Tag Archives: Suffering

How to Alleviate Suffering? – 37 Practices – Reflection and Tonglen

How do we let the Dharma blend together with our minds and apply the teachings to our real lives? How can we go beyond the words and put them into practice? During this Sunday’s Meditation for All, we both reflected on the verses covered so far and the commentaries we heard from Acharya Lhakpa Tshering, and continued our training to become courageous bodhisattvas. 

Present in This Moment

Following our opening chants, we started with the practice of śamatha, as usual. One way to think of this practice is as a method to let go of whatever happened before this moment and not anticipate what may be after. 

By establishing a proper posture of body, speech, and mind, we bring our awareness to the present moment. This allows  us to connect with the aspiration to seek genuine freedom, well-being, and happiness, for the benefit of every person, all sentient beings, without exception. 

From within this posture and presence, we listened carefully to each verse of Ngulchu Tokmé’s Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva covered so far. This way, we not only became more familiar with the words but also could connect more easily with their meaning. 

Reflecting on the Structure and Purpose 

Based on the root text, commentaries of Acharya Lhakpa Tshering and Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen, together with teachings by His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, given in New York in 2018, we looked at the structure of the text and purpose of the various verses covered so far. A slide that was screen-shared during our practice is given below, showing the overview that was discussed.

Partial overview of Ngulchu Tokmé’s structure of the text and purposes of the verses based on commentary up to verse 14.

Looking Beyond the Written Page

Adding to the brief summary, a few points were highlighted and illustrated with teachings by the Karmapa. His Holiness, for example, shared that sometimes people practice for a long time without any particular signs of progress. He emphasized that the main reason for this is that “they did not allow their minds to be penetrated by or blend with the preliminary practices.” This refers to the instructions expressed by Ngulchu Tokmé in verses 1 through 7. His Holiness continued by saying: 

It is easy to read through a text and get a basic understanding of it, but it is more difficult to apply these teachings to your real life, which is not as simple as reading a book. Life is not that easy because things are mixed—the good and the bad, the true and the false come along together. Since life is difficult and not clear cut like a book, we need to spend time making use of our analytical mind and our wisdom. Life is not an open book, so we need to look beyond the written page to what is happening around us.”

Becoming Courageous Bodhisattvas

Looking more closely at verses 10 through 14, which Acharya Lhakpa ended his commentary on last week, we contemplated the importance of integrating the practice of both even placement and subsequent attainment, or meditation and post-meditation. We can also think of this as practice, both “on the cushion” and “off the cushion.” 

As Acharya Lhakpa also has shared at various times, His Holiness teaches how the words in these verses are easy to understand but harder to put into practice. These verses also show that if  we want to pursue the bodhisattva path effectively, we should be free of our attachment to the eight worldly dharmas and not focus on experiences of pleasure and pain. In that sense, the bodhisattva training can be considered difficult: 

“It requires a great deal of courage and confidence, which do not arise out of nothing but come with gradual training. It is not the case that just because we adopt the Mahayana dharma, we suddenly become courageous bodhisattvas. We have to put ourselves through a process of rigorous training and study.”

Practicing Tonglen to Train Our Minds

A practice that is pointed to by Ngulchu Tokmé, and also discussed by Acharya Lhakpa and Acharya Lama Tenpa, is that of tonglen (“giving and taking”). Towards the end of our session, we engaged in this practice as a way to train in bodhicitta. 

In brief, if we see and feel that all beings are worthy of affection as they, too seek happiness and not wish to suffer, we can cultivate the genuine heart of willing to sacrifice our own happiness to alleviate the suffering of all others. 

Supported by visualizations and using the movement of our breath, we can deeply connect with the wish to cherish others both on and off the cushion. This includes those close to us as well as those we feel have wronged us, or those we consider to be the source of the undesirable circumstances we have experienced or face currently. 

Cherishing Others, Taking Suffering

In this way, we take whatever we do and whatever situation we find ourselves in onto the path, and deeply train our minds. We can check our practice of tonglen by asking ourselves questions like: Do I feel I reduced my attachment to the eight worldly dharma? Am I more able to take on the faults and suffering of others? To what extent do I cherish others more than myself? No matter how small a step, we should look for signs of progress on our path to ensure we train correctly. 

To conclude our session, and whenever we practice tonglen, we can express the aspiration: “May I cherish others more than myself; may I take their suffering upon myself.” 

Following the dedication of the merit from our practice and the wish that everyone enjoy a wonderful week ahead, everyone was warmly invited to join again next Sunday to listen to Acharya Lhakpa’s commentary on the next verses and continue our training to become courageous bodhisattvas. 

Karmapa Khyenno! 

Key Advice if You Are Looking for a Comfortable Human Life – 37 Practices – Session 7

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.