Wisdom Journal Fall 2018

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W I S D O M

J O U R N A L

F A L L / W I N T E R

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F R O M T H E P U B L I S H E R As I write this, I am on my way to Switzerland, where I will be meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who will be announcing the launch of the paperback edition of The Life of My Teacher: A Biography of Kyabjé Ling Rinpoche. The Dalai Lama wrote this book about the life of his Senior Tutor, Ling Rinpoche, whom His Holiness lovingly refers to in the biography as “my precious tutor.” In fact, I think that the entire book can be read as a teaching on how one develops reverence and respect for their teacher through recollecting the teacher’s kindness and reflecting on the teacher’s good qualities. In celebration of the paperback release of The Life of My Teacher, we have included an excerpt from the book in this edition of the Wisdom Journal (see page 4).

Wisdom Publications is also extremely honored to publish the autobiography of Trijang Rinpoche, His Holiness’s Junior Tutor. This book, The Magical Play of Illusion, has been thirty years in the making, and we thank Sharpa Rinpoche for his skillful translation and also for his patience. Trijang Rinpoche was not only a yogi and a scholar of the highest caliber, but he was also a statesman, a preserver of Tibetan culture, a poet, a writer, and an artist. In his autobiography, you gain access to intimate details of the upbringing of the Dalai Lama as well as an account of Tibetan life in the twentieth century. Rinpoche observes the workings of Tibetan high society and politics with an unvarnished frankness, including inside details of encounters between the Dalai Lama and Mao Tse Tung, Jawaharlal Nehru, Pope John Paul II, and Indira Gandhi. Included here is an excerpt from the book about the Dalai Lama’s ordination (see page 6).

We are unbelievably fortunate this fall to be publishing another book with His Holiness. Ecology, Ethics, and Interdependence: The Dalai Lama in Conversation with Leading Thinkers on Climate Change comes out of the

Mind and Life Dialogues that place the Dalai Lama in conversations with leading scientists. This book takes as its topic one of the most urgent questions facing humanity today: how to deal with climate change (see page 12).

In his new book, Zen on the Trail, Chris Ives also looks at the connection between our inner practice and the environment. He writes about the spirituality of hiking and details how we can see our everyday outdoor adventures as a type of pilgrimage (see page 20).

There is so much more for you to check out in this issue, but I want to highlight one more book: Jan Westerhoff ’s translation and commentary of Nāgārjuna’s Crushing the Categories. This book marks the first publication from Wisdom Publications in our new publishing initiative with Prof. Robert Thurman’s American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS). I’m very happy to announce that Wisdom Publications will be copublishing with AIBS a series called Treasury of The Buddhist Sciences. We are incredibly honored to be working on this ambitious and exciting initiative of translating the entire corpus of the Tibetan Tengyur, the collection of Indian commentaries on the Buddha’s teachings. Making these translations widely available in English—many for the first time—will be of great benefit to Buddhist practitioners and scholars for generations to come.

Enjoy!

Daniel Aitken CEO/Publisher Wisdom Publications

Image credit: Erik Odiin

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C O N T E N T S

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama

An Interview with Karl Brunnhölzl

T H E D A L A I L A M A R E F L E C T S O N L I N G R I N P O C H E

S T O R I E S O F T R A N S L AT I O N A N D T R A N S F O R M AT I O N

2 5 T O

1 0 S A M A N TA B H A D R A’ S I N S TA N TA N E O U S F R E E D O M Karl Brunnhölzl 1 2 T O

Edited by John Dunne and Daniel Goleman 1 4 D E E P A B I D I N G

J O Y

Lama Thubten Yeshe 1 5 T H E U N E X P E C T E D R E W A R D S O F A G I N G Ezra Bayda

T H I S

T H I S J U S T

S T E P

Christopher Ives 2 3 C R U S H I N G T H E C AT E G O R I E S Translation and Commentary

by Jan Westerhoff

3 5 T H E L I F E O F A S A K YA F O R E F AT H E R

Geshe Lhundub Sopa

Cyrus Stearns

2 8 B U D D H I S T S Y M B O L S

3 8 T H E M E A N I N G V A J R AYA N A

Dagyab Rinpoche

Geshe Tashi Tsering

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3 9 P R A C T I C I N G T O N G L E N W I T H C H R O N I C I L L N E S S

T R A N S C E N D I N G

L I F E

A N D

D E AT H

David R. Loy 3 2

W H AT

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A

M A N D A L A ?

Kimiaki Tanaka

M O T I V AT I O N A C T I O N

2 0 J U S T B R E AT H ,

L I S T E N I N G T H E D H A R M A

3 3 E S S E N C E O F M I N D , H E A R T O F

T H E

W O R L D

B. Alan Wallace 3 4 I N T H E B U D D H A’ S W O R D S Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi

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Toni Bernhard 4 0 E M P T I N E S S D O E S N O T M E A N N O T H I N G N E S S Barry Kerzin 4 1 F I N D I N G I N N E R B A L A N C E Ajahn Chah 4 2 M Y E G O T H E F L O O R

H I T

Tim Testu

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B E C H O L D A L J U N

4 3 A G L O B A L B U D D H I S T F A M I LY His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Venerable Thubten Chodron

O M I N G H I S I N E S S T H E A I L A M A’ S I O R T U T O R

Trijang Rinpoche

4 4 B O O K CO L L E C T I O N S A selection of our favorite books from the Tibetan, Theravada, and Zen traditions, as well as perennial bestsellers and new releases.

2 4 C H E N ’ S M O U N TA I N F L O W E R S Commentary by Joanna Macy

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T H E DA L A I L A M A R E FL ECTS ON LING RINPOCHE A N E XCER PT FROM THE LIFE OF MY TEACHER: A BIOGR APHY OF K YABJÉ LING R INPOCHE

BY HIS HOLI N E SS T H E DA L A I L A M A

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y precious tutor usually maintained a humble and modest demeanor. In times of crisis for the country and the Buddha’s teaching, however, he was not modest and revealed a powerful and decisive side. Here is one example. In 1951, when we were staying in Dromo, there were conflicting opinions in the Tibetan government on whether we should proceed to India or return to Lhasa. A divination was performed to see which course of action was better. The divination came out for returning to Lhasa. Nevertheless, some still voiced their opinion strongly that returning to Lhasa would be too dangerous. The precious tutor gave me the following advice, “The unfailing guru is the Three Jewels, and in a divination request made to the Three Jewels, the answer has come out for returning to Lhasa, and so that is what we should do. If His Holiness finds this

difficult to do, then it is perfectly fine to ignore what I say.” This decisive advice was given without a trace of hesitation.

Later, when I reflected on this, I marveled at how decisive and resolute the precious tutor was.

Normally, whenever I visited Rinpoche in the labrang or invited him to my rooms, it was to receive teachings on sutra and tantra and so on. Occasionally, however, I would ask for advice on other matters, and so over time we had much discussion.

On all those occasions, I never heard the precious tutor find fault with others, make sarcastic remarks, or grumble about his personal situation.

He was always content and reserved, a happy person.

Having the responsibility of the Tibetan people resting on my shoulders, I would sometimes share my troubles with Rinpoche. Whatever the problem, he would always discuss

it with me. Sometimes he would make me laugh. He would make the problem seem smaller and was skillful in comforting and reassuring me. This greatly benefited my mind. Sometimes he told me in an easygoing manner and with great joy that in this day and age, I was like “specially ordered brocade,” in that I was perfectly suited for both the religious and secular world, and that there was no need to worry, whatever the situation. These words would reassure me greatly.

Not only when I had a problem, but whenever I visited the precious tutor, I would always feel happier afterward and retain a definite and special joy.

This was his inconceivable kindness.

Alongside that was the knowledge that one day the precious tutor might no longer be with us. How would I be able to face that situation? How would I be able to bear it? Such fears and torment began to arise in my mind a few years

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ago. Therefore, as this biography makes clear, I put a lot of effort into making repeated requests for him to live long, performing longevity rituals, and so on.

dying out. Rinpoche had stated with total certainty that this lineage was in India before it had been discovered, and this is one extraordinary example of his clairvoyance.

The precious tutor kept his qualities decidedly hidden, and as a result, his inconceivable qualities of body, speech, and mind are far beyond our comprehension and powers of description. Nevertheless, I have seen firsthand that he possessed a clairvoyance capable of clearly foreseeing future events. I will recount a couple of those occasions.

Also, when I asked for advice on my practice and other matters, Rinpoche would usually approve of my line of thought, whether in the religious or secular domain, saying it was based on good reasoning. Sometimes, however, he would give me advice that ran counter to my ideas and wishes in that moment. Later, after some time had passed, I saw that the advice the

While the precious teacher was receiving the textual transmission of the combined Kālacakra Root Tantra, Kālacakra Condensed Tantra, and Butön Rinpoche’s Annotations on the Kālacakra Stainless Light Great Commentary from Kumbum Minyak Rinpoche, this lama did not remember exactly which other texts were needed to be brought together to complete this transmission.

Therefore, in Tibet I had received only the transmission of Butön Rinpoche’s Annotations and had not been given the combined transmission that included the root tantra and the commentary. When we arrived in India, I remarked to the precious tutor that the transmission lineage of the Kālacakra root tantra and commentary had probably come to an end, and what a loss that would be. The precious tutor replied, “The lineage has definitely arrived in India. We must search for it.” He spoke with complete certainty that it was in India, but none of us knew who had this lineage.

Later, after much investigation, it was found that the complete teaching lineage was with Kīrti Tsenshap Rinpoche. This news was reported to the precious tutor. Kīrti Tsenshap Rinpoche passed the lineage to Serkong Rinpoche, and I subsequently received it from Serkong Rinpoche.

Therefore, I was able to receive this transmission that had been close to

“Whenever I visited the precious tutor, I would always feel happier afterward and retain a definite and special joy. This was his inconceivable kindness.” precious tutor had given me turned out to be perfect for that situation and that my own ideas clearly would not have worked.

Owing to experiences like these, I came to suspect that the precious tutor had clairvoyance. Consequently, at a meeting with him, I once said, “It seems the precious tutor is clairvoyant. Is that true?”

He replied, “Sometimes I wonder if that is not the case.” If we look at these

words of such a guru, one who would never commit the monastic downfall of “the lie of elevating oneself above the ordinary,” it was as if he were actually asserting that he had clairvoyance. I have something like pride in noting that it is of no inferior merit to be cared for by such a guru.

It was the precious tutor’s nature to be reserved, and he was not prone to sudden displays of either elation or sadness. However, whenever he was aware of a living being in distress, such as on hearing the cries of a dog being beaten, his eyes would well up and he would say, “Ah, poor thing!” This was a sign that he possessed the quality of great compassion.

As recounted in this biography, the precious tutor told Ratö Khyongla, “I only requested teachings that I thought I could practice.” That was certainly true. In Tibet a monk called Ngawang Nyendrak, who spent his time in retreat at Taklung Drak Hermitage, would inform Rinpoche whenever Takdrak Vajradhara was giving important teachings. Once Takdrak Rinpoche was giving the initiations of the Hundred Practices of Mitrayogi, and Ngawang Nyendrak informed the precious tutor and wondered aloud whether he would attend them. Rinpoche reflected that he would be unable to do the practices and so did not receive the initiations.

This consideration of whether he would be able to do the practice, not just collecting teachings, is an example to us all and a wonderful teaching on the need for practice.

THE LIFE OF MY TEACHER A B I O G R A PH Y O F K YA B J É LING RINPOCHE

BY HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA

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BECOMING HIS HOLINESS THE D A L A I L A M A’ S J U N I O R T U T O R AN EXCERPT FROM T H E M A G I C A L P L AY O F I L L U S I O N : THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF TRIJANG RINPOCHE

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t the beginning of the tenth month cabinet minister Surkhang Wangchen Gelek and monk secretary Chöphel Thupten came to visit me in my quarters in the Norbulingka. Representing the cabinet and the secretariat of the government, they told me that my duties of offering religious instructions to His Holiness alongside Kyabjé Ling Rinpoche had been well performed and that I was to be commended for it. Further, as His Holiness was to receive full ordination the following year, Ling Rinpoche would be promoted to the position of senior tutor and I should accept the position of junior tutor. They told me that at the recommendation of the cabinet and other departments, His Holiness had given his approval and that I should soon follow the necessary ceremonial procedures to assume this role in order to offer His Holiness the entire vast and profound teachings of sutra and tantra in the manner of “pouring from one vessel to another.” They then presented me with a ceremonial scarf and the representations of enlightened body, speech, and mind.

The Ornament of Realization says of tutors: A mind undaunted and so forth, teaching the lack of a nature and so on, casting off all that opposes it, this makes for a consummate tutor.

Although I did not possess even a hundredth of a hairbreadth of the inner and external qualities of a tutor as expressed in this verse, I gathered up courage to join the ranks of the fearless lions like an aged dog and accepted the offer.

BY TRIJANG RINPOCHE

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with his tutors Ling Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche.

Image courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Without delay I accepted the scarf symbolic of the ordered change in post and had a propitious inaugural meeting with His Holiness. On the actual day of assuming the post I made a thousand offerings at Lhasa’s Tsuklakhang, Ramoché, and the Avalokiteśvara temple in the Potala Palace. After visiting the sacred images, I went to the Norbulingka Palace, where I prostrated before His Holiness in the Jangchup Gakhyil chamber on the top floor and presented him with a scarf and the representations of the body, speech, and mind. His Holiness in turn gave me a scarf with the three representations and a sacred statue of Mañjuśrī made of bronze.

In connection with this exchange, I gave a reading transmission of Fifty Verses on Guru Devotion along with a brief introductory discourse that began with the benefits of

developing bodhicitta. Afterward a banquet of ceremonial cookies to mark a propitious beginning was arranged by the government in the ceremonial hall of the sunlight room.

I made prostrations with the deepest reverence to the supreme leader of all beings in saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, who was seated magnificently glowing like a million suns on a throne of fearless lions. I then presented him with a scarf with the three representations and gifts. The government, as well, presented invaluable gifts to me, and in accordance with tradition, I accepted scarves from the cabinet ministers, the lord chamberlain, and other monk and lay officials, from the highest down to the sixth rank (letsenpa).

After the ceremonies in the Norbulingka Palace, I returned to my residence in Lhasa, where government officials of various ranks,

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representatives from the three seats, their colleges and labrangs, and many others with whom I had religious and secular connections came in a long line bearing gifts.

Dagyab Chetsang Hothokthu first came to Lhasa that year. After he went to have an audience with His Holiness at the Potala, he came to my quarters, where I greeted him and paid my respects. That winter, I served as assistant to His Holiness as he observed the approximation retreat of the mind mandala of Buddha Kālacakra along with the repairing ritual fire offering.

THE DAL AI L AMA TA K E S F U L L O R D I N AT I O N In my fifty-fourth year, the woodhorse year (1954), His Holiness was to take full ordination as a bhikṣu at Lhasa’s Tsuklakhang during the festival that commemorates the Buddha’s performance of miracles in India. Dagyab Chetsang Hothokthu Rinpoche had also requested that His Holiness preside over the prayer sessions at the same time. To attend these two events, His Holiness traveled in a large ceremonial procession, as was the custom, from the great palace to the Ganden Yangtsé chambers on the top floor of Lhasa’s Tsuklakhang. I also took up residence in the quarters atop the temple in the Nangsi guest room.

On the fifteenth of the first month, before the sacred Jowo Śākyamuni statue, His Holiness received his full ordination directly from the Sharpa Chöjé, Kyabjé Ling Rinpoche, who acted as both preceptor and master, attended by the incumbent Ganden Throneholder Thupten Kunga of Sera Jé, who acted as recorder of time, and myself, who acted as the interviewing master. Former Ganden Throneholder Minyak Tashi Tongdü from Drepung Loseling, the Jangtsé

Chöjé, and the various adjunct tutors filled out the required assembly of ten fully ordained monks. By purely receiving the precepts and vows of a fully ordained bhikṣu, which are the basis of training, amid an assembly of ten fully ordained monks by means of the “current excellent and faultless rite,” he preserved the tradition of the great ceremony that invests one as the crown jewel of all bearers of the Vinaya.

As the interviewing master, it fell to me to ask His Holiness a series of questions, such as, “Are you not a non-Buddhist?” “Are you not a thief?” “Have you not killed your father?” and so forth. I felt extremely uncomfortable asking such questions to His Holiness, who is the supreme leader of the religious and temporal affairs of Tibet, the land of snows. But since this was conducted according to the ancient traditions of monastic discipline, I mustered the courage and put these questions to him.

That day during the auspicious offering of a feast of ceremonial cookies that had been arranged by the government within the vast courtyard of the Tsuklakhang, I was asked to recite the treatise for the symbolic mandala offering of the universe to His Holiness. In this treatise I recited descriptions of the supreme qualities of the enlightened body, speech, mind, and activities of His Holiness as well as the history of monastic vows in Tibet down through the ages, the fundamental importance of the Vinaya to the teachings of the Buddha, and how the monastic

discipline serves as both teacher and teaching. From the following day, when the general population of Lhasa, high and low government officials, the labrang of Tashi Lhunpo, and so on made elaborate traditional offerings one after the other, I also recited explanation of the ritual mandala as requested.

After the Subsequent Prayer Session, at the request of Lady Losang Paldrön to sow roots of virtue on behalf of her late husband Rimshi Chabpel, I offered in Lhasa’s Meru assembly hall the blessing of the four sindūra initiations of Vajrayoginī and an experiential discourse based on the manual Staircase of Pure Vaiḍūrya and Shalu Khenchen’s Quick Path to Attain Khecara to an audience of nearly four hundred, including the incarnation of the supreme refuge Phabongkha Rinpoche, Dagyab Hothokthu, and Dromo Geshé Rinpoche. Following that, at the request of the monks of Dakpo Shedrub Ling Monastery who had come to make congratulatory offerings to His Holiness, I gave a discourse on the Hundred Deities of Tuṣita to the entire assembly of monks in Evaṃ Hall on the top floor of Lhasa’s Tsuklakhang.

On the fifteenth of the fourth month, I conferred novice ordination on the incarnation of the supreme refuge Kyabjé Phabongkha Vajradhara and bestowed on him the name Ngawang Losang Trinlé Tenzin.

T H E M A G I C A L P L AY OF ILLUSION THE AUTOBIOGR APHY OF TRIJANG RINPOCHE

BY TRIJANG RINPOCHE

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STOR I E S OF T R A NSL AT ION A N D T R A NSFOR M AT ION A N INTERV IEW W ITH K A R L BRU N NHÖLZL

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n this episode of the Wisdom Podcast, publisher Daniel Aitken spoke with Karl Brunnhölzl, celebrated teacher, translator, and author in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

Karl shares stories of his early ventures throughout Asia and how he came to study with Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. He also discusses his most recent translation of a work in the Northern Treasure Tradition as related to his new book, A Lullaby to Awaken the Heart: The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra and Its Tibetan Commentaries. The following conversation has been edited and condensed for the Journal.

Daniel Aitken: Did [Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso] encourage you to go to retreat?

Karl Brunnhölzl: Well, he always sent people on retreat, and from early on. It was usually that he taught some practice, like Amitabha sadhana or Milarepa, and then people were sent off to a retreat, either in India or Nepal or at home, whatever worked.

And he also sent me to one of the Milarepa caves in Nepal, in Yolmo: Tagphug Senge Dzong, the Lion Tiger Cave Fortress. The cave itself was basically walled in at the point because it was more like a rock temple—small, one small room. It was like a retreat cell, basically. It was very interesting when I got up there.

He gave me a letter so that they would actually let me stay in the cave itself, which usually is not allowed, and then I think it was three days [later] when the caretaker came very excitedly and said, “Oh, you have to leave right now, pack up your things, the police are coming!” There was a very famous statue in the cave that had been stolen a while ago but had been retrieved in the meantime, but still the police were investigating. And so he said, “I don’t want to have any trouble because if they see you here as a foreigner, they will ask all kinds of questions. So please, you can go to the little retreat hut a little bit farther away where they won’t see you.”

So that was even smaller. Just a bed and a table and a chair could fit in there. It was a tiny little house, so I went there

basically into hiding for a few days. [laughing] . . . And so then they left after a few days and I got back to the cave for a few days and had a nice time.

Then suddenly over a hundred people came up . . . next to the cave there was another, bigger temple and they were doing construction work there—right next to the cave, one hundred people, just what the guru ordered, so to speak! I thought, “Oh man, really?”

They kept coming into the cave all the time, like, everybody, and of course they were standing right in front of me, staring at me, you know, grabbing my mala, talking at the top of their lungs. So at first of course I was really upset and then I felt, you know, I made this trip all the way into the, so to speak, “solitude” of the Himalayan mountains—then there’s more noise than in New York City! [laughing] But at some point I realized that my own mental chatter was actually much louder than anything they could produce, or more disturbing, actually. And after that it was okay, I was just doing my thing and they were there. We got along great actually.

They invited me for lunch, which was very nice.

DA: You’re not only a translator; you’re also a teacher. I’m wondering what your teaching role involves.

KB: Yes, we are senior teachers in the Nalandabodhi community. We are responsible for overseeing the study, practice, and activity of Nalandabodhi, which is a lot, and technically speaking [we’re also responsible for] the contents and also content production, like producing manuals and study courses, liturgies, all those kinds of things. But then also of course you have to deal with certain things like being part of the organization of the yearly sangha retreat and other retreats, and all kinds of things.

What I’m translating is also often what I’m teaching, because I’m working on it and somewhat familiar with it and like it.

And of course, being a translator and knowing the original languages help to gain some depth in terms of what you’re talking about. I have taught the Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra

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actually a lot of times now—and also teach about dohas and buddha nature, and I’m teaching some of my books at Nitartha Institute; it’s part of the advanced study curriculum there.

know, “through my aspiration prayer may all sentient beings awaken,” stuff like that. But that’s only the conventional or surface level. The deeper level is that the one who makes the aspiration prayer and for whom it is made are actually the same, which is rigpa. So it is rigpa that makes the aspiration prayer. It’s our own buddha nature or Samantabhadra— rigpa being called Samantabhadra—giving us wake-up calls, basically, to recognize our own nature.

[The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra is] part of the Northern Treasures discovered by Rigdzin Godemchen, like the Vidyadhara with the Vulture Feather. The main terma tradition is of course Nyingma, and the Northern Treasures (Jangter) are a big cycle within the tradition, as opposed to the southern termas. But the story is interesting because before DA: Can you tell us a little bit about Samantabhadra?

Rigdzin Godemchen discovered it, it KB: In the book, actually, I go into that, was another person who was actually a “I realized that my own and of course ostensibly you could say it’s Kagyu mahāmudrā practitioner who the primordial Buddha in the Nyingma mental chatter was discovered some scrolls that contained tradition, comparable to Vajradhara the key for the actual treasure and also actually much louder in the sarma traditions. But the instructions. He knew that these were Dzogchen texts make it very clear that than anything they not intended for him, personally, but he Samantabhadra is not a person at all. had to give it to somebody. So he passed it could produce.”

Samantabhadra is rigpa. So when they on to other people, his students, and gave talk about Samantabhadra they really them precise instructions, telling them, “Go in this direction, mean rigpa. Rigpa is not a person obviously, and it’s timeless. on the road you will meet a yogi with a statue and a vajra, and It’s not that somebody a long time ago became awakened as he will talk to you about the king of Derge. Give those scrolls Samantabhadra, but Samantabhadra actually stands for the to him.” So of course they met this yogi who was none other principle that it is possible for rigpa in any sentient being than Rigdzin Godemchen, the actual treasure revealer. So they to awaken, right now. That is what Samantabhadra really passed on all that material, and based on that, he discovered means by “recognizing itself.” They say in Dzogchen that the the actual treasure on a mountain slope. There were also parts ground itself is beyond samsara and nirvana, but the ground of what is considered now the Northern Treasures, which were manifestations, what appears from the ground, then can already in those early scrolls. For example, the Seven Prayers to manifest either in a deluded way, which is samsara, or in an Padmasambhava, requested by his students, Le’u Dünma in undeluded way, which is nirvana. And “undeluded” means Tibetan, which is quite famous. the ground manifestations are recognized immediately And so that was in those first scrolls actually, discovered by that Kagyu mahāmudrā practitioner, but then it got incorporated in the Jangter as a whole. And so the Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra is part of the Dzogchen part of the Jangter, which is four volumes, Kunzang Gongpa Zhangthal it’s called—hard to translate, but something like “the Unimpeded, All-Pervasive Awakened Mind of Samantabhadra.” That’s the Dzogchen cycle. There’s an explanatory tantra of the root tantra, and the penultimate chapter of that is the Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra. But it’s interesting because the aspiration prayer is part of this tantra at the very end, which means it basically is a kind of summary or pith instruction on everything that already was taught. It contains the entire Dzogchen view basically in a nutshell.

DA: So the text is more than an aspiration prayer, right?

upon the manifestation, which means there’s no straying in samsara, and thus no path in the usual sense of “getting back” to nirvana. So Samantabhadra means instantaneous recognition of the ground manifestations for what they are, which is manifestations of rigpa.

It sounds like history, but it’s not, again, because it’s talking about everybody’s rigpa—like, right now. So Samantabhadra is the principle of instantaneous recognition. And of course in my case, or ordinary sentient beings’ cases, since we already are in samsara, it’s kind of plan B, so to speak. [laughing] Samantabhadra is plan A and plan B is “okay, rigpa is obscured,” but then the moment it’s recognized, that is Samantabhadra; again, because from the ground itself there is no delusion. And once that is recognized, then that’s it.

KB: On the face of it, it looks like a regular aspiration prayer that a buddha makes for sentient beings. It says often, you

Listen to the full interview and others with guests Bhikkhu Bodhi, Dan Harris, and more at wisdompubs.org/podcast.

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S A M A N TA B H A D R A’ S I NSTA N TA N EOUS FR E EDOM A N E XCER PT FROM THE ASPIR ATION PR AY ER OF SA M A NTA BH A DR A A ND ITS TIBETA N COM M ENTAR IES

BY K AR L BRU NNHÖLZL

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n brief, Samantabhadra is the instantaneous, full recognition of mind’s intrinsic and primordial unity of basic awareness and emptiness, which is the very ground of everything that can possibly appear and be experienced, whether in saṃsāra or nirvāṇa. This ground is also called buddha nature, the nature of the mind, original basic awareness, and the fundamental dharmakāya. It is furthermore said that the empty essence of this primordial and self-arising awareness is alpha-purity, its luminous nature is innate presence, and its unceasing compassionate responsiveness is all-pervasive. Thus, it is in the sense of this instantaneous and all-encompassing recognition or realization of that which is most excellent—the intrinsic nature of the mind of all beings, which is the dharmakāya—that the name Samantabhadra is to be understood.

As the conclusion of the first chapter of Longchenpa’s Precious Treasury of Words and Their Meanings explains, Buddha Samantabhadra bears his name not only because the awakened state he represents is utterly pure and devoid of any distortions in terms of ego, dualistic perception, and corporeality, but also because he represents the direct awakening and freedom that occur immediately within the initial seeming exteriorization of the primordial ground

as its own ground manifestations. Thus, unlike in the case of other (historical) buddhas, Samantabhadra’s hallmark is that there is absolutely no straying into saṃsāra at first and thus no gradual return with great difficulty to the very source—the natural expanse of primordial awareness— from which such straying would have occurred. In other words, Samantabhadra stands for the instantaneous awakening through the immediate recognition of the ground manifestations for what they are—nondual basic awareness—devoid of even a brief experience of nonrecognition, delusion, ignorance, or impurity. Here is Longchenpa’s explanation: At the very moment of their rising from the ground, the ground manifestations—the eight gateways of innate presence—dawn as [the ground’s] self-appearance. An impartial state of mind without grasping [at these ground manifestations] as something other will recognize them as [the ground’s] natural self-radiance. Through that, this stirring [of the ground manifestations] is [immediately] cut through, directly

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within itself: through what dawns as self-appearance recognizing its own face in the first instant, realization arises, and thus the ground manifestations are differentiated [as what they actually are].

In the second instant, through delusion having been purified (Tib. sangs) and wisdom having expanded (Tib. rgyas), the ground is matured as the fruition.

Thus, the essence—primordial awakening [purity and expansion]—is said to be reawakened [repurified and re-expanded] through realization. The teacher who has thus awakened prior to everything, right within the ground, through the dissolution of its self-appearances within alpha-purity, is called “Samantabhadra.” . . .

The seed-like awareness that rises from the ground [as the ground manifestations] is indeterminate in terms of whether it causes freedom or delusion.

Therefore, it is called “nonmatured awareness.” Its maturation into awakening is caused by the prajñā of realization. . . .

When [this awareness] is realized as itself by virtue of not straying outward into discernment, through joining the dissolution process [of the ground manifestations] with an impartial state of mind, it remains within inner luminosity.

In brief, everything that appears as the ground manifestations arises from the ground of rigpa, while not being different from it. Recognizing these manifestations

as nothing other than this basic ground means being free.

Thus, both delusion and freedom—and therefore everything in saṃsāra and nirvāṇa—occur within this basic awareness and never go beyond it. In looser parlance, this could be phrased by adapting the famous dictum about Las Vegas: “Whatever happens in rigpa stays in rigpa.”

Moreover, since Samantabhadra is nothing but a name for instantaneously becoming a buddha through directly recognizing the ground manifestations as primordial awareness, the freedom of Samantabhadra can and does occur in the mind streams of all kinds of beings, all the time.

It does not just refer to some individual’s attainment of such a freedom in the past. Pema Ledreltsal says this: One shouldn’t think that the mode of freedom of Universal Goodness [Samantabhadra] . . . is a matter of a liberation that was attained in an ancient time. Because at the very time of our speaking now, there are many beings who are being deluded from the basis [ground], who are liberated, and who are confused on the border between freedom and delusion.

A LULL ABY TO AWAKEN THE HE ART T H E A S P I R AT I O N P R AY E R O F S A M A N TA B H A D R A A N D I T S T I B E TA N C O M M E N TA R I E S A Lullaby

to Awaken the Heart ^0# 306

K ARL BRUNNHÖLZL

The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra and its Commentaries

Karl Brunnhölzl

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Image credit: Olivier Adam

M O T I VAT I O N T O A C T I O N A N E X C E R P T F R O M E C O L O G Y, E T H I C S , A N D I N T E R D E P E N D E N C E : T H E D A L A I L A M A I N C O N V E R S AT I O N W I T H L E A D I N G T H I N K E R S O N C L I M AT E C H A N G E EDITED BY JOHN D. DUNNE AND DANIEL GOLEMAN

M OT I VAT I O N A N D D E E P E R AWARENESS IN SELF AND OTHERS Gregory Norris: We heard from His Holiness this morning that there are three levels of understanding: hearing, critical reflection, and experience. This afternoon, we learned that there are these two levels of mind: the sensory level and then the deeper mental level. With this, I am realizing that I’ve been translating the term awareness much too shallowly. It’s something about being full that leads to awareness. I’m asking myself, “How, in the field that we work in, can this be applied?”

I’m feeling a challenge to our field. We tend to just convey information at the surface level: “this is a green product” or “this is 22 kilograms,” but we’re missing the other levels. So I’m asking myself how we can cultivate practices that deepen the awareness of both the environmental impacts of our actions and the benefits that we might achieve.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: I think in most cases, you first learn from your teachers and books; that is the first level of awareness, or understanding. Then you undertake research, and through your own research and experimentation you uncover trends, patterns, or truths.

With this, you develop conviction, the second level. And

after time, this experiential process becomes internalized and automatic, and that’s the third level. In strict Buddhist terms, the third level of understanding is also defined in terms of concentrative power, but generally speaking, one can apply this to the question of being and becoming habituated in action.

To address your question further, which was about how to communicate with others beyond the first level of understanding, you need to set up some kind of challenge that engages others in those deeper levels. For example, students studying the environment would be given a particular situation or issue by the teacher, but then asked to analyze that issue, raise questions, and look for contradictions, and perhaps they would be encouraged to do so through some kind of award system. That’s a way to bring enthusiasm to the inquiry and engagement at deeper levels of understanding.

Even in a monastic debate, it’s not always the case that the person dedicated to debating is being motivated by higher ideals, such as seeking liberation; rather, they may be, in fact, trying to put someone on the spot. And when someone succeeds in doing this, people say, “Oh, he was

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brilliant, he put that guy in his place,” and then people get a deep sense of satisfaction. And that outcome may serve as the motivation for the debater. So you need to find a way to encourage and bring enthusiasm to your students to engage in more critical and analytical considerations of the “surface understandings.” And then give them praise when they do so.

It’s a function of the teacher’s skill. Even in monasteries, you see different styles of teaching. Some teachers and scholars just go through the texts word by word, but the more skilled instructors say, “You can read the texts on your own,” and then they pick out some of the more difficult points from the texts and engage the students in analysis and debate.

Now, in the debating tradition, the custom is to always cite the authorities and important thinkers of the past, and not go beyond these boundaries. However, on certain subjects, such as Middle Way philosophy or epistemology, I think we should move away from this custom and pursue a more open line of critical inquiry.

OVERCOMING DEPRESSION AND EXHAUSTION THROUGH COMMITMENT AND JOY Dekila Chungyalpa: I appreciate the reference to joy and enthusiasm, because I think most environmental activists are actually optimists pretending to be pessimists. At the same time, I read an article recently that said environmental activists are facing a particular kind of depression because they’re screaming as loud as they can about the environmental problems we’re facing and it feels like nobody’s listening. So there is a real issue of depression and exhaustion that’s taking place among environmental activists. My question to His Holiness and to Jinpa is, when that happens, how do we, from a Buddhist perspective, change this feeling of exhaustion and depression?

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: Shantideva makes the point that before you commit yourself to a particular line of work or take on a challenge, it is important to evaluate that pursuit, to see whether you are capable or not. And once you are committed, then you should not have second thoughts about it. But you should not just rush and grab on to something that you are not able to handle.

Another practice for when we are in the thick of it, in the middle of a pursuit such as environmental activism, and we feel overwhelmed or alone because nobody is listening, is to step back and take a wider perspective on the issue. Often we get so focused on the issue that we lose sight of the context, and simply shifting the contextual view on the issue can provide a change in perspective and perhaps some relief to the overwhelm.

short periods of time, there isn’t always something to be joyful about. But if I look over a decade or two decades, then there is tremendous room for joy. This is true with the environmental movement, too. There are many areas where environmentalists have had tremendous success. In most schools in developed countries children are being taught about and engaging in projects on the environment. Environmental awareness and concern is reaching into wider cultural values. These are important achievements.

C A RRY IN G T HE M E SS AGE TO SK EP T I C S Diana Liverman: I’m wondering if there’s anything I can draw from this perspective to help in conversations with people who are very skeptical about climate change, especially those who are actually taking actions like funding politicians who don’t believe in climate change.

On the occasions where I have the opportunity to talk to these people, is there anything I can learn about how to approach somebody who would look at the graph of rising temperatures and almost be in denial about it? Are there any lessons I can learn about converting skeptics?

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: There is a classical Indian text by Aryadeva, a senior student of Nagarjuna. In his text, called Four Hundred Stanzas on the Middle Way, he talks about the skillful ways and means of teachers when communicating certain ideas. One important point is to take into account the sensibilities and mental disposition of the listener or the student.

In my own experience, when I talk with someone who may have different views or be in disagreement, first I consider that on the human level we have no differences. We both want to be happy and have close connections in life. If we start from a place that emphasizes differences, such as nationality, faith, or race, we will encounter an inevitable barrier. To remove that barrier, we need to start with a common human goal: living a happy life. In my opinion, to achieve that we have to have this commonality in our own view, which often enables a shift in the other person, allowing more openness, connection, or closeness. If we lead with the differences, we risk encouraging defensiveness, which is usually followed by offense or attack, and there’s no way to connect.

E C O L O G Y, E T H I C S , A N D INTERDEPENDENCE THE DAL AI L AMA IN C O N V E R S AT I O N W I T H L E A D I N G T H I N K E R S O N C L I M AT E C H A N G E EDITED BY JOHN D. DUNNE AND DANIEL GOLEMAN

One important practice is continuously making an effort to cultivate joy. Even in my own life, if I look at progress over W I S D O M P U B S . O R G

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DEEP ABIDING JOY AN EXCERPT FROM WHEN THE CHOCOLATE RUNS OU T

BY LAMA THUBTEN YESHE

W

e love chocolate. Perhaps so much so that on some level we may believe, “As long as I have chocolate, I’ll be happy.” This is the power of attachment at work. And based on this attachment, we create a chocolate-based philosophy and order our life prioritizing chocolate. But sometimes, we can’t get our hands on any chocolate. And when the chocolate disappears, we get nervous, upset: “Oh no! Now I’m unhappy!” But of course it’s not the absence of chocolate that’s making us unhappy; it’s our fixed ideas, and our misunderstanding the nature of chocolate.

Chocolate, like all our pleasures and all our problems, is impermanent—chocolate comes, chocolate goes, chocolate disappears. And that’s natural. When you understand this, your relationship to chocolate can change, and when you deeply understand this, you will truly have no fear of anything at all.

Ultimately, you can’t rely on chocolate. Chocolate isn’t always with you—when you want it, it’s not there and when you don’t feel like it, there it is in front of you. All such transient pleasures are like this—and if your search for happiness causes you to grasp emotionally at the sense world, you will find so much suffering—because you have no control of the sense world, no control of impermanence.

But take heart! There is another kind of happiness available to you, a deep abiding joy of silent experience, a joy that comes from your own mind. This kind of happiness is always with you, always available. Whenever you need it, it’s always there. And you can discover this happiness by studying your own mind. Observing and investigating your mind is really very simple, so simple. With practice, wherever you go, at any time, you can experience this happiness.

And after all, all beings want happiness. The desire for happiness drives so much of the world. From the manufacture of the tiniest piece of candy to the most sophisticated spaceship, the underlying motivation is to find

Image courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive

happiness. Beneath the entire course of human history is the constant pursuit of happiness, or, in a sense, the pursuit of more and better chocolate.

Of course we all know that it’s impossible to find lasting happiness and satisfaction through chocolate. We know where to find chocolate—but what about deep and lasting peace?

W H E N T H E C H O C O L AT E RUNS OUT MINDFULNESS & HAPPINESS

BY L AMA THUBTEN YESHE

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THE UNEXPECTED REWARDS OF AGING AN EXCERPT FROM AGING FOR BEGINNERS B Y E Z R A B AY D A

S

ometimes growing old means loneliness or isolation.

For some, it becomes a long wait for the inevitable. For others, one of the most difficult aspects of aging is the feeling that we are no longer useful—that we have lost our place as an important or productive person. Although it is natural to give up our roles and our occupation, their absence might cause us to begin to question our identity.

This is particularly difficult when we no longer have others to confirm our importance, and we lose a sense of purpose.

As we become less physically able, this feeling of loss can become acute. There may also be financial issues—it can be frightening to suddenly find yourself on a fixed income, while at the same time expenses just keep going up.

In our younger years, many of these problems may seem workable, since we tend to carry on as if we have endless time. As we age, it becomes a little more difficult to hold on to this illusion. But many may still remain in denial, seeing themselves somehow as exceptions, as if the biological laws of aging don’t really apply to them. After all, we’ve spent all of our lives pretending that only other people get old.

Adjusting to the reality that we’re actually “them” can be difficult. When Elizabeth and I moved into a retirement community, we were the youngest people there, so when I’d look around and see people bent over or with walkers, it was easy to believe that they were “old” and I was still “me.” But sometimes, when I would walk by a glass window and see my reflection, it was impossible to pretend that I didn’t look old. And as I began to experience my share of difficulties and losses, I had to adjust to a new reality. It didn’t come easily, and I had to go through the process of reflecting on my place in the world.

Each of us has to examine where and how we get in our own way. We can start with noticing our entitled belief that life should please us and go the way we want, that we should always be healthy and comfortable. We can also observe the thinking mind, with all of its laments about the past and worries about the future, with all of its blaming and judging

thoughts, including those directed toward ourselves. All of this keeps us lost and without direction.

Although it’s a challenge, discovering who we are and our direction is one of the rewards of the process of aging. One of the things that this requires is seeing the extent to which we identify with our body. We are normally so convinced that the body is who we are that we redouble our efforts to control it. But we’re not in control of sickness, and certainly not of old age and death. When we try to control these things, it often leads to anger and then to powerlessness and hopelessness. When we resist the realities of aging, the result is always suffering—from the small everyday distress to the dark nights that can seem overwhelming.

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprises him most, purportedly answered, “Man—because he sacrifices his health in order to make money, then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future. He lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

Underlying this is the basic predicament: that our world is constantly changing and that there is little we can do to control it or to satisfy our innate craving for safety and certainty. But even though we can’t stop our aging or control the changes that are part of getting older, we can nonetheless begin to discover and integrate some essential teachings that can be of great value.

AGING FOR BEGINNERS B Y E Z R A B AY D A W I T H E L I Z A B E T H H A M I LT O N

W I S D O M P U B S . O R G

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A N

J U S T T H I S B R E AT H , JUST THIS STEP

E X C E R P T B Y

F R O M

Z E N

C H R I S T O P H E R

A

bout a half-mile from the trailhead, walking under oaks on the west side of the river, I realize that since I left the car I’ve been obsessing about how to defend the liberal arts in the face of narrowly vocational approaches to higher education. Long ago Yunmen (864– 949) purportedly admonished his disciples: “If you sit, just sit; if you walk, just walk—but don’t wobble.” When I hike, I try to focus on each breath, and each step, one at a time. If I notice that I’m worrying about work or daydreaming about something back home, I bring my attention back to what I’m doing with my body. Just this breath, just this step. I twist fewer ankles this way. Thoreau wrote that his reason for retreating to a cabin in the woods beside Walden Pond was to “live deliberately.” When I set out on the trail, I try to hike deliberately.

Of course, this is easier said than done. It’s hard not to be scattered, especially in lives that are way too busy. Some of us may even wear our scurrying as a badge, as if it indicates that we’re important, doing impactful cutting-edge things in the world. When busyness becomes a virtue, we’re in deep trouble.

Those of us caught up in frenetic living require strategies to guide us to an alternative. On a hike, or a walk in a park,

O N

T H E

T R A I L

I V E S

when you sense yourself hurrying or tangled in thought as you clomp along, walk slowly for a few minutes. Better yet, stop for a minute. Take a few breaths. Listen. Do you hear any birds? What is this place saying to you? Is a breeze hitting your face? Can you smell the ground or any of the vegetation around you? What’s the taste in your mouth?

Take a few slow steps and really feel your shoe contacting the ground, your weight shifting, your back foot rising and swinging forward into the next step. If going steeply uphill, take a rest step by locking your back leg with most of your weight on it, pause, then step forward onto the front foot.

This can be a form of walking meditation, what Japanese Zen practitioners call kinhin.

Checking in with each of your senses can enhance your awareness of your body and everything that’s happening around you there in the forest or in your garden. It may even help you begin to slow down and generate what Gerald May has called “the power of the slowing,” a slowing of both the body and the mind.

As I hike along the Dry River, I direct my attention away from education debates and toward the rocks on the trail and sensations in my legs. My quads are swelling, my feet are starting to get hot, and I give myself to the act of walking.

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the divine. Hindus situate praṇā, the breath, at the center of yoga, which shares an Indo-European root with “yoke,” as in yoking a horse or yoking one’s untamed breath, body, and mind while on a mat in an ashram or yoga studio.

Most Buddhist meditation teachers tell us to focus on the breath. Inhaling and exhaling, we feel how our body is always breathing, a primal spontaneous activity that keeps us alive as we go about our business. But with our monkey

“Whether on a trail or a city street, walk at a pace where you can keep your breath settled.” minds cackling and swinging from thought to thought, we may find that focusing on the breath isn’t easy. One suggestion is to count our exhalations, from one to ten, and then from one again. This can facilitate absorption in the act of breathing, what Zen calls sūsokkan, literally, “the contemplation that consists of counting one’s breath.”

In this way, hiking provides an opportunity to practice what Dōgen, the founder of Sōtō Zen in Japan, calls gūjin (“thoroughly and exhaustively”): the act of pouring yourself completely into what you’re doing, whether breathing in meditation or sweeping, raking, wiping verandas with wet rags, or other forms of samu, labor around the monastery. On the trail, give yourself to the physicality of hiking: to breathing, to taking steps with full attention, to maintaining a slow and steady pace. As I do this along a gently rising section of the trail, my act of walking becomes my destination, not Mount Pierce, not the munchies waiting in the car, not a cold beer in Lincoln.

A few minutes later the trail leaves the river to wind around a cliff that rises thirty feet above the river. As I hike up the steep incline, my lungs remind me that breathing is our most basic life activity. Each day we inhale and exhale over 15,000 times. “Respiration” derives from spiritus, Latin for “breath,” similar to the Greek word pneuma: “breath,” “spirit,” and in some cases, “soul.” While we live, we respire.

When we die, we expire—we stop breathing, and the spiritus leaves the body. If we are spiritual, we may be lucky enough to gain inspiration, a breath of creative air that is breathed into us by the Great Spirit or some other form of

Whether on a trail or a city street, walk at a pace where you can keep your breath settled. Move slowly enough that you don’t get out of breath and fall into rapid, shallow breathing in your chest. In other words, keep your pace one notch lower than your enthusiasm desires. Gradually you may find yourself flowing across the landscape, like the breeze I saw back in 1976 that painted calligraphic swirls in an iridescent rice field outside that apartment in Izumisano.

After clearing the ravine, the trail descends back to the river.

I roll down the slope. My knees are relieved each time I level off on a terrace. As I undulate down, I can hear the river as it, too, glides over the landscape. My imagination kicks in, and I see the ground rising up to meet my boots. It’s as if the White Mountains are undulating along with me and the river as we all flow in different directions. Dōgen tells us in his Sansuikyō (Mountains and Waters Sutra) that “blue mountains are constantly walking.” Here in this valley today, everything is in motion.

ZEN ON THE TRAIL HIKING AS PILGRI MAGE

BY CHRIS TOPHER IVES

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TRE ASURY OF THE BUDDHI ST SCIENCES SERIES Wisdom Publications is pleased to announce a new partnership to produce a series of books in service to the flourishing of Dharma in the West: Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences, copublished with the American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS) in association with the Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies and Tibet House US. AIBS established this series to provide authoritative translations, studies, and editions of texts of the Tibetan Tengyur (bstan ’gyur) and its associated literature. In this new partnership between Wisdom and AIBS, we will be relaunching and distributing books in the series previously published by AIBS and publishing new translations of the Tengyur as they become available.

The Tibetan Tengyur is a vast collection of over 4,000 classical Indian Buddhist scientific treatises (śāstra) written in Sanskrit by over 700 authors from the first millennium CE, now preserved mainly in systematic 7th–12th–century Tibetan translation. Its topics span all of India’s “outer” arts and sciences, including linguistics, medicine, astronomy, socio-political theory, ethics, art, and so on, as well as all of her “inner” arts and sciences, such as philosophy, psychology (“mind science”), meditation, and yoga.

The first volume in this copublished series, Crushing the Categories, a translation and commentary of Nāgārjuna’s Vaidalyaprakaraṇa by Jan Westerhoff, is available for preview on the following page of the Journal.

At the American Institute of Buddhist Studies and Columbia University, we all are thrilled about our new partnership with Wisdom Publications to continue growing Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series. We will work together to publish texts from the Tengyur collection of Tibetan translations of over 4,000 key works from the great Nālandā University. Our shared goal is to provide access to the enlightenment-based ethics, education, and sciences of the Buddhist traditions to improve life on earth for all beings.”

R O B E R T A . F. T H U R M A N

President, AIBS, and Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University

We are extremely honored to be working with AIBS on this ambitious and exciting initiative of translating the entire corpus of the Tibetan Tengyur.

Making these translations available widely in English, many for the first time, will be a great benefit for the Dharma and all Buddhists for generations to come.”

DANIEL AITKEN Wisdom Publications CEO/Publisher

·

treasury of the buddhist sciences

·

Illumination of the Hidden Meaning sbas don kun gsal part ii: chapters 25–51

Yogic Vows, Conduct, and Ritual Praxis by Tsong Khapa Losang Drakpa

introduction and translation by

David B. Gray

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C R U S H I N G T H E C AT E G O R I E S N Ā G Ā R J U N A ’ S

T R A N S L A T I O N

A N D

V A I D A L Y A P R A K A R A N A

C O M M E N T A R Y

B Y

J A N

W E S T E R H O F F

M OT I VAT I O N A N D D E E P E R AWARENESS IN SELF AND OTHERS

THE STRUCTURE OF THE S I X T E E N C AT E G O R I E S

āgārjuna specifically mentions as his motivation in composing the text the desire to dispel the pride (nga rgyal, *ahaṁkāra, *adhimāna) of his opponents. While not as fundamental as the three poisons (triviṣa, dug gsum), pride is one of the six root afflictions (rtsa nyon, mūlakleṣa). In the Ratnāvalī Nāgārjuna lists seven different kinds of pride: the pride of selfhood (māna, bdag nyid nga rgyal), exceeding pride (atimāna, lhag pa’ i nga rgyal), pride beyond pride (mānātimāna, nga rgyal las kyang nga rgyal), pride of thinking I (asmimāna, nga’o snyam pa’ i nga rgyal), blatant pride (abhimāna, mngon pa’ i nga rgyal), erroneous pride (mithyāmāna, log pa’ i nga rgyal), and the pride of inferiority (ūnamāna, dman pa’ i nga rgyal). It is now tempting to speculate which of these, if any, Nāgārjuna is referring to in this stanza. The second pride, “exceeding pride,” comes closest to our everyday understanding, and Nāgārjuna spells it out as:

The sixteen categories mentioned in the commentary on VP 01 are of course the sixteen categories listed in the first verse of the Nyāyasūtra (NS). A question that arises immediately is whether we can make out any underlying structure in this list. On the face of it the list seems to contain a variety of diverse items, belonging to the theory of knowledge (1. epistemic instruments), logic (7. constituents of an argument), and rhetoric (10. debate). It is therefore not immediately clear what the list of the sixteen categories is a list of, and whether it is anything more than the table of contents of the NS.

N

Boasting that one is equal to those Who by some good quality are superior to oneself Is called exceeding pride.

The fourth pride, the “pride of thinking I,” certainly stands out, insofar as it is not a perspective on the direct comparison of one’s own and others’ achievements, but rather a wrong view regarded by Buddhists to lie at the very core of cyclic existence. Nāgārjuna explains it as follows: Conceiving an I through obscuration In the five empty [aggregates], Which are called the appropriation, Is said to be the pride of thinking I. Depending on the kind of pride we take Nāgārjuna to be referring to here, we can understand his aim of dispelling the pride of his opponents on different levels. On the ethical level pointing out their mistake in regarding the Nyāya categories as “unquestionable” (gdon mi za ba) removes their harmful tendency of regarding themselves as equal to their superiors and is thereby ultimately conducive to removing their suffering. On the metaphysical level the pride to be dispelled by the Vaidalayaprakarana can be regarded as the wrong view in a substantial self of persons (and, by extension, in a substantial self of phenomena) that is the fundamental mistake underlying their wrong understanding of the Nyāya categories.

However, if we look at the list of categories in a bit more detail, it becomes apparent that there is a noticeable division between an earlier part, consisting of categories Image courtesy of (1) epistemic instruments to Shechen Archive (9) determination, which deals with concepts necessary in constructing an argument, while the later part, from (10) onward, deals primarily with the notions that become relevant in the debate with an opponent.

This division can be explained by the fact that we first have to have established a conclusion by some kind of argumentative process before we can begin pitching our conclusion against that of an opponent in the course of the debate. The list of the sixteen categories can therefore be understood as following the temporal structure of the successive steps in a philosophical discussion from its very beginning to the end.

CRUSHING THE C AT E G O R I E S N Ā G Ā R J U N A’ S VA I D A LYA P R A K A R A Ņ A T R A N S L AT I O N A N D C O M M E N TA R Y B Y JAN WESTERHOFF

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CHEN’S M O U N TA I N FLOWERS A N E X C E R P T T H E H I D D E N

F R O M L A M P

C O M M E N T A R Y B Y J O A N N A M A C Y

I love how Chen observes this. I am moved that her quest for enlightenment has not closed her eyes to what is being done in and to the workaday world. It still summons her attention, even after she finally realizes enlightenment.

I appreciate this because my attention, too, is so preoccupied with what we, collectively, are doing to our world. I cannot drive it from my mind. My spiritual practice calls me to come to terms with the destruction we humans are causing. I wouldn’t want an “enlightenment” that would keep me from knowing and feeling the ways our actions are unraveling the very web of life. I want to be present to the suffering that comes with “the spirit of the knife and the axe”—the spirit of bulldozer and chainsaw, of deep sea drilling and mountaintop removal, of factory farms and genetically modified seeds.

There are different ways of responding to this hacking away, and my customary response is one of outrage and opposition. I want to make these actions stop. And in order to stop them, I’m ready to harangue those involved, to shame them and show them how wrong they are, and to try to take away their tools and their funding. I don’t think to aim for anything more. And indeed, outrage and opposition do save some mountain flowers.

CHINA, IN SE VENTH – NINTH CENTURY

C

hen was a laywoman who traveled far and wide, visiting famous masters. After she realized enlightenment, she composed the following verse: Up on the high slopes, I see only old woodcutters.

Everyone has the spirit of the knife and the axe.

How can they see the mountain flowers reflected in the water—glorious, red?

Laywoman Chen has seen a lot of the world in her journeys from one spiritual master to another. She has kept her eyes open. She’s noticed what’s going on. Even up on the high slopes, where the trees grow sparse and vegetation thins out, she sees what people are up to, busily hacking away at anything that can serve as fuel.

The old woodcutters are only doing what’s been done for generations, taking from Earth whatever can be used.

They’ve grown so accustomed to sawing and chopping, it’s how they define themselves and their purpose for existence.

Their tools—knife and axe—shape their perceptions, direct their movements, become, in a sense, who they are.

How different is Chen’s response. Instead of staying riveted on what the woodcutters are doing, her mind turns to what they are missing. The mountain flowers are right there in full view. The blossoms are real and red, glorious to behold.

See how the water repeats them in its quivering mirror.

Chen returns us to our senses. And that is what she wishes for the woodcutters: to see and feel the life around them.

Look! Right here on a branch of this tree you’re chopping, see the bright flowers! As she snaps them awake from their habitual behavior, the world comes into focus.

That’s the kind of “stopping” she aims for. That’s the kind of stopping where one comes back to oneself—and oneself is the place where real change can occur.

THE HIDDEN L AMP S TO R I ES FRO M T W ENT Y- FI V E CENTURIES OF AWAKENED WOMEN EDITED BY FLORENCE C APLOW AND SUSAN MOON

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LISTENING TO THE DHARMA A N E X C E R P T F R O M S T E P S O N T H E PA T H T O E N L I G H T E N M E N T V O LU M E 1: T H E F OU N DAT I O N O F PR A CT I CE G E S H E L H U N D U B S O PA

T

he essential point regarding the benefits of listening to the Dharma is that not knowing the instructions contained in these teachings is the doorway to all kinds of actions that only produce more unhappiness and suffering.

The Dharma teaches that your future happiness or suffering is the result of your own karma, that the nature of cyclic existence is dissatisfaction and suffering, and that the only true protection you can find from the problems of existence is the path taught by the Buddha. But you cannot benefit from these insights until you become aware of them and come to understand them. You cannot become aware of them without first hearing about them. You do not come out of your mother’s womb knowing the four noble truths.

First you have to hear about these things and then you have to gain some understanding. Not knowing these truths about the nature of existence leads to downfalls—actions based on ignorance.

The Buddha was once asked by a god, “How can all things be known? What can one do to turn away from all negative actions? How does one get rid of the senseless things in life?

What are the means to achieve emancipation?”We find the Buddha’s response in the chapter called “Listening” in the Collection of Indicative Verses (Udāna-varga), an anthology of teachings taken from the sutras and organized according to particular topics: Through listening, the Dharma is understood.

Through listening, wrongdoing is turned away.

Through listening, the meaningless is abandoned.

Through listening, nirvana is attained.

This stanza encompasses the three trainings in ethics, concentration, and wisdom. The first two lines emphasize the training in ethical conduct. Here Dharma means differentiating between virtue and nonvirtue; it is by hearing these teachings that you can understand what is

right and wrong, enabling you to turn away from harmful, negative actions. The third line stresses the training in meditative stabilization. The point is that the distracted mind operates under the power of the senses, wasting time on meaningless activities and never focusing on the virtuous actions that will lead to happiness.

By hearing and studying the Dharma your mind will be trained to pay attention. You will discard your old distracted ways and focus your attention on training your mind. The last line refers to the training in wisdom. This is the training that is the direct antidote to ignorance. Ignorance is the root of samsara: all suffering and dissatisfaction are caused by mental afflictions rooted in not knowing the way things actually exist. Ignorance is dispelled by the wisdom that understands reality as it truly is. Nirvana is complete liberation from that ignorance. Without hearing about wisdom, there is no way to generate it and attain nirvana.

The process of training the mind has three stages: hearing, thinking, and meditating. First you have to hear about what is right and what is wrong. Then you analyze and examine what you have heard in order to understand it more clearly.

Finally, by using meditative techniques you integrate what you have come to understand into your mental continuum.

S T E P S O N T H E PAT H TO ENLIGHTENMENT A C O M M E N TA R Y O N T S O N G K H A PA' S L A M R I M C H E N M O, V O L U M E 1: T H E F O U N D AT I O N O F P R A C T I C E B Y G E S H E L H U N D U B S O PA

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N A R O PA , S C H O L A R A N D S I D D H A ABOUT THE CENTERFOLD IMAGE

T

he beautiful centerfold image in this issue of the Wisdom Journal depicts the great scholar and siddha Naropa. Painted by Lama Rigzin, it is featured in The Karmapas and Their Mahāmudurā Forefathers by Khenpo Sherap Phuntsok, translated by Michele Martin. This image is from the Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery in Nepal.

An Indian mahasiddha, Naropa is famed among Tibetan Buddhists for his place in the lineage of masters tracing back through Milarepa and Marpa— the latter of whom traveled from Tibet to be his student. Naropa was an exceedingly accomplished scholar in his day, well-known for being abbot of Nālandā monastic university. However, he is equally known for the fact that he left this prestigious post abruptly for some time in search of the elusive and enigmatic mahasidda Telopa. It is under his guidance that Naropa underwent twelve major trials to become his disciple. Telopa said of Naropa: “Naropa accomplished the dhāraṇī of a perfect memory; he followed me through twelve arduous trials. His realization is just the same as mine so generations to come can rely on him. If you want realization, follow Naropa.”

Image courtesy of Lama Rigzin

BUDDHIST SYMBOLS

AN EXCERPT FROM BUDDHIST S Y M B O L S I N T I B E TA N C U LT U R E B Y D A G YA B R I N P O C H E

The Victory Sign (rgyal-mtshan, Skt. dhvaja)

W

e could explain how this object developed as a special form of parasol. But how the designation “victory sign,” adopted from the classical literature, came to be applied to just this particular object can no longer be decided. It is a fact, however, that together with the name, the symbolic meaning also was conveyed to the object, i.e., “sign of victory over all disagreements, disharmonies, or hindrances” (mi-mthun phyogs-las rgyal ba’ i rgyal-mtshan). Thus, as is so often the case, the symbolic meaning was transferred from the worldly to the religious level.

For the Tibetans, therefore, the sign of victory symbolizes primarily the victory of the Buddhist teaching, the victory of knowledge over ignorance or the victory over all hindrances, the attainment of happiness. At the same time, it incorporates the wish to bring about permanent, enduring happiness—both of the transient, worldly kind and of the ultimate kind—in the sense of tendrel.

BUDDHIST SYMBOLS I N T I B E TA N C U LT U R E B Y D A G YA B R I N P O C H E

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CHILDREN’S BOOKS

The Day The Buddha Woke Up By

Andrea Miller Artwork by

Rima Fujita

T H E D AY T H E B U D D H A WOKE UP

BY ANDREA MILLER

I L L U S T R AT E D B Y R I M A F U J I TA

The heart of the Buddha’s story is told in a handful of words and is beautifully illustrated by a worldrenowned artist.

The Day the Buddha Woke Up is the perfect way to introduce young children to the story of the Buddha. The simple arc of the Buddha’s questions, his quest, and his ultimate understanding will provide a meaningful and peaceful tale that children—and their parents!—will love returning to again and again.

ZIJI AND THE VERY SCARY MAN

BY YONGEY MINGYUR RINPOCHE A N D T O R E Y H AY D E N I L L U S T R AT E D B Y C H A R I T Y L A R R I S O N

n

and the a M Very Scary

Help kids learn to face their fears and self-soothe with this adorable puppy companion.

Renowned meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche shows young children how following our breath can calm us down—and how practicing compassion shows us that even Very Scary Men can be frightened sometimes too.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and Torey Hayden Illustrated by Charity Larrison

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COMING SOON ON THE HOR IZON AT W ISDOM PU BLICAT IONS

The upcoming spring season is promising to offer a slate of fantastic new books; here are a few among them we are pleased to share.

The third volume in the Library of Wisdom and Compassion series by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Thubten Chodron, Saṃsāra, Nirvāṇa, and Buddha Nature, continues exploring the important themes in the Buddhist path. Here, our expert guides illuminate some of the most vexing topics for students and show us the mind’s vast potential.

The Magnanimous Heart: Compassion & Love, Loss & Grief, Joy & Liberation is the long-awaited debut by Narayan Liebenson, a guiding teacher at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center since its inception in 1985.

Taking up the question of how we can view life’s pain as a pathway instead of only as an obstacle, Narayan shows us the deep joy, peace, and happiness within our own hearts that exist beyond mere circumstances.

In Falling Is Flying: The Dharma of Facing Adversity, Ajahn Brahm and Chan Master Guojun join forces to show us how to make peace with our lives, even in the midst of hard times. Reflecting on personal anecdotes and the depth of wisdom from two Buddhist traditions, they offer inspiring advice for dealing with life’s curve balls.

F R E E

New from Barry Kerzin is Nāgārjuna’s Wisdom: A Practitioner’s Guide to the Middle Way; you can read a special preview of the book on page 40 in this issue. This offering is a wonderful primer on Madhyamaka philosophy, presenting Nāgārjuna’s teachings on emptiness and dependent arising from Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way using the innovative method taught by His Holiness the Dalai Lama: with chapters out of sequential order but in the most straightforward, digestible approach for a practitioner.

Also on the horizon this spring are Mindfulness and Intimacy from Ben Connelly, which beautifully guides us into empathetic engagement with ourselves and the world; Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis, the newest book by beloved author David R. Loy where he shares the powerful ways Buddhism can heal the world we all share—and can help us survive these troubling times; the newest volume of the Library of Tibetan Classics series, Ornament of Abhidharma: A Commentary on Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakoṡa, Chim Jampalyang’s authoritative commentary on a classic of Buddhist psychology and phenomenology; and many more we can’t wait to share with you. Stay tuned!

Yours in the Dharma, Brianna Quick and the Wisdom editorial team

E B O O K

AJAHN BRAHM

ON KINDNESS T H I S F R E E E B O O K , C R E AT E D F R O M EXCERPTS AND QUOTES FROM BOOKS IN WISDOM‘S COLLECTION, INCLUDES:

• Humorous, encouraging stories of kindness • Teachings on mindfulness and compassion • An introduction to metta meditation

D O W N L O A D

N O W

A T

wisdompubs.org/kindness-ebook

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TR ANSCENDING LI FE A N D DE AT H A N E XCER PT FROM LACK AND TR ANSCENDENCE B Y DAV I D R . L OY

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e have seen that for Buddhism the dualism between life and death is only one instance of our more general problem with dualistic thinking. The paradox of such dualism is that the opposites are so dependent on each other that each might be said to contain the other. This paradox is more than an intellectual game. If it is important for me to live a pure life, I must be preoccupied with impurity: I must discriminate all situations and my responses to them into pure and impure.

To bifurcate in this way is also to bifurcate myself from the situation. Being pure in a situation becomes more important than living that situation. That is why “the only true purity is to live in a way which transcends purity and impurity,” as Chan master Hui-hai put it.

Replacing the concepts of purity and impurity with life and death yields a proposition by now familiar: the only true life is to live in a way that transcends life and death. The same problem applies to the dualism between life and death. We discriminate between life and death in order to affirm one and deny the other, and our tragedy lies in the paradox that these two opposites are also interdependent: there is no life without death and—what we are more likely to overlook— there is no death without life. This means our problem is not death but life and death.

At issue are the boundaries of the self as a symbolized entity, and for that issue the end and the beginning are of a piece.

There is a clear sense of the relationship between awareness of death and a delineated self. The second is impossible without the first. Even prior to the disturbing syllogism “If death exists, then I will die,” there is an earlier one: “Since ‘I’ was born and will die, ‘I’ must exist” (Lifton).

There is an implication here Lifton does not consider: if we can realize that there is no delineated ego-self that is alive now, the problem of life and death is solved. Such is the

Buddhist goal: to experience that which cannot die because it was never born. This is not a clever intellectual argument that claims to solve the problem logically while leaving our anguish as deep as before. The preceding examples refer to some experience more transformative than our usual conceptual understanding. It is no coincidence that the prajñāpāramitā scriptures of Mahāyāna also emphasize that there are no sentient beings.

[The Buddha:] “Subhūti, what do you think? Let no one say the Tathāgata cherishes the idea: ‘I must liberate living beings.’ Allow no such thought, Subhūti. Wherefore? Because in reality there are no living beings to be liberated by the Tathāgata. If there were living beings for the Tathāgata to liberate, he would partake in the idea of selfhood, personality, ego entity and separate individuality.”

Such a claim is possible only if the dualism of life and death is not something in the objective world but a way of thinking projected onto the world, one of the conceptual structures with which we organize it. And if our minds have created this dualism, they should be able to uncreate or deconstruct it.

LACK AND TRANSCENDENCE T H E P R O B L E M O F D E AT H A N D L I F E I N P S Y C H OT H E R A P Y, EXISTENTIALISM, AND BUDDHISM

BY DAV I D R . LOY

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W H AT I S A M A N DA L A? A N E XCER PT FROM A N ILLUSTR ATED HISTORY OF TH E M A NDA L A: FROM ITS GENESIS TO THE K Ā L ACAK R ATA NTR A

BY K I MI A K I TA NA K A

I

n Japan, the mandala has been represented by the twin mandalas of the two worlds (ryōkai mandara or ryōbu mandara), consisting of the Garbha (Taizō) and Vajradhātu (Kongōkai) mandalas introduced by Kūkai in the early ninth century. The Garbha-mandala expounded in the Vairocanābhisambodhisūtra and the Vajradhātumandala expounded in the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha have played important roles in the development of the mandala. In India, however, these two mandalas came into existence independently and were not treated as a pair.

Therefore, the Sino-Japanese view of the mandala, centered on these two mandalas, is not applicable to India.

The mandalas of late tantric Buddhism, which rapidly developed from the ninth century, were transmitted to Nepal—the only country on the Indian subcontinent where traditional Mahāyāna Buddhism still survives—and to Tibet, the faithful successor to Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism.

Tibetan Buddhism, in particular, still preserves more than one hundred representative mandalas of Indian Buddhism, ranging from those of its early stages to those of late tantric Buddhism. However, their shape has been unified in a layout in which a square pavilion is encompassed by an outer protective circle that is not represented in SinoJapanese mandalas, and even mandalas belonging to early esoteric Buddhism are depicted in accordance with this layout. Therefore, the landscape mandalas of Japanese esoteric Buddhism and the mandalas of the eighth to ninth centuries discovered at Dunhuang, China, not being encompassed by circles, do not fall under the mandala as defined in Tibet and Nepal.

For example, Mori Masahide has written of the reliefs of the eight great bodhisattvas in Ellora Cave 12 that “if they are mandalas, they should be encompassed by circles, but they are not,” and he rejects the view that they are mandalas. His opinion accords with the common conception of Tibetan and Nepalese mandalas. But if we were to strictly apply this definition to Sino-Japanese mandalas, not only early landscape mandalas but even the two-world mandalas would end up not being mandalas, since they do not have an outer protective circle, and the concentric arrangement

of deities is also not seen in Sino-Japanese mandalas, except in the shiki-mandara (used in esoteric rites of initiation and spread out like a carpet on top of a wooden altar).

Thus it is very difficult to define the mandala in a way that is applicable to all examples of mandalas ranging from the earliest stages to late tantric Buddhism. Here, I define a mandala as an icon that represents the worldview of Buddhism, or Buddhist cosmology and philosophy, by arranging Buddhist deities in accordance with a specific pattern.

Therefore, even if an icon arranges many deities around a buddha, but presents only a bird’s-eye view of the assembly and has no specific pattern, we will not regard it as a mandala. In Japan, there are several mandalas of Pure Land Buddhism and of the syncretic fusion of Shinto and Buddhism (shinbutsu shūgō) that present a bird’s-eye view of a particular landscape but have no specific pattern. These mandalas of Japanese origin will not be considered in this book, since we are concerned primarily with the genesis and development of the mandala in India.

An important characteristic of the mandala is that it represents Buddhist cosmology or philosophy by assigning categories of Buddhist doctrine to the deities depicted in the mandala or to parts of the mandala’s pavilion. Mandalas arranged in specific geometric patterns did not come into existence all at once. The assignment of doctrinal categories such as the five aggregates (pañcaskandha), four elements (caturmahābhūta), and twelve sense fields (dvādaśāyatana) to the deities arranged in a mandala makes it possible to symbolize Buddhist ideas by means of specific geometric patterns. Such symbolism gradually evolved with the development of Buddhist philosophy and art.

A N I L L U S T R AT E D HISTORY OF THE MANDALA An Illustrated History of the

MANDALA

From its Genesis to the Kālacakratantra

Kimiaki Tanaka

FROM ITS GENESIS TO T H E K Ā L A C A K R ATA N T R A B Y K I M I A K I TA N A K A

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ESSENCE OF MIND, HEART OF THE WORLD AN EXCERPT FROM FAT H O M I N G T H E M I N D : INQUIRY AND INSIGHT IN D Ü D J O M L I N G PA ' S VAJRA ESSENCE

BY B. ALAN WALLACE

We habitually view the world and its inhabitants as being “out there,” while we ourselves are “in here.” We grasp at appearances as something “other” and reify them as being absolutely separate, while we reify ourselves as being absolutely here. In every state of consciousness, including the transitional phase between lives, the appearances of the self and of other objects always coexist. As soon as there is the sense that “I am,” there are corresponding appearances that are other than “I.” Whenever appearances are perceived as “other,” there is necessarily a sense of “I am.” Self and other always go together; subject and object are mutually interdependent. In the absence of one of them, the other is nowhere to be found, which indicates that neither is inherently existent.

When it comes to our thoughts, in what way are they really “ours”? If we are tormented by an endless stream of uncontrollable, angry, contemptuous thoughts, we may feel terribly guilty for having such thoughts. Just because we have witnessed such thoughts, must we own them, or identify with them? Sometimes thoughts simply happen.

The sense of self or “I” saturates and dominates all our experience, in which the entire world is bifurcated into that which is “I” and “mine” and that which is not. Nevertheless, if we diligently search for it, this “I” is nowhere to be found.

It is empty of location. How can something be so influential if it doesn’t truly exist?

I

f the sense of “I” and “mine” were confined to the body, we should not be upset if our external possessions were damaged or stolen. But when our cellphone is scratched or our car is dented, we feel bad. While we may identify with all kinds of external objects, they are not by nature “I” or “mine,” for each one has its own label, and they are not “I.” The body, mind, and all other things we identify with are “mine” only insofar as we project this label upon them. But none of these things are by their own nature “I” or “mine.”

All phenomena of the physical worlds and their inhabitants other than the “I” seem to exist separately. Nevertheless, whether in a dream, the waking state, or the hereafter, the self and other appearances always appear like a body and its shadow, like liquid and moisture, and like fire and heat. So the “I” dominates all the physical worlds and their sentient inhabitants, but the “I” is not located anywhere.

Despite the fact that a self doesn’t really exist in the way we think it does, our grasping at such a self has consequences.

This is an utterly crucial point within all Buddhist yānas.

If we grasp at our identity as a sentient being, we identify with our mental afflictions and not with our buddha nature.

Where exactly is this pathetic sentient being who is caught in the suffering of saṃsāra? If this being is nowhere to be found, why do we take ourselves so seriously? Are we like a child afraid of a monster in the closet? Turn on the light and we see that there’s no monster to fear. Likewise, grasping at the true existence of a self is causally efficacious, even though such a self is not really there.

FAT H O M I N G T H E M I N D INQUIRY AND INSIGHT I N D Ü D J O M L I N G PA' S VA JR A ESSENCE

BY B. AL AN WALL ACE

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In the Buddha’s Words A regular Wisdom Journal feature with passages from the Pāli Canon

W H AT I S D E P E N D E N T O R I G I N AT I O N ?

“Monks, I will teach you dependent origination. Listen to that and attend closely, I will speak.”—“Yes, venerable sir,” those monks replied. The Blessed One said this: “And what, monks, is dependent origination? With ignorance as condition, volitional formations [come to be]; with volitional formations as condition, consciousness; with consciousness as condition, name-and-form; with name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases; with the six sense bases as condition, contact; with contact as condition, feeling; with feeling as condition, craving; with craving as condition, clinging; with clinging as condition, existence; with existence as condition, birth; with birth as condition, aging-anddeath, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair come to be. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. This, monks, is called dependent origination.

“But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance comes cessation of volitional formations; with the cessation of volitional formations, cessation of consciousness; with the cessation of consciousness, cessation of name-and-form; with the cessation of nameand-form, cessation of the six sense bases; with the cessation of the six sense bases, cessation of contact; with the cessation of contact, cessation of feeling; with the cessation of feeling, cessation of craving; with the cessation of craving, cessation of clinging; with the cessation of clinging, cessation of existence; with the cessation of existence, cessation of birth; with the cessation of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair cease. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.”

(SN 12:1; II 1–2)

I N T H E B U D D H A’ S W O R D S AN ANTHOLOGY OF DISCOURSES FR O M T H E PĀ L I C A N O N T R A N S L AT E D B Y B H I K K H U B O D H I

Image credit: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. A. Richard Benedek 1981

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T H E L I F E O F A S A K YA F O R E FAT H E R AN EXCERPT FROM L U M I N O U S L I V E S : T H E S T O R Y O F T H E E A R LY M A S T E R S O F THE LAM ‘BRAS TRADITION IN TIBET

BY CYRUS STEARNS

’B

rog mi was born in 993, early in the second spread of Buddhism in Tibet, which is usually reckoned to have begun with the translation work of Lo chen Rin chen bzang po (958–1055). He grew to become one of the most important Tibetan interpreters of Indian tantric lore, especially the traditions of the anuttarayoga class. ’Brog mi first learned the Indian vernacular from some Indian beggar-yogis in Tibet, and then as a young man traveled to Nepal, where he studied for a short period before continuing to India. He received many teachings from great Newar and Indian masters, much of which will be described in Dmar ston’s history. ’Brog mi spent thirteen years studying in Nepal and India. During these years, and later in Tibet, he translated nearly seventy tantric texts with Gayadhara, Prajñendraruci, also known as Vīravajra, the Ceylonese yoginī Candramālā, Ratnavajra, Ratnaśrīmitra, and perhaps also the “Red Paṇḍita” Prajñāgupta. He also received important esoteric transmissions from the Indian master Amoghavajra.

enigmatic actions that sometimes defy easy explanation should be understood in the context of his role as a tantric master. Eccentric behavior in Buddhist tantric traditions is as old as the traditions themselves, as exemplified by the eighty-four great Indian adepts, such as Virūpa. The actions of Gayadhara and ’Brog mi are perfect examples of “deliberate behavior” (brtul zhugs spyod pa), which is actually prescribed in the tantras and used for specific purposes by those who have progressed to the highest levels of the tantric path. One need look no further than the life of ’Brog mi’s student and younger contemporary Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros to find clear evidence of a similar but better known eccentric master.

’Brog mi was apparently the most influential and prolific translator of the anuttarayoga tantras in Tibet. But as the story of his life will show, he was first of all a great tantric master who devoted himself to translation and teaching until the age of sixty-two, and then spent the remaining twenty or After his return to Tibet, ’Brog mi made more years of his life chiefly in solitary his residence in a complex of thirteen caves meditation. Before his departure from at Mu gu lung, where he lived with his Tibet after teaching ’Brog mi the Lam consort and disciples. There he received ’bras, Gayadhara made some prophecies the transmission of the Lam ’bras from that are important for understanding Image credit: Xylograph, twentieth Gayadhara, and in the “Translation Cave” certain events at the end of ’Brog mi’s century. From The Sakya Lam ’bras Literature Series, 12:3. (sgra sgyur lo tsā phug) he and Gayadhara life. Gayadhara told ’Brog mi that there translated the Hevajra tantra and its explanatory tantras, the would be serious problems with his sons, and that his family Vajrapañjara and Sampuṭa, all in 1043. line would end with them. He urged ’Brog mi himself to practice the techniques for the transference of consciousness ’Brog mi’s two most important teachers were Gayadhara, at death (’pho ba), and said that he would then be able from whom he received the Lam ’bras and other esoteric to proceed directly to the pure land of Khecara without transmissions, and Prajñendraruci, more often known as experiencing the intermediate state (bar do) between lives.

Vīravajra, from whom he also received the transmission of the Kye rdor rgyud gsum and various esoteric instructions.

As his Indian teachers had advised him to do, ’Brog mi later demanded much gold from his own disciples in order to test their sincerity and emphasize the value of the oral instructions. Vīravajra had told ’Brog mi in India, “Material wealth is necessary to bring into alignment the dependently arisen connections of secret mantra.” And Gayadhara also emphasized to ’Brog mi the importance of testing his students with demands for food and wealth.

LUMINOUS LIVES T H E S T O R Y O F T H E E A R LY MASTERS OF THE LAM ‘BRAS TRADITION IN TIBET

BY CYRUS STEARNS

Obviously, ’Brog mi was charismatic and eccentric. His W I S D O M P U B S . O R G

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THE WISDOM PODCAST The Wisdom Podcast features interviews with leading thinkers from the Buddhist world. Each episode takes you on a fascinating exploration of Buddhism and meditation as our guests share stories and discuss life-changing practices, timeless philosophies, and new ways to think and live. Subscribe now via your favorite podcasting app, and don‘t forget to give us a five-star rating if you like what you hear!

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H. H. THE SAKYA TRICHEN Learning from the Lives of Great Masters

BHANTE GUNARATANA A Special Teaching on Mindfulness

BHIKKHU BODHI The Buddha on Social Harmony

H. H. THE 17TH KARMAPA Vegetarianism, Online Education, and Nuns’ Ordination

H. E. THE 12TH ZURMANG GHARWANG RINPOCHE The History of the Zurmang Kagyu Tradition

SHARON SALZBERG Faith and Doubt

JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN Bringing the Dharma from the Masters to the West

BHIKKHU ANĀLAYO Rebirth in Early Buddhism

H. E. THE 7TH LING RINPOCHE The Training of a Tulku

SHAILA CATHERINE Mastering the Jhanas

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ANI CHOYING DROLMA A Voice for Nepalese Buddhist Nuns

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A:

T H E M E A N I N G O F VA J R AYA N A A N E X C E R P T F R O M TA N T R A B Y G E S H E TA S H I T S E R I N G

I

have used Vajrayana and tantra as synonyms. There are in fact several terms that refer to this same practice, each with a slightly different flavor. Although tantra is probably the most common term used for this practice, Vajrayana is perhaps clearer in that it avoids confusion with the Hindu tantra.

“think,” and the suffix tra means “to protect,” so a mantra is something that protects the mind. Hence Mantrayana means “the vehicle that protects the mind.”

There are many different ways to protect our mind, but here we are referring to protecting our mind from the sense of our own ordinariness.

One of the most damaging concepts We don’t generally translate Vajrayana that we live with all the time, carrying into English, although some it around like a huge weight, is the commentators call it the “diamond feeling that we are nothing special, that vehicle.” In Tibetan it is dorje tegpa. we are an impure being with an impure Dorje, or the Sanskrit vajra, is a word nature. In modern psychological terms, that comes up frequently in Mahayana we might call this “baggage.” We have Buddhism. There is no exact English all seen people who are crippled by a translation. Although it is sometimes low sense of self-worth. Even if we are used as a noun to describe the fivenot like that ourselves, our own sense of spoked implement used with the bell in Image courtesy of Robin Bath limitation still blocks us from achieving Vajrayana practices, in this case it is used our true potential. “I can’t do that” is as an adjective to mean “indestructible” or “inseparable.” our mantra. The Mantrayana kind of mantra protects us “Adamantine” is probably as good a translation as any, from that defeating ordinariness. although I prefer “inseparable,” with its connotation of The great teacher Lama Yeshe says: emptiness and the mind realizing emptiness being one.

Our problem is that inside us there is a mind Tegpa, or the Sanskrit yana, means “vehicle” or “path.” It is a going, “Impossible, impossible, impossible. I can’t, “vehicle” in the sense of being that which carries us from one I can’t, I can’t.” We have to banish that mind from place to another—tegpa literally means “to support”—and a this solar system. Anything is possible. Sometimes “path” in the sense of being the route we follow—in this case, you feel that your dreams are impossible, but to enlightenment. they are not. Human beings have great potential; Therefore, Vajrayana can be defined as “the inseparable they can do anything. The power of the mind is vehicle that will take us to our destination.” In this practice, incredible, limitless. the two wings of Buddhism, method (or compassion) and wisdom (or emptiness), are practiced together, inseparably, within one single mental state. Both are practiced in the TA N T R A Sutrayana, too, but only in alternation; they cannot be B Y G E S H E TA S H I T S E R I N G practiced simultaneously within one mental state. As we will see later, this is why Vajrayana is such an expedient means to enlightenment—it brings bodhichitta and the wisdom realizing emptiness together in an entirely unique way.

The second name often used is Mantrayana. Again, yana tells us it is a vehicle or path. Manas means “mind” or

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chronically ill. I realized that many of these people were in a worse position than I was—if they didn’t go to work, they wouldn’t be able to pay the rent or buy food for their families.

I’d been in the workforce for dozens of years but had never before thought about people being forced to work while not feeling well. As I was contemplating this, I began to breathe in their suffering, which, as a chronically ill person myself, now included my own suffering. Then I breathed out what kindness, compassion, and peace of mind I had to give. To my surprise, the panic subsided and was replaced with a feeling of deep connection to all these people. Even more astonishing was the realization that, as sick and in pain as I was at that moment and as preoccupied as I was about the task awaiting me in less than ten minutes, I was still able to send some thoughts of kindness, compassion, and peace to others on the out-breath.

PRACTICING

TONGLEN WITH

CHRONIC ILLNESS AN EXCERPT FROM HOW TO BE SICK

BY TONI BERNHARD

I

had learned tonglen practice before getting sick, but I didn’t use it very often. Now it’s one of my principal compassion practices. My bond with tonglen occurred on the first day I returned to work, six months after getting sick in Paris.

Like everyone else around me, I couldn’t believe I wasn’t well enough to continue with my profession, at least on a parttime basis. So a half-hour before my scheduled class, Tony dropped me off at the front door of the law school. It was the second week of January 2002. I took the elevator up one floor to my office. I was to teach Marital Property to secondand third-year students. As soon as I sat down in my office chair, I knew I was too sick to be there. I began to panic, so I lay down on a couch in the office.

A few minutes later, I arose from the couch, took a chair with me, and, for the first time in twenty years, taught a class while sitting down. For the next two and a half years of part-time teaching, I used tonglen in my office, followed by adrenaline in the classroom, to get me through the workweek. Only Tony saw the devastating effect that continuing to work had on me as I went straight from the car to the bed and stayed there until the next class I had to teach.

When I think of those years, tonglen and that couch in my office are inseparable in my mind. I don’t know how I would have survived without both.

Inspired by what had happened that first day back at work, I began to use tonglen all the time. I’d use it while waiting for the results of medical tests related to my ongoing illness. It took me out of my small world—out of exclusive focus on my illness—and connected me with all the people caught up in the medical system who were anxiously waiting to hear the results of tests. It never failed to amaze me that no matter how worried I was, there were always some good wishes, some compassion, and some serenity inside me to send out to others in the same situation. Finding our own storehouse of kindness and compassion is the wonder of tonglen practice.

Gradually, the fear over my test results diminished and I was able to wait with equanimity to see what the world had in store for me next.

HOW TO BE SICK A B U D D H I S T- I N S PI R E D G U I D E F O R T H E C H R O N I C A L LY I L L AND THEIR CAREGIVERS REVISED AND U P D AT E D E D I T I O N

BY TONI BERNHARD

Unexpectedly, my thoughts turned to the millions of people who must go to work every day even though they’re W I S D O M P U B S . O R G

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EMPTINESS DOES NOT MEAN NOTHINGNESS A N E XCER PT FROM NĀGĀRJUNA’S WISDOM

BY BARRY KERZIN

Take, for example, a house. Before we understand the emptiness of a house, we must acknowledge the reality of the perceived house. Everyone agrees there is a house. We can sleep in the house, we can eat in the house, and we can live in the house. Maybe there is a video of the house. The house is real. There has to be a house for there to be an empty house.

After we understand the emptiness of the house, what happens? The house itself does not disappear. The house remains, but our view of the house changes radically.

Before understanding emptiness we viewed the house as existing objectively from its own side. Due to the house existing objectively it becomes an object of attachment or aversion. When we understand the idea of the intrinsically existent house is mistaken, then we understand the house to be merely designated by our mind. The more

Of course there is a basis of designation for the house: the physical combination of some walls, a door, a roof that forms the thing we call “house”—or any other thing, for that matter. But even this basis of designation does not exist intrinsically. The house is mentally created due to our preconceived ideas of a house. Therefore, when we conclude the house is empty, this does not mean that there is no house at all. It means there is no house like the intrinsically existent house we perceived before. We used to perceive the house existing intrinsically, independent of a perceiving mind. Even though such a house does not exist, still there does exist a house conventionally.

The existence of the conventionally existent house depends on the basis of designation, its name, and a mind that designates this name. When these three factors come together, then there is a conventionally existent house. So dependent origination means absence of independent existence. And absence of independent existence is precisely emptiness. Thus, dependent origination and emptiness have the same meaning.

NAGAR JUNA’S WISDOM

A PRACTI TI O NE R’S GU I DE TO

THE MIDDLE WAY BARRY KERZIN, MD Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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But is there still the feeling of a self after meditation? Some teachers say there will be the appearance of the body after meditation, but the body we previously believed to exist objectively no longer appears in the same way. We gain the conviction that the body is like an illusion; it is merely designated by our words and thoughts rather than existing intrinsically and objectively.

convinced we are in a merely designated house, the more our attachment declines.

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A

fter we rise from the meditation on emptiness, intrinsic reality begins to fade. It takes on an illusorylike appearance. Previously, we thought there was an I, a body, and a mind, all of which convincingly appeared to exist objectively, from their own side. They actually appeared as though they were over there, or over here, as if we could point a finger at them. However, after prolonged meditation, nothing appears to exist anymore in the mode that it did before.

N Ā G Ā R J U N A’ S WISDOM A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO T H E M I D D L E WAY

BY BARRY KER ZIN

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F mindfulness at the nose tip, noting the breath at this one point—entering, leaving, entering, leaving.

There’s no need to think of anything special; just concentrate on this simple task for now, having continuous presence of mind. Soon the mind becomes peaceful, the breath refined.

The mind and body become light. This is the right state for the work of meditation.

FINDING INNER BALANCE AN EXCERPT FROM FOOD FOR THE HEART

BY AJAHN CHAH

T

o calm the mind means to find the right balance. If you try to force your mind too much, it goes out too far; if you don’t try hard enough, it again misses the point of balance.

Normally the mind isn’t still; it’s always moving. We must strengthen it. Making the mind strong isn’t like making the body strong. To make the body strong we have to exercise it, to push it. To make the mind strong we make it peaceful, not to go thinking of this and that. For most of us, the mind has never been peaceful; it has never had the energy of samādhi, so we must establish it within a boundary. We sit in meditation, staying with the “one who knows.”

If we force our breath to be too long or too short, we’re not balanced; the mind won’t become peaceful. It’s like when we first start to use a pedal sewing machine. Before we actually sew something, we practice pedaling the machine to get our coordination right. Following the breath is similar.

We don’t get concerned over how long or short, weak or strong it is; we just note it. We simply let it be, following the natural breathing.

When it’s balanced, we take the breathing as our meditation object. When we breathe in, the beginning of the breath is at the nose tip, the middle at the chest, and the end at the abdomen. When we breathe out, it’s the reverse. Simply take note of this path at the nose tip, the chest, and the abdomen.

We take note of these three points in order to make the mind firm, to limit mental activity so that mindfulness and self-awareness can easily arise. When our attention can settle on these three points, we let them go and concentrate solely at the nose tip or the upper lip, where the air passes in and out. We don’t have to follow the breath, but just establish

When sitting in meditation the mind becomes refined, but whatever state it’s in we should try to be aware of it, to know it. Mental activity is there together with tranquility.

There is vitakka. Vitakka is the act of bringing the mind to the theme of contemplation. If there is not much mindfulness, there will not be much vitakka. Then vicāra, the contemplation around that theme, follows. Various weak mental impressions may arise from time to time, but our self-awareness is the important thing—whatever may be happening, we know it continuously. As we go deeper we are constantly aware of the state of our meditation, knowing whether or not the mind is firmly established. Thus, both concentration and awareness are present.

Having a peaceful mind does not mean that nothing happens. Mental impressions do arise. For instance, when we talk about the first level of absorption, we say it has five factors. Along with vitakka and vicāra, pıti (rapture) arises with the theme of contemplation and then sukha (happiness).

These four things all lie together in the mind established in tranquility. They are a single state.

The fifth factor is ekaggatā, or one-pointedness. You may wonder how there can be one-pointedness when there are all these other factors as well. This is because they all become unified on that foundation of tranquility. Together they are called a state of samādhi. They are not everyday states of mind; they are factors of absorption. None of these five characteristics disturb the basic tranquility. There is vitakka, but it does not disturb the mind; vicāra, rapture, and happiness arise but likewise do not disturb the mind.

The mind is therefore one with these factors. This is the first level of absorption.

We don’t have to call it jhāna (absorption)—first jhāna, second jhāna, and so on. Let’s just call it “a peaceful mind.”

As the mind becomes progressively calmer it will dispense with vitakka and vicāra, leaving only rapture and happiness.

FOOD FOR THE HEART THE COLLECTED TEACHINGS OF AJAHN CHAH

BY A JAHN CHAH

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One day, just to start the ball rolling, I informed the head monk that I wanted to take the five precepts and to take refuge with the abbot, officially converting to Buddhism and declaring the abbot my teacher, which would involve moving into the Buddhist Lecture Hall. A couple of days later the abbot approached me to let me know that there was going to be a refuge ceremony in a few minutes. He asked me if I really wanted to do it. I told him I was sure.

He smiled and returned to his tiny room in the back. The ceremony was about to begin when one of the American monks rushed out and told me that if I wanted to take refuge I’d have to shave my beard.

MY EGO HIT THE FLOOR AN EXCERPT FROM TOUCHING GROUND

BY TIM TESTU

Image courtesy of Dharma Realm Buddhist Association

W

ith Master Hsuan Hua, I had found a rare opportunity to transcend the normal boundaries of human experience. It seemed like I had been viewing the world like a frog inside a deep well—looking up at a little circle of sky all his life, convinced that was the extent of the universe, not knowing of the vast empty space out there. Now I had found an experience unavailable to most people, and I wanted to take advantage of it. I wanted to end the cycle of birth and death. I wanted to be able to enter a state of unending samadhi, to develop spiritual penetrations like the abbot. I wanted to become a person of the Way without a mind—a living dead man, one who has cut off the basis of affliction, who is vitally alive and centered in the Now, stripped of anxieties and attachments, and who has accomplished the shift of identity from the impermanent self to infinite nature. I wanted a heart stretched beyond the limited view of self unto its fullest limitless potential, so that inside and outside fused together to become one. I wanted to see the whole universe as just part of my original mind. I wanted to break through the ugly barrel of black qi, burst out of the gloomy mass of conditioned thinking wrapped around my brain. I wanted to live the lives of the cultivators I had read about: I wanted to open enlightenment, spend a lifetime helping others on the path to awakening, then eventually forecast my own death and die without sickness or pain, sitting in the full lotus position.

Now, I had grown quite attached to my beard in the short time I’d had it. It made me seem really rough and masculine, very Northwesty. Dark and curly, it was part of my chosen identity. Suddenly I was being forced to make a choice. What was more important: some scruffy facial hair, or taking refuge with the everlasting triple jewel of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha? I ran into the bathroom and shaved off my beard. I even gave my hair a bit of a trim.

When I came out the ceremony was already up and running.

A couple of other Americans also took refuge. The abbot, using some method known only by himself, gave us names from a choice of about fifty thousand Chinese characters.

It was uncanny, the way the names applied to the people that received them. I was given the name Kuo Yu (he who transgresses, or goes beyond the limit). I loved my new name and was very proud of it, for I had gone beyond the limits all my life and didn’t plan on stopping now.

After the ceremony the master looked at me and started laughing.

“Look at this stupid Westerner!” he said. “He just shaved off his nice beard so he could take refuge with me. Ha!” My face stung with embarrassment, but there was nothing I could do to bring back the beard. I sulked over to a meditation pad to hide my feelings. I’m sure I actually felt a chunk of my ego fall off and hit the floor. My identity was going south, and there was nothing to take its place. My journey on the Buddhist path had officially begun.

TOUCHING GROUND DE VOTION AND DEMONS A L O N G T H E PAT H T O ENLIGHTENMENT

BY TIM TESTU

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A G L O B A L B U D D H I S T F A M I LY AN EXCERPT FROM BUDDHISM: ONE TEACHER, MANY TRADITIONS

BY HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA AND VENERABLE THUBTEN CHODRON

S

ometimes people mistakenly and eighteen unshared qualities of believe that Tibetan an awakened one are described in Buddhism, especially scriptures from both traditions. Both Vajrayāna, is separate from the traditions speak of impermanence, the rest of Buddhism. When I visited unsatisfactory nature, selflessness, and Thailand many years ago, some emptiness. The Sanskrit tradition sees people initially thought that itself as containing the teachings of Tibetans had a different religion. the Pāli tradition and elaborating on However, when we sat together certain key points—for example, by Image courtesy of Olivier Adam and discussed the vinaya, sūtras, explaining true cessation according to abhidharma, and such topics as the thirty-seven aids to the Prajñāpāramitā sutras and the true path according to the awakening, the four concentrations, four immaterial Tathāgatagarbha sutras and some of the tantras. absorptions, four truths of the āryas, and noble eightfold The terms Thai Buddhism, Sri Lankan Buddhism, Chinese path, we saw that Theravāda and Tibetan Buddhism have Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Korean Buddhism, and many common practices and teachings. so on are social conventions. In each case, Buddhism in a

With Chinese, Korean, and many Vietnamese Buddhists, Tibetans share the monastic tradition, bodhisattva ethical restraints, Sanskrit scriptures, and the practices of Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, and Medicine Buddha. When Tibetan and Japanese Buddhists meet, we discuss the bodhisattva ethical restraints and sutras such as the Saddharmapundarīka Sūtra. With the Japanese Shingon sect we share the tantric practices of the Vahradhātu mandala and Vairocanābhisambodhi.

While there are differences in the texts that comprise each canon, there is considerable overlap of the material discussed in them. . . . The Buddha spoke at length about the disadvantages of anger and the antidotes to it in the Pāli suttas (e.g., SN 11:4–5). The teachings for overcoming anger in Śantideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra echo these. One sutta (SN 4:13) recounts the story of the Buddha experiencing severe pain due to his foot having been cut by a stone splinter.

Nevertheless, he was not distressed, and when prodded by Māra, he responded, “I lie down full of compassion for all beings.” This is the compassion generated when doing the taking-and-giving meditation (Tib. tonglen) taught in the Sanskrit tradition, where a practitioner imagines taking the sufferings of others upon himself and giving others his own happiness.

Furthermore, the altruistic intention of bodhicitta so prominent in the Sanskrit tradition is an extension of the four brahmavihāras, or four immeasurables, taught in the Pāli Canon. The Pāli and Sanskrit traditions share many of the same perfections (pāramī, pāramitā). The qualities of a buddha, such as the ten powers, four fearlessnesses,

country is not monolithic and contains many Buddhist practice traditions and tenet systems. Within these, there are subgroups consisting of monasteries or teachers with various affiliations. Some subtraditions emphasize study, others meditation. Some stress practicing serenity (samatha, śamatha), others insight (vipassanā, vipaśyanā), and others both together.

While one country may have many traditions in it, one tradition may also be practiced in many countries.

Theravāda is practiced in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and is also found in Vietnam. As followers of the Buddha, let’s keep these variations in mind and not think that everything we hear or learn about another tradition applies to everyone in that tradition. Similarly not everything we hear about how Buddhism is practiced in a particular country applies to all traditions or temples in that country.

Indeed we are a huge and diverse Buddhist family following the same wise and compassionate Teacher, Śakyamuni Buddha. I believe our diversity is one of our strengths.

BUDDHISM ONE TEACHER, MANY TRADITIONS

BY HIS HOLINESS THE DAL AI L AMA AND VENER ABLE THUBTEN CHODRON

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About Wisdom Wisdom Publications is the leading publisher of contemporary and classic books and practical works on Buddhism, mindfulness, and meditation.

We trace our beginnings to the influential Tibetan teachers Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Lama Yeshe’s vision of “publications for wisdom culture” led to the founding of Wisdom.

We are a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to • connecting you with Buddhist wisdom, • cultivating writers and teachers the world over, • advancing critical scholarship, • preserving and sharing Buddhist literary culture, • and helping people find and engage with the teachers, teachings, and practices for a wise and compassionate life.

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H O! E V E R Y T H I N G I N S A Ṃ S Ā R A A N D N I R VĀ Ṇ A T H AT C A N P O S S I B LY A P P E A R H A S A S I N G L E G R O U N D , T W O PAT H S , A N D T W O R E S U LT S — T H E M I R A C U L O U S D I S P L AY S O F A W A R E N E S S A N D U N A W A R E N E S S .

T H R O U G H T H E A S P I R AT I O N P R AY E R O F S A M A N TA B H A D R A , M AY A L L A W A K E N I N A F U L LY P E R F E C T M A N N E R I N T H E PA L A C E O F T H E D H A R M A D H ĀT U .

THE GROUND OF ALL IS UNCONDITIONED— T H E S E L F - A R I S I N G , I N E X P R E S S I B L E , VA S T S PA C I O U S N E S S W I T H O U T T H E N A M E S “ S A Ṃ S Ā R A ” O R “ N I R VĀ Ṇ A . ” THE AWARENESS OF JUST THIS IS BUDDHAHOOD; UNAWARE, SENTIENT BEINGS WANDER IN SAṂSĀRA. M AY A L L B E I N G S O F T H E T H R E E R E A L M S BE AWARE OF THE REALITY OF THE INEXPRESSIBLE GROUND.

The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra, translated by Karl Brunnhölzl, in A Lullaby to Awaken the Heart: The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra and Its Tibetan Commentaries.

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