Dalai Lama Observes the Day of Miracles

Observing the Day of Miracles
February 19, 2019

Thekchen Chöling, Dharamsala, HP, India - The skies were clearing this morning after continuous overnight rain had left the ground wet underfoot and deposited fresh snow on the mountains and hills behind Dharamsala.

A sharp fresh breeze blew as His Holiness the Dalai Lama was escorted by yellow hatted monks playing horns, swinging censers and bearing a ceremonial yellow umbrella from his residence to the Tsuglagkhang. The yard and areas around the temple were packed with people and His Holiness returned their greetings as he walked through. Seated inside the temple were monks as well as retired and serving members of the Central Tibetan Administration.

His Holiness took his seat on the throne and the burly chantmaster declaimed the Heart Sutra and the long prayer to the Lam Rim lineage lamas, including the Kadampa masters, in deeply resonant tones.

“We’re gathered on this special day on which we celebrate the Buddha’s having performed miracles at Shravasti in response to a challenge from six rival spiritual teachers,” His Holiness explained. “In Tibet Je Tsongkhapa established this celebration as part of the Great Prayer Festival or Mönlam Chenmo. After some time it lapsed, but was revived once more during the time of Gendun Gyatso, the 2nd Dalai Lama.

“We weren’t able to celebrate these occasions during our first couple of years in exile, but re-established the custom as soon as we could after that. I decided to hold today’s teaching in the temple rather than down in the yard because it’s so cold today and because we’ll be meeting here to listen to the ‘Essence of the Middle Way’ over the coming days.”

Reading the Jataka Tales, accounts of the Buddha’s former lives, is part of the Great Prayer Festival. Yesterday, the reading had reached the story of Maitribala. Today, His Holiness began to read the story of Vishvantara, Prince of the Sibis, the life that preceded his birth as a Prince of the Shakyas. An accomplished exponent of generosity, the Prince is described as follows: “Though a youth, he possessed the lovely placidity of mind proper to old age; though he was full of ardour, his natural disposition was inclined to forbearance; though learned, he was free from conceit of knowledge; though mighty and illustrious, he was void of pride.”

His Holiness remarked that although the Buddha lived and taught more than 2500 years ago, there is still interest in his teachings. As do all other religious traditions, Buddhism encourages the practices of love and compassion, patience and tolerance. Different traditions propound different philosophical points of view to support such practice. Theistic traditions speak of a creator God embodying infinite love, qualities the faithful are inspired to emulate.

Non-theistic traditions observe the law of causality that to give help brings happiness and doing harm brings trouble. As social animals dependent on the communities in which they live human beings need to cultivate compassion. Followers of religion, His Holiness observed, should respect each other’s traditions while maintaining faith in their own.

“Buddhist teaching, like other traditions, commends us to take care of others, but what is different is that it expounds selflessness—that there is no independent self. Traditions that speak of an atman, a self independent of the aggregates or body/mind combination, explain that that is what goes from life to life. Buddhism rejects this and states that what goes from one life to the next is the subtle mind.

“In his first round of teachings the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths. In the second round, as part of the Perfection of Wisdom, he explained that things are empty of intrinsic existence because they are dependently arisen. The self has no intrinsic existence because it is merely designated on the basis of the aggregates.

“During the third round, because there were people who could not yet accept the import of the perfection of wisdom and were at risk of falling into nihilistic views, the Buddha taught the sutra known as the ‘Unravelling of the Thought’. He also explained Buddha nature. Whereas in the second round of teachings he had referred to the objective clear light, during the third round he mentioned the subjective clear light that is also the basis of tantric practice.”

His Holiness quoted a verse that expresses the Buddha’s thought after enlightenment. 'Profound and peaceful, free from complexity, uncompounded luminosity—I have found a nectar-like Dharma. Yet if I were to teach it, no-one would understand what I said, so I shall remain silent here in the forest.' He clarified that ‘profound and peaceful’ refers to the first round of the Buddha’s teachings; ‘free from complexity’ refers to content of the second round, while ‘uncompounded luminosity’ refers to the third round.

The Buddha rejected the idea of an atman, a single, autonomous, permanent self. Nagarjuna elucidated this in his ‘Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way’, as can be seen in the first chapter. Chapter 26 explains the 12 links of dependent arising, beginning with ignorance. How things lack intrinsic existence is revealed in chapter 18 and chapter 24 shows that this is because they are all dependently arisen.

That which is dependently arisen

Is explained to be emptiness.

That, being a dependent designation,

Is itself the middle way.

There does not exist anything

That is not dependently arisen.

Therefore, there does not exist anything

That is not empty.

Through the elimination of karma and mental afflictions there is nirvana.

Karma and mental afflictions come from conceptual thoughts.

These come from mental fabrication.

Fabrication ceases through emptiness.

His Holiness pointed out that understanding things to be empty of intrinsic existence loosens our anger and attachment towards them. He reported that Indian nuclear physicist Raja Ramana had told him that the quantum physics notion that nothing has any objective existence seems to be new, but was anticipated long ago by Buddhist and other Indian thinkers. He added that American psychiatrist Aaron Beck’s observation that the negative light in which we hold someone or something with which we are angry is 90% mental projection—this also complies with Nagarjuna’s thought.

“It’s not enough just to cultivate the awakening mind of bodhichitta,” His Holiness said, “you also need the wisdom that understands that things have no independent or intrinsic existence. In this connection, Je Tsongkhapa made the request, ‘May I overcome all doubts by employing the fourfold reasoning’. To overcome wrong views, we need to study books like Nagarjuna’s ‘Fundamental Wisdom’, Chandrakirti’s ‘Entering into the Middle Way’ and Bhavaviveka’s ‘Essence of the Middle Way’. Then analyse and compare what they have to say. This is why faith is not enough, we need to use reasoned analysis.

“In Tibet we acknowledged a group of Indian masters known as the Six Ornaments and Two Supremes, but since such masters as Chandrakirti and Shantideva were left out, I composed a Praise to the Seventeen Nalanda Masters to include them.”

Resuming the story of Prince Vishvantara, His Holiness told of his great generosity and how a neighbouring king decided to test and take advantage of it by asking him to give away his majestic white elephant. Ministers were sent to make the request. Prince Vishvantara suspected that this was the ‘miserable trick of some king’, but ‘his attachment to righteousness did not allow him to be frightened by the lie of political wisdom’. He dismounted from the elephant and agreed to give it away. His own father’s ministers, angered by the loss this represented to their kingdom, complained to the prince’s father the king, resulting in the prince’s banishment.

His Holiness mentioned that the Kadampa tradition consisted of three lineages. Of these the Scriptural Lineage focussed on six texts—the Jataka Tales and the Tibetan equivalent of the Dhammapada, the Udanavarga. Also included were Shantideva's ‘Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life' and ‘Compendium of Training', Asanga's ‘Bodhisattva Grounds' and Maitreya's ‘Ornament of Sutras'. Of these, the first two, the Jataka Tales and the Udanavarga provided the basis for faith. He went on to cite Haribhadra’s description of two kinds of practitioner, those who start with faith and the more intelligent who start with reason.

As he took up the ‘Eight Verses for Training the Mind’ His Holiness remarked that bodhichitta is cultivated on the basis of reason. This short text contains instructions not only for cultivating bodhichitta, but also for developing a view of reality. His Holiness stated that he first received an explanation of it from Tagdrag Rinpoché and later from Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché. As he read through the verses, he commented that when we give to the poor we should do so respectfully; we should treasure ill-natured trouble-makers and give the victory to others, regarding enemies as precious teachers. We should cultivate the practice of ‘giving and taking’ and regard all things as like illusions, asking ourselves whether things really exist the way they appear.

Turning to Je Tsongkhapa’s ‘In Praise of Dependent Arising’ His Holiness stressed that the root of all suffering is ignorance. In the course of reading through the verses, he recounted the story of Je Rinpoché’s having a vision of Manjushri who gave him instructions. When Je Rinpoché told him he had difficulty understanding them, Manjushri told him to study the classic texts and to engage in practices of purification and accumulation of merit. To do this he recommended he go into retreat.

Because Je Rinpoché was teaching a large group of students at the time, some friends told him that to break off and go into isolated retreat might attract criticism. When this was reported to him, Manjushri retorted, “I know what’s best for you to help other beings.” Consequently, with eight close disciples, Tsongkhapa entered a long retreat at Chadrel Hermitage in 1392. He had a dream of Nagarjuna and his disciples. One of them, who he identified as Buddhapalita, came forward and touched a book to his head. Next day, while reading ‘Buddhapalita’ Je Rinpoché gained a subtle insight into emptiness and dependent arising’s being simultaneous and concurrent. As a result he developed the special respect for the Buddha that is expressed in this text.

Next, His Holiness gave a reading of his Praise to the 17 Masters of Nalanda. He gave particular emphasis to the kindness of Shantarakshita and Kamalashila who were responsible for establishing the Nalanda Tradition with its combination of logic and philosophy in Tibet.

“In the past we Tibetans lived in isolation,” His Holiness observed, “but coming into exile has enabled us to share the Nalanda Tradition and its basis in reason with others. This is an inspiration to Tibetans in Tibet, who rejoice that our traditions will not die out. Meanwhile, we in exile take inspiration from those Tibetans’ unflinchingly determined spirit.

“Keeping our knowledge and traditions alive is a source of pride and those from the CTA who have contributed to this can feel they have made their lives meaningful. There will be a sunny day for Tibet and the time when it will come is not far off. There are no reports that the great masters who wrote the Thirteen Classic Texts that we study sat chanting in deep voices—they employed analysis and wrote about what they understood. Monks of the seats of learning in South India belong to this tradition and should keep it up.”

His Holiness concluded by reciting the following verses from Nagarjuna’s ‘Precious Garland’:

May I always be an object of enjoyment

For all sentient beings according to their wish

And without interference, as are the earth,

Water, fire, wind, herbs, and wild forests.

May sentient beings be as dear to me as my own life,

And may they be dearer to me than myself.

May their ill deeds bear fruit for me,

And all my virtues bear fruit for them.

As long as any sentient being

Anywhere has not been liberated,

May I remain [in the world] for the sake of that being

Though I have attained highest enlightenment.

From the temple His Holiness walked back to his residence smiling and waving to members of the crowd as he went, stopping here and there to have a word with an old friend.

photos and original text: https://www.dalailama.com/news/2019/observing-the-day-of-miracles

Dalai Lama Celebrates the Day of Miracles

Celebrating the Day of Miracles

Thekchen Chöling, Dharamsala, HP, India - The courtyard of the Tsuglagkhang, the Main Tibetan Temple in Dharamsala, was packed with people, Tibetans and others, who had gathered to listen to His Holiness the Dalai Lama this morning. He was escorted from his residence to the throne set up beneath the Temple under the shade of a huge ceremonial umbrella, to the stirring accompaniment of chanting monks. After His Holiness had taken his seat, the Heart Sutra was recited while tea and sweet rice were served.

After reciting a verse calling on gods, demigods and others to listen to the teaching, His Holiness also repeated Nagarjuna’s verse,

Homage to Gautama
Who, through compassion,
Taught the exalted Dharma,
Which leads to the relinquishing of all views.

“Today,” he began, “is the Day of Miracles, celebrated as part of the Great Prayer Festival that has been held in Lhasa for almost 600 years. It commemorates an occasion during the Buddha’s life when he defeated other ascetics in a display of miraculous feats.

“Gods or human beings, we all want to be happy and the root of happiness is in the mind. Liberation may take some time, but we can all find peace of mind if we pay attention to it here and now. Even animals, when they are not in danger, remain relaxed and at peace. What makes us upset is anger, fear and suspicion. It’s the unruliness of our minds that makes us unhappy. The ancient Indian traditions saw dealing with mental afflictions as more important than cultivating sensory pleasure. The Buddhas don’t wash away misdeeds and mental afflictions with water, they show us how to understand reality as it really is—that is how we can overcome them.

“We tend to see things as existing independently on their own part, and when they are attractive we become attached to them. When somehow our access to them is disrupted we get angry. American psychologist Aaron Beck explained to me that in observing people, who he described as prisoners of anger, he saw that they viewed the object of their anger as totally negative. However, he judged that 90% of this response was their own mental projection. Nagarjuna stated similarly that the elimination of karma and mental afflictions, which arise due to our conceptual exaggerations, leads to liberation. Ignorance is a combination of misconception and exaggeration. And it’s because of insights, such as dependent orignation, that today scientists are taking interest in what the Buddha had to say about the mind.”

His Holiness explained that the Buddha did not teach immediately after his enlightenment because he reflected that no one would understand what he had realized. In due course, however, he taught the nature, function and results of the Four Noble Truths.

We cling to the appearance that things exist independently, he said, a distorted view that the Buddha countered by use of reason. Human nature is compassionate, rooted in the love our mothers show us, without which we would not survive. And yet the world is rife with conflict and problems, which occur when we are overwhelmed by anger and attachment. Secular education based on universal values can help us better understand the flaws in this. On the other hand, the Buddha taught that we can put an end to karma and mental afflictions by challenging our view of true existence through meditation on emptiness.

“We need to know who the Buddha is,” His Holiness continued, “which doesn’t mean being able to identify the major and minor marks of his body, but coming to understand his teaching. The more we familiarize ourselves with his teaching, the more we appreciate how scientific it is.

“The Buddha taught different things to different groups of people at different times. He first explained the Four Noble Truths. In the second turning of the wheel of Dharma he explained the perfection of wisdom, and in the third turning he taught about Buddha nature. The Four Noble Truths included a rough account of selflessness, which the perfection of wisdom explains more subtly. In the ‘Unravelling of Thought Sutra’, part of the third turning of the wheel, he clarified that he taught according to his listeners’ different mental disposition.

“Essentially the Buddha taught how to transform the mind, which involves the use of logic and reason. By seeing through our distorted views we can penetrate our mental afflictions. Just as we preserve our health by following a code of physical hygiene, we need to adopt a sense of mental hygiene to achieve and preserve our peace of mind, here and now.”

Noting that the tradition for commemorating the Buddha on this day includes reading one of the Jataka Tales, the stories of the Buddha’s previous lives, His Holiness observed that the collection was compiled by Aryasura, also known as Ashvaghosha, a student of Aryadeva who was the disciple of Nagarjuna. Today’s story concerned a noble, selfless hare, who lived in the forest where he led other animals, an otter, a jackal and a monkey in particular, along the path of virtue.

After reading the opening of the Jataka Tale, His Holiness annnounced that he would also like to read Je Tsongkhapa’s ‘In Praise of Dependent Origination’, transmission of which he received from the Kinnauri Lama, Rigzin Tempa. It begins with a verse of homage to the Conqueror who saw dependent origination and taught it. It is on the basis of this that we can overcome our distorted view of reality that is the root of our mental afflictions. These mental afflictions, His Holiness stressed, are not of the nature of the mind. He remarked that the perfection of wisdom teachings of the second turning of the wheel deal with the emptiness that is the object clear light, while the third turning of the wheel refers to the subjective clear light, the subtle mind that is used to realize emptiness. This mind of clarity and awareness is the basis of the practice of tantra. All Tibetan Buddhist traditions stress the importance of understanding the nature of the mind.

As His Holiness read through the verses he paused to clarify and observe. Understanding dependent origination helps us overcome ignorance, the first of the twelve links of dependent origination, which can involve not understanding the law of causality, or ignorance of how things are. He observed that ‘dependence’ counters the extreme view of eternalism, while ‘origination’ counters nihilism. We know things exist because they affect us, but they only exist by way of designation. In clarifying dependent origination His Holiness mentioned that a result exists in dependence on its cause, but we can also say that something is only a cause because it has a result. There is a similar relation between a whole and its parts.

“The study of logic prevailed in India and we have continued that tradition in Tibet,” His Holiness observed as he was nearing the end of his reading of the text. “The great texts of Indian Buddhist literature were translated into Tibetan, thereby enriching the Tibetan language, which is now the language in which Buddhist ideas can be most accurately expressed. The Buddhist tradition we have kept alive in Tibet is something like a treasure for the world; it’s something for us to be proud of.

“Even after the political fragmentation of Tibet, the Kangyur and Tengyur collections were a source of unity and harmony. They were found and revered in all three provinces of Tibet, as well as adjacent lands like Mongolia and Ladakh. Although I am not very highly educated, I can appreciate that there is knowledge in this literature that can contribute to a wider conversation. For example, the quantum physics view that things have no objective existence resonates with the views of the Mind Only School. The difference may be that in our tradition we try to use our understanding of how things are to transform the mind, which quantum physicists may not do.

“Je Tsongkhapa applied what he learned in practice. We too have to integrate what we have learned into our own minds. We need to study and reflect so that our faith is based on reason. In the past, Namgyal Monastery, the two tantric colleges of Gyutö and Gyumé and nunneries didn’t peruse the philosophical treatises, but at my urging they have taken up their study to good effect. These monks and nuns have set a bright example for the generations to come.”

Dedication prayers were recited as His Holiness descended from the throne. He then walked back to his residence, greeting friends and well-wishers in the smiling crowd on the way.

Original link & photos: https://www.dalailama.com/news/2018/celebrating-the-day-of-miracles

Dalai Lama: Reading a Jataka Tale on the ‘Day of Miracles’

Dharamsala, HP, India, 5 March 2015 - Since it was the 15th day of the first Tibetan month, the full moon day, early this morning His Holiness the Dalai Lama joined the assembled monks and nuns in the Tsuglagkhang at Thekchen Chöling for the bi-monthly Sojong or ‘restoration and purification’ ceremony. At about 8 o’clock he was escorted down to the courtyard in front of the temple, beneath a ceremonial golden umbrella. While most of the monks and nuns stayed upstairs in the temple, where they could follow the proceedings on a video feed, the temple courtyard was packed with lay-people; Tibetans and visitors from many parts of the world.

After reciting verses of homage to the Buddha, Maitreya, Nagarjuna, Atisha and the lineage gurus, His Holiness began:

“This Great Prayer Festival, which is held at this time every year, was established by Je Tsongkhapa in 1409. Although there have been times when we couldn’t observe it, in 1959, we escaped to India after the festival had taken place in Lhasa. Once in exile we were able to revive it. It reminds us of the Buddha’s great deeds in India. Today in particular we remember the occasion when he defeated six proponents of other doctrines in a display of miracles at Shravasti. There is also a tradition of recalling his deeds in lives prior to his becoming a Buddha, during his career as a bodhisattva, by reading from the Jataka Tales.”

His Holiness mentioned that the Jatakamala and the Tibetan equivalent of the Dhammapada, the Udanavarga, were among the six principal texts of the Kadampa tradition founded by Dromtonpa. These also included Shantideva's ‘Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life' and ‘Compendium of Training', Asanga's ‘Bodhisattva Grounds' and Maitreya's ‘Ornament of Sutras'. He suggested we take inspiration from the bodhisattva’s conduct as related in the Jataka tales.

“For a Buddhist teaching to become a Buddhist practice,” His Holiness advised, “we need to cultivate a good motivation, such as the wish to become enlightened to be able to help all sentient beings. With such a motive, our recitation of prayers and mantras and whatever else we do will be a Buddhist practice. Here in the twenty-first century we place great value on education. As Buddhists we need to be curious and sceptical. We need intelligence and logical analysis. On that basis our faith will be based on reason and we’ll develop a wish to be free of cyclic existence and to become enlightened for the sake of other beings.”

His Holiness quoted the Buddha as saying that his followers should not take his words for granted because he said them. They should check them, analyse his teaching as a goldsmith tests gold. His Holiness pointed out that while great beings founded other religious traditions, none of them encouraged their followers to question and verify their teachings the way the Buddha did.

His Holiness remarked that Tibetan Buddhism as a whole is part of the Nalanda tradition, that Nalanda was the source of Buddhism in Tibet the way a spring in the mountains is the source of a river. He said all the Buddhist traditions in Tibet, and even the Bön tradition today, trace back to Nalanda. He said Tibetans follow the this tradition not only in name, but in closely studying and comparing the works of the great masters from Nalanda University. Since Tibetan masters later compiled books of tenets, Tibetans became well-versed in the different philosophical points of view propounded by these masters.

“We have to examine whether an instruction is beneficial and if we conclude that it is helpful, cultivate it,” he advised. “The Dharma implies something that saves us from suffering, something that holds us back from suffering. It consists of corrective measures we can take to effect transformation within ourselves.”

He explained that as human beings we have minds that enable us to think. Animals largely depend on their five senses, but don’t think very much, whereas neuroscientists today suggest that we have far from fully explored the potential of the human brain. On the other hand it can work against us. His Holiness cited cases he has met of people who have everything they could want on a material level, who nevertheless remain unhappy. Animals that are not in obvious danger are generally quite relaxed compared to human beings caught up in preconceptions and projections that disturb their peace of mind. He suggested we use our marvellous potential to create happiness instead.    

As social animals we need love and affection from birth to survive. We are interdependent; we rely on others throughout our lives. If we show love and affection to others and help them, we help ourselves. Being honest and good-hearted brings trust and trust brings friends.

“All our religious traditions,” His Holiness observed, “teach love, compassion, tolerance and self-discipline. I have many Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu friends who are dedicated to helping others and living in contentment. This much they share, while they differ in their philosophical views. I admire the idea that having been created by a God who embodies infinite love, we have a spark, an inspiration to show others love ourselves. The Buddha, on the other hand, said that what happens is up to us. If we help others, we create happiness. If we do harm the result is suffering.”

His Holiness went on to discuss the 16 attributes of the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. He concluded that the Buddhist philosophical view can be summarized as dependent origination, while Buddhist conduct is non-violence; to avoid doing harm. To understand this requires study.

The reading of the Jataka Tales during the Great Prayer Festival had yesterday reached the Thirtieth tale. Today, His Holiness read from the Thirty-first concerning a Prince who with great courage overcomes an evil being. It ended with the King, the Prince’s father, concluding that his son had the requisite clarity, humility and compassion for others to rule the kingdom and confirming him as his heir.

His Holiness then led the assembly in a short ceremony for generating the awakening mind of bodhichitta based on the common verse:

I go for refuge until I am enlightened
To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Highest Assembly
Due to the collection of merits accumulated by me and by others,
May I achieve enlightenment to benefit all sentient beings.
In conclusion he remarked:

“Just as we rely on food and drink to survive, we need to recall bodhichitta in order to become a Buddha. If you recite this verse regularly it will make your practice effective.

“Those of you who have come from Tibet, others who are still there and Chinese Buddhists, remember that it’s good to recite the mantras of Shakyamuni Buddha, Chenrezig, Tara, Guru Rinpoche and the Seven Line Prayer to him, the Praise to the Twenty-one Taras and Dependent Arising: A Praise of the Buddha by Je Tsongkhapa.”

Formal prayers of dedication were chanted and His Holiness returned to his residence.

Original link with photos http://dalailama.com/news/post/1242-reading-a-jataka-tale-on-the-day-of-miracles