作者彙整: Karma Osung

Intermezzo: Embracing Genuine Dharma Practice: Observing and Directing the Mind

Following our opening chants, we began our śamatha practice by establishing a firmly grounded yet balanced posture. Everyone was invited to look at the movement of  mind, which might be drawn to thinking about activities before our session or pulled towards what might follow. Without any judgement, we can practice śamatha through simply seeing this movement. In case the mind is attracted to any present sensory input such as sound, smell, memory, feeling, or something else, we simply notice it. In this way, along with being in touch with our body, we turn inward and observe the movement of mind. 

Once the mind starts to rest, we then can direct  its movement by giving rise to the thought of awakening. We connect with that intention, thinking: “May the stream of this mind be oriented towards buddhahood, towards awakening, for the sake of all other beings, without exception.” Sitting together is part of putting this into practice. 

Contemplative Meditation: When do We Practice?

One of the key functions of śamatha practice is to create a space for contemplating, allowing us to look deeper into the movement of our mind and the life that flows from it (when we take illusory thoughts to be real). During our meditation, everyone was invited to lightly reflect on the question: In which moments during a day do I feel I am practicing the dharma? Are there moments when I feel I am on the heroic path of the bodhisattvas? 

All participants were asked to consider three aspects of practice: how we think about it (seeing), how we sense it emotionally (feeling), and how it interacts with our surroundings (living). We ended our contemplative meditation by asking ourselves if any insight stood out, and then simply let go, and sat  at ease.  

After a brief conversation, we continued with commentary by and advice from His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, in Traveling the Path of Compassion, in which he put the question of practice at the heart of his teachings about the first verse: a precious human existence. 

Having the Freedom to Practice, Today

The first practice of a bodhisattva pointed out by Ngulchu Tokmé in this verse is that of hearing, contemplation, and meditation. His Holiness notes that we can think of the first as the desire to practice, the second as a way to gain certainty, and the third as the method to bring this into experience. He emphasises the importance of practicing now when we have the freedom to do so. 

Before our session started today, there was a brief informal conversation about wildfires, snowstorms, earthquakes, and similar natural circumstances. Along with a heart of compassion, wishing all affected to be safe and receive the support needed, the teachings also remind us there is no guarantee that our current conditions will remain supportive. What seems stable today might not be so tomorrow. Therefore, reminding us of Acharya Lhakpa’s commentary on this verse, we need to seize the opportunity to practice once it appears to us. 

Real Signs of Practice

His Holiness emphasizes the importance of understanding what genuine practice means by recognizing our freedom and sincerely wishing to practice,  To illustrate this, he recalls a story from the Kadampa tradition, the lineage to which our text, The Thirty-Seven Practices, belongs. During our session, the story was retold in detail, raising the question about the genuine practice of dharma. Below is a brief summary: 

There is a  person who is really determined to follow the dharma path and engages in practices like circumambulation (doing Korra), reading scriptures, and recitation. Each time he does so he encounters a Kadampa master, (most likely Atīśa’s main disciple Dromtönpa), who is offering words of praise while also asking: Wouldn’t it be better if you practiced the genuine dharma? 

This person decides to practice meditation as well. Yet, he receives the same questions and feels at a loss. “If none of these practices is considered dharma practice, then what is it?” The Kadampa master points out the answer by saying: “To cut through your attachments. That is the practice of Dharma.”

In his commentary, His Holiness the 17th Karmapa offers similar advice in the context of Ngöndro practice. He shares that he often hears people speak about the difficulty or ease of this practice, while others speak about certain special experiences. Meaningful as those may be, similar to the Kadampa master, His Holiness says: “The real sign of our practice should be how we work with our afflicting emotions.” 

Reflecting on these examples, it was pointed out during our session that any practice, including Korra, reading scriptures, recitation, and so forth, can all be a method to cut through our attachments and, more generally, work with our afflictions or mental disturbances. When we do so, each of these can become the genuine practice of the dharma. In addition, following His Holiness’s commentary, we need to go beyond separating our minds from dharma and bring these together. If we want to generate bodhicitta, for example, it can only arise in this moment, not in any other moment or somewhere else. It needs to arise in this mind right now, which is where bodhicitta can be present.

Making our Meditation Sessions and Sleep Matter: Two Pieces of Advices

In his commentary on the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, His Holiness refers to a Tibetan saying that can be understood as “bringing flesh and bone together,” meaning we should become one with our practice, in every aspect of our daily lives. In a teaching on the life of the Eighth Gyalwang Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje, he also emphasizes that genuine dharma practice consists of working with and changing our minds. Since our mind is with us 24/7, our practice is also 24/7. Not paying attention to our mind could, he taught, result in non-virtuous actions of body, speech, and mind. So, how do we practice throughout the day? To this end, His Holiness offered two practical pieces of advice. 

  • Before ending our formal meditation sessions, to prevent our practice from leaving us as swift as a finger snap or fading slowly , we could tell ourselves: “After I finish this session, throughout the rest of the day, I will try to retain the flavor of this experience and state of mind.” 
  • Before going to sleep, we can reflect on what our day was like. What did we do during the day? What was virtuous and what was not? “When we have separated one from the other, we can make a commitment that the next day we will try to increase positive actions and decrease negative ones.” If we can go to sleep in this way, His Holiness notes, “our sleep will not be useless or without purpose; it will turn into a positive state of mind, and thereby the power of what is virtuous will increase.” 

With these two practical pieces of advice from His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, we brought this session to a close and ended with dedicating the merit. In our next session, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering will continue his commentary and teachings on Ngulchu Tokmé’s text, resuming with the eighth verse.

Intermezzo: Following in The Footsteps of the First Karmapa

Our first session of the international New Year, 2025 was dedicated to commemorating the parinirvāṇa anniversary of the First Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa. His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, shared a beautiful verse on Facebook, on January 3rd. While it is difficult, if not impossible, to capture the profoundness and beauty of His Holiness’s writing in Tibetan, we wrote an English translation for our session, which we read together:

“Water cascading from the ocean of all that can be known in the three times
Flowing into a single vessel of omniscience –
The great sage who takes in the whole universe of appearance and existence at once,
Glorious Jetsün Lama, today I fondly remember you.”

— Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Resting our Minds, Opening our Hearts

Since Acharya Lhakpa Tshering will not resume his teachings on The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva until January 19, we began our session by contemplating the verses covered so far, along with additional quotes from the sūtras and commentaries by His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa and His Eminence the 10th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche. Before discussing those, we started with the usual practice of śamatha (calm-abiding). 

Reminding ourselves of the importance of our physical and mental posture, everyone present was encouraged to sit comfortably in an upright position—firmly grounded yet relaxed, not minding the past nor the future, resting in the present moment. Sitting with a sense of ease, everyone was invited to open their hearts and give rise to bodhicitta. Paying attention to the movement of our minds–what to do when there are a lot of thoughts and distraction or when we lose our mindfulness because of being sleepy–we practiced śamatha to let the mind settle. As Acharya Lhakpa usually says, simply be aware. 

The Thirty-Seven Practices: A Lamrim Text

In his introduction to A Guide to the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, Christopher Stagg writes about the format of Ngulchu Tokmé’s root text, which follows the lamrim, or stages of the path teachings. This means it stands within the long lineage of the Kadampa tradition, considered to be first taught by the great master Atīśa (c. 982–1054) who wrote the foundational text Bodhipathapradipa (In Tibetan: བྱང་ཆུབ་ལམ་གྱི་སྒྲོན་མ།), In English: Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment). 

Ngulchu Tokmé is a later commentator in this lineage, which traces back to Atīśa via the great Kadampa teachers Chekawa, Sharawa, Langri Thangpa, Potow, and Dromtönpa, Atīśa’s main disciple. Like Atīśa, Tokmé’s text follows a key aspect of the lamrim teachings: He categorizes the various practices progressively based on three types of beings’ or (humans’) ability–lesser, middling, and great. In verses 8, 9, and 10, he points to these, which Acharya Lhakpa will likely comment on in his upcoming teachings. 

It seems a somewhat auspicious coincidence to pause and contemplate verses 1 to 7. What we have covered so far can be taken as a collection of preliminary practices with one single wisdom intent: turning the mind away from saṁsāra and towards the Dharma. This ends with the verse about taking refuge–both outer and inner–as explained by Acharya Lhakpa during our previous session. 

Lojong: A Pithy Set of Verses for Everyone to Cultivate Bodhicitta

Ngulchu Tokmé also stands in the tradition of lojong. Christopher Stagg explains that this genre “concentrates specifically on the cultivation of relative and absolute bodhicitta, and on working practically and directly with one’s personal situation in everyday life.” 

To make the teachings workable for everyone, including those who have little time to study the many sūtras and commentaries, the text is composed in verse form and is only forty-three verses long. We can see this quality of the text already reflected in the first seven verses, which speak directly to our hearts. In his commentaries, Acharya Lhakpa further highlighted this by often relating the verses to our own lives and today’s world. Below is an overview of summaries of his teachings: 

The Meaning of the Instruction “Give Rise to Bodhicitta” 

With verse 10 pointing to the Mahayana path, the remainder of Ngulchu Tokmé’s text presents the practices for those with the third and highest kind of (human) ability. Here, cultivating bodhicitta is put at the very heart of each instruction. While Acharya Lhakpa will surely elaborate further on this in upcoming sessions, we briefly looked at a definition of the widely used term bodhicitta. 

In the great Kagyü master Gampopa’s Ornament of Precious Liberation, as translated by Ken Holmes and edited by Thupten Jinpa, bodhicitta is defined as follows: 

“The ‘thought of awakening,’ an altruistic resolve to attain buddhahood for the benefit of all beings.” 

Looking carefully at this definition, we can see that it is characterized by an object–the full awakening of buddhahood, and a purpose–the fulfillment of other’s welfare.

Furthermore, bodhicitta is typically divided into two parts, often translated as relative bodhicitta and ultimate bodhicitta. Whereas the first relates to the altruistic resolve, the second is about the direct realization of the emptiness of the fully awakened mind. 

What is called relative bodhicitta is again divided into two, described by Gampopa as follows: 

  • Aspiration bodhichitta: the wish to attain the genuine thought of awakening.
  • Engaged bodhicitta: the actual training in the thought of awakening. 

At the beginning of our practice, we are typically invited “to give rise to bodhicitta.” Knowing the above may help us to understand what that actually means, realizing that it is probably already a great sign of accomplishment if we genuinely feel the wish to attain the thought of awakening (aspiration bodhicitta). Acharya Lhakpa’s usual instruction is, therefore, illuminating and greatly supportive: “Give rise to positive thoughts, thinking ‘may this practice be a cause for all beings to attain enlightenment.’” 

Practice Brings Scriptures to Life

After delving a bit further into the background of the text and the thread of bodhicitta running through all verses, we had another look at the second opening verse: the purpose of the composition. 

In a commentary by the contemporary Kagyü master Sangye Nyenpa, only available in Tibetan and translated especially for Meditation for All, the meaning of “sources of benefit and happiness” is highlighted in connection with “depends on understanding their practices.” What does this mean? First, he posed the question: “How are the perfect buddhas the sources of benefit and happenings?” This is about the fact that the Buddha not only came to the world but that he also taught the genuine dharma, “without it, there would be no genuine dharma for us to practice to begin with.” 

So, we have the great fortune of a Buddha who came to our world and taught the dharma. However, that is not enough. Sangye Nyenpa somewhat playfully notes that we could stack many scriptures of the Buddha’s words together, yet, if we never study and contemplate them, forget about putting them into practice, that would be entirely pointless. 

On the other hand, if we engage with one single scripture, it could remove our mental afflictions and deal with the root of our confusion. “If we somehow separate the dharma from ourselves, putting one thing here and another there, so to speak, there is no benefit whatsoever.” Therefore, Ngulchu Tokmé points out the practices of the perfect buddhas so we can engage with those. 

I Have Given You the Lamp, but You Must Walk the Path

To further support the explanation given above, Sangye Nyenpa frequently quotes from the sūtras. During today’s session, we contemplated two phrases from the sūtras. Translated into English, the first reads as follows: 

“I have shown you the methods of liberation. Yet, know that freedom depends upon yourself.” 

Sangye Nyenpa comments that these two lines encompass all dharmas (in the sense of the  teachings of the Buddha). It illustrates that the Buddha taught what to reject–misdeeds,and what to adopt–virtue. He also taught how to attain freedom and traverse the five paths and ten bhumis. Yet, Sangye Nyenpa humorously comments: “The Buddha can’t just throw a stone in the air and then suddenly everyone is liberated.” Liberation, he says, depends on us. For that, we need to practice.

The second line from the sūtras says:  

“You are your own protector; you are also your own enemy.”

This is closely related to something Acharya Lhakpa also explained during one of our previous sessions. We may think of others as our protector or enemy. We may think that the hell realms, and so forth, are somewhere out there. We may think other forces lead us to fall into darkness and misery. However, as these words of the Buddha indicate, it is not like that. When we are very angry, our resident teacher noted, “hell is right there.” In this way, we are our own enemy.

This also means that if we engage in studying, contemplating, and meditating, as the very first practice of a bodhisattva, and work through the three higher trainings, then we can attain liberation and Buddhahood. In that sense, we are our own protector. 

In concluding today’s session, we summarized Sangye Nyenpa’s commentary by saying that we must know the practice and put it into action ourselves, otherwise we will not be able to accomplish the genuine Dharma. Reflecting on direct words of the Buddha and connecting them with Atīśa’s teaching, we can say that, like Ngulchu Tokmé with our text, they have given us the lamp, but we need to walk the path. 
Noting that we will do a contemplative meditation and look at commentary from His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, during our next session, we ended today’s Meditation for All with the dedication of merit: May we follow in the footsteps of the First Karmapa, and all attain the state of omniscient Buddhahood.

Mirroring Ourselves: Finding Outer and Inner Refuge – 37 Practices – Session 6

Acharya Lhakpa warmly welcomed everyone for joining us, noting that snow had recently fallen at Karmapa Center 16 and it was a bit chilly outside. Following our opening chants, he continued guiding us in the practice of śamatha. First, it is important to give rise to the heart of awakening, the intention to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. This is why we practice the Dharma. 

Movement of mind

During our meditation practice, Acharya taught a particular technique of recognizing the movement of mind. “Whatever thought arises, virtuous thoughts, non-virtuous thoughts, or middling thoughts, let them arise and simply be aware. You don’t have to feel bad about having a bad thought. And you don’t have to get excited if you have a good thought. Simply treat it as a thought. If you find yourself chasing after thoughts and your mind wanders, don’t worry. At that time, simply be aware that your mind wandered, and it will naturally be back.” 

Verse 7: Undeceiving refuge

To begin our discussion on the seventh verse of The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva by Ngulchu Tokmé, we read the root text as translated by Christopher Stagg: 

“Themselves also bound in the prison of samsara,
Whom do the worldly gods have the power to protect?
Therefore, when seeking a refuge, to go for refuge
In the three jewels that will not deceive you is the practice of a bodhisattva.” (7)

This verse, Acharya Lhakpa pointed out, teaches us about going for refuge to the three jewels. While Brahma, Viṣṇu, and the like, are in the highest realms of our world due to merit accumulated in previous lives, they are still in the prison of saṃsāra. Once their merit is exhausted, they will fall down into the lower realms. Therefore, those seeking to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings should not take refuge in these “gods.” They are deceiving. We must take refuge in genuine protectors: the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. 

Rare and Supreme: Our Destination, Path, and Companions

In Tibetan the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, are described as kön chog (Tibetan: དཀོན་མཆོག), which literally means “rare” and “supreme.” Therefore, they are considered to be like jewels. “The Buddha” refers to what is to be attained or the result: Awakening. “It is, so to speak, the destination.” The method, Acharya continued, is the Dharma. This is the path on which we will find what to avoid and what to adopt. Finally, to travel on this journey, we need companions. This is the Sangha or community. 

The qualities of each of these can be summarized as follows: 

  • The Buddha: the most excellent abandonment and realization of our obscurations and pristine awareness, respectively;
  • The Dharma: being free from the mental afflictions and suffering;
  • The Sangha: the supreme among other communities, giving us a sense of inspiration and wanting to be like those who already engage in practicing the Dharma 

Going for Refuge: A Mirror and Ground

Taking the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha as the three jewels in the above manner is like the outer refuge. This, in turn, will serve as the condition to realize that we ourselves have the mind and potential of enlightenment within. “It is like mirroring ourselves,” Acharya said. “We will come to understand that the three jewels and their qualities are within us from the very beginning.” 

Furthermore, once we have realized this, the realization of selflessness will arise. Based on that, we will realize emptiness. As Atiśa taught in the Seven Points of Mind Training (Tib. བློ་སྦྱོངས་དོན་བདུན་མ།, lojong dön dünma), the realization of emptiness is the highest possible protection. There is nothing beyond or higher than that. 

Going for refuge to the Buddha will serve as a basis for the rest of our path. It will prevent us from falling into the miserable realms and avoid non-virtuous actions. It is the ground for those who take the vow of individual liberation as well as for those who take the bodhisattva vow. 

Two Kinds of Advice: What to Abandon and What to Adopt

Taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, goes together with two kinds of advice: one relating to what things we need to abandon or give up; the other about what to adopt or accomplish. Acharya playfully noted, “After going for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, there are do’s and don’ts. What you should and shouldn’t do.” The first kind of advice is as follows: 

  • When going for refuge to the Buddha, we should no longer go for refuge to worldly gods. “They are not out of the woods,” Acharya taught. In the scriptures we find a quotation from the great master Padmasambhava, who said: “The leaders of the world, no matter how excellent, are deceiving; the sources of refuge, the three jewels, are undeceiving.” While the worldly gods may have great power, they are not a place of refuge. 
  • Going for refuge to the Dharma means abandoning harm or inflicting pain to sentient beings through our actions of body, speech, and mind. 
  • Having taken refuge in the Sangha, we must abandon bad companions, those who always engage in negative karma and act counter to the Dharma. 

If those three form the advice of what needs to be abandoned, then what is included in the advice of what needs to be adopted?

  • Going for refuge to the Buddha means that we should pay respect to any kind of image or representation of the Buddha, be it a statue, thangka, or the like. 
  • Going for refuge to the Dharma means that we must respect the teachings of the Buddha and the scriptures in which these teachings have been committed to writing. Acharya shared a story about his Bhutanese childhood and how his book bag offered  protection against any harm. He and his classmates had been taught to respect the words of the Buddha, and the books in his bag were written in the same Tibetan scriptures used to write down the Buddha’s teachings. No one would therefore kick the bag!
  • Going for refuge to the Sangha means being respectful towards the monastic sangha and, showing respect to the community and dharma friends who have adopted precepts or vows as part of their practice. 

How All the Teachings are Encompassed by Taking Refuge

As a way of summarizing today’s session, Acharya stressed the importance of the three jewels and going for refuge. “Sometimes we think that after taking refuge, our study and practice are totally different things while, actually, all the teachings of the Buddha — from the way of taking refuge to the three jewels — are all about the qualities of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.” 

Acharya illustrated that with the example of the teachings about the wisdom of buddha nature being about the Buddha. Likewise, when we think about abandoning the mental afflictions, and the truth of suffering and the origin of suffering, we speak about the Dharma. And as we progress along the path, we will get to know the paths and levels (Sanskrit: bhūmis), which show the qualities of the Sangha. 

While the teachings can be summarized in terms of the three higher trainings (moral discipline, meditative concentration, and wisdom), as Acharya taught in the previous session, he concluded: “When we think from the aspect of the three refuges, then we can say that the entire teaching of the Buddha is teaching about the three jewels.” 

Following this, we dedicated the merit, and Acharya expressed his warm wishes for everyone to have happy holidays and a happy new year! 

Heartfelt Wishes for a Blessed 2025 from KC16

Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a blessed New Year. May kindness and compassion guide our hearts, bringing well-being and care for everyone. 

Sometime at the beginning of 2025, we aspire to publish a summary of Acharya’s commentary on our website. After a break for one week, you are also welcome to join us again for Meditation for All: The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, starting on Sunday, January 5.

As Acharya Lhakpa expressed at the end of last Sunday’s Meditation for All session, may you all have happy holidays and a happy New Year!

Karmapa Khyenno! 

From your friends at Karmapa Center 16

A Poisonous Tree and a Waxing Moon – 37 Practices – Session 5

We began the session with our usual practice of śamatha, calm-abiding meditation, under the skillful guidance of our resident teacher, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering. He emphasized the importance of sitting straight, with meditative discipline, yet with a sense of relaxation. In addition, we don’t need to alter our breathing in any way but simply to breathe normally and be aware. “Just be aware,” he said.

Three Higher Trainings

Following our meditation practice and opening chants, Acharya Lhakpa briefly taught about the three higher trainings: the higher training in moral discipline, the higher training in meditation or concentration, the higher training in wisdom. “All the teachings of the Buddha are encompassed by these three higher trainings.” 

These three trainings are part of teachings in the Bodhisattva Collection and are taught as an antidote to the mental afflictions, especially the three poisons. Removing those is a key part of our practice on the heroic path of compassion. The training in moral discipline is taught as an antidote to our attachments. The training in concentration is to work with our aversion. The training in wisdom is the antidote to our ignorance or delusion. 

Protecting Ourselves at the Beginning

While keeping in mind the purpose of the three higher trainings and how they relate to our mental afflictions, Acharya Lhakpa turned towards the fifth verse from Ngulchu Tokmé’s Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva. In the English translation of the text by Christopher Stagg, this verse reads as follows: 

“If you spend time with this one, the three poisons will proliferate; 
The deeds of hearing, contemplating, and meditating will diminish; 
And loving-kindness and compassion will become extinct.
To abandon negative friends is the practice of a bodhisattva.” (5) 

The common meaning of this verse is that we need to distance ourselves from and avoid friends or companions who ignite our afflictions. Just being in their presence can increase our disturbing emotions, especially the three poisons, which are the root of all our suffering and can kill the root of enlightenment. Acharya Lhakpa likened this to having an allergy for certain foods, be it peanuts, eggs, cilantro, or anything else that we should avoid. In a similar way, as beginners on the path, we need to protect the seed of enlightenment by watching out for and avoiding negative friends. 

There is, however, a hidden meaning that refers to our self-indulgence or self-fixation. The three poisons will naturally increase, Acharya pointed out, if we fall into the extreme of grasping at a self. He illustrated this meaning with a quotation from the Sūtra called Application of Mindfulness Sūtra: 

“The bad companion that serves as the basis for attachment, aggression, and ignorance, should be viewed as a poisonous tree.” 

While the “poisonous tree,” commonly refers to negative friends, it can also be understood as a metaphor for self-indulgence. Thus, the hidden meaning refers to lessening our self-fixation and opening ourselves more to other sentient beings. 

The Need for Distance

According to Ngulchu Tokmé’s text, there are three reasons why we should avoid negative friends and distance ourselves from them: 

  • They will not help us achieve the goal of practicing the dharma that aims to fully unroot the poisons
  • Our ability to engage in the activities of listening, contemplating, and meditating or practicing the dharma, necessary to make this human life meaningful (as pointed out in the first verse), will decline if we spend time with negative friends
  • Hanging out with companions who have strong negative afflictions will cause the end of our loving-kindness and compassion 

Acharya Lhakpa said that these are the reasons why we, as beginners or ordinary bodhisattvas, need to distance ourselves from such negative friends. 

Transforming Venom into Medicine

On the other hand, Acharya Lhakpa commented, the bodhisattvas or highly accomplished beings like Buddha Shakyamuni are able to turn negative friends and the three poisons into favorable conditions. Much like a person who knows how to transform the venom of a snake into medicine, a bodhisattva does not need to create distance or keep away from negative friends. 

However, he stressed, it is important for us to understand whether or not we have the realization needed to take such negativity onto the path of the bodhisattvas. When we think of this path, we could generally say that we seek out full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. You may wonder, Acharya said, whether the instruction of abandoning negative friends is not in contradiction with this purpose. “This is not the case,” he said. “It depends on our realization whether we can work with negative friends at this point, right now, or not. So, depending on our realization, we need to keep some distance or turn negativity into something positive.”

Virtuous Qualities Expanding Like the Waxing Moon

As beginning practitioners, once we distance ourselves from negative friends, what do we need in order to develop our positive qualities like hearing, reflecting, and meditating, as well as loving-kindness and compassion? This, Acharya said, is taught in the next verse: 

“If you rely on this one, your faults will become exhausted
And your qualities will expand like the waxing moon. 
To cherish a genuine spiritual friend 
Even more than one’s own body is the practice of a bodhisattva.” (6) 

The term ‘spiritual friend’ (Sanskrit: kalyāṇamitra) used by Ngulchu Tokmé refers to a friend who has virtuous qualities. This friend already has developed the positive qualities or at least has engaged in the three higher trainings, and possesses loving-kindness, compassion, and bodhicitta. Therefore, when we rely on such a friend, our own positive qualities will increase like the waxing moon. So, Acharya said, “after we distance ourselves from negative friends, we must rely on a positive friend. Once we find such a teacher or spiritual friend, then one should consider this friend more precious than one’s own body.” That is the instruction found in this sixth verse.

Shorten and end our time in saṃsāra

Acharya continued by asking why Ngulchu Tokmé would give such an instruction. The answer, he said, is that among all our belongings, our house and everything else, we cherish our body the most. Every single day, we strive very hard to ensure our body is in good condition through the clothes we wear, the food we eat, and the medicine we use. However, he commented, “this body that we have right now, is only for this life. Relying on a spiritual friend will enable us to put an end to our suffering. If we are not yet able to end it, at least we can shorten our time in the world of saṃsāra.” 

Acharya stated that this is the reason why the verse says: “To cherish a genuine spiritual friend even more than one’s own body.” This does not mean, he continued, that we don’t need to take care of our own bodies. Rather, Ngulchu Tokmé’s message here is about the importance of the spiritual friend. While there are many instructions on how to go about finding and examining a teacher for many years, and conversely a teacher examining a student, Acharya said that subject could be for another time as it is an important topic. Yet, he thought, maybe we can find a skillful way to recognize our spiritual friend sooner in this busy world. 

With those words, Acharya concluded our session, we dedicated the merit, and he warmly invited everyone to join again next Sunday.

Embracing Impermanence – 37 Practices – Session 4

Reminding us of the importance of the posture of our body – to sit straight yet relaxed – and the posture of mind – simply being aware – our resident teacher, Acharya Lhakpa, began the practice of śamatha, or calm-abiding meditation, for those who were present onsite and also online. Following our practice together, Acharya addressed questions that participants kindly had submitted about our previous sessions. 

Knowing our capacity

In our last session, Acharya Lhakpa taught about the fragility of our compassionate heart at the beginning of our journey, likening it to a sprout. The first question spoke to this topic by asking what to do when we are exposed to a harmful environment. 

While bodhicitta means having the aspiration to become fully awakened for the purpose of liberating all sentient beings, merely having the thought of benefiting others is not sufficient. Acharya pointed out that we also need the capacity to skillfully act on that intention, otherwise we risk the possibility of causing harm. He illustrated this with the example of medical professionals who are trained to help someone who sustained broken arms and legs in a car accident. The medics are those who can really help in that situation. 

Bodhisattvas who have achieved one of the ten bodhisattva levels are the ones who can turn a harmful environment into something beneficial for everyone. They may even give their eyes and parts of their bodies away, if that is of benefit. As ordinary people, until we are further along the path, our focus should be on giving rise to bodhicitta and ensuring it does not lessen but rather increase. As beginners, if we see that engaging with or staying in a harmful situation is not beneficial, then it is better to keep some distance, while praying that we can change things for the better in the future. That, in itself, can be considered courageous.

Daily recitations

The second question asked about the way to integrate the 37 verses into formal practice and daily life. Acharya Lhakpa said that if we could recite these verses daily, slowly and while considering the meaning of the verse, that would be of great benefit. 

He offered the suggestion to take one verse every week, using the first verse as an example: What is the meaning of that verse? How is that verse true? What are the reasons for our human lives being precious and what are the methods to make it meaningful? Reflecting on the verse in this way, no doubt, will be beneficial. 

Connecting our understanding of these verses with the meaning of the dharma, Acharya emphasized that the teachings of the Buddha, like the instructions from the Mahāmudrā tradition, are all about taming and training our mind. Without worrying about how others are practicing, we should instead focus on our own mind and the cultivation of bodhicitta, for those are at the heart of the verses and instructions.

Letting go of the three spheres

The third and final question posed to our resident teacher asked about the challenge of understanding how to be compassionate and full of loving-kindness without becoming attached. In his response, Acharya indicated that it is indeed far from easy to have loving-kindness and compassion without attachment, at the beginning. “No matter how much we try not to have attachment,” he said, “there is always some level of attachment involved.” 

So, what is the method to develop attachment-free loving-kindness and compassion? In the tradition of the Mahāyāna, the method to cultivate this is to begin extending loving-kindness and compassion to those close to us: our mother, family, friends, and relatives. Slowly we can strengthen and expand our loving-kindness and compassion so that it includes those we don’t like or consider enemies and beings we don’t know at all. In this way, we can slowly move towards loving-kindness and compassion without attachment. 

Furthermore, Acharya Lhakpa pointed out that on the Mahāyāna path, our practice always needs to include the skilfull method of loving-kindness and compassion together with wisdom. “If the method is without wisdom,” he said, “then it actually becomes the base or ground for suffering.” 

The wisdom taught in the Mahāyāna is that of loving-kindness and compassion free from the three spheres. With all our actions, we typically think in terms of the object of the action, the agent, and the act itself — these three spheres, however, are what we need to relinquish. Bringing method and wisdom together in this way will eventually help us accomplish attachment-free compassion. 

Heart of awakening, breath of compassion

By way of making a bridge between the questions and the next verse, Acharya made a general comment about the 37 practices of a bodhisattva—that they are all a guide for us to give rise to bodhicitta, or the heart of awakening. This quality found within us needs to be activated and expanded, not just for our own benefit but for all sentient beings. Once we activate this heart of awakening, we must keep it alive. 

For example, he said, when a heart is shocked and requires revival, it needs to start beating again. Similarly, after activating bodhicitta, we must sustain it with the breath of compassion. Just as breathing supports a heartbeat, our continuous practice of compassion sustains our bodhicitta. 

Redirecting our minds

Acharya pointed out that to activate and sustain bodhicitta we must understand that “we need to mobilize the strength of our mind in the right direction and direct our thoughts toward wholesome and meaningful actions.” The mind serves as the key support for this process.”Without it,” he said, “there is no other avenue to give rise to bodhicitta.” This shows the immense capacity for our mind to cultivate bodhicitta, and the potential to benefit ourselves and others. 

However, Acharya continued, our worldly habitual patterns distract us from accomplishing this purpose. We often fall under the influence of kleśas, especially the three poisons—desire, aversion, and ignorance—which form the foundation for all other mental disturbances. As a result, our minds become habituated to instant gratification instead of seeking full awakening to liberate ourselves and all sentient beings. A main point of studying Ngulchu Tokmé’s The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva is to tame and train our minds so that we can overcome these tendencies and redirect ourselves toward the heroic path of compassion.

Following the Q&A, we turned our attention to the fourth verse, which emphasizes impermanence. 

Seeing and accepting impermanence as change

The fourth verse reads as follows: 

“We will part from every loved one we have long associated with. 
We will leave behind the wealth we have so diligently amassed.
Our consciousness, the guest, will cast away this body, the guest house. 
To let go of this life is the practice of a bodhisattva.” (4)
– from: A Guide to the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, translated by Christopher Stagg)

The verse itself, Acharya Lhakpa noted, is very clear and not difficult to understand. The most challenging part is how to bring it into practice. How to internalize this verse?

When we hear about impermanence, we often feel a bit depressed. However, Acharya commented that it is just change taking place from moment to moment. “Understanding impermanence is to accept the change happening around us,” he said. Gampopa extensively discusses this in Ornament of Precious Liberation, where he outlines four kinds of impermanence:

  1. Overall Impermanence: This refers to the universe and planets, which contemporary science confirms they are constantly moving and changing.
  2. Subtle Impermanence: The constant changes in seasons and other natural cycles.
  3. Outer Impermanence: The impermanence of others, such as our relatives and friends.
  4. Inner Impermanence: This concerns our own personal impermanence and is about looking within ourselves. 

While it may feel challenging to reflect deeply on this, the main practice taught in this fourth verse is to see and embrace the truth of impermanence. 

Why hold onto things that fall apart?

The four lines in this verse teach about impermanence, which is directly related to death. They show how all phenomena of samsara are compounded and, at some point, will fall apart. No matter how strong our connections and attachments are, there will come a day when we will be separated from everything we hold onto. This is true for our family, relatives, and friends; this is true for our possessions; and this is also true for that which is closest to us—our own body.

If this is so, does “letting go of this life,” identified in the fourth line as the practice of a bodhisattva, mean we must abandon everyone and everything worldly or neglect our bodies? Acharya commented, “That is not the point here. The true meaning of ‘letting go of this life’ is to understand that all phenomena—people, things, and our own bodies—will eventually fall apart. Realizing this allows us to let go mentally while still engaging fully with the world in a meaningful way. If we have this understanding, then all is fine.”

Concluding words of advice

To conclude, Acharya Lhakpa shared that these verses can be difficult to comprehend at first. Therefore, it is important to read and contemplate them. If, for example, we contemplate and connect with the deeper meaning of this fourth verse, then it will help us let go of this life as being permanent and to embrace change, which will be of benefit to us and to others. “So, please read this verse,” he said, “be your own teacher, and practice.”

On the passing into parinirvāṇa of His Eminence Chöje Ayang Rinpoche

It is with heartfelt sorrow that we received the news of the passing into parinirvāṇa of the great Kagyü master, His Eminence Chöje Ayang Rinpoche. His absence will be deeply felt by many within our community and beyond.

In this time of mourning, our resident Lamas at Karmapa Center 16 are offering butter lamps and prayers to support everyone affected by this loss. We invite all to join us in honoring Rinpoche’s memory and legacy.

In heartfelt support, may the Dharma guide us.

Karmapa Center 16

Leaving our homeland and samsaric distractions behind – 37 Practices – Session 3

Acharya Lhakpa warmly welcomed everyone, including those who were newly joining, to our third session in the series, Meditation for All: 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva. After our usual opening chants, our resident teacher provided brief instructions regarding our physical posture in the practice of śamatha, or calm-abiding meditation. He also pointed out that whenever our minds wander, or we get distracted, we need to bring our attention back to the movement of our breath, in and out, and continue our meditation practice. 

Preparing ourselves

The previous Sunday, Acharya Lhakpa posed the question: “How can we make our human birth meaningful?” He stated that the first verse of Ngulchu Tokmé’s text The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva provides the answer. This verse teaches us how to prepare for becoming Mahayana practitioners who intend to liberate ourselves and all sentient beings from samsara, or the bewilderment of ignorance. We do this through the practices of listening, contemplation, and meditation.

The preparation for a bodhisattva can be likened to learning how to swim in order to help someone who is drowning — if you don’t know how to swim, then you are not able to help a drowning person. Thus, the need to master listening, contemplation, and meditation represents our first swimming lesson. With that understanding, we then turned towards the second verse.

Protecting the sprout of compassion

The second verse reads as follows: 

“Attachment toward our close ones stirs us up like water.
Aggression toward our enemies burns us like fire.
Dark with ignorance, we forget what to adopt or reject. 
To abandon one’s homeland is the practice of a bodhisattva.” (2)
– from: A Guide to the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, translated by Christopher Stagg)

 Acharya Lhakpa reminded us that on the path of the Mahayana, compassion is indispensable. It is the foundation of all practices and is taught in the Sūtras to be like a seed, in the beginning. While we endeavour to benefit all sentient beings, including ourselves, we first need to protect the sprouting seed well. Our intention is great, but our ability is limited because the seed of loving-kindness and compassion is just sprouting, and therefore is very fragile.

Failing to protect the new growth would become an obstacle to achieving liberation and omniscience, or complete buddhahood. When the sprout has fully grown and starts to bear fruit, we no longer need to worry. Yet, until that point, we need to safeguard the sprout of loving-kindness and compassion. How to do so? That is what this verse teaches. 

Nourishing the sprout of compassion

The verse speaks of abandoning one’s homeland as the practice of a bodhisattva. When we think of “homeland,” Acharya shared, we can consider the place where we grow up. With time, we develop an attachment to our house, the places where we play, our family, and so forth. Attachment to these will stir us up like water, constantly moving toward things, places, and beings close to us.

Interdependent with this, we have people, places, and things we don’t like. Towards those, we develop aggression or anger. This, in turn, will burn the virtue we have accumulated and whatever merit follows future virtuous activities. It will burn the sprout of compassion.

So, why does Ngulchu Tokmé write about abandoning one’s homeland? Attachment and aggression will lead us to forget what is virtuous and non-virtuous; what to accept and what to reject. Forgetting this, we will fall into the darkness of ignorance. We won’t know where to go and where not to go. To prevent this and to nourish the sprout of compassion so it can become stronger, we must abandon our homeland.

The elephant’s tail

Acharya Lhakpa pointed out that “homeland” serves as an example. There is no guarantee that you are free of attachment and aggression by just abandoning your homeland. Rather, it points to any place or environment that causes us to forget what to adopt and what to reject. Places that give rise to attachment and aggression are what a bodhisattva must abandon or distance themselves from.

To illustrate this, our resident teacher shared an expression: “Not abandoning the objects giving rise to attachment and aggression in our mind-stream is like the tail of an elephant that gets stuck in the door, when the elephant walks through it.” We may move away from our physical homeland, but we have not abandoned the hidden homeland within ourselves. To free ourselves from attachment and aggression is like freeing the tail of the elephant from being stuck in the door.

No homeland

What is the hidden homeland Ngulchu Tokmé is pointing to? Contemplating deeper, we can see that the real homeland is self-attachment, self-cherishing, or grasping at a self. What do we mean by this? Sometimes, Acharya taught, we have thoughts like, “I am good. I am special.” At other times, we may think, “I am not good. I am weak.” Whether we have good or bad thoughts about ourselves, both are a sign of having self-fixation.

As a consequence of this grasping at a self, the notion of ‘other’ arises. The other, in turn, gets separated into friends and enemies and leads to attachment and aggression, respectively. Thus, as Ngulchu Tokmé points out, “Attachment toward our close ones stirs us up like water. Aggression toward our enemies burns us like fire.” Therefore, abandoning our physical homeland does not help to abandon the root or basis; it is the inner homeland of self-clinging that we need to abandon. 

How to do so? Acharya explained that while we all have the thought that there is a self, if we investigate closely, there is no self to be found. Realizing there is ultimately no self means we abandon our homeland from the very base or root. If we have abandoned it completely, it no longer matters where we go and stay. There is no homeland anymore to abandon. In fact, there was no homeland from the start.

So, abandoning our homeland, in the sense of an outer, physical homeland, is very important in the beginning. Yet, ultimately, we need to abandon this inner or hidden homeland of grasping at a self. This is the second practice of a bodhisattva. 

Poisoning the sprout of compassion

The third verse is closely related to the second yet points towards its opposite. The verse reads as follows: 

“When we abandon negative places, the afflictions gradually diminish.
In the absence of any distraction, virtuous activity naturally increases.
Through clear awareness, certainty in the dharma arises.
To keep to solitary places is the practice of a bodhisattva.” 

If the three mental afflictions of attachment, aggression, and ignorance are present in our mind-stream, then they will form an obstacle for engaging in virtuous activity. This being so, they are known as the three poisons. Acharya commented that these are not easy to abandon or purify overnight. Yet, since not doing so would poison the sprout of compassion, we understand that on the path of a bodhisattva, we must abandon our homeland to diminish our afflictions and give up our self-cherishing attitude, which we typically focus upon one-pointedly. 

Leaving behind our outer and inner homeland means we distance ourselves from mental afflictions like attachment and aggression. No longer finding ourselves in negative places, our afflictive emotions decrease. Likewise, without distractions, virtuous activity naturally increases. This will benefit or support the flourishing of the sprout of compassion. 

Isolation from samsaric distractions

The virtuous activity in the context of the path of the bodhisattvas, Acharya explained, refers to the six pāramitās (perfections): generosity, moral conduct/discipline, patience, joyful diligence, meditative concentration, and insight or wisdom. 

If, as the text teaches, we keep to solitary places, virtuous activity increases. In contrast to what happens when we grow dark with ignorance, “through clear awareness, certainty in the dharma arises.” 

So, what does it mean to “keep to solitary places”? Similar to there being an outer and inner homeland, “solitary place” can be understood in two ways. Usually, we think of a solitary place as being far removed from our homeland, in the sense of physical distance. Yet here, solitary place means being free of the distractions of samsara, wherever we are. The three poisons are what we really need to distance ourselves from and to leave behind. Being free of attachment, aggression, and ignorance, is the genuine solitary place. 

Acharya then commented that in our 21st century, relying on solitary places in the physical sense is very difficult. “Wherever we go,” he said, “there is a connection with the world through the internet, our phone, and so on. To find real solitary places, like in the old days, is very difficult.” So, how to find this real solitary place? By pausing, by allowing a gap, which provides the opportunity to make a choice to free ourselves from the distractions of the afflictive emotions. 

In short, bodhisattvas strive or endeavour to liberate themselves and others from samara. To be able to do that, what is their practice? To keep to solitary places. What is the real solitary place? To turn away from the samsaric distractions of our mental afflictions. Leaving behind samsaric distractions, together with abandoning our homeland of self-clinging, Acharya concludes, is the practice of a bodhisattva.

Seizing the opportunity: Embrace life’s meaning: 37 Practices – session 2

At the beginning of our second Meditation for All: Thirty-Seven Practice of a Bodhisattva session, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering kindly requested everyone to give rise to the heart of awakening – bodhicitta – and sit in śamatha (calm-abiding) meditation. 

The Foundation: A Genuine Heart of Compassion

Following the practice of śamatha and before continuing our discussion of Ngulchu Tokmé’s text The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, our resident teacher reminded us that this text outlines the Mahāyāna path. Engaging in this practice means seeking full awakening or complete buddhahood to liberate ourselves and all sentient beings. 

As Buddha Shakyamuni taught in the Sūtras, the only method leading to this state is through loving-kindness and compassion. These form the sole foundation before practicing anything else. What is the genuine heart of compassion? Acharya referred to his teacher, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, who says “it is a genuine concern and willingness to give anything of ourselves that is necessary to alleviate the sufferings of sentient beings.” (Quoted from: https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/entering-the-trainings-in-compassion/)

This altruistic heart is indispensable foundation for those on the bodhisattva path. Following the two opening verses discussed last week, we turned to the verse that expresses the first practice: seizing the opportunity offered by a precious human existence. 

Precious human life: A rare opportunity

The verse that points out the first practice of a bodhisattva is about our precious human birth as a rare opportunity, as indicated by the first two lines: 

“Now we have this great vessel of freedoms and resources, so difficult to obtain. 
So that we may liberate ourselves and others from the ocean of samsara.” 
– from: A Guide to the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, translated by Christopher Stagg)

Acharya Lhakpa explained that just being born as a human being, according to this text, is not fully considered to be precious. It becomes precious when it offers the potential or abilility to free oneself and many other sentient beings from the ocean of samsara. This relates to the ‘freedoms and resources’ mentioned in the text which Gampopa has extensively taught in Ornament of Precious Liberation. For now, Acharya said we can understand this as an opportunity to practice the Dharma — not only to cross the ocean of samsara ourselves but also, as indicated by the example of a ‘great vessel,’ to accommodate many others. 

Understanding our precious human life as an opportunity to free ourselves and many others from sufferin means that we must seize it. Why? Because this opportunity is difficult to obtain and easy to lose. Who knows when we might have it again? So, for someone with a genuine heart of compassion —bodhicitta— the question now becomes: How do we seize this opportunity? 

Seizing or Missing the Opportunity

Acharya Lhakpa explained that the two last lines of this verse show us how to seize this rare opportunity to free ourselves and all beings from the ocean of samsara: 

“Day and night, without distraction, 
To listen, contemplate, and meditate is the practice of a bodhisattva.” 
– from: A Guide to the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, translated by Christopher Stagg

In his comments, our resident teacher shared that ‘without distraction’ refers to a form of samsaric laziness. While this could indicate doing nothing, it could also mean getting attached to nonvirtuous actions of body, speech, and mind. When making this samsaric distraction a habit, we risk falling into the lower realms or miserable states of being. If we do fall into those states, we will remain there for a very long time without being able to obtain the freedoms and resources that constitute a precious human existence. “That means,” Acharya said, “the opportunity knocked only once and we missed the opportunity.” 

The text says to practice without distraction ‘day and night.’ Does this mean we don’t rest at all? Acharya shared that he thought it probably doesn’t mean that; instead, it suggest that we should make a continuous effort. 

So, to fulfill our intention to liberate ourselves and other sentient beings from the ocean of samsara, what should a bodhisattva do? Ngulchu Tokmé teaches us clealry in this text that we need to listen, contemplate, and meditate. This, Acharya emphasized, is very important. 

First of all, we listen or study the teachings of the Buddha as taught in the Sūtras, together with the commentaries and treatises of the great masters, enabling us to eliminate the darkness of not knowing. Yet, we don’t just leave it with that. As taught by Buddha Shakyamuni, we analyze the teachings like a goldsmith accepts gold as true only through heating, cutting, and rubbing. Through contemplating and thoroughly investigating the teachings, we dispel any doubts and things that were not yet clear to us. 

Finally, we practice meditation. Acharya shared that we often hear that it is important to meditate. While this is true, it is essential to understand the main point of meditation: to bring whatever we understand through hearing and contemplating into practice. “To internalize whatever we have studied or practiced, that is meditation.” 

In sum, Acharya commented that to liberate ourselves and others from the ocean of samsara—a great responsibility—we need to engage in listening, contemplation, and meditation to fulfill it. This is the practice of a bodhisattva. 

Embrace life’s meaning

Sometimes we ask questions about the meaning or purpose of life. This verse, Acharya Lhakpa said, offers an answer to such questions. Rather than asking ‘what is the meaning of life?’ or ‘what is its purpose?,’ we could ask ‘How to make life meaningful and give it a purpose?’. This is the question answered by this verse: Through listen, contemplate, and meditate upon the teachings of the Dharma and engage in the practice of the bodhisattvas—the path of the Mahāyāna. 

The freedom and resources mentioned earlier refer to the eight freedoms and ten resources. These include references to various types of rebirth in the desire realm, from the hell beings up to the devas. [include a footnote to mention all of them] While we have identified planets like Mars and Saturn, we haven’t found any hell realms, hungry ghost realm, et cetera. Consequently, many people have ask Acharya where these realms, if they indeed exist. 

The Ornament of Precious Liberation and Abdhidharmakosa teach in great detail where these realms are located. However, Acharya said, trying to find these as physical realms somewhere would be missing the point. These texts all say that we are born in a particular realm due to particular kleśa (afflictive emotions/mental disturbances). Due to strong anger, for example, we fall into one of the hell realms. “We don’t have to be born in the hell realm to understand it. Whenever we encounter this kind of kleśa like strong anger, the hell realm is right there, within ourselves.” Not only will this burn ourselves, so to speak, but also others; thus, we need not look elsewhere for these realms—they exist within our own experiences. 

Acharya Lhakpa continued his commentary on this by stressing that we must understand that the teaching of the Buddha is to tame and train our mind. This means that we should not be looking for a hell realm, hungry spirit realm, and so forth, outside. If we carefully consider this notion of the various realms, it is about working with our afflictive emotions or disturbed states of mind. All the teachings about this are methods to tame and train our mind. That is the most important, essential point.

By way of conclusion, Acharya mentioned again that the verse of this second session is about the precious human birth. How to make this life meaningful? Through listening, contemplating, and meditating the Dharma. As taught by Gampopa, this is not something we do stage by stage, while that is also good, but in an integrated matter. We constantly move back and forth between these three practices of a bodhisattva. 

Acharya then led us in our dedication of merit: whatever merit or virtue we have gained through this practice and session, we dedicate it to all sentient beings.

The Heroic Path of Compassion: Meditation for All – 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva – session 1

“The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva presents an alternative way of thinking, of relating to the outer and inner worlds of everyday living. It is a refreshing, revolutionary, and radical approach to a life that is worth living.” — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Foreword to A Guide to The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, translated by Christopher Stagg.

Warmly welcoming everyone onsite and online to Karmapa Center 16’s Meditation for All, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering, briefly shared about the history and purpose of KC16. Our vast aspiration is to establish a place for pilgrimage, meditation, retreat, study, and refuge, in honor of His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, who passed into parinirvāṇa in Zion, Illinois. Since the location of the passing into parinirvāṇa is considered sacred and full of blessings, Karmapa Center 16 was established in Wadsworth, Illinois. 

Śamatha (calm-abiding) meditation

Before starting his commentary on The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, the text that Acharya Lhakpa will be teaching about in this new series of Meditation for All, he guided us in a brief śamatha (calm-abiding) meditation session. Acharya emphasized the importance of simply being aware.

The Author of The 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva: Gyalse Ngulchu Tokmé

Following our practice of śamatha meditation together, Acharya began his teaching on The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva by introducing the author of the root text, a great scholar and practitioner, Ngulchu Tokmé (ca. 1295 – ca. 1369). 

There are many stories, Acharya shared, that speak about Ngulchu Tokmé being very compassionate at a very young age. For example, one time, during Losar (Tibetan New Year), a special occasion in Tibet, Tokmé was dressed up and his mother sent him out to play with other kids. After some time, he returned without clothes. His mother asked him: “Where are your clothes?” The young boy replied that he had used his garment to cover an ant colony to protect them from the cold. 

After studying, contemplating, and practicing the teachings of the Buddha, Ngulchu Tokmé came to be called and widely known as Gyalse Tokmé. The name “Gyalse” (in Tibetan: རྒྱལ་སྲས།) means “son (or child) of the Victorious Ones,” referring to the Buddhas.

The Text: The Heroic Path of Compassion

The previous weekend, Acharya shared a litte bit about the paths of the śrāvakas (hearers) and pratyekabuddhas (solitary realizers) in comparison to the way of the bodhisattvas (literally “awakening hero”), the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna, respectively. Whereas the Hīnayāna teachings emphasize individual liberation, the Mahāyāna teachings stress practicing in order to liberate all sentient beings. The latter is therefore said to be the great vehicle. 

From this traditional framework of the Mahāyāna, our root text encapsulates the heroic path of compassion in 37 key practices. Compassion, Acharya pointed out, is like a seed at the beginning; in the middle, it is like water providing moisture for that seed to grow. At the end of our practice, it culminates in the attainment of awakening and benefiting other beings. To be a practitioner of the Mahāyāna means to practice compassion. This is the heroic path—the path of a bodhisattva.

Two Opening Verses: Homage and Statement of Purpose

Before explaining how to follow the heroic path of the bodhisattvas verse by verse, Ngulchu Tokmé begins his text with two opening verses: the homage or verse of offering and his statement of purpose or intention behind this text. 

Acharya first read the homage as translated by our dear dharma friend, Christopher Stagg, who is dearly remembered, in A Guide to the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva: 

Namo Guru Lokeśvara
Although he sees that all phenomena are free of coming and going, 
He strives only for the benefit of beings. 
To the protector Avalokiteśvara and the supreme guru
I continually pay homage with my three gates. (A)

Two truths

The key point expressed in Ngulchu Tokmé’s homage is twofold. The first line refers to the two truths in the Mahāyāna tradition: conventional (or relative) truth and absolute (or ultimate) truth. Explaining this in an easy manner, this means that while all phenomena appearing to us constitute conventional reality, they are ultimately empty in nature – signifiying absolute reality. In other words, things seem to come and go; they can be perceived as long or short, good or bad, and so forth. However, upon closer investigation, we will find that nothing truly exists as it appears. 

Acharya taught that the ultimate nature of all phenomena is emptiness, a view that can be difficult to grasp. To help us understand this, he pointed to how the great master Tsongkhapa explained emptiness by teaching about the interdependence of all phenomena. The booklet containing Christopher Stagg’s translation may seem small, but its size is relative. If there were a smaller booklet, this one would appear larger in comparison. In short, recognizing the reality of interdependence—conventional reality—is key to understanding emptiness—ultimate reality. For our practice, it is essential to see that these two truths are inseparable.

Avalokiteśvara, the supreme guru and the light within

The three lines that follow the first line of the four-line verse, which comes after the Sanskrit honoring India as the birthplace of the Buddha’s teachings, express Ngulchu Tokmé’s homage to Avalokiteśvara and his root teacher, the supreme guru.

Why does he pay homage to them? Avalokiteśvara has realized emptiness and strives, as the verse indicates, for the benefit of all beings in samsara who have not yet understood that all phenomena lack inherent existence. Since his teacher embodied the compassion of Avalokiteśvara and diligently worked to liberate all beings, Ngulchu Tokmé prostrates to both of them as inseparable.

Acharya pointed out that paying homage in this way helps us realize that the enlightened qualities of Avalokiteśvara can be found within us. He shared how his own teacher, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, often illustrates this with the metaphor of a candle. While we all share the candle of compassion, it needs to be lit through our practice of paying homage as we embark on this revolutionary and heroic path. Thus, we begin by honoring both Avalokiteśvara, the embodiment of compassion, and our own spiritual friend as one.

Practicing the genuine dharma

Before closing our session, Acharya Lhakpa briefly explained the second verse: 

The sources of benefit and happiness, the perfect buddhas, 
Come from accomploshing the genuine dharma. 
Since this depends on understanding their practices, 
I will explain the practices of the bodhisattvas. (B)

This is Ngulchu Tokmé’s statement of purpose, revealing the intent behind composing this text. The practices he will explain in the next 37 verses are the practices of the bodhisattvas. We might wonder, why?

Well, our resident teacher explained that bodhisattvas become buddhas through these practices. Therefore, if we want to attain buddhahood like them, we need to practice in their ways. What are these practices? As the verse states, it is the practice of genuine dharma. What is genuine dharma? That is the practice of compassion.

The practice of compassion serves as the cause for both temporary benefits in this life and the next, helping us avoid non-virtuous actions that could lead to miserable states. Additionally, it provides the ultimate benefit of achieving awakening or realizing buddhahood.

Therefore, Acharya Lhakpa explained that without the practice of compassion, there is no way to find genuine happiness in this life, nor any chance of attaining ultimate happiness. Thus, for both our well-being and the realization of complete buddhahood, compassion is indispensable.

Acharya said he would stop here for this first session in the new series of Meditation for All, wishing that our practice and engagement with this text may serve as a cause for our own awakening. He concluded by inviting everyone to join together in the dedication of merit.