As a bodhisattva, it is important to always practice with mindfulness and attentiveness. Verses 34 through 37 of Ngulchu Tokmé’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva bring us to the heart of our practice, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering said. Otherwise, we will not be able to achieve our goal: clearing away the suffering of limitless.
Śamatha Practice and the Intention to Benefit
Buddha Śākyamuni taught that at the beginning of any activity, it is important for us to give rise to the intention to attain the state of buddhahood for the benefit of everyone, near and far, excluding no one. Furthermore, in order to benefit ourselves and others, we need a workable mind. For that reason, the practice of śamatha is vitally important.
When we look around us or watch the news, we may feel we are not able to directly benefit certain individuals or groups.However, we can connect with the aspiration for our practice to be of benefit to them as well. We could think to ourselves, “In the long term, may my practice today be a cause for being able to benefit you as well.” With this thought in mind, we practiced śamatha together.
Words Like Honey and Flowers
Following our practice of calm-abiding meditation, our resident teacher, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering, continued his commentary on Ngulchu Tokme’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, starting with verse 34:
“Harsh words disturb the minds of others
And cause bodhisattva activity to diminish.
Therefore, to abandon harsh words that
Are unpleasant to others is the practice of a bodhisattva.”
(Quoted from A Guide to the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, translated by Christopher Stagg)
At the heart of the training of a bodhisattva, Acharya reminded us, is to practice for the benefit of others. If we speak harsh words to others, not only will we harm them, but it will also cause our training to weaken or deteriorate. He referred to the noble Nāgārjuna’s advice to his friend, king Surabhibhadra: always speak in a pleasant way, using words that are like honey or flowers.
Using the example of parents and their children, Acharya also indicated that this does not necessarily mean we never speak harsh words. As taught in the Mahāyāna teachings, if our intention is to benefit the other, and we are confident our action would accomplish that, we can do so. In this way, it is possible that using harsh words could be beneficial.
Yet, the main point made by Ngulchu Tokmé is to abandon harsh words. Our resident teacher said that we all know from our own experience why this is the case. And Buddha Śākyamuni also taught we could take ourselves as a reference point. In the words of Acharya:
“Just as you would not wish to be harmed by others, do not harm others. When harsh words are spoken to you, they hurt. Therefore, those who follow the path of compassion–bodhisattvas–avoid using harsh words.”
Not Losing the Chance to Attain Liberation
As beginner practitioners, we may not be able to act perfectly. Yet, gradually, we learn and get closer to our goal. This also applies to the next verse, 35:
“When the afflictions are habitual, they are hard to cast away with antidotes.
Therefore, with mindfulness and attentiveness, wielding the weapon of the antidote,
To crush the mental afflictions, such as attachment,
When they first arise is the practice of a bodhisattva.”
Due to our habits, it is very difficult if not impossible to abandon the root of all afflictions–grasping at a self. This fundamental form of ignorance, Acharya said, is likened by the great bodhisattva Śāntideva to a king, with the other mental afflictions being similar to ministers and soldiers. Given the great power of a king, it is not easy to defeat him right away. Therefore, we fight with the others first.
Along the same lines, Dzatrul Ngawang Tenzin Norbu in A Guide to the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, speaks about defeating enemies–the mental afflictions–using our weapons–the antidotes. While examples of war and fighting are somewhat problematic, the meaning behind them speaks directly to the point, Acharya said:
“If we lose our sword in battle, we risk losing our life. In the same way, if we lose our mindfulness and attentiveness, we risk losing the opportunity to attain liberation and the state of omniscience. Therefore, bodhisattvas should always be mindful and alert.”
This is the meaning we should keep in mind.
Check and Balances
The next verse, 36, points to the very heart of all the preceding practices and reads as follows:
“In short, in whatever you are doing,
To always, with mindfulness and attentiveness,
Ask yourself, “What is the state of my mind?”
And accomplish the benefit of others is the practice of a bodhisattva.”
The practices of a bodhisattva, Acharya reminded us, are summarized by the six perfections or pāramitās. With the intention to benefit others, this is what our conduct should be like. In addition, Ngulchu Tokmé points to the necessity of mindfulness and attentiveness. We can see these, Acharya explained, as our checks and balances. Is our intention indeed to benefit others? Do we remember our practice? While the quality of mindfulness is able to recollect the teachings when we forget, attentiveness helps us to prolong or keep this awareness in place.
Letting Go to Attain Buddhahood For the Benefit of Others
The 37th verse shows the dedication, as a final practice:
“As to these virtues, accomplished through diligence:
To dedicate them to enlightenment with the wisdom free of the three spheres
In order to clear away the suffering
Of limitless beings is the practice of a bodhisattva.”
Bodhisattvas seek to attain buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. To this end, we practice the six perfections to accumulate merit and wisdom. As Acharya explained during previous sessions, some of the pāramitās are to gather merit, while others contribute to the gathering of wisdom. In this verse, he explained, Ngulchu Tokmé points again to the wisdom that we need: the wisdom that is free of the three spheres.
Basically, Acharya taught, this means we need to let go. Illustrating this with the example of generosity, he pointed out how we usually link the notion of ourselves as the agent, our action, and the receiver of our action, together. In this way, he continued, we get bound to self-fixation and conceptualization. This keeps us in the world of suffering. Therefore, we let go of thinking in terms of these three spheres.
This contributes to accumulating wisdom. Together with the accumulation of merit, this will help us achieve our goal, as taught by Ngulchu Tokmé: “[…] to clear away the suffering of limitless beings.”
To conclude, we dedicated our merit and Acharya warmly invited everyone to join us again next Sunday to continue our study and practice.
