Gampopa Center

During last Summer’s teaching on Mind Training, Lama explained how to measure success in the practice of mind training. He explained that if your afflictive emotions are weakening, thn your mind training is going well. If they are not, that means you should put more effort into the practice. This is also true of all dharma practices. Suffering is the result of our previous actions committed under the influence of mental afflictions. and these are the result of ego clinging. That is why all the buddhas have taught how to end this clinging. The ego has never existed, it is believed because of our mind’s fixation. Many dharma practitioners look for signs from their practice, but the best sign is reduced mental afflictions.

He also explained how to deal with mental afflictions. The first way to deal with mental afflictions is to abandon them by applying the antidotes. The second is to transform them through compassion. The third is to recognize them as the nature of mind. Just look at them and they will be like a wave on the surface of the ocean. They will be seen as the union of awareness and emptiness. The stronger the emotion, the stronger will be your wisdom.

The mind training teachings condense their instructions into what is known as the five forces. Lama gave this explanation of the five forces last summer.

1. The first is the force of motivation. When you get up in the morning, reestablish your commitment to practice the two bodhicittas. At the end of the day, check to see if your actions have followed this motivation. Whatever you are motivated to do will happen.
2. The second is the force of familiarization. It is like learning to drive, at first it is difficult, but then it becomes easy. So we should familarize ourselves with the practice of virtue.
3. The third is the force of virtue. Always strive to accumulate virtue. By practicing virtue the two bodhicittas increase.
4. The fourth is the force of repudiation. When ego cherishing arises you should immediately abandon it. Since ego does not exist, cherishing it is only self deception.
5. The fifth is the force of dedication. Have the aspiration to complete enlightenment and dedicate all your merit to it.

Here are some more excerpts from my notes from Lama’s Mind Training class. Lama explained that we can transform negative circumstances into the path to awakening. Tibetan medicine takes poisonous plants, but compounds them so they are medicinal. In a similar way, we can benefit from our problems. Lama told us that the saying “drive all blames into one” means that all our suffering is a result of our ego clinging. We normally blame our problems on others, this saying tells us to turn this attitude around. It doesn’t mean you should feel guilty and punish yourself. The problem is that our normal attitude increases our ego clinging. Ego never existed, it is a misunderstanding based on ignorance. Seeing this we should know it is the source of all our sufferings and look at our ego clinging when negative circumstances arise.

Lama explained that ego is merely ignorance, but it takes a long time to see this. What we can do is to pacify it. Negative emotions are not caused by others or circumstances, they come from our ego. Ego is never happy and is always ready to cause problems. It is like a demon. Dharma practice is not just sitting quietly, thinking nothing. It is working with our life. With some practice, situations that would have caused anger give rise to compassion instead. Compassion is the source of happiness and where it is absent, society is in turmoil and where it is present, society is peaceful.

He then gave this example: If I burn my hand on the teacup I can blame all the circumstances which caused it to happen, which includes everyone and everything in the world. Or I can turn away from that thinking and place the blame on my ego. All suffering arises from my ignorance. When you place the blame on ego, it is weakened. So that is why we should drive all blames into oneself. You still need to do your best to work out the situation, but it should be without strong negative emotion. So that is the point of this saying.

Here are a few more remarks that Lama made during his class on Lojong.

First, he explained that although people think that seeing the natural state of mind comes from some sharp understanding, it really arises from the accumulation of merit, compassion, and devotion. Appreciating the kindness of the teacher brings us devotion. Appreciating the kindness of others brings us compassion.

Then he explained how you can generate merit by transforming your defilements. When attachment arises, first you must recognize it and see that it is the cause of suffering for oneself and others. You reflect on all other beings experiencing attachment and how they will suffer as a result. You accept everyone else’s attachment as part of yours. In this way attachment is transformed into wisdom and compassion. The same can be done with other negative emotions and sickness and any obstacles you encounter.

Lama explained that you need to have the same love and compassion as a mother has for her child, so you feel happy when taking on the problems of others. This practice can purify the karma of many lifetimes and accumulate much merit. Lama has found that this is the most profound way to make yourself happy.

Lama is teaching the practice of tonglen in Jakarta. He taught tonglen earlier this year in Annapolis and this is some of what he said.

Lama explained that the first perfection is generosity, since it is easiest to practice. But before practicing generosity, we should appreciate the generosity of others. First we contemplate our mothers’ generosity. We were born naked and helpless and everything we have is from our mothers. And how many people worked hard to build the roads we travel to get here? The world belong to all animals, but we kill them as we travel the roads. So we should appreciate their generosity. How many people worked so that we can enjoy a cup of tea? When you appreciate the kindness of others, then it is easy to share what you have with them when they are in need. So it is important to appreciate the generosity of sentient beings.

Lama then explained the practice of tonglen by explaining that after appreciating the generosity of others, the next step is to give whatever good things we have to others. This doesn’t mean torturing ourselves. It’s rather like how a mother is willing to bear hardship for her child and would be willing to take the child’s problems onto herself. If we don’t have that attitude, tonglen could seem scary. We practice taking on their problems and give everything good out to others. We do this by visualizing them as black tar coming in and rays of moonlight going out. We start doing this with the person closest to us and then extend it to all beings.

Lama told us that our enlightenment depends equally on the Buddhas and sentient beings. Without sentient beings we would not be able to practice the six perfections. If you take this attitude, you will deal with the problems that other people give us joyfully. And that happiness we can give to others.

Lama finished by answering a common question about the practice of tonglen. Some people wonder if this practice actually takes on the problems of others. You don’t take on others suffering as a beginner because suffering is the consequence of karma and each person must experience their karma. If this were not true, Buddha would have already taken our suffering. But the altruistic intention in this practice is a very powerful thing and if we have a connection with that person, that connection enables us to help them. The main purpose of this practice is to subdue our ego, not to immediately benefit others. You may have the expectation of helping your friend and when this practice does not seem to help, you will give it up. So if it helps, that is good, but the practice is not primarily for their immediate benefit.