Dalai Lama: We All Belong to One Human Family

Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India — Speaking about his own efforts, the spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama urged everyone to be more compassionate and sincere that we are all brothers and sisters belonging to one human family. Thousands of devotees offered 'Tenshuk prayers' for his long life and good health, on Sunday.

"The more we practice altruism and help others, the more we will benefit ourselves. The resultant peace of mind helps us live longer, able to serve humanity longer," His Holiness the Dalai Lama told the gathering, continuing his teachings on Shantideva's 'A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life', in Ladakh, J&K, India, August 21, 2016.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate recommended that devotees pray with a good motivation to live longer in order to have greater opportunity to practise the Buddhadharma, cultivate bodhichitta, and attain Buddhahood. "Right from childhood we are under the influence of destructive emotions. We have an instinct to harm others, to kill insects and so forth, due to our past karma and being habitually driven by negative attitudes," His Holiness said.

"From the beginning, we are accustomed to being ignorant about reality and adopt a self-cherishing attitude. Now, due to encountering the teaching of the Buddha, we are awakening from the slumber of ignorance. Therefore, we should try to generate the awakening mind of bodhichitta. In the immediate short term it will bring us peace of mind and better health, while in the longer term it will ensure that we take a higher rebirth."

Thousands of devotees including monks and nuns, led by Ganden Tri Rinpoche, performed ceremonial prayers for His Holiness's long life and good health. On behalf of the entire people of Ladakh, Ladakh Buddhist Association President Tsewang Thinles expressed thanks to His Holiness for coming and showering his blessings on them. He further requested His Holiness to visit Ladakh again and again in the future.

"Every living being needs happiness including animals therefore, respecting others and understanding their problem create happiness," the spiritual leader said while expressing about the benefits of Bodhitta. He said the spirit of awakening motivates the Bodhisattava way of life and explains the means of cultivating and sustaining this altruistic aspiration.

Mentioning about the cause of suffering the spiritual head said those desiring to escape from suffering hasten right toward suffering. He satisfies with all joys those who are starving for happiness and eliminates all the sorrows of who are afflicted in many ways.

"Every prayer does not depend upon faith, prayer has to be understood properly and we should have a clear mind and spirit to attain teachings," His Holiness said in his sermon.

Appealing the devotees particularly the monks and nuns not to have blind faith without studying Buddhist scriptures and philosophy, he said, adding wearing robes of monks and adhering to monastic ritual may help in the propagation of Dharma teachings but it won't help in substance of Buddhism to have a meaningful life.

"From the beginning, we are befriended with ignorance about reality of things and we absorb self cherishing act now due to Buddha teaching, we are awakening from sleep of ignorance," he said, adding "we should practice Bodhichitta, the altruistic thought to help other to focus on enlightenment of Buddhahood.

The spiritual leader reiterated that Buddhism has connection with science and said that in the twentieth century scientists focused on externalmatter but towards 21st century, scientists also started giving importance to internal emotions, which affects, the physical aspect of our body.

"These prayers made with great faith and devotion will help me live longer, giving me the opportunity to work for the welfare of all sentient beings,"His Holiness said, responding to their request that His Holiness will visit Ladakh in the near future again.

On 21st August, the last day of the four days of public teachings, His Holiness conferred an Avalokiteshvara empowerment. In the preamble he encouraged Buddhists among his listeners to adopt a vegetarian diet and curtail their use of alcohol. The spiritual leader of Tibet urged everyone to be more compassionate and sincere and to recognise that "we are all brothers and sisters belonging to one human family."

original link & photos: http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/international/5152-we-all-belong-to-one-human-family-says-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama

Dalai Lama Teaches The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment

Thiksey, Ladakh, J&K, India, 11 August 2016 - This morning, the sky was cloudy as His Holiness the Dalai Lama drove to the teaching ground at Thiksey, where thousands of people had gathered to hear the teaching, receive the Long Life Empowerment and participate in the Offerings and Prayers for His Holiness’s Long Life. His Holiness began by announcing the presence among them of a Thai Bhikkhu who he met the day before.

“He follows the Pali tradition which first recorded the Four Noble Truths and the 37 Factors of Enlightenment—the foundation of all Buddhist teachings. We also have the Vinaya, the code of monastic discipline in common. Indeed, both the Pali and Sanskrit traditions of Buddhism uphold the Three Collections of the Teachings and the practice of the Three Higher Trainings: morality, concentration, and wisdom.

"Although these are fundamental to our tradition too, we somehow overlook them in favour of deity yoga practice. Yet they are the foundations necessary for doing tantric deity practice. Deity yoga will only be effective if we cultivate the practices of the awakening mind of bodhichitta and an understanding of emptiness.”

His Holiness went on to say that having faith is not enough, following the teachings of the Buddha requires reason and understanding, without which Buddhism will not last long in the world. He added that he is inclined to change the order of the Stages of the Path approach and begin with Special Insight rather than the importance of Reliance on Spiritual Teacher. Following the traditional order and suggesting that if you do not follow the Lama’s instruction you will go to hell risks filling the students with fear instead of enthusiasm. His Holiness said the Buddha’s teaching about suffering and its origin is not intended to cause fear and anxiety. His explanation of true cessation achieved by following the true path is a source of joy.

His Holiness was forthright:

"I am being sincere and straightforward with you. With regard to the cause of Tibet and keeping the Buddhadharma alive, we are at a critical juncture. Since you show your devotion to the teaching of the Buddha, I insist that you study it.”

His Holiness remarked that by cultivating the awakening mind of bodhichitta and the wisdom understanding emptiness we can counter our extreme self-cherishing attitude and misconceptions of true existence. He observed that he finds it helpful to engage the four establishments of mindfulness in connection with the four noble truths such that the mindfulnesses of body, feeling, mind and phenomena lead respectively to an awareness of true suffering, true origin, true cessation and true path.

Alignment of mindfulness of phenomena with the true path yields a direct realisation of emptiness, which he said Nagarjuna alludes to when he says, "Fabrication is ceased by emptiness". Khunnu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen clarified this as, "Fabrication ceases within emptiness". Je Tsongkhapa also writes that when a yogi attains total absorption in emptiness all the defilements in his or her mind are said to dissolve within the empty nature of his or her mind itself; they do not go anywhere else, but simply disappear within the sphere of emptiness. His Holiness concluded:

“Meditating on the emptiness of your own mind is more powerful and significant than meditating on the emptiness of an external object like a pot. It counters your own fundamentally distorted conception of reality. If your realisation of emptiness is coupled with bodhichitta, you can achieve Buddhahood. And we need both bodhichitta and wisdom understanding emptiness in order to make the practice of deity yoga effective.”

His Holiness resumed his reading of the ‘Lamp for the Path’ at the point where it explains developing the aspiration for enlightenment. In preparation for the rite for generating the awakening mind he lead a recitation of the seven-limb prayer with a verse from the ‘Prayer of Samantabhadra's Noble Conduct’:

Whatever little wholesome energies I have collected 

By prostrating, making offering, confession, rejoicing, 

Requesting to give teaching, and requesting not to pass away

I dedicate all of them to attain full awakening.

Prior to the ceremony for generating aspiring and engaging bodhichitta His Holiness gave Upasaka/Upasaki precepts to those interested among the lay people. He gave the bodhisattva vows, asking those assembled to repeat the following verses three times after him:

I seek refuge in the Three Jewels.

I confess all misdeeds individually.

I rejoice in the virtues of all beings.

I take to heart the Buddha’s enlightenment....

He encouraged his listeners to consider the great significance of the bodhisattva vows as they repeated:

Having developed the intention for highest enlightenment

I shall invite all sentient beings as my guests

And I shall engage in the delightful practices of bodhisattvas ….     

He reminded them that they should know the 18 Root Downfalls and 46 Secondary Infractions avoiding which constitute the bodhisattva’s vows, but stressed that the essence of them all is to restrain selfishness. He told them how fortunate he felt to be able to encourage thousands of people to generate the aspiring bodhichitta, to take the bodhisattva vows and venture into the great practices of the bodhisattvas.

His Holiness conferred the Long Life Empowerment—the Wish-fulfilling Wheel of White Tara. He advised that on a practical level living a long life depends on maintaining hygiene and good health. From a spiritual point of view, however, the practice of bodhichitta and wisdom understanding emptiness protect us from obstacles and help create favourable conditions for spiritual progress.

"If you wish to have more friends,” he said, “you should cultivate bodhichitta. You will attract friends without having to seek them out. If you prefer to make enemies of people, harbour malicious thoughts towards them and they will naturally become hostile to you.

"What is of utmost importance is to feel determined to achieve a transformation of your mind. This is what the teachings I have given over these two days are meant for."

To conclude the day’s events, Thiksey Rinpoche led the community of monks, nuns and Ladakhi lay people in making prayers that His Holiness lives long based on the rite related to the Sixteen Arhats.

original link with photos http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/1433-teaching-the-lamp-for-the-path-to-enlightenment-a-longevity-empowerment-and-a-long-life-offering

Training the Mind: Verse 3

In all my deeds may I probe into my mind,

And as soon as mental and emotional afflictions arise-

As they endanger myself and others-

May I strongly confront them and avert them.

Verse 1
Verse 2

This verse really gets to the heart of what could be called the essence of the practice of the buddhadharma. When we talk about Dharma in the context of Buddhist teachings, we are talking about nirvana, or freedom from suffering. Freedom from suffering, nirvana, or cessation is the true Dharma. There are many levels of cessation--for example, restraint from killing or murder could be a form of Dharma. But this cannot be called Buddhist Dharma specifically because restraint from killing is something that even someone who is nonreligious can adopt as a result of following the law. The essence of the Dharma in the Buddhist tradition is that state of freedom from suffering and defilements (Skt. klesha, Tib. nyonmong) that lie at the root of suffering. This verse addresses how to combat these defilements or afflictive emotions and thoughts. One could say that for a Buddhist practitioner, the real enemy is this enemy within--these mental and emotional defilements. It is these emotional and mental afflictions that give rise to pain and suffering. The real task of a buddhadharma practitioner is to defeat this inner enemy. Since applying antidotes to these mental and emotional defilements lies at the heart of the Dharma practice and is in some sense its foundation, the third verse suggests that it is very important to cultivate mindfulness right from the beginning. Otherwise, if you let negative emotions and thoughts arise inside you without any sense of restraint, without any mindfulness of their negativity, then in a sense you are giving them free reign. They can then develop to the point where there is simply no way to counter them. However, if you develop mindfulness of their negativity, then when they occur, you will be able to stamp them out as soon as they arise. You will not give them the opportunity or the space to develop into full-blown negative emotional thoughts. The way in which this third verse suggests we apply an antidote is, I think, at the level of the manifested and felt experience of emotion. Instead of getting at the root of emotion in general, what is being suggested is the application of antidotes that are appropriate to specific negative emotions and thoughts. For example, to counter anger, you should cultivate love and compassion. To counter strong attachment to an object, you should cultivate thoughts about the impurity of that object, its undesirable nature, and so on. To counter one's arrogance or pride, you need to reflect upon shortcomings in you that can give rise to a sense of humility. For example, you can think about all the things in the world about which you are completely ignorant. Take the sign language interpreter here in front of me. When I look at her and see the complex gestures with which she performs the translation, I haven't a clue what is going on, and to see that is quite a humbling experience. From my own personal experience, whenever I have a little tingling sense of pride, I think of computers. It really calms me down!

These are the first three verses from the Eight Verses of Training the Mind, and commentary by His Holiness the Dalai Lama that was given on November 8, 1998 in Washington D.C. Click here for Verse 4.