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The Bodhisattva Path II - ( From Sutra Study at TBH )
The Bodhisattva Path
The Jewel Ornament Of Liberation
Today we are going to start looking at Gampopa’s presentation of the bodhisattva path, as laid out in ‘the Jewel Ornament of Liberation’. In this seminar we will cover the first part of the text, which leads up to the taking of the Bodhisattva Vow and the generating of bodhicitta. The text is very detailed and does not make easy reading. So I have tried to draw out themes, which I feel might be of interest. The main theme which I thought might be of interest is the different way that faith and confidence are presented and linked to this is the importance of direct personal in giving rise to faith or confidence. A sub-theme underlying everything else is what does it mean to say that our emotions and external phenomena are sunyata, and hence illusory.
The text is very methodical and comprehensive, reflecting Gampopa’s deep knowledge of the two streams of Indian Buddhist thought which he trained in. The precept based, monastic, tradition of the kadampas, and the tradition of the unconventional yogis known as the mahasiddhas. It may also reflect his training as a doctor. Initially he had practiced the Dharma as a layman. He had a very beautiful wife and children. Then one day his wife became ill, and they both knew she would soon die. Exceedingly grief stricken, and aware of the need for his wife to let go of attachments through his study of the Dharma, he pledged never to remarry, but to become a monk and devote himself to the practice of Dharma. In front of her he touched a dharma book to his head and made her that solemn vow. She died soon after and Gampopa kept his promise. One gets the impression that he was driven by a strong personal need to penetrate the Dharma, perhaps powered by the force of that vow and the circumstances surrounding it.
Perhaps because he was a doctor, Gampopa presents our present state as a malady in need of a cure. He lays out the fundamentals of the situation thus:
He says that all phenomena can be classified as belonging to either samsara or nirvana:
Of samsara he says:
Its actual nature is sunyata, emptiness
The form it takes is that of illusion and
Its key characteristic is to manifest as suffering.
Of nirvana, conversely, although
Its actual nature is also sunyata, emptiness
In every other way it is the opposite:
The form it takes is the exhaustion of illusion
Its key characteristic is liberation from all suffering
Here are some of the questions and answers he uses to draw this out:
Q. Whom does this samsaric illusion delude? – all sentient beings in all realms of existence.
Q. What is the foundation, about which there is illusion? – sunyata emptiness
Q. What is the cause of the illusion? – great ignorance
Q. How are they deluded? – their illusion takes the form of the six realms, which they take as real
Q. What would be a suitable simile for this illusion? – it is like dreaming
Q. How long has this illusion been happening? – since beginningless time
Q. What is wrong with the illusion? – they experience nothing but suffering. [1]
In this outline of the malady Gampopa brings out, both its magnitude, and its underlying paradox. The pit of samsara may seem to be deep, reflecting our many aeons accumulating bad karma, but, in fact, samsara itself is an illusion and this is the basis for the bodhisattva’s response. The bodhisattva can, through his or her insight into this, withstand what would otherwise be overpowering. The extent of the bodhisattva’s ability to help others is dependent on their ability to see that samsara and nirvana are just different ways of looking at the same reality. In this way the bodhisattva can hold everything in samsara lightly, because he or she is aware of its empty, sunyata nature.
On this Nagarjuna say:
“There is not the slightest difference
Between samsara and nirvana.
There is not the slightest difference
Between nirvana and samsara.
Whatever is the limit of nirvana,
That is the limit of samsara.
There is not even the slightest difference between them,
Or even the subtlest thing.
Jay Garfield, in his commentary on this, says:
“Since nirvana is by definition the cessation of grasping and, hence, of the reification of self and other, and of confusing imputed phenomena for inherently real phenomena, it is by definition the recognition of the ultimate nature of things. But this is simply to see conventional things as empty, not to see some separate emptiness behind them, then nirvana must be ontologically grounded in the conventional. To be in samsara is to see things as they appear to deluded consciousness and to interact with them accordingly. To be in nirvana, then is to see those things as they are – as merely empty, dependent, impermanent, and non-substantial, but not to be somewhere else, seeing something else.” [2] We can return to this when we look at the paramita, or perfection, of wisdom.
After setting out the problem, Gampopa moves on to the synopsis of the remedy. Quoting scriptural sources the remedy is broken down into its constituent parts. One who seek a cure for the suffering resulting from samsara needs to know the following; the prime cause for enlightenment, what is the best basis for achieving it, the conditions which enable the achievement to occur and the means by which it can be achieved. They also need to know the result that can be expected and the kind of activity which flows from this.
The answer to this is, in essence, the content of the rest of the book.
The prime cause for enlightenment is Buddha-nature tathagata-gabha,
The basis is this precious human existence,
The condition is to have a good teacher and
The means are his or her instructions.
The result is the embodiments of perfect enlightenment and
The activity is to accomplish, non-conceptually, the welfare of sentient beings.
The Prime Cause: Tathagata-garbha
The section on tathagata-garbha as the primary cause for us to be able to attain enlightenment is the start of the main content of the book. The first issue Gampopa addresses is lack of confidence, expressed in the belief that we could never hope to attain enlightenment no matter how hard we try. As in our problem with samsara in general, Gampopa shows that this lack of confidence is due to a misapprehension about our true condition. That is, because we not understand the nature of our Buddha potential, we take our ingrained patterns of behaviour as real components of an enduring ‘self’. Quoting Indian texts, Gampopa identifies three reasons why all sentient beings have tathagata-garbha.
Because Dharmakaya, which is sunyata, pervades all beings
Because there is no differentiation in suchness, Tathata, which is Dharmata the universal essence
Because all beings possess the potential for enlightenment [3]
As we saw last week, Mahayana sutras and commentaries attempt to draw out the deeper insights of the Buddha by recasting the original teachings. The controversy over ‘Buddha nature’ partly lies in whether it was developed in China into something alien to the original teachings of the Buddha. If our overall thesis is correct, however, tathagata-garbha, as part of Indian Mahayana, must have precedents in the earlier teachings. Apart from the few references in the Pali cannon, when talking of Nirvana, to the 'Viññanam anidassanam' or unconditioned consciousness the other possible precursor is the “brightly shining citta”.
Peter Harvey [4] has highlighted two consecutive suttas at the beginning of the Anguttara Nikaya which refer to the 'brightly shining citta'. I personally think they foreshadow bodhicitta as well. They are found at Anguttara Nikaya I. 7-11.
Here is a synopsis of the main points that we are considering.
Sutta 1 The Mind Directed and Uncovered
i) Just as a spike of bearded wheat will pierce the hand and draw blood, provided it is well directed, so the citta [mind/heart] will pierce spiritual ignorance, draw knowledge and realise Nirvana provided it is well directed.
ii) A person whose citta is corrupt and turbid cannot understand what is for the true welfare of himself and others, nor realise the states of deep calm and insight that are the fruits of spiritual practice. One whose citta is clear and unturbid, however, will be able to understand and realise such things. Just as a man with good eyesight is able to look into a clear undisturbed pool and see “the oysters and shells, pebbles and gravel as they lie, or the shoals of fish that dart about”.
iii) “I know of no other single dhamma which, thus developed and made much of, is pliable and workable, as is this citta. Monks, a citta that is developed and made much of is pliable and workable”. The developed citta is highly adaptable and “quick to change”.
iv) “Monks, this citta is brightly shining [pabhassara], but is defiled by defilements which arrive [agantuka]. Monks, that citta is brightly shining but it is freed from defilements which arrive”.
Sutta 2 The Finger Snap
i) “This citta, monk, is brightly shining but is defiled by defilements which arrive. But this is not understood as it really is by ordinary people [puthujjanas], so they do not develop the citta [this is exactly the issue Gampopa is trying to address] That citta, monks, is brightly shining, but is freed from defilements which arrive. This is understood as it really is by those disciples who are noble ones, so they do develop the citta”.
ii) If a monk attends to the development of an attitude of loving kindness even for the lasting of a finger snap, he is a true monk and meditates to good effect – what then of one who develops this in a sustained way.
The original Pali commentary maintains that “brightly shining mind" here refers to the bhavanga-citta, the momentary mental state between periods of mental activity. In early Buddhism there was therefore a view of it as a base consciousness and this was developed later by the Mahayana into the tathagata-garbha. What I think is very interesting is the link to maiti or love which seems to prefigure Mahayana ideas around bodhicitta I also feel the phraseology here of ”quick to change” and “finger snap” suggests a suddenness in the process of spiritual awakening. The reference at the beginning of The Finger Snap sutta to the problem of people not applying themselves because they lack knowledge of, and hence confidence in, this bright awareness covered by mental affliction is the very issue that Gampopa raises.
The Basis: A Precious Human Existence
The next section is on the ‘Basis’ for the path which is our ‘Precious Human Existence’ Quoting scriptures, Gampopa says that to obtain a precious human rebirth is as rare as a one eyed turtle putting its head through the hole in a yoke tossed about in a great ocean. One of the things which makes it so rare is the coming together of ten ‘right junctures’. One of these is the capacity to have confidence or faith [sraddha]. As in the first lines of the ‘Finger Snap’ sutta, where it is direct experience of the truth of one’s pure potential that is seen as leading to the confidence, here, also, it is experience of the truth of the Dharma, which is seen as leading to confidence or faith. Three levels are identified:
Trusting confidence
Longing confidence
Lucid confidence
Trusting confidence: is the faith that arises when one experiences in one’s life the truth of the Dharma, especially of the four noble truths and of the effects of karma.
Longing confidence: is the longing for enlightenment that arises out of that confidence.
Lucid confidence: is the stable faith, which emerges towards its objects – the Triple Gem. Being the joyful lucidity of mind, which has devotion and respect for the most precious one, the Buddha, the Dhrama and the Sangha. [5]
The Condition: The Good Teacher
The next section also raises the issue for confidence or faith. This time it is faith in the ‘Teacher’, who is seen to provide the necessary ‘Condition’ for us to enter the path. I feel the account of how Gampopa met his own teacher shows the importance of direct experience in relation to faith. Here, initially, it was the direct experience of someone else’s faith in the teacher. Later it was the direct experience of being forced to make a decision whether to commit to the teacher and his approach, or not.
Gampopa was in the habit of cirumambulating a stupa everyday. While circumambulating one day, while a famine was ravaging the region, he overheard the conversation of three starving beggars. One said. “I sure would like to be the king with all his gold, then I could have myself a real feast.” Another said: “I would settle for some tea and a bowl of soup.” The third one said. “What I would like best would be to meet the great yogi Milarepa, the one who lives alone in the mountains and doesn’t need to eat.”
The name Milarepa resonated in Gampopa’s awakening emotions, rising from the depth of his being. Suddenly he wanted to know more and went after this beggar, asking. “Who is this Milarepa?” “What does he do?”
“Milarepa is a hermit yogi, an amazingly accomplished being who lives in the mountains.”
At Gampopa’s request, the beggar described where and how to find Milarepa. At that very moment, Milarepa was giving teachings up in the mountains, surrounded by a number of disciples. He said to them, “in a few days, an excellent monk who is a real bodhisattva is going to come from the south to meet me. If a few of you could help him it would be and greatly help your progress towards enlightenment.”
Soon after that, Gampopa arrived in the region where Milarepa was. He met one of his disciples who had heard the prediction and said to her. “I have come from the south looking for Milarepa the yogi. Would you know where he is?”
The woman replied, “you come from the south, you are a monk….. you must be the great boddhisattva who Milarepa said would come. I will help you meet him. He wanted us to.”
Gampopa thought, “I must be very special for the great Milarepa to make such a prediction.” He swelled with pride. When the woman led him to Milarepa, the yogi could see his state of mind and wouldn’t and wouldn’t give him an interview for a fortnight. The waiting deflated Gampopa and, finally, seated in his hermitage, Milarepa called him. As he entered, Gampopa respectfully prostrated three times. Then Milarepa invited him to sit down.
“Welcome! Here drink,” he said, offering him a skull full of alcohol.
Disconcerted, Gampopa hesitated. On the one hand he couldn’t refuse what was offered him by the person he came to receive teachings from. But on the other hand, as a monk, he couldn’t drink alcohol.
Milarepa insisted.
“Don’t hesitate! Drink.”
So, stopping all thought, Gampopa drank in one gulp the entire skull of alcohol.
“Excellent! What a great sign of your ability to assimilate all the teachings of the lineage!”
Gampopa remained a very long time with Milarepa. He received the teachings, practiced them, developed deep understanding, and arrived at enlightenment. [6]
The Means: The Teacher’s Instructions
The next section is on the teacher’s instructions
Here the texts begins by reiterating what has gone before but this time in the form of a question:
Since we possess the tathagata-garbha and, given that samsara is beginningless, we must also have obtained from time to time, the basis in a precious human existence, in which we met the condition, the good teacher. What was it then that prevented us from becoming Buddhas? The answer is: it was due to falling under the sway of four hindrances:
Attachment to the experiences of this life
Attachment to worldly success
Attachment to escape into personal peace
Ignorance of the means by which enlightenment is achieved
The teacher’s instructions can be seen as the means to combat these. For instance:
The teacher’s advice on meditating on impermanence - serves to remedy attachment to the experiences of this life,
The teacher’s advice on meditating on samsara’s shortcomings and on karma and cause and effect - serves to remedy attachment to worldly success,
The teacher’s advice on cultivating love and compassion – serves to remedy attachment to the attainment of peaceful states for oneself,
The teacher’s advice on cultivating bodhicitta – serves to remedy our ignorance of how to achieve enlightenment.
The instructions on meditation in the next four chapters cover these in this order: 1) on impermanence, 2) on suffering due to the shortcomings of samsara 3) on karma 4) on love and compassion. [7]
How to develop Perfect Bodhicitta
We now move onto the instructions on the cultivating bodhicitta. This includes an outline of the six paramitas, and so takes up most of the rest of the book. The first thing the text deals with is taking refuge, which precedes the adoption of bodhicitta. It may seem strange that this comes after all the different instructions on meditation on impermanence etc., but these practices are seen as preliminaries, necessary to turn the mind away from its entrancement with the world. So there is a sense that taking refuge is only possible if we have loosened our entrancement.
The relationship of refuge to bodhicitta is explained in the following way: aspiration must proceed the actual practice of bodhicitta and one needs to have taken refuge before one can give rise to aspiration towards bodhicitta. So refuge and aspiration are seen as linked and as necessary for bodhicitta.
Two sources of refuge are identified:
1) The common source which is the three jewel. This acts as a general designation, and
2) The particular source. This enumerates the different levels of depth of refuge.
1st level: The source actually present: this is our normal experience of the three jewels in terms of Buddha rupas, Dharma books, and dharma practioners
2nd level: The source in terms of direct realisation: this is each of the three jewels as they would be experience in enlightenment i.e.
The Buddha is the experience of his three bodies.
The Dharma is the experience of nirvana.
The Sangha is the experience of Kwan Shi Yin and other boddhisattvas on the highest level
3rd level: The ultimate source is the Buddha alone: the text says, as the dharmakaya, the Buddha embodies the Dharma and the Buddha is also seen as the ultimate Sangha [8]
This seems to imply that, although conventionally we can talk of there being three refuges, even at the level of enlightened experience, ultimately in doing this we are trying to describe the indescribable. The real direct experience of refuge, beyond words and concepts, is an experience of the immeasurable Buddha. So after discussing confidence or faith in its different guises the conclusion of the text seems to be that all faith ultimately rests on the experience of the Tathagata alone.
[1] thar.pa.rin.po.che’i.rgyen trans. as Gems of Dharma Jewels of Freedom by Ken and
Katia Holmes, [1995] Altea Publishing, pages 1-2
[2] Mulamadhyamakakarika trans. Jay L. Garfield [1995] as The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, OUP
[3] Ken and Katia Holmes [1995] page 4-5
[4] Peter Harvey, University of Sunderland, MA Buddhist Studies Program, BUDMO1
Buddhist Traditions, Unit 24 Tathagata-garbha / Avatamsaka Sutra, page 3
[5] Ken and Katia Holmes [1995] page 22-24
[6] Luminous Mind, [Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche] An Anthology of Teachings Compiled Under the Direction of Lama Denis Tondrup [1997] trans from French by Maria Montenegro, Wisdom, Boston page 178-180
[7] Ken and Katia Holmes [1995] page 39-40
[8] Ibid page 104-105
The Jewel Ornament Of Liberation
Today we are going to start looking at Gampopa’s presentation of the bodhisattva path, as laid out in ‘the Jewel Ornament of Liberation’. In this seminar we will cover the first part of the text, which leads up to the taking of the Bodhisattva Vow and the generating of bodhicitta. The text is very detailed and does not make easy reading. So I have tried to draw out themes, which I feel might be of interest. The main theme which I thought might be of interest is the different way that faith and confidence are presented and linked to this is the importance of direct personal in giving rise to faith or confidence. A sub-theme underlying everything else is what does it mean to say that our emotions and external phenomena are sunyata, and hence illusory.
The text is very methodical and comprehensive, reflecting Gampopa’s deep knowledge of the two streams of Indian Buddhist thought which he trained in. The precept based, monastic, tradition of the kadampas, and the tradition of the unconventional yogis known as the mahasiddhas. It may also reflect his training as a doctor. Initially he had practiced the Dharma as a layman. He had a very beautiful wife and children. Then one day his wife became ill, and they both knew she would soon die. Exceedingly grief stricken, and aware of the need for his wife to let go of attachments through his study of the Dharma, he pledged never to remarry, but to become a monk and devote himself to the practice of Dharma. In front of her he touched a dharma book to his head and made her that solemn vow. She died soon after and Gampopa kept his promise. One gets the impression that he was driven by a strong personal need to penetrate the Dharma, perhaps powered by the force of that vow and the circumstances surrounding it.
Perhaps because he was a doctor, Gampopa presents our present state as a malady in need of a cure. He lays out the fundamentals of the situation thus:
He says that all phenomena can be classified as belonging to either samsara or nirvana:
Of samsara he says:
Its actual nature is sunyata, emptiness
The form it takes is that of illusion and
Its key characteristic is to manifest as suffering.
Of nirvana, conversely, although
Its actual nature is also sunyata, emptiness
In every other way it is the opposite:
The form it takes is the exhaustion of illusion
Its key characteristic is liberation from all suffering
Here are some of the questions and answers he uses to draw this out:
Q. Whom does this samsaric illusion delude? – all sentient beings in all realms of existence.
Q. What is the foundation, about which there is illusion? – sunyata emptiness
Q. What is the cause of the illusion? – great ignorance
Q. How are they deluded? – their illusion takes the form of the six realms, which they take as real
Q. What would be a suitable simile for this illusion? – it is like dreaming
Q. How long has this illusion been happening? – since beginningless time
Q. What is wrong with the illusion? – they experience nothing but suffering. [1]
In this outline of the malady Gampopa brings out, both its magnitude, and its underlying paradox. The pit of samsara may seem to be deep, reflecting our many aeons accumulating bad karma, but, in fact, samsara itself is an illusion and this is the basis for the bodhisattva’s response. The bodhisattva can, through his or her insight into this, withstand what would otherwise be overpowering. The extent of the bodhisattva’s ability to help others is dependent on their ability to see that samsara and nirvana are just different ways of looking at the same reality. In this way the bodhisattva can hold everything in samsara lightly, because he or she is aware of its empty, sunyata nature.
On this Nagarjuna say:
“There is not the slightest difference
Between samsara and nirvana.
There is not the slightest difference
Between nirvana and samsara.
Whatever is the limit of nirvana,
That is the limit of samsara.
There is not even the slightest difference between them,
Or even the subtlest thing.
Jay Garfield, in his commentary on this, says:
“Since nirvana is by definition the cessation of grasping and, hence, of the reification of self and other, and of confusing imputed phenomena for inherently real phenomena, it is by definition the recognition of the ultimate nature of things. But this is simply to see conventional things as empty, not to see some separate emptiness behind them, then nirvana must be ontologically grounded in the conventional. To be in samsara is to see things as they appear to deluded consciousness and to interact with them accordingly. To be in nirvana, then is to see those things as they are – as merely empty, dependent, impermanent, and non-substantial, but not to be somewhere else, seeing something else.” [2] We can return to this when we look at the paramita, or perfection, of wisdom.
After setting out the problem, Gampopa moves on to the synopsis of the remedy. Quoting scriptural sources the remedy is broken down into its constituent parts. One who seek a cure for the suffering resulting from samsara needs to know the following; the prime cause for enlightenment, what is the best basis for achieving it, the conditions which enable the achievement to occur and the means by which it can be achieved. They also need to know the result that can be expected and the kind of activity which flows from this.
The answer to this is, in essence, the content of the rest of the book.
The prime cause for enlightenment is Buddha-nature tathagata-gabha,
The basis is this precious human existence,
The condition is to have a good teacher and
The means are his or her instructions.
The result is the embodiments of perfect enlightenment and
The activity is to accomplish, non-conceptually, the welfare of sentient beings.
The Prime Cause: Tathagata-garbha
The section on tathagata-garbha as the primary cause for us to be able to attain enlightenment is the start of the main content of the book. The first issue Gampopa addresses is lack of confidence, expressed in the belief that we could never hope to attain enlightenment no matter how hard we try. As in our problem with samsara in general, Gampopa shows that this lack of confidence is due to a misapprehension about our true condition. That is, because we not understand the nature of our Buddha potential, we take our ingrained patterns of behaviour as real components of an enduring ‘self’. Quoting Indian texts, Gampopa identifies three reasons why all sentient beings have tathagata-garbha.
Because Dharmakaya, which is sunyata, pervades all beings
Because there is no differentiation in suchness, Tathata, which is Dharmata the universal essence
Because all beings possess the potential for enlightenment [3]
As we saw last week, Mahayana sutras and commentaries attempt to draw out the deeper insights of the Buddha by recasting the original teachings. The controversy over ‘Buddha nature’ partly lies in whether it was developed in China into something alien to the original teachings of the Buddha. If our overall thesis is correct, however, tathagata-garbha, as part of Indian Mahayana, must have precedents in the earlier teachings. Apart from the few references in the Pali cannon, when talking of Nirvana, to the 'Viññanam anidassanam' or unconditioned consciousness the other possible precursor is the “brightly shining citta”.
Peter Harvey [4] has highlighted two consecutive suttas at the beginning of the Anguttara Nikaya which refer to the 'brightly shining citta'. I personally think they foreshadow bodhicitta as well. They are found at Anguttara Nikaya I. 7-11.
Here is a synopsis of the main points that we are considering.
Sutta 1 The Mind Directed and Uncovered
i) Just as a spike of bearded wheat will pierce the hand and draw blood, provided it is well directed, so the citta [mind/heart] will pierce spiritual ignorance, draw knowledge and realise Nirvana provided it is well directed.
ii) A person whose citta is corrupt and turbid cannot understand what is for the true welfare of himself and others, nor realise the states of deep calm and insight that are the fruits of spiritual practice. One whose citta is clear and unturbid, however, will be able to understand and realise such things. Just as a man with good eyesight is able to look into a clear undisturbed pool and see “the oysters and shells, pebbles and gravel as they lie, or the shoals of fish that dart about”.
iii) “I know of no other single dhamma which, thus developed and made much of, is pliable and workable, as is this citta. Monks, a citta that is developed and made much of is pliable and workable”. The developed citta is highly adaptable and “quick to change”.
iv) “Monks, this citta is brightly shining [pabhassara], but is defiled by defilements which arrive [agantuka]. Monks, that citta is brightly shining but it is freed from defilements which arrive”.
Sutta 2 The Finger Snap
i) “This citta, monk, is brightly shining but is defiled by defilements which arrive. But this is not understood as it really is by ordinary people [puthujjanas], so they do not develop the citta [this is exactly the issue Gampopa is trying to address] That citta, monks, is brightly shining, but is freed from defilements which arrive. This is understood as it really is by those disciples who are noble ones, so they do develop the citta”.
ii) If a monk attends to the development of an attitude of loving kindness even for the lasting of a finger snap, he is a true monk and meditates to good effect – what then of one who develops this in a sustained way.
The original Pali commentary maintains that “brightly shining mind" here refers to the bhavanga-citta, the momentary mental state between periods of mental activity. In early Buddhism there was therefore a view of it as a base consciousness and this was developed later by the Mahayana into the tathagata-garbha. What I think is very interesting is the link to maiti or love which seems to prefigure Mahayana ideas around bodhicitta I also feel the phraseology here of ”quick to change” and “finger snap” suggests a suddenness in the process of spiritual awakening. The reference at the beginning of The Finger Snap sutta to the problem of people not applying themselves because they lack knowledge of, and hence confidence in, this bright awareness covered by mental affliction is the very issue that Gampopa raises.
The Basis: A Precious Human Existence
The next section is on the ‘Basis’ for the path which is our ‘Precious Human Existence’ Quoting scriptures, Gampopa says that to obtain a precious human rebirth is as rare as a one eyed turtle putting its head through the hole in a yoke tossed about in a great ocean. One of the things which makes it so rare is the coming together of ten ‘right junctures’. One of these is the capacity to have confidence or faith [sraddha]. As in the first lines of the ‘Finger Snap’ sutta, where it is direct experience of the truth of one’s pure potential that is seen as leading to the confidence, here, also, it is experience of the truth of the Dharma, which is seen as leading to confidence or faith. Three levels are identified:
Trusting confidence
Longing confidence
Lucid confidence
Trusting confidence: is the faith that arises when one experiences in one’s life the truth of the Dharma, especially of the four noble truths and of the effects of karma.
Longing confidence: is the longing for enlightenment that arises out of that confidence.
Lucid confidence: is the stable faith, which emerges towards its objects – the Triple Gem. Being the joyful lucidity of mind, which has devotion and respect for the most precious one, the Buddha, the Dhrama and the Sangha. [5]
The Condition: The Good Teacher
The next section also raises the issue for confidence or faith. This time it is faith in the ‘Teacher’, who is seen to provide the necessary ‘Condition’ for us to enter the path. I feel the account of how Gampopa met his own teacher shows the importance of direct experience in relation to faith. Here, initially, it was the direct experience of someone else’s faith in the teacher. Later it was the direct experience of being forced to make a decision whether to commit to the teacher and his approach, or not.
Gampopa was in the habit of cirumambulating a stupa everyday. While circumambulating one day, while a famine was ravaging the region, he overheard the conversation of three starving beggars. One said. “I sure would like to be the king with all his gold, then I could have myself a real feast.” Another said: “I would settle for some tea and a bowl of soup.” The third one said. “What I would like best would be to meet the great yogi Milarepa, the one who lives alone in the mountains and doesn’t need to eat.”
The name Milarepa resonated in Gampopa’s awakening emotions, rising from the depth of his being. Suddenly he wanted to know more and went after this beggar, asking. “Who is this Milarepa?” “What does he do?”
“Milarepa is a hermit yogi, an amazingly accomplished being who lives in the mountains.”
At Gampopa’s request, the beggar described where and how to find Milarepa. At that very moment, Milarepa was giving teachings up in the mountains, surrounded by a number of disciples. He said to them, “in a few days, an excellent monk who is a real bodhisattva is going to come from the south to meet me. If a few of you could help him it would be and greatly help your progress towards enlightenment.”
Soon after that, Gampopa arrived in the region where Milarepa was. He met one of his disciples who had heard the prediction and said to her. “I have come from the south looking for Milarepa the yogi. Would you know where he is?”
The woman replied, “you come from the south, you are a monk….. you must be the great boddhisattva who Milarepa said would come. I will help you meet him. He wanted us to.”
Gampopa thought, “I must be very special for the great Milarepa to make such a prediction.” He swelled with pride. When the woman led him to Milarepa, the yogi could see his state of mind and wouldn’t and wouldn’t give him an interview for a fortnight. The waiting deflated Gampopa and, finally, seated in his hermitage, Milarepa called him. As he entered, Gampopa respectfully prostrated three times. Then Milarepa invited him to sit down.
“Welcome! Here drink,” he said, offering him a skull full of alcohol.
Disconcerted, Gampopa hesitated. On the one hand he couldn’t refuse what was offered him by the person he came to receive teachings from. But on the other hand, as a monk, he couldn’t drink alcohol.
Milarepa insisted.
“Don’t hesitate! Drink.”
So, stopping all thought, Gampopa drank in one gulp the entire skull of alcohol.
“Excellent! What a great sign of your ability to assimilate all the teachings of the lineage!”
Gampopa remained a very long time with Milarepa. He received the teachings, practiced them, developed deep understanding, and arrived at enlightenment. [6]
The Means: The Teacher’s Instructions
The next section is on the teacher’s instructions
Here the texts begins by reiterating what has gone before but this time in the form of a question:
Since we possess the tathagata-garbha and, given that samsara is beginningless, we must also have obtained from time to time, the basis in a precious human existence, in which we met the condition, the good teacher. What was it then that prevented us from becoming Buddhas? The answer is: it was due to falling under the sway of four hindrances:
Attachment to the experiences of this life
Attachment to worldly success
Attachment to escape into personal peace
Ignorance of the means by which enlightenment is achieved
The teacher’s instructions can be seen as the means to combat these. For instance:
The teacher’s advice on meditating on impermanence - serves to remedy attachment to the experiences of this life,
The teacher’s advice on meditating on samsara’s shortcomings and on karma and cause and effect - serves to remedy attachment to worldly success,
The teacher’s advice on cultivating love and compassion – serves to remedy attachment to the attainment of peaceful states for oneself,
The teacher’s advice on cultivating bodhicitta – serves to remedy our ignorance of how to achieve enlightenment.
The instructions on meditation in the next four chapters cover these in this order: 1) on impermanence, 2) on suffering due to the shortcomings of samsara 3) on karma 4) on love and compassion. [7]
How to develop Perfect Bodhicitta
We now move onto the instructions on the cultivating bodhicitta. This includes an outline of the six paramitas, and so takes up most of the rest of the book. The first thing the text deals with is taking refuge, which precedes the adoption of bodhicitta. It may seem strange that this comes after all the different instructions on meditation on impermanence etc., but these practices are seen as preliminaries, necessary to turn the mind away from its entrancement with the world. So there is a sense that taking refuge is only possible if we have loosened our entrancement.
The relationship of refuge to bodhicitta is explained in the following way: aspiration must proceed the actual practice of bodhicitta and one needs to have taken refuge before one can give rise to aspiration towards bodhicitta. So refuge and aspiration are seen as linked and as necessary for bodhicitta.
Two sources of refuge are identified:
1) The common source which is the three jewel. This acts as a general designation, and
2) The particular source. This enumerates the different levels of depth of refuge.
1st level: The source actually present: this is our normal experience of the three jewels in terms of Buddha rupas, Dharma books, and dharma practioners
2nd level: The source in terms of direct realisation: this is each of the three jewels as they would be experience in enlightenment i.e.
The Buddha is the experience of his three bodies.
The Dharma is the experience of nirvana.
The Sangha is the experience of Kwan Shi Yin and other boddhisattvas on the highest level
3rd level: The ultimate source is the Buddha alone: the text says, as the dharmakaya, the Buddha embodies the Dharma and the Buddha is also seen as the ultimate Sangha [8]
This seems to imply that, although conventionally we can talk of there being three refuges, even at the level of enlightened experience, ultimately in doing this we are trying to describe the indescribable. The real direct experience of refuge, beyond words and concepts, is an experience of the immeasurable Buddha. So after discussing confidence or faith in its different guises the conclusion of the text seems to be that all faith ultimately rests on the experience of the Tathagata alone.
[1] thar.pa.rin.po.che’i.rgyen trans. as Gems of Dharma Jewels of Freedom by Ken and
Katia Holmes, [1995] Altea Publishing, pages 1-2
[2] Mulamadhyamakakarika trans. Jay L. Garfield [1995] as The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, OUP
[3] Ken and Katia Holmes [1995] page 4-5
[4] Peter Harvey, University of Sunderland, MA Buddhist Studies Program, BUDMO1
Buddhist Traditions, Unit 24 Tathagata-garbha / Avatamsaka Sutra, page 3
[5] Ken and Katia Holmes [1995] page 22-24
[6] Luminous Mind, [Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche] An Anthology of Teachings Compiled Under the Direction of Lama Denis Tondrup [1997] trans from French by Maria Montenegro, Wisdom, Boston page 178-180
[7] Ken and Katia Holmes [1995] page 39-40
[8] Ibid page 104-105
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