Before beginning our usual meditation practice, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering, our resident teacher, described the onsite groundwork set to commence this spring at Karmapa Center 16 and the special pujas held ahead of time to remove any obstacles and promote environmental harmony. This is a significant next step forward for the second phase of KC16’s Stupa Project.
Recalling the Mind
Following our opening chants, our resident teacher resumed guiding us in the practice of calm-abiding meditation (Sanskrit: śamatha). Together with emphasizing the need for being well-grounded and keeping our back straight, Acharya Lhakpa also stressed the importance of letting go of any expectations during our meditation. We can put aside thoughts about having a good or bad meditation. Likewise, whenever you observe the mind wandering off, moving towards an object outside, “you are simply aware of that situation and bring your mind back to this moment.” In this way, during this type of practice, we recall our mind again and again.
Utilizing Afflictive Emotions
During this session, we discussed verse 20 of Ngulchu Tokmé’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva. It reads:
“If I do not tame the enemy of my own anger,
I may subdue external enemies, but they will still increase. Therefore, with the army of loving-kindness and compassion,
To tame one’s own mind stream is the practice of a bodhisattva.”
(Quoted from A Guide to the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, translated by Christopher Stagg)
When aggression, or any kind of afflictive emotion, takes control of us, we no longer are the same person. On the path of the Foundational Vehicle or Hīnayāna, as Acharya explained earlier, it is emphasized to stay away from such disturbed states of mind. The path of the Great Vehicle or Mahāyāna, on the other hand, teaches us how to utilize such seeming obstacles as a practice and as a way to usher in loving-kindness and compassion.
Making the Same Mistake
The verse itself, Acharya said, is very clear, and we can easily recognize the practical value in our daily life. We can observe, around the world, how nations try to subdue each other, turn into enemies, and so forth. However, this attempt to eliminate external enemies only leads them to increase. “You can see,” Acharya said, “that kind of practice will never work. Still, we are making the same mistake, again and again.”
What we really should be doing is taming the most dangerous enemy: aggression or anger within ourselves. And we should be fighting this enemy with an army of loving-kindness and compassion. It is taught by great Indian masters like Shantideva and Atisha that there is no point in trying to defeat outer enemies. However, if we are able to tame our own minds, it is like defeating all the enemies or obstacles outside at the same time. Acharya invited us to contemplate this deeply: Do we really think we would be successful if we were to try to defeat all outer enemies?
Gathering the Armies of Loving-Kindness and Compassion
Illustrated by Shantideva, who said we should cover our feet with leather to protect ourselves from any harm instead of attempting to cover the entire world with leather, we shouldtame our own mindstream and gather the army of loving-kindness and compassion. This means we develop the wish for all beings to be happy and have the causes of happiness (loving-kindness), and for them to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering (compassion). Out of these two, Acharya pointed out, we begin by gathering the army of compassion and then, naturally, we will start gathering the army of loving-kindness. Thus, it is also compassion that is taught in the sutras as the supreme practices. For example, in the Sutra of the Condensed Perfection of Wisdom we read:
“For those who have great compassion, it is like having all spiritual practices in the palm of their hand.”
Therefore, if we are able to cultivate great compassion, it will be (relatively) easy to obtain the state of omniscience or complete Buddhahood. This verse teaches us how taking the object of aggression onto the path is part of this practice.
Salt Water
The next verse (21) speaks about taking objects of attachment onto the path:
“The sense pleasures are like salt water;
However much you partake, that much your craving will increase. Whatever objects of attachment arise,
To immediately abandon them is the practice of a bodhisattva.”
When we think about sense pleasure, Acharya explained, we can simply think of the five sense faculties and their objects. For example, seeing pleasurable forms, hearing pleasurable sounds, and smelling pleasurable odors, these are the sense pleasures Ngulchu Tokmé has in mind with this verse. Sharing a story about visiting the ocean and experiencing salt water for the first time during his stay in India, Acharya highlighted how these sense pleasures are really like salt water. “If we are thirsty and try to quench our thirst by salt water, our thirst just increases. We will never be able to quench our thirst.” Therefore, this verse teaches us that we should abandon the sense pleasures immediately.
The Practice of Contentment
What does it mean to “abandon” objects of attachment? Acharya explained it does not necessarily mean that we need to go to another place and leave this object behind. Rather, the main point of this verse is to cultivate the quality of contentment. Any particular object we may have, we should generate the thought: “Oh, having this is sufficient. I need nothing else.”
If we were to accumulate wealth for the benefit of others, it could be part of our path. Yet, if it is just to accumulate things for ourselves, this is not considered the practice of a bodhisattva. For this reason, Nagarjuna said: “The teacher of gods and humans said / Among all wealth, contentment is supreme.”
Abandoning Outer Objects
In addition to contentment, this verse teaches us that all outer objects are of the nature of suffering. Why is that? It is because they are compounded phenomena, they are not singular or permanent. This relates to what in the Buddhist view is known all-pervasive suffering. At the point of obtaining something, protecting an object once we possess it, and once it falls apart, at all times there is suffering present. Acharya illustrated this with the example of getting our favorite car that may run perfectly at the beginning. However, given its compounded nature, it will break down and cause suffering from the moment we own it.
Therefore, the main practice verse 21 is pointing to is that of cultivating contentment. In addition, we need to understand that all outer objects are compounded and therefore of the nature of suffering. Realizing this equals abandoning those objects. So, like with aggression, we need to learn to take attachment onto the path and turn seemingly unfavorable circumstances into something beneficial, for the benefit of all beings. We do so, not by trying to fix things outside, but by improving our own mindstream. That is the practice of a bodhisattva.
Taming and Training our Minds
Taking us back to the beginning of our session, Acharya Lhakpa connected the teachings with the meaning of practicing the dharma in general. First and foremost, this consists of taming our own mind. This is the main aspect. On top of that, in the Mahāyāna, we cultivate loving-kindness and compassion, and seek buddhahood or enlightenment not just for ourselves but for the benefit of all sentient beings. This reminded Acharya of his precious teacher, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, who always emphasizes how all practices of a dharma practitioner are subsumed or summarized by these two aspects: taming the mind and training the mind. Rinpoche teaches: “If we want to evaluate our practice, we just need to look inward and see how much improvement is happening in our mindstream.”
With those words, we concluded our session and dedicated the merit.
