PRELIMINARY REMARKS
Proper Motivation for Listening to a Teaching
Before we actually get to the main body of the teachings, by way of introduction I wish to say something about motivation; about how a student should approach the teachings.
When we think of the practice of Dharma, we understand that there is what we call Ngondro, or a preliminary phase to our practice. Taking Refuge and giving rise to Bodhicitta constitute the proper Ngondro for any practice that we undertake. In the context of a teaching where the Dharma is being explained, the Ngondro is your motivation, is checking and establishing a proper motivation for requesting and receiving the teachings.
When you are listening to teachings, you should be aware of what the proper motivation is for listening to these teachings. You go through a certain amount of hardship in your life in order to arrive at a situation where you can receive the teachings. As a student, you make efforts to find a teacher and to seek out a situation where you can receive teachings. You should understand for whose benefit you are making these efforts. If you are motivated solely for your own selfish interests; if you think, "well, I'm making all of this effort to go to a teacher, to receive these teachings, so that I can be happy, so that I can feel good, so that I can experience well being," you have the wrong motivation.
The difficulties that you are undergoing in order to seek out teachers and receive teachings are for the benefit of all beings, whose numbers are equal to the limits of space. Wherever space extends, there are sentient beings. Wherever there are sentient, unenlightened beings, their experience is permeated by negative Karma and afflictive emotions. And wherever the experience of a being is permeated by negative Karma and afflictive emotions, there is suffering.
All of these beings, whose numbers fill space and whose experience is replete with suffering due to negative Karma and afflictive emotions, are connected to you in a very intimate way, because there is not a single being that has not been, in some lifetime or another, your father or your mother. So when you listen to the teachings, and when a teacher gives teachings, it should be from the perspective of a vast motivation that takes the welfare of all beings into account. This is why the Dharma is taught. This is why one listens to teachings: for the benefit of all beings.
So our motivation for listening to teachings should take into account all of these beings, who have been our parents, with the understanding that the reason we
are listening to and practicing the teachings is to eliminate the suffering of all those beings.
Be Practical About It
But we need to be practical. Can we truly, with any of the means at our disposal now, eliminate the suffering of others? Is there any medicine, any cure-all that we can give to other beings that will free them completely from suffering?
There really is no means we have at our disposal -- except one. The one way in which we can truly eliminate suffering for beings is to practice the Dharma, attain Buddhahood, and continue to propagate the teachings of the Dharma so that other beings may practice them and attain Buddhahood. This is the single way that we can truly eliminate suffering for all beings. Any other means will ultimately fail.
How is it, then, that a Buddha, an enlightened being, eliminates or dispels the suffering of other beings? It is primarily through presenting the teachings of the Dharma. In the case of a Buddha such as the Buddha Shakyamuni, we often hear references to the twelve great acts, The Twelve Great Deeds, of the Nirmanakaya. We should remember that one of the most significant of these deeds was the occasion upon which the Buddha turned the Wheel of the Dharma in Varanasi, teaching the Four Noble Truths. This is the value of attaining enlightenment. to be able to then turn the Wheel of the Authentic Dharma for other beings.
The important point is to continually check our motivation and develop the best possible motivation for giving teachings and for listening to teachings. In order to best appreciate the teachings that we hear, it is important that we understand how sacred they are, how important they are to our spiritual development. When the Buddha Shakyamuni attained enlightenment in India, he taught in many places in the Indian sub-continent, in Varanasi, on the Vulture Peak near Rajagrha, in Vaisali, and other places. Due to support of patrons, such as kings and rulers of those areas, and due to the collective merit of the beings living in those times and those places, the Buddha was able to present the teachings in a way that benefitted an enormous number of beings. We couldn't begin to count the number of beings who benefitted directly from the presence of the Buddha Shakyamuni in India more than two millennia ago, turning the Wheel of the Dharma.
The Spread of Buddhism
When the Buddha Shakyamuni turned the wheel of the Dharma due to his enormous motivation to benefit all beings, the collective merit of people in the holy country of India was such that the Buddhist teachings flourished in the sub-continent at that time. But in the surrounding regions, such as Tibet, China, southeast Asia, and so forth, the conditions were not appropriate for beings to receive the teachings while the Buddha was still living in India, while that Nirmanakaya was still manifesting. So even the sound of the Dharma did not arrive immediately in those border regions. Only in the Indian sub-continent were the conditions appropriate. Then, gradually, later on in history, the transmission of the teachings began to spread to the so-called border regions such as Tibet and China.
Guru Rinpoche
When the Buddha Shakyamuni passed into Final Nirvana, he left behind prophecies that, in the future, various other enlightened beings would carry on the task of bringing these teachings from the holy land of India to other areas such as China and Tibet. For example, he prophesied the coming of Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), who would tame those who were to be tamed by Avalokiteshvara (Tibetan Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of compassion, whose emanation Guru Rinpoche was. In this and other ways the Buddha left a legacy of prophesies concerning the spread of the Buddhist teachings to other parts of the world.
To attempt to describe anything like a complete history or biography of Guru Rinpoche would be beyond my capabilities. But just to give you some food for thought as an introduction to these teachings, I will simply note that the miraculous birth of Guru Rinpoche in the milky Lake of Danakosha was simply one case of a great master of the Buddhist tradition in India appearing, or manifesting, in a way that contributed to the spread of the teachings to other countries.
The Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas
We may also note at this point the Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas, the Tantric Mahasiddhas of India, the teachers of Buddhist India known as the Six Ornaments of the Human Realm, and the two masters who commented on the Vinaya or monastic codes who were known as the Excellent Pair. In the case of the Yogacara or "mind only" school of Buddhism, there were some five hundred masters. In short, the Buddhist tradition of India produced an enormous number of masters who were both learned scholars and also accomplished meditators. It was their activity in maintaining the teachings and helping the spread of these teachings that allowed the transmission of the Dharma from India to places like Tibet and China, and to other areas of the world that became seats of the Dharma in their own right.
Your Great Good Fortune
The circumstances that permitted a living tradition of Buddhism in India have waned over the centuries, so that the Buddhist tradition in India itself is very, very weak. India itself is undergoing a great deal of difficulty economically, socially, and so forth. Due to a lot of circumstances that have come about over the centuries, the Buddhist tradition came to virtually disappear in the sub-continent of India, where it had first flourished. But it continued to develop in the other areas to which it had been transmitted. So Tibet, China, and areas like Vietnam and other parts of south-east Asia continued to be strongholds of the Buddha Dharma.
Nowadays, of course, the situation has changed again. In areas that were traditionally Buddhist countries such as China, Tibet, and so forth, the Buddhist teachings are subject to a great deal of repression and difficulty. But for you who live in the west the situation is very fortunate, because truly great lamas such as Chagdud Rinpoche, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, and His Holiness The Karmapa, great teachers of the Buddhist tradition, have been able to come to Europe and North and South America, and to begin to pass these teachings on to you who live in the Western Hemisphere. So from your point of view this is a very fortunate situation.
In this present situation, where I am explaining teachings and you are listening to these teachings, let us never forget that it is due entirely to the kindness of Chagdud Rinpoche that this situation has come about; where you do not have to leave your home country in order to receive the teachings of the Dharma. You don't have to make a very great effort at all -- you have that good fortune. We have the opportunity to discuss the teachings of the Dharma. All of this is due to the vision, the motivation, and the enormous kindness of Chagdud Rinpoche. So part of your motivation in requesting these teachings should be that of contributing to the long and fruitful life of this great teacher, and the aspiration that you, through receiving these teachings, understanding them, practicing them, and realizing them, that you may bring great benefit to other beings.
Do not think of these teaching as something you are taking for yourself. Think of them as something you are receiving in order to truly benefit other beings. You will undoubtedly have some difficulty with technical terminology, new ideas being presented, and words that you are not familiar with. Remember to have patience, and remember to have strength of mind so that you carry through on your motivation to understand these teachings, to absorb them, to realize them, and thus to be able to benefit others on a vast scale. Continue to keep this motivation when you receive teachings.
The Topic of the Teaching
Concerning the topic of my teachings over the next few weeks, it will be, as directed by Chagdud Rinpoche, a teaching on a text known as the Neshe Dronme. The more complete title is Neshe Rinpoche Dronme, "The Precious Lamp Of Certain Knowledge".
Mipham Rinpoche
The author of this text is the great Mipham Rinpoche, who was born, grew up, and taught in the area of eastern Tibet known as Kham, and who was primarily a Nyingma lama in the sense of his personal affiliation. But in terms of his importance as a scholar and a writer, he is recognized, not just by the Nyingma school, but by other schools as well, as being perhaps the most brilliant mind of this century in terms of the way he mastered the various fields of knowledge and was able to explain them and to write them. This is something that not only the Nyingma's, but all who examine his work, hold. All are enormously impressed with the depth and brilliance of his writings.
This particular text was written when he was only seven years old. It is a text that concerns seven major questions in the presentation of the Buddhist view, seven thorny points, if you will, seven ways in which it is difficult to really come to grips with the essential view of the Buddhist tradition. And Chagdud Rinpoche directed that I should teach this to you, so my intention over the next few weeks is to present this text to you.
In accordance with the customs of my own country and tradition, a short formal introduction is read at the beginning of a series of teachings such as this. With your indulgence, if you will just sit patiently for a few moments, I'll perform this introduction.
First, we should begin with the Prayers Before the Teachings, which are found in the Galaxy of Heartdrops compiled, translated, and printed by Chagdud Gompa. These consist of the Seven Branch Prayer, the Offering of the Mandala, and then the formal, specific Request to Turn the Wheel of the Dharma. We'll recite these before each teaching session.
(Chants & Prayer)