over who was loved more by the dying. Generally speaking, we should give people the space to deal with death in their own way and we should not seek to impose our way of dealing with death onto others. Our focus should be having our own reactions be constructive, regardless of what others are doing or how they are responding. We should recall from Eight Steps to Happiness where Geshe-la says the mind of cherishing others acts as a magic crystal with the power to heal any community.

Fourth, we should help the dying person have a virtuous mind at the time of death. Externally, we should help them be comfortable and feel as if they are enveloped in love. To help them feel comfortable, we should not develop extreme attitudes towards the use of pain killers. One extreme is avoiding pain killers altogether under the false notion that pain is purification. Pain is only purification if we accept it. If the pain is so great that we are unable to respond to it constructively or to focus on our other virtues, then we have gone too far. The other extreme is to overly rely upon them depriving the person a chance to remain conscious enough to generate virtue. If the person is unnecessarily knocked unconscious, they will die without pain but they also will not have a chance to generate virtue. Each person’s tolerance for pain varies, and the closer one comes to death the attitude towards pain killers may shift. As a general rule of thumb, respect the wishes of the dying in this regard, don’t impose your own views on them unless absolutely necessary. Keep the temperature of the dying person comfortable, not too hot nor too cold, again respecting their wishes. To help them feel enveloped in love, simply love them. Let them know you are there for them. Help those around you project the same feeling when they are with the dying. Mentally imagine that the dying person is surrounded by all living beings, in particular those they are close to, sending love and prayers towards them. Strongly believe that the dying is surrounded by all of the Buddhas who have taken the dying into their loving care, protecting them from the ripening of negative karma and bestowing upon them a rain of blessings and realizations. Most importantly, if possible, help the dying person strongly believe that whoever is their object of faith is with them and will take them by the hand through the death process and beyond. Geshe-la once told a dying person, “know that I am with you always.” Faith is a naturally virtuous mind. In all religions, people are encouraged to remember their object of faith (Jesus, God, Buddha, Krishna, whomever) at the time of death. Faith functions to open the blinds of our mind to receive into it the sunlight of blessings. Blessings function to activate virtuous, even pure, karma leading to a fortunate rebirth. We can surround the dying person with holy images or objects that remind them of their objects of faith, such as Buddha statues, crosses, sacred texts, etc. Geshe-la explains that holy images are by nature non-contaminated, and merely beholding them is a naturally virtuous act which functions to plant non-contaminated karma onto our minds.

Fifth, regularly do powa for the dying as it becomes increasingly clear that death is approaching. At the end of every festival, Geshe-la would always spend the last few minutes of his teaching encouraging us to love our families and letting us know that he prays for them. In my view, his greatest gift to our loved ones is his teachings on the practice of powa. Powa is a special method for transferring the consciousness of somebody to the pure land at the time of death. The most important thing to know about death is the quality of mind we have at the time of death determines the quality of our next rebirth. If we die with a negative, deluded mind, it will activate negative karma throwing us into a lower rebirth. If we die with a positive, virtuous mind, it will activate positive karma lifting us into an upper rebirth. If we die with a faithful, pure mind, it will activate pure karma taking us out of samsara to the pure land. The primary function of powa is to help the dying generate faithful, pure minds during the death process and in the bardo (or intermediate state). There are two main practices of powa, powa for the dying and powa for the deceased. As it becomes increasingly clear that death is approaching, we should increase the frequency with which we engage in the practice of powa for the dying. Sometimes the doubt may arise, “but what if my loved one is not Buddhist, surely they might object to me doing a ritual practice transferring them to a Buddhist pure land.” We need not worry. Even though in this world people of different religions may be in conflict, we can be assured qualified holy beings are not in conflict with each other (if they were, how could we say they were qualified holy beings?). If the dying person’s karma is Christian, for example, even though within our own mind we might be imagining holy beings in the aspect of Guru Buddha Avalokiteshvara and that their consciousness is being transferred to Akanishta, Tushita or Keajra, we can confidently know that the holy beings will appear to the dying in the aspect of Jesus, Mary and the holy Saints and they will experience their consciousness being transferred to heaven to be reunited with God. What we see is a question of our karmic point of view, but the underlying spiritual process of transference is the same. More detail on powa practices can be found below and in the books Living Meaningfully, Dying Joyfully, and Great Treasury of Merit.

After death, what can we do to help? Sometimes, oftentimes in fact, we will have very little warning that death is coming and so we will have little opportunity to do much of the above. But we can almost always do much of the below.

First, what should we do about the body of the deceased? It is important to understand there is a difference between clinical death and the death process being complete. Clinical death usually occurs when the heart permanently stops beating. The death process is complete when the karmic connection between the body and the mind permanently ceases. This can happen quite quickly, or it can take up to 72 hours after clinical death. During this time, to the maximum extent possible, the body should be left undisturbed. If the body is to be touched, do so gently, minimizing contact with the lower parts of the body and maximizing contact with the upper parts of the body, in particular the crown of the deceased’s head. The reason for this is the mind can remain in the body for some time after clinical death, and contact with the body can cause the person’s mind to move in the direction of the point of contact. If our mind leaves our body through the lower doors, we will more likely take a lower rebirth; and if our mind leaves our body through the upper doors, we will more likely take an upper rebirth. If our mind leaves through the crown of our head, we will more likely take rebirth in a pure land heaven. Geshe-la said he has specially blessed the book Joyful Path of Good Fortune so that if we touch it to the crown of the deceased, imagining that the person’s consciousness ascends through their central channel from their heart to their crown, entering the book and then being transported to the pure land, the deceased will definitely take rebirth in a pure land. I think every Dharma center should have a special copy of Joyful Path, which they generally keep on the main shrine at the center, and that is used in this way again and again whenever loved ones of the Sangha members pass away. In this way, the book becomes increasingly blessed with the power to do powa and becomes a true holy relic in this world passed down from generation to generation. Similarly, individual families can do the same thing, having a family copy used especially for this purpose. In modern times, sometimes it is not always possible to leave the body untouched for three days. We simply do our best knowing the power of Buddha’s blessings are far stronger than the minimal contact with the body after death. Christians have similar beliefs, and Christian hospitals can often be more flexible about leaving the body undisturbed. We should try negotiate this in advance with the medical facility, paying for extra nights in the hospital room if necessary and possible. Dying at home or in special hospitals for the dying can also be arranged.

Second, we should actively do the internal work necessary to overcome any and all delusions we might have towards the deceased, and instead fill our mind with gratitude and selfless love. Ideally, we should start this process before the person dies, but if that is not possible it is never too late. It does not matter if the deceased is able to reciprocate our overtures, what matters is internally when we think of the other person our mind is free from delusion and is instead pervaded by virtuous thoughts. We should take an honest look at what delusions we may have in our mind towards the deceased, such as resentments for past wrongs, jealousy, or strong attachment to them. We should view their death as our opportunity to finally lay to rest these deluded states of mind towards them. Did they make mistakes? Of course they did, but who among us is perfect? Did they harm us in some way? Probably, but whether we receive harm or whether we receive benefit depends a great deal (indeed entirely) upon how we relate to whatever they did or did not do. Even if we related to it badly in the past, it is never too late to relate to it constructively now. We should practice appropriate attention recalling all of their acts of kindness towards us, generating deep feelings of gratitude for the contribution they have made to our life. And most importantly, we should let go of our strong attachment towards them. When my mother died, my teacher Gen Lekma told me, “you are not losing your mother, she is simply going someplace else. There is nothing about her death that prevents you from continuing to love her, pray for her and have a relationship with her. If you keep your relationship with her alive in your mind, for you she never dies.” This does not mean we don’t let go and accept that death occurs, rather it means we understand that death is not the end of our relationship with our loved ones, it simply marks the beginning of the next chapter. For a Buddha, they see their relationship with others in an arc across countless lifetimes, one eventually resulting in their leading of all beings to enlightenment. We can do the same, starting with our loved ones who pass away. Venerable Tharchin said, “those who serve as our main objects of bodhichitta while we are on the path are the first ones we liberate after we complete it.” We should always keep our loved ones, even those who have passed away, as our main objects of bodhichitta, striving sincerely to attain enlightenment so that we may one day be certain to rescue them all from samsara.

Third, we can put our share of the deceased’s assets to good use. We can give the money to charities or causes dear to the heart of the deceased, whether that be paying for college for the grandkids, aiding the homeless, a local church, the Red Cross, or a shelter for abused women and children. We can likewise donate the money to the International Temples Fund, the building of a retreat center in our country, or even our local Dharma center. At a minimum, we should save some of the money to buy offerings for the main powa ceremony we do after their death. We should try purchase offerings of things that the dying person loved most. For my mother, this wound up being brownies, lots of flowers and a copy of Vogue magazine! The point is this, even if the person was not very giving in their lifetime, we can be giving for them, using whatever they have accumulated in this world for good purposes (not our own selfish ones). This does not mean we cannot use some of these resources for our own benefit. We can honestly ask ourselves, “what would the deceased want for me,” and allocate the resources accordingly. If the person dies without assets, we can practice such giving ourselves on their behalf.

Finally, we should try do powa for the 49 days that the deceased could be in the bardo. Sometimes people develop the doubt, “why should we do powa more than once, isn’t once enough?” Once may be enough, but then again it may not be. The point is it is better to err on the side of doing too much powa than not enough. The more causes and conditions we create for the person to take rebirth in a pure land, the better. This may lead to a contradiction in our mind. We may doubt, “aren’t I supposed to strongly believe at the end of powa practice that the person has indeed taken rebirth in the pure land, and so by doing it again just in case am I not undermining that strong belief?” The answer to this doubt is subtle, but profound. We do not strongly believe that the deceased has taken rebirth in the pure land because this is objectively true (since nothing is objectively true), rather we generate this strong belief because doing so completes the karmic action of powa which will ripen in the future in the form of this person appearing to have taken rebirth in the pure land (appearing in this way both to ourself and to their own mind). The same logic is true for the practices of taking and giving, generating divine pride in our practice of Tantra, and so forth. At a minimum, we should try organize one main powa ceremony at our local center with our Sangha friends, or at least one main one we do on our own at home. Afterwards, we can (if we wish or need to) set aside our main daily practice and do the powa sadhana every day for the 49 days that the person could be in the bardo. Indirectly, we will still be keeping all of our commitments, so we need not worry. Alternatively, we can do 100 Avalokitehsvara mantras every day, with each recitation requesting that the deceased be taken to the pure land. At some point during the 49 days, we may receive clear indications that the powa has been complete. These signs may take the form of special dreams or perhaps our mind will suddenly clear and we will just know it has been done. After that time, we can continue for good measure or cease with the practice depending upon what feels most appropriate. Regardless of whether we receive such signs or not, we should continually train in the strong belief that the person has indeed taken rebirth in the pure land for the reasons explained above.

The power of our powa practices depends upon (1) the degree of faith we have in the holy beings, in particular their power to actually do the transference, (2) the strength and soundness of our karmic connections both between ourselves and the dying/deceased and with the holy beings, (3) the purity of our compassion for the dying/deceased, wishing that they be protected from the sufferings of death and uncontrolled rebirth, and (4) the karma of the dying/deceased, both in terms of their richness in merit and how purified their mind is of negative karma. During the entire death process, both leading up to it and after death occurs, we should continuously strive to improve these four things. We can increase our faith through the explanations found in the Lamrim, reading authentic commentaries on powa practice and speaking with our Sangha friends about their experiences with this practice. We can improve our karmic connections by spending time being with or thinking about our loved one and also the holy beings. In effect, our karmic connections with our loved one and our karmic connections with the holy beings serves as a karmic bridge through which the blessings of the holy beings can reach the mind of our loved ones. We can improve the purity of our compassion by working through whatever delusions we may have towards our loved one and by contemplating the nature of our samsaric situation. We can improve the karma of our loved ones by practicing giving and purification on their behalf or through encouraging them to do the same. Everything described above, directly or indirectly, helps improve these four causes and conditions for effective powa practice.

In conclusion, when our loved ones pass away it is true our life may never be the same again. Dealing with the death of somebody close to us will always be one of the hardest things we ever do in life. But we need not feel helpless, there are many things we can do to help. Our doing these things not only helps the deceased, but it is also the very means by which we ourselves mourn their passing. Their death is not the end of our relationship with them, but is rather the beginning of the next chapter. We can continue to love them, pray for them and keep our relationship alive with them. Perhaps their death will fundamentally change things in our life, but this need not be a bad thing. If we relate to their death in constructive ways, we can transform the experience from a travesty into fuel for our spiritual growth. One door closes, but others open. Some things are lost, but new things are gained. Above all, Geshe-la said, “our main job is to pray.”

I pray that all sufferings of death be pacified, both for the deceased as well as those that are left behind. I pray that at the time of their death all of your loved ones are effortlessly transferred to the pure land. And I pray that their death becomes a powerful cause of enlightenment for all those touched by it. May all those who might benefit from this document find it when they need it, may all sorrow come to an end, may we never feel alone, and may we all one day be reunited in the pure land.

Reliance on the Guru’s mind alone: Engaging in Lamrim meditation, part 2

January 17, 2014July 27, 2013 Kadampa Ryan 2. Modern Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Reliance upon the Guru's mind alone

In the last post I explained the first two of five things I try use to maximize the power of my lamrim meditations. In this post, I will explain the next two.

3. Meditate on the interrelationships between the various Lamrim meditations.

Each Lamrim meditation informs the others. When we first start practicing Lamrim it seems like they are 21 separate meditations. In reality, the Lamrim is one practice with 21 parts. The first stage is to train in each one individually to gain some initial experience. The second stage is to then meditate on the interrelationships of say, meditaiton 1 with the other 20; then we move onto the interrelationships between meditation 2 and the other 20, and so forth through the cycle. The third stage is to ‘churn the milk of Dharma’ to extract its quintessential butter, conventional bodhichitta. We synthesize all the Lamrim and develop pathways that go from any Lamrim meditation down into conventional bodhichitta. It is a bit like a funnel, where we can pour water into any part of it, and it eventually goes to the little hole in the bottom. The little hole in the bottom is conventional bodhichitta.

The fourth stage (according to Sutra) is to then use this conventional bodhichitta to meditate on emptiness. This ultimate bodhichitta (conventional bodhichitta meditating on emptiness) is like the ocean, and everything else are like the rivers which empty into the ocean. We need to train where by meditating directly on ultimate bodhichitta, we are indirectly meditating on everything else. We need to synthesize the Lamrim down to its essence, ultimate bodhichitta.

If we try to jump straight to the final object, ultimate bodhichitta, it would be like trying to fill the ocean without any rivers or lakes emptying into it. The first four stages are all about ‘finding the object of meditation’. So we have been practicing our Lamrim ‘horizontally.’ Now, in the fifth stage, we need to practice all of this vertically, in other words with deeper and deeper levels of concentration. So we first bring all of this to the first mental abiding, then the second, the third, and so on until we have brought the entire Lamrim to the state of Tranquil Abiding. If we can do this, there is a great chance that we will be able to very quickly gain a direct realization of emptiness, which we then continue to meditate upon until we have removed the two obstructions (delusion obstructions and their imprints) and become a Buddha.

When we view our Lamrim practice in this way, we see how things develop, how they interrelate, what the path is to enlightenment, and what we need to actually do to get there. We easily see how we can spend our entire lifetime deepening our familiarity with the Lamrim. When we see clearly how this is a lifelong practice (and indeed lifetimes practice) then we have the right frame of mind for our practice.

4. Meditate like a good scientist.

We in the West have a natural faith in science. In science we do controlled experiments so that we can test a precise relationship. The conditions of the experiment are set up to test a very specific thing. We need to approach our Lamrim practice in the same way.

How do we do this? When we are meditating on death, for example, we should take ‘as a given’ all the other 20 meditations. So we temporarily set aside all doubts we have on the other 20 meditations, and ‘choose’ to have complete conviction in all the others. So for example, we choose to have complete conviction that we have a precious human life, and that if we die there is a huge risk of us falling into the lower realms. With this conviction in the context of the meditation we then engage in the meditation on death. We focus our efforts on resolving all doubts we have about the meditation we are on, and we suspend all doubts we have about everything else.

This enables us to focus on exploring the precise nature of the meditation that we are doing. Then we move on to the next meditation, and suspend all doubts of the previous meditation by ‘choosing to believe’ and then allow ourselves to work through our doubts on the meditation we are currently on (for example, the sufferings of the lower realms).

This is an extremely powerful method for engaging in our Lamrim practice. If we try this, we will notice a huge qualitative difference in the power of our Lamrim meditations. Just to give an example, let’s say we are meditating on renunciation, and normally in the meditations on death and lower rebirth we are resolving our doubts about reincarnation, etc. If we haven’t resolved all our doubts on reincarnation, even if we go through the motions of a meditation on renunciation, it will have no power to move our mind. But if we choose to suspend our doubts (temporarily) and take as a hypothetical given that rebirth does occur, then we will be able to generate very precisely the mind of renunciation.

In science, we call this type of activity ‘controlled experiments’; in math, we call this partial differentiation. We take as given everything else, and then examine a precise relationship. We then cycle through everything one by one, adjusting what we take as given and what we are examining precisely as is appropriate.

Each object of meditation then becomes a scientific hypothesis we test in the meditation itself. This proceeds in a cycle: First, we have a general understanding of the object of meditation we would like to test. Then, we consider our own experience, logical reasons, examples, analogies, etc., to test the validity of this particular meditation object. We will then arrive at some sort of more refined conclusion on the object. Our hypothesis will have been improved. We then, in the meditation break, put our conclusion into practice and test it against our real life experiences. This real life experience then becomes further “data” or “evidence” which enables us to better refine our understanding the next time we come to this particular meditation. We continue in this way, gradually transforming the Dharma from ideas into hypotheses, and then from hypotheses into spiritual axioms, and then from spiritual axioms into personal truths.

Reliance on the Guru’s mind alone: Engaging in Lamrim meditation, part 1

January 14, 2014July 27, 2013 Kadampa Ryan 2. Modern Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Reliance upon the Guru's mind alone

With our mind mixed inseparably with the guru’s mind, we now engage in our Lamrim meditation.

What are the good qualities of the Lamrim? Geshe-la explains in Joyful Path that the Lamrim teaching is the condensation of all Buddhadharma, the instructions of Lamrim are easy to put into practice, and the presentation of the instructions of Lamrim is superior to other traditions. He also explains that through gaining experience of Lamrim we shall understand that none of Buddha’s teachings are contradictory, we shall take all Buddha’s teachings as personal advice and put them into practice, we shall easily realize Buddha’s ultimate intention and we shall naturally become free from the great fault and from all other faults. When I first read these words, I literally started dancing around my living room saying “YES!”, feeling as if I had just found the answer to all my questions.

It is customary for Kadampa practitioners to cycle through the 21 meditations explained in the New Meditation Handbook, doing one a day. In the beginning, when we are unfamiliar with the meditations, it is useful to review the meditation before we start that way we don’t have open our eyes and thumb through a book during the meditation.

In general, when we meditate there are two parts: analytical meditation and placement meditation. Analytical meditation is when we contemplate the various points in the Meditation Handbook or our own contemplations to lead us to our desired object. The goal is to get to the object of meditation, how we get there is not as important. Placement meditation is once we have found our desired object, we then hold it in placement meditation for as long as possible. All of this is well explained in the Kadampa books.

From my experience, there are five things which enable us to get the maximum effect out of our Lamrim practice. I will explain these in detail over the next three posts.

1. Do what moves your mind the most.

What we are after here is transforming our mind. How we get there is not so much what matters, but getting there (the object of meditation) is what matters. At different times different things will move our mind more, and so at such times, that is what we should focus on. For example, in my own case, in the beginning of my spiritual life I was happily doing my Lamrim cycle as normal for many years, then I had a life-changing retreat where I realized it was possible to meditate with my guru’s mind instead of my own. Since then, every day for many years, I meditated on reliance upon the spiriutal guide. I did so because it was what moved my mind the most, I still feel like I have so much left to go. The way in which I did this was by meditating on the interrelationships between reliance upon the spiritual guide and all the other 20 meditations. So in some sense, I am meditating on the Lamrim with a theme of reliance on the spiritual guide.

I continued in this way until Modern Buddhism came out and I read the practice of the Yoga of Buddha Heruka. I felt as if Geshe-la had given me a personally tailored practice and I saw how by engaging in this practice I engage in all of the Kadam Dharma every day. Every object of the lamrim is contained within it, and now I try generate the appropriate lamrim mind at the relevant place of the sadhana. I am quite certain there will later come a time when the nature and composition of my practice will change again to something else and this is perfectly natural and OK. Our practice needs to focus on what moves our mind the most.

2. Use the Lamrim to solve whatever you perceive your biggest problem to be.

If we don’t apply our Lamrim practice to our daily problems, then it becomes intellectual. But when we use the lamrim as the solution to whatever is troubling us the most, then it becomes very personal, very practical, and very powerful. So we can ask ourselves, how does meditation 1 inform how I should view this problem? How does meditation 2 indicate what I need to do with this problem, etc.

Geshe-la explains in Joyful Path that all faults find their opponent in the Lamrim, the Lamrim functions to solve all the problems of all living beings, and all of the instructions of Lamrim are to be put into practice. To put the instructions into practice means to use them to solve our problems, not to just consider them as some abstract generation of various minds. In the beginning, our ‘biggest problem’ will most likely be something related to this life alone. That is OK. That is just where our concerns are at the moment. But it doesn’t take long, perhaps 6 months to 1 year of pure Lamrim practice, before we feel start to feel as if the scope of our concern begins to extend beyond this life. It is not that we are no longer concerned about this life as well, rather we start to see this life in the context of our countless future lives. At this point something very magical takes place, what we perceive to be our biggest problem shifts out of this life alone. We start to sincerely (not intellectually) worry about our happiness in future lives. Then we start to worry about our problem of uncontrolled rebirth. Then we start to worry about others problem of uncontrolled rebirth. This process evolves and unfolds naturally as a result of sincere Lamrim practice.

What makes it all work, and what makes it all resonate deeply within our mind, is when we use the Lamrim to solve whatever we perceive to be our biggest problem. The situation may not change, but our view of the situation will completely change; thus solving our mentally fabricated ‘problem.’ The Lamrim is practical advice, and needs to be used to solve our problems. If we are not doing this, then our practice is highly intellectual, and will have little power to transform our mind. Not because the Lamrim has little power, but because we are not using it in a powerful way.

As we gain experience of this, we start to see the Lamrim like a toolbox which we use to solve our own and others various problems. Over time we realize from our own side that the Lamrim truly does possess all we need to solve our problems. When we realize this from our own side, then we start to get a glimmer of our good fortune of having found the pure Kadam Dharma.

Ultimate stages of the path: Completion Stage

March 24, 2013August 2, 2012 Kadampa Ryan 1. Reflections on doing this website/blog, 2. Modern Bodhisattva's Way of Life, 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

According to Modern Buddhism, “Generation stage is like drawing the basic outline of a picture and completion stage is like completing the picture.” Completion stage itself is “defined as an inner realization of learning developed in dependence upon the inner winds entering, abiding and dissolving within the central channel through the force of meditation. The objects of these meditations are the central channel, the indestructible drop, and the indestructible wind and mind.”

So how does this work? By using exactly the same logic of generation stage, but with respect to the deities subtle and very subtle bodies. What makes completion stage particularly powerful is we use our own subtle body (channels, drops and winds) as the basis of our completion stage meditations. We do so as follows: first we realize the emptiness of the subtle body that we normally see. This is a true cessation, and our completely purified subtle body. We then imagine that this cessation, or the emptiness of the mind realizing the true cessation, appears in the aspect of the deity’s completely purified subtle body. So first we generate the subtle body of the deity and then we identify with it as our own understanding it is arising from the cessation of the subtle body that we normally see.

In completion stage as defined here, the main objects of these meditations are the central channel, the indestructible drop and the indestructible wind and mind. Through the above meditations, we feel as if we are inside our central channel, inside our indestructible drop, and inside our indestructible wind and mind. One of the amazing things about the power of the mind is the mind is located at the object. So if the object is in the pure land, the mind actually goes there. If the object of mind is the inside of our central channel, indestructible drop and indestructible wind and mind, then our mind actually goes there. And wherever our mind goes, our winds inextricably go as well.

Since the entire universe is nothing more than a projection of our root mind, by centering our mind entirely within our root mind we cause all of our inner winds to gather, dissolve and abide inside our root mind (represented by these three objects). When this happens, all of the appearances that all of our gross minds support likwise begin to dissolve into increasingly subtle levels of appearance. This is where the eight dissolutions come in – each appearance is what the universe looks like when the previous wind had been gathered inside our central channel. When no winds are dissolved, we see samsara. When the earth element dissolves, we get the mirage like appearance. When the water element wind we get the smoke-like appearance. When the fire element wind dissolves we get the sparkling fireflies like appearance. When the wind element wind dissolves we get the candle flame like appearance. When that dissolves, we get the mind of white appearance. When that dissolves, we get the mind of red increase. When that dissolves, we get the mind of black near attainment. And when that dissolves, we get the mind of clear light. This is our very subtle mind of great bliss. All appearances have naturally been dissolved and it is very easy for us to realize the emptiness of all phenomena, including the emptiness of the mind of great bliss realizing the emptiness of all phenomena. There is no deeper mind than this. This is the definitive deity, the Dharmakaya. Milarepa said everything is the nature of mind and the mind is the nature of emptiness. So we recognize everyhing is the nature of our very subtle mind of great bliss, and we realize the emptiness of this very subtle mind. When we say my mind of bliss and emptiness in the aspect of something, what we really mean is the emptiness of my mind of great bliss in the aspect of something.

This realization of clear light functions to purify our consciousness of all contaminated karma and their imprints. When all of these have been purified, we become a Buddha.

Taken all together, the tantric path proceeds as follows. First we generate the intention to train in our tantric vows and commitments. Then we establish ourselves inside the gross deity body through generation stage. We then train in the body mandala meditations, which is in effect a self-generation of our subtle body. We then train in the completion stage meditations of the central channel, indestructible drop and indestructible wind and mind. This then causes our inner winds to gather. We continue to realize the emptiness of the entire universe in the aspect of the eight appearances of the eight dissolutions until finally we realize the clear light, first through a generic image and then directly. This final direct realization of clear light vaporizes countless aeons worth of contaminated karma in an instant. We continue meditating on this meaning clear light again and again until we have finally, once and for all, purified our mind completely of all delusions and their imprints. We will have become a Buddha!

Through this series of posts, I have tried to clarify (and share) my own understanding of how to practice each of the stages of the path from the point of view of emptiness. We looked at how emptiness is the definitive reason establishing the validity of each of the stages of the path and how by combining these stages with an understanding of emptiness we can engage in the practice at an extremely profound level. We did this for the lamrim, the training in the six perfections, and the practices of vows and commitments, generation stage and completion stage. The final result being our full enlightenment.

All of the above posts should be understood as nothing more than my own ramblings about the Dharma. None of it should be considered definitive Dharma. For that, only Venerable Geshe-la’s books can suffice. I have written these posts to help clarify my own understandings of these subjects. Different people have different learning styles, and for me putting things in writing forces me to make very clear my own understanding (especially when I know I have such an enlightened audience as all of you!). For me, this project has proven to be extremely beneficial for me. I feel like I understand things much better. If others reading through these posts also gain some insights or benefit, then all the better!

I dedicate all of the merit I have gained from doing this project so that Dorje Shugden will bless the minds of all those who read these posts (including myself) and reveal to all a correct understanding of the Dharma (be it through my words being a similitude of correct or through realizing that my words are totally wrong). In this way, no matter whether what I have written is correct or not, anybody who reads this will gain correct understandings. Such is the power of prayer! Don’t get me started on the emptiness of prayer!!! hee hee

Spiritual Gravity: the theory of everything

November 3, 2012November 3, 2012 Kadampa Ryan 2. Modern Bodhisattva's Way of Life, 3. Tantra, 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

I once watched Stephen Hawking’s The Story of Everything. In it, he explained how gravity is the fundamental force driving the evolution of everything. The law of gravity states that matter attracts matter according to the relative mass of the objects. In other words, the apple falls to the earth because the earth has a larger mass relative to the apple, though both the apple and the earth each exert some pull. The entire universe, from the big bang to the big crunch and everything in between is governed by the laws of gravity. There are similar concepts in the social sciences, such as political gravity, economic gravity, and the theory of the transition of great powers. The fundamental point about gravity is understanding it’s dynamic process. A bigger mass attracts a smaller mass, and as a result the bigger mass gets even bigger, thus attracting in yet another smaller mass in a continuous cycle. This continues indefinitely resulting in a cycle of creation. But creation and destruction are simply two different perspectives on the same process. Schumpter coined the phrase “creative destruction.” Buddha called it subtle impermanence.

The exact same process occurs at a spiritual level. There is the physical level to reality, the verbal level to reality and the mental level of reality. Emptiness explains that the physical and verbal arise from the mental – everything is created by the mind. But emptiness is just a fact of how things work, and the union of karma and emptiness is the supreme view according to Sutra, and the union of the Chittamatrin and Madhyamika-Prasangika schools the supreme view according to Tantra. But even these are just facts governing the mental plane. The inner core of the mental plane is the spiritual. The spiritual unites and harmonizes the bodily, verbal and mental planes (hence the deities of the body mandala). All spiritual paths have reliance upon the Spiritual Guide as the core of the spiritual path. A spiritual guide is like a star in the universe, or more accurately a super black hole at the core of a Galaxy cluster. At the core of reliance upon the Spiritual Guide we have faith, the essence of spiritual life. Qualified faith is a trusting based upon a valid reason. It is not blind. The core valid reason in Kadampa Buddhism is the fact of emptiness according to the Tantra-Prasangika view. From this, all other valid reasons emerge.

Faith then has three levels: believing faith, admiring faith and wishing faith. First we develop a believing faith in wisdom (virtuous intelligence). Then we develop an admiring faith, marveling at the beauty of wisdom. From this arises wishing faith, the wish to embody in ourselves the beautiful wisdom we admire. To embody this wisdom, we must attain the perfection of giving, moral discipline, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom. We perfect these types of action through generating bodhichitta, the wish to become a Buddha for the sake of all. The core of bodhichitta then strives to become not just any Buddha, but to become one with our Spiritual Guide. To voluntarily wish to unite with the Spiritual sun of the Spiritual Guide, to surf the laws of spiritual gravity towards the center. So we wish to unite with the guru. We accomplish this primarily through the practice of guru yoga, where we mix our mind inseparably with that of our guru. First we come into contact with his outer emanation body, or the Spiritual Guide we meet in this world. Then we come into contact with his inner Emanation bodies, or the Buddhas he introduces us to.

Amongst the Buddhas he introduces us to, there are three in particular that are the synthesis of all the others. These three deities are Guru, Yidam and Protector. (Note, there is a trinity in many different religions). Within the context of Kadampa Buddhism, Guru is Je Tsongkhapa, Yidam is Heruka/Vajrayogini, and Protector is Dorje Shugden. There are other Spiritual Guides also rotating around our Spiritual Guide, such as the Dalai Lama or Lama Yeshe, etc. These in turn are all students of Trijang Rinpoche. The “fued” between Kadampas and the followers of the Dalai Lama is actually inter-vajra-familial dispute viewed from the wrong perspective, where we agree on who the Guru is, but have slight differences on who the Yidam is and especially who the Protector is. This is why resolving within ourselves the apparent contradictions about the Kadampa view versus the Dalai Lama’s view is so important. Of course different people will resolve this differently – some will resolve it in the direction of Venerable Geshe-la, some will resolve it in the direction of the Dalai Lama, and some will try stay on the fence forever! Actually beyond all of those are those who seek to resolve both views simultaneously. My resolution is they are right for them, we are right for us, and neither one of us is right for the other. Anyways, I digress. Back to Spiritual gravity.

So the root is guru yoga, ultimately as guru, yidam and protector. The synthesis of these three is actually the real guru. This in tern synthesizes down from Protector into Yidam, then Yidam into indestructible drop, then indestructible drop into the seed letter. From the seed letter into the nada. From the nada into the 8 dissolutions. From the 8 dissolutions into the clear light (the other side of the black hole of black near attainment just before the clear light on the other side). The clear light is not just emptiness, but the union of the mind of great bliss realizing the truth of emptiness directly with our very subtle mind. This is the Dharmakaya (or Truth Body) Spiritual Guide. The guru yoga/self-generation as the Dharmakaya takes us straight into perfect union with the Spiritual Guide (who himself is the synthesis of all the Buddhas). This is our final destination (for now at least…). Sadhana practices are then the methods for accomplishing these unions. Offering to the Spiritual Guide, Tantric Self-Initiation and Melodious Drum condense into the Yoga of Buddha Heruka, which is my daily practice.

So how can we accelerate this process of spiritual gravity? By increasing our own spiritual mass. We do this by gaining realizations ourselves for the sake of others. The more realizations we gain, the more we attract other spiritual mass, drawing others closer to us. This is Sangha. From Sangha’s emerge teachers. Amongst teachers emerge Resident Teachers. Amongst Resident Teachers emerge National Spiritual Directors. From amongst those emerge General Spiritual Directors. Each of these three words has great meaning. General means they are a generalist – they have sufficiently mastered and synthesized all of the different Dharma practices that they are a generalist (or equally balanced towards all expertises). Director means they are a manager of others and their activities. And Spiritual qualifies both General and Director. The subject matter that they are a generalist towards and the group of human beings they are a Director for are others of the same spiritual tradition. We are now entering the Facebook generation, so it only seems fitting that the model of Spiritual Guide in this world is transitioning from a unitary entity to a social network of potential, actual and former General Spiritual Directors and their students. But all retain the same root guru, namely Venerable Geshe-la, who arises from Trijang Rinpoche all the way back in the lineage to Buddha Shakyamuni and Vajradhara.

Buddha Shakyamuni is the fourth of the thousand Buddhas of this fortunate aeon. This does not mean there will only be one thousand Buddhas in this aeon. Rather, this means there will be one thousand “founder Buddhas” in this aeon. A founding Buddha is one that arises from a time in which there were no Buddhas in this world, then one came and established the Dharma, this Dharma flourished for a period, then it dissipated and finally disappeared for a long long time until a new founder Buddha comes. A thousand of these will come in this fortunate aeon. An aeon is about the time of a big bang cycle or the lifespan of earth, depending on your perspective. But there will also be non-fortunate aeons, and clusters of such aeons, etc.

The transition of birth, ageing, sickness, death, intermediate state, and rebirth into a new life is a process/cycle we must master and transcend. Enlightenment is the permanent and irreversible transcending of this process/cycle. Are there steps after that? Probably, but that will probably be for after we attain enlightenment…

We master birth, ageing, sickness and death through the Sutra practices, and we master death, intermediate state and rebirth with our Tantric practices. The union of Sutra and Tantra, then unties and purifies this entire cycle of birth, ageing, sickness, death, intermediate state and rebirth. When this process is completely purified for the first time, we ourselves are reborn into the pure land. A state from which we will never fall again. But it is not enough to just attain the pure land for ourselves, we then need to build our own pure land which will function like a giant sun in the spiritual cosmos, drawing in more and more beings. One meaning for Chakrasambara is the gathering and purifying of all phenomena into the Dharmakaya. We seek to become that. From there, we spontaneously liberate all beings continuously until they are all completely purified.

In the process of moving towards this state of continuously liberating others (like a limitless self-regenerating spiritual fusion reaction), we will leave behind a legacy of our deeds as a bodhisattva. This legacy of deeds can take bodily, verbal and mental forms. Bodily in terms of our students and their descendents, verbal in terms of our written and spoken words, and mental in terms of the specific realizations we have attained for the sake of others. Even after we have passed into enlightenment, these legacies continue to spotaneously liberate all beings. This legacy is our spiritual reliquary.

A reliquary is something that exists in the world that continues to provide benefit long after the person who left the reliquary has passed on. Reliquaries can also take digital form. The blogs and virtual community which are arising are such a digital form. This is the virtual sangha. From this will emerge virtual teachers, virtual resident teachers, etc., just like occured in the physical world (but perhaps with different names). Just as Venerable Geshe-la now tweets and has a Facebook page, soon so too will all of the General Spiritual Directors (past, present and future). It will be how they emanate themselves into the virtual world, much in the same way Buddhas emanate themselves into countless other worlds.

So from our practical perspective, our task is to increase our spiritual mass by gaining more realizations. This will draw people to us, who we help unite in families (biological or spiritual), creating a self-accumulating process of growing spiritual mass. We keep doing that until we unite with the biggest spiritual mass near us, the Spiritual Guide, etc. In this way the entire cycle repeats itself in an endless process of spiritual accumulation until all has been united in the perfect harmony of endless spiritual creative destruction.

Within the Kadampa Tradition, we have certain days which form the Kadampa calendar. They are Tsog Days, Heruka and Vajrayogini Month, NKT Day, Buddha’s Enlightenment Day, Turning the Wheel of Dharma Day, Buddha’s Return from Heaven Day, Je Tsongkhapa Day, then International Temples Day. I believe it is Venerable Geshe-la’s intention that we view International Temples Day as our spiritually most holy day. It is our Christmas Day where we give the world the gift of Kadampa Temples, much like we give our normal family presents. What are international Kadampa Temples? They are spiritual centers of gravity. Around temples orbit main centers, around main centers orbit branch centers, around branch centers orbit students, around students orbit their families and loved ones endlessly until eventually all spiritual beings are gathered and dissolved into complete purity. The temples themselves rotate around Manjushri center, the mother center of the Kadampa Tradition. That in turn revolves around the legacy Venerable Geshe-la is leaving for us to serve as cutodians of the lineage. On top of Mount Meru is a Kadampa Buddhist Temple. This is the real mother center where our Spiritual Guide resides. International Temples Day is ultimately a giant family reunion of all temples into this varja temple on top of Mount Meru. It is here that we do Tantric empowerments.

This post is posted on International Temples Day. Today is a ten million multiplying day, so the spiritual power of all that we do is multiplied by ten million times (like a karmic pulsar). I dedicate any merit accumulated from writing this post to the rapid accumulation of spiritual mass inside the minds of all Kadampas and ultimately all living beings.

Your turn: Describe what are the major sources of spiritual gravity in your life, and what you are doing to stay close to them.

Continue reading →

Kadampa Working Dad

Unifying our spiritual, professional and personal lives into the path

2. Modern Bodhisattva’s Way of Life

Modern Bodhisattva’s Way of Life: Introduction to the Guide

Modern Bodhisattva’s Way of Life: Making the decision to enter the Bodhisattva’s Path.

Modern Bodhisattva’s Way of Life: The fork in the road

Modern Bodhisattva’s Way of Life: Motivation for doing series

Avoiding cult-like behavior

How to deal with the death of a loved one

Reliance on the Guru’s mind alone: Engaging in Lamrim meditation, part 2

Reliance on the Guru’s mind alone: Engaging in Lamrim meditation, part 1

Ultimate stages of the path: Completion Stage

Spiritual Gravity: the theory of everything

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