No More Learning

Then there is the form associated with the tongue, the faculty of taste. This is like a half-moon on the surface of the tongue.
Finally there is the kind of form that is the faculty of bodily feeling. It resembles the skin of the rek najam [reg na 'jam], a bird in India which has fine down covering every part of its body.
The first of the jive sense objects is form as object of the visual sense. Visual objects can be classified in two ways: by color and by
shape. With regard to colors, four are basic: red, yellow, blue, and white. Included among color phenomena are dust, smoke, sunlight, shadow, and mist. All such appearances are modes of form as color. The shimmer that can be seen between the blue of the sky and the surface of the earth is also considered to be an example of this type of form. Even the sky itself, which has no shape, does nevertheless have a color, and is therefore also classified as form. Some colors are seen as pleasant, some as unpleasant, and some as neutral.
The other way of looking at visual form is with regard to shape-short, long, wide, thin, round, semi-circular, and so on. All the different shapes of inner and outer appearance we're familiar with are permutations of the category of form-as-shape. Some shapes are pleasant, some unpleasant, and some neutral.
The second type of sense object is sound, i. e. , the objects perceived by the ear. Some sounds are made by sentient beings, human or animal, and can be vocal sounds or such sounds as finger snaps. Then there are sounds which do not arise from the activity of sentient beings, such as the sounds of earth, water, fire, wind, or rock. There are also sounds produced by the interaction of sentient beings and inanimate objects, such as the beating of a drum: the drum only produces a sound when struck by a being. Some sounds express meaning to sentient beings, others do not, such as the sounds of the elements. Amongst the sounds that express meaning are names and words used by worldly beings. There are also names and concepts used by Exalted Beings to express excellent and incon- ceivable meanings such as Body of the Buddha, Buddha Realm, and so on. In general, sounds can be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.
The third category of sense object is smell, in all its great vari- ety. Scents can be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Further, there are inherent smells, the natural smells of an object such as san- dalwood, and compounded smells, such as that of incense.
Fourth are the tastes, the objects of the tongue. Six types are basic: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, pungent, and astringent. Through the mixture of these six arise many subclassifications. In general we can say that there are delicious tastes, bad tastes, and neutral tastes.
The fifth class of sense objects is the tactile, objects felt by the body. These can be categorized as causal feelings related to the four
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elements, and the seven resultant feelings: soft, rough, heavy, light, hunger, thirst, and cold. There are many other sorts of tactile sensa- tions the body can experience, such as feelings of suppleness, tightness, relaxation, satisfaction, and feelings of illness, age, and death. A further distinction is made between tactile objects that are external to the body and those that are internal.
The eleventh class of form includes, firstly, atomic form, which, although it is matter can only be known by the mind but not seen. Then there is imagined form, such as reflected images and dreams. Then there is the kind of form seen through the applied power of meditation, in samadhi. There are also objects which are created through the power of the mind alone. At the stage of Bud- dhahood, one understands that in reality the four elements do not exist; therefore form that does not consist of the elements can be created, such as that in the Buddha Realms. Another instance of this eleventh type is a form that can't be made known by ap- pearance; this is said to be involved in the taking of vows. From the time a vow is taken until the time it is broken or relinquished, a special type of form is involved. Imagine a monk who has taken vows
but is not wearing any sort of monastic robes. Looking at him we don't know that he's a monk and has taken vows. But if his vows aren't broken, even though we can't see them, there still exists the imperceptible form of the vow, that which can't be made known by appearance.
Vows also include evil vows. I f someone says, "I'll pay you a cer- tain amount of money if you kill so-and-so," and you promise to commit the murder, you've taken a vow. Until you actually ac? complish the deed, you're holding the vow.
The type of form which is generated by the taking of vows, whether good or evil, is inconceivably effective and extremely powerful. Even during sleep, or when the mind wanders and you seem to have forgotten about it, the vow still remains. But once the conscious decision is made not to keep the vow any more, and not to follow through with the plan, then the vow-form is destroyed. Therefore, being very careful about deeds of virtue and unvirtue is of great benefit, since such deeds are crucial to keeping vows. Basically, this vow-form is classified as form because its substance affects body and speech.
The collection of atoms of body and speech can also indirectly communicate knowledge to others. As a parallel: if pebbles are ar- ranged to make the outline of a horse we don't see little stones, we see a horse, even though no horse is actually present, and we react ac? cordingly. We see the horse rather than what communicates it. Because the form communicated is not the actual stones seen, this is another aspect of imperceptible form.
The ten types of form (the five sense faculties and their objects) can also be discussed in terms of their wide range of sizes. Working upward from the "most minute" particle, seven of which make one "minute" particle, and so on, we come to successively larger par? tides with names like "iron," "water," "rabbit," "sheep," "ox," "light ray" (equivalent to a dust mote in sunlight). Some larger units are "finger joint," 24 of which make one "cubit," four of which make one fathom ("bowspan"); 500 bowspans make one "earshot," eight of which make one yojana.
What we have discussed so far is related to the three realms of samsara (the Desire, Form, and Formless Realms). Within the Desire Realm there exist all five sense faculties and all five sense ob? jects. However, in the realm of the higher gods there is no ear and no hearing, because the gods are able to perceive the analogues to sound without that particular sense. Thus, in the realm of the gods
there are only eight types of form. As one progresses through the power of meditation into the Form and Formless realms, one finds fewer and fewer sense organs and sensory objects.
Q. . How does matter disappear in the upper meditative realms?
A. When entering the meditative state, the sense of hearing first becomes inoperative, followed by the senses of smell, taste, bodily feeling, and finally the visual sense. The senses don't actually disap- pear: rather, you don't need to use them in meditation. A deeper sort of knowledge and understanding is available. The various senses are like crude tools; when meditative power has been developed, it provides more subtle and accurate types of information. Thus, the senses aren't actually lost, they just don't perform a function anymore.
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Q. . Why don't the gods hear sounds?
A. The only reason that one listens to sounds is to get cetain kinds of information. If you have that information through samadhi, you don't need to hear. This is the case for the gods.
Once when I was about fifteen years old in Tibet, I overheard my Root Lama Tarjay Gyamtso talking with the previous Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. They were comparing notes about how they functioned. My Root Lama had the realization of a Buddha, and didn't need to use his senses. I was very young, of course, and didn't understand any of this. I thought it was very funny at the time. They were asking each other many questions such as, "Since you no longer have to perceive through your senses, if I held burning incense to your skin, would you feel it? " or "Will you be able to be aware of what I say without hearing it? " and that sort of thing. I laughed and couldn't understand that what they were speaking of resulted from the power of the mind in samadhi, arising through shi nay. Likewise, it is difficult for us to conceive how the gods, through the power of meditation, do or do not hear sounds, because we're not at that level. But it should be understood that the power of the mind always transcends the sense organs.
Q. . When a person is dying, at what point does the sense of hearing disappear? If we're trying to give advice to a dying person who can no longer hear, how can we communicate-how does one reach such a person?
A. The elements of the five senses are very, very subde and pure. They consist of earth, water, fire, and wind. During the process of dying, the connection between those elements, the external objects,and the mind is severed and you're no longer able to perceive through the sense organs. If you train in the teachings on bardo or on the Six Yogas of Naropa, you can slowly begin to understand this situation. The process of dying and the process of going to sleep are similar. Beacuse we are sentient beings, ignorance is very powerful while we sleep. If we haven't obtained teachings to transform this ig- norance, the time of death will also be bewildering. In a dream you have the impression of being able to see and hear and smell, but your physical sense organs are not operative. You're not using the sense organs, but sense impressions arise through the power of habit.
In the dying process, there are three bardos. Between the chika and the cho nyi bardos, the senses "dissolve" back into the mind. After the cho nyi bardo is the si pa bardo, in which many sorts of ex- periences occur. This third bardo usually starts approximately three days after death, although this varies widely with different people. In any case, it is similar to falling asleep; one doesn't immediately start dreaming. There is an intermediate period before the ap- pearances of the dream arise. If you are able to train well in the dream-state now, it will be easy for you at the time of death. You won't have much suffering then, or in the bardo, because you will understand the process. To train in the dream practice is not dif- ficult. But for it to be successful, you need the blessings of your Lama, and to continue to accumulate merit and purify obscura- tions; then the whole process will be easy.
Q. . With regard to the eleventh category of form, you said that the vow-form exists by manifesting through body and through speech. I'm wondering if this category applies only to vows, or if it also in- cludes such things as beliefs and the patterns of our everyday behavior. Does it include the mental habits that alter or restrict our behavior?
A. Opinions and general beliefs are classified as part of the fourth skandha. Vow-form refers specifically to a certain kind of vow or decision to do something verbally or physically. When a vow is made, whether it be good or bad, the process resembles the transfer of an object from one person to another. For example, when you become a monk you must receive the vows from someone else who already holds those vows. The act of taking the vow also has very much to do with making a decision and determining that you are going to do something; there is always a specific purpose, an explicit intention. That distinguishes vows from other, more general kinds of beliefs that affect your actions.
This concludes our discussion of the first skandha, the ag- gregate of form. Now we will consider the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind, which are the foundation of all Dharma teachings. We will begin by discussing the difficulty of finding the resources and opportunities of a precious human birth.
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Meditation Practice
To fulfil what it means to have found a Precious Human Birth with its eight opportunities and ten resources it is essential to be aware of how rare the inconceivable power and ability we now have
for practicing Dharma is. If we don't make use of this opportunity, we will soon lose it, and it will be difficult to find again.
All human beings can be classified as lesser, middling, or greater persons, with regard to basic motivation and ability. Lesser persons are those who practice virtue for the sake of improving their own situation during this lifetime in order to be happy and comfort- able. The middling types are those who understand that this life is impermanent and full of suffering, and perform virtuous actions with the idea of achieving peace in the next lifetime. People of this second type have an understanding of cause and effect, and know that through negative behavior their next lives will be negative, while positive behavior will yield positive fruits later. The third, greater, type of person also understands the law of cause and effect, but in addition appreciates the fact that all sentient beings have been our parents. Such a person will not try to win peace just for himself or herself, but has the idea that it is necessary to purify kar- ma and emotional afflictions so as to achieve perfect Buddhahood for the benefit of all beings.
With the precious human body, we are able to perform vir- tuous actions, cast off negative actions, practice the path of the Bodhisattva to attain Buddhahood as Milarepa did, and unfailingly accomplish in this life the benefit of all sentient beings. Therefore this precious human body that we've obtained is far more powerful than that of beings of the six realms such as the gods, nagas, and so on. When meditating on the difficulty of attaining the precious human existence, however, you must realize that its fruits will not necessarily appear in this lifetime but rather may not ripen until future lifetimes.
If the body were permanent and completely unchanging, any activity would be acceptable. Because the body really is imperma- nent, it is important to practice Dharma immediately. We cannot predict what kind of birth we will take in our next lifetime; we can- not assure ourselves that our next life will be happy or that we will
avoid suffering. It is therefore important for us to think about the great sufferings of the three lower realms: the hell and hungry ghost realms that we cannot perceive; and the animal realm, of which we see only a part, and not even the part with the greatest suffering. When we consider very carefully the tremendous suffering of the lower realms, we righdy become sad and frightened.
On this topic there is a special meditation devised by Karma Chamay [chags med], a great Lama from eastern Tibet. He lived in the seventeenth century, during the time of the ninth and tenth Karmapas. I have received this teaching myself, and fmd it an especially effective method of meditation.
Begin by visualizing a high mountain. Around the mountain are regions full of beings of the six realms of samsara. Think about all the different kinds of karma that each of those sentient beings has, and all the various sufferings that each of them is experiencing. Reflect on them and visualize them very clearly. Then look at yourself: you have a sound body, can rely on Lamas, practice Dhar- ma, and enter any path you choose. Reflect joyfully on the favorable situation you have attained and understand it to be the fruit of ac- cumulated merit of virtuous actions in previous lives. Consider that all those sentient beings around the base of the mountain are ex- periencing the results of unvirtuous actions and are now suffering greatly. Then realize that your situation is also difficult-you too will fall into those realms of great suffering. At this point the thought comes to you that you must find some ultimate means of freeing yourself from this cycle of suffering.
Above and before you in the sky, visualize your Lama as any Yidam in the Buddhadharma in whom you have great faith. Meditate on him. For this particular practice, it is especially effec- tive to visualize the Lama as Chenrezi, since this deity is known for his love and compassion. Imagine him as the essence of all Buddhas. Then hear the Lama say to you: "You have obtained a precious human body and are able to hear, contemplate, and practice the perfect Dharma. But if you don't accomplish virtuous action and abandon evil, no good will come. If you don't obtain an excellent human body in your next life, you will experience great suffering. " Meditate on the suffering you will experience if you fall into each of the lower realms. This will encourage you to practice Dharma well.
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By renouncing and accepting, your human life will be meaningfully fulfilled. Also think about the fact that all the sentient beings in the unending cycle of rebirths have at one time or another been your mother and very kind to you: therefore, arouse great compassion and feeling for their suffering. Resolve with determination that you will quickly establish each of them without exception in a Buddha realm.
Next, visualize that from Chenrezi's heart come rays of light. The rays touch you, purifying all the sins and obscurations of your body, speech, and mind. You are instantaneously reborn in Dewachen [bde ba can), the Pure Realm of Great Bliss. Then, through the power and ability you thus obtain, light rays emanate out from your heart and touch all sentient beings, purifying their suffering, sins, and obscurations; they too are reborn in the Pure Realm and become fortunate ones, completely enlightened. At this point, you can visualize yourself and all others as being Chenrezi.
Q. How does this meditation increase compassion?
A. It leads you to perceive the situation of all sentient beings, to understand that it is karma and emotional afflictions that have caused their great suffering. This in tum leads you to develop an ex- tremely strong wish to remove beings from that state. You want to keep them away from suffering and give them happiness. Because this meditation was specifically devised by Karma Chamay Rin- poche to center on Chenrezi, the Bodhisattva of Loving Kindness, it increases the practitioner's compassion and love for sentient beings. The intention is to achieve a state of peace and bliss in the highest sense. The meditation on love, which is the act of wanting all sen- tient beings to have happiness, has as its result the attainment of peace. The meditation on compassion, which is the act of wanting to separate all sentient beings from any kind of suffering, has as its result the accomplishment of bliss.
Q. What if you have trouble visualizing? And for how long a period do you normally perform this meditation?
A. If you do not see this visualization clearly, you should not worry. It is actually very hard to visualize. In general, the best aid is the
strength of your resolution. You should generate intense determina? tion that things be as the visualization describes.
However much time you spend on this practice is fine. But whether it is a long or a short period, the most important aim to be accomplished by the meditation is to develop compassion and love for sentient beings.
Sensation (tsor wa [tshor ba])
The second skandha is sensation. (This term can also be translated as feeling. ) There are three basic types of bodily sensa? tions: pleasurable, painful, and neutral. Mental sensations can be pleasurable or painful. The neutral mental sensation, or the feeling of equanimity, is not different from the neutral bodily sensation. In all, then, there are five types of sensation.
The six organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin, mind) experience pleasurable, painful, and neutral sensations. Multiplying the six organs by the three sensations, we can list eighteen types of feeling. A simpler way of classification involves two categories: physical (the five senses) and mental feelings. Further, sensations may be divided with regard to whether they relate to material things, or if they in? volve cravings independent of material objects.
There are various intensities ofsensation. Some are obvious and clearly felt, others are not. Suppose someone is sitting and writing, and there is another pen lying on the desk nearby. The writer is in? volved in his work, and when someone else comes and takes the other pen, he sees the pen being taken, but it doesn't register. But if later he is asked, "What happened to the pen? " he will suddenly realize that someone took it: the previous visual sensation is pro- cessed at this later time.
The reason that we describe this skandha or any of the five skandhas is so that you know what they are, and can recognize and understand the functions of mind. One should not try to eliminate them. The essence of sensation is impermanence. So the essence of happiness and suffering is impermanence. Not knowing this, we develop attachment. Clinging to their reality, our intentions become
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based on the hope for pleasurable sensation. Any feeling, good or bad, is impermanent. If the natural condition of sensation is really understood as impermanent, then attachment is somewhat relin? quished. Because of this, the suffering of clinging to reality is les- sened.
Recognition (du she ['du shes])
The third skandha is recognition. This is grasping at characteristics, which is synonymous with clinging to samsara as be- ing real and permanent.
In the first instant of sensation, there isn't necessarily this grasping or attachment to the six senses (including the mind) and their corresponding objects. (The objects of the mind include im- ages, memories, thoughts, and abstract concepts. ) Sensation itself is a very direct, straightforward experience. It is in the second instant that there arises a grasping at the object. This grasping is the third skandha.
There are two aspects of this third skandha. The first is grasp? ing at the attributes of objects; that is, the identification of an ob- ject, such as when one says, for example, "This is yellow. This is red. This is white. " The second aspect is grasping of characteristics in conceptual terms. This involves differentiation of the object from other objects, as when one says, "This is a man. This is a woman. " One can apprehend an object through its symbol, or, on the other hand, understand what an object is by its characteristics without even knowing its name.
Recognition is classified according to its scope. For example, if one's ability to recognize is limited to the six kinds of beings in the Desire Realm, it is considered to be small recognition. Those whose understanding can encompass the Form and Formless Realms within their sense fields are considered to have extensive recognition. Finally, there is immeasurable recognition, which starts with "infinitude of space" and extends all the way to the perception of a Buddha, which recognizes all the situations in the six realms without any limitation. The knowledge of a Buddha perceives every detail of every sentient being, including their thoughts and past lives.
Q. . Would you explain the difference between the recognition of at- tributes, and the ability to differentiate between things, the faculty of making distinctions?
A. They are fundamentally the same. The difference is actually quantitative rather than qualitative. Recognition of objects is a very general ability to apprehend the nature of things. Apprehension through differentiation is a much subtler power, whereby one can apply different names to distinguish things within a particular category. If you are presented with a totally new object, you will see its color and shape, but you won't know what it is. You will also not be able to make a judgment about it. For example, if someone put an atom bomb in front of me, I would see it, but only as some sort of gray shape. I wouldn't necessarily know that it could kill us all.
Formation (du che [du byed])
The fourth skandha concerns what kind of activity is performed in the mind. In a general way, it refers to thoughts. In this skandha, there are fifty-one kinds of mental states or occurrences (sem chung [sems byung]); these states can be virtuous, unvirtuous, and so on.
The first group in the fifty-one consists of the five omnipresent mental occurrences. These are present no matter what type of ac- tivity the mind is engaged in. The first is intention, movement towards an object, as when one first thinks, "I will go, I will sleep, I will look, I will smell, I will conceive of an idea. " Whatever sense faculties are involved, intention moves through one or more of these six senses.
The second is concentration, the mind one-pointedly grasping an image or concept. Next is contact, the connection of the mind to its object, which prevents other thoughts from disturbing the pro- cessing of cognition. The final two are the two slwndhas described above, sensation and recognition. These five mental occurrences are all invariably present in any kind of thinking.
Next are the five mental states that are determinative with regard to the object: resolution, interest, recollection, samadhi, and wisdom. The first, resolution, performs the function of directing diligent efforts towards fulfilling any desired intention. In any vir- tuous or evil course of action, if you have a very powerful resolution,
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your diligence will be powerful too. The second determinative, in? terest, is holding to a particular thing or work to be done, and not allowing the mind to be "stolen" by anything else, even for a second. Recollection, the third determinative, prevents the mind from being distracted or forgetting the purpose at hand. Samadhi, the fourth, is the mind's one-pointed focus on something it is examining. Its func? tion is to support knowing. Wisdom, the fifth determinative mental occurrence, is the opening up and complete development of the understanding of all examined phenomena.
The ten mental factors we've considered so far in the fourth skandha- the five which are omnipresent and the five which define and determine the object- are similar to one another, but each per? forms a different function. They may be difficult to distinguish, but if you investigate your own mind well, you can understand them even when they appear together simultaneously, as they do in cer? tain kinds of mental activity. The difference between concentration and contact, for example, is between two aspects of a single stage of mind: one-pointed holding to an image or concept, and the non? arising of other thoughts. In one way all these ten are the same-as functions of the same mind. The five omnipresent occurrences are present in the same way in every mental act, while the five deter? minative mental occurrances will vary greatly in intensity depending on the power the object has in the mind. For example, whether in worldly work or in Dharma practice, if motivation and interest are powerful, then much can be accomplished. If they are weak, not much will be accomplished. If one's resolution is good, when one
thinks "This is true, this is excellent," one will be able to bring it about. If one thinks one's objective is poor, then only difficulty will arise.
Eleven virtuous mental occurrences form another group within the fourth skandha. The first of these is faith, of which there are three types. One is thefaith ofyearning: you understand that in the lower realms of samsara and in any of the places of the six kinds of beings there is only suffering; thus you long for liberation, such as rebirth in a Buddha Realm like Dewachen. Through understanding that virtuous actions are a cause for happiness in the higher realms, and evil actions are a cause for suffering in the lower realms, you give rise to great trust in cause and effect, which is called trusting
fai'th. When one understands that the Three Jewels are unfailing, and never a cause for suffering, and that they benefit many beings and are inconceivably excellent, then this is clear faith.
The next virtuous mental state is carefulness, where you understand that what one needs to cast off is evil action, and what one needs to take up is virtuous action. You apply care and mind- fulness to practicing virtue and abandoning evil actions. All Lamas say that this is very important, and performs the function of ena- bling one to accomplish excellence in both existence and peace (i. e. , samsara and Nirvana).
Another virtuous faculty is thorough training. It comes through training in shi nay and enables one to use one's body and mind for virtue and to conquer negative influences.
Next is equanimity-you are not overpowered by emotional af- flictions such as desire, hatred and stupidity, but instead remain in the natural state of the mind. When this peaceful mind is present, the emotional afflictions are not able to arise.
A sense ofpropn'ety is a virtuous aspect of mind that causes one to avoid committing a lot of unvirtuous actions. It involves understanding that certain actions are not good in terms of one's own standards or those of the Dharma. It serves as the basis for restraining faulty conduct through vows. Next, there is con- siderateness, which causes one to avoid actions that are judged un- virtuous by others or by worldly standards. This serves as the basis for remembering the kindness of one's parents or any other beings, and induces one to act in a similar fashion to others. These two, pro- priety and considerateness, work together and are very important. Propriety refers to yourself; it doesn't mean that you're ashamed of yourself, but rather that you're not the kind of person who does things without thinking of the effects. Through the factor of con-
siderateness, you also become aware of what others will think of you, and you care very much for others.
Next is non-attachment, the mental attribute of extricating yourself from attachment to existence and samsaric things. It prevents one from getting involved with faulty conduct.
Lack of hatred is the state of being without animosity towards any sentient being or any condition that produces suffering. It causes one only to rejoice and not to enter into harmful conduct.
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Lack ofstupz"dity is understanding the meaning of things through discrimination, without dullness. Hence one is kept from mistakes or committing faults. Then there is complete harmlessness, which is compassion without any hatred. You do not conceive of others as enemies, so you don't want to harm them. Instead you have compas- sion for other beings, without any scorn. Finally, the eleventh vir- tuous mental occurrence is dz"ligence, entering into virtuous activity with manifest delight. Through it, one can completely accomplish virtuous concerns.
Q. . When the eighth virtuous mental occurrence, the lack of hatred, is present, and someone is actually doing you harm, do you just ig- nore them?
A. If you are attacked by an enemy, you need a means of keeping them from harming you. After the situation has ended, you shouldn't think, "This is my enemy. " You should meditate on com- passion and realize that the person was acting out of ignorance. You may know the Dharma, but that person does not, and so you should meditate with compassion, and not hold onto the thought, "This person is my enemy, and has done bad things to me. " Now we will again leave the discussion of the five skandhas, and practice the meditation taught by Karma Chamay Rinpoche.
Medz"tation Practz"ce
In the first meditation we considered the difficulty of obtaining a precious human existence. Now we will reflect on death and im- permanence.
Usually our perceptions seem very real and permanent, whether they are of the container-the outside world-or its con- tents-sentient beings. Yet there is absolutely nothing in the phenomenal realm that is permanent. The external world is made up of the four elements. Even as science tells us, the elements that make up the container, the world, are constantly deteriorating year by year. They do not increase. If we have something like a house, at first it's in good shape, then it gets older and weaker every year. And generally speaking, because we are sentient beings, the internal con- tents of the world, we have more pain and sickness as we get older. Thus, both aspects of the world become worse and worse.
Nowadays, science and medicine, with all their new remedies and operations and examinations, are inconceivably more powerful than they were in previous times. Yet now there is also more and more suffering and sickness in the world, with many new diseases such as the different forms of cancer; in many ways life is cut short. In general, the situation of sentient beings is worsening, and less can be done to benefit them. If there were no impermanence, it would not be necessary to examine it. But since the force of impermanence will come to us all, it is beneficial to meditate on it. It is a profound method of practice. Year by year, month by month, we age, our suf? fering increases, and we approach death. Because of this, no ac? tivities will benefit us except Dharma. The only relevant principle that should concern us is that through performing virtuous deeds there is happiness, and by doing evil, there is suffering.
Q. . Can an Enlightened being do anything about the suffering of the world?
A. Enlightened beings who have a tremendous store of merit can direct suffering to themselves and away from others. We aspire to this when we practice "Sending and Taking meditation" (tong len [gtong len]); a person of great merit can accomplish it actually and with great effect.
A long time ago Yeshe Tsogyal asked Guru Padmasambhava what could be done to help beings in the dark ages she foresaw. What could be done to alleviate their miseries in the time of the Kalpa of Great Conflict, the Kalpa of Weapons, and the Kalpa of Famine? Padmasambhava answered: "In order to help eliminate in? tense sufferings in that dark time, make supplications to one who is now one of my twenty-five foremost disciples, and who in the future will bear the name Karmapa. Sincere supplications and devotion to that being will bring about harmony. "
In 1981 I was present during the Gyalwa Karmapa's last illness, and I believe that what I saw then was a fulfillment of Guru Rin? poche's prophecy. By the time I saw him, His Holiness had already had many operations, some parts of his body removed, things put inside him, his blood tranfused, and so on. Every day the doctors discovered the symptoms of some new disease, only to find them gone the next day and replaced by another illness, as if all the
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diseases in the world were finding room in his flesh. For two months he had taken no solid food, and finally his doctors gave up hope. It was impossible for him to live, and the doctors thought the life? support systems should be disconnected.
But the Karmapa said, "No, I'm going to live. Leave them in place. " And he did live, astonishing the doctors, and remaining seemingly at ease in his situation- humorous, playful, smiling, as if he were rejoicing at everything his body suffered. Then I thought, with the clearest possible conviction, that the Karmapa had submit? ted to all this cutting, to the manifestation of all those diseases in his body, to the lack of food, in a quite intentional and voluntary way: he was deliberately suffering all of these diseases to help minimize the coming pains of war, disease, and famine, and in this way he was deliberately working to avert those terrible kalpas. For those of us present, his death was an unforgettable inspiration. It profoundly revealed the efficacy of the Dharma, and the fact that Enlighten? ment for the sake of others can actually be achieved.
Karma Chamay has given us an excellent way of meditating on death and impermanence. First, you enter again into the realm of the imagination. Visualize that you're alone on a vast plain, empty of all other beings. There are very high mountains, and there is the sound of water. Below the plain in a valley is a large river filled with sentient beings.
Next, the sun sets and it becomes very dark. You are fright? ened. Since you are in an unfamiliar place, you do not know where you are as you walk around in the dark. You become even more afraid. Suddenly you find yourself at the edge of a cliff, and in danger of falling into the river in the gorge below. You grasp at two clumps of grass with your two hands, which keep you from falling into the abyss. As you hang there in great fear, there appears at your right a little white mouse, and on the left a little black mouse that come out from the rocks. The white mouse begins to chew on the bunch of grass your right hand clutches, while the black mouse chews the bunch of grass your left hand holds.