Section Three: Lectures 5 & 6

LECTURE 5, 3 DECEMBER

HEART SUTRA
“There is no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind. There are no forms, no sounds, no smells ...”

This would be helpful if there’s somebody with a very strong smell sitting next to you; this would be very helpful for meditation on the Heart Sutra. Or somebody who just came from Kathmandu who is burned by the sun. With sweat.

“... no taste, no tangibles.”

The present experience, contact, whether it’s rough or whether it’s soft, contact with the dress, or sitting on the ground or with a cushion, hard or soft, tangible, something hard existing from its own side, something soft existing from its own side.

“...no tangibles, no phenomena .....no attainment .”

Which means no truly existent attainment. No truly existent suffering, no truly existent origin, no truly existent cessation, no truly existent path, no truly existent wisdom knowledge, okay? No truly existent attainment and no truly existent non-attainment. No truly existent non-attainment because both attainment and non- attainment both are merely labeled on the base by thought.

“Therefore Shariputra....”

[Rinpoche gives the usual motivation.]

MEDITATE THAT EVERYTHING COMES FROM KARMA AND IGNORANCE
What I explained last night is very important, not leaving that explanation of the twelve links, which describes your own life or the evolution of the samsara, up to the mere understanding of words. It is important, after having the understanding of the words, to recognize, actually understand the meaning of the words, the Buddha’s teachings, and look at your own life. Look at it like the teaching. Be aware, always be aware, recognize your own everyday life, all the appearances—including this body, this present samsaric rebirth and its cause. In this way, with this recognition, it’s like always meditating even if you are not sitting with crossed legs, with the eyes closed, the eyes completely closed, like a turtle sleeping or completely opened, like a big fish. What is it called, this huge eye?

So in this way, while you are eating, or while you are walking, just be aware of yourself meditating on lamrim. This becomes a meditation on lamrim. According to the tradition, when you receive the commentary of the lamrim, those tantra teachings, the commentary of the path of that particular deity, whatever is received, the next morning they try to remember the commentary, and meditate on it. This is mainly to actualize it, and also this is one way to not forget.

It’s very good, these few days, to practice awareness of this with the understanding of the twelve links that was explained last night. From morning until night, during the teaching, in the breaktime, from morning until night, be constantly aware that everything that is appearing to you, like this body, completely came from your karma, the virtuous thought.

All this that I see here—people, birds, animals, trees, mountains—all these things came only from karma, from your own karma motivated by your own ignorance. All these things, including your body, the six sense objects, from morning until night, came from your own mind, came from only your own mind, okay? While you are sitting if you remember something, your enemy, some undesirable object, or while you are walking around you see bad objects that you don’t like, try to recognize that they came from your own mind. From the nonvirtuous action, okay. From the nonvirtuous action, done out of anger, done out of ignorance not knowing Dharma, or out of the dissatisfactory mind, attachment, or the unsubdued mind. All the good things came from the good thought, the virtuous thought, including this body of the happy transmigratory being, this human body.

So whatever you are looking at is the appearance of your own karma, the result of your own karma. The consciousness that carries the seed, that carries the potential, many good pictures or many bad, many undesirable things. So like this. Now, actualizing, okay? The film upon which all the figures were ever recorded or taken, with electricity and machines together, is actualized, it projects, and then you are able to see.

Similarly, what you are seeing now is the imprint that karma left on the consciousness, now actualized. All of the objects that you are experiencing, all these are appearances of karma, okay? So it’s very important, especially these days, to practice awareness. Especially in the breaktime, when you are enjoying and using the objects of senses. With that, practice awareness. All this came from your own mind, the origin is ignorance. Then, second, from karma, which means the thought that came from the consciousness, the principal.

You meditate like this while you’re eating food, while you’re drinking tea, while you’re walking, while you’re listening to sound, birds, music, or whatever. Then also while you are feeling cold or hot, the object of the sense of the body. So constantly practice—especially these days, it is very important to practice awareness. In this way then you’re able to conquer the inner enemy, the disturbing thoughts. It doesn’t give the disturbing thoughts a chance when you practice awareness like this—this came from your own mind, karma, was created by you. It doesn’t give any opportunity to the disturbing thoughts to conquer you, to overwhelm you. So instead of letting the disturbing thoughts overwhelm you, you overwhelm the disturbing thoughts.

Also, in this way there’s no opportunity for the delusions to arise, so it does not create karma again. Creating negative karma and again having to experience the same problem as was explained before—this circle does not happen.

In this life, even one day, knowing that somebody badly treating you is the appearance of your own karma, created by yourself, you don’t find the slightest reason to get angry. If you do get angry it’s your own mistake, “He’s telling me this and that. He’s not respecting me. He’s abusing me, this and that.” In this way you understand that what is happening came from my own karma, my own thought. Even if you think of the reasons, “He’s doing this and that to me,” it does not become a reason to get angry. It causes you to abandon anger, to think, “I want happiness so therefore I should abandon getting angry, jealous, creating negative karma and harming others.” So it all encourages you. Even if you get angry easily, you realize, “It’s my own problem. My own mistake.” In other words, “I have created such karma, caused this karma, which produced this appearance, so I get angry at my own appearance. I get angry at my own creation.” You made it up, you made your own world—the objects of anger—you made your own reasons to get angry. You made your own, you created it, following the side of the anger, disturbing thoughts—you made your own objects of anger.

So in other words, you get angry at your own world, at your own creation, at the appearance that is created by yourself. So now you can see it’s completely ridiculous. It is similar with the one I’m so strongly attached to, grasping at, like pulling the heart and having pain inside the heart. It is extremely painful, so difficult to be away from that object, to separate from that object. The one to whom I cling so much again is my own appearance, the appearance of my own karma. If it’s food, then even human beings who live, who have greater enjoyment, when they look at this food they see it as undesirable. Compared to the enjoyment of those who have more good karma, like devas and worldly gods, this is like kaka.

It is the same with the person’s body, when you compare it with somebody else it is very ugly. When another person looks they see this object as very ugly. Even though this object appears to oneself as beautiful, at the same time the other person sees it as very ugly. When one sees another object, compared to that, one sees this as ugly. Even from these examples you can see that these appearance came from the mind. The perceiver’s mind, karma. Whether this object appears nice or ugly depends on the individual perceiver’s karma. It is not so much to do with the object. It is to do with the perceiver, with the perceiver’s karma.

A DOLLAR IS A PIECE OF PAPER BEFORE THE LABEL IS APPLIED
So again, same thing. What appears in my view, what I think is nice and beautiful, what I find to be desirable, even though it appears to be nothing to do with the mind, it appears to exist from its own side without depending on one’s own mind, this is completely a hallucination. Completely a hallucination. That thing, that nice beautiful object existing from its own side is empty, completely empty, because if you did not label this object that appears to you as “beautiful” it depends on how you label this object. If you did not label, “This is nice,” it wouldn’t appear to you as nice. If you didn’t label on this base, while you see this body, if you did not label this as beautiful, “Oh, how beautiful it is!” if you did not label it, it would not appear beautiful.

Another example—somebody who doesn’t know that this is an American dollar, before he is introduced, “This is an American dollar,” appears to him as a piece of paper with a print, a president, a figure of a person, that’s all. The person might think it’s some kind of money. But until he is introduced and he believes and he himself labels, “This is a dollar,” there’s no appearance of the dollar for him. That’s very clear. You understand? There’s no appearance of the dollar. Until he is introduced and until he believes that that is a dollar. Now, somebody tells him, “Oh, this is an American dollar, okay.” Then he says, “Oh, I see. This is an American dollar.” He sees the base but he hasn’t got the label, “It’s an American dollar.” Okay? So there’s no appearance of the American dollar at that time. If he has labeled “money, it’s some kind of money,” he has the appearance of some kind of money. One of the countries’ money, okay. But not as the appearance of an American dollar.

So after he’s introduced, then he says, “Oh, I see, this is an American dollar,” then he labels on that. He labels, “American dollar.” Immediately after that he gets the appearance of an American dollar to him. The appearance of American dollar comes after he labels it. Do you understand?

Now again, from this evolution, you can see how the appearance came from the mind. You can see very clearly, it came from that person’s mind. This is one way of thinking, how the appearance came from the mind. Besides the twelve links, this comes from karma.

That’s why, “I” and all the objects, all of samsara and nirvana—all exist like this. That’s how all these things exist in mere name. Like the way the dollar exists on this piece of paper, in mere name. So, now similarly, this is a hundred dollars, but what is it? A piece of paper with a straight line and two circles after it. Before the person sees just a figure drawn, and then when he’s introduced, “This means one hundred,” immediately he believes and labels it, “Oh, one hundred,” and he has the appearance of one hundred. So there’s no appearance of one hundred before he believes that this is one hundred. Similar when you don’t know this figure is “A,” it is just a figure. When you are taught that this means A, when you are introduced and as soon as you have labeled it, believed, “This is A,” as you are introduced, after that you have the appearance of “A.” Before that, even if you see the figure there is no appearance of “A” to that person.

Same thing, somebody came to Kopan, somebody walked up to Kopan but didn’t know the name “Kopan.” They didn’t know what it is called. Then later in Kathmandu or in the West, this person meets somebody, and discusses where he traveled, and what he did in Nepal. He says there was a mountain, and a monastery like this. He describes the Injies meditating in the bamboo and in the shed, and somebody says, “Oh, that is Kopan!” Then the person who did not know that this was Kopan has the appearance of Kopan.

LETTING GO OF CLINGING TO APPEARANCES IS FREEDOM
Again same thing—the first thing is the appearance of karma, your own creation, the appearance of your own mind, completely grasping as if the object completely exists from its own side, without depending on the creator, your own mind. Having much worry and fear of losing what is your own appearance. The conclusion is that therefore there’s nothing to cling to. It is your own mind’s creation, the appearance of your own karma, so therefore there’s nothing to grasp to, nothing to cling to.

So in this way, even today, practicing awareness, these two things, the objects are what appear in your own view, or your own karma, okay? They came from your own mind, and so even today this helps you not to get angry, not to harm the other person, not to create negative karma. You don’t disturb the other person, you don’t let the other person create negative karma by getting angry and harming you. By practicing awareness like this, recognizing your own karmic appearance, the strong dissatisfactory mind, ignorance grasping, doesn’t arise. This does not obscure the mind in the development of loving kindness, in the development of the good heart, and it doesn’t develop the selfish mind. There are many other problems that arise from this grasping at that object—fear, worry, anger due to how the person acts toward to you, and jealous mind—many other problems arise. So all this gets stopped. It doesn’t happen. So there’s much peace, much relaxation, tranquility in the mind, and much clearness, to meditate. When you meditate, there is much clarity, like clear weather—and there are that many fewer obstacles, less distracting thoughts. More freedom. So there is a great advantage in day-to-day life in terms of happiness and great freedom.

By continuing like this, by practicing awareness, and by controlling the disturbing thoughts, the result is good karma. As you abandon negative karma, you do not experience all those suffering results from life to life, you do not experience the continuation of samsara. In this way, as you stop creating the cause of samsara, you are quicker to achieve liberation, and quicker to achieve enlightenment. Even while you are in samsara, from life to life, more and more, you are able to go from happiness to happiness, to a happier and happier existence, life to life.

The second thing—as I gave all those other examples of what this person does to you, how he speaks to you, look at you, the way he think of you, the way he speaks to you, the way he behaves toward you, you interpret it as negative, so you label “negative” and “bad.” “What he is doing to me is bad.” After you label “bad,” you have the appearance of bad. Not a merely labeled “bad,” but the appearance of bad that completely exists from its own side. Not the bad that is merely labeled by you on that base.

So same thing— you grasp at the friend or the other objects. So both are bad and good. The way the other one thinks of you, the way he speaks to you, the way he looks at you, you interpret as good. So you have labeled “good,” and then you appear as good. You grasp, you cling to this one, angry.

So the conclusion is that this is completely childish. You purposely create bad, you have purposely created the bad appearance, you purposely create the object of desire, the appearance labeled “good,” then you suffer with this creation, getting angry. You suffer by grasping at this object. It doesn’t give freedom. This is completely opposite to the reality that they exist from their own side. Which is, again, completely empty. You do not give liberation to yourself—freedom from the cause of suffering, from the problem of sufferings. You continuously cycle in samsara, experiencing all the problems. So again by the second reason, think, “Therefore there’s nothing to get angry about. I recognize that what I think of when I get angry is merely imputed by my thoughts. What I am doing is very childish nonsense. There is no point in getting angry.” Then again thinking the same thing, “There is no point at all in grasping at this object.”

Especially with the second meditation, how things came from your own mind, bad and good and all these things, how these came from one’s own mind by labeling—this way, this meditation, this practice of awareness becomes a meditation on shunyata. To realize this bad object, this good object that does not exist from its own side, that what is false is recognized as false, and what is empty is realized to be empty.

Because of the ignorance, and because of the compounding action, there is consciousness, and because of consciousness, name and form. Because of name and form, then sense basis. Because of sense basis, then contact. Because of that, feeling arises. Because of that, craving and grasping arises. Because of that, becoming, and because of that, rebirth. Because of that, old age and death arises. So that is the evolution, the dependent-arising evolution from the side of the all-arising disturbing thoughts.

Old age and death arise from birth. That came from becoming. Becoming came from grasping, that from craving, and that from feeling, contact, and the sense bases. That came from the compounding action, and that came from ignorance. So that is dependent arising in reverse, from the side of the all-arising, disturbing thoughts.

Again there are two the dependent arising evolutions—one is from the side of cessation. By ceasing ignorance, compounding action is ceased. Then consciousness, then name and form, then by ceasing that, feeling, then craving, then grasping, then becoming. By ceasing that, rebirth; and then by the old age and death depends on ceasing rebirth. So like this, it goes back to the cause, ceasing the karma, compounding actions, depends upon ceasing ignorance. That dependent arising in reverse from the side of cessation.

Now the story—besides Buddha explaining the four noble truths, which is easy for sentient beings to understand, there was also the twelve dependent arisings. These tell how each particular sentient being is circling in samsara, and how one can achieve liberation. This is clearly explained by Buddha with examples—even with drawings—to have a clear, easy understanding.

THE BUDDHA SUBDUES CHUNGAWA’S ATTACHMENT
So the story of the Wheel of Life, how one circles in the samsara, is explained from the sutra text called Gyalwa Namche. Among Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s disciples, the Hearer-Listener, the one who has supreme wisdom, was Sharipu. There are two disciples here, one on the right side, one on the left side, standing. This probably might be the right side one, I’m not one hundred percent sure. Sharipu was the one who has this greatest wisdom. Then the one with the highest, greatest psychic power was Maudgyalayana, I think. If Sharipu was on the right side, then the left side should be Maudgyalayana.

So from time to time they go to the six realms individually with their psychic power. Then they come back to the southern continent, here, and explain what they saw to the remaining disciples of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha—how the narak beings are suffering, how each of those realm beings are suffering. I think they are like newsmen, the ones who go with the videos, and then come back to show. But they go without machines, with their psychic power.

Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s younger [half-]brother was Chungawa [Nanda]. He had extreme dislike for celibacy, so Sharipu and Maudgalyana took him with their psychic powers to the other realms and showed him the sufferings of the naraks, the shortcomings of the desire. Then he accepted, and entered into Dharma.

One day Guru Shakyamuni Buddha sees his younger brother, Chungawa, that it’s time to subdue him. The younger brother never comes to the monastery, so one day as Guru Shakyamuni Buddha sees it’s the right time to subdue his mind, he went to his house for alms. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha went with his disciples, his servant, Kungawo. Before this happened, Chungawa had mentioned that he had difficulty—he could not separate from his wife for even one minute. Then Guru Shakyamuni and Kungawo went to his home for alms, and before Chungawa was able to put food in his bowl, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha turned around to the road, and walked away. Chungawa was caught by his power and followed him, expecting that he might turn back any moment to receive food. He followed him continuously with the food in his hand, and tried again and again to offer it. Gradually they reached the monastery, and Guru Shakyamuni asked the servant Kungawo to shave his hair. So he did, but he stopped in the middle somewhere. Then he started again and when he was done Guru Shakyamuni Buddha advised him to be the caretaker of the monastery.

While everybody went out for alms, Chungawa tried to escape the monastery and go home and meet his wife. He went to close the door, but when he closed one side, the other side opened, and when he closed that side, the other side opened—on and on like that, due to Guru Shakyamuni’s psychic power. He was unable to close both doors, and spent much time on and on, trying to close them.

Anyway he escaped, and as he was coming down he decided to take a small road through a field so he wouldn’t meet Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples. He decided to walk over the small road, and then he saw Guru Shakyamuni Buddha coming down that small road. He hid under some banana leaves, but when Guru Shakyamuni came by, all the leaves came up by his psychic power. Then Guru Shakyamuni Buddha asked Maudgyalayana to take him to show him the shortcomings of desire.

I think I got mixed up with some other stories.

Anyway, he was taken to the deva realm. There was a beautiful palace and many beautiful goddesses, but no men. So he asked why, and the goddesses said that in the human realm there is Chungawa, but if he practices moral conduct he will be born here as a male. Maudgyalayana showed him one beautiful goddess who asked him, “Your wife is more beautiful? Or is this one more beautiful?” At that time he saw that his wife was like a monkey. Compared to the goddess’s face, his wife’s face was like a monkey’s face. He was also shown the narak sufferings and then the devas’ realms, a result of the practice of morality. All the things like that. Then by realizing the shortcomings of desire, he truly then he got renunciation of samsara, and then followed the path. This is a story of how Guru Shakyamuni Buddha has incredible psychic powers and skillful means to subdue to guide sentient beings.

THE DRAWING OF THE WHEEL OF LIFE
So, while Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s was surrounded by all the disciples, all these stories were explained—how Sharipu and Maudgyalayana saw all these sufferings of the other realms, other beings. Then Guru Shakyamuni Buddha called his servant Kungawo, and said that there would not be those, like the bhikshu Sharipu and Maudgyalayana, with incredible psychic powers and wisdom, all the time. Therefore, they should make their words into a drawing. So Guru Shakyamuni Buddha permitted them outside the monastery, outside the door, to draw the Wheel of Life. The wheel of the five migratory beings, the narak migratory beings, animal migratory beings, preta migratory beings, deva migratory beings, and human being migratory beings.

At the end, they also drew the sentient beings of the naraks, animal beings, and the preta migratory beings—the three evil-gone realms down below and then the deva and human beings on the top. By telling them to draw the three lower realms down below, he indirectly advised them to draw the human and deva on the top. In the human continent, in the human realm, he told them to draw the four continents, the eastern, of the humans with a taller body. Then, the western continent, enjoying the cow. I think, according to their karma, the eastern has the karma of having such a tall body, then, like compared to the East, they have taller bodies in the West. They are very tall, and in much more numbers, due to karma. In some countries the majority of the number of the younger bodies is short.

On this western continent their particular karma is that of having unceasing milk from the cow. However much they enjoy, they drink, it does not stop. The northern continent is that of uninteresting sounds. The southern continent is where we live. They drew those different continents of human beings, and then in the center they drew attachment and anger and ignorance. Then the Buddha’s holy body, showing the white circle, the white mandala, the circle of the sorrowless state.

Then what’s this called? The can on the well that goes up and down? [Students: A bucket.] Those sentient beings who take rebirth are like that, going up and down. They also drew death and mind transference. And also rebirth. They also drew the twelve dependent arisings in reverse. Then, all of this held by impermanence. So Guru Shakyamuni Buddha advises one to draw like this.

And I think I stop here.

Please dedicate the merit of having listened to the teaching, of meditating, explaining, all the three time merits accumulated by oneself and all other sentient beings. May the bodhicitta, the ultimate good heart renouncing oneself and cherishing others, and the wisdom realizing emptiness, be generated in one’s mind and in the minds of all sentient beings. For those who have these realizations may they be developed, okay?

Okay, thank you so much.

LECTURE 6, 4 DECEMBER

THE WHEEL OF LIFE SHOWS YOU SHOULD OBSERVE YOUR KARMA
[The Heart Sutra and motivation.]

For that purpose, listen to the teaching, the commentary on the graduated path to enlightenment, in order to achieve enlightenment for the sake of all the kind mother sentient beings.

Also the Buddha said to write down in the Wheel of Life drawing these two stanzas,

Attempt and abandon
Enter in the teaching of the Buddha
Like the elephant sank in the mud, in the quagmire
Renounce the Lord of Death.

In other words, not practicing Dharma, not seeking, not attempting, not living in the path to achieve liberation, is like an elephant who sank in the quagmire. So, “Destroy the Lord of Death” implies also the previous one, living life with the dissatisfactory mind, attachment. One who is extremely careful and practices this Dharma subduing the mind will abandon the rebirth of the samsara and his suffering will be the last suffering. His suffering will be the last.

This simply means, relating to the four noble truths—true path and cessation of suffering. “Abandon” means the true cause of suffering and the true suffering. So in that way, enter into the teaching of Buddha. I think the last two verses, “Like elephant sinking in the quagmire,” “Destroy the Lord of Death,” by following attachment, being in samsara in this way, you continuously circle in samsara, and clinging ties you to samsara. So you continuously experience the suffering of the cycle of death and rebirth. You are always under the control of Yama, the possessor of death. You never get freedom from this, never get liberated from this. If you are extremely careful of karma, you can change that.

By having a definite understanding that karma will definitely bring a similar result, even if it’s a small negative karma, it will definitely bring or experience its own result. Also, it’s expandable—for so many lifetimes one has to experience the result of even a small negative karma. It is much more expandable than planting one seed of a bodhi tree. One seed this size grows so many thousands and thousands of branches and leaves and seeds and becomes a huge, huge tree. A tree that can cover five hundred horse carriages, like we see in certain places in India where people stand in the shade with their vehicles. This is much more than the external example—how from one tiny seed an incredible result comes. This is much more with the inner evolution—one small negative karma and the result that you have to experience—how many times, how much.

You do not experience the result without having created the cause, and what you have created never gets lost. So by having a definite understanding in this, through the continuing strong practice of purification and accumulating merit, by reflecting, listening, and meditation on karma, by practicing the Vinaya teachings, the Dharma subduing the mind—by living in the five precepts, the eight precepts, the thirty-six, then the two hundred and fifty-three, by practicing moral conduct, subduing the mind, according to sutra, according to the lesser vehicle, you will abandon the rebirths in samsara and end the suffering. You will make it possible to have an end to your suffering.

This can contain bodhisattva and tantric vows but I think here particularly, the pratimoksha vows. The lay vows, the celibacy vows—I think particularly this is what he’s talking about here.

Guru Shakyamuni Buddha advised that they make the drawing outside the monastery, and for those who cannot understand any of the Wheel of Life, he asked one monk to explain it, like the tourist guide who come to holy places. Like that Guru Shakyamuni Buddha advised one monk on the meaning of the Wheel of Life.

So in this sutra teaching it is said that at the monastery when the brahmins, the lay people, the benefactors come, a bhikshu should show them the Wheel of Life. In another sutra text there is a story about Guru Shakyamuni Buddha in the holy place Nyenu.

AN IRRELIGIOUS KING IS SUBDUED BY A PAINTING OF THE BUDDHA
When I went to Lhasa this time, outside of Sera Je monastery there is a monk who looks after the monks’ discipline, and he explained some of the stories to us. They had very good paintings of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s life-story on the outside wall of the monastery. Where there’s a courtyard, around the wall then there is Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s bodhisattva life-story and about a hundred bodhisattvas’ life-story. So like this, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha advised the people, the monks who live in the monastery and who come to the monastery to subdue their mind.

Similarly, when Buddha was in India, the irreligious king Utiyana from the outlying country Dardok sent a very precious present to the religious king Suchen Nyingpo. I think probably at that time he was the king of central India. The irreligious king, Utiyana, sent very precious, priceless jewel armor. The religious king, Suchen Nyingpo, could not find any present that compared to that or was more precious. So he consulted with the ministers and one of the ministers suggested that the religious king, Suchen Nyingpo, send a painting of the Buddha as a present. So he went to request Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, and Guru Shakyamuni Buddha said that they could make a painting of the Buddha. However, the magnificence of his holy body was so unbearable that they could not succeed.

So Guru Shakyamuni Buddha advised them to stretch out a white cloth on the ground and he would stand over it and make a shadow. Then he told them, “You, the knowledgeable ones, put various colors on this shadow.” After the king finished the painting of the Buddha’s holy body, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha advised them to write below it refuge, basic moral conduct, and the twelve dependent arisings according to the forward evolution and also the reverse, and on top the two stanzas that I read in the beginning. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha advised all these things.

After the king finished the painting he sent it to the outlying irreligious kind. When the irreligious king heard the Buddha’s holy name, and as soon as he saw the painting of the Buddha, he experienced unimaginable devotion. As soon as he stretched out the painting of the twelve links on the wall, and as soon as he heard Buddha’s holy name and saw the holy body of the Buddha, unimaginable devotion arose in his mind. And then he took refuge in Buddha. He meditated day and night on the twelve dependent arisings, according to the evolution, and the reverse. In that way quickly he was able to directly realize absolute truth, and he achieved the result of an arhat.

So this is explained in this sutra text Lung Namche.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE WHEEL OF LIFE
So now, in the center of the Wheel of Life, attachment is drawn in the form of a pigeon. Anger is drawn in the form of a snake. Ignorance is drawn in the form of a pig. That’s the correct way, as it’s explained in the sutra teaching, to draw it. The tails of both the pigeon and the snake are being eaten by the pig. So it has to be drawn that way. Both of their tails are in the mouth of the pig. Just by looking at the painting, you might think it’s strange that the pig doesn’t eat the snake and the pigeons. The reason their tails are in the mouth of the pig is because the pig signifies ignorance. The pigeon and snake signify anger and attachment and so this signifies that they came from ignorance, that they are under the control of ignorance. In order for sentient beings to realize this, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha advised that it be painted in this way. But this, this snake is coming from the pig’s mouth and biting the chicken or the snake the peacock, so that drawing is not correct. That way of drawing is not correct.

Guru Shakyamuni Buddha advised that outside of that should be painted the sentient beings who take birth and then go to death, like the rope and bucket that is used to bring water from the well. So in the center are the three animals that signify the cause, the three poisonous minds. On the right is the white path, signifying the path to the happy migratory beings. That also signifies the intermediate beings who are on their way to the happier realms, that is, birth as a human or a deva. On the left side, in the south, is the black path signifying the path to the suffering evil migratory beings, and the intermediate stage beings who are going to the realms of the preta, narak, and animals. Normally the white path goes up, and the black path goes down. Also, white and black means that by having created the cause of virtue, one is born as a happy migratory being. The white one shows the path of virtue. Creating the cause of nonvirtue leads to a rebirth as a lower, suffering being, and is the path of nonvirtue, and the black path signifies that. These intermediate beings go to the realm of the happy transmigrations because they have created the cause of virtue, and they go to the realm of the suffering transmigrations because they have created the cause of nonvirtue.

The conclusion is that the three animals in the center show the cause, the three poisonous minds. The right side being white and the left side being black shows the virtuous and nonvirtuous actions. From the four noble truths, this shows the all-arising cause of karma and disturbing thoughts. Now the result, true suffering. The five parts of life are drawn in order to explain that the cause arises out of motivation, disturbing thoughts, the three poisonous minds, and then the beings accumulates various virtues and nonvirtues, and because of this is reborn as one of the five types of migratory being, and continuously, without any break, experiences the three types of suffering. The five types of samsaric being above are the devas and humans, and below, narak, preta, and animal. The sutra text explains it like this. In order to show the suffering of suffering, it shows the result of taking rebirth in samsara, where one experiences the suffering of suffering. The three lower realms of narak, preta, and animal are drawn, and the beings in these three have the greatest suffering of suffering. This does not mean that humans and devas do not experience the suffering of suffering, but these three kinds of beings experience it to a greater degree. So this is why the three lower realms are drawn below. In order to show the suffering of change, the human realm, the desire god realm, and the asura realms are drawn. In order to show pervasive compounding suffering, the seventeen categories of form realm are drawn. I think they are drawn in some of the paintings of the Wheel of Life.

In the form realm and the formless realm, the gods are not free from pervasive compounding suffering. They are born in the form realm because they are bored of pleasure and have renunciation of the sense pleasures, objects, and contact. They cling to the inner pleasures, which are derived from concentration. This is what causes someone to be born in the form realm.

When you renounce that, and wish for nothingness, an indifferent feeling, this causes you to be born in the formless realms, which has stages like “Infinite Consciousness,” “Infinite Space,” “Nothingness,” and the “Tip of Samsara.” There are four categories in the formless realms. If you like so much to meditate on nothingness, comprehending nothing, nothing appearing to the mind, blank, it causes rebirth in the animal realm or the formless realm. It makes you lose your intelligence.

In the formless realm there is no suffering of suffering or suffering of change, but they are still not free from the third kind of suffering, pervasive compounding suffering, being under the control of karma and delusion. Even if they have renunciation of both of the other two sufferings, they don’t have renunciation of the last suffering, the fundamental suffering of karma and disturbing thoughts. They don’t have renunciation for all of samsara—even after they reach such a high realm, they lack this renunciation of pervasive compounding suffering, and the wisdom realizing the absolute truth. So even if they reach a high realm where they don’t experience bodily suffering, when their karma to be in that realm finishes, according to whatever karma is stronger again they are born in the desire realm in the lower realms, and again take rebirth as a suffering transmigratory being. As long as you are not free, as long as you are not liberated from pervasive compounding suffering, you have to continuously circle in samsara and experience various sufferings, without end.

When there was a degeneration of the Buddhadharma in Tibet, Lama Atisha was the one who was invited by the King of Tibet, and re-established the Buddhadharma in Tibet, and eliminated, destroyed all the wrong conceptions—some recognized the sutras and the tantras as being hot and cold, not as a practice for one person to achieve enlightenment. Nowadays, if you want to practice Dharma then without confusion, according to the level of your mind, without mistake, Atisha’s teaching is so beneficial, so easy to practice without confusion, well set up. The essence of the whole Buddhadharma, sutra and tantra, are so well set up to guide one person’s mind gradually to enlightenment. This lamrim teaching on this graduated path to enlightenment came about by Lama Atisha’s kindness.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE TWELVE LINKS IN THE WHEEL OF LIFE
Lama Atisha taught Dromtönpa that ignorance is like the blind mother, so the blind mother is drawn there, walking with a stick. That shows ignorance. This is not the ignorance of karma, the action, result, and cause of happiness and suffering, but this is the ignorance that is the root of that ignorance. This is not knowing the absolute nature of the “I.” This is the root of samsara.

The second one, compounding action, like the clay-maker, you can see in the Wheel of Life painting. The second one is person very busy making many clay pots. He compounds all the atoms and makes them into different shapes. “Compounding” means compounding the cause of samsara—whether it is virtue or nonvirtue when it leaves a seed on the consciousness.

There are four schools, and the last one, the Madhyamaka school, has two. The first one is the Sautrantika school. Down to that they believe that where the seed is left is the consciousness but the Prasangika school believes that the seed is left by the action, by the karma, on the “I.” One is the base, one is the label—the “I” that is labeled on the consciousness. The action is virtue or nonvirtue, and is done out of the basis of ignorance, not knowing the absolute nature of the “I,” the reality of the “I.” By meeting one object the anger arises, and by meeting another object, attachment arises. Then with another object ignorance arises. So like this.

Action is accumulated through virtue and nonvirtue. This virtue and nonvirtue leaves its potential, its seed on the consciousness. The reason why du che le is compounding, compounding action—what it compounds is the cause of samsara. It leaves the seed of samsara. Like the camera machine clicks and records the figure on the negative. The action creates the seed of samsara, the potential of future life’s samsara. The aggregates are caused by karma and disturbing thoughts. So the label is given on that, and the compounding action is similar to a writing pen.

This is a rough idea, a rough definition. In the philosophy, debating subject, it is more precise than in the lamrim teaching. Every single word, every single part does not contradict without missing the complete meaning of it.

The compounding action is motivated by that particular migratory being’s first dependent arising, ignorance, okay? That throws the future life’s aggregates into samsara. So that is the definition of compounding action.

Now the next one, the consciousness is like the monkey. You may see the monkey going, jumping from one tree to another tree, in the drawing. There are two ways of counting the consciousness. Some other lamas count consciousness as part of the result. According to the Sera Je college, our college, we count consciousness as part of the cause, not as the result. This is the consciousness upon which the compounding action, the second link, leaves the potential or the seed. There are five consciousnesses, but this is the sixth consciousness, the consciousness of the mind. The consciousness of the mind is the one that carries the potential, the seed, the impression left by karma. This morning whatever you did left an imprint, so because of the continuation of consciousness you can remember it now. Similarly, the consciousness on which the karma left the impression, a potential, from one life to another life is continuous—so that’s why there’s the remembrance of past lives. Even though it’s not known to most common people, even though it is not the common experience of the majority of people, some people, due to karma or due to the development of the mind, can remember their past lives.

Consciousness carries the impression, the seed that’s left by karma, so as it continues to another life there are different experiences in life, happiness and suffering. Some have much success, but others, even though all the time they only wish for success, experience so much unsuccess, so much failure. They experience various lives, and there are so many problems that they have to experience. This is due to the past life’s karma, because there is the continuation of consciousness from the past life to this life, and the imprint, the seed that was left on the consciousness is now actually being experienced or actualized.

Then, the consciousness upon which the karma, the compounding action left the impression, and also which continues from one life to another life, okay?

Then, name and form. Name and form is life entering the boat, so it may have two meanings. The consciousness took place on the fertilized egg, which had form, so this principal consciousness has five surrounding thoughts, compounding aggregates. The aggregates of feeling are “name,” and they are called “name” because you cannot see them with the physical eye. What you can see with the physical eye, through machines, is only the physical part, the atoms—you cannot see this part through machines. You cannot see the consciousness and you cannot see the aggregates of feeling, the aggregates of recognition, the compounding aggregates with machines.

According to the function of the different thoughts, on that basis you have merely labeled recognition, compounding aggregates, feelings, this and that. This is according to the function of the different thoughts. That’s why it’s called “name.” With the physical eye, you cannot see them, and you have to understand these different thoughts by name, by different names. By these different names, you have to understand the function of the different thoughts. Name and form.

Those mental factors, the knowing phenomena, use the form as a vehicle, so it’s like person entering a boat. This could be one meaning. Or, it could be that “name and form” both are the boat, the aggregates are the boat, and the “I” that is labeled on that is the person entering the boat. It might have that meaning also. This is just my own guess.

The sense bases are like the country, the empty house. From this one migratory being’s twelve links, after name and form are actualized, and before having contact, there is the sense base. After they have actualized the sense base and before feeling, the object, the consciousness, and the sense base meet, for contact. From this come the set of twelve links, okay?

Lama Atisha says, “The feeling is like an arrow shot in the eye.” From contact, three types of feeling arise. Craving is like drinking wine. Wine means all the different kinds of alcohol. The craving and attachment that make this seed powerful was left on the consciousness by the compounding action. From this come a set of twelve links, according to one migratory being’s particular rebirth. From the set of the twelve links of that particular migratory being, okay?

Then craving and attachment make the seed that was left on the consciousness by the compounding action from this set of twelve links powerful. This is craving. This is like grasping that is defined, much stronger—stronger attachment, it can be said. In the drawing for grasping, they use the image of plucking fruit from a tree.

In the case of the wine on the table, drinking it is very easy, but to get the fruit from a tree, you need more effort. So the grasping makes the actual determination. Craving is desiring, wishing—but I think grasping is actually makes the determination. First of all there’s craving—wanting to get that beautiful object in the shop, and then later on that desire becomes very strong and we actually decide to get it. The stronger craving actually makes the determination, so it is grasping.
Wine is taking and fruit is also taking, both are taking, but I think grasping, or picking up fruit from a tree, needs more effort, needs strong determination. So I think it might be implying the grasping that is this way—a strong determination to get. These two makes the seed that was left on the consciousness by karma greater, more powerful. Then that which becomes powerful, that which is ready to experience and actualize the future birth is called becoming.

So in the Wheel of Life, the painting, there is a pregnant woman. Then birth—you can see in the Wheel of Life the child coming out. Birth caused by that set of twelve links’ karma and disturbing thoughts. So you can see now in this way—your birth is not with freedom, it is under the control of karma and disturbing thoughts. It is a suffering birth, okay? The cause of your birth is impure, karma and disturbing thoughts, so the result is also impure and the nature of suffering.

Then old age. You don’t have the wish at all to become old, and this shows that you are under the control of karma and disturbing thoughts. If you were not under the control of karma and disturbing thoughts you wouldn’t have to become old. Especially since you don’t have the wish, without choice, uncontrollably happening, going through this process, degeneration—that shows that you are under the control of karma and delusion, you are not free from this cause, you are not free from this. The sign is these things that happen. Sicknesses, problems, disease outside, inside, mental and physical sicknesses—as the ordination says. These are the signs, the proof, and the logic, and the reason you have these is because you are under the control of karma and delusions.

So now, death. Death is separating the consciousness from the body. In relation to migratory beings, samsaric migratory beings have bodies like ours, and the consciousness separates from the body under the control of karma and delusion. Even though you don’t wish to die, you try every means—the more skillful doctor, the best medicine, all the machines—but there is no choice. This shows being under the control of karma and disturbing thoughts. This means you don’t want to experience all these problems, such as death and rebirth, and all the problems between them that you experience. If you don’t want them, you have to stop karma and disturbing thoughts.

You do this by practicing the path of method and wisdom, especially the wisdom realizing emptiness, and doing listening, reflecting, and meditation practice on emptiness. Impermanence and death is drawn in the aspect of the very terrifying Yama, the Lord of Death. It is said in the sutra teaching that wherever, in this samsara, you abide, there is no place that you don’t get attacked by death.

His Holiness Zong Rinpoche, one of our own gurus from whom we received many initiations, many teachings, in the last few years in the West—sutras, tantras—said that one geshe went to Kham or somewhere and on the way stopped at one family’s house. The mother was picking up lice from the clothes. What’s the small one? The small one is lice, but what’s the name of the big one?

[Students: Fleas!]

Fleas are the jumping one. Big white one? The tiny one, white one? Both are lice? So the mother was picking out the lice from her clothes and then told her children, “Please put this somewhere that it does not die.” She gave the lice to the son and said, “Son, please put this some place where he doesn’t die.” So the geshe heard this and the geshe said, “Oh, Ama-la, if there’s some place where you cannot die, please take me also there!”

In the past times when there was fighting in India between the Shakyas and another clan, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha tried to hide [his fellow Shakyas]. He hid them in his begging bowl, becoming very small. But all the Shakyas died. Even those on the planet all died, and even those who were fighting. So when karma ripens, when the time happens, nothing can stop it. The only way to escape from suffering is by ceasing the cause, karma and disturbing thoughts. Even though today we generate the path, there is no question, “Today, what should I do?” For example, today I cannot generate the whole path, remove the root of ignorance, the seed of ignorance grasping things as truly existent, karma and disturbing thoughts, by generating the whole path, the remedy, today—so what can I do today? In day to day life, this hour, what I can do? I need to be free from samsara, what I can do? Right now, what I can do is according to the ability of my mind. That is again what I explained yesterday and the day before yesterday—to practice awareness and to not give the opportunity for the delusions and the disturbing thoughts to arise. In this way you do not create the cause, the karma, that compounds and creates the cause of samsara. This way you do not create the cause of samsara.

OBSERVE YOUR KARMA EACH MOMENT
By practicing awareness and wisdom, practicing awareness in the absolute nature, emptiness, dependent arising, the subject, object, and action, okay, by practicing that, that everything comes from the mind—all your sense objects, all the appearances—all these things that you enjoy and that your five senses enjoy—all this comes from your own mind, your own karma. Then practicing patience, loving kindness, and compassion continuously. Even if you don’t remove the previous karma, the cause of samsara that one has already collected, you don’t create the extra cause of samsara—by practicing like this in everyday life, every moment.

If you question, “Oh today I cannot generate the whole path, the aryan path, the wisdom directly perceiving shunyata, all those paths that remove the cause of samsara, the ignorance grasping at things as truly existent, and even the seed of that—also I want to be free from samsara, so what can I do now? Moment to moment?”

So then the method and wisdom that you hear of from the lamrim teaching, starting with guru devotion, and perfect human rebirth, the eight freedoms and the ten richnesses—the whole thing is method and wisdom that has understood, that you put into practice, remembering, to control the disturbing thoughts. When there’s the danger of them arising, practice method and wisdom, as explained from the lamrim, continuously. So week by week, month by month, year by year—how skillful you are, the mind gets developed. Either in this life or in the next life, sooner or later, you are able to achieve the aryan path, and able to remove the cause, the seed, of ignorance grasping at true existence. This happens.

So like this you are able to achieve liberation, you are able to achieve omniscient mind. These are actually self-supporting—you can make yourself liberated from samsara. Even if that does not happen in this life, the first thing, the most dangerous thing, which can happen right now, at any moment, is birth in the lower realms. Before you achieve liberation from samsara, that can happen in any moment—birth in the lower realm, the preta, animal, or narak. So as soon as the appearance of this life stops, the danger that can appear is the appearance of the lower realms. So therefore, if you can make yourself self-supporting, and if before death you make preparations, there is no need to be born in the lower realms, no danger. If you can make this before death comes, purifying all the past negative karmas, practicing those particular methods of purification, very powerful various methods, creating the cause, accumulating merit, living in the vows—one very essential thing to receive the body of the happy transmigratory being is taking vows, living in moral conduct. Then training the mind in the lamrim, the graduated path to enlightenment—in the actual mind training of the graduated path to enlightenment with the support of continuing strong purification and accumulating merit.

At least if you can make yourself not fear when death comes, that is the sign of having practiced Dharma. Stopping the appearance of this life can happen at any moment, and the appearance of the lower realms can happen at any moment—the appearance of ice, the appearance of fires, nothing else, this can happen at any moment. So therefore, without letting yourself, without cheating yourself, really examining well, really thinking carefully such things as karma, what you have heard from the teachings, those new subjects.

You always carry medicines when you travel, even though you are not sure whether you will get sick . If you get sick, immediately you can stop the problem. So similarly, in case there is a future life, what are you going to do? There’s only two ways. As long as you are in samsara, there’s only two ways: the suffering realm and the happy migratory realm. So that is according to karma. So by checking karma, the karma gives the answer, and you can understand from that answer. By doing the practices, what does it harm?

Just to finish this, in samsara, wherever you are, wherever you are born, there is no way to be free from impermanence and death. So to show that the whole of the Wheel of Life is put into the mouth of the Lord of Death and in the claws.

Whales open their mouth for days and birds come and stay inside their jaws. I heard that on these special days, the fifteenth day, they close their mouth. They close the mouth, they close the jaw. So the water becomes red and bloody—this is very good to meditate—visualize impermanence and death as a mouth, and you’re inside the mouth. As long as you are in samsara you are in the mouth of the Lord of Death. Or inside the mouth of whales. As long as you’re in samsara, it’s like this. The jaw can close down at any moment. Just meditate, practice awareness of this. Then a part of mind says, “So therefore I should not be lazy. I shouldn’t be lazy. I shouldn’t distract myself, I shouldn’t cheat myself.” Tell this to yourself.

The practices that don’t get done, like that, “I must do.” Like that. That is the answer. Otherwise just meditating impermanence and death, without an answer about what to do with life, just thinking, meditating on impermanence and death only causes fear to arise, without solution, and this doesn’t have meaning. This way it has meaning. You use the fear to eliminate the cause of the fear, to be liberated from the cause of the fear, to be completely free from all the fear in this way. These two claws very tightly holding could be the true cause of suffering, and disturbing thoughts and karma. You are not free because of pervasive compounding suffering. You are not free, as long as you are in the samsara, not free from the karma and disturbing thoughts. So completely, like the cat with the two claws completely grabs the mouse, and doesn’t let to go away. Like that, you are completely trapped or under the control of karma and disturbing thoughts. The cessation of that is what you should attain, what you should achieve. Okay, thank you.