13. A SUMMARY OF THE PATH

THE THIRD DALAI LAMA

This is how the complete body of the path that condenses all the principal points of the sutras and tantras is to be approached and how the opportunities afforded by human rebirth are rendered meaningful. By practicing in this graduated way, one uses the precious Buddhadharma most effectively for the benefit of oneself and others. Jey Rinpoche himself took the experience of these practices into his heart, and it is his advice that those who would follow after him do likewise.

Keeping this in mind, [pause from reading for a moment and] visualize that Jey Rinpoche is sitting before you, exhorting you with a calm, powerful, penetrating voice to practice as described here and to accomplish his words by means of actually using his teachings to tame your mindstream.

Such is the range of doctrines contained in the Lam Rim teaching compiled by Jey Rinpoche in the form of a short poem that, as he states in a following verse, he wrote not only in order to further acquaint his mind with the teachings of Buddha, but also for the benefit of those with the karmic fortune to appreciate it.

When we speak of the city of enlightenment, it sounds very near and very easy to attain, but when it comes to practice, suddenly it seems very difficult to attain, very far in the distance. This is the contradiction between our thoughts and our application. Instead of becoming disheartened by this realization, we should gather our energy and concentration and focus them on the spiritual practices. Persistence, mindfulness, determination, and an ability to enjoy the art of dwelling in discipline are all that are required in order for steady progress to be generated.

A common mistake in practice is to have expectations of quick results. Of course we should practice as intensely and purely as we can, but unless we have generated the subtle levels of bodily energy and consciousness as mentioned in the previous chapter, I feel it is wiser to practice without eyes anxious for signs of quick enlightenment. First we should try to generate some signs of small attainments. By thinking of enlightenment as something far away, one’s practice remains stable and calm. To expect immediate progress is to hinder progress, whereas to practice without expectations makes all attainments possible.

What is progress? How do we recognize it? The teachings are like a mirror before which we should hold our activities of body, speech, and mind. Think back to a year ago and compare the stream of activities of your body, speech, and mind at that time with their present condition. If we practice well, then the traces of some improvement should be reflected in the mirror of Dharma.

The problem with having expectations is that we usually do not expect the right things. Not knowing what spiritual progress is, we search for signs of it in the wrong areas of our being. What can we hope for but frustration? It would be far better to examine any practice with full reasoning before adopting it, and then to practice it steadily and consistently while observing the inner changes one undergoes, rather than expecting this or that fantasy to become real. The mind is an evolving organism, not a machine that goes on and off with the flip of a switch. The forces that bind and limit the mind, hurling it into unsatisfactory states of being, are impermanent and transient agents. When we persistently apply the practices to them, they have no option but to fade away and disappear. Ignorance and the “I”-grasping syndrome have been with us since beginningless time, and the instincts of attachment, aversion, anger, jealousy, and so forth are very deeply rooted in our mindstreams. Eliminating them is not as simple as turning on a light to chase away the darkness of a room. When we practice steadily, the forces of darkness are undermined, and the spiritual qualities that counteract them and illuminate the mind are strengthened and made firm. Therefore, we should strive by means of both contemplative and settled meditation to gain stability in the various Lam Rim topics.

There are many ways to approach the stages of practices found in the Lam Rim. There was a tradition in Tibet with some teachers to give each of the Lam Rim meditations separately to a trainee, the next higher topic not being taught until experience in the previous subjects had been gained. I don’t think this means, however, complete development of each successive meditation, but rather that we should cultivate a degree of familiarity with each subject before going on to the next. For instance, the meditation on cultivating an effective relationship with a spiritual master has different levels of training in the exoteric Sutrayana than in the esoteric Vajrayana. One will have a different attitude toward the teacher before and after one has developed qualities such as meditative concentration, inner experience of the nature of emptiness and the self, etc. Even within the highest tantra division, perception of the spiritual master differs within the generation and completion stage yogas. Thus we obviously cannot complete the first Lam Rim step—the training in guru yoga—before proceeding to the second step, the meditation on the precious opportunities of the human incarnation. What one does is try to gain a basic meditative experience of the main points in the specific subject on which one is presently working. In the case of guru yoga, this means that we meditate upon the two main points outlined in the Essence of Refined Gold: firstly, we should learn to regard the spiritual master as being a Buddha, or a personal representative of the Enlightened Ones, coming as an ordinary being into our lives in order to perform their work for us; and secondly, we should consider the nature of the great kindness of the guru and the beneficial effects that a correct relationship with a master can cause to ripen upon us. When our mind spontaneously appreciates the spiritual friend as being a messenger of the Buddhas and recognizes the ways by which he or she is able to help us unlock the spiritual gateways within our streams of being, we have a sufficient basis for proceeding to the second meditation, that on the preciousness and rarity of a human incarnation endowed with infinite spiritual potential. One then makes this topic one’s main subject of meditation for some time, until there arises an appreciation of the human body as being a spiritual vessel, a boat with which to generate inner qualities that shall have eternal benefits. The ordinary samsaric mind sees the human body as just a tool with which to chase material, social, and biological needs, all of which satisfy only superficial levels of the spirit. Their effects do not pass beyond the gates of death. We have to learn to appreciate the intrinsic spiritual quality of human nature, to have a subtle confidence in the positive, creative aspect of our being. It is difficult to enter spiritual training if one regards one’s life as having no purpose other than the pursuit of ephemeral, transient goals, as does a rat who builds a strong nest and then drags home all sorts of trinkets to it. In order to break the mind of this vain, mundane attitude toward life, we sit in meditation and contemplate first the eight freedoms and ten endowments as described earlier and then the meaningful and rare nature of a human incarnation. This contemplation imbues us with a sense of spiritual dignity that subtly transforms our way of relating to ourselves and our existence. We cease to see ourselves merely as animals uncontrolledly chasing after the immediate cravings of the senses in a vicious circle of jungle law, and we come to appreciate the quality of penetrating awareness and the capacity for spiritual development that distinguishes humans from animals and insects. This causes the thought of extracting the essence of life to arise with a joyous intensity.

The next meditation—that on death and impermanence—inspires us to appreciate the basis of this hope and joy within the context of its transient nature. We must be constantly aware that at any moment death can rob us of our life and that if we have not generated spiritual knowledge we will be helpless and empty-handed.

As Tsongkhapa wrote in The Three Principal Practices of the Path, “Understanding the rare and precious nature of human life and the brief length of its span will shatter our illusions concerning superficial, worldly goals in this life. Repeated contemplation of the infallible laws of karmic evolution and the unsatisfactory nature of cyclic existence will shatter illusions concerning worldly goals in future lives. When our mind is cultivated to the point that it no longer yearns for samsaric indulgence but day and night aspires only to dwell in the serenity of liberation, the free spirit of renunciation has been produced.”

As we can see here, when Tsongkhapa abbreviates the Lam Rim into its three most essential practices—those for cultivating the free spirit of renunciation, the altruistic bodhimind, and the wisdom of emptiness—he somewhat rearranges the structure and order of their sequence. The meditations upon the preciousness of human life and upon impermanence and death are the only two initial perspective mediations used in the initial perspective context of cutting attraction to spiritually insignificant pursuits and generating an interest in attaining higher states of being. The meditation upon the laws of karmic evolution is used in the middle perspective context of transcending hopes for higher states of being and instead aiming for the liberation of nirvana. The fourth initial perspective meditation—that on the vicious nature of the three lower realms—is subsumed under the middle perspective practice of contemplating the unsatisfactory nature of all cyclic existence. The fifth initial perspective meditation—that upon the objects of refuge—is not formally incorporated at all.

Thus, in this system only two of the five initial meditations are used in the traditional approach: the meditations on the precious nature of human life and on the omnipresence of death. One pursues these until gross attraction to vain habits and ways subsides and then adopts the second two meditations mentioned above: those on the laws of karmic evolution and the unsatisfactory nature of all cyclic existence. Although the meditation upon the suffering-producing nature of the three lower realms is subsumed under this latter topic, there is actually no need in the system of The Three Principal Practices of the Path to meditate upon these realms at all, because the aim of the meditation now is solely to cut attraction to samsaric experiences, and not to develop aversion to lower states of being, as was the case in the initial perspective. Nobody is particularly attracted to the lower realms, so there is no real purpose in contemplating them here. Meditation upon the laws of karmic evolution and upon the unsatisfactory nature of even the highest realms of samsaric existence are themselves sufficiently far-reaching contemplations to give rise to a well-based aspiration to total spiritual freedom. The sign of progress in the meditations is that the aspiration to freedom begins to exert a steady influence upon the mind, day and night.

This yearning for spiritual liberation now becomes an important propelling force. We see that the deepest power behind cyclic life is the “I”-grasping ignorance, the inborn habit of identifying ourselves with something that has no basis in reality; and we also see how this gives rise to the endless flow of mental distortion, afflicted emotions, and mistaken activities of body and speech. We see how this distortion and the suffering and confusion that it brings upon us are baseless fabrications that are easily eliminated by awareness of the deeper nature of our mind and the objects of our perception. When we understand the deeper nature of our being, the mind’s innate grasping at false realities is eliminated and all distortion is overcome. To comprehend this deeper nature of all things is to attain the third of the Four Noble Truths—the serenity of nirvana, wherein all suffering has ceased.

All phenomena arise and disappear from within this deeper nature of existence, which is the dharmadhatu free from all obscurations and stains. By arising within the dharmadhatu wisdom, the mind frees itself from conventional stains and limitations. Even a partial understanding of this deeper level of truth greatly pacifies the flow of negative karma and delusion that plague our stream of being. One therefore here applies oneself in the ways that reveal the profound nature of the deeper truth and thus enters the higher training of wisdom, using the trainings in discipline and meditative concentration as supports.

Up to this point in training, the emphasis in one’s meditations has been directed at oneself, one’s own sufferings and one’s own liberation. This is because the forces of ego-grasping and self-cherishing are extremely strong in the beginning of our practice, and so it is very easy to stimulate the mind to take an interest in personal liberation. Once this interest becomes firm and one’s cultivation of wisdom has cut the bindings of the more gross levels of ignorance, one can begin to bring one’s practice into a more universal perspective. In Essence of Refined Gold this is done by generating great compassion and the altruistic bodhimind through the seven-point technique of cause and effect as described earlier in the chapter on the trainings of high perspective. Another method is that called “exchanging self [awareness] for [awareness of] others” which is taught in Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life and, much earlier in Indian history, in Nagarjuna’s Precious Garland. The former of these two treatises seems to be a general commentary to the essential meanings of the latter. A study of these two sacred works is a great help in the task of inspiring us to generate the Mahayana attitude of great compassion, which seeks personal enlightenment as the best means of benefiting all living beings.

Persistent application to the meditations of either the seven-point technique of cause and effect or the method known as exchanging self [awareness] for [awareness of] others causes one’s concern for the liberation and happiness of the living beings to become very powerful and eventually to transform into the wishing bodhimind. On the basis of this, one then engages in the activities of the actual bodhimind such as the six perfections and so forth, as explained in Essence of Refined Gold. However, in the sequence of practice given here by Jey Rinpoche and the Third Dalai Lama, one cultivates meditative concentration, the nature of which is samadhi, in conjunction with penetrative insight, the nature of which is vipashyana, as preliminaries to entering tantric practice. Most practitioners these days do not follow this procedure but instead, after developing familiarity with the six perfections and so forth, go directly to the Highest Tantra and develop meditative concentration conjoined with penetrative insight in accordance with the methods of the Vajrayana’s generation stage. This is a more effective approach in producing quick enlightenment. One then accomplishes at least the coarse level of generation stage yoga and engages in the powerful completion stage yogas to give birth to the illusory body, the subtle mind of clear light, and the stage of great union. Thus is full enlightenment actualized in the short span of one human life.

THE THIRD DALAI LAMA

Jey Rinpoche then concludes his Song of the Stages on the Spiritual Path as follows,

In order further to acquaint my mind with the

paths

And also to benefit others of good fortune,

I have herein explained in simple terms

All stages of the practices pleasing to the

Buddhas,

And have made the prayer that any merits thus

created

May cause all beings never to separate

From sublime ways always pure.

I, a yogi, have made this prayer.

You, a liberation seeker, should do likewise.

Bearing in mind these teachings of Jey Rinpoche, [conclude each meditation session with the following prayer:]

From now onward, in this and future lives,

I will make devotions at your lotus feet

And apply myself to your teachings.

Bestow upon me your transforming powers

That I may practice only as pleases you

With all actions of my body, speech, and mind.

And by the power of mighty Tsongkhapa

As well as of the Lamas from whom I have

received teachings

May I never be parted even for a moment

From the sublime path pleasing to the Buddhas.

[The Third Dalai Lama concludes his text with the following verse:]

By any merits of my having written this text

Condensing without error the principal points

Of the stages on the path leading to

enlightenment—

The essence of the teachings of Dipamkara Atisha

and Lama Tsongkhapa—

May all beings progress in the practices pleasing

to the Buddhas of the past, present, and future.

The Colophon: Thus is concluded the Essence of Refined Gold, an exposition of the stages in the practices of the three levels of spiritual application. Based upon Jey Rinpoche’s Song of the Stages on the Spiritual Path and arranged in a format easy to follow, it is in the tradition of clarified doctrine and therefore is well worthy of admiration and interest. It was written at the repeated request of Docho Choje from the eminent abode of Omniscient Sherab Palzang, by the Buddhist monk and teacher Gyalwa Sonam Gyatso at the Great Site of Dharma Activity, the mighty Drepung Monastery, in the room called “Swirling Sunbeams in the Palace of Sublime Joy.”

Gyalwa Sonam Gyatso, even while only a baby, received the omens of being in communication with Jey Rinpoche [and therefore was fully qualified to write this commentary to Jey Rinpoche’s Song of the Stages on the Spiritual Path]. May it cause the quintessence of mystic lore to flow into the ten directions.

If we correctly engage in all these meditational practices—from cultivating correct attitudes toward the spiritual master up to the final completion stage tantric yoga resulting in perfect enlightenment—then there is no doubt that we can progress along the spiritual path. However, we must be very careful at every step, for our samsaric mind is always looking for ways to trick and cheat us. To make mistakes in any of the basic meditations—such as cultivating correct attitudes toward the guru, establishing the foundations of discipline, etc.—will lead to an equivalent distortion in all higher practices. Therefore, one must train mindfully, constantly observing one’s stream of thought and activities and relating them back to the teachings. As Buddha himself advised, “Work out your own salvation.” We must practice with clarity, humility, and a sense of personal responsibility for our own progress. Then the path to enlightenment is something that we hold in the palms of our own hands.

As the Fifth Dalai Lama wrote, “Enlightenment is not that difficult. Just as the master artist has no difficulty in taking clay and forming it into the image of a perfect Buddha, when we gain skill in the practices we can easily shape the clay of our samsaric body, speech, and mind into the three supreme bodies of a fully omniscient being.”