Wishing everyone a good morning, our resident teacher, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering, invited us to first give rise to the enlightened thought:
“Through this practice, whatever merit we gain, may this merit become the cause to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.”
Sitting Without Distraction
Following brief instructions regarding our physical posture, Acharya Lhakpa emphasized how to sit without distraction. He clarified that this does not mean that we are constantly trying to be undistracted. If we push or pressure ourselves to be undistracted all the time, the method itself can become a distraction. Instead, we just try to bring our minds back to their natural state, in this present moment. “When we sit in the present moment with awareness and our mind gets distracted or wanders off, just simply be aware of it or recollect. That will be enough.”
Our Goal after Going for Refuge
So far, we have covered seven verses from among the thirty-seven verses of Ngulchu Tokmé’s Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva. Acharya Lhakpa reminded us that the last verse spoke about going for refuge. We go for refuge to the three jewels, with the Buddha as our goal or destination, the Dharma being the path to reach that, and the Sangha as our companion.
While some of us may have the thought of attaining buddhahood, others are okay with simply having a human life. Those who are okay with that, Acharya shared, have a sense of contentment, thinking, “I don’t want to achieve buddhahood. I don’t want to go that far. I just want to be a human being.” The eighth verse teaches what to do to maintain that kind of state and be a good human being. It reads:
“The Sage taught that the sufferings of the lower realms,
Which are extremely difficult to bear, are the results of negative action. Therefore, even at the risk of one’s own life,
To never commit negative actions is the practice of a bodhisattva.”
– quoted from A Guide to the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, translated by Christopher Stagg)
Where Do the Realms Exist?
The verse points to the lower realms. These are the hell realms, the hungry ghost realms, and the animal realm. There are also the higher realms: god realm, demigod realm, and human realm. The Abhidharma teachings specify in great detail where these realms exist. Yet, Acharya Lhakpa repeated several times, we need to understand that these realms really come down to the mental disturbances or afflictions that are part of our own mindstream. Therefore, there is no need to seek them somewhere outside of ourselves.
If the afflictive emotion, taught to be the cause for being born in a particular realm and the suffering of those already born there, is present in our mindstream, at that moment, we will experience that realm ourselves. It is present within us.
The Afflictions of the Higher Realms
Acharya Lhakpa presented a brief overview of the dominant mental affliction causing us to be born in one of the higher realms and the suffering we experience there:
- Gods: Pride is the main affliction. While the gods experience nothing but happiness during their life, at the time of death, due to their pride and exhaustion of merit, they undergo great suffering and fall into the realms below.
- Demigods: Jealousy is the dominant affliction. If we, like the demigods, are jealous, we experience the same suffering stemming from their fighting with the gods and each other.
- Humans: Desire is the primary affliction. Our attachment towards ourselves, possessions, and unfulfilled wishes leads to constant discontent and suffering. This realm is therefore known as the desire realm.
Acharya Lhakpa explained how the higher realms – God, Demigod, and Human – are characterized by pride, jealousy, and desire, respectively. As he taught, when these mental afflictions are present, we find ourselves in the corresponding realm, experiencing its suffering within ourselves.
We May Already Be in the Lower Realms
While Acharya discussed the causes for falling down from the human realm into one of the three lower realms – hells, hungry ghosts, animals –he kept pointing out how we already find ourselves in one of these realms when the primary or main afflictive emotion of that realm is present in our life.
- Hell Realms: The dominant affliction is aggression. If we consider our mindstream to be like water, aggression can cause it to become either extremely hot or very cold. This results in being hot-headed or stiff with anger, respectively, ultimately harming both ourselves and others. Therefore, those who are satisfied with living in the human realms must avoid aggression.
- Hungry Ghost Realms: The main affliction is that of stinginess or miserliness. The hungry ghosts are said to suffer from insatiable thirst and hunger. Due to their tiny throats, even if they try, they are not able to consume anything. Similarly, we might have great wealth and possessions in this human life, but if we have this mental affliction of avarice, that is really nothing else than the suffering of the hungry ghost.
- Animal Realms: The primary affliction is ignorance. While there are many different types of animals, generally they all suffer from stupidity and dullness. The root of that is ignorance. What this means is that they don’t know what to adopt (virtue) and what to reject (non-virtue) and suffer the consequences.
In contrast to humans, the beings in these three lower realms lack the notion of what to adopt or reject. Even if they consider doing good, they don’t truly have an opportunity to practice virtue and abandon non-virtuous actions of body, speech, and mind. Whenever we experience the subsequent suffering of one of these three main afflictions, we can say that we have already fallen into the related lower realm.
Who Created Our Suffering?
Now, some wonder who created the suffering of the lower realms? Acharya Lhakpa explained that there is no creator of sorts, neither a god nor a devil. These realms, showing the suffering of the mental afflictions leading to experiencing them, are created by our own wrongdoings. There is not some kind of rule-maker. It is entirely due to us committing non-virtuous actions of body, speech, and mind.
Furthermore, Acharya said, it is taught by the Buddha in the Sutras that the consequences of our negative actions will not somehow be lost. “Once the causes and conditions come together, sooner or later, we will need to face the consequences.” This is why, he commented, that the eighth verse says we should never commit negative actions, “even at the risk of one’s own life.” If we do and are born into one of the lower realms, we will no longer know what to adopt and reject. Thus, falling and falling, our suffering will prolong and be stuck in a samsara for a very long, long time.
Bodhisattva’s Practice for a Good Human Life
To conclude our session, Acharya Lhakpa emphasized the key takeaway from the eighth verse: Although we have a human life, there is always the risk and fear of falling into the lower realms, which is nothing but the suffering we experience due to mental afflictions like aggression, avarice, and ignorance being present in our mindstream, and the consequences of the negative actions we then commit.
“If we do not long for enlightenment but consider a human life ‘as just enough,’ what should we practice? We should avoid those afflictive emotions and not commit negative actions through body, speech, and mind. Even at the cost of our own life.”
While doing so fully in our daily lives may be difficult, Acharya encouraged us that even some effort – at least 10% – can be of great benefit. With these final thoughts, he thanked everyone for joining and we dedicated the merit.