There is a particular verse in the first chapter that we need to keep in mind. When we study and practice, the first chapter of the text of any commentary is always a very useful guideline, because it sums up everything that we will be going into in the later chapters.
Chapter 1, Verse 36
I bow to the body of those
In whom the sacred precious mind is born.
I seek refuge in that source of joy
Who brings to happiness even those who bring harm.
Shantideva and the buddhas and bodhisattvas encourage us to let go of and dedicate what we think of as me and what we think of as mine. Me is the closest thing, the closest structure, the closest phenomenon that is linked with one’s consciousness, with one’s mind. The other, mine, comprises the phenomena that are a little bit further away, one’s possessions: my condo, my car, my bank account, my social security, and what not. When they encourage us to let go, that doesn’t mean abandon them, burn them and go into the jungle. What it means is don’t give priority to them. Don’t hang onto them in a very clingy way.
What they furthermore encourage us to do: if there are attacks on the things, on the phenomena that we call mine or me, let those attacks come. In a way, it’s being very brave, it’s saying let them come. This is said for the reason that I’ve just read from the first chapter: it is coming from the understanding that a realized bodhisattva is so great, so wonderful, so beneficial, that even if you cause harm to them, they will still provide benefit, support—to an extent that there are even jokes like if you see a real bodhisattva, harm him, because the return is good.
Therefore, harm him as much as you can (laughing). My feeling is that this is coming from that notion, from that idea. We are already training right now, although we are not realized yet. We are already training that notion—that we are basically going towards the same thing. We can already begin to let the attacks come—because in return we are going to benefit them. So if some sentient beings’ only means to get in touch with the buddha dharma is by attacking—let them! That is the gist here.
So actually it’s very profound. There are many great philosophies, many great spiritual paths, but I can proudly say—not being overly biased, only a little bit biased—that only the teaching of the Buddha shows that kind of profound depth, because this approach is not natural to us. It is not natural to our human nature to welcome attacks, to welcome criticism. It’s not part of it. Buddha shows something unique, and therefore it’s a very profound mind training.
Chapter 3, Verse 16
(This continues where we left off in Buddhism Today volume 50)If in those who encounter me
A faithful or an angry thought arises,
May that eternally become the source
For fulfilling all their wishes.
Question: I don’t get how an angry thought arising may become the source of fulfilling their wishes. Because we have negative connotations with angry thoughts.
Angry thoughts, yes, that they come is due to causality; due to the interdependent nature, this is a possibility. But because we are practicing the ways of the bodhisattvas, we are coming with great understanding. The bodhisattva way is very much like parenthood, meaning that it’s like the perspective of the parents towards their children. They are children who are seeking attention. And often it’s the case where they are only able to seek attention by actually doing naughty things. So that’s the whole point.
Question: In the case of bodhisattvas who give their bodies and so on, you said that we have to be sure. Does this mean that we really have to understand or experience emptiness, or does it mean that we can try without understanding emptiness? Jigme Rinpoche says that if we do it without this understanding, then we might feel regret later, and then it will neither benefit oneself nor the other person?
Yes, this is true. This is why it is emphasized that taking time in the beginning is very important.
Basically, in order to overcome poverty, in order to start investing so as to overcome poverty, we often, from the very beginning, start by taking refuge, taking this, taking that— we take this initiation, go through this and that ritual. Of course, in a way it’s great. In a way it’s very raw, it’s very genuine, it’s a sign of great openness. Whenever we are doing that, it shows our raw nature, it shows that we are open, that we are not hiding anything basically. From that perspective it is great.
But in terms of a secure investment, it is highly advised— actually before we take as large a step as simply taking refuge—that we have all the right preparations. We must understand the logic, the reason, the path and everything— based on a conceptual level of course. But since we are all used to concepts, this is the norm. This is our reality. There is no other reality. Even if there is, that’s useless in a way; it’s almost unnecessary. So therefore at least we must secure a pure concept and not an unnecessary concept. There are unnecessary concepts—but the structure that is given here, in the form of what is known as relative truth, this is a pure concept. We must be well-versed in this pure concept; we must learn it well. And only then when we take refuge will we have no regret.
The teaching that you received is valid. In order to overcome the regret, ideally we should learn as much as possible, but because there is a lack of time, a lack of opportunity— I mean basically that the buddha dharma is scarce, it is rare— therefore the moment we get it we go through it as if we are very hungry and we try to gobble down everything. We do not munch, we do not chew, we do not really focus on the taste actually—we just gobble it down, just like Garfield— and then the result is very much like Garfield: we just become round and lazy (laughing).
Now the question may be: what is the balance now? The balance would be if we have already taken those big steps— then great! Rejoice! But now, from this moment onwards, try to learn as much as possible. Try to acquaint yourself with this pure concept, this relative truth, so that what you have already invested does not go to waste, should you regret.
Question: Sometimes karma catches you; makes you understand. When I had my accident with my shoulder, suddenly I knew. I just stopped and looked at myself. It was almost like a teaching. It makes you grow when you have obstacles.
Obstacles are great friends—that’s what all the great bodhisattvas have said again and again. Unfortunately, because of our human nature, without obstacles we would not get anywhere. We often talk about turning points, “Such and such a moment of my life was a turning point.” What we are really trying to say is, “It was due to that obstacle that I suddenly realized something.”
Verse 17
May all who say bad things to me
Or cause me any other harm,
And those who mock and insult me
Have the fortune to fully awaken.
Verse 18
May I be a protector for those without one,
A guide for all travelers on the way;
May I be a bridge, a boat and a ship
For all who wish to cross (the water).
Verse 19
May I be an island for those who seek one
And a lamp for those desiring light,
May I be a bed for all who wish to rest
And a slave for all who want a slave.
Verse 20
May I be a wishing jewel, a magic vase,
Powerful mantras and great medicine,
May I become a wish-fulfilling tree
And a cow of plenty for the world.
Verse 21
Just like space
And the great elements such as earth,
May I always support the life
Of all the boundless creatures.
Verse 22
And until they pass away from pain
May I also be the source of life
For all the realms of varied beings
That reach unto the ends of space.
One thing that I forgot to mention is that I’m trying to base these teaching sessions on the commentary by a great bodhisattva in Tibet called Thogme Zangpo, the one who composed a summary of the Bodhicaryavatara called The Thirty-seven Practices of a Bodhisattva. What I am trying to do is manage time and bring the main points across as much as possible rather than the particular roots and branches of the text.
Until this 22nd verse, one could more or less say that it is the preparatory phase for the actual generating of the bodhicitta.1 One could say that each of these verses is a way to describe the mind training aspect, and to basically describe what is known as mos pa in Tibetan. Mos pa is quite similar to devotion, meaning that it comes in a gradual way, after devotion or trust, which is known as dad pa. Basically you must see a benefit, a quality first. When you see that it gains your trust—that is your devotion, that is your trust. Afterwards then it is not just about being impressed or overwhelmed by that quality, but you start to somehow associate with that quality. You start to feel a sense of wanting to become intimate with that quality—that is mos pa.
The more scholarly way of saying it is: the actual or absolute bodhicitta begins from the first bhumi2 —although this text, the Bodhicaryavatara, does not really go into the details of defining what the different bhumis are. This text is purely presenting the path. But in case you are interested in that, you should go into the more detailed sutras, the sutras that Shantideva himself based this teaching on. If you do that you will find all the scientific perspectives of what the first bhumi is, what the second bhumi is, and so on.
But in short, absolute bodhicitta begins from the first bhumi. This is very logical, because as I said earlier, up until the first bhumi we can only understand absolute bodhicitta on a very conceptual level and not more. This is neither good nor bad. It is just what it is. So therefore, until the first bhumi the path that we take is known as the individual path, the samsaric path, but basically our path. In our path everything, the whole road, the vehicle, the one who rides the vehicle, the one who acquires everything is very conceptual. But it’s good. It’s a pure concept. Why? Because it gets us somewhere. We do not limp around in circles because one wheel is small and one wheel is big, so that we just circle around. We have matching, identical, symmetrical wheels, so that the vehicle can actually go straight.
In these verses, until verse 22, it tries to give us a sense of what the absolute bodhicitta is. That’s what it’s trying to describe, because from the first bhumi and for a number of bhumis after that one is mainly focusing on absolute bodhicitta. If I said “until the seventh bhumi,” then we might think that maybe there is a checkpoint where you have to show your credentials and so on (laughing). From the first bhumi and for a number of bhumis after that bodhicitta is mainly based on mos pa, because from the first bhumi onwards it is a path where one really tries to get as intimate as possible with this truth called bodhicitta, this truth called enlightenment.
Right now we may have a sense of this, but nevertheless it is still conceptual. Therefore in the first two chapters, and until the 23rd verse of the third chapter, it is all about how to develop this mos pa. Basically it is talking about how to develop devotion and then slowly sort of blend that into absolute bodhicitta; it’s a gradual process. Therefore we must relate to these examples that I have given, these types of aspirations.
Aspirations such as, “may I become an island,” “may I become a lamp,” and so on show that there is already a lot of wanting to become intimate. If you do not wish to become personal, if you do not want to become intimate, why would you wish for those things? You would rather wish for those things for yourself— but instead you are wishing them for others. It is showing that, “I have the devotion already now.” Now I am pushing towards mos pa, pushing towards becoming personal. I have seen the quality and now I want to become intimate with it.
Of course these are just a very few aspirations—a minimal number. If you want to go fully into the details of aspirations and the absolute way, then you should practice the King of Aspirations of Samantabhadra. There it talks about the perfection of the paramita of aspiration (Tib. smon lam).3
Here the text just gives a few glimpses of the paramita of aspiration, where you try to aspire, to inspire yourself to generate bodhicitta. We aspire to become anything that sentient beings may need, particularly when they are in need. If they want a medicine, we become a medicine; if they want a doctor, a doctor. Our mind is not restricted to anything. If it has the means it can manifest anything. For example, this universe that we live in, particularly planet Earth, is actually a part of ourselves. It is not separate from us. It is very, very much a part of ourselves. Just like how we treat our body, if we treat the planet Earth as the ecological and environmental experts advise, it is exactly it. If we treat this physical outer environment in the same way as we treat our body, it will yield the same results. If we treat it nicely, it will yield nice results, if not, then bad results.
We can see that there is no limitation: if our mind is engaged in something with conviction, with means, then it can manifest this whole universe that we can see. We can begin from where we are right now: this very vicinity, this very structure, this very building. We came together because we wanted to; we wanted to manifest this, and therefore we did. And then we can go larger and larger, to include the neighborhood, the whole of Mehrauli, the neighboring Katwaria Sarai,4 then again larger and larger, to a point where the whole universe is none other than one’s own creation, the manifestation of one’s own ability—because there was a collective effort, because we thought alike, because we combined our efforts—and we had the means.
Those are the same means that are talked about in here: merit mainly, and some wisdom of course. It is through that that we have manifested all of this—the whole universe. Therefore, there is no reason why we cannot become an island. There is no reason why we cannot become a bed. Or a wish-fulfilling jewel. Or a magical vase. Or a cow (laughing). I am not joking—it is written here (laughing again). So what we are trying to do here is training our mind by using the means of aspiration and trying to further strengthen our devotion in bodhicitta—or in simple words: the trust in bodhicitta, and then becoming more personal with the mos pa, the absolute bodhicitta.
Of course, mos pa is a Tibetan way of labeling; it is a Tibetan term, so therefore it might seem foreign. But in fact it is a mental event, a mental phase that we go through and utilize every day. We just don’t realize it. So what we must do until tomorrow is to try and catch it by means of meditation. It’s not exactly a formal meditation where you sit still, but you can do it while walking, while eating, while resting, basically with awareness. I would like to ask all of you to do that.
Question: What is the relationship between compassion and emptiness?
It is a common question and a good question. The relation— it is difficult to say. The moment we use the word relation it already expresses, it already reveals a certain type of emotion that implies, either directly or indirectly, that compassion and emptiness are separate; that they are two different things. From there onwards the headache has already started.
On top of that the medicine that we are trying to utilize will be some allopathic type of medicine that tries to glue together compassion and emptiness and make it one. Because we’ve heard so much about how they are inseparable, we think we must join these two things together, and that provides even more headache.
So therefore sometimes—not all the time, but sometimes— it might be quite interesting to write down one’s question on a piece of paper and without trying to really gain any direct answer just examine the question itself. This could be a very, very interesting journey, because it says a lot about our emotion.
But besides that, in short, compassion and emptiness are not two different things. They are almost two different sides of the same coin. In the end they are inseparable, because there is no separation. This does not mean that they are one. You simply cannot put a number on it. Basically, you cannot tag it. It is not one, or any other. The best example is zero, because you cannot tag that—zero is untaggable, it doesn’t say anything. You cannot separate zero. You can try to multiply it or divide it or do anything with it, but you cannot do it. So probably the answer is zero (laughing).
Further reading
- Bodhicitta can be divided into relative and absolute. The relative bodhicitta is the wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. Absolute bodhicitta is the recognition of the inseparability of compassion and emptiness. ↩︎
- Bhumi is a Sanskrit word referring to the bodhisattva stages or levels, which are described in Mahayana Buddhism. ↩︎
- Most Mahayana texts refer to the six liberating actions (Skt. paramitas). These are: generosity, meaningful conduct, patience, diligence, meditation and wisdom. Wisdom, however, can also be subdivided into four qualities: skillful means, aspiration, power, and primordial wisdom. ↩︎
- Districts in New Dehli, India ↩︎
