No More Learning

Kagyu Thubten Choling Wappingers Falls, New York, 1986
A Note
Tibetan terms are given in two ways: a pronouncing transcrip- tion which by and large tries to reflect the pronunciation of the author's region, and a strict transliteration (in square brackets) ac- cording to the Turrell Wylie system.
The Translation Committee of Kagyu Thubten Choling is responsible for editing Kalu Rinpoche's chapters, while Lama Norlha's teachings on the Five Skandhas were translated by Dr.
janet Gyatso. The Committee wishes to express its gratitude for many suggestions, emendations and clarifications received from a number of generous scholars and students.

Introductz"on: Kalu Rz"npoche
Kalu Rinpoche was born in the district of Tresho Gang chi Rawa in the Hor region of Kham, Eastern Tibet, in 1905. This moun? tainous area, bordering on China, is known for the independent spirit of its people. His father, Karma Lekshe Drayang [karma legs bshad sgra dbyangs], the thirteenth Ratak Palzang Tulku, was noted for his skill in the practice of medicine, as well as for literary accomplishments and mastery of Vajrayana meditation practice. He and his wife, Drolkar Chung Chung [sgrol dkar chung chung], Rin? poche's mother, were students of jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye ['jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas], jamyang Chentse Wangpo ['jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse dbang po] and Mipham Rin? poche, all founders and leaders of then? may [ris med] movement which revitalized the religious life of Tibet towards the end of the 19th Century by minimizing the importance of sectarian differences and emphasizing the common ground of the lineages and stressing the importance of meditation.
Both husband and wife were devoted to practice, and im? mediately after their marriage undertook a religious retreat. They saw little of each other during this period, but one night together each dreamed that they were visited by the great meditation teacher and scholar, Jamgon Kongtrul, who announced that he was coming to stay with them and asked to be given a room. Not long afterwards Drolkar Chung Chung discovered she was pregnant.
The dream had been auspicious; the pregnancy passed joyfully, without complications. Drolkar Chung Chung continued to work
2 The Dharma
with her husband, and was gathering medicinal herbs with him one day when she realized the baby would soon be born. As they hurried back to their house, they saw the sky full of rainbows.
Such signs were interpreted in the neighboring countryside as portending the birth of a special incarnation. Conventionally, a tulku would have been taken to be raised in a monastery at the earliest possible age, but Karma Lekshe Drayang refused to follow this course. If the boy were not a high incarnation, he said, the training would be wasted; if he were, he would be quite capable of seeking the appropriate teachers and education for himself. That is just what he did.
"In his early years," the young man, "when he had awakened the excellent habits of virtue, and abandoned concerns for posses- sions and pleasures of this life, wandered at times in the wilderness of mountains and gorges, cliffs and crags. Spontaneously, uncon- trived longing and resolution arose in him to nurture Dharma prac- tice. " Travelling freely in the mountains, Rinpoche would chant mantras, blessing the animals, IJSh or insects he might encounter.
At home, his education was supervised, rather sternly, by his father. After a preliminary training in grammar, writing and meditation, Rinpoche began his formal studies at Palpung [dpal spungs] monastery at the age of thirteen. At that time, the eleventh Tai Situ Rinpoche, Perna Wangcho Jalpo [pa dma dbang mchog rgyal po], gave him getsUl [dge tshul] ordination, naming the young monk Karma Rangjung Kunchap [karma rang byung kun khyab]. The prefix "Karma" identifies Rinpoche as a practitioner of the Karma Kagyu tradition, and "Rangjung Kunchap" means "self- arisen, all-pervading. "
At Palpung and elsewhere in Kham, Rinpoche studied the teachings of the sutras and tantras, receiving both instruction and empowerments from many of the great lamas. At the age of fifteen, during a yarnay [dbyar gnas], the traditional rainy-season retreat in- stituted by Buddha Shakyamuni, Rinpoche gave a profound and in- structive discourse on the three vows before an assembly of a hun- dred monks and lay people.
At sixteen, Rinpoche entered Kunzang Dechen Osal Ling, the retreat center (drup khang [sgrub khang]) founded by jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, one of the two retreat facilities associated
with Palpung monastery. Here he completed the traditional three- year retreat under the direction of the retreat master, his Root Lama (tsa way Ia rna [rtsa ba'i bla rna]) the Venerable Lama Norbu Tondrup [nor bu don sgrub], from whom he received the complete transmission of the Karma Kagyii and Shangba Kagyii traditions.
At the age of twenty-five, Rinpoche departed to do an extend- ed solitary retreat in the desolate mountains of Kham, wandering without possessions, taking shelter wherever he could find it, seeking and needing no human company.
For twelve years he lived like this, perfecting his practice and offering everything to develop impartial love and compassion for all beings. "There is no higher siddhi than Compassion," his Root Lama had said. In this manner of life he would have been content to continue, had Situ Rinpoche not finally sent word that it was time for him to return to the world and teach.
Kalu Rinpoche returned to Palpung and assumed duties as director (drup pon [sgrub dpon]) of the three-year retreats. At this time Rangjung Rikpay Dorje, the late sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, recognized Rinpoche as the activity emanation (tin lay tiil ['phrin las sprul]) of jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye. ? It was recalled that
Jamgon Kongtrul had prophesied that his activity-incarnation would be a ri may master, dedicated to promoting practice and retreat.
In the 1940s he began visiting monasteries, traditional centers of many schools and lineages, all over Tibet, and on a visit to Lhasa gave teachings to the Regent of the young Dalai Lama.
In 1955, a few years before the full Chinese military occupation of Tibet, Rinpoche visited the Gyalwa Karmapa at Tsurphu, who asked him to leave Tibet in order to prepare the ground in India and Bhutan for the inevitable exile. Rinpoche first went to Bhutan, where he established two retreat centers and ordained three hun-
*There were at the same time four other incarnations ofjamgon Kongtrul, those of his body, speech, mind, and qualities. Of these the incarnation of mind, Jamgon Chentse Oser [mkhyen brtse 'od zer], was a resident tulku at Palpung and, along with Tai Situ Rinpoche, a root guru of the Gyalwa Karmapa. jamgon Chentse Oser was also a teacher and friend to Kalu Rinpoche, as wasjamgon Pema Trimay [pa dma dri med], another of the five Jamgon Tulkus and a teacher at the Nyingma monastery of Shechen in Eastern Tibet.
Introduction 3
4 The Dharma
dred monks. Proceeding to India, he made an extensive pilgrimage to all the great Buddhist sites. In 1965 he established his own monastery, Samdrup Tarjay Ling [bsam sgrub dar rgyas gling], at Sonada near Darjeeling, where he now resides. A few years after founding the monastery, Rinpoche established a three-year retreat facility there, and has founded others elsewhere in India.
Since 1971 Kalu Rinpoche has travelled four times to Europe and North America, establishing Dharma centers and facilities for Westerners to undertake the traditional three-year retreat. At Sonada in 1983 he gave to the four great heart-sons (tuk say [thugs sras]-i. e. , close disciples or successors) of the late Gyalwa Kar- mapa, as well as to thousands of tulkus, lamas, monks, nuns, and lay people, the great cycle of empowerments called the "Rinchen Ter Dzo" [rin chen gter mdzod], one of the "Dzo Chen Nampar Nga" [mdzod chen mam par nga] or "Five Great Treasuries" of teachings and empowerments gathered by jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye.
Kalu Rinpoche's recent activities, and particularly his four trips to the West, are discussed in the first chapter of this book.


1
Kalu Rinpoche on Teaching in North America
have been four times now to the North American con? Itinent. My first visit was in 1971; the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche was already teaching here and the characteristic style he had found it necessary to adopt was to present Buddhism from the point of view of Americans. Instead of teaching in the traditional manner, he found many skillful ways of presenting the teachings in the light of worldly fields of knowledge, so that people unacquainted with Buddhism could adapt their thinking to the Buddhist view. In this way he was gradually able to introduce the
teachings to a large number of people.
This was a splendid undertaking, made possible by his own per?
sonal qualities, his superb command of English, and the fact that he was to reside regularly in the United States. For my own part, I was only staying here for about a year at most, that first time, so I felt very strongly that if I were going to accomplish anything, I would have to teach the Dharma in a traditional way, without combining it with any other viewpoints.
To do this as clearly as possible, I gave teachings that I felt were basic to the understanding and actual practice of Dharma. So I
8 The Dharma
taught extensively on the Four Thoughts that Tum the Mind-the four basic contemplations in Buddhist practice-and, in particular, on the concept of karma, the law of cause and effect that shapes our experience.
Before the introduction of the Buddhadharma to Tibet, the Land of Snows was a very barbaric place; there was little difference between its people and cannibal demons or primitive savages. Then a king arose among the Tibetan people whose name was Song-tsen Gampo [Srong btsan sgam po] and who is believed to have been an emanation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Chenrezi. Because of his miraculous powers, this king was able to bring the entire region we know as Tibet under his control, and from that political base he spread the Dharma throughout Central Asia. He was particularly devoted to meditation on Chenrezi, and under his influence that teaching spread very widely. As a result, Tibet became a sphere of activity for the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and Chenrezi became so embedded in the Tibetan consciousness that any child who could say the word "mother" could also recite the mantra OM MANI PADME HUNG*. Through this widespread meditation on Chenrezi, many people came to Realization.
From this beginning, the entire corpus of Buddhist teachings, both sutra and tantra traditions, with all the root texts and com- mentaries, was gradually brought from India to Tibet, and was translated and transmitted effectively and completely, without any element missing. to the Tibetan people.
In the great hope that this same sort of transmission will occur in the United States, Canada, Europe and all the countries of the West, I taught the Four Thoughts, the four contemplations that turn the mind from samsara towards practice. With this as a foun- dation, I taught extensively the Buddhist concept of Refuge and gave the Refuge vows. I also encouraged practice of Chenrezi meditation by giving the initiation (wang [dbang]) and instruction (tri ['khrid]) for it wherever I went. The results I felt to be very favorable.
The concept of Refuge and actually taking Refuge are fun- damental to Buddhist practice; without this initial commitment, any further level of ordination or involvement is impossible. Refuge is the indispensable foundation for travelling the Buddhist path to
? Tib~tans oft~n pronounc~ this mantra: OM MANEE PAYMAY HOONG.
enlightenment. During the actual refuge ceremony I gave 'Refuge Names' to the participants, each beginning with "Karma. " This is like a family or generic name, and indicates not only that these men and women had become Buddhists and had accepted the Three Jewels as sources of inspiration, but that they were connected, in particular, with the Karma Kagyii lineage. To the present day I have never changed my custom of giving this kind of Refuge name along with the vows of Refuge.
Because all meditational deities (yidams) are emanations of enlightenment, not one of them is without blessing-the power to aid and benefit beings. The form of Chenrezi, however, represents the quintessence and union of the love and compassion of all Bud- dhas and Bodhisattvas, of all enlightened beings. Meditation on Chenrezi can arouse that love and compassion in practitioners and thus can create a movement towards the realization of Emptiness and meditative absorption. That is why I chose this particular yidam to present to Western audiences.
The second journey I made to North America was in 1974. Because of the groundwork laid on my previous visit, I was able to present the Extraordinary Preliminary practices, the Ngondro [sngon 'gro]. (These involve five practices each performed 100,000 times. ) This stage of the teachings was emphasized during my sec? ond trip.
All the main schools of Tibetan Buddhism-Sakyapa, Gelugpa, Kagyiipa, and Nyingmapa-teach the Four Ordinary Foundations (the four thoughts that turn the mind towards Dharma practice) and the extraordinary preliminaries. I chose to teach the particular form of Ngondro belonging to my own lineage, the Kar? ma Kagyii; these practices are known as the preliminaries for the development of Mahamudra. In doing so, I encouraged people to focus on four aspects of meditation:
- T o develop their devotion and sense of taking Refuge in the Three Jewels, and to develop bodhicitta-the enlightened or altruistic attitude of benefitting others which is based on love and compassion for all beings;
- T o purify themselves of negative factors and obscura? tions through practicing the Dorje Sempa [rdo rje sems dpa'] meditation;
Teaching in North America 9
10
The Dharma
- T o accumulate merit and deepen their awareness through the mandala offering; and
- T o open themselves to the blessing of the lineage through Guru Yoga.
Another practice I introduced during this second visit was the practice of the Green Tara Meditation. This particular form of Tara is associated with her ability to protect and deliver us from fears and sufferings in this life and to aid us in our Dharma progress. With this threefold structure of formal practice- the preliminaries, the Chenrezi and the Green T ara Meditations- I established many centers that have continued to grow to the present day.
Although in each of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism there are lineages leading to complete enlightenment, and although there is no difference at that ultimate level between the schools, I felt very strongly that it was important to maintain the identity of the Kagyii lineage. There were several reasons for this. First, the transmission of blessing is likely to be broken if the lineages are con- fused or if there is a sudden breakdown in their continuity. Second- ly, I felt it important for people to understand exactly each transmission of the teaching they were practicing, so that they could receive the particular blessing associated with that lineage. To keep this Kagyii Mahamudra lineage very clear, then, I composed a prayer to allow an unending identification on the disciple's part with the actual lineage of the Mahamudra teachings.
During my third visit, in 1977 and 1978, I felt it was time to take one more step in presenting the teachings, and I decided to em- phasize especially what in Tibetan we call shi nay (zhi gnas] and lha tong (lhag mthong], respectively tranquility meditation and the meditation that develops insight into the nature of the mind. I em- phasized both ordinary techniques, common to all schools of Bud- dhism, and also some special instructions which are particular to my lineage. This was the main focus of my third visit.
Up to this point quite a lot of ground had been covered. There had been a presentation of the particular preliminary practices associated with the Mahamudra lineage, and of the teachings of the Chenrezi meditation, and of the techniques of shi nay and lha tong.
When His Holiness the sixteenth Kannapa arrived in India from the West in 1980, he landed at Siliguri airport before travelling by car to Rumtek in Sikkim; everyone from my monastery came down from Darjeeling to meet him. He spent the night in a hotel in Siliguri, and that evening said something along these lines to me: "If we add them all up, we now have some three hundred twenty Kagyii centers throughout the world. Every one of them needs guidance and support so that the people associated with them can come to a pure and sincere practice of Buddhadhanna. Now, even though you're quite old, you're presently enjoying good health, so it's necessary for you to go to the West again, to visit these centers and give them all the help and guidance you can. "
His Holiness then insisted that I perform the Kalacakra Em? powerment in New York City in order to aid the general process of transmitting the teachings to the West. He was quite finn about this. He wouldn't accept any answer but yes and wanted me to return to New York as soon as possible for this purpose. So I agreed and came here as soon as I could.
That Empowerment has now been given, and through receiv- ing it, people have made a good connection with the teachings, since the Kalacakra may be considered a summit of the Vajrayana tradi- tion. I feel, therefore, that at least one good foundation has been established for the presentation of Mahamudra, the pinnacle of Kagyii meditation. But in order to present these Teachings proper? ly, I need first to discuss the concept of emptiness, or Sunyata, and must first say something about the nature of consciousness. Without this I don't feel that actual Mahamudra teaching will be very effec? tive or that people will be able to perceive its profundity or relate to it effectively. Nonetheless, certain foundations have been laid and I believe we can begin to think about the presentation of Mahamudra teachings. I sincerely hope that the benefits people have experienced so far will continue and help them benefit from further teachings that discuss the nature of mind.
In presenting teachings like these, I speak about anything and everything I can, as much as I can, in order to transmit what I understand about Dharma.
If we have a piece of white cloth and we want to dye it another color-red, yellow, green-we make a pot of dye and we dip the
Teaching in North America 11
12 The Dharma
cloth in. Now if that dye is effective, if it takes, the cloth changes color so that when we pull the cloth out it is no longer a white cloth but a green cloth or a red cloth or a yellow cloth. If we pull it out and it's still white, we know something's gone wrong, the dye hasn't taken. I feel the same way about teaching: if I teach and my teaching influences people's minds, changing their lives and benefit? ting them, then I feel that it has taken, that it has been effective. If on the other hand I teach and people don't understand, or having understood don't do anything about it, if they listen and don't prac? tice, then the dye has not taken.
2
The Four Noble Truths
The First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma
Two thousand five hundred years ago, after the Buddha achieved Enlightenment at Bodhgaya in India, he decided to present the teachings we now know as Buddhadharma to all sentient beings in order to liberate them. But he also understood that even if he did present these profound teachings, very little benefit would arise, since few would listen and accept what he said. In fact, seeing that people were unfit to receive the nectar-like teachings of the Dharma, the Buddha at first chose to avoid teaching altogether and went into the forest to rest and meditate alone. For three weeks he remained absorbed in the experience of Enlightenment and gave no
. teaching at all. But then two of the highest gods in the realm ofsam- sara, Indra and Brahma, approached him; Indra presented him with a large white conch shell and Brahma presented a golden wheel with a thousand spokes. These gifts were symbols of the turning of the wheel of Dharma, and also signified a sincere request to present the teachings for the benefit of all beings. In response, the Buddha left the forest and at a place known as the Deer Park, in Samath, near Varanasi, India, he gave his first formal teaching. This teaching we now know as the teaching on the Four Noble Truths (pak pay denpa shi ['phag pa'i bden pa bzhi]).
14 The Dharma
Although the Buddha was completely aware of all the teachings that would ultimately be needed to discipline and lead beings to Enlightenment, and even though he was fully capable of presenting them, he also realized that the time had not yet come to introduce people to the profound concepts of the higher vehicles, the Mahayana and Vajrayana. He saw that serious misunderstandings would follow if he began by telling people that all phenomena were empty, that all experience was essentially empty, and that everything was really a projection of mind. Without proper prepara? tion people might simply adopt a nihilistic approach and conclude that nothing was meaningful or made any difference. They might think that whatever they did had no real consequence, and that they therefore were free to do whatever they wished. Furthermore, if everything was just a projection of mind, there was nothing they could do to improve their situation-things simply had to work themselves out. All such misunderstandings, the Buddha saw, were likely to occur if people heard the profound teachings of the Bud? dhadharma without proper preparation.
Even today, many people develop such erroneous views when they hear Mahayana teachings, and the very profound transfor? mative techniques of the Vajrayana tantras are equally open to misinterpretation. If these people hear, for example, that in the Vajrayana there is theoretically no need to suppress or alter emo? tional confusion, because simply seeing the nature of emotional con? flict is sufficient for Liberation, they can easily misunderstand, and take this to mean that nothing has to be done about the emotions. Some people even think the Vajrayana teaches that lust and anger should be indulged when they arise in the mind. So, even though the Buddha was capable of providing all Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings, he recognized that beings had not been suitably prepared to accept them, and chose, in his first formal teaching, the basic and simple Hinayana approach.
Half of this teaching is devoted to our situation in the world, and half to the transcendence of samsara- the achievement of Nir- vana (nya ngen lay day pa [mya ngan las 'das pa]). First, he exam? ined thoroughly what we experience as the world, and discerned ig- norance as its basic cause, and emotional confusion and suffering as the results. Then, after stating this first Truth of Suffering (du ngal
ji denpa [sdug bsngal gyi bden pa]) and the second Truth of the Origin of Suffering (kun jung gi denpa [kun 'byung gi bden pa]), he examined the next two: Enlightenment itself, which, because it brings about the cessation of all suffering, is known as the Truth of Cessation (gok pay denpa ['gog pa'i bden pa]) and the Path we travel toward Enlightenment, the Truth of the Path (lam ji denpa [lam gyi bden pa]).
The First Two Noble Truths: Suffering and the Ongin of Suffen"ng
The first two of the Four Noble Truths, then, deal with the nature and cause of samsara. The Buddha describes the basic, world-producing cause as fundamental ignorance in the minds of all beings. This ignorance and its consequences can be analyzed as Twelve links of Dependent Origination (ten drel chu nyi [rten 'brei bcu gnyis]) that form the basis for a description of our experience of the world. The sequence of these links, or nidanas, in the cycle of our experience is (1) fundamental ignorance, which leads to {2} kar- mic formations. These become expressed in {3} dualistic con- sciousness, which in tum is translated into {4} a sense of identifica- tion, and the initial differentiation of consciousness into (5) the various sense fields. Through these sense fields there is (6) contact with the phenomenal world; from contact arises (7) sensation. Based upon sensation arises {8) craving for experience, followed by (9} grasping. On the basis of this, the mind harbors a sense of {10) becoming, a will to be, and this causes an actual physical incarna- tion. Once incarnate in a physical body, the mind experiences the various stages of human existence: (11) birth, and (12} the aging process and the stages of life that eventually lead to and end in death. At death the mind is immersed in basic ignorance again, and the cycle is complete.
It should be noted here that the Buddha did not describe this cycle of rebirth as something that he had created: he made no claim to be the originator of the universe. Nor did he accept the idea that any god had made the universe. The universe is a projection of mind.
The Four Noble Truths 15
16 The Dharma
In the Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings we find mind described as being in essence empty (ngo wo tong pa [ngo bo stong pa]), but nevertheless exhibiting natural clarity (rang-shin selwa (rang bzhin gsal ba]) and unimpeded manifestation (nampa man ga pa [mam pa ma 'gag pa]). This teaching, however, is found only in the Mahayana and Vajrayana. In the Hinayana teachings, the Buddha did not speak of it immediately, but rather introduced a more easily understood approach in which he simply stated that the mind is empty, and has no limiting or defining characteristics such as color, shape, size, or location. Thus, at the Hinayana level, mind was described as fundamentally empty, and ignorance as the failure to experience that emptiness. From this ignorance develops the whole cycle of events known as the universe, as samsara, the cycle of rebirth.
The First Four Nidanas
The structure or pattern of the Twelve Nidanas or links of
Dependent Origination can be applied to any aspect of the universe, macrocosmic or microcosmic, or to the experiences of beings in the universe. This is a complex topic, but if we look at the situation of a single individual in the context of one lifetime we can perhaps understand the process more clearly. Let us take the example of a being who dies.
At the moment of death a separation occurs between the in- dividual's physical body and mind, and the mind is plunged into a state in which there is no conscious mental activity. In other words, the mind simply dissolves back into its own fundamental state of un- consciousness, the first nidana, which we term ignorance (ma rik pa [ma rig pa]). This is the first link in the chain of Dependent Origina- tion. After this there is a gradual stirring of mental activity. This is the second link, which is termed du che ['du byed], the formations now beginning to arise in the mind. These patterns of stirring con- sciousness find full expression in what we term nam she in Tibetan [mam shes], discursive consciousness, the ability of mind to recognize something other than itself as an object-to decide, this is this, this is that, and so on. This level of dualistic discursive con- sciousness is the third link in the chain of Dependent Origination. Thus, from a fundamental state of ignorance there arises in the
mind a gradual stirring of formations which finds full expression in discursive consciousness.
From this basic dualistic or discursive consciousness there arises the sense of self, of "1. " At the same time, whatever forms are seen, whatever sounds are heard-in short, whatever phenomena are ex- perienced-are perceived as some version of "other. " In this way there occurs a definite split into self and other. At this point, although there is no physical basis for consciousness, there is never- theless a sense of embodiment, of an identity coalescing. There is also the sense of naming things in the phenomenal world. So the fourth nidana is termed ming zuk [ming gzugs], which means "name and form.
"
All of this is just a mental experience for a mind in the second phase of the after-death experience, the si pa bardo [srid pa bar do], since it completely lacks anything tangible. We cannot see a being in this bardo. Moreover, the mind of this being is also completely im- perceptible: no one else can see its ignorance, its stirring, its manifestation of discursive consciousness, or the experiences of sub- ject/object labeling. This unique state in the si pa bardo, a com- pletely internal experience imperceptible to others, is termed ming shi pung po [ming bzhi phung po] in Tibetan. This means "the skandhas (or aggregates) of the four names," and refers to the first four stages of the si pa bardo: its stage of ignorance, the stage of the stirring of conscious formations, the stage of fullblown discursive consciousness, and the stage of labeling the world in terms of subject and object.
All this is merely a projection of mind. There is not, for exam- ple, a thing called "ignorance" that we can take out and dissect and examine; we can say only that "ignorance" is a label we put on a particular phase of the si pa bardo experience, and that such a phase does occur. These four stages have no concrete or tangible qualities whatever.
Because the bardo consciousness has no physical basis, a being in the after-death state is not subject to the normal physical limita- tions. No mountains, walls, oceans, or forests present barriers to the consciousness in the bardo. Whatever arises in the mind is directly experienced, and wherever the mind decides to go, it goes. So, in a certain sense, the Four Names is a rather miraculous state-it cer-
The Four Noble Truths 17
18 The Dharma
tainly transcends the ordinary physical limitations and the proper? ties of the world we're used to. However, it is an entirely automatic or blind result of our previous actions or karma, and nothing that occurs here is a conscious decision on the part of the being; we are simply buffeted around by the force of karma.
During this period of the bardo, there is a certain kind of clair- voyance, very rudimentary and not really under conscious control, but nevertheless an ability to perceive the thoughts of others. There is also a certain new sense of the mind's power, although this power is also not consciously or intelligently controlled. Furthermore, a great variety of experiences- hallucinations- occur during the si pa bardo. For a person with virtuous karmic tendencies these ex- periences can be very pleasant and comfortable. But for beings with unvirtuous karmic tendencies the experiences can be terrifying.
This force we term karma is not a conscious process. An exam- ple of it is the growth of a child from infancy to adulthood. The child does not have to sit down and decide: "Tomorrow I'm going to grow this much. The next day I'm going to grow that much. " Without our doing anything about it and, indeed, without our be- ing able to do anything about it, growth simply happens. In a com- pletely unconscious way a force causes the organism to grow. In the same way, the aging process simply happens unconsciously, without, and even against, any intention on the part of the person concerned. These are two examples of what we mean by the force of karma at work in our experience.
During the first week or two of the si pa bardo-the first third of i t - the impressions that arise in the mind of the deceased person are very largely related to his or her previous existence. If a man dies, he will have the impression during this part of the si pa bardo of being a man, with his own former personality and state of existence; a woman will have the impression of still being a female existence, and so forth. In each case there will be impressions relating back to the previous life. This is why the consciousness of a bardo being is said to experience returning to its former home and being able to see in some way, but usually not to make contact with, the people it left behind. There will be the experience of arriving at the home and of announcing, "I'm here, I'm home again. " But then there will be a feeling of not being able to make contact with the
people still living there, and this can produce intense pain, frustra? tion, and rage. Or the understanding that one has died may arise, and that trauma can produce immediate unconsciousness: the shock is too great to endure and the mind simply blanks out.
After the first week or two of the after-death experience, the impressions one has of a body and an environment begin to relate more and more to the future existence towards which one is being impelled by one's karma.
The actual length of the si pa bardo experience varies a great deal from person to person. In general terms, the longest period is held to be roughly forty-nine days. The Buddha referred to this par? ticular period in many different scriptures as the length of time that the consciousness could be expected to remain in the si pa bardo before physical rebirth occurred. After existence in a physical form is established, the possibilities for change are more or less exhausted, for the time being, and this is why the Tibetan custom arose of employing any means possible to aid the dead person during this period of forty-nine days after death. The family might ask a Lama to perform rituals for the benefit of the dead person, because during that seven-week period there is always the possibility that the bless? ing of the Lama and the merit of the deceased will permit some beneficial change to take place. This is why we have a particular ceremony in which the teacher is presented with the name and an effigy of the deceased, and attempts through meditation to attract that person's consciousness (which still relates to its previous ex? istence), and to influence it through bestowing empowerment, in? struction, and prayer; in short, the teacher makes every effort to ef- fect a favorable rebirth for the person.
The Fifth through Ninth Nidanas
The next nidana, or link, the fifth of the twelve, is termed chem che [skye mched], which can be translated as "sense-field. " Altogether, there are held to be twelve sense-fields, one for each of the six senses and one for each of the objects of the six senses. (The mind is considered a sixth sense because in and of itself it produces thoughts, though not necessarily related to the sensory environment. ) Thus, there is sight and the form which is seen; there
The Four Noble Truths 19
20 The Dharma
is the ear, and the sound which is heard, and so forth, making a total of twelve sense fields. The Tibetan word chem che means to "originate" and to "spread," meaning that the origin of each of these senses is in the sense organ, and the spread is the field of perception in which that particular organ operates-form for sight, sound for hearing and so forth. Although a being in the si pa bardo has no physical organs for vision, hearing, and so on, there is, never- theless, the mental impression that all the sense fields are complete. Consequently, the mind of such a being can see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and think just as we can now, even though these perceptions are all projections of mind with no physical basis.
The sixth nidana is termed rek pa [reg pa], which literally means "touch," or "contact," in just the same sense that the hand makes contact with an object it touches. In this case the word means that there is contact between the six sense subjects and the six ob- jects-for example, between the faculty ofseeing and form; in a cer- tain sense, mind touches form with this faculty of sight, it touches sound with the faculty of hearing, and so forth. Even though this is a mental state without any physical basis, it is also accompanied by tactile sensation, a feeling of actually being able to touch and make contact with some kind of embodiment.
Formed upon this initial contact is the seventh nidana, which we term tsor wa [tshor ba], meaning sensation or feeling. T o see is to make contact with the form through the eye; then follows a sense of the attractive or disagreeable nature of what we see, and some value judgment about the experience. Thus the initial experience doesn't remain a simple contact. Physical contact, for example, is accom- panied by the sensation of roughness or smoothness, heat or cold, and so forth. In addition, some thought or value judgment arises: "That's beautiful, I like it," or "That's horrible, I don't like it. " All such feelings, arising from the initial contact, belong to the se~enth nidana, tsor wa.
The eighth nidana is termed se pa [sred pa], which means "craving. " If one is very hungry and sees delicous food, a craving develops for that food; likewise, in the consciousness of a being in the si pa bardo, once there is contact between the sense fields and their objects, there come to be feelings and sensations that lead to a further clinging to and craving for that kind of experience. This
leads to the further state which we term len pa (len pa], the ninth nidana.
Len pa literally means "to take," and the image traditionally used is of someone picking fruit, actually taking fruit in the hand. Among the twelve nidanas, the stage of len pa, or grasping, is the one in which the will to take physical rebirth impels the mind toward incarnation. For a being about to be reborn as a human, this results in a perception of the future mother and father engaged in sexual intercourse. A tremendous attachment, a blind will to incar- nate, draws the mind of the si pa bardo being towards the couple in union.
Becoming, The Tenth Nidana
The process of attraction to physical rebirth finds its comple- tion, for a human being, when conception takes place in the mother's womb. This is the tenth nidana, si pa (srid pa] which means "becoming" or "existence. " At this point there is a physical basis-union of the sperm from the father and the egg from the mother-and, as a third component, the entrance of consciousness. Thereafter, according to the teachings of the Buddha, we are speak- ing of a human individual. A monk or nun, for instance, vows not "to take the life of a human or a conceived entity that will develop into a human being. " T o take the life of even a fetus in the womb is to take the life of a human being. Conception represents the final outcome of the urge possessing the disembodied consciousness of the being in the si pa bardo to inhabit a particular realm. Once concep- tion has taken place, the being has entered the human realm and will, in due course, be born, raised, and fully accepted as a human being among humans.
So when we have a blending of the two physical elements, the sperm and egg, and the one immaterial element, the consciousness of the being in the after-death state, a human individual is con- ceived. The consciousness has taken rebirth and is in a physical realm again. One might ask, "How does this come about, this blend- ing of the material and the immaterial? " The point is that mind is fundamentally empty: mind itself is immaterial and has no solidity or corporeality. But because of fundamental ignorance, there is an
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inability to experience that immateriality, and a tendency to con? ceive of it in material terms such as "some thing" or "1," "me," and "mine. " This mental tendency to solidify finds its fullest expression in physical rebirth-the conjunction of consciousness and the physical element brought about by fundamental ignorance.
Within the teachings of Buddha, the subsequent stages of fetal development are described in detail. During the first week or two an amorphous mass of cells (described in the traditional texts as being something like a small white blob of yogurt) grows slowly larger in the uterus. During the next stage the various parts of the body begin to differentiate, and the fetus, which now consists of two cellular masses connected by a narrow filament, is said to resemble an ant. Appendages begin to grow, organ systems develop and eventually, at the full term of the pregnancy, we have a fully developed human baby in whom all the complex processes of differentiation are com? plete.
There are definite experiences during the period of fetal development, a period of relentless growth during which the five bodily appendages (two arms, two legs and the head) emerge from the torso, and the five sensory organs and various organ systems are formed. In general, these are experiences of great suffering, and suffering, indeed, characterizes the entire period of gestation. Because growth within the mother's womb continues from concep? tion to birth, and because during this period the embryo generally becomes a complete human individual able to survive outside the womb, the whole period of gestation belongs to the nidana of becoming. The Sutra of Enten'ng the Womb (ngal juk pay do [mngal 'jug pa'i mdo]), which is basically a study in embryology, describes the whole process in considerable detail.
The Eleventh and Twelfth Nidanas
Towards the end of pregnancy the baby begins to become dim- ly aware of the confined, cramped conditions within its mother's womb, and directly before birth experiences a sense of oppression and claustrophobia. The karmic process of human birth entails a force in the mother's body which turns the child's head downwards in preparation for birth, and then labor contractions that force the child into the world. This brings us to the next nidana, the eleventh,
that of actual physical birth, which is termed che wa in Tibetan [skye ba].
The final link in the chain of Dependent Origination is aging and death, ga shi [rga shi]. Aging begins at the moment of birth and continues up to the moment of death, regardless of the age at which one dies. Attendant on this relentless aging process are all the sickness, suffering, sorrow, and pain that a human being ex- periences.
The final ni'dana is this aging and death. The moment of death is followed by the separation of mind and body, and the arising of the fundamental state of unconsciousness- ignorance. So arriving again at the first nidana, this one lifetime has brought us full cycle. Following the state of unconsciousness, the cycle of twelve links con?
tinues with the stirring of the mind, the reawakening of discursive consciousness, and so on. This is one aspect of samsara, which literally means a cycle or wheel: it makes a complete cycle from lifetime to lifetime.
The Five Skandhas and The Three Aspects of Suffering
Having taken physical existence, we have a body composed of flesh and blood, and at a more fundamental level, of atoms. Through this vehicle we experience the world. Whereas in the si pa bardo state we referred to the skandhas of the Four Names as being purely a mental experience, here we have to add a fifth element of physical existence, which we term the skandha of form. In our pres- ent human condition there are five skandhas: the physical existence plus the four purely mental states of sensation, perception, mental formations, and full discursive consciousness which is able to decide-this is a sound, this is a form-and to arrive at value judgments-this is good, this is bad, and so on.
The word skandha literally means "a heap" or "pile," and one understanding of the term is that as long as we have physical ex- istence, we not only have these five aggregates, but also a heap of trouble. On the basis of our physical existence all kinds of suffer- ing-sickness, pain, aging, death, happiness followed by unhap- piness-are possible. This fundamental potential, intrinsic to all compound things, is chap pa du che chi du ngal [khyab pa 'du byed kyi sdug bsngal], meaning "the Pervasive Suffering of Composite
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Things. " It is the most subtle kind of suffering because it exists simp- ly in the fact of being alive. It may not be experienced directly as suffering, or be seen as something tangible or threatening, but it is nonetheless inseparable from the five skandhas in physical rebirth.
In traditional texts it is said that the difference between a noble (pak pa ['phags pa]) individual and an ordinary person is that the first perceives and the second does not perceive this subtle aspect of suffering. To illustrate this the following example is used. If you place a hair on the palm of your hand, you have no sensation of it. If, however, the hair is in your eye, it hurts and you are aware of it very promptly. An ordinary person, who has no sensation of the fun- damental aspect of suffering, is like the palm of the hand in response to the hair; the noble person is like the eye-very much aware.
In addition to the Suffering of Composite Things, there is the Suffering of Change (jur way du ngal ['gyur ba'i sdug bsngal]. When a person in perfectly good health suddenly takes a tum for the worse, that change-that loss of something good-is the aspect of suffering called the suffering of change.
When we actually experience pain, suffering, and frustration, or one pain laid upon another, such as death following severe illness, then we speak of a third kind of suffering: actual pain, or, the Suf- fering of Suffering (du ngal ji du ngal [sdug bsngal gyi sdug bsngal]).
This, then, is a general account of the Buddha's teaching of the first two Noble Truths, the truth of the causes of suffering and the truth of the suffering we actually experience.
The first Noble Truth is termed the Truth ofSuffering, and the second the Truth of the Origin [of Suffering]. The origin meant here is the ignorance that gives rise to the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. The consequence of this cycle is suffering, and a tradi- tional illustration of the samsaric process is a tree whose root represents ignorance and whose fruit is suffering.
The Suffering of the Different Realms
In the Buddhist tradition another way of looking at the universe is in terms of the three realms (kam sum [khams gsum]):
The Realm of Desire (do pa'i kham ['dod pa'i khams]), the Realm of Form (zuk pay kam [gzugs pa'i khams]), and the Formless Realm (zu me chi kam [gzugs med kyi khams]). The Realm of Desire encom? passes everything from the lowest hell up through the desire gods' realms. The six kinds of beings in the Realm of Desire are hell? beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras and gods. Beyond it lie the seventeen levels of gods in the Realm of Form, and beyond that are the four levels of gods in the Formless Realm. But whatever the realm, and however subtle or gross the level of experience, it is included in the cycle of samsara, where no individual being is in any way separate from the three kinds of suffering, where no being finds a complete solution to any one of them.
The fact is that suffering is the fundamental, central ex- perience of all life, in whichever realm of samsara it occurs. In the hell realms, for instance, beings experience intense heat and cold. In the hungry ghost realm, suffering is due to hunger, thirst, and af? fliction by the elements. In the animal realm stupidity and ig? norance lead to blind, instinctive behavior and to the preying of one species upon another.
The situation and sufferings of beings in these three lower realms are mostly invisible to us. There are descriptions of them in the teachings of the Buddha, but we have no personal, direct evidence of them, except for what we can observe in a small part of the animal realm. If we examine animals in the ocean, or domesticated or wild animals, we can see the kinds of body these creatures inhabit and the kind of mentality they have. In this way we can gain a little understanding of what this lower realm of existence is like, and what kinds of suffering the beings in it may experience.
The Buddha once said, if we were really aware of suffering, if we weren't so ignorant, if we even understood the pain and suffering a fetus experiences in its mother's womb, then we would work hard in this lifetime to become enlightened and never experience such suffering again.
For example, if we remembered the pains of fetal development, we would remember that during the development of the different orifices and sensory organs, the pain is as though someone were sticking a finger into a open wound, probing it, and ripping it open. And we would remember that when the various appendages, the
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arms, legs, head and so forth, are developing, the pain is as though a very strong person were pulling our arms out of their sockets while someone else was beating them with a club. The development of the different organ systems-nerves, bones, muscles, digestive tract and so o n - entailed similar pains, which would also be remembered.
Moreover, the mind of the fetus is very sensitive to the mother's physical condition. If the mother eats food which is very cold, the child feels as though it's being thrown naked onto ice. If the mother drinks or eats something extremely hot, the child feels as though it's being boiled or scalded. If the mother does not eat, the child feels as though it's suspended in space; if the mother eats too much, the im- pression is of being crushed by a mountain. If the mother engages in sexual intercourse, the child feels as though it's being beaten with thorns. If the mother runs or jumps or engages in any violent physical exercise, the child feels as though it's being thrown over a cliff, and bouncing down a mountainside. In addition to all this, there is the suffering of simply being in the womb: of being in a dark, cramped, oppressive space where there is also a sense of uncleanness, and a disagreeable smell arising from waste fluids.
The actual process of birth is extremely painful. In Tibet we have a certain device, a metal disc with a small hole in it, through which a large thread can be drawn to make it smaller and tighter. When a baby is compressed in the narrow space of the vagina and thrust into the world, it feels as though it were being drawn through just such a device. And once the baby has been born, it is extremely sensitive to the touch of anything in the outer world; it feels, as it comes into the world, like a small bird being attacked by wolves or hawks- an immediate, overwhelming experience of being handled, grabbed, and spun around in various ways. When the child is washed, it feels as though it were being flayed; and when it's laid down, however soft the cover that it's put on, it feels as though it were being stretched on a bed of thorns. Children invariably cry when they ar~ born, a sign of suffering and distress; if the birth pro- cess were not painful, one would expect babies to be born smiling and laughing.
We have all experienced the various sufferings of the rebirth process described by the Buddha, but we don't remember. Most of us, though, and more especially doctors and people involved in
medicine, are aware of the suffering of growing up and being alive in the world. We've experienced illness and various physical and mental problems, and we know that these are always followed by the pain and suffering of death. This is where we are sitting now: in the middle of all this suffering.
Within the context of human existence, however, there is a great range of individual experience. Some people experience great pain, suffering and hardship in life, while others live fairly comfort? ably, without much pain or distress. For example, the Third Kar- mapa, Rangjung Dorje, once said that his experience in his mother's womb had been very pleasant: he had felt like a god in one of the high desire realms, enjoying a most pleasant existence throughout the whole term of pregnancy. As for the Buddha himself, his power and realization were so strong that even in the womb of his mother, Q. ueen Mayadevi, he was able to benefit many creatures through a certain kind of transmission of the Dharma.
Although in general we can say that suffering and pain attend all experiences, our own karma must always be taken into account. For those with especially virtuous karma, there will be a preponderance of happiness in any experience, and a lessening of suffering. Such circumstances are the results of the individual aspects of karma, as distinct from the common karma of human ex- istence.
The realm of existence above ours in samsara, that of the asuras, approximates, in terms of splendour, wealth and enjoyment, the state of the gods. There is, however, such a strong element of envy in the minds of these asuras that they live in continual strife, always fighting and quarreling with each other and with the gods in an effort to rob them of their wealth. Strife and quarrel are the dominant characteristics of this realm of existence and attendant on them are constant suffering and pain.
The last of the six realms in the Realm of Desire is that of the gods. From a relative point of view this is the superior realm of ex- istence, since it is marked by the greatest degree of happiness and contentment, and by a level of prosperity and sensual enjoyment we cannot begin to imagine. The most intense feeling of contentment and happiness a human can experience probably amounts to less than one percent of the total physical and mental bliss a god enjoys.
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Nonetheless, the relative state of ease and comfon in the god realm is impermanent, and when the causal factor-the merit that has led to rebirth there-is exhausted, the gods fall to a lower state of existence. This fall is forecast by cenain premonitions that begin seven days before the god will die and pass to a lower state. At first, the gods hear a voice speaking of impending death; then they begin to resemble a withering flower: the garlands of flowers they wear begin to decay and lose their fine scent; the body for the first time begins to sweat and smells disagreeable. Their companions, the gods and goddesses who shared the pleasures of the god realm with them, are utterly repelled by these signs of dying and flee, offering no more help or encouragement than the rain of flowers that they scatter behind them, and a sincere prayer that their future rebirth be used skillfully to regain the godly state and join them again. Beyond that, they simply abandon dying gods, leaving them to spend their last week alone, contemplating, with the limited prescience that gods have, their future state of rebirth. The dying gods feel great distress because that state will inevitably be a lower one. Moreover, this seven day period corresponds to seven hundred of our years, so the gods experience this suffering of change for a very long time.
For these reasons the Buddha, after examining the various realms, said that no place in the cycle of rebinh is free from sorrow: suffering is the central and fundamental experience of unenlight- ened existence.
The Importance of Studying the First Two Noble Truths
These, then, are the ideas the Buddha presented as the first two of the Four Noble Truths: the truth of the suffering we experience in the cycle of rebirth and its origin. The Buddha taught these subjects extensively and in great detail, and it is important for us to under- stand them in order to recognize the limitations of our present situa- tion. We have to understand our circumstances and know that, given the nature of cause and effect, or karmic relationship, we can look forward to nothing but suffering. We have to realize that we are enmeshed in the various factors of cause and effect, which lead first to one state of suffering and on that basis to another, and so on. When we have seen the inherent limitations of this situation, we can begin to consider getting out of it. We can begin to look for the
possibility of transcending samsaric existence and all its attendant sufferings, limitations, and frustrations.
If we have not examined these questions, our basic approach to existence will be naive. As long as we are happy and things are going well we think, "Oh, everything's fine. What's all this talk about suf- fering? Samsara's a nice place to be. " From this attitude comes a general tendency to let things slide. But as soon as something un- toward happens, the minute there is any kind of pain, or suffering, or trouble, we become completely unnerved. We think, "Oh, I'm dying.