The Foundation of Buddhist Practice

The Essence of a Meaningful Life

V ISUALIZING THE BUDDHA during the preparatory practices prompts us to reflect on his ultimate attainment — full awakening with its magnificent physical, verbal, and mental qualities. This, in turn, causes us to contemplate the path leading to that state, a path that Śākyamuni Buddha taught from his own experience. Since attaining the awakened state is our ultimate purpose, we want to learn and practice the same path the Buddha did. Cultivating bodhicitta is an essential element of this process.

Within the three levels of being — initial, intermediate, and advanced — the method to cultivate bodhicitta and the bodhisattva’s deeds is contained in the advanced level. To make ourselves capable of engaging in these more advanced practices, we must first train in the preceding practices. Of these, the most important center around ceasing our obsession with the pleasures of cyclic existence and aspiring for liberation, which are contained in the intermediate level. But to relinquish attachment to all of cyclic existence, we must first stop attachment to the pleasures of this present life and aspire to have a good rebirth in the future. To do this, we engage in the initial-level practices.

Although liberation and awakening are our ultimate purposes, attaining them in one life is extremely difficult, although not impossible. Certain tantric practices, when done by well-prepared and qualified practitioners, can bring awakening in this life. But generally speaking, completing the path requires many lifetimes. For our spiritual development to proceed smoothly, we need to ensure that we have a series of successive precious human lives in order to practice the Dharma continuously over many lifetimes. For this to occur, we must create the causes, which are included in the practices of the initial practitioner. For this reason, too, the initial practices are extremely important to obtain our ultimate goal.

Precious Human Life

Whatever activity — mundane or spiritual — we do in life, self-confidence is a crucial internal factor to accomplish it. We must have conviction and trust ourselves, believing that we can successfully complete that work. Developing self-confidence and appreciation of our potential are the chief purposes of contemplating our precious human life. As we do this meditation, the conviction that we can definitely transform our mind and gain spiritual realizations will grow.

Recognizing the potential of our precious human life is essential; without it we may spend a lot of time complaining about upsetting events around us, from personal problems to environmental destruction and war. Consistently focusing on misfortune prevents us from seeing the good in the world, and this narrow and unrealistic vision hinders our well-being as well as our enthusiasm for Dharma practice.

Not every human life is a precious human life. A variety of conditions must be present in order to have a precious human life that can be used in a meaningful way. When the Buddha was alive in India, people had access to an awakened teacher, but not everyone was interested in hearing his teachings, and among those who were, some had previous commitments or health conditions that impeded them from doing so. Sadly, these people had human lives, but not precious human lives.

A precious human life is free from eight impediments and endowed with ten fortunes.42 Of the eight unfavorable states, four are rebirth in nonhuman states. Although these rebirths are temporary, the person is impeded from practicing for their duration.

1.Facing intense physical torment, hell beings (nāraka) are unable to direct their minds to spiritual practice.

2.Hungry ghosts (preta) are distracted from spiritual practice by extreme hunger and thirst, as well as by their constant search for food and drink and the frustration of not being able to procure them.

3.Animals are eaten by other animals higher on the food chain, often mistreated by humans, and are mentally incapable of understanding Dharma teachings.

4.Those born as discriminationless (asaṃjñika) gods — a type of god in the fourth dhyāna of the form realm — have almost no mental activity during that life. Born there because of having cultivated the meditative absorption without discrimination in the previous life, their only moments of clear discrimination occur at the time of their birth and death.43

A precious human life is also free from four disadvantageous human conditions:

1.Living in a barbaric, uncivilized society or in a country where religion is outlawed.

2.Living where the Buddha’s teachings are not available or during a time when the Dharma has not been taught.

3.Being severely mentally or physically impaired, so that our ability to learn and practice the teachings is extremely restricted.

4.Instinctively holding wrong views, making our mind unreceptive to examining new explanations of duḥkha, its causes, cessation, and the path leading to that cessation.

When meditating on the eight unfavorable conditions, do not simply think of other people born in those states, but imagine living in those circumstances yourself. Then recall your current freedom from those limitations and appreciate the excellent conditions you now have.

Then reflect on the ten fortunes you presently have. Five of these are personal and five come from society. The five personal fortunes are:

1.Being a human being with human intelligence that enables you to learn, reflect, and meditate on the Buddhadharma.

2.Living in a central Buddhist region, one where the four types of Buddhist disciples are found — male and female fully ordained monastics and male and female lay followers with the five precepts. In terms of Vinaya, a central country is one where a saṅgha of four or more fully ordained monks or nuns lives and performs the three major Vinaya ceremonies: fortnightly confession, rains retreat, and the invitation for feedback at the conclusion of the retreat.

3.Having a healthy body and mind.

4.Not having committed five actions of immediate retribution (ānantaryakarma): killing one’s father, mother, or an arhat, drawing blood from a buddha, or causing a schism in the saṅgha.

5.Having belief in things worthy of respect, such as the Vinaya as the basis of Dharma practice, and the Three Baskets of teachings on ethical conduct, concentration, and wisdom.

The five fortunate factors coming from society are living at a place and time when:

6.A buddha is present in the world.

7.The Buddha has taught and is still teaching the Dharma. Although these two conditions are not strictly fulfilled now, there are presently qualified spiritual mentors who give the teachings of Śākyamuni Buddha, and this suffices for fulfilling these two conditions.

8.Those teachings still exist and are flourishing. The transmitted Dharma of the Three Baskets exists and is propagated, and the realized Dharma of true cessation and true paths exists in the mindstreams of living practitioners. There is a living tradition of spiritual mentors who can impart the teachings orally and through their example.

9.There are spiritual mentors, monastics, and other like-minded people who follow the Buddha’s teachings and inspire us by showing that the Buddhadharma is a living tradition.

10.There are benefactors who offer the four requisites for life: food, shelter, clothing, and medicine.

Reflect individually on each of these points and see that you have an advantageous situation and all the necessary conditions for serious practice. Allow this to gladden your mind and give you great enthusiasm and self-confidence.

People who have not thought about rebirth very much may not be able to clearly ascertain the freedoms and fortunes of a precious human life. Nevertheless, there are common points on which everyone can agree. We know that Śākyamuni Buddha lived and taught in ancient India and that many Buddhist sages such as Nāgārjuna, Asaṅga, and Śāntideva gained extraordinary qualities by following in his footsteps. Their pure ethical conduct, meditative experience, wisdom, and great humility are evident in their life stories and the treatises they authored. These and many other Buddhist sages did not become renowned by becoming war heroes or financial tycoons. Rather, they observed a life of restraint and humility and benefited others. Through this, without seeking fame, they became well-known role models for subsequent generations of practitioners.

If we reflect on the nature of their precious human lives and our own, we do not find much difference. Everyone has the same human potential. As human beings, we have unique intelligence compared with other life forms, regardless of our nationality, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social class, religion, and so on. Everyone has the same Buddha nature. Siddhārtha Gautama was an ordinary person just like us. By tapping into and using his human potential in the right way, he became a buddha and was able to greatly benefit sentient beings living at that time as well as those in many centuries to come. Even today, we hear of and encounter people who offer great service and benefit to humankind. We have the ability to do the same.

I have found in my discussions with people that many suffer from low self-esteem and self-hatred. When we reflect on our spectacular good fortune in having a precious human life, these distorted conceptions vanish. We have all eighteen factors of a precious human life, so obviously we are a worthwhile and adequate person. We created tremendous constructive karma in previous lives to have our present opportunity, so we are capable of Dharma practice. We have all necessary conditions to progress on the path and accomplish our spiritual aims in this life, so seeing the future as bleak is unrealistic. Consistent meditation on precious human life prevents us from such self-defeating and inaccurate ways of viewing ourselves. To the contrary, it generates great enthusiasm for Dharma practice.

Rare and Difficult to Attain

The Buddha did not exaggerate when he said that receiving all the conditions necessary for a precious human life is not easy. Looking at the current world population, we may think a human life is easy to come by. However, not all human beings have the eighteen qualities of a precious human life that give them the best opportunity to practice the Dharma. Some people lack interest in spiritual matters, others cannot meet qualified teachers and teachings. Some people live without religious freedom, others face hindrances, such as starvation, war, illness, and injury, that make practice extremely difficult. Contemplating that lacking even one of the eighteen conditions interferes with all others bearing fruit helps us to see that we are extremely fortunate and must not take this opportunity for granted, but use it to create the causes for full awakening. Array of Stalks Sūtra speaks of the difficulties of attaining each condition of a precious human life.

We must look inside and ask ourselves, “Do we have all the factors that guarantee having a similar precious human life in the future?” Firm ethical conduct, training in the six perfections, and sincere dedication prayers are needed, as are cultivation of stable faith and correct wisdom. Ethical conduct is the cause for a human rebirth. Training in the six perfections results in having the conducive circumstances to practice the Dharma — generosity in this life results in receiving food, shelter, clothing, and medicine in future lives, and joyous effort in this life enables us to accomplish our goals in future lives. Sincere dedication prayers to have a series of precious human lives so that we can attain full awakening direct our merit so that it will ripen accordingly.

In this context, living in pure ethical conduct refers chiefly to abandoning the ten destructive pathways of actions — killing, stealing, unwise sexual behavior, lying, creating disharmony, harsh words, idle talk, coveting, maliciousness, and wrong views. It also involves taking and keeping any of the prātimokṣa ethical codes — those for monastics or lay followers. Doing this requires some conviction in the infallibility of the law of karma and its results.

We know that every conditioned phenomenon arises due to its preceding causes and conditions. This is the general interdependent nature of causes and effects. Within that exists one type of cause and effect — karma and its results. Karma — sentient beings’ volitional physical, verbal, and mental actions — depends on our virtuous and nonvirtuous motivations and produces our experience of happiness and suffering.

All sentient beings — except those in the formless realm — have a body. While the body itself is produced by external causes, such as the sperm and egg of our parents, which body our mindstream is born into depends on the quality of our mind and the kinds of karmic seeds left on our mindstream in the past. By acting constructively in this life, we create beneficial mental habits and leave many seeds of virtuous actions on our mindstream. When we die, some of these will ripen, enabling us to take a precious human life for many lifetimes to come, enabling us to continue our spiritual development with minimum interruption. For this reason, spiritual practice, which concerns working with our mind and its intentions, is important. We are responsible for accumulating sufficient causes to produce future precious human lives like the one we have now.

Reflecting in detail on the specific causes for a specific rebirth leads us to the very subtle and profound functioning of karma and its effects — the specific action an individual did in a certain lifetime that is now ripening in a particular event. This is an extremely obscure topic, one only omniscient buddhas know clearly and perfectly. At present, we must depend on scriptural authority to understand it.

Nevertheless, we can understand the general functioning of karma and its results. We know that constructive acts bring happy results and destructive acts bring suffering results. Reflecting on the actions we’ve done throughout our lives and the various intentions that motivated them, can we say with conviction, “I definitely have created all the causes and conditions for a precious human life and have purified all opposing ones?” Most of us find it difficult to say this with complete conviction because we have done actions we now regret. Transforming our mind by practicing the Dharma affords us the opportunity to change this situation by accumulating merit, purifying negativities, and gaining realizations. Understanding the potential and preciousness of human life to do this and the difficulty of receiving this opportunity in the future, we should avoid wasting our life in frivolous pursuits and engage in Dharma practice now.

Taking the Essence of Our Precious Human Life

If something is true but does not have much to do with our daily experience, knowing it is not important, and our lack of understanding does not bring great problems. But knowing the great value of our precious human life is crucial to this and future lives. Unaware of this fact, we will not see our present lives as significant and filled with opportunity, and risk wasting the chance to create the cause of happiness for a long time to come. Instead, we will mindlessly follow our self-centered thoughts, which will lead us to unfortunate rebirths. But once aware of the rarity of a precious human life, the difficulty of attaining it, and the amazing things we can do with it, we will no longer think our lives are meaningless.

All living beings seek happiness and peace, and I believe attaining this is the purpose of human life. Happiness and peace depend on hope. People lose hope when their lives do not go smoothly or they fail to actualize their expectations. Some people become depressed and some look to suicide for relief, which doesn’t stop their pain. But when we understand that creating the causes for peace and happiness are within our ability, despondency cannot take root.

There are two types of happiness: temporary and long-lasting. Experienced while we are in cyclic existence, temporary happiness includes the attainment of higher rebirth as a human being or god. Long-lasting happiness is liberation and awakening, which are attained through spiritual practice. The way to make our life meaningful and to attain these two kinds of happiness is by engaging in sincere spiritual practice, specifically the practices of beings of initial, middle, and advanced levels; that is to say, we must aspire to attain liberation, generate bodhicitta, and ascertain the correct view of emptiness. If we have learned the Dharma and are skillful, no matter our situation in life, where we are, or what time it is, the potential to enrich ourselves through Dharma practice is always present.

Spiritual practice involves some form of renunciation. Misidentifying what to renounce, some people think they must give up happiness and undergo hardship and suffering by accepting extra problems and miseries that they did not have before. If this were so, no sensible person would want to practice the Dharma.

The Buddha does not direct us toward suffering; rather, he shows us the path to be free from misery. He does this by explaining that the roots of suffering — ignorance, animosity, and attachment — are to be renounced, and the causes of happiness — generosity, fortitude, compassion, and so on — are to be adopted. He teaches a gradual path so that we can practice according to our capability at any particular moment. In this way, his followers embrace a way of life in which they eliminate all suffering and its causes step by step, beginning with gross ones and proceeding to subtle ones. In addition, they cultivate happiness, starting with temporary happiness and progressing up to the ultimate happiness of buddhahood.

From this, we see that the purpose of spiritual practice is to bring a sense of internal peace, well-being, and fulfillment. Although our ultimate goal is full awakening, the most urgent and immediate happiness to work for is that of future lives, and for that reason practitioners endeavor to create the causes and conditions to have precious human lives and abandon causes that create the contrary.

Eight Worldly Concerns

Although we have such precious potential, we often fail to recognize it, or even if we do, we are often distracted and do not utilize it. Our tendency to pay more attention to gaining immediate happiness and avoiding unpleasant situations is often stronger than a clear awareness that sees the value of creating the causes for a fortunate rebirth, liberation, and awakening. Our chief obstacles at present are subsumed in the eight worldly concerns — four pairs of delight and dejection that produce attachment and anger. The Buddha said (AN 8.6):45

Gain and loss, disrepute and fame, blame and praise, pleasure and pain. These eight worldly concerns revolve around the world, and the world revolves around these eight worldly concerns.

Attachment arises toward one part of each pair: material or financial gain, good reputation or image, praise and approval, and pleasure, especially from sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations. Aversion arises toward the other part of each pair: lack of money and possessions, a notorious reputation, blame and criticism, discomfort or pain.

Illustrations of these eight abound in our daily lives. We try to arrange our lives to come in contact with attractive objects and people, tantalizing sense experiences, sweet ego-pleasing words, money, possessions, and so forth. We complain when these do not meet our standard or when we encounter their opposite. Being preoccupied with these eight — which center on our own happiness in only this life — we become very reactive to our environment and the people in it. This emotional reactivity — clinging to what we like, pushing away what we don’t — brings difficulties in this life and impedes actualizing our long-term Dharma goals.

Financial and material gain and loss

The first pair of delights and dejections involves our relationship with money and possessions. We are elated when we have a lot of money, nice clothes, a comfortable house, a new car, and good sports equipment, and we become upset when we are unable to procure the things we desire, when they are destroyed, or when they are taken away from us. Sadly, many people measure their success in life by their material wealth. No matter how much they have, they are never satisfied and never feel fully successful.

Of course we need to take care of the practical aspects of our lives, but if we pay undue attention to material possessions and finances, we become a slave to them. Once we are entrapped by their lure, contentment evades us; quarrels ensue as we try to procure more and better and protect what we already have. We become arrogant toward those who have less, jealous of those who have more, and compete with equals, trying to prove our worth by having more than them.

Attached to financial and material gain, we work long hours and plan big projects to make us rich. Unless we are able to use the money wisely to benefit others, the process of gaining wealth consumes our time and energy so that we have little left for practicing Dharma. In the process of accumulating wealth, our ethical discipline is easily corrupted. Those who are greedy become involved in activities that harm individuals and society and that result in scandals and prison terms.

Unfortunately, some lamas and geshes initially live a simple life, studying and practicing diligently. They are very humble and not at all arrogant. Later, when they have many disciples, especially wealthy ones, they become ostentatious. They forget the many years of sacrifice they went through for the Dharma and are corrupted by seeking wealth and fame. We must be attentive not to do this ourselves.

Good and bad reputation and image

We feel elated when we are well-known and have a good reputation and dejected when our image is damaged. Continually preoccupied by what others think of us leads to self-preoccupation and emotional instability. We pay a lot of attention to appearances, and lacking sincerity, we use others for our own advantage. Many people succeed in achieving a good reputation or a high rank, but lack internal peace and true friendships.

People are attracted to a famous person because of his or her reputation. Whether or not that person has something valuable to contribute to society is another question. Without being impressed with titles, honors, or power, we are better off looking at each person as another human being who has the Buddha nature and seeks happiness and not suffering, just like us.

As a monastic, I am not so concerned about gain and loss of wealth. However, as the Dalai Lama, I sit on a high throne when I teach, and sometimes in a corner of my mind the thought arises, “I hope people respect me.” When explaining the Dharma, I sometimes wonder, “Does the audience like this talk?” Sometimes our minds are invaded by defiled thoughts: “What a great practitioner I have become! I hope others notice!” It is important to free our minds from expectations of receiving offerings, respect, and appreciation when we share the Dharma. We should talk about our faults and let others speak of our good qualities.

Of course we must prepare before giving a Dharma talk, but if we are too concerned with our delivery or how the audience receives the teaching, there is danger that our talk is for show. Instead of being apprehensive about what others will say about us, we should generate a sincere motivation at the beginning: “Although I do not know much, I will explain what I understand.” Then we will not be nervous and will speak truthfully. If people ask questions that we cannot answer, we simply say that we do not know and use it as an opportunity to learn more.

A member of my staff chided me, saying that I don’t prepare my speeches well enough. Perhaps he would like me to make more astute comments about complex topics. However, I feel more genuine when I talk about what I practice and live myself. When I do that, I’m not worried about whether or not others like my talk.

One time a reporter from an important paper in New York interviewed me and asked how I would like to be remembered in history. I told her, “This is not my concern. I am a Buddhist practitioner and am not interested in such things.” But she kept asking me until I got impatient and said, “I don’t think about that!”

Being concerned with present reputation or our name in history is foolish. We will not be alive to enjoy our reputation in history, so why worry about it? A good reputation doesn’t get us any closer to awakening. Our image is not important, but our motivation is. If our motivation is insincere, then even if everyone praises us, the glory will not last long. But if we are sincere and straightforward, we will communicate well with others. Eventually they will accept and appreciate our intentions, and that respect will last over time.

Buddha Śākyamuni was never concerned about his name or fame, but after nearly twenty-six centuries, people still love and respect him. Even non-Buddhists appreciate his message of nonviolence and compassion. Great masters such as Nāgārjuna remained simple Buddhist monks, however learned they became. Of course, when they debated the meaning of the teachings, they became animated and spoke forcefully; but this was not done out of arrogance or desire. Some present geshes are like that. In their ordinary life, they are so humble that we may even doubt whether they can walk properly. But when they go into the debating courtyard, they suddenly become active and assertive.

Look at the great Indian sage Śāntideva. From his writings we know that he was an intelligent, realized practitioner. But in his daily life, he was so humble that people thought he only ate, slept, and defecated. However, we see in the ninth chapter of Engaging in the Bodhisattvas’ Deeds that in debate he could be relentless and fierce in counteracting wrong conceptions. Once when he taught emptiness, he floated upward in space until he finally disappeared and only his voice could be heard, displaying a superpower that flabbergasted the audience!

Praise/approval and criticism/disapproval

We love when people we like comment on our good qualities or competent work and we become depressed when they point out our faults, criticize us, or blame us for things we may or may not have done. Due to this delight and dejection, our emotions vacillate drastically, as does our self-image.

In an effort to win the approval of others and avoid their disapproval, we may sacrifice our ethical standards to win their favor, succumb to peer pressure to fit in, and make unwise decisions that have long-term consequences. In the hopes of winning someone’s approval, we try to become what we think they think we should be. In the process of doing so, we lose touch with what we really think and feel, and live in fear of accidently doing something that would annoy the other person and garner their criticism.

When meeting new people, we usually present our good side and may exaggerate our qualities to win their approval and affection, often not realizing the extent of our deceit and pretension until later. Once they like us, we may take their friendship for granted and stop being so considerate of them. As a result, they criticize us, we feel hurt and resentful, and difficulties in the relationship ensue. Our self-confidence plummets because it was based on the praise of others and not on our honest self-assessment. Sometimes we become confused and don’t know what to believe about ourselves because one person praises us and another criticizes us for the same action, in quick succession.

I have found that it is better for everyone involved to be sincere, frank, and natural with others. I show what I am and do not pretend to be otherwise, no matter what others think or say about me. Being free of attachment to praise and reputation gives us the ability to relate as one human being to another.

When I was in China in 1954, I met with some members of the Communist Party. They spoke to the point, our discussions were very frank, and I liked some of them, at least for a while. But other officials were too polite. They were trying to impress me, and that made me suspicious of their purpose.

The eight worldly concerns are sneaky, even when we try to create virtue. Excellent practitioners will sometimes notice in the back of their minds the thought wishing to receive praise, respect, or offerings. Worse yet are those who try to impress others with their knowledge or ability to perform rituals. Some get enamored with their own charisma. In fact praise doesn’t benefit us in a substantial way: it doesn’t increase our longevity, intelligence, or good health, nor does criticism impede these. The law of karma and its effects is our true witness: others may sing our praises, but we still have to experience the results of the destructive actions we created. Other people may criticize us, but they cannot destroy our merit or cause us to be reborn in an unfortunate rebirth. Our infatuation with praise and accolades is like thinking a rainbow has some substance. The great Nyingma practitioner, Longchen Rabjam, said:

See the equality of praise and blame, approval and disapproval, good and bad reputation,

for they are just like illusions or dreams and have no true existence.

Learn to bear them patiently, as if they were mere echoes,

and sever at its root the mind that clings to an I or a self.46

Pleasure and pain

So many of our actions are fueled by attachment to pleasurable sights, sounds, odors, tastes, and tactile sensations, such as feeling warm on a cold day and cool on a hot day, and aversion for their opposites — grating noises, disgusting food, sleeping on a bed that is too hard or too soft, and witnessing alarming sights. Securing the former and avoiding the latter becomes the purpose of most of our daily life activities. Yet as hard as we try, we are never able to make our lives entirely comfortable, which leaves us feeling grouchy and complaining. Our unhappiness does not come from inability to control the environment so that we have only pleasant sensory experiences, but from internal emotions of strong craving and aversion. Minus the craving and aversion, we may still have preferences, but are able to accept what life brings us. Our frustration and worry decrease, giving way to enjoying what is instead of pining for what isn’t.

This pair may also be described as attachment to success and aversion to failure. Rather than allow our mind and self-esteem to vacillate according to these, we can maintain a balanced attitude by contemplating interdependence. Success does not depend on us alone; the efforts of many people are involved, so arrogance is uncalled for. Failure may be due to mistakes or to external circumstances that we cannot control. Learning from our mistakes is useful and accepting that we cannot control the world is practical. Both of these will calm our mind.

Disadvantages of the Eight Worldly Concerns

When we speak of Dharma as distinct from non-Dharma, the line of demarcation is the presence or absence of the eight worldly concerns. If our action is motivated by attachment to only the happiness of this life, it is considered non-Dharma. Actions motivated by the aspiration to have a fortunate rebirth, to attain liberation, or to attain buddhahood are Dharma actions. This does not mean that secular people or those of other religions do not create virtue. Anyone can refrain from harming others, cultivate a kind heart, and create merit through generosity, forgiveness, and compassion.

In the Pāli canon (AN 8.6) the Buddha explains that the eight worldly concerns are encountered by both uninstructed worldly people and by knowledgeable āryas, but there is a big difference between how these two groups respond. When ordinary people receive gain, fame, praise, and pleasure, they do not reflect on these as being impermanent and subject to change; they do not know them as they are in reality. Instead ordinary beings are delighted and their common sense is swept away by elation. When they meet with the opposite of these four — loss, disrepute, blame, and unpleasant sensations, they become dejected. Obsessed with their likes and dislikes, they continue to revolve in cyclic existence, with its birth, ageing, sickness, and death, and to be tormented by pain, grief, and despair. Their minds are never peaceful, as they desperately try to procure everything that appears to bring them happiness and vehemently reject the reality of painful situations.

When instructed āryas come upon these concerns, however, they understand the four pleasant ones to be transient and changing. Understanding them as they really are — impermanent, unable to provide lasting happiness, and lacking their own independent essence — their minds remain balanced. They do not become upset when loss, blame, disrepute, and unpleasant sensations come their way. Giving up attachment to likes and aversion to dislikes, they seek a higher happiness — that of liberation — and create the causes to be free from cyclic existence. Speaking of the eight worldly concerns, the Buddha observes (AN 8.5):

The wise and mindful person knows them

and sees that they are subject to change.

Desirable conditions don’t excite his mind,

nor is he repelled by undesirable conditions.

He has dispelled attraction and repulsion;

they are gone and no longer present.

Having known the dustless, sorrowless state,

he understands rightly and has transcended [cyclic] existence.

The eight worldly concerns center around attachment to the pleasures of just this life. While this life is important, clinging to its pleasures is problematic. The Buddha does not say that pleasure is bad or evil. Pleasure is what it is — a nice experience that lasts a short while. It is fine to enjoy the good things we encounter. But becoming attached to them is another matter, because the attachment — and the aversion that arises when we cannot get what we like — causes problems in this and future lives and distracts us from fulfilling our spiritual yearnings. For this reason, the Seventh Dalai Lama said:47

Fantasies about material objects and the winds of [tendencies toward] the eight worldly concerns are completely misleading. Because of clinging to things that give only temporary fulfilment, at death one is weighed down with the pain of a mind empty [of virtue].

The Fourth Paṇchen Lama, Losang Chokyi Gyaltsen, said true practitioners of Mahāmudrā see that the eight worldly concerns are like dramas of madness and prefer solitude — “solitude” meaning separating the mind from ignorance, animosity, and attachment.

In our attempts to obtain the four factors that superficially seem to bring happiness in only this life and to distance ourselves from the four undesirable ones, we create a great deal of negative karma. To protect our reputation, we talk behind others’ backs; to get more money, we cheat others or get involved in illegal business dealings; to win someone’s approval or praise, we lie, hiding our mistakes and making up successes that we lack. In the long run, due to the functioning of karma and its effects, these actions bring suffering on us. Although seeking the eight worldly concerns seems to bring us happiness superficially, in the long term it brings more misery. The eight worldly concerns make our viewpoint very narrow and self-centered. We become blind to karma and its effects and ignore the need to create the causes for well-being in future lives. Aspiring to liberation or awakening is far from our mind.

The eight worldly concerns obstruct us from genuine Dharma practice. Most of our distractions in meditation involve the eight worldly concerns. When our mind wanders while listening to teachings, our attention has strayed to one of these eight. We postpone positive deeds, such as generosity or helping others, because our time is occupied with these eight. For these reasons, Dharma practitioners are warned about seeking the temporary happiness of only this life, not because it is bad or “sinful” but because it impedes us from actualizing the spiritual realizations that will bring long-term happiness.

Attachment to the pleasures of only this life breeds dissatisfaction. However much we have, it is not enough. Even wealthy people don’t feel satisfied with what they have. No matter how much our loved ones praise us, we still want more. We long for another reward, trophy, or public acknowledgement of what we have accomplished. True satisfaction eludes us.

When we have worldly success, we easily become arrogant and haughty, flaunting our success and ignoring the needs of others. Therefore mind training texts say that it is better to meet difficulties, for they make us humble and more compassionate. Difficulties flatten our haughtiness, and we learn to respect the concerns and feelings of others. Difficulties also deepen our refuge in the Three Jewels and spur us to be mindful of karma and its effects.

Giving up attachment to the pleasures of only this life and the eight worldly concerns does not mean that we neglect ourselves and become a pauper. Some people make a big display of having renounced the world, but remain attached to their reputation as a renunciant! We need a certain amount of possessions and financial support to function in society. Having wise friends and maintaining our health facilitate Dharma practice. Problems arise when we are attached to these and seek them to the exclusion of all else.

Relinquishing attachment and aversion does not entail having a dull and boring life. Rather, our life becomes fuller because being free from the push and pull of delight and dejection, we are able to appreciate whatever comes our way. Instead of thinking, “I can only be happy when I’m near this one special person,” we become more open and enjoy the company of many others.

In brief, the problem does not rest in the experience of pleasure or the objects that seem to bring pleasure. It is clinging to the pleasure that is the troublemaker. The Buddha says (AN 6.63):

They are not sensual pleasures, the pretty things in the world;

a person’s sensual pleasure is lustful intention;

the pretty things remain just as they are in the world,

but the wise remove the desire for them.

In the Inquiry of Ugra Sūtra (Ugraparipṛcchā) the Buddha gives excellent guidance on how to deal with our addiction to the eight worldly concerns:

Being free of attachment and aversion [the bodhisattva] should attain equanimity with respect to the eight worldly concerns. If he succeeds in obtaining wealth, or a spouse, or children, or valuables, or produce, he should not become arrogant or overjoyed. If he fails to obtain all these things, he should not be downcast or distressed. Rather he should reflect as follows: “All conditioned things are illusory and are marked by involvement in fabrication. Thus my father and mother, children, spouse, employees . . . friends, companions, kinsfolk, and relatives — all are the result of the ripening of actions. Thus they are not mine, and I am not theirs.

“And why? Because my father, mother, and so on are not my protector, refuge, resort, place of rest, island, self, or what belongs to the self. If even my own perishable aggregates, sense sources, cognitive faculties and their objects are not me or mine, how much less are my father, mother, and so on me or mine, or I theirs? And why? Because I am subject to my actions and heir to my actions, I will inherit [the results of] whatever I have done, whether good deeds or bad. I will taste the fruit of every one of them and will experience the ripening of each one. Because these people are also subject to their actions and heir to their actions, they too will inherit [the results of] whatever they have done, whether good deeds or bad. They will experience the ripening of every one of them and will taste the fruit of each one.

It is not my business to accumulate nonvirtuous deeds for their sake. All of them are a source of pleasure now, but they will not be a source of pleasure later on. Instead, I should devote myself to what is really mine — to the virtues of generosity, discipline, self-restraint, fortitude, good character, exertion, vigilance, and the accumulation and production of the [seven] awakening factors. That is what is actually mine. Wherever I may go, these qualities will go with me.”48

Using our human intelligence to accomplish long-term benefit for ourselves is valuable, whereas focusing on just our own short-term interests is limited. Even businesspersons who are nonbelievers know that being short-sighted and impatient is a disadvantage to achieving their goals. If this is true for obtaining good results in this life, it is even truer for actualizing our spiritual goals. Thus when we experience suffering and are deprived of sensory pleasures, wealth, praise, and fame, we should maintain a long-term perspective and practice fortitude so that we can tolerate these temporary situations in cyclic existence. Such fortitude maintains our spiritual resolve without feeling defeated or upset, no matter what we encounter. But when we are focused on only our immediate happiness and benefit, we are perpetually dissatisfied and create much destructive karma.

Our precious human life presents us with great opportunities. If we use our energy only to get delicious food, attractive clothing, a good income, a great reputation, and popularity, we waste our human potential. Using our human intelligence to improve only our external situation but not the state of our mind and heart does not do justice to our extraordinary intelligence. Simply helping our friends and harming our enemies wastes our human potential and does nothing to distinguish us from animals who also care for their dear ones and harm those who threaten them. We must not limit our human life to just these activities. Spending our lives striving only for the eight worldly concerns leaves us regretful at the end of our lives, for none of these is of any use to us at the time of death or afterward. We regret wasting a little money, but we should regret even more wasting our lives seeking only comfort, prestige, romantic love, and so forth.

What, then, can human beings do that animals and insects cannot do? We can transform, discipline, and train our minds and hearts. We can understand teachings on ethical conduct and the method to cultivate love and compassion. We can realize the nature of reality, which will liberate us from all duḥkha. Channeling our energy into actualizing our peerless potential is truly worthwhile.

Each sentient being wants happiness. A worldly perspective leads us to believe that it is found by possessing certain things, being close to specific people, and gaining acceptance and reputation. A Dharma perspective proposes seeking happiness in transforming our mind and heart and cultivating our wisdom and good heart. Dharma practitioners seek happiness in a more reliable way by expanding our motivation to include the long-term welfare of all sentient beings. The Buddha speaks of the joy a sincere practitioner derives from Dharma practice (MN 27.14–15): by living ethically, “he experiences within himself a bliss that is blameless.” Living an ethical life enables us to be free from guilt and remorse and to feel good about our actions. By restraining the sense faculties so that the mind is not continuously running here and there in search of temporary pleasure, “he experiences within himself a bliss that is unsullied,” that arises from acting with mindfulness and introspective awareness.

By cultivating contentment, we experience the internal peace of accepting ourselves. The practice of bodhicitta opens our hearts with love and compassion toward all beings, producing great joy in the mind. By acting for the benefit of others, we gain the satisfaction of making a positive contribution to the welfare of others. The practice of stabilizing meditation leads to the attainment of higher states of concentration. The joy and bliss that arise in them are free from attachment to the desire realm and invigorate the mind. Realizing the true nature of all phenomena and integrating it in our lives brings a peace that cannot be destroyed. The union of clear light mind and illusory body in tantric practice produces the magnificent bliss of full awakening. The Buddha spoke of giving up attachment to the pleasures of this life in order to lead us on the path to more stable and profound states of fulfillment that can be actualized only by Dharma practice. Sentient beings naturally seek happiness and there is nothing wrong with having it. We want to free ourselves from attachment to inferior states of happiness that are in the nature of duḥkha. Rather than seek situations and things that at first appear wonderful but eventually become troublesome, it is wiser to generate spiritual happiness that is based on more stable, realistic, and beneficial states of mind.