Dalai Lama Says, "Be a Good Human Being."

The Sutra of the Wheel of Dharma and the Rice Seedling Sutra

Bodhgaya, Bihar, India - Heavy fog and bitterly cold conditions in Bodhgaya this morning did nothing to subdue the enthusiasm of the more than 50,000 people gathered on the Kalachakra Maidan to listen to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After a short drive from the Tibetan Temple to the top end of a huge marquee, His Holiness too was in a buoyant mood. He smiled, shook outstretched hands and waved to the crowd as he walked up to the front of the stage.

He greeted several of the distinguished Lamas seated around the throne, among whom were the Ganden Tri Rinpoche, the former Ganden Tripa, the Shartse and Jangtse Chöjeys, the Sakya Gongma Trizin Rinpoche, and Ling Rinpoche, as well as Abbots, former Abbots and Tulkus.

“Indians are the main disciples today,” His Holiness announced, “and we’ll begin with their recitations in Pali and Sanskrit.”

Adults chanted a series of prayers and praises, including the Mangala Sutta, first in Pali. They were followed by a group of schoolgirls and schoolboys who recited the ‘Heart Sutra’ in Sanskrit.

“After the Buddha had attained enlightenment, he declared, ‘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, so I shall remain silent here in the forest.’ One reason for this is that existing Indian spiritual traditions asserted the existence of an independent self, a permanent agent going from one life to the next. The Buddha saw that clinging to the notion of an independent self is the root of all other mental afflictions. After realizing selflessness, he saw that it would be incomprehensible to most people if he were to teach about it.

“Nevertheless, in due course he did teach in Sarnath. Later, on Vulture’s Peak in Rajgriha, he taught that things lack intrinsic existence. During the first turning of the wheel of Dharma he explained the truth of suffering and its origins. Then during the second he elaborated in detail on emptiness. The Unravelling of Thought Sutra records that during the third turning of the wheel, he taught about dependent nature, imputed nature and perfect nature. The absence of imputed nature from dependent nature indicates the perfect nature of emptiness. Also, during the third turning of the wheel, the Buddha touched on Buddha nature and the subjective mind of clear light that is the basis for practice of highest yoga tantra.

“Mahakassapa and his followers preserved the teachings including Vinaya and Abhidhamma that became the Pali tradition. Later, when understanding had grown, Nagarjuna and other disciples examined the teachings in the light of reasoning giving rise to what became the Nalanda Tradition. The teaching of the Buddha has faced its ups and downs, and yet, relying on scriptural authority as well as reasoning and analysis, it still survives today.”

His Holiness discussed how the Buddha gave different teachings according to beings’ mental disposition, inclination and capacity. Sometimes he taught that the person carries the aggregates, much as a porter bears a load as if they were separate from each other. Elsewhere he explained that objects that appear to exist externally are not different from the subjective perception of them. At other times he taught that nothing has any inherent existence. The ‘Heart Sutra’ refers to form as emptiness and emptiness as form.

Having taught different things on different occasions, the Buddha admonished his followers, ‘O monks, just as the wise test gold by burning, cutting and rubbing, Examine my words thoroughly and accept them only after you have investigated them—not just out of respect for me’. His Holiness pointed out that modern scientists do not rely on anything like scriptural authority, they observe and conduct research themselves. Then they verify what they have discovered by comparing it to the findings of others and seek a consensus. Today, scientists are taking interest in what Buddhism has to say, much as Einstein predicted.

His Holiness emphasized that Buddhism originated in India, not in China or Tibet, and that masters of Nalanda like Nagarjuna were Indian too. Therefore, His Holiness said, it was propitious that the main disciples today were Indian. For more than 2000 years Buddhism has spread across Asia, so it would be appropriate if the Nalanda Tradition that has been kept alive in Tibet were to be re-established today in India.

His Holiness observed that India has the distinction of being the one place where all the world’s major religions flourish. Some of these traditions like Brahmanism are theistic and posit a creator; others like some Samkhyas and Jains are non-theistic and are based instead on the principle of causality. Among them, only Buddhism does not assert the existence of an independent self. From West Asia came Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which all believe in a creator god. All these traditions commend love and compassion, tolerance and forgiveness, contentment and self-discipline.

For Buddhism, the conduct of non-violence is important. It also teaches that suffering, pain and pleasure are in our own hands. Action which helps others and makes them happy is regarded as positive. Actions that harm others are negative.

“The various religious traditions have long flourished in India and lived alongside one another in harmony,” His Holiness added. “A secular view according equal regard to all faiths prevails here. We must preserve it. Meanwhile, I am doing my best to revive awareness of ancient Indian knowledge in this country. However, in the long run, the most important thing is to be a good human being.

“Among 7 billion human beings alive today, 1 billion have no interest in religious practice. But even among those who remain, some use religion as grounds for division. For religion to become a source of conflict is really very sad.

“We human beings are social animals, we rely on each other. We are not self-sufficient. We are at peace with one another here, but elsewhere conflict abounds. People are bullying and killing each other. Others are neglected to die of starvation. How can we put up with this when we regularly pray for all beings to be free from suffering? As followers of the Buddha we should ask ourselves every day how we can help others, since we all want happiness and don’t want suffering.

“Because modern education currently has little time for human values, we need to augment it with discussion of love and compassion. Common sense tells us, for example, that an affectionate, compassionate family is happy, whereas a family riven by jealousy and competitiveness is not.”

Turning to the two texts he was to read, the ‘Sutra of the Wheel of Dharma’ and the ‘Rice Seedling Sutra’, His Holiness observed that they both deal with ideas common to all Buddhist teachings. He remarked that the word Dharma has a connotation of holding back as in transforming or reshaping the mind, which is clearly illustrated by this verse:

Commit not a single unwholesome action,
Cultivate a wealth of virtue,
To tame this mind of ours
Is the teaching of all the buddhas.

Whether what we do is unwholesome or counts as virtue depends on the motivation.

His Holiness noted that the Buddha’s teachings can be categorized in terms of scripture and realization. Scriptural instructions are preserved by reading and study, whereas teachings related to realization depend on our engaging in the Three Trainings—ethics, concentration and wisdom.

His Holiness remarked that the Buddha left his family behind when he became a monk, which was not just a matter of changing how he dressed, but of his adopting and putting prevailing teachings into practice. He examined what he heard, contemplated and then meditated on it. This meant, for example, that he engaged in critical analysis of the nature of suffering until he understood it. He pursued the shamatha, a calmly abiding mind, and vipashyana, special insight, that are common to many traditions. Subsequently, the Buddha’s companions when he was engaging in such practice and observing strict austerities became his first disciples.

In the ‘Sutra of the Wheel of Dharma’, the Buddha speaks of having first comprehended suffering and then relinquished it. His Holiness quoted a verse by Nagarjuna,

Through the elimination of karma and mental afflictions there is liberation;
Karma and mental afflictions come from conceptual thoughts;
These come from mental exaggeration;
Exaggeration ceases through emptiness.

He clarified that it is due to our misconception of true existence that suffering arises, but we will not overcome this by offering lamps or performing rituals. It’s analysing and thinking about dependent arising that enables us to overturn these misconceptions. Nagarjuna praised the Buddha for teaching how to overcome wrong views. Je Tsongkhapa praised him for teaching about dependent arising.

In mentioning that the ‘Rice Seedling Sutra’ belongs to the Sanskrit tradition, His Holiness noted once more that he prefers to refer to the Pali and Sanskrit traditions because the terms Mahayana and Hinayana tend to lead to one set of people looking down on another. After all, he remarked, the Sanskrit tradition is built upon the foundations of the Pali tradition.

Beginning to read the ‘Rice Seedling Sutra’, His Holiness made two observations. The sutra concerns a conversation between Shariputra and Maitreya, who sat down together on a huge flat rock, which he appreciates for its down to earth quality. Secondly, a remark in a commentary to the Perfection of Wisdom teachings by the Korean Abbot Wen-tsig suggested that Maitreya’s mother was also called Maitreya, which establishes him as a human being, as well as a celestial bodhisattva, explaining dependent arising.

original link & photos: https://www.dalailama.com/news/2018/the-sutra-of-the-wheel-of-dharma-and-the-rice-seedling-sutra

Long-Life Offering to His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Thekchen Chöling, McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, HP, India, 20 July 2015 - To begin with this morning, His Holiness the Dalai Lama took his seat below the Tsuglagkhang to observe debates performed by monks and nuns from Nepal. They came from Kopan Monastery, Shelkar Chöde, Chuwar Gaden Dropen Ling, Shri Chusang Gompa, Samtenling Drubgön, Thukje Chöling, Serkong Gaden Jamgonling, and Gosok Phuntsok Chöling, as well as two nunneries, Kyirong Thukje Chöling and Kopan Khechö Gakyil Ling.

They also submitted a report of their studies and activities. His Holiness commended them, noting that 40 years ago he had advised that even monasteries engaged mostly in performing rituals and nunneries should introduce programs of study. He told them that they not only need to study, reflect and meditate, they also need to integrate what they know in practice.

From the throne in the Tsuglagkhang, His Holiness announced that eleven different organizations had submitted requests to make a Ten-shug or Long-Life Offering. They included the Gelug Association of Nepal, the Tibetan Youth Congress, people of U-Tsang province, Shang Gaden Chökhor Ling, the Taglung Kagyu Tradition, the Tibetan Women’s Association, the Guchusum Movement, the Ngari Chithun Association, the Lodrik Association of Pokhara, Nepal, the Middle Way People’s Association and the Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Society. Since there was insufficient time for each of them to make a separate offering, they had all been brought together today.

“Today, the fourth of the sixth Tibetan month, is when we celebrate the Buddha’s first teaching,” His Holiness told the packed crowd. “He manifested as an emanation body, which can be seen by ordinary people, and lived the life of a prince. Once he’d seen the four signs - birth, aging, sickness and death - he renounced the royal life and undertook austerities for six years. Meditating on selflessness he attained enlightenment and then sharing what he’d experienced with others, he revealed the path.

“There were three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma. In the first the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths, in the second the Perfection of Wisdom and in the third the nature of the mind and Buddha nature. While the first Turning of the Wheel took place in public, the second was revealed only to a select group of disciples.

“Today, commemorating the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma is an auspicious day. I’ll give a long-life empowerment related to the White Tara Wish-fulfilling Wheel, and along with that we’ll conduct a ceremony for generating the awakening mind. After that you can perform the long-life offering.”

His Holiness spoke about the Tibetan Buddhist tradition having its origins in the Nalanda tradition, which was characterized by a sceptical analysis of the teachings. This was in accord with the Buddha’s own advice to his followers not to accept his teaching out of reverence for him, but only once they had convinced themselves of its integrity through analysis. He said that while the Tibetan word ‘chö’ has a connotation of transformation, the Sanskrit term ‘Dharma’ has a sense of restraint, withholding and protection.

He pointed out that all 7 billion human beings alive today want happiness and don’t want suffering. And yet today’s education systems seem to be dedicated only to material development, which is inadequate. What we need in addition, he said, is a sense of inner peace, mental peace. To achieve that we need to counter our disturbing emotions which are among the factors that destroy it. His Holiness suggested that although circumambulation and prayer have value, they won’t help us overcome ignorance. Only wisdom and intelligence can do that. Although love and compassion are common to all religious paths, only Buddhism teaches a wisdom that overcomes the ignorance that involves a misconception of reality.

“In their report downstairs just now the monks and nuns from Nepal referred to an ongoing dialogue between Buddhism and science. I prefer to talk about a conversation involving Buddhist science and modern science. Where quantum physics says things lack any objective existence, for example, the Mind Only school says nothing has any external existence. What I wonder is whether such an understanding in a quantum physicist’s mind has any effect on his or her disturbing emotions?

“Tibetan Buddhism is vast and profound, but we should cultivate it on the basis of understanding, not on the excuse that it is what our parents believed. When Mao Zedong told me that religion is poison, I think he was referring to following religion with blind faith.

“For forty years or so, I’ve urged monasteries where there was no tradition of study to introduce it. These days I urge lay people to study too and increasingly many are doing so. The Nalanda tradition placed emphasis on logic and epistemology, which deals with the nature, sources and limits of knowledge. We Tibetans have kept it up. This is our treasure; it can be a treasure for the world too.”

His Holiness expressed gratitude for the kindness Tibetans have received from the Himalayan peoples. The many monks who have joined the re-established Tibetan monasteries have derived benefit themselves, but have also been helpful to the tradition. He mentioned Gyumey Lama Umzey, Gyen Lobsang, Shartse Abbot Jangchub Chöden, Chosphel Zotpa and Ganden Tri Rinpoche, Rizong Rinpoche as examples. He also recalled a story from the late Bakula Rinpoche’s childhood at Drepung Monastery in Tibet. When Rinpoche’s teacher scolded him for something Rinpoche apologised and asked to be excused because he came from a borderland. These days, His Holiness remarked, Ladakh is more like a central land.

“Although we are refugees,” His Holiness said, “we have preserved our traditions and shared them with the world.”

When he began to give the White Tara long-life empowerment, including a ceremonial generation of the awakening mind of bodhichitta, he remarked that if we are to put the vast and profound teachings of the Buddha into practice we need to have a long life. He advised that if we can it is important to maintain a clear mind from childhood.

“If you don’t die in the next couple of months, you may be able to create the causes for good rebirth. If you don’t die for the next couple of years, you might be able to create the causes of lasting happiness, “ he said.

The moment the White Tara empowerment was complete, the assembly began to perform the long-life offering. During the customary procession to present symbolic and actual offerings, about 1300 people from the 11 participating organizations passed through the temple, many of them looking eagerly towards the throne in hope of catching His Holiness’s eye. In the course of this happy occasion His Holiness remarked that while many regard their 81st year as unfavourable, for him it has been most auspicious. Long after he had returned to his residence, and despite the rain, people who had taken part in the ceremonies continued to sing and dance in the temple yard.

Original link with photos http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/1302-eleven-organizations-make-a-long-life-offering-to-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama

Teaching the Heart of Wisdom and the Commentary on the Awakening Mind

Tokyo, Japan, 12 April 2015 - The weather was bright once more today and, being a Sunday morning, the streets were relatively empty as His Holiness the Dalai Lama drove across Tokyo to the Showa Joshi Women’s University. People waiting outside to enter the Memorial Hall that was the venue for the teachings were taken by surprise to see him arrive in a car. Many bowed and then waved.

His Holiness took his seat punctually at 9.30 before a capacity audience of 2100. They included 370 Koreans, 120 Mongolians and about 1000 Chinese, mostly from Taiwan with some from the mainland.

“Since most of us customarily recite the Heart of Wisdom Sutra, we’ll have recitations in your various languages,” he announced at the beginning. “Today, let’s have the Korean monks and tomorrow the Japanese.”

After the Korean recitation, His Holiness invited the Chinese to do the same and 1000 voices chanted in steady unison. He explained that at the beginning of teachings he likes to recite the verse of homage from the ‘Ornament for Clear Realization’, in praise of the Perfection of Wisdom. He follows this with the verse of homage from Nagarjuna’s’ ‘Fundamental Wisdom’ in praise of the Buddha and his explanation of dependent origination.

“I’m pleased to see Japanese, Koreans, Mongolians, Taiwanese and Chinese here for these two days of teachings. This hall is part of the Showa Joshi Women’s University, which seems an appropriate setting to explain Perfection of Wisdom teachings, since they are often referred to as the mother of all Buddhas. I also understand that these teachings are being broadcast over the internet and will be available in 39 cinema halls elsewhere in Japan. Welcome to those of you joining us there. The Buddhas teachings refer to phenomena as being like an illusion, so there’s a reminder of that as you pay attention to teachings from an illusion like image of me.”

His Holiness clarified that he would briefly explain the ‘Heart of Wisdom’ and the ‘Commentary on the Awakening Mind’ whose explicit meaning is wisdom. He pointed out that the Madhyamaka view of emptiness combined with the awakening mind of bodhichitta is the antidote to the obstructions to knowledge. He also expressed an intention to read the middle volume of Kamalashila’s ‘Stages of Meditation’, which is apt because it contains a complete survey of the path with special emphasis on concentration and special insight. He also mentioned that tomorrow he intends to give an empowerment and permission of Avalokiteshvara as well as an explanation of the ‘Three Essential Moments’.

Starting with his customary introduction to Buddhism His Holiness said:

“In this 21st century all of us 7 billion human beings are the same in wanting happiness and not wanting to be miserable. This is true of us all, whether we are religious or not. Many of the problems we face we make for ourselves, because we are self-centred and tend to see things from a narrow, short-sighted point of view, which only increases our frustration.”

He said that although there is a stress on education in today’s world, it tends to focus on materialistic goals, preparing students for a materialistic way of life in a materialistic culture. Society all but ignores the mind’s contribution to being happy. We are inclined to anger and frustration because we are not at peace within. What we need is a grounding in inner values. All religious traditions emphasize love and compassion the idea of brotherhood and sisterhood and they take different philosophical approaches to that goal.

Religious traditions are either theistic, stressing a belief in a creator god, or non-theistic, and believing in causality instead. Among the non-theistic traditions, only Buddhism advocates the absence of an independent, intrinsically existent self, asserting that there is no self separate from the body and mind. He said that within Buddhism there is the Pali tradition and the Sanskrit tradition. Both teach about the three trainings in ethics, concentration and wisdom, but differ on how wisdom is defined.

The ‘Unravelling of Thought Sutra’ explains the three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma. The first refers to the teachings recorded in the Pali tradition, while the second and third belong to the Sanskrit tradition. His Holiness clarified that during the first Turning of the Wheel, the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths to do with suffering, its origin, its cessation and the path that are the foundation of his teaching. He went into some detail to explain their 16 characteristics, four characteristics of each truth. He focused particularly on understanding selflessness, the possibility of undermining ignorance and attaining a cessation of suffering. When an understanding of the 16 characteristics of the Four Noble Truths is applied in practice it gives rise to the 37 factors of enlightenment.

Coming back from lunch His Holiness explained that the Heart of Wisdom Sutra belongs to a collection of texts known as the Perfection of Wisdom teachings that in their most extensive form comprise the sutra of 100,000 lines in 12 volumes. In their briefest form they consist of one syllable, ‘ah’. The Heart of Wisdom is generally regarded as consisting of 25 lines. Their explicit meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom is emptiness of intrinsic existence and its implications for the truth of cessation.

“Nagarjuna describes the meaning of cessation as occurring when emptiness overcomes the destructive emotions.Khunu Lama Rinpoche on the other hand explained, and I prefer this, that the destructive emotions dissolve into emptiness. Whereas the Buddha expounded the meaning of emptiness during the second Turning of the Wheel, during the third, he introduced the clear light nature of the mind.”

His Holiness made clear that during his explanation of the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha referred to cessation and liberation in relation to an understanding of the selflessness of persons. One of the key points in the Heart of Wisdom is where it says:

‘Avalokiteshvara ... beheld those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature.’

The key word also, which is absent from the Chinese translation, but is found in the Sanskrit original and its Tibetan translation, indicates the selflessness of phenomena in addition to the selflessness of persons. To say that persons and phenomena are empty of inherent existence is not to say they do not exist at all. The words in the sutra, ‘Form is empty’ refer to the ultimate reality of the object, while the words ‘emptiness is form’ refer to its conventional existence. This is reiterated by the statement: ‘Emptiness is not other than forms and forms are not other than emptiness.’

The reason for seeking an understanding of emptiness is, as Chandrakirti states in his ‘Entering into the Middle Way’, ‘All faults, shortcomings and disturbing emotions arise from the misconception of [an intrinsically existent] self.’ On the basis of such a misconception we grasp at the intrinsic existent of things and generate disturbing emotions towards them, which His Holiness quotes his friend, American psychiatrist, Aaron Beck as saying is 90% our own mental projection.

His Holiness quoted Nagarjuna saying that without understanding the selflessness of phenomena you can’t really understand the selflessness of persons. In conclusion he cited the Heart of Wisdom itself:

“All the Buddhas of the past, present and future have depended, do and will depend upon the perfection of wisdom. Thereby they became, are becoming and will become unsurpassably, perfectly and completely awakened Buddhas.’

Turning to Nagarjuna’s ‘Commentary on the Awakening Mind’, His Holiness gave a concise outline. In verses 4-9 the text refutes non-Buddhist points of view. Verses 10-24 repudiates the views of Buddhist lower schools of thought and verses 25-44 address the views of the Mind Only school. In verse 48 Nagarjuna shows that emptiness is the view that cuts off misconceptions at the root.

[48]
Therefore constantly meditate on emptiness:
The basis of all phenomena,
Tranquil and illusion-like,
Groundless and destroyer of cyclic existence.

From verse 63 there is an explanation of the Madhyamaka view, exemplified by verse 68:

[68]
The conventional is taught to be emptiness;
The emptiness itself is the conventional;
One does not occur without the other,
Just as [being] produced and impermanent.

From verse 72 the practice of generosity and the cultivation of the awakening mind of bodhichitta are described, showing how understanding of emptiness becomes a motive factor for developing bodhichitta. Then, from verses 76 - 85 is an account of how to develop the practice of exchanging self and others. At which point, His Holiness announced:

“That’s all for today. Good night. We’ll meet again tomorrow.

link to original article with photos http://dalailama.com/news/post/1264-teaching-the-heart-of-wisdom-and-the-commentary-on-the-awakening-mind