Homage to the Precious Teachers!
IT IS SAID that the instruction for transforming intense mental states, such as attachment and aversion, into the path on the basis of the two awakening minds—how to take afflictions onto the path—is presented in the tantras. It is impossible, however, for the ordinary afflictions themselves to become the path. As far as taking afflictions onto the path by means of selecting them as your meditation focus and turning them away is concerned, this has been taught repeatedly in the sutras. The instruction for this sutra approach is as follows.
Take attachment, for instance. First, when you observe yourself experiencing attachment to either an internal experience or to a specific external object, contemplate the following: “This is the affliction of attachment. If not relinquished, not purified, and not conquered, it will give rise to immeasurable suffering, such as birth in the lower realms. If transformed and conquered, it can become a condition for full enlightenment. I will therefore conquer it so that it becomes a condition for buddhahood.”
Thinking thus, take in to your mind your enemies’ afflictions of attachment. Then, as you do when meditating on loving-kindness, cultivate this toward a larger group. Finally, take upon yourself all the attachments, along with their propensities, existing in all beings. As you do this, imagine that your own attachment becomes so great as to be unfathomable. Imagine that all sentient beings become free of attachment and attain buddhahood. This is the [practice of taking afflictions upon yourself on the basis of the] conventional awakening mind.
Take upon yourself this attachment of yours, the size of Mount Meru, and heap others’ attachment upon it as well. Then reflect, “Attachment is by nature mental; apart from the mind there is no attachment, not even an atom’s breadth. So when the mind observes itself, past and future states become no more. The past has ceased to be, while the future is, though subject to cessation, yet to be, and the present is devoid of any identifiable characteristics, such as shape and color. Not existing in any manner, the mind abides like space. So what is called attachment is a mere name with no referent at all.” Place your mind in this state as long as it abides. This is the practice of the ultimate awakening mind.
From these two, respectively, arise the form body (rūpakāya), the mere hearing of whose name gives rise to the enlightened activities that help pacify the afflictions, and the dharmakāya, which helps eliminate all afflictions and their propensities, which lead to more contaminated states. We should know how to extend this practice similarly to all afflictions, such as hatred, the master said.
This has been written on the basis of my teacher’s words alone, with no omissions or additions. May the goodness of the content of this extremely profound instruction for taking afflictions onto the path equal the measure of space!