Tag Archives: bodhicitta

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.

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.”