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The Five Basic Commitments
Five vows are fundamental to all monks, nuns, and ordained laypersons.
76 The Dharma
The Five Basic Commitments
Five vows are fundamental to all monks, nuns, and ordained laypersons.
Kalu Rinpoche
This hallucinatory state is traditionally said to last for a period of fony-nine days before the consciousness takes physical form again as an embryo.
At the end of each week there is the trauma of realizing that we are dead and our minds plunge into another state of unconsciousness like the one immediately after death, but not quite as intense.
After each of these very shon periods of unconsciousness, consciousness returns, and once more the mandalas of the deities present themselves, but now in a fragmentary and fleeting way.
The successive opportunities afford- ed by these appearances are not as great as at the first stage, but the possibility of Liberation does recur throughout the after-death ex- perience.
The Symbolism of the Mandala of Deities
The purity of enlightenment is embodied by the mandala of deities. For example, what we normally experience as the five skand- has (the aggregates of the mind/body complex) we recognize on the pure level as the Buddhas of the Five Families. The mind's elemen- tal qualities, which we experience as the elements in our physical body and the outer universe, on the pure level are the five female consorts of the five Buddhas. On the ordinary level we experience eight types of confused consciousness, while on the pure level these are eight male Bodhisattvas. On the impure level we speak of the eight objects of those different kinds of consciousness, and on the pure level we speak of the eight female Bodhisattvas. Each one of these pure forms expresses an enlightened perspective of a pan of our impure experience. It is not only possible to connect the dif- ferent aspects of our impure consciousness with the pure forms, but also to connect these pure forms with the nature of mind itself.
There has been and could still be much commentary on the relationship between these different levels of expression and our own experience. For our present purposes, it is sufficient to understand that the six bardos we've discussed briefly are the six major phases of experience for any being wandering in the cycle of rebinh. In every one of them the practice of Dharma is of the greatest possible value,
for through it we can purify ourselves of confusion, obscurations, and negative emotions, and further develop our awareness and merit.
Questions and Answers
QUESTION: Aren't the Mandalas of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities related to one particular cultural tradition? How do those schooled in other traditions perceive them?
ANSWER: In the tradition of these teachings it doesn't matter whether you're a Buddhist or not: you will still have the experience of the wrathful and peaceful deities. The advantage of being a Bud- dhist or having practiced this particular approach is that you will recognize the experience for what it is. But the experience is fun? damentally the same, even for non-humans. Every being that goes through the bardo has some perception of the lights, of the concen? trated spheres of light, and the mandalas appearing within them. Usually, however, there is no recognition and no attempt at recogni- tion, just a feeling that the experience is threatening and repellent. The mind is terrified and retreats from the experience.
In the traditional texts it is stated that even the consciousness of an insect in the bardo state has the same experience. Each and every being in the six realms of existence has what is called Tathagatagarbha, the Seed of Enlightenment, which is fundamen? tal awareness of the ultimate nature of mind. It is from this that bar- do experiences arise as natural projections of mind, not as something produced by cultural conditioning.
QUESTION: The mind is traditionally described as having three aspects; are the three elements that correspond to these aspects more important than the remaining two?
ANSWER: In the presentation of mind as having three aspects-its essence is empty, its nature is clarity, and its manifestation is unimpeded-we reckon the Emptiness and the Clarity of mind as the elements of space and fire. The element of wind, the continual movement of mind, is the third aspect, unimpeded manifestation. Now the element of earth is the function of mind as the origin and basis of all experience, and the element of water is the continuity of mind. These two functions (continuity and basis) apply to all three
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aspects. Thus, the mind is essentially empty (space), has Clarity (fire) and the ability to manifest unimpededly (wind), and throughout all three there is continuity (water) and the ability to provide a basis (earth).
QUESTION: I've heard that the body should not be disturbed for three or four days after death. In the West the custom is to embalm the body very soon after death. How important is it that the body be undisturbed, and for how long?
ANSWER:Generally speaking, it's good to leave the corpse un- disturbed as long as possible. But in many circumstances this is dif- ficult, because we simply don't have the attitude towards death reflected in the bardo teachings. Once a person has died, we feel that the mind no longer has any need for the corpse. We don't have the same kind of respect for the corpse that Buddhists in Tibet did.
But it's not easy to explain these ideas, and if you simply say, "Don't move or touch the body," without giving any reason, you may only make people angry. On the other hand, perhaps you could explain some of these ideas. People might at least appreciate the im- portance to you of what you're saying, and since they have some feel- ing of respect towards the corpse, might do their best not to disturb it. It's hard to tell. The general principle of not disturbing a corpse for a short period after death could be encouraged. It is beneficial.
5
Mandala
T he third of the Kagyii Preliminaries (see pages 9-10), the Mandala Offering, is connected with the accumulation of merit and the deepening of awareness. It is similar to other gestures such as placing flowers, incense, or lamps on a shrine as an offering to the Three jewels. A lay person might give an offering to a monk or a nun to support their practice, or a disciple might give an offering to
a Lama. Such offerings accumulate merit for those who make them, and therefore help to deepen their understanding and awareness. The practice of the Mandala Offering, however, is concerned with offering nothing less than the universe. The structure of the medita- tion presents the whole universe. with everything worthy of offering, whether material or imagined, including, for example, the physical environment, whose natural beauty does not have to be fabricated, but is simply there to be offered. The Mandala Offering integrates all these perceptions into a single meditation. If this is done with an attitude of faith and devotion, the meditator's mind becomes ex- tremely powerful, and the merit and awareness that result are no different from what could result from actually offering the whole universe to the Three Jewels.
66 The Dhanna
Mandala is a Sanskrit word which the Tibetans translated by chin khor [khyil 'khor], which means center and circumference. In the Mandala Offering, a center with its surrounding environment forms a complete system, and constitutes an ideal conception of the universe. Its cosmology is based upon the conception of the central mountain, Sumeru, [ri rab] as axis of the universe, with its con? tinents, mountain ranges and so fonh, concentrically arrayed.
For the physical offering we use a metal plate on which to heap up grain, perhaps with precious stones mixed in, in a symmetrical pattern on the plate. This is used to focus the mind on the medita? tion and to provide a support for the very complex visualization of the universe being offered.
The Variety of Cosmologies
This symbolic cosmology disturbs many people in the modem world because they take it to contradict what we experience with our own senses and with the technology we have now developed. These days we have a conception of the universe that includes our solar system and our own realm as a spherical planet turning around the sun. People have evidence of this, and therefore see a discrepancy between the present world view and the world view presented in the Mandala Offering.
Buddhahood is a state of omniscience; from that omniscience the Buddha spoke of this cosmology- but not as the only one. Dif- ferent beings, because of their different karmic tendencies and dif- ferent levels of awareness, experience the universe in different ways. So in many of the Buddha's teachings, especially in the vast sutra known as the Avatamsaka, various cosmologies are presented. Some involve only a single continent. Others have a multiplicity of worlds, such as the Mandala Offering pattern. Others involve planetary systems, spherical worlds, and so forth. Any one of these various cosmologies is completely valid for the beings whose karmic projec- tions cause them to experience their universe in that way. There is a certain relativity in the way one experiences the world.
This means that all the possible experiences of every being in the six realms of existence, shaping the ways in which each perceives the universe, are based upon karmic inclinations and degrees of in? dividual development. Thus, on a relative level, any cosmology is
valid. On an ultimate level no cosmology is absolutely true. It can- not be universally valid, given the different conventional situations of beings.
We have quite a number of people here today. If we all lay down to take a nap and had dreams, and if someone said on waking, "My dream was the only true one. All the rest of you had false dreams," how plausible would we find that? We all have different perceptions based on our individual karmic tendencies.
In order to accumulate merit and develop awareness, it is most effective to offer what is most beautiful. Because of our dualistic clinging, we feel attraction to what we consider good, wholesome or beautiful and aversion to what we consider ugly or disgusting. When we choose what to offer, we should acknowledge that we have this dualistic clinging and only offer what pleases us. Of all the possible cosmologies, the most beautiful, the most pleasing as an object of meditation, seems to be this mandala pattern of the central moun- tain with four continents. Since we wish to offer only the best, this beautiful model of the universe is used.
Making Pure Offerings
In India, during the time of the Buddha, there was an old couple who were very poor and had only a small plot of land, barely enough to get by. One day they realized they were growing old and were coming closer and closer to death. They felt they should make use of the precious opportunity of being human by performing at least one gesture that would accumulate great merit and develop their awareness before they died. They discussed what particular formal act would be most appropriate. As it happened, Shariputra, one of the wisest of the Buddha's disciples, lived nearby. They decided to invite the Venerable Shariputra to their home and serve him a midday meal as an offering. They would then make prayers of aspiration in his presence to receive this blessing.
The old couple made their preparations, invited Shariputra, offered him the meal, formulated their prayers, and received his blessing. And afterward things went on much as before, except that when the growing season was finished and they went along with everyone else to harvest their rice, they found that all the grains in their small paddy were not rice at all but pure gold.
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Soon everyone was talking about the field of golden rice, and the news quickly reached the ears of Ajatasatru, a famous king of Buddhist India. He said to himself, "This is entirely improper. I'm the king, I should have control of that field. " He ordered his ministers to confiscate the land from the old couple and to give them another rice paddy of equal size elsewhere. His messengers duly went out, found the old couple, and moved them to another plot of land. But when this had been done, the confiscated grains of gold turned to rice once again, and the rice on the couple's new land became gold. Word of this got back to the king and he said, "Go, do it again. Take the golden rice. "
This happened seven times. Each time the messengers took the land from the old couple and gave them another plot, the same change took place; the king was left with rice and the old couple had the gold.
By now people began to wonder why this was happening. They went to see the Buddha and described the situation. The Buddha explained the karmic connection between the meritorious act and the result the old couple were experiencing even in the same lifetime. The event became a famous example of the unfailing nature of the karmic process. It did a great deal to establish people's understanding of karma as a factor in all that happens, and revealed the connection between what is done and what is experienced.
The old couple's action was extremely meritorious for two reasons. First, the object of their respect and devotion was Shariputra, an extremely pure and holy being. This is what is technically termed the "field. " If the object of our devotion and of- ferings, the field upon which we are working, is a pure one, it is very fertile in blessings. The second reason was the couple's pure motiva- tion in making the offering out of respect and faith. The double purity of field and motivation made the offering powerful and great merit was accumulated.
In the case of the Mandala Offering, these elements are at work as well: what is chosen as the field, the object of our offenngs, is the ThreeJewels, which are completely pure and embody inconceivable blessing, and our own pure motivation in making the offering to develop merit and perfect awareness. It is the coming together of these circumstances that make the practice so effective.
With reference to the merit involved, the Buddha said that the wish to offer the mandala (to say nothing of actually offering it) or making the offering plate used during the practice, if done proper- ly, would accumulate merit that would give dominion over the world.
Now all of you are intelligent people, and no doubt it has oc- cured to you that there seems to be a difference between the formal Mandala Offering-piling rice on a plate-and what the old couple offered to Shariputra, which was almost everything they had. In- deed, you may feel that there is a fundamental difference between these two kinds of offering. But there isn't. There is actually a great similarity between them, and the link is our motivation.
The Importance ofMotivation
During the Buddha's lifetime there lived in India a Buddhist king who planned to sponsor an assembly wherein the Buddha and five hundred of his disciples, all realized Arhats, would spend the three months of the summer retreat. The king would provide them with a park to stay in and offer them all the food and clothing they needed. When the Buddha came to stay in this grove with his disciples, it was their daily custom to dedicate the merit of their ac- tivity for the benefit of all beings. Following the midday meal the Buddha would recite a prayer to this effect: "May all the virtue and merit achieved by the King through sponsoring this summer retreat be shared for the benefit of all sentient beings. "
Now there was an old beggar woman who lived in the town. Though poverty-stricken, she had a wholesome frame of mind; when she saw the king undertaking this project, she thought to herself, "Wonderfull Here is a man who because of his previous ac- cumulation of merit has a fortunate rebirth as a powerful king. Now he's utilizing that opportunity to render service to Buddha and his attendants. He is ensuring continuous accumulation of merit, development of awareness, and definite progress on the path to Liberation. How wonderful this is! " The old beggar woman was truly thankful and glad to see the king undertaking this virtuous work; she had a deep sense of joy that someone was accumulating such merit.
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One day after the midday meal, the Buddha turned to the king and said, "Your majesty, should I share the merit as usual using your name, or should I insert the name of someone who has more merit than you? " The king thought to himself, "What's he talking about? There can't be anyone with more merit than I. " So he said, "Your Reverence, if in fact there is a person with more merit than I, then please by all means share the merit on their behalf. " So the Buddha proceeded to dedicate the merit accumulated by this old beggar woman for the benefit of all sentient beings. This went on for a number of days. Every day the Buddha would use the name of the beggar woman instead of the king's name, and the king grew depressed.
The king's ministers now began discussing how to cheer him up. One of them, who was very bright and rather crafty, thought of a plan. He organized an offering of food to the Buddha and his five hundred attendants, a fine feast of fruit to be brought on platters. Then he told the servants who were to carry the fruit into the shrine room, "While you're still outside the shrine, spill the food on the ground. "
So when they were bringing the food to the temple, they spilled it. just as there are many beggars in India today, so there were then too, and the beggars came hurrying to take some food for themselves. The minister ordered the servants to beat the beggars back and, pointing out the old beggar woman, said, "Be especially rough on her. " The servants began to beat and kick the old woman to keep her away from the food. She became so angry at this that she completely lost her sense of rejoicing in the king's merit: her rage ut? terly destroyed her positive attitude.
That day when the Buddha dedicated the merit at the meal, the king's name was back in the prayer.
Now there were many disciples present who were very disturbed at this and entertained a great deal of doubt; they could not under- stand why the Buddha had in the first place replaced the king's name with the old woman's, then later replaced the old woman's name with the king's. They asked the Buddha, and thus gave him an opportunity to explain that situations are not only shaped by the karmic process, but also demonstrate the extreme importance of our
attitudes. In fact, our mental attitude is the most crucial factor in any situation.
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V ows
"'~:;'or the practice of Dharma to be truly effective, two things are r necessary. First, you must see that the essential nature of sam- sara is suffering and, on the basis of a thorough understanding of this suffering, desire to be liberated from unenlightened existence. Second, you must come to an appreciation of Enlightenment, or Buddhahood, and generate the desire to attain it. In this way, you make a choice between samsara, which you abandon, and Enlightenment, which you determine to achieve.
Although it may seem contradictory, in order to practice Dhar- ma, we actually need to be just as concerned with the world as we are with Dharma practice-not in the sense of being caught up in worldly projects and schemes for making money, but in thinking about what it really means to live in this world. For example, we are human beings and subject, therefore, to the sufferings characteristic of our condition: birth, old age, sickness and death. We also belong to one of the six realms of samsaric existence, which encompass the experience of every being in this world. We must meditate again and again on the sufferings that attend each one of these states. This is the kind of concern with the world that is crucial for the practice of Dharma.
74 The Dharma
The Three Levels of Vows
Those who take ordination (dom pa [sdom pa]) as monks or
nuns do so because they understand that involvement with the world
is difficult and essentially fruitless. They take ordination to simplify
their lives and direct themselves toward practice. Ordination is most
important because it forms the vessel for our practice of Dharma. If
we think of the Dharma as nectar, fine beer, or cream that is being
poured into a bowl, then clearly, the vessel must be clean and
without leaks. If not, whatever is poured into it will be spoiled or
lost.
There are three levels of taking vows: the Hinayana or outer
level; the Mahayana or inner level; and the Vajrayana or secret level. The ordination described above corresponds to what the Hinayana teachings call PratimokSa, the vows of individual libera- tion, (so sor tar pay dom pa [so sor thar pa'i sdom pa]). It is the outer level of commitment to practice. The inner level corresponds to the contents of the vessel, which is the Bodhisattva vow in the Mahayana tradition. This is the development of compassion for all other beings and the deepening awareness of emptiness as the ultimate nature of all phenomena. The secret level is Vajrayana practice, like adding something to enrich the liquid in the vessel and make it even more delicious, as we might add milk, sugar, or salt to tea.
Many of us have taken a certain step in committing ourselves to the teachings, whether or not this is reflected in formal ordination. We may have vows of the layman, of the novice nun or monk, or of a fully ordained nun or monk. Many of us have taken the Bodhisattva vows, and all of us who are involved with the Vajrayana path have some commitment to the tantric vows, samaya [dam tshig].
We often fail to live up to vows we have taken, and when we fall short, Dorje Sempa meditation is very beneficiaf. Jt is also helpful to have a clear idea of just how difficult the vows may actually be to keep. Many people feel that a monk's vows or nun's vows, for exam- ple, are very difficult to keep, while the Bodhisattva vows are easy to keep and the Tantric vows involve no effort whatsoever, as if they kept themselves. Actually, the reverse is the case. Ifyou are looking for vows that are easy to keep, the easiest by far are the monk's and nun's.
The famous Indian teacher Atisa, who brought the teachings of the three yanas to Tibet, once said that when he undenook the prac- tice of Buddhism, he first took the vows of a novice and then full or- dination. By being scrupulously aware of the various rules of monastic conduct, he was able to preserve these vows without a single infraction. Later he went on to take the Bodhisattva vow only to find that he was breaking it quite regularly-several times a day he would catch himself in a particular thought or action contrary to its spirit. But he would not let an hour pass before he had recognized this, openly confessed it, and reconfirmed his dedication to the Bodhisattva vow.
Then after he had taken the tantric vows he compared the number of times he fell short to the particles of dust that would col- lect on a polished metal plate in a dust storm, or to the drops of rain in a downpour. His infractions were continual.
When people heard of Atisa's repon, they began worrying: "You seem to be saying, Lama, that once we have begun Vajrayana practice, there is no hope of achieving Enlightenment, because our vows will be continually broken. "
Atisa replied, "No, that's not the case at all. In fact, through the blessing of the Buddha we have skillful means to purify all our shoncomings, and many of our other negativities and unwholesome qualities as well. " Then he taught the meditation of Dorje Sempa and its associated visualizations as an extremely effective way to purify not only infractions, but also our whole stream of being.
If we are aware of our body, speech, and mind as identical with the body, speech and mind of the Yidam, then all the tantric vows are included and fulfilled. When form is pure form, all sound is in- trinsically mantra, and the mind is absorbed in the samadhi associated with the deity, then all vows are perfectly kept.
It is not the case that you must take ordination in order to be able to practice. You can develop compassion, meditate effectively, and realize Emptiness without any kind of formal. commitment; but without that commitment you are far more likely to encounter many obstacles. With some commitment, such as ordination, or a disciplined way of life, there is a greater chance that your medita- tion will be effective, and that you will be able to carry it through to completion without many obstacles arising.
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The Five Basic Commitments
Five vows are fundamental to all monks, nuns, and ordained laypersons. The first of these is the vow not to kill. If you have no such vow, it is more difficult to guard against the negative action of taking life. The act of killing creates a tremendous? obstacle and con- tributes to hellish rebirth in future lives. Even in this life, we can see that people who kill others incur mental and physical suffering, loss of wealth, legal punishments, even the death penalty. So even on this obvious level, not taking life has benefits: peace of mind, avoidance of injury or the loss of wealth and freedom. If you are committed to the preservation of life, you avoid all these dangers.
The second vow is not to take what is not given. In one Tibetan word for thief, kun ma [rkun rna], the syllable 'rna' can mean "low" or "debased. " It implies that stealing debases your own existence and makes you increasingly poor; it has a degenerative effect on your mind, wealth and enjoyment of life. The more you steal, the more you are deprived of what you are trying to get. In this life, there are penalties for theft: fines, jail sentences, and suffering. Fur- thermore, stealing contributes to states of deprivation and poverty in the future, and to rebirth as a hungry ghost. The vow not to steal helps you to avoid these unfavorable situations.
The third root vow is not to lie. Any lie you speak has a negative effect on your progress towards Enlightenment. It also gives you a reputation for never telling the truth. The one verbal action, however, that completely breaks the ordination is a lie regarding your attainment. You might present yourself as someone who has deep realization, when you have not, or give extensive and profound teachings as though you understood Dharma, when you do not. To confuse beings in this way is an extremely negative act, and the most serious kind of lie. In the Buddha's words, to commit this kind of lie is a greater negative action than to kill all the beings in the universe, because you cause beings to deviate from the Path of Liberation, lead them to lower states of existence, prolong the time they spend
in samsara, and postpone their enlightenment. By lying about your attainment, you commit an action far worse than simply taking their lives. The third vow, therefore, commits us to avoid untruthful speech as much as possible and, especially, not to lie about our at- tainment.
In a monk's, nun's or celibate layperson's ordination, the fourth vow is to avoid all sexual activity. People are very attached to and concerned about sexual activity and take it to be a kind of bliss. Perhaps this is true on a relative level, but the ultimate state of bliss, of stable and permanent happiness, is incomparably beyond sexual experience; and, in a certain sense, sexual activity keeps you from this realization.
Vajrayana physiology describes the creative energy of the body as white ti'g le and red ti'g le [thig le] which are intimately connected with the experience of orgasm. If their potential is lost during sexual activity, this causes a state of discomfort or unease in body and mind that prevents us from achieving a stable state of bliss.
Celibacy is not abnormal repression or great hardship. On the contrary, it contributes to the achievement of true and stable hap- piness. The Buddha said that ordinary people take sexual enjoy- ment as the pinnacle of human happiness. But that kind of bliss only produces a certain sense of unease and discomfort in mind and body, because it can never be complete. This unfortunate state is like that of a old dog gnawing on a bone: the dog has no teeth to chew with and the hard bone actually cuts his gums; but he tastes the blood, and thinks, "Oh, this is delicious. I want to eat even more. " So he continues chewing and chewing, not realizing that the delicious taste comes from his own blood. He gnaws the bone with bleeding gums and makes the wounds deeper and deeper; eventual- ly, they become infected and tum into sores. What the dogs takes as ultimate happiness becomes pain.
In general, the problem with sexual attachment is perhaps not so much sexual activity in itself, but the fact that it leads to other things that are even more negative. For example, if a man and a woman are very attached to each other, and if the woman is at- tracted by another man, jealousy, anger, and obsession immediately arise in her lover's mind. As long as there is attachment, such emo- tions are present, like servants who follow a master. The point is that desire leads to many things that are far more negative and detrimen- tal to your religious progress. The other problem, of course, is that when people have sexual relations they very often have children, and then find themselves completely involved in raising them, leaving much less time for Dharma practice. With the practical aims of
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simplifying your life, therefore, a celibate ordination is considered important for intensive practice.
In general, our emotions are such that the more we indulge them, the more we need to; the more we pay attention to them, the more inexhaustible they become. There is, however, a solution: we can simply cut off attachment and say, "Finished. " We should ap- proach the vow of celibacy with the attitude that sexual activity is no longer a part of our lives. There will be no difficulty as long as we have that total commitment. But as long as we pay attention to the emotions and indulge in them, they will continue to arise inex- haustibly.
After ordination, monks, nuns, and celibate laypersons should avoid any kind of frivolity- games, movies, television, danc- ing or singing. We may ask, "What's the harm in them? What's the benefit of giving them up? " First of all, they waste a good deal of time and promote various other activities which distract from prac- tice. Secondly, they actually contribute to increasing the emotions. For example. while we are watching television, we are not practicing Dharma. Furthermore, what we see usually stimulates and en- courages emotional responses, and thus works against the purpose of our ordination.
The fifth vow concerns the use of intoxicants, specifically alcohol, which obstructs the mental clarity that is so important in meditation, particularly for someone who is practicing the Vaj- rayana. In this tradition, it is said that if one is engaged in tantric practice, the loss of clarity through alcohol sows the seeds for rebirth in hell.
Alcohol is often referred to as the root of other problems. A traditional story tells of a pure and disciplined monk who went out one day to beg for food. He came to the door of a house where a woman invited him in for the noonday meal. Once she had him in the house, she locked the door and pointed to a goat standing in the corner of the main room and to a bottle of alcohol on the table. "You can either kill that goat, make love to me, or drink that alcohol," she said. "Unless you do one of the three, I won't let you out of this house. " The monk thought to himself, "I'm an ordained monk. I can't make love to the woman. I can't kill an animal volun- tarily, for I can't take life. I'm not supposed to drink, but it seems to
be the least harmful of the actions. " So saying, "I'll drink the alcohol," he downed the bottle. Becoming thoroughly intoxicated and consequently sexually aroused, he made love to the woman, became hungry, and killed the goat for food. In this way intoxica- tion leads to many other things which can be more negative than the simple fact of intoxication itself.
Implicitly rejected in the fifth vow are also all kinds of drugs such as marijuana. The actual wording proscribes the use of fermented liquor, distilled liquor, and anything that intoxicates; it seems fairly obvious that something like marijuana intoxicates the mind. Some people think it produces a kind of bliss, and that may be true in an extremely brief and limited way, but basically it makes people stupid and lazy. They spend a lot of money for no purpose and get little done either in their worldly work or in Dharma prac- tice. Eventually, they become very unhappy mentally and encounter many physical problems too. In short, marijuana robs the mind of clarity, causing it to wander and become distracted-a situation that is most detrimental to the development of effective meditation.
Tobacco, too, has a very detrimental effect on the body and mind. Padmasambhava, and many of the Nyingmapa ter tons [gter ston] who discovered his concealed teachings, were unanimous in saying that substances that are smoked contribute to lower states of rebinh-even when the smoke touches the body of someone not ac- tually smoking. So if you have taken the vow to abandon intox- icants, you should avoid the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and all drugs that cloud the reason or otherwise impair the functioning of mind and body. For someone who doesn't have formal ordina- tion, to avoid the use of intoxicants as much as possible is in itself a step forward. To be able to do without all these distractions, and concentrate our efforts on Dharma practice is a wonderful thing.
In the Buddha's teachings, we often find reference to the im- portance of moral discipline. "Morality is like the eanh. It supports everything, animate and inanimate. It is the foundation of all positive qualities. " Having moral discipline, another text says, we engage in study and contemplation of the teachings in order to enter into the effective practice of meditation. Some level of discipline is absolutely essential for our practice to be effective.
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That doesn't mean that people who lack a high degree of discipline should feel discouraged or think, "I'm useless, I can't do anything. Without ordination I'm hopeless. " That is not the point. Even for an ordinary person without formal ordination, the most imponant thing is to deal with life in as sensible a way as possible, so that we do not give rise to a great deal of anger, aggression, clinging, or greed. This is the crucial point.
For those who have taken ordination, another critical point is to guard against pride. Whether it is based upon your ordained status or on your erudition and intellectual understanding, pride goes against the purpose of practice and destroys its benefits. To think, "I'm a monk. I'm special, these people aren't. They're lower than I am," is an attitude completely contrary to the spirit of the or- dination. It destroys the vinues you would otherwise develop by following the ordained way of life.
If you are quite intelligent, and your learning causes ar- rogance, you may think, "I'm superior to these simpletons. They don't understand as much as I do. " Such intellectual pride runs con- trary to a true understanding of Dharma, and, in fact, destroys much of the benefit of your practice. The Buddha compared pride to a hard rock on which drops of water can make no impression. These drops represent the positive qualities you develop through practice. If your pride has solidified to this extent, then there is no way for positive qualities to penetrate. Much the same thing hap- pens if we regard Dharma simply as an intellectual pastime. If we merely accumulate information without practicing or experiencing what we have learned, our faith and compassion will diminish. We then become very indifferent to the teachings and think, "I've heard that before. I understand that already. " If we persist in this callous attitude, we reach a state where we cannot be helped. We have cut ourselves off from all possibility of being rescued from our stupidity. The Buddha said that even the greatest evil-doer can be saved, but a person who has become apathetic towards the Dharma cannot be helped, because such a mind has become petrified and closed to the teachings. On the other hand, a Bodhisattva has gained a complete understanding of all aspects of Dharma as presented in the Sutras, the Vinaya (discipline), the Abhidharma, and so forth. In all
descriptions of the Bodhisattva, however, there is never any reference to pride. Pride and realization are mutually exclusive.
When opportunities to practice Dharma occur, you should know that they arise from previous merit and that they afford a chance for you to accumulate further merit and develop awareness, and thus help other beings. You should also understand that it is because of the blessing of your Lama and the Three jewels that you have such opportunities.
The focus of this teaching is to encourage people who are in a favorable situation, and not to discourage those who are not. There is no need to feel, ''I'm only a layperson, just a householder (chim pa [khyim pa]). I haven't taken any vows, so I can't get enlightened. I'm hopeless. " The point is to be encouraged to concentrate on what you do have, because at the very least you have the Seed of Bud- dhahood. You have the precious human birth, which provides the opportunity and the leisure to realize fully this inherent potential. You have met with the teachings of Dharma and, in particular, the teachings of the Vajrayana, which give you the means to realize the Enlightened Mind. Everything depends upon understanding what you have, recognizing the blessings of the situation, and then mak- ing diligent, intelligent use of them. This is the way to approach Enlightenment.
Is this to say that there is no difference between someone who holds ordination and someone who doesn't? No. There is a dif- ference, which can be explained in the following way. Suppose there are two houses filled with identical treasure, exactly the same, ex- cept that one has a single door which is firmly bolted, and the other has many doors, all wide open. The house with the one door firmly bolted is in little danger of thieves, but the house with many open doors is always in danger of losing its precious contents. This is the difference between someone who has a formal discipline and lives up to it and someone who has not. Commitment to discipline through ordination gives the means to guard against faults and the loss of the benefits of Dharma practice. Without this formal commitment, one must have great diligence and intelligence, since the danger that mistakes will occur and benefits be lost is always present.
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82 The Dharma Questions and Answers
Q. UESTION: Some people are reluctant to take vows because they are afraid they may inadvenently break them, and then be in a worse situation than if they had never taken the vows. For example, a person might accidentally step on an insect.
ANSWER: Any act of killing breaks the vow, but the only act of kill- ing that destroys the ordination is the willful murder of a human be- ing. Even inadvertent killing would not break the vow completely. Aside from homicide, any other act of killing, intentional or not, is an infraction of the vow. In any case, killing is a negative act, whether or not you have taken the vow. You do not escape the con- sequences of even inadvertent killing and a certain element of bad karma is still involved. The purpose of the vow is to make a definite commitment to avoid killing.
Four considerations determine the gravity of any action. The four considerations are the object of the action, the intention, the act itself, and the completion of that act. In the case of killing, there is the person being killed, the intent to kill, the act of killing, and an actual death. These four elements must be present for the vow to be completely broken. If only three are present, the act is less serious. If there are only two or one, the repercussions diminish accordingly.
In the case of killing an insect, for example, there is initially the perception of the object, the thought "That is an insect, a living thing. It has consciousness. " Second is the motivation. One thinks, "I want to kill it. " The third stage is actually to kill it. And the fourth is that the insect dies and one thinks, "Ah, good, it's dead. " That completes the action. This act of taking a life is serious because all four elements are present; that makes it a conscious act and fully carried out.
Q. UESTION: There are people who don't take vows but behave in accord with them, and other people who take the vows and keep them. Is there a difference?
ANSWER: There is a difference in the power of the virtue and merit accumulated by someone who is following a discipline without vows and someone who has actually taken formal ordination, because the latter has done so with a conscious intention and in the presence of their teacher and the Three jewels. This adds an element of power
to the situation that can be extremely effective. The difference is between natural virtue and deliberate virtue, which involves the conscious practice of a certain conduct. While the virtue of someone without ordination and someone with ordination, both living a good life, is more or less the same, what seems to be different is the degree of strength, real stability, and power to practice.
QUESTION: How can we develop discipline?
ANSWER: T o develop a disciplined way of life, you need to look at your own situation. If you are a monk or a nun, a discipline is clearly defined, but for an ordinary person some examination is necessary. You need to look at the way you are living, and, when you realize that certain acts, killing for example, are negative, you no longer want to do them. At this point you are your own witness, and ab- staining from a particular negative action like killing or stealing gives a great deal of benefit. If you do not feel you can be celibate, you can at least be faithful in your relationship, not deceiving or harming the other person. You make your own decisions and are your own witness for that kind of commitment. On the other hand, someone who has taken formal ordination has the best witnesses-the Three Jewels and the Lama; they make any action more powerful.
QUESTION: When I am taking a vow I get very nervous. I am afraid I will break it, and the presence of witnesses makes the whole thing even more unnerving.
ANSWER: It is not bad to feel nervous, because it means that you recognize you're undertaking something significant in the presence of an important witness. There is a sense of power and reality in the situation; it may frighten you, but it's not bad. It means you perhaps do not thoroughly understand the nature of what is going on, but at least you have some idea of the significance of the commitment. Still, if you feel that it would be detrimental at this time to under- take any formal commitment now, that does not mean that your own personal commitment isn't good enough. Human rebirth comes about as result of discipline, and discipline is not just a monk's or nun's vows: discipline is a certain commitment, whether by yourself or through formal ordination, to a way of life that pursues certain kinds of activity and avoids others. Perhaps in the present cir-
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cumstances it would be better for you to avoid committing yourself to something that makes you nervous. Whether it is in the context of formal ordination or not, a vow is still effective and your own per- sonal commitment to vows like not killing, lying or stealing, is im- portant and very beneficial.
QUESTION: I have an extreme problem with discipline and an organized way of life. I'm afraid of the methods you describe, because I know they go against my own nature. On the other hand, I think I am sincerely open to the teaching. How can I keep on being open to the teaching, even when the idea of discipline is so distasteful?
ANSWER: That is the purpose of the Four Contemplations that Turn the Mind towards Dharma practice: they automatically give rise to commitment. Instead of trying to force the commitment, you simply meditate in such a way that commitment becomes the only choice open to you. Given the situation we are in, how else could we behave except to have this commitment? Having seen things clearly, commitment tends to develop by itself. Perhaps a story will illustrate this point.
During the lifetime of Buddha Shakyamuni, there was a young man who was one of the Buddha's cousins. His name was Chungawo [gCung dGa bo]. Chungawo was married to a very beautiful woman. They were extremely happy together, but overly attached to each other. They simply could not bear to be out of each other's presence: wherever they went and whatever they did, they were always together. One day the Buddha saw that his cousin was ripe for training, so he went on his begging rounds as usual, holding his bowl, and stood in the road before the gate of his cousin's house waiting to receive anything he might be offered.
Chungawo had great faith, and when he saw the Buddha stand- ing there, he said to his wife, despite his extreme attachment to her, "I must go and make an offering to the Buddha. "
As he was going out the door, his wife grabbed him and said, "Where are you going? Don't leave me. " and he said, "No, I'm just going down to the end of the road.
The Symbolism of the Mandala of Deities
The purity of enlightenment is embodied by the mandala of deities. For example, what we normally experience as the five skand- has (the aggregates of the mind/body complex) we recognize on the pure level as the Buddhas of the Five Families. The mind's elemen- tal qualities, which we experience as the elements in our physical body and the outer universe, on the pure level are the five female consorts of the five Buddhas. On the ordinary level we experience eight types of confused consciousness, while on the pure level these are eight male Bodhisattvas. On the impure level we speak of the eight objects of those different kinds of consciousness, and on the pure level we speak of the eight female Bodhisattvas. Each one of these pure forms expresses an enlightened perspective of a pan of our impure experience. It is not only possible to connect the dif- ferent aspects of our impure consciousness with the pure forms, but also to connect these pure forms with the nature of mind itself.
There has been and could still be much commentary on the relationship between these different levels of expression and our own experience. For our present purposes, it is sufficient to understand that the six bardos we've discussed briefly are the six major phases of experience for any being wandering in the cycle of rebinh. In every one of them the practice of Dharma is of the greatest possible value,
for through it we can purify ourselves of confusion, obscurations, and negative emotions, and further develop our awareness and merit.
Questions and Answers
QUESTION: Aren't the Mandalas of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities related to one particular cultural tradition? How do those schooled in other traditions perceive them?
ANSWER: In the tradition of these teachings it doesn't matter whether you're a Buddhist or not: you will still have the experience of the wrathful and peaceful deities. The advantage of being a Bud- dhist or having practiced this particular approach is that you will recognize the experience for what it is. But the experience is fun? damentally the same, even for non-humans. Every being that goes through the bardo has some perception of the lights, of the concen? trated spheres of light, and the mandalas appearing within them. Usually, however, there is no recognition and no attempt at recogni- tion, just a feeling that the experience is threatening and repellent. The mind is terrified and retreats from the experience.
In the traditional texts it is stated that even the consciousness of an insect in the bardo state has the same experience. Each and every being in the six realms of existence has what is called Tathagatagarbha, the Seed of Enlightenment, which is fundamen? tal awareness of the ultimate nature of mind. It is from this that bar- do experiences arise as natural projections of mind, not as something produced by cultural conditioning.
QUESTION: The mind is traditionally described as having three aspects; are the three elements that correspond to these aspects more important than the remaining two?
ANSWER: In the presentation of mind as having three aspects-its essence is empty, its nature is clarity, and its manifestation is unimpeded-we reckon the Emptiness and the Clarity of mind as the elements of space and fire. The element of wind, the continual movement of mind, is the third aspect, unimpeded manifestation. Now the element of earth is the function of mind as the origin and basis of all experience, and the element of water is the continuity of mind. These two functions (continuity and basis) apply to all three
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aspects. Thus, the mind is essentially empty (space), has Clarity (fire) and the ability to manifest unimpededly (wind), and throughout all three there is continuity (water) and the ability to provide a basis (earth).
QUESTION: I've heard that the body should not be disturbed for three or four days after death. In the West the custom is to embalm the body very soon after death. How important is it that the body be undisturbed, and for how long?
ANSWER:Generally speaking, it's good to leave the corpse un- disturbed as long as possible. But in many circumstances this is dif- ficult, because we simply don't have the attitude towards death reflected in the bardo teachings. Once a person has died, we feel that the mind no longer has any need for the corpse. We don't have the same kind of respect for the corpse that Buddhists in Tibet did.
But it's not easy to explain these ideas, and if you simply say, "Don't move or touch the body," without giving any reason, you may only make people angry. On the other hand, perhaps you could explain some of these ideas. People might at least appreciate the im- portance to you of what you're saying, and since they have some feel- ing of respect towards the corpse, might do their best not to disturb it. It's hard to tell. The general principle of not disturbing a corpse for a short period after death could be encouraged. It is beneficial.
5
Mandala
T he third of the Kagyii Preliminaries (see pages 9-10), the Mandala Offering, is connected with the accumulation of merit and the deepening of awareness. It is similar to other gestures such as placing flowers, incense, or lamps on a shrine as an offering to the Three jewels. A lay person might give an offering to a monk or a nun to support their practice, or a disciple might give an offering to
a Lama. Such offerings accumulate merit for those who make them, and therefore help to deepen their understanding and awareness. The practice of the Mandala Offering, however, is concerned with offering nothing less than the universe. The structure of the medita- tion presents the whole universe. with everything worthy of offering, whether material or imagined, including, for example, the physical environment, whose natural beauty does not have to be fabricated, but is simply there to be offered. The Mandala Offering integrates all these perceptions into a single meditation. If this is done with an attitude of faith and devotion, the meditator's mind becomes ex- tremely powerful, and the merit and awareness that result are no different from what could result from actually offering the whole universe to the Three Jewels.
66 The Dhanna
Mandala is a Sanskrit word which the Tibetans translated by chin khor [khyil 'khor], which means center and circumference. In the Mandala Offering, a center with its surrounding environment forms a complete system, and constitutes an ideal conception of the universe. Its cosmology is based upon the conception of the central mountain, Sumeru, [ri rab] as axis of the universe, with its con? tinents, mountain ranges and so fonh, concentrically arrayed.
For the physical offering we use a metal plate on which to heap up grain, perhaps with precious stones mixed in, in a symmetrical pattern on the plate. This is used to focus the mind on the medita? tion and to provide a support for the very complex visualization of the universe being offered.
The Variety of Cosmologies
This symbolic cosmology disturbs many people in the modem world because they take it to contradict what we experience with our own senses and with the technology we have now developed. These days we have a conception of the universe that includes our solar system and our own realm as a spherical planet turning around the sun. People have evidence of this, and therefore see a discrepancy between the present world view and the world view presented in the Mandala Offering.
Buddhahood is a state of omniscience; from that omniscience the Buddha spoke of this cosmology- but not as the only one. Dif- ferent beings, because of their different karmic tendencies and dif- ferent levels of awareness, experience the universe in different ways. So in many of the Buddha's teachings, especially in the vast sutra known as the Avatamsaka, various cosmologies are presented. Some involve only a single continent. Others have a multiplicity of worlds, such as the Mandala Offering pattern. Others involve planetary systems, spherical worlds, and so forth. Any one of these various cosmologies is completely valid for the beings whose karmic projec- tions cause them to experience their universe in that way. There is a certain relativity in the way one experiences the world.
This means that all the possible experiences of every being in the six realms of existence, shaping the ways in which each perceives the universe, are based upon karmic inclinations and degrees of in? dividual development. Thus, on a relative level, any cosmology is
valid. On an ultimate level no cosmology is absolutely true. It can- not be universally valid, given the different conventional situations of beings.
We have quite a number of people here today. If we all lay down to take a nap and had dreams, and if someone said on waking, "My dream was the only true one. All the rest of you had false dreams," how plausible would we find that? We all have different perceptions based on our individual karmic tendencies.
In order to accumulate merit and develop awareness, it is most effective to offer what is most beautiful. Because of our dualistic clinging, we feel attraction to what we consider good, wholesome or beautiful and aversion to what we consider ugly or disgusting. When we choose what to offer, we should acknowledge that we have this dualistic clinging and only offer what pleases us. Of all the possible cosmologies, the most beautiful, the most pleasing as an object of meditation, seems to be this mandala pattern of the central moun- tain with four continents. Since we wish to offer only the best, this beautiful model of the universe is used.
Making Pure Offerings
In India, during the time of the Buddha, there was an old couple who were very poor and had only a small plot of land, barely enough to get by. One day they realized they were growing old and were coming closer and closer to death. They felt they should make use of the precious opportunity of being human by performing at least one gesture that would accumulate great merit and develop their awareness before they died. They discussed what particular formal act would be most appropriate. As it happened, Shariputra, one of the wisest of the Buddha's disciples, lived nearby. They decided to invite the Venerable Shariputra to their home and serve him a midday meal as an offering. They would then make prayers of aspiration in his presence to receive this blessing.
The old couple made their preparations, invited Shariputra, offered him the meal, formulated their prayers, and received his blessing. And afterward things went on much as before, except that when the growing season was finished and they went along with everyone else to harvest their rice, they found that all the grains in their small paddy were not rice at all but pure gold.
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Soon everyone was talking about the field of golden rice, and the news quickly reached the ears of Ajatasatru, a famous king of Buddhist India. He said to himself, "This is entirely improper. I'm the king, I should have control of that field. " He ordered his ministers to confiscate the land from the old couple and to give them another rice paddy of equal size elsewhere. His messengers duly went out, found the old couple, and moved them to another plot of land. But when this had been done, the confiscated grains of gold turned to rice once again, and the rice on the couple's new land became gold. Word of this got back to the king and he said, "Go, do it again. Take the golden rice. "
This happened seven times. Each time the messengers took the land from the old couple and gave them another plot, the same change took place; the king was left with rice and the old couple had the gold.
By now people began to wonder why this was happening. They went to see the Buddha and described the situation. The Buddha explained the karmic connection between the meritorious act and the result the old couple were experiencing even in the same lifetime. The event became a famous example of the unfailing nature of the karmic process. It did a great deal to establish people's understanding of karma as a factor in all that happens, and revealed the connection between what is done and what is experienced.
The old couple's action was extremely meritorious for two reasons. First, the object of their respect and devotion was Shariputra, an extremely pure and holy being. This is what is technically termed the "field. " If the object of our devotion and of- ferings, the field upon which we are working, is a pure one, it is very fertile in blessings. The second reason was the couple's pure motiva- tion in making the offering out of respect and faith. The double purity of field and motivation made the offering powerful and great merit was accumulated.
In the case of the Mandala Offering, these elements are at work as well: what is chosen as the field, the object of our offenngs, is the ThreeJewels, which are completely pure and embody inconceivable blessing, and our own pure motivation in making the offering to develop merit and perfect awareness. It is the coming together of these circumstances that make the practice so effective.
With reference to the merit involved, the Buddha said that the wish to offer the mandala (to say nothing of actually offering it) or making the offering plate used during the practice, if done proper- ly, would accumulate merit that would give dominion over the world.
Now all of you are intelligent people, and no doubt it has oc- cured to you that there seems to be a difference between the formal Mandala Offering-piling rice on a plate-and what the old couple offered to Shariputra, which was almost everything they had. In- deed, you may feel that there is a fundamental difference between these two kinds of offering. But there isn't. There is actually a great similarity between them, and the link is our motivation.
The Importance ofMotivation
During the Buddha's lifetime there lived in India a Buddhist king who planned to sponsor an assembly wherein the Buddha and five hundred of his disciples, all realized Arhats, would spend the three months of the summer retreat. The king would provide them with a park to stay in and offer them all the food and clothing they needed. When the Buddha came to stay in this grove with his disciples, it was their daily custom to dedicate the merit of their ac- tivity for the benefit of all beings. Following the midday meal the Buddha would recite a prayer to this effect: "May all the virtue and merit achieved by the King through sponsoring this summer retreat be shared for the benefit of all sentient beings. "
Now there was an old beggar woman who lived in the town. Though poverty-stricken, she had a wholesome frame of mind; when she saw the king undertaking this project, she thought to herself, "Wonderfull Here is a man who because of his previous ac- cumulation of merit has a fortunate rebirth as a powerful king. Now he's utilizing that opportunity to render service to Buddha and his attendants. He is ensuring continuous accumulation of merit, development of awareness, and definite progress on the path to Liberation. How wonderful this is! " The old beggar woman was truly thankful and glad to see the king undertaking this virtuous work; she had a deep sense of joy that someone was accumulating such merit.
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One day after the midday meal, the Buddha turned to the king and said, "Your majesty, should I share the merit as usual using your name, or should I insert the name of someone who has more merit than you? " The king thought to himself, "What's he talking about? There can't be anyone with more merit than I. " So he said, "Your Reverence, if in fact there is a person with more merit than I, then please by all means share the merit on their behalf. " So the Buddha proceeded to dedicate the merit accumulated by this old beggar woman for the benefit of all sentient beings. This went on for a number of days. Every day the Buddha would use the name of the beggar woman instead of the king's name, and the king grew depressed.
The king's ministers now began discussing how to cheer him up. One of them, who was very bright and rather crafty, thought of a plan. He organized an offering of food to the Buddha and his five hundred attendants, a fine feast of fruit to be brought on platters. Then he told the servants who were to carry the fruit into the shrine room, "While you're still outside the shrine, spill the food on the ground. "
So when they were bringing the food to the temple, they spilled it. just as there are many beggars in India today, so there were then too, and the beggars came hurrying to take some food for themselves. The minister ordered the servants to beat the beggars back and, pointing out the old beggar woman, said, "Be especially rough on her. " The servants began to beat and kick the old woman to keep her away from the food. She became so angry at this that she completely lost her sense of rejoicing in the king's merit: her rage ut? terly destroyed her positive attitude.
That day when the Buddha dedicated the merit at the meal, the king's name was back in the prayer.
Now there were many disciples present who were very disturbed at this and entertained a great deal of doubt; they could not under- stand why the Buddha had in the first place replaced the king's name with the old woman's, then later replaced the old woman's name with the king's. They asked the Buddha, and thus gave him an opportunity to explain that situations are not only shaped by the karmic process, but also demonstrate the extreme importance of our
attitudes. In fact, our mental attitude is the most crucial factor in any situation.
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6
V ows
"'~:;'or the practice of Dharma to be truly effective, two things are r necessary. First, you must see that the essential nature of sam- sara is suffering and, on the basis of a thorough understanding of this suffering, desire to be liberated from unenlightened existence. Second, you must come to an appreciation of Enlightenment, or Buddhahood, and generate the desire to attain it. In this way, you make a choice between samsara, which you abandon, and Enlightenment, which you determine to achieve.
Although it may seem contradictory, in order to practice Dhar- ma, we actually need to be just as concerned with the world as we are with Dharma practice-not in the sense of being caught up in worldly projects and schemes for making money, but in thinking about what it really means to live in this world. For example, we are human beings and subject, therefore, to the sufferings characteristic of our condition: birth, old age, sickness and death. We also belong to one of the six realms of samsaric existence, which encompass the experience of every being in this world. We must meditate again and again on the sufferings that attend each one of these states. This is the kind of concern with the world that is crucial for the practice of Dharma.
74 The Dharma
The Three Levels of Vows
Those who take ordination (dom pa [sdom pa]) as monks or
nuns do so because they understand that involvement with the world
is difficult and essentially fruitless. They take ordination to simplify
their lives and direct themselves toward practice. Ordination is most
important because it forms the vessel for our practice of Dharma. If
we think of the Dharma as nectar, fine beer, or cream that is being
poured into a bowl, then clearly, the vessel must be clean and
without leaks. If not, whatever is poured into it will be spoiled or
lost.
There are three levels of taking vows: the Hinayana or outer
level; the Mahayana or inner level; and the Vajrayana or secret level. The ordination described above corresponds to what the Hinayana teachings call PratimokSa, the vows of individual libera- tion, (so sor tar pay dom pa [so sor thar pa'i sdom pa]). It is the outer level of commitment to practice. The inner level corresponds to the contents of the vessel, which is the Bodhisattva vow in the Mahayana tradition. This is the development of compassion for all other beings and the deepening awareness of emptiness as the ultimate nature of all phenomena. The secret level is Vajrayana practice, like adding something to enrich the liquid in the vessel and make it even more delicious, as we might add milk, sugar, or salt to tea.
Many of us have taken a certain step in committing ourselves to the teachings, whether or not this is reflected in formal ordination. We may have vows of the layman, of the novice nun or monk, or of a fully ordained nun or monk. Many of us have taken the Bodhisattva vows, and all of us who are involved with the Vajrayana path have some commitment to the tantric vows, samaya [dam tshig].
We often fail to live up to vows we have taken, and when we fall short, Dorje Sempa meditation is very beneficiaf. Jt is also helpful to have a clear idea of just how difficult the vows may actually be to keep. Many people feel that a monk's vows or nun's vows, for exam- ple, are very difficult to keep, while the Bodhisattva vows are easy to keep and the Tantric vows involve no effort whatsoever, as if they kept themselves. Actually, the reverse is the case. Ifyou are looking for vows that are easy to keep, the easiest by far are the monk's and nun's.
The famous Indian teacher Atisa, who brought the teachings of the three yanas to Tibet, once said that when he undenook the prac- tice of Buddhism, he first took the vows of a novice and then full or- dination. By being scrupulously aware of the various rules of monastic conduct, he was able to preserve these vows without a single infraction. Later he went on to take the Bodhisattva vow only to find that he was breaking it quite regularly-several times a day he would catch himself in a particular thought or action contrary to its spirit. But he would not let an hour pass before he had recognized this, openly confessed it, and reconfirmed his dedication to the Bodhisattva vow.
Then after he had taken the tantric vows he compared the number of times he fell short to the particles of dust that would col- lect on a polished metal plate in a dust storm, or to the drops of rain in a downpour. His infractions were continual.
When people heard of Atisa's repon, they began worrying: "You seem to be saying, Lama, that once we have begun Vajrayana practice, there is no hope of achieving Enlightenment, because our vows will be continually broken. "
Atisa replied, "No, that's not the case at all. In fact, through the blessing of the Buddha we have skillful means to purify all our shoncomings, and many of our other negativities and unwholesome qualities as well. " Then he taught the meditation of Dorje Sempa and its associated visualizations as an extremely effective way to purify not only infractions, but also our whole stream of being.
If we are aware of our body, speech, and mind as identical with the body, speech and mind of the Yidam, then all the tantric vows are included and fulfilled. When form is pure form, all sound is in- trinsically mantra, and the mind is absorbed in the samadhi associated with the deity, then all vows are perfectly kept.
It is not the case that you must take ordination in order to be able to practice. You can develop compassion, meditate effectively, and realize Emptiness without any kind of formal. commitment; but without that commitment you are far more likely to encounter many obstacles. With some commitment, such as ordination, or a disciplined way of life, there is a greater chance that your medita- tion will be effective, and that you will be able to carry it through to completion without many obstacles arising.
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The Five Basic Commitments
Five vows are fundamental to all monks, nuns, and ordained laypersons. The first of these is the vow not to kill. If you have no such vow, it is more difficult to guard against the negative action of taking life. The act of killing creates a tremendous? obstacle and con- tributes to hellish rebirth in future lives. Even in this life, we can see that people who kill others incur mental and physical suffering, loss of wealth, legal punishments, even the death penalty. So even on this obvious level, not taking life has benefits: peace of mind, avoidance of injury or the loss of wealth and freedom. If you are committed to the preservation of life, you avoid all these dangers.
The second vow is not to take what is not given. In one Tibetan word for thief, kun ma [rkun rna], the syllable 'rna' can mean "low" or "debased. " It implies that stealing debases your own existence and makes you increasingly poor; it has a degenerative effect on your mind, wealth and enjoyment of life. The more you steal, the more you are deprived of what you are trying to get. In this life, there are penalties for theft: fines, jail sentences, and suffering. Fur- thermore, stealing contributes to states of deprivation and poverty in the future, and to rebirth as a hungry ghost. The vow not to steal helps you to avoid these unfavorable situations.
The third root vow is not to lie. Any lie you speak has a negative effect on your progress towards Enlightenment. It also gives you a reputation for never telling the truth. The one verbal action, however, that completely breaks the ordination is a lie regarding your attainment. You might present yourself as someone who has deep realization, when you have not, or give extensive and profound teachings as though you understood Dharma, when you do not. To confuse beings in this way is an extremely negative act, and the most serious kind of lie. In the Buddha's words, to commit this kind of lie is a greater negative action than to kill all the beings in the universe, because you cause beings to deviate from the Path of Liberation, lead them to lower states of existence, prolong the time they spend
in samsara, and postpone their enlightenment. By lying about your attainment, you commit an action far worse than simply taking their lives. The third vow, therefore, commits us to avoid untruthful speech as much as possible and, especially, not to lie about our at- tainment.
In a monk's, nun's or celibate layperson's ordination, the fourth vow is to avoid all sexual activity. People are very attached to and concerned about sexual activity and take it to be a kind of bliss. Perhaps this is true on a relative level, but the ultimate state of bliss, of stable and permanent happiness, is incomparably beyond sexual experience; and, in a certain sense, sexual activity keeps you from this realization.
Vajrayana physiology describes the creative energy of the body as white ti'g le and red ti'g le [thig le] which are intimately connected with the experience of orgasm. If their potential is lost during sexual activity, this causes a state of discomfort or unease in body and mind that prevents us from achieving a stable state of bliss.
Celibacy is not abnormal repression or great hardship. On the contrary, it contributes to the achievement of true and stable hap- piness. The Buddha said that ordinary people take sexual enjoy- ment as the pinnacle of human happiness. But that kind of bliss only produces a certain sense of unease and discomfort in mind and body, because it can never be complete. This unfortunate state is like that of a old dog gnawing on a bone: the dog has no teeth to chew with and the hard bone actually cuts his gums; but he tastes the blood, and thinks, "Oh, this is delicious. I want to eat even more. " So he continues chewing and chewing, not realizing that the delicious taste comes from his own blood. He gnaws the bone with bleeding gums and makes the wounds deeper and deeper; eventual- ly, they become infected and tum into sores. What the dogs takes as ultimate happiness becomes pain.
In general, the problem with sexual attachment is perhaps not so much sexual activity in itself, but the fact that it leads to other things that are even more negative. For example, if a man and a woman are very attached to each other, and if the woman is at- tracted by another man, jealousy, anger, and obsession immediately arise in her lover's mind. As long as there is attachment, such emo- tions are present, like servants who follow a master. The point is that desire leads to many things that are far more negative and detrimen- tal to your religious progress. The other problem, of course, is that when people have sexual relations they very often have children, and then find themselves completely involved in raising them, leaving much less time for Dharma practice. With the practical aims of
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simplifying your life, therefore, a celibate ordination is considered important for intensive practice.
In general, our emotions are such that the more we indulge them, the more we need to; the more we pay attention to them, the more inexhaustible they become. There is, however, a solution: we can simply cut off attachment and say, "Finished. " We should ap- proach the vow of celibacy with the attitude that sexual activity is no longer a part of our lives. There will be no difficulty as long as we have that total commitment. But as long as we pay attention to the emotions and indulge in them, they will continue to arise inex- haustibly.
After ordination, monks, nuns, and celibate laypersons should avoid any kind of frivolity- games, movies, television, danc- ing or singing. We may ask, "What's the harm in them? What's the benefit of giving them up? " First of all, they waste a good deal of time and promote various other activities which distract from prac- tice. Secondly, they actually contribute to increasing the emotions. For example. while we are watching television, we are not practicing Dharma. Furthermore, what we see usually stimulates and en- courages emotional responses, and thus works against the purpose of our ordination.
The fifth vow concerns the use of intoxicants, specifically alcohol, which obstructs the mental clarity that is so important in meditation, particularly for someone who is practicing the Vaj- rayana. In this tradition, it is said that if one is engaged in tantric practice, the loss of clarity through alcohol sows the seeds for rebirth in hell.
Alcohol is often referred to as the root of other problems. A traditional story tells of a pure and disciplined monk who went out one day to beg for food. He came to the door of a house where a woman invited him in for the noonday meal. Once she had him in the house, she locked the door and pointed to a goat standing in the corner of the main room and to a bottle of alcohol on the table. "You can either kill that goat, make love to me, or drink that alcohol," she said. "Unless you do one of the three, I won't let you out of this house. " The monk thought to himself, "I'm an ordained monk. I can't make love to the woman. I can't kill an animal volun- tarily, for I can't take life. I'm not supposed to drink, but it seems to
be the least harmful of the actions. " So saying, "I'll drink the alcohol," he downed the bottle. Becoming thoroughly intoxicated and consequently sexually aroused, he made love to the woman, became hungry, and killed the goat for food. In this way intoxica- tion leads to many other things which can be more negative than the simple fact of intoxication itself.
Implicitly rejected in the fifth vow are also all kinds of drugs such as marijuana. The actual wording proscribes the use of fermented liquor, distilled liquor, and anything that intoxicates; it seems fairly obvious that something like marijuana intoxicates the mind. Some people think it produces a kind of bliss, and that may be true in an extremely brief and limited way, but basically it makes people stupid and lazy. They spend a lot of money for no purpose and get little done either in their worldly work or in Dharma prac- tice. Eventually, they become very unhappy mentally and encounter many physical problems too. In short, marijuana robs the mind of clarity, causing it to wander and become distracted-a situation that is most detrimental to the development of effective meditation.
Tobacco, too, has a very detrimental effect on the body and mind. Padmasambhava, and many of the Nyingmapa ter tons [gter ston] who discovered his concealed teachings, were unanimous in saying that substances that are smoked contribute to lower states of rebinh-even when the smoke touches the body of someone not ac- tually smoking. So if you have taken the vow to abandon intox- icants, you should avoid the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and all drugs that cloud the reason or otherwise impair the functioning of mind and body. For someone who doesn't have formal ordina- tion, to avoid the use of intoxicants as much as possible is in itself a step forward. To be able to do without all these distractions, and concentrate our efforts on Dharma practice is a wonderful thing.
In the Buddha's teachings, we often find reference to the im- portance of moral discipline. "Morality is like the eanh. It supports everything, animate and inanimate. It is the foundation of all positive qualities. " Having moral discipline, another text says, we engage in study and contemplation of the teachings in order to enter into the effective practice of meditation. Some level of discipline is absolutely essential for our practice to be effective.
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That doesn't mean that people who lack a high degree of discipline should feel discouraged or think, "I'm useless, I can't do anything. Without ordination I'm hopeless. " That is not the point. Even for an ordinary person without formal ordination, the most imponant thing is to deal with life in as sensible a way as possible, so that we do not give rise to a great deal of anger, aggression, clinging, or greed. This is the crucial point.
For those who have taken ordination, another critical point is to guard against pride. Whether it is based upon your ordained status or on your erudition and intellectual understanding, pride goes against the purpose of practice and destroys its benefits. To think, "I'm a monk. I'm special, these people aren't. They're lower than I am," is an attitude completely contrary to the spirit of the or- dination. It destroys the vinues you would otherwise develop by following the ordained way of life.
If you are quite intelligent, and your learning causes ar- rogance, you may think, "I'm superior to these simpletons. They don't understand as much as I do. " Such intellectual pride runs con- trary to a true understanding of Dharma, and, in fact, destroys much of the benefit of your practice. The Buddha compared pride to a hard rock on which drops of water can make no impression. These drops represent the positive qualities you develop through practice. If your pride has solidified to this extent, then there is no way for positive qualities to penetrate. Much the same thing hap- pens if we regard Dharma simply as an intellectual pastime. If we merely accumulate information without practicing or experiencing what we have learned, our faith and compassion will diminish. We then become very indifferent to the teachings and think, "I've heard that before. I understand that already. " If we persist in this callous attitude, we reach a state where we cannot be helped. We have cut ourselves off from all possibility of being rescued from our stupidity. The Buddha said that even the greatest evil-doer can be saved, but a person who has become apathetic towards the Dharma cannot be helped, because such a mind has become petrified and closed to the teachings. On the other hand, a Bodhisattva has gained a complete understanding of all aspects of Dharma as presented in the Sutras, the Vinaya (discipline), the Abhidharma, and so forth. In all
descriptions of the Bodhisattva, however, there is never any reference to pride. Pride and realization are mutually exclusive.
When opportunities to practice Dharma occur, you should know that they arise from previous merit and that they afford a chance for you to accumulate further merit and develop awareness, and thus help other beings. You should also understand that it is because of the blessing of your Lama and the Three jewels that you have such opportunities.
The focus of this teaching is to encourage people who are in a favorable situation, and not to discourage those who are not. There is no need to feel, ''I'm only a layperson, just a householder (chim pa [khyim pa]). I haven't taken any vows, so I can't get enlightened. I'm hopeless. " The point is to be encouraged to concentrate on what you do have, because at the very least you have the Seed of Bud- dhahood. You have the precious human birth, which provides the opportunity and the leisure to realize fully this inherent potential. You have met with the teachings of Dharma and, in particular, the teachings of the Vajrayana, which give you the means to realize the Enlightened Mind. Everything depends upon understanding what you have, recognizing the blessings of the situation, and then mak- ing diligent, intelligent use of them. This is the way to approach Enlightenment.
Is this to say that there is no difference between someone who holds ordination and someone who doesn't? No. There is a dif- ference, which can be explained in the following way. Suppose there are two houses filled with identical treasure, exactly the same, ex- cept that one has a single door which is firmly bolted, and the other has many doors, all wide open. The house with the one door firmly bolted is in little danger of thieves, but the house with many open doors is always in danger of losing its precious contents. This is the difference between someone who has a formal discipline and lives up to it and someone who has not. Commitment to discipline through ordination gives the means to guard against faults and the loss of the benefits of Dharma practice. Without this formal commitment, one must have great diligence and intelligence, since the danger that mistakes will occur and benefits be lost is always present.
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82 The Dharma Questions and Answers
Q. UESTION: Some people are reluctant to take vows because they are afraid they may inadvenently break them, and then be in a worse situation than if they had never taken the vows. For example, a person might accidentally step on an insect.
ANSWER: Any act of killing breaks the vow, but the only act of kill- ing that destroys the ordination is the willful murder of a human be- ing. Even inadvertent killing would not break the vow completely. Aside from homicide, any other act of killing, intentional or not, is an infraction of the vow. In any case, killing is a negative act, whether or not you have taken the vow. You do not escape the con- sequences of even inadvertent killing and a certain element of bad karma is still involved. The purpose of the vow is to make a definite commitment to avoid killing.
Four considerations determine the gravity of any action. The four considerations are the object of the action, the intention, the act itself, and the completion of that act. In the case of killing, there is the person being killed, the intent to kill, the act of killing, and an actual death. These four elements must be present for the vow to be completely broken. If only three are present, the act is less serious. If there are only two or one, the repercussions diminish accordingly.
In the case of killing an insect, for example, there is initially the perception of the object, the thought "That is an insect, a living thing. It has consciousness. " Second is the motivation. One thinks, "I want to kill it. " The third stage is actually to kill it. And the fourth is that the insect dies and one thinks, "Ah, good, it's dead. " That completes the action. This act of taking a life is serious because all four elements are present; that makes it a conscious act and fully carried out.
Q. UESTION: There are people who don't take vows but behave in accord with them, and other people who take the vows and keep them. Is there a difference?
ANSWER: There is a difference in the power of the virtue and merit accumulated by someone who is following a discipline without vows and someone who has actually taken formal ordination, because the latter has done so with a conscious intention and in the presence of their teacher and the Three jewels. This adds an element of power
to the situation that can be extremely effective. The difference is between natural virtue and deliberate virtue, which involves the conscious practice of a certain conduct. While the virtue of someone without ordination and someone with ordination, both living a good life, is more or less the same, what seems to be different is the degree of strength, real stability, and power to practice.
QUESTION: How can we develop discipline?
ANSWER: T o develop a disciplined way of life, you need to look at your own situation. If you are a monk or a nun, a discipline is clearly defined, but for an ordinary person some examination is necessary. You need to look at the way you are living, and, when you realize that certain acts, killing for example, are negative, you no longer want to do them. At this point you are your own witness, and ab- staining from a particular negative action like killing or stealing gives a great deal of benefit. If you do not feel you can be celibate, you can at least be faithful in your relationship, not deceiving or harming the other person. You make your own decisions and are your own witness for that kind of commitment. On the other hand, someone who has taken formal ordination has the best witnesses-the Three Jewels and the Lama; they make any action more powerful.
QUESTION: When I am taking a vow I get very nervous. I am afraid I will break it, and the presence of witnesses makes the whole thing even more unnerving.
ANSWER: It is not bad to feel nervous, because it means that you recognize you're undertaking something significant in the presence of an important witness. There is a sense of power and reality in the situation; it may frighten you, but it's not bad. It means you perhaps do not thoroughly understand the nature of what is going on, but at least you have some idea of the significance of the commitment. Still, if you feel that it would be detrimental at this time to under- take any formal commitment now, that does not mean that your own personal commitment isn't good enough. Human rebirth comes about as result of discipline, and discipline is not just a monk's or nun's vows: discipline is a certain commitment, whether by yourself or through formal ordination, to a way of life that pursues certain kinds of activity and avoids others. Perhaps in the present cir-
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cumstances it would be better for you to avoid committing yourself to something that makes you nervous. Whether it is in the context of formal ordination or not, a vow is still effective and your own per- sonal commitment to vows like not killing, lying or stealing, is im- portant and very beneficial.
QUESTION: I have an extreme problem with discipline and an organized way of life. I'm afraid of the methods you describe, because I know they go against my own nature. On the other hand, I think I am sincerely open to the teaching. How can I keep on being open to the teaching, even when the idea of discipline is so distasteful?
ANSWER: That is the purpose of the Four Contemplations that Turn the Mind towards Dharma practice: they automatically give rise to commitment. Instead of trying to force the commitment, you simply meditate in such a way that commitment becomes the only choice open to you. Given the situation we are in, how else could we behave except to have this commitment? Having seen things clearly, commitment tends to develop by itself. Perhaps a story will illustrate this point.
During the lifetime of Buddha Shakyamuni, there was a young man who was one of the Buddha's cousins. His name was Chungawo [gCung dGa bo]. Chungawo was married to a very beautiful woman. They were extremely happy together, but overly attached to each other. They simply could not bear to be out of each other's presence: wherever they went and whatever they did, they were always together. One day the Buddha saw that his cousin was ripe for training, so he went on his begging rounds as usual, holding his bowl, and stood in the road before the gate of his cousin's house waiting to receive anything he might be offered.
Chungawo had great faith, and when he saw the Buddha stand- ing there, he said to his wife, despite his extreme attachment to her, "I must go and make an offering to the Buddha. "
As he was going out the door, his wife grabbed him and said, "Where are you going? Don't leave me. " and he said, "No, I'm just going down to the end of the road.
