Vast as the Heavens
Deep as the Sea
Vast as the Heavens
Deep as the Sea VERSES IN PRAISE OF BooHICITTA
Khunu Rinpoche
Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Wisdom Publications • Boston
WisDoM PuBLICATIONs
199 Elm Street Somerville, Massachusetts 02144 USA www. wisdompubs.org
© Gareth Sparham 1999 All righiS reserved. No pan of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, elecuonic or mechanical, including photography, recording. or by any information storage and retrieval system or technologies now known or later developed, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library ofCongms Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bstan-' dzin-rgyal-miShan, Khu-nu. [Byail chub sems kyi bstod pa rin chen sgron rna 7.es bya ba btugs so. English & Tibetan] Vast as the heavens, deep as the sea : verses in praise of bodhicitta I Khunu Rinpoche.
P·
em.
Includes bibliographical references. ISBN o-86171-146-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1.
Bodhicina (Buddhism)
BQ4398.s.B7713 2.94·3'42.2.-dc2.1
I. Tide.
1999
ISBN o-86171-146-7
Desipul by: Jennie Malcolm Covn- imagt: Khunu Rinpoche at Tso Padma (Rewalsar), India, 1976. Photo by Christopher Fynn. WISdom Publications' books are prinred on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for the permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Prinred in Canada.
TABLE oF
Publisher's Acknowledgment
VI
Translator's Acknowledgments
vu
Translator's Introduction
1
Foreword to the 1966 Edition by the Dalai Lama
CoNTENTS
20
(Tibetan and English)
The jewel Lamp: A Praise ofBodhicitta (Tibetan and English) Translator's Dedication 146 Notes
147
23
TRANSLATOR'S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This small book has been in the ~aking for many years. Wendy Finster first suggested that I translate the verses into English in 1980. I would like to thank her for motivating me and keeping me going with her enthusiasm without any thought of personal gain. I would also like to thank Joyce Murdoch, that most admirable of women, who typed the original manuscript, and Patricia Donnelly and Sarah Thresher who were instrumental in originally causing the work to appear in English. I would also like to thank Ngawang Wangmo for painting a beautiful picture of a wish-fulfilling bodhicitta tree that I had hoped might be used as an illustration for the book. When I finished the translation in 1992, Lochen Rinpoche very kindly gave me a photocopy of the mDzad rnam and rNam thar thar pa'i them skas by Ngodup Gasha (Angrup Lahuli), which provided most of the information for Khunu Rinpoche's biography. I would like to thank Lochen Rinpoche for giving me the book and Ngodup Gasha for allowing me to make use of his work. The translation of the verses was thoroughly revised and corrected by Sara McClintock in 1997 and 1998. She also edited the introduction and supervised the writing of the essay on bodhicitta. Her effort goes far beyond usual editorial assistance and would be more accurately described as collaboration. That having been said, all remaining errors in the work are mine alone. I owe a debt of gratitude to Nick Ribush for initially accepting this work for publication and to Tim McNeill for patiently smoothing away bumps on the way to completion. Finally I would like to thank the Dalai Lama T enzin Gyatso for taking an interest in this work and encouraging its publication, Lobsang Gyatso (before his untimely death) for explaining impenetrable verses to me, and Nga-hua Yeo for supporting me as a monk. Thubten Thardo (Gareth Sparham)
Acknow/~d}(mmts
vii
TRANSLATOR's INTRODUCTION
TheAuthori Tenzin Gyaltsen was born the second of three sons to Kalan pur and Norki in 1894 or early 1895 in the village of Shunam in the Rupa region ofKinnaur, or Khu nu (as the local people call it), on the Indo-Tibetan border. His village lay in a relatively prosperous farming region, 2,000 to 2,500 meters above sea level, surrounded by mountains as high as 6,500 meters and drained by the upper reaches of the Sutlej River. The valleys in this region are extremely beautiful, covered with thick forests of mountain pine giving way at lower levels to orchards of apple and apricot trees fringing fields of mountain barley. Though not a rich area in the modern sense, its economy easily supported a traditional way of life that was based on the Tibetan Buddhism of south central Asia and strongly influenced by the accommodating syncretism of the north Indian plains people to the south. Amongst his own people, Tenzin Gyaltsen is better known by the honorific names Khunu Rinpoche ("precious one from Kinnaur") and Negi Lama. Negi is a clan or caste name used by almost all the people ofKinnaur except metal workers and weavers, and is said to derive from a term of respect given in earlier times to officials at the court at Rampur, an important town on the Sutlej River. In the case of Negi Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, Negi refers as well to his personal family name (Ne gi pang), which means the guru from the Negi family, or the guru from the people of the Negi caste. As a sign of respect, and foliowing the customs of his own people, I refer to him as Khunu Rinpoche, or Rinpoche for short. Khunu Rinpoche started his spiritual training at the age of seven under the guidance of his maternal uncle Rasvir Das, who lived in an adjoining village. Rasvir Das taught Khunu Rinpoche how to read and write Tibetan, and then, following the custom in those parts of the border area of Tibet, had him memorize the Diamond Cutter Sutra (Skt. Vajracchedikti Sutra)
Tntrndtutinn
and the Verse Summary ofPerfect Wisdom (Skt. Ratna-gu1}a-sa1J'lcaya-giitha). The Ne gi pang family were traditionally followers of the Drukpa Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism, so at the age of thirteen Rinpoche went to Lib pa (an area north of Kinnaur where the southern school of Drukpa Kagyu flourished) to receive instruction in the spiritual exercises preliminary to the practice of the general precepts of Buddhism. He studied under Sonam Gyaltsen, a personal student of a famous teacher from Kham (southeastern Tibet) called T ogden Sakya-shri. In 1913, at the age of nineteen, Khunu Rinpoche set out for Tibet to continue his religious training. Although there are a number of passes leading directly into western Tibet from Kinnaur, Rinpoche, who at that time could not even afford a new pair of shoes, instead first went through the Kullu Valley, where he collected some interest owing on loans made by his older brother to Kinnauris settled in that region, and with that small amount as his travel money he made his way to the Kagyu monastery Rumtek in Sikkim. He stayed there for three years studying Tibetan grammar and poetry with Urgyen Tenzin. In 1916 or 1917, Khunu Rinpoche finally traveled to Tibet, where he first made a base for himself at the seat of the Panchen Lama at T ashi Lhunpo, the Gelugpa monastery in Shigatse. Subsequently, he traveled to Lhasa where he studied, not the traditional subjects of a monk in one of the large debating or tantric colleges, but _rather advanced subjects in grammar, poetry, and composition. He made an exhaustive study of these subjects, after which, as requested by the then Panchen Lama Chokyi Nyima, he returned to Shigatse and began teaching Tibetan aristocrats and other students from the Tsang region in a special school for Tibetan grammar and poetry. After some time Rinpoche resigned from his position and traveled to Derge in Kham. Rinpoche studied in Derge for five years, during which time he learned the thirteen volumes of the essential Buddhist scriptures. Khunu Rinpoche himself said that while in Kham he mastered the Tibetan tradition of Sanskrit grammar (the ·sarasvati, Candragomin, and Kalapa systems), but as he was unable to make headway in the Pal).inian tradition of Sanskrit grammar (which was pretty much absent from Tibet), he went to Varanasi in India in order to find someone to teach it to him. There he became a student of Pandit Dev Narayan Tripathi and studied with him for five years. The presence of Khunu Rinpoche in Varanasi at this time is
2
VAST AS THE
HEAVENS
corroborated by the flamboyant traveler from Amdo (northeastern Tibet), Gendun Chophel. Eventually, Khunu Rinpoche returned to Kham, probably in the mid1930s, where he again taught and studied for many years. It was during this period, in the course of teaching grammar and poetry to the children of the Derge royal family, amongst others, that he wrote his widely used commentary on the Tibetan lexicon of the translator Palkhang called The Lamp for Learned Speech (Tib. Ngag sgron). Leaving Kham in the mid-1940s, Khunu Rinpoche returned to Lhasa where, as requested by the Tibetan government, he began teaching at the main Astrological and Medical Institute (the famed Mentsi Khang). He taught there for three years, after which time he resigned in order to return to India to continue his study of Sanskrit. In all, Khunu Rinpoche spent thirty-four years traveling and studying in various parts of Tibet and India. During that period his parents had passed away, as had his first teacher and uncle, Rasvir Das. It was probably sometime shortly after India's independence from Britain in 1947 that Khunu Rinpoche made the trip back to Kinnaur, where he intended to spend only a short time before returning to Varanasi. In fact, strongly urged by his remaining relatives and fellow Kinnauris to stay in his native place and teach, he spent nearly eight years there, during which time he composed a number of short works to help the mountain people learn the Tibetan alphabet.2 Mter teaching in Kinnaur, Khunu Rinpoche returned to Varanasi toward the end of the 1950s where he remained based until near the end of his life. By this time his learning had made him a well-known figure and he had a position teaching at the Sanskrit University. Nevertheless he retained essentially a lifestyle of renunciation, declining the salary that ordinarily would have come with the post and living in an unassuming part ofVaranasi with an old friend from the 1930s, Jobo Ganga-gire. This dear Hindu friend of Rinpoche had an old temple in Lakasa which he looked after. Rinpoche built a room on the top of that temple and would always, after his journeys to Bodh Gaya, or after spending the hot season away in Sik.kim where he was a personal guru to the royal family, return to live there. Khunu Rinpoche had a spontaneous kindness that extended to all equally, regardless of their sect, religion, or nationality. He saw the great hardship of Tibetan refugees arriving in north India in 1959. He saw that these
Introduction
Tibetans, who had admitted him to schools, taught him, and given him work, were now dazed by the loss of their country and their way of life, often nearly destitute, with little but the clothes on their backs. Khunu Rinpoche felt for these refugees deeply. He taught many of them, among them the Founeenth Dalai Lama. These students would, in later years, refer back to that time and recall the kindness that Khunu Rinpoche embodied. In addition to teaching the refugees through personal kindness and example, Khunu Rinpoche went to Mussoorie at the Dalai Lama's request to instruct the Tibetan refugees in grammar and poetry, remaining there for nearly a year. It was through this work in particular that Khunu Rinpoche became well known to the Tibetan refugees in India. Among the countless stories that illustrate Khunu Rinpoche's disinterested yet active meditative kindness is one of an American woman, Tubten Perno, who met Khunu Rinpoche some years before his death in the mid1970s in Kathmandu, Nepal. She and a number of other foreigners who had gone to Nepal to study Buddhism asked Rinpoche if there was anything he needed that they could supply. He said, "No. I have all I need because I have bodhicitta," and the next day, he sent an offering of one rupee (the equivalent of three or four cents) to each of the foreign students. Khunu Rinpoche spent the last months of his life in Lahaul, stopping on his way there at a monastery in Rewalsar, a place sacred to Padmasambhava, near Mandi. He arrived in Lahaul in August 1976, where he taught all-the gifted and the slow-by example, by personal advice, and by teaching gatherings of the faithful in the traditional way. He taught from Gampopa's J~el Ornament ofLiberation (Tib. Dwags po thar rgyan) and other important texts of the Drukpa Kagyu tradition as well as from his own composition. Some time before his death Rinpoche moved to the T ashi Shuling monastery (Shur Monastery in the local dialect) in a quiet pan of Lahaul. He stayed there with his longtime female companion, the Drikung Khandro. Each afternoon it was his custom to give a teaching for about two hours from the J~el Ornament ofLiberation. On February 20, 1977, while in the middle of teaching the wisdom chapter of that book, Rinpoche suddenly, and without any change in the kindly, peaceful expression on his face, died. His ashes have been enshrined in a number of reliquaries in the region straddling the Indo-Tibetan border in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
4
VAST AS THE HEAVENS
The Original Manuscript-the I959 Diary The full Tibetan title of the text translated here is Byang chub sems kyi bstod pa rin chen sgron ma or The jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta. The idea behind this title is that the verses are like a heap of jewels in a glass vaseeach one emits a light that makes the subject clear. Khunu Rinpoche penned each of these three hundred and fifty-six verses as a thought-forthe-day in a diary. Beneath each verse is a record of the events of that day. He wrote all the verses in Tibetan, but some of the other entries in the diary are in Hindi and Sanskrit. Rinpoche had decided on the project some time previous to 1959, as a method to familiarize himself with bodhicitta. There are only two direct references to the project in the diary itself. On January 1, 1959, he writes, "Kay Jig-gon asked me to do this, I decided to do so, I am now involved in doing it"; and on January 17th he writes, "I have completed this far and some of the verses are okay and others are not." It is fortuitous that he chose the year 1959 to pen the verses because in the late spring of that year the Dalai Lama fled Tibet and arrived in India with nearly 10o,ooo of his people. Interspersed amongst entries recording his day-to-day affairs-lists of the names of his students and what he taught them; how much they gave him (usually a donation of one or two rupees); and the books he was reading-Khunu Rinpoche also records the fall ofTibet, the anxiety he felt for the safety of the refugees as they fled, and their arrival in India. The combination of the ordinary and the momentous inescapably reminds the reader of Samuel Pepys, whose diaries of life in London at the end of the seventeenth century record in passing the horrors of Cromwell and the British civil war. In 1998 I obtained the original diary from Thubten Kalden Negi Shastri, a teacher in the Government Secondary School in Sarahan, Simla District, India, and was able to make a photocopy of it. T.K. Negi joined the Tibetan monastery in Bodh Gaya in 1970 as a student of the chant master, and soon after enrolled as a student at the Tibetan Institute in V aranasi. During the 1970s he spent his holidays and other periods in Bodh Gaya. The diary, which came into his possession in 1978, was amongst the personal effects of Khunu Rinpoche left in his room at the Tibetan monastery in Bodh Gaya when he died in Lahaul in 1977· After Rinpoche's death, the chant master asked T.K Negi, who comes from a village in Kinnaur close
Introduction
to Rinpoche's birthplace, to deal with the belongings left in Rinpoche's room. There were about ten to fifteen diaries-all the same size as the diary for 1959-as well as a few clothes and a bank book. Most of the diaries had only personal remarks. T.K. Negi says he kept the diary for 1959 because it contained verses that he intended to study. The whereabouts of the remaining diaries is now unclear. Most entries in the diary have to do with Khunu Rinpoche's daily affairs, particularly financial matters and correspondence. They provide an authentic background to more momentous events and stand as a record of a religious figure's daily life in the mid-twentieth century. It is unlikely that the diary will ever be published in full or translated into English. The reader of Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea, however, may benefit from a general knowledge of its contents, so the following excerpts are presented to convey some sense of what the original diary is like. The first entries from the cold winter months record the visits of mountain people to the warmer pilgrimage sites of Varanasi and Bodh Gaya. "Norkhel, Badari and Namgyel from Sungnam came. Fifteen rupees. Food and tea to all three. Tsenam came but was not satisfied and left" Oanuary 3rd). There are references to his health: "I was sick to my stomach and went to the toilet twice" (August 14th). Many references are to teaching: "I explained the preliminary practices for Mahamudra to Sangye T enzin and twenty-one others and explained Padmakarpo's work to them. I read aloud to them my own summary of how a meditation session works and explained some prayers" (February roth); "I read the Sakyamuni practice out to visitors from Spiti and visitors from Ladakh and then explained refuge to them. They offered me twenty rupees" (November 24th). Many entries record the books that he was reading: "I finished a Hindi commentary on Patafijali's Yogasiitras today. I started on May 23rd so it took me ten days" Oune rst); "I have been given a copy of Pataiijali's Yogasiitras and Vyasa's Bh~a with the commentary Tattvavaifiiradi" Oune 6th); "I read the Tarkabh~a and quite a bit of the Sanskrit-Hindi commentary by Cidanandin" Quly 23rd). These entries are particularly interesting as a record of a traditionally educated Tibetan lama reading non-Buddhist works. Entries in the diary recording the fall of Tibet begin in March: "The newspapers are saying that there has been fighting between the Khampas and the Chinese. There are articles saying that His Holiness the Omniscient One is well ... is in prison.~." (March 23rd). "I read a newspaper article that 6
VAST AS THE HEAVENS
said Sera and Drepung have been demolished and the Norbulingka damaged. I did the hair-cutting ceremony for Munshi Bhastra Singh and gave him the name Guden Senge" (March 24th). "The newspapers are saying that fighting has died down in Lhasa. The Chinese are saying that His Holiness has fled. Some reports say he is probably making for Sikkim or Assam. Others say Lhokha. It seems the fighting is going on all around him" (March 27th). "The A} newspaper is saying that His Holiness is being secretly brought out on horseback by the Khampas and has fallen sick on the journey" (March 30th). "The newspapers says His Holiness has set foot on Indian soil" (April3rd). "The Omniscient One, the King, the Guide of Gods and Humans [the Dalai Lama] set foot in Sarnath, Varanasi today. He revealed his face. He prayed at the stiipa. He addressed those gathered there and then departed" (April 2oth). On August 29th Khunu Rinpoche records a telegram from the Dalai Lama asking him to visit, and notes that he sent the reply that he would do so when his health permitted. Rinpoche left for Mussoorie to visit the Dalai Lama nearly six weeks later: "I met the Dalai Lama today" (October 4th). "The Sakya Lama arrived; I lent the Bodhicaryiivatlira and Suh.rllekha" (October 8th). "Together with Tsultrim I began translating the Lamrim Dudon (Tib. Lam rim bsdus don)" (October 9th). "I met with the Dalai Lama and showed him the [Hindi] translation of the Lamrim Dudon" (October 14th). "Was honored to begin teaching the Senior Tutor Ling Rinpoche the Sum cu pa grammar" (October 16th). "Earlier I got back the Pramiitzaviirttika and Abhidharmakofa from His Holiness; today he returned the Bodhicaryiivatlira and the AbhisamayiilaTflkiira" (October 27th). "I offered my translation of Lamrim Dudon and the Vinaya summary to His Holiness today. He looked at them and gave me a present" (December 2nd). "I took leave of His Holiness today. He was working with Ling Rinpoche. I said goodbye to his mother" (December 5th). "I received back books that I lent to the Dalai Lama: the Madhyamakiivatiira, Abhidharmakofa. He gave me a chinten (a blessed pill) as a gift with a special silk ceremonial scarf.. .I left Mussoorie" (December 6th).
The I966 Published Edition The Tibetan text presented in this book is a reproduction of the first printed edition of the Tibetan text, published in Varanasi in 1966.3 This edition, as the Dalai Lama mentions in his foreword, was sponsored by his sister, lntrodur.tinn
..,
Tsering Dolma, and incorporates many changes and revisions to the version preserved in the 1959 diary. These changes have not been made to the original manuscript-the 1959 diary-but were probably made to an early printer's proof which is no longer extant. The changes and revisions are extensive, and many verses found in the 1959 diary are not even found in the 1966 edition. The changes and revisions improve the diary version in almost every instance and there is no reason to think that they were done by someone other than the original author, who was living in Varanasi at the time and was in close contact with the Dalai Lama and his family. In the absence of the printer's proofs on which Khunu Rinpoche made his changes and revisions, the 1966 printed edition becomes the document closest to the author's original final version. It is therefore not practical to use the 1959 diary to settle readings, although the diary remains very interesting as a document in its own right. The later editions mainly diverge only in minor spelling differences. Khunu Rinpoche does not appear to have been involved in the printing of his work after 1966. The only possible exception is the reading rkang in place of rkyang in verse 181 in the undated edition published by Hukam Sain Negi and Tsewang Norbu Vaid. This may reflect a communication between them and the author. The Tibetan edition of the text presented here has been carefully proofread to bring it in line with the 1966 edition, and incorporates the information given in the list of errata that accompanied that work. The translation is based on the 1966 Varanasi edition. Interesting variant readings found in the 1959 diary are given in the notes.
The Topic-Bodhicitta All three hundred and fifty-six verses in Khunu Rinpoche's The jewel Lamp are about bodhicitta, the spontaneous altruism, free from bias, that is distinctive to Buddhism. What better introduction, then, to this finest of all spiritual possessions than the verses themselves? Khunu Rinpoche writes from the perspective of a person who knows what bodhicitta is-he is writing from within the presence ofbodhicitta, so to speak, standing in the center of a region and describing it. Were a reader to persevere and recognize in Khunu Rinpoche's verses their own path from the perspective of the place it leads to, they would feel a confident understanding in the form of a natural feeling oflove for others. Those unfamiliar with the idea ofbodhi-
8
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citta may, however, become confused by such a perspective, so this short introduction to the topic is intended to provide the necessary background for an informed understanding of the verses. Bodhicitta is the thought to become enlightened for the sake of others. Having in mind what one wants for others, Khunu Rinpoche says: Supreme bodhicitta is the wish to remove every flaw from every living being and to bring about limitless good qualities in each of them. This is outstanding even amongst the outstanding! (The jewel Lamp, verse 21) The basis of this wish is great renunciation-the strong desire to be free from suffering. When focused on others, this becomes great compassionthe wish that others be free from suffering as well. From this stems bodhicitta-the determination to become enlightened in order to free others from suffering. To understand what this wish is and how it develops, it is helpful to begin with the story of Siddhartha, our historical Buddha, and his great renunciation. It allows us to consider what Buddhists mean by r) thought (citta) and 2) enlightenment (bodhi}, these being the two key elements in the compound Sanskrit word bodhicitta, the object of Khunu Rinpoche' s verses of praise.
Siddhiirtha s Great Renunciation According to the story of the Buddha, Prince Siddhartha, who later became Buddha, was born in Lumbini, north-central India, about 2,500 years ago. When he was born, seers prophesied that he would either rule the universe or become an enlightened being. Fearful that Siddhartha would renounce the world, his parents gave him every luxury and ensured that all signs of suffering were absent from the palaces in which he grew up. He married and had a beautiful child. While his child was still young, Siddhartha went with his charioteer for a journey outside the palace walls and saw suffering in the form of old age, sickness, and death. Beholding suffering all about him there arose in him the wish to be free from suffering. He left his family, rejected his political destiny, and went forth to homelessness. Siddhartha's wish or thought to be free from suffering is called his "great renunciation." It was that wish that made him the bodhisattva.4
Introduction
9
After going forth to homelessness Siddhartha spent many years amongst ascetics and philosophers searching for the path to freedom. Finally, rejecting asceticism without learning on the one hand, and mere scholarship without spiritual practice on the other, he traveled south from his birthplace into the present-day state of Bihar. There he sat in the shade of a tree on the banks of the Nirafijana River and found enlightenment. Afterwards, he went to Varanasi, where he "turned the wheel of the Dharma," teaching his distinctive doctrine of the four noble truths to his first followers, who became the core of a Buddhist community that soon grew and flourished. During the remaining years of his life, the Buddha continued to teach the four noble truths-the truth of suffering, the truth of its cause, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path to its attainment-and he instructed his followers how to live as a community in harmony. When, at age eighty, he died in Kl!Sanagar, a town not far from where he was born, his work was finally done. He entered into final nirva':la, and his physical remains-the last remnants of his suffering-were extinguished forever. He left behind a body of teachings and a community of monks, nuns, and lay followers who continued his work after his demise.
Thought (citta) When a successful businessman says, "I decided I was not going to be like my forebears. I worked and struggled to lift myself out of poverty," we .know that earlier on in his life he decided to reach a goal defined relative to what he saw as unbearable in the first place. Such a decision is what is meant in this context by "a thought." The unbearableness of poverty initiated his struggle, and it produced a thought to escape a life of poverty. That thought or determination (the word "wish" also conveys the same idea) drove him when he was poor, was there as he made his millions, and still affected him even after he became rich, stopping him from falling back into the poverty he saw as so unbearable at the start. Even though such a thought or determination in a person is not apparent to the senses, as is his voice or bearing, it is a real element in his story. In the story of the Buddha, Siddhartha's great renunciation when he came face to face with the suffering of life is a thought, a determination, or a wish in the same sense. His determination to be free from suffering might be characterized as the thought: "I, Siddhartha, cannot bear this suffering, and I am not going to rest until I am free and in the state of enlightenment."
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VAST AS THE HEAVENS
There is a difference between a thinking process (traditionally called analytic meditation) and a thought in the sense of a wish or determination (a meditated state). The first step in the thinking process that led Siddhartha to a great renunciation was thinking about suffering in depth. If one thinks, as Siddhartha thought, that "though I am not sick, old, or dead right now, still I am no different from those who are because I am caught within the flow of life," one is engaging in a process of thinking that will eventually lead to the meditated state that is a great renunciation. For as long as Siddhartha had to think about suffering (in the sense of coming to a decision about it), for as long as he was still not sure about it and was still investigating whether the suffering he saw was his own problem or just the problem of others, he was still involved in a thinking process. The more he thought about it and the more certain he became that the suffering that others faced was in fact his own problem-that his own state was one that had those problems built in-the more he became determined to get out of the problem he now clearly saw as his own. The thought to be free from suffering that welled up inside him from thinking deeply about suffering was his great renunciation. It motivated him to find freedom from suffering, as it will motivate others who think in the same way. This great renunciation motivates future buddhas, but according to the great vehicle or Mahayana scriptures, a buddha's enlightenment is not the result of that thought alone. One must also account for the return to the world after understanding the suffering of the beings in it. That return is motivated by bodhicitta-the Mahayana thought of enlightenment. The thinking process, an analytic meditation that leads beyond great renunciation specifically to bodhicitta, is different. It entails looking at suffering from a different perspective. Those who are to become bodhisattvas (and such a designation is not restricted in the Mahayana scriptures to Siddhartha alone, but applies to all who produce an authentic thought of enlightenment) consider how, though they are not sick, old, or dead right now, still they are no different from those who are because all are caught within the suffering intrinsic to the flow of life. They contemplate the sameness of themselves and others; becoming familiar with the idea that they share a problem with others, they recognize that the problems that others face are no different from their own. Such contemplation produces a feeling of intimate friendship. That in turn is heightened when these bodhisattvas-to-be go on to think about how Introduction
II
intimately connected they have been in the earliest stages of their lives with their mothers, and then contemplate how they have been the beneficiary of their mothers' ~odies. This way of thinking, extended to all, increases feelings of closeness and a sense of being the beneficiary of the help of countless others. Thinking about how they are a beneficiary leads to the thought that they owe something in return; reflecting on that again and again leads to love. Thinking about the depth and extent of others' suffering initiates a stream of empathy and an active, great compassion that cannot bear others' suffering any longer. This compassion gives rise to the first thought of enlightenment. Bringing to mind again and again their own suffering and reflecting on the fact that others must equally bear such suffering too, they produce a determination to free others from their suffering that is as strong as the determination to be free from their own. Moved by this great compassion, these bodhisattva5-to-be evaluate their capacity to free others from suffering and realize that they are at present incapable even of helping themselves, never mind others. They then ask themselves whether they are capable of removing their shortcomings and developing their talents sufficiently to allow them to help others and deliver them from suffering. In general, some have confidence in themselves right from the start, even though they do not see exactly how they are going to get where they feel they have to go; and some ascertain that their destination is reachable before they gain the confidence to set forth. Both have confidence; the first starts more quickly, the latter finishes with a burst. Amongst the bodhisattvas-to-be (the Mahayana scriptures discuss the spiritual paths of both) the latter do not fully commit themselves to the goal of enlightenment before t~ey ascertain for themselves that it is attainable. They consider the many and various Buddhist doctrines that are taught to a wide variety of living beings, and ponder whether a buddha's perfect wisdom, which is the wellspring of those doctrines, could ever be produced in an ordinary person. The ultimate nature-the emptiness--of all thoughts convinces them that Mahayana enlightenment is attainable, and then the thought of enlightenment, bodhicitta, arises within them. This is a true meditated state of mind, a wish so ingrained by the earlier thought processes that it now arises spontaneously. When this thought of enlightenment arises it has not one, but two aims. One aim of bodhicitta is the thinker's own enlightenment. The other aim
11
VAST AS THE HEAVENS
of bodhicitta is all others' freedom from suffering. This aim of freedom for others is not the immediate concern of bodhicitta-it does not appear in the forefront of the thought as what is needed-for that is only enlightenment. But, as an attainment, enlightenment for oneself only has value as a means to the second and more basic aim, just as a cup only has value as a means for quenching thirst. The basic thirst is for others to be in a state of freedom, and that thirst explains why one seeks the cup of enlightenment. The practice of the thought of enlightenment is familiarizing oneself with a particular way of thinking for a long time in order to produce a strong desire for others to be in a state of freedom. Why for a long time? Because our way of thinking about the world in which we live at present (so ingrained we take it to be natural) precludes even great renunciation-the thought of freedom from our own suffering. Only after feeling great renunciation can we feel a strong desire for others to be in a state of freedom. And only when that strong desire has arisen will the wish for the enlightenment that is the means for fulfilling that strong desire arise. To talk of the size of a thought is odd, perhaps, but to say that someone is thinking big thoughts is not without meaning. "I want you all to come to my birthday party" is a bigger thought than "I want only some of you to come." Bodhicitta is theoretically the biggest thought anyone can think because of the number of beings involved, what it wants them to have, ll:nd the length of time it must last before its motivating power dies out. Since the duration of a thought is a variable of the aim, in the sense that the actions motivated by a thought cease when the aim is attained, one can conceive of thoughts that last longer and longer. Bodhicitta necessarily lasts until the last living being reaches the state free of suffering, because it is only then that the aim is finally achieved. This explains the prayer of Samantabhadra at the end of the Ga1Jtfavyuha section of the Avatarrzsaka Sutra, which the Dalai Lama often invokes: "For as long as space endures may I remain to work for the benefit of living beings."
Enlightenment (bodhi) In Mahayana scriptures, the story of Buddha the man and the great renunciation that motivated Siddhartha's attainment are very important. Those who praise bodhicitta necessarily praise the analytic meditation that leads to great renunciation and the state of great renunciation as well and accord it
Introduction
13
a central place in spiritual life. But for Mahayana writers like Khunu Rinpoche, the great diversity within the state of a buddha that is accessible to others cannot be adequately accounted for by great renunciation alone; it is explained by bodhicitta. As renunciation explains freedom from suffering, as the thought to escape poverty explains wealth, bodhicitta explains the Mahayana enlightenment. According to the Mahayana scriptures, enlightenment consists of a body of truths (Skt. dharmakaya) and a body of forms (Skt. riipakiiya). The body of truths ("body" is used here in the sense of "body of knowledge") is a buddha's private knowledge and freedom. Since it consists of all the meditated states, it is also called the "knowledge of all modes of meditation" (Skt. sarviikarajfiiina). The body of forms is the non-private enlightenment accessible to others-primarily in the form of the Buddha's teachings. In a wider sense, the body of forms includes all "pure appearances," (our earlier "return to the world") which, when approached with a positive and healthy attitude, serve to strengthen the inner capacity of living beings to bear whatever situations they find themselves in, and beyond that to transform all situations into a path of benefit to others. Explaining this process, Khunu Rinpoche says: The good that is bodhicitta does not give fruit just once. Until the knowledge of all modes of meditation is reached it does not finish, but gets ever greater. When knowledge of all modes of meditation is reached, the rain of precious Dharma from the form-body cloud nourishes the shoots of the good that people do. (The jewel Lamp, verse 13) The principle that informs this Mahayana vision of enlightenment is compassion for living beings, particularly in the form of bodhicitta. The Mahayana scriptures not only understand enlightenment in a different way than is suggested by the Buddha's lifestory, they also understand great renunciation differently, saying that the force of great renunciation does not end in nirval)a, but rather begins there. Again, the consideration behind this position is pure appearances (the body of forms) and how to account for its connection with a buddha's private attainment of freedom and knowledge.
14
VAST AS THE
HEAVENS
In the story of Buddha the man, Siddhartha's thought not to rest until he is free remains while he pursues the practices that lead to freedom, but stops when he attains nirva9a on the banks of the Nirafi.jana River. Nirvar:ta is enlightenment, according to this interpretation, and final nirvar:ta is attained when even the physical remnants of the Buddha's body dissolve at the end of his life. All thought-even great renunciation-ceases at nirva9a. The freedom Siddhartha gains (the third noble truth of cessation) is a stopping, not a coming into being; and in that state of freedom all thoughts and feelings cease, too. Only the body-the physical aggregateremains, and even that is finally extinguished in the great nirv:il)a in Kusanagar when "the whole heap of suffering" is no more. In the Mahayana scriptures, neither great renunciation nor bodhicitta exhausts itself in nirva9a. Still, in nirva9a, according to the Mahayana scriptures, there exist no thoughts at all, neither needy or selfish thoughts nor selfless aspirations to pure states. Since suffering in the deeper sense of being born to die is fueled by action born of such thoughts, it is axiomatic in all Buddhism that, though the fuel of thoughts is piled up ready, the state of freedom prevents it from burning. Even great renunciation and bodhicitta are not found in nirv:il)a in a manifest state. For Mahayana writers like Khunu Rinpoche, however, great renunciation continues to inform nirv:il)a in that it operates to block what remains of existence, just as tiredness left by overexertion blocks a person from waking up again. And bodhicitta continues to inform enlightenment in that it causes the teaching of doctrine and other pure appearances to issue forth "from the form-body cloud" for the benefit of others. When Mahayana scriptures say that there is no thought at all in nirva9a, they mean that the ultimate truth of all things is empty and beyond elaboration, not that nirvar:ta represents a total cessation at death. Similarly, when Mahayana scriptures say that great renunciation and the thought of enlightenment begin with nirvar:ta rather than end there, they mean that the ultimate truth of all things is nirv:il)a, and that nirvar:ta is no other than emptiness itself. This nirvar:ta is the utter absence of any truth or reality in what appears to ordinary folk as real; in particular it is the absence of any truth or reality in the facile projection of self-identity that ordinary people settle on and cling to as real. The Mahayana scriptures equate this absence or emptiness with nirviil).a because one contacts nirvar:ta-the sphere that is
Introduction
r<
free from defilement-by not settling on the reality of any appearance. When wisdom does not settle on any constructed appearance-even emptiness itself-the searcher enters into a nirvai].a without any appearance or thought remaining. This wisdom that beholds ultimate truth in a nondual vision is nirvai].a without anything remaining, and it is from this sphere of reality, which is motivated by the thought of enlightenment, that pure appearances in all their variety come forth. The difference between this Mahayana position informed by bodhicitta and basic Buddhism with its story of Buddha the man needs to be thought about. Even though according to basic Buddhism the body and speech of the Buddha are like the body and speech of ordinary persons-equally in the nature of suffering and not part of enlightenment itself-the Buddhist doctrine or Dharma nonetheless remains to benefit those who learn it and put it into practice. In basic Buddhism the doctrine remains like the work of a philosopher who formulates an ingenious philosophy and carefully writes it out in a book-it lasts so that others can learn it and lead better lives, and the benefits of the philosophy self-replicate long after the death of the philosopher. Or it lasts like the work of a philanthropist who sets up a foundation and stipulates that the earnings on its capital be used to run cancer clinics. In Mahayana scriptures, however, the benefit of enlightenment is even greater than this. Mahayana writers-Khunu Rinpoche amongst them-say that not just freedom from suffering, but perfect wisdom, a buddha's body, and a buddha's speech are all integral to enlightenment, and that the path to enlightenment must therefore include their causes. Just as the cessation of mental defilements is effected by a path consisting of meditation and wisdom, similarly, a buddha's body and speech-the body of forms-is effected by a path consisting of authentic altruistic physical and verbal activity. Like the two wings of a swan, the path of wisdom that brings knowledge of all modes of meditation and the path of method that produces a buddha's body and speech convey the bodhisattva through space to the true ground of buddhahood. There is an intimate connection between emptiness (ultimate truth) and the thought of enlightenment, just as there is between the body of truths and the body of forms, and between the path of wisdom and the path of method. To understand this connection is to understand the division of
16
VAST AS THE HEAVENS
bodhicitta into ultimate and conventional. The ultimate nature of bodhicitta (nirvai_la or the emptiness of thought) is that nature from which the thought of enlightenment originally arises; in fact, it is none other than the thought itself. Because it is an awareness like a light, it illuminates what is thought about. This light, which is not physical light but is similar to it, is a facet of its ultimate nature. Referring to this connection between bodhicitta and emptiness, the Prajl)aparamita literature, the most important of the Mahayana scriptures, says: When a Bodhisattva courses in perfect wisdom and develops it, he should so train himself that he does not pride himself on that Bodhicitta (thought of enlightenment) with which he has begun his career. That thought is no thought, since in its essential original nature thought is transparently luminous.5 In its full development, through the process of dependent origination, the light of the mind becomes the unobscured knowledge of all modes of meditation-the body of truths-which gives rise to the Buddhist doctrines in all their variety-the body of forms. Just as a burning lamp hidden in a pot reveals its natural capacity to illuminate every corner of a dark room when the pot is broken and thrown away, there is a natural sufficiency in the mind of a living being-called buddha nature-that shines forth as the knowledge of all modes of meditation when the constricting boundaries imposed by ignorance are punctured and removed through learning, reflection, and meditation. The ultimate nature of bodhicitta is beyond thought or creation, and the knowledge of all modes of meditation is a return to what has always been from a land that never was. It is a return to focus from the distorted imaginings of self-centeredness. In this sense, ultimate and conventional bodhicitta are not different, the two bodies of a buddha are not different, and sarp.sara itself is but a skillful means to lead us beyond it to the nirv~a that is its ultimate truth. Explained conventionally, bodhicitta is both a prayer and a setting out. It is a prayer because it is a clear and definite articulation of altruism expressed . as what one wishes to become. This prayer is a vow because it is an inexorable commitment to achieve enlightenment for the sake of others. As a setting out, bodhicitta is a vow in a still deeper sense. It is the complex psychological makeup that restrains a person from transgressing the
Introduction
17
bodhisattva standard. A vow in this latter sense is similar to the complex knowledge of the rules of a society within which one peacefully lives without breaking the law. It is not just knowledge, however, but a more complex restraint-thought that explains not only why one knows the law, but also why one keeps within it. The law that governs the enacting of or setting out to enlightenment is the law of benefiting others. This path-where wisdom and method function simultaneously-is understood through the analogy of an armor made up of the inseparability of the six perfections. The armor is pierced when the bodhisattva falls from the lofty standard of transforming all situations into a great vehicle (a Mahayana) that carries every living being, one by one, to enlightenment. While wearing this armor-the practice of giving, morality, patience, vigor, concentration, and wisdom-the bodhisattva sets out on the difficult pilgrimage amongst the world of the living, transforming situations that would defeat others not so armed into occasions for progress toward enlightenment. And it is enlightenment that constitutes the most that can be done for others.
The Dalai Lamas Commentary In January 1998, the Dalai.Lama visited Bodh Gaya at the invitation of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition to give an explanation of Khunu Rinpoche's praise of bodhicitta, The jewel Lamp. It is remarkable that, although he had been asked to explain The jewel Lamp ·and although a private printing of the English translation had been commissioned for free distribution in Bodh Gaya in order to facilitate his teaching, after briefly explaining the opening verse on taking refuge in the Buddha, he put the text aside and based his detailed teaching on the Stages ofMeditation (Skt. Bhiivaniikrama) by Kamala5ila. He expatiated at length on the beginning of the Stages of Meditation where Kamala5ila says that "compassion is the root of the path." Over the remaining days he taught the basic Buddhist path to freedom using the systematic presentation in the Stages ofMeditation. While explaining the four noble truths, he augmented his lectures with a short but profound explanation of emptiness based on the Praise ofDependent Origination by Tsong kha pa. In addition, throughout the course of his teaching, the Dalai Lama read aloud, with almost no direct explanation, blocks of verses from The jewel Lamp. Just as suddenly as he picked them up he would put them aside. When he finished reading the last block of verses aloud he said, "These are excellent verses.
18
VAST AS THE HEAVENS
Sometimes choose a few. Read them and contemplate what they say." That the Dalai Lama greatly admires The jewel Lamp cannot be questioned. He wrote the short foreword for the first 1966 Varanasi edition of the Tibetan text printed by his sister Tsering Dolma and has read the verses aloud many times to gatherings of Tibetans. This is noteworthy because, while it is not unusual for Tibetan teachers to teach old scriptures like Santideva' s Bodhicaryiivattira again and again, it is unusual for them to give new books such importance. The Dalai Lama's commentary on the other texts in Bodh Gaya was a commentary on The jewel Lamp as well, because there is no practice in Buddhism that is not traceable, in the final analysis, to the thought of enlightenment. Since everything that the Buddha taught was for the sake of others, to lead persons of different talents and interests along the path to freedom, every description of a practice should remind a listener of the thought of enlightenment. In this sense, every careful description of a part of the path is a praise of the compassion that motivated the Buddha to reveal it. Kamalasila had that in mind when he said, "compassion is the root of the path," as did the Dalai Lama when he said on a different occasion that there is no absolute in Buddhism, but that if there were it would be compassion. The Dalai Lama's commentary suggests that the reader of these verses should come to them not as something to be read and set aside, but rather as a reminder of the importance of compassion. Any study of Buddhism or Buddhist practice can be supplemented with these verses just by remembering that they are there. The verses may simply represent the importance of compassion and remind the reader, even one who hardly understands them, that without compassion there is no Buddhist path. Rato Kyongla, an elderly Tibetan saint who lives in New York, had a cat, Jack Benny, who just walked in through the window of his apartment in New York one day unannounced. After Jack's death Rato Kyongla said to some of his friends and students in Asia that he was going to give a commentary on The jewel Lamp. "If you want to come to my talk," he said, "you have to read the book through from beginning to end three times." When he finished teaching he dedicated all the good from teaching The jewel Lamp on that occasion to his cat, Jack Benny. This is how to approach a book on bodhicitta. Do not read just to learn something for yourself, but make your act of reading a benefit to others. Compassion is not something separate from the particular situations in which we find ourselves. It is not something to be practiced for tomorrow, but something to be lived today.
Introduction
19
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FOREWORD
The great being T enzin Gyaltsen Rinpoche, keeping to the hidden vowed conduct of a bodhisattva, was born replete with the seven articles of wealth of a noble person in the western part of India. In his youth he studied with many Tibetan scholars of the Rime (nonsectarian) school and learned and reflected deeply on all the shared and unshared branches of knowledge. In particular, he worked on the Bodhicaryiivatiira of Samideva, learning it, reflecting on it, and becoming habituated to it without deviating from its core message. Thus he developed more and more within his heart the thought of enlightenment (bodhicitta) that cherishes others more than self-that central thoroughfare of the buddhas and their children-and in order to keep his commitment to just that development ofbodhicitta he set down every day a single verse in praise ofbodhicitta in this book called The jewel Lamp. May the roots of virtue which have been planted by the priming of this book by the faithful one Phuntsog Tashi for the purpose of introducing my sister Tsering Dolma to goodness grow, in general, into the flourishing of the precious teaching of the Buddha-the cooling, ambrosial medicine for such an unfortunate time as this with irs atomic weapons, infections, and confusions. And in particular I dedicate those roots of virtue and make this prayer: May those gross acts that lead to the ruin of ourselves and others now and in the future-those terrible actions that embody the rage and fury of this degenerate time: lying, deceiving, quarreling, harming, and violence-may the thought to do them and the carrying out of them cease and may precious love, compassion, and bodhicitta grow in my own mindstream and in the mindstreams of others. And again, with folded hands I pray that all monks, nuns, and lay folk studying, reflecting on, and meditating on this text, will take to heart the precious Buddhadharma without motives perverted by a wish for personal happiness, gain, or fame, and will look after it in just this difficult way that I have mentioned in my prayer;
Th~ J~w~/
Lamp: A Praiu of Bodhicitta
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and that they will always, to the extent that they are capable, make sure that they give importance to a philosophy and life, both within and outside, that is pure and stands up to scrutiny. Thus do I, the Buddhist monk Tenzin Gyatso, on the ninth day of the eleventh month of the wood-monkey year Oanuary 1, 1966) pray, in the Tibetan monastery Shedrup Dokyil, Sarnath, where the Buddha turned the wheel of the doctrine of the four noble truths.
Composttd by His Holinttss thtt Dalai Lama for thtt 1966 spttcial Tibttsan ttdition ofThe Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta printttd in Varanasi and sponsorttd by TSI!ring Dolma, thtt Dalai Lamas sistt!r.
22
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The Jewel Lamp A
PRAISE OF BooHICITTA
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Gazing with undivided faith at the Buddhas, their Dharma and their followers, the Sangha, I seek refuge in and pray to them. 2
The Lord who seeks to help, who originates from the full moon [ofbodhicitta], is the guru of the world. In sarpsara there really is no other to be found. 3 How could the trinkets of others' apparently fine explanations ever compete with the words of the one whose meaning is like a wish-fulfilling gem? 4 Whoever has a wise and honest mind sees that the Buddha's supreme doctrine that withstands the threefold analysis! is like a lotus pond, and goes there like a swan.
5 Who would not cleave to the refuge provided by the Buddha, who has completed his own and others' [aims], and who possesses the eight special attributes2 such as not being known through [descriptions by] others and so on?
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Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta
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6 For whom is the Dharma not a refuge, characterized as it is by the two truths and the eight special attributes3 such as being inconceivable, nondual, and so on?
7 For whom is the Noble Assembly not a refuge with its eight special realization and freedom attributes,4 free as it is from the obscurations of attachment, impediment, and a lesser [path], and with the realizations of how things are, what there is, and the inner? 8
I think that even with Sarasvati in one's throatS it would be hard to find an example of the great wish-fulfilling bodhicitta tree, which so easily accomplishes peoples' desires, flourishing in the ground of compassion and watered by love. 9 How could the wish to help that a mother, father, sage, or even Brahma has possibly extend to every living creature like supreme bodhicitta? 10
Just like the lotus among flowers is bodhicitta supreme among all virtuous thoughts. Since having it brings immediate and final happiness, one should make every effort to produce it. II
Since even knowledge of all modes of meditation6 has its origin in just this supreme bodhicitta, those who wish for freedom should certainly make it their work.
Th~ J~wel
Lamp: A Praiu of Bodhicitta
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If one investigates to find the supreme method for accomplishing the aims of oneself and others, it comes down to bodhicitta alone. Being cenain of chis, develop it with joy. 13 The good that is bodhicitta does not give fruit just once. Until the knowledge of all modes of meditation is reached it does not finish, but gees ever greater. When knowledge of all modes of meditation is reached, the rain of precious Dharma from the form-body7 cloud nourishes the shoots of the good that people do. 14
Inner knowledge amongst knowledges. The wish-fulfilling gem amongst all jewels. The stallion amongst the fleet-footed. Bodhicitta amongst thoughts.
15 The sun, the moon, a lamp, a lightning flashthey may illuminate, but they hardly clear away the inner murk. This bodhicitta is extolled by the holy as completely extirpating the darkness of living beings.
!6 Every benefit and joy originates in this bodhicitta of the Victor's children. a There is no way that a wish-fulfilling gem can ever compete with it.
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Lamp: A Praiu of Bodhicitta
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17 Once the plantain tree gives forth its fruit it is incapable of bearing fruit again. But even after bearing fruit, virtue influenced by bodhicitta increases without end.
18 Having gone to the base of the parijataka tree,9 if you make a wish, your desired aim will be fulfilled. So too bodhicitta has the power to fulfill the aims of living beings.
19 A tree, its branches, and the fully ripened fruit are all dependent on the earth drop. Every fine thing in s:upsara and nirvii.t).a is contingent on bodhicitta. 20
The holy ones explain that the sole Dharma to be embraced from now until the knowledge of all modes of meditation is reached is bodhicitta_, the ground from which come forth a hundred thousand benefits and happinesses. 21
Supreme bodhicitta is the wish to remove every flaw from every living being and to bring about limitless good qualities in each of them. This is outstanding even amongst the outstanding! 22
If one wants to benefit everyone, one needs bodhicitta. If one wants to befriend everyone, one needs bodhicitta. If one wants to gain the confidence of all, one needs bodhicitta. If one wants to be everyone's spiritual friend, one needs bodhicitta.
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23 Those who wished to help living beings considered, out of a feeling of love, what would be of benefit to them, and they saw it was just this supreme bodhicitta. 24
The moon with its cooling beams eliminates pain. The sun, the jewel of the sky, dispels darkness. They cannot be compared to the bodhicitta that eradicates defilement. 25 Bodhicitta is the moon of the mind.
Bodhicitta is the sun of the mind. Bodhicitta is the jewel of the mind. Bodhicitta is the nectar of the mind.
26 If you want If you want If you want If you want
to help yourself, produce excellent bodhicitta. to help others, produce excellent bodhicitta. to serve the doctrine, produce bodhicitta. the path to bliss, produce bodhicitta.
27 Bodhicitta, which causes incomparable enlightenment to be obtained, is water since it washes the stains of nonvirtue; is a hand since it gathers virtue; is a whip since it urges one to the holy Dharma.
Tht ]twtl Lamp: A Praiu of Bodhicitta
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28 The hundred light-rayed bodhicitta sun does not cause the hundred-petaled [lotus] to open, does not cause the white water lily to close, tO does not cause the marsh to dry.
29 From now until the heart of enlightenment, I pray to the Guru Triple Gem to have such an aspiration as "may I not be separated from bodhicitta," and to be blessed [to make such a prayer]. 30 A tired traveler sweltering from the heat is happy to find the leafy green shade of a tree. A wanderer, worn out traveling the paths ofexistence, is happy when precious bodhicitta grows.
31 The precious gem of bodhicitta does not discriminate between rich and poor, does not differentiate between wise and foolish; it benefits equally the high and the low. 32
Bodhicitta, the seed of a buddha, causes one to engage in beneficial thought and practice without discriminating the six kinds [of wandering beings], place, time, or occasion. 33 For raising your spirits when you are down, for removing arrogance when you are flush, nothing in the world compares with the non-deceiving friend that is bodhicitta.
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However many examples there are for its benefit, though they may capture certain modes of meditation, they cannot bear comparison with a portion of amazing bodhicitta, even in a dream.
35 Like gold that does not fluctuate relative to prosperity· and poverty, the supreme taste of bodhicitta puts even ambrosia to shame.
36 The supreme The supreme The supreme The supreme
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37
As a river to the sea, as the sea to clouds, as clouds to the land, so does bodhicitta beautify this world.
38 A jewel mine, a 'wish-fulfilling cow, a bench to stop and rest for those who tread the path, more excellent than the finest medicine, Bodhicitta is proclaimed supreme.
39 If you wish to proceed easily to the level of the knowledge of all modes of meditation, what other method is there if you do not rely upon the bodhicitta of the Victor's children?
Th~ l~w~l
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40 The waxing bodhicitta moon that causes to swell the joyful ocean of altruistic intentions and so on puts even the cooling nighttime moon to shame. 41 This bodhicitta that serves as a sword to cut the shoots of the affiictions is the weapon for the protection of all wandering beings. 42 Without arrogance when things go well, not depressed when times are hard, unharmable by anythingthis bodhicitta gold.
43 This tremendous conflagration of bodhicitta that burns the seasoned firewood of the three kinds of affiictions does not act like ordinary fire. 44
If you ask what is the sweetest sound in the world, even if many refined people were to investigate it, I don't think you will hear anything but the word "bodhicitta." 45 Those who have tasted the taste of bodhicitta are hardly going to like other tastes of sugar cane milk, the milk squeezed from mango branches, or honey.
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Lamp: A Praiu of Bodhicitta
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46 Those who wish for liberation should keep to this through-road of bodhicitta that leads to the city of non-abiding nirval).a,'' falling neither to the extreme of the world nor to the extreme of peace.
47 Though there are many things like ketakai2 that clear away impurities from water, it is hard to find anything other than bodhicitta to clear away the impurities of the afflictions. 48
Bodhicitta comes from knowing that (all] have served as one's mother, from recollecting and repaying their kindness, from love, from compassion, and from surpassing intention;l3 it is the source of happiness and benefit for oneself and others. 49
A learned monk, a holder of settled accomplishments, even in possession of an analytic intellect yet without bodhicittawho would aspire to that?
50 Bodhicitta gets rid of nastiness. Bodhicitta banishes suffering. Bodhicitta frees one from fear. Bodhicitta stops bad conduct. 51 What What What What
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52 If one has bodhicitta as one's motivation, whatever one does also becomes a great vastness of good. From the medicinal root that cures diseases, the medicinal shoots are born. 53"
With bodhicitta one achieves high status;l4 with bodhicitta one achieves the highest good; IS for this reason the story of bodhicitta graces the lips of the holy ones. 54 Even an ordinary person gets called "bodhisattva" when bodhicitta is produced, and becomes an object of homage and devotion for gods and humans. 55
It seems to be one of the dimensions of bodhicitta that the hardships of heat and cold, hunger and thirst, and so fonh that come when one does something to help others do not get one down but rather give one's spirit a boost. 56 If one does not have bodhicitta, one will not obtain non-abiding nirval).a; if one does not obtain non-abiding nirval).a, one will be impeded by the two chains.t6
57 A cakravartin emperor 17 does not grace a ditty place. Bodhicitta does not exist in a wicked mind. If you wish to produce the supreme bodhicitta, give importance to the purification of your own mindstream through the four opponent powers.l8
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58 It is proper to set up the throne of a cakravartin emperor in a place of vast prosperity. The sprout of bodhicitta is produced as well in a mind of vast goodness.
59 Bodhicitta gets rid of malice. Through bodhicitta one obtains concentration. Bodhicitta produces wisdom. Things go well if you hold on to supreme bodhicitta.
6o Even in a dream, others are not there for one's own [selfish] aims when there is this amazing concern for others that arises with bodhicitta. 61 ·Bodhicitta serves as the foundation for every bodhisattva deed, just as the earth serves as the foundation for the vast foliage of a leafy tree.
62 With With With With
bodhicitta self and others are equal. bodhicitta there is an exchange of self for others. bodhicitta others are cherished more than oneself. bodhicitta there is the plenty that fulfills both purposes.
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63 If you do not have bodhicitta, then even though
you have some other spiritual practice you will not become enlightened. If you do not have the life power, the other sense powers do not function.
64 With bodhicitta, one does not do things for gain, devotion, or praise; and even if one gets [those things], like gold one does not change. 65 If even the Buddha does not take the full measure of the goodness of bodhicitta, it goes without saying that ordinary sravakas, praryekabuddhas, and the finest aryas do not either. 66 The sun high up in the sky is the eye
for every wandering being down below. Bodhicitta on high shows lowly wandering beings what is to be done and what is to be avoided. 67
The nectar discharged from the lotus is the supreme joy of every bumble bee; the doctrine that is taught with bodhicitta is the supreme joy of every living being. 68
Though they try, skilled poets cannot find an example for bodhicitta. It seems that bodhicitta defies description even when a simile is employed.
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69 A bodhisattva who is like the miracle of a tathagata is said to be superior to a bodhisattva w-ho is like a bullock cart, and so on.t9
70 A boat delivers one to the other bank. A needle stitches up one's clothes. A horse takes one where one wants to go. Bodhicitta brings one to buddhahood. 71 Although antidotes such as ugliness and so on do not utterly eradicate attachment and so on, supreme bodhicitta, the antidote for all of them, is victorious over all that is to be abandoned.
72 Bodhicitta pacifies one's own mindstream. Bodhicitta pacifies the mindstreams of others. With bodhicitta one respects everyone. With bodhicitta one sees everyone as equal. 73 The sun clears away darkness. The moon steals away one's cares. A wish-fulfilling gem gives what one desires. Bodhicitta causes all aims to be obtained.
74 The elixir called the philosopher's stone turns the element iron into gold. Bodhicitta turns this unclean body into the body of a buddha.
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The practice of good persons who are honest and broad-minded, whose intellects have the sharpness of a tip of kufa grass, and who are worthy of worship, is bodhicitta alone.
76 Be it immediate or through a sequence of events bodhicitta unites wandering beings equal to the limits of space with present and lasting happiness.
77 The speed of bodhicitta is the lightning flash. The depth of bodhicitta is the ocean depth. The limit of bodhicitta is the vault of space. The firmness of bodhicitta is the axial mountain. 78
The sun makes its way along the path of the sky. The elephant of the directions makes its way around the shores of the ocean. The fame of the Sage makes its way to every ear. This bodhicitta makes its way to the hearts of the good.
79 Some of the Mahayana is bodhicitta itself, some its cause and some its fruit.2o It is because of this, I think, that bodhicitta is said to be the Mahayana.
8o Words uttered with bodhicitta become the very essence of benefit to others, a beautiful call of the cuckoo that ennobles the [listener's] ear.
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81 The fact that the more terrible the conditions become for the bodhisattva, the more they serve as an aid to their goodness is, I think, due to bodhicitta.
82 Bodhicitta is based on understanding that all have served as one's mother and on recollecting their kindness; bodhicitta is produced from repaying their kindness, and from love and compassion; and bodhicitta is produced from the surpassing intention; hence it is extremely important to work at these.
83 Even if a diamond is broken, it does not stop being called a diamond. Similarly, even flashes of bodhicitta do not stop being called bodhicitta. 84 Butchers are skilled in the secrets of life. Carpenters are skilled in the secrets of wood. Bodhisattvas who have the great surge of thought are skilled in the secrets of bodhicitta.
85 If you possess the wealth of bodhicitta it doesn't matter if you are attractive or not, it doesn't matter if you lack fame and honor, it doesn't matter if you have no other virtue.
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86 [The Prajnaparamita sutras] say if you account for all [aspects] of the three holy [knowledges] it will serve as a cause for the knowledge of all modes of meditation. Since the first [aspect] is bodhicitta, it would be wrong to ever forget it.
87 An intelligent person's disinterested activity for the sake of all living beings without discrimination in all places, times, and in all situations is based on bodhicitta. 88 Amongst constellations, the moon. Amongst mountains, Mount Meru. Similarly whoever has bodhicitta is resplendent amongst living beings.
89 Remember bodhicitta when you feel down. Remember bodhicitta when you are scared. Remember bodhicitta when you suffer. Remember bodhicitta when you feel joy.
90 Remember bodhicitta when Remember bodhicitta when Remember bodhicitta when Remember bodhicitta when
your courage begins to wane. you slack off from doing things for others. you become lazy. you feel run down.
91 Who could measure the heavens with a ruler?
Who could measure out the ocean with a cup? Who could analyze the workings of karma with their mind? Who could give voice to the greatness of bodhicitta?
Th~ J~w~i
Lamp: A Praiu of Bodhicitta
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Like the moon amongst the constellations, on account of Mahayana bodhicitta the bodhisattvas surpass non-Buddhists and the sravakas and pratyekabuddhas. 94 Within the lotus is the essential nectar of the flower. Within the bodhisattva is bodhicitta. The [former] is merely beneficial to some. The [latter] is supremely beneficial to all.
95 Based on precious bodhicitta, the supreme noble ones cause aspirations to be fulfilled, bring disciples to maturity, purify their paradise,2I and actualize [enlightenment].
96 Supreme bodhicitta is produced from the four spiritual grounds [immeasurable love, compassion, joy, and equanimity]. That an effect is produced through the coming together of causes and conditions is logically correct. 97 Relying on the shining orb of the sun those with eyes look out on forms. With bodhicitta the bodhisattvas look out on living beings equal to space.
Tht ]twtl Lamp: A Praist of Bodhicitta
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98 If you start something, start it with bodhicitta. If you think of something, let the thought be of bodhicitta. If you analyze something, analyze it in the light of bodhicitta. If you investigate something, investigate it in the light of bodhicitta.
99 Whoever is adorned with bodhicitta can never have a vicious thought, and even without being urged to do so, will naturally work to stop the nastiness of others. 100
Given that for whoever possesses it there is never an opportunityfor decline, inestimable bodhicitta is supreme. What intelligent person would not respect it? 101
Those who wish to follow the spiritual practice of the bodhisattvas, the Victor's children, at the very outset strive to produce bodhicitta since it is the foundation of that practice. 102
Since a buddha is born from a bodhisattva and a bodhisattva is born from bodhicitta, intelligent persons understand the greatness of supreme bodhicitta. 103
Wherever goes a [cakravartin emperor's] precious wheel, there go the other precious things as well. 22 Every goodness naturally follows in the train of supreme bodhicitta.
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104 Bodhicitta is the supreme essence that is obtained [from churning] the milk ocean of the Guru Buddha's teachings.
So until one is enlightened, one should make an effort to treat it as important. 105 It might be possible to lasso the wind. It might be possible for sandalwood to have warmth.
It might be possible for light to turn to darkness. It is impossible for bodhicitta ever to betray you. 106
It is true that it is extremely hard to produce non-artificial bodhicitta. But even if one must work at it for a thousand eons, it is crucial that one have an irreversible confidence. 107 Since bodhicitta is born without discrimination in the priest, warrior, merchant, and common castes,
all four should embrace it with enthusiastic faith and reverence. 108
One whose mindstream is ornamented with bodhicitta is free from obscuration, stops doing harm to self and others, and is empowered to bring together a great surge of good qualities. 109
The melodious call of the spring cuckoo is a crowning joy for those who have ears to hear. The bodhicitta of the Victor's children is a crowning benefit for every living being.
Th~ j~w~l
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Bodhicitta is the desire to obtain the state of enlightenment for the sake of sentient beings equal to. space. How could anyone else compare with someone who is endowed with it? lll
Bodhicitta invites all this universe, with its gods, to be guests at the [feast of] temporary worldly joys and the ultimate complete enlightenment. ll2
Even at the expense of wealth, body, and life one should protect precious bodhicitta. And why? With it one easily obtains even the knowledge of all. 113 One should properly ascertain the basis of Mahayana bodhicitta, its definitions and divisions, and the examples and so forth
that give the measure of it. 114 The ambrosia of bodhicitta cures all sick beings wracked by the severe pains of the three sufferings23
in beginningless cyclic existence. 115
Application of the seven-limbed practice24 of offering and so forth produces and builds up bodhicitta, just as the application of water, fenilizer, and so fonh produces and builds up a seedling.
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u6 Abandoning the intention to do harm to anyone; working directly or indirectly for the sake of others; immovable regardless of the conditions one faces; these, I think, are some of the dimensions of bodhicitta. Il7 Giving, morality, patience, vigor, and concentration, as well as the wisdom that realizes the ultimatebodhicitta makes them all perfect.
u8 Even if all of the wholesome thoughts of earthlings were to be gathered together into one, it would not compare with a fraction of bodhicitta, just as [ordinary] trees [cannot compare with] the parijataka tree. Il9 If the mindstream is moistened with bodhicitta, one takes joy in abandoning wrongdoing, one takes joy in doing vinue, and one takes joy in removing fears. 120
When bodhicitta has been taken as a friend it is as rdiable as the axial mountain, and no matter how great a terror there may be, like a lion it is ever free from fear. 121
If non-anificial, precious bodhicitta is produced and does not degenerate but further increases, it is absolutdy definite that the stage of the knowledge of all modes of meditation will be obtained.
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Those who want the lotus of high status to bloom and to taste the honey of the highest good25 rely upon the hundred light[-rayed sun] of bodhicitta, the supreme origin of the buddhas and their children. 123
Just as the heavens are vast so is this bodhicitta vast.
Just as the seas are deep, so is this bodhicitta deep.
124 Bodhicitta unsettles even the great vastness of the firm earth. It is difficult indeed to comprehend the power of it, similar as it is to a wish-fulfilling gem. 125
The philosophy connected with bodhicitta is supreme. The meditation connected with bodhicitta is supreme. The spiritual activity connected with bodhicitta is supreme. The result connected with bodhicitta is supreme. 126
Power culminates in bodhicitta. Helping others culminates in bodhicitta. Abandoning flaws culminates in bodhicitta. Fearlessness culminates in bodhicitta. 127
With lasting bodhicitta in the stream of mind, it's fine if one is weak in applying on~self to other virtues. Once one has found a wish-fulfilling gem, it's fine if one does not seek other gems.
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In a crowd of scholars bodhicitta makes one attractive. In a crowd of fools bodhicitta makes one attractive. In a crowd of ordinary folk bodhicitta makes one attractive. Bodhicitta produces joy for all. 129
Bodhicitta beautifies the whole appearance .of a face. Bodhicitta lends beauty to the wideness of the eyes. Bodhicitta gives beauty to the sound of a voice. Bodhicitta makes behavior beautiful. 130 Whatever it may be, a far-reaching good deed
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going forth without discrimination to every living being equal to the limits of space. 132
Supreme bodhicitta is master for it keeps one away from what should not be done; it produces in full the surpassing intention, and leads one to grasp the essential thing, altruism. 133 Having taken refuge, produced bodhicitta,
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134 Since bodhicitta is the supreme thing to be protected,
one should protect it by remembering bodhicitta; one should protect it through introspection; one should protect it by conscientiousness. 135 When the hundred-petaled bodhicitta lotus blooms,
honey bees naturally gather even though one does not call out, because their minds are intent on getting pollen 136 The supreme precious bodhicitta causes activities of body to accord with Dharma, causes activities of speech to accord with Dharma, causes activities of mind to accord with Dharma. 137 By the power of a bodhisattva's bodhicitta, even the enraged mind of a wild animal right in front of you calms down; mutual animosity is set aside and you become fast friendli. 138 To like the bodhicitta of the supreme vehicle is to like being in possession of bodhicitta. To like fragrant smells is to delight in the supreme sandalwood tree. 139 At the beginning, in the middle, and at the end, the bodhicitta of the supreme vehicle is an indispensable factor for obtaining non-abiding nirvii).a.
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140 What is the use of working to grow a shoot if you are without a seed? What is the use of working to obtain complete buddhahood if you are without bodhicitta? 141 It is difficult for living beings who are not holy to find a joy like the great delight that holy beings take in supreme bodhicitta. 142 Purifying the residual impressions and awakening (bodhi) at once to every knowable thinghaving thought about (citta) these, one sets out to achieve them. From this comes the expression "bodhicitta." 143 Bodhicitta transforms afflictive emotions, suffering and fear, and sickness and death into a path to enlightenment. 144
Based on different amounts of mental fortitude there are three sorts of bodhicitta: like a king, like a ferryman, and like a shepherd. They are known as weak, middling, and superior, respectively.26
145 Through bodhicitta all the practices of giving, morality, patience, vigor, concentration, and wisdom become causes for attaining enlightenment, and they get the name "perfection" (paramita) as well.
Tht ]twtl Lamp: A Praiu of Bodhicitta
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How could the surpassing intention of the ordinary person, the sravakas, and the two types of pratyekabuddhas27 ever attain to the level of Mahayana bodhicitta? 147
On account of bodhicitta, the ennobled bodhisattva views all enemies, friends, and strangers as equal [in a way that is] far superior to [the way that] others view them as equal. 148
With a ship one is delivered to the farther shore. With a mount one reaches the place one wants to go. With bodhicitta one is similarly conveyed to the level of full buddhahood. 149
In his Ala7flktira,28 Ajita explained the bodhicitta of the bodhisattvas, starting with the one that is like the earth up to the one that is like a cloud. 150
There are two Mahayana bodhicittas: the conventional and the ultimate. The conventional is the wishing and setting out bodhicittas. The ultimate is the nonconceptual, free from elaboration. 29 151
If bodhicitta of the supreme vehicle is produced, it makes no difference whether one is high or low, rich or poor, smart or stupid, brahmin or outcaste; one becomes an object of worship of the world and gods.
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158 Bodhicitta causes the water lily of benefit and happiness equal to space to unfold; it completely protects from dangers and so on and places one at the level of full enlightenment. 159 If you lack bodhicitta you will not become enlightened
even if you restrain from wickedness, even if you gather together wholesome dharmas, even if you meditate on the channels, winds, and drops} I
160 With With With With
bodhicitta one enjoys bodhicitta one enjoys bodhicitta one enjoys bodhicitta one enjoys
happiness. even sorrow. what is there. even what is not there.
161 Since Mahayana bodhicitta surpasses every virtuous state of mind of the non-buddhists, the sravakas, and the pratyekabuddhas, it is therefore praised by the guru buddhas.
162 How could someone in whom the bodhicitta of the supreme vehicle exists ever turn toward the poison of self-cherishing, even for a moment? How could they give up the nectar of cherishing others?
163 The conflagration at the end of the eon burns up the mountains, continents, and oceans. It is certain that bodhicitta burns up every great wickedness in a single moment.
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164 In every action of body, speech, and mind, directly or indirectly, bodhicitta takes the aims of others as foremost, ignoring selfish, insignificant aims.
165 Those who enjoy the way of the holy ones should most assuredly get hold of this bodhicitta, just as those who want to reach the land of jewels rely on a ship.
166 Those who abandon the production of Mahayana bodhicitta go to the [extreme of] peace, as they have abandoned the happinesses of seeing the highest reality [endowed with] the intention to find the altruistic thought and the method for that [altruistic aim].
167 What discriminating person would not delight in bodhicitta, which eliminates the increase in afflictive emotions, which stops any other faults from arising, and which is the culmination of all that is proper?
168 The bodhicitta of bodhisattvas is like a spiritual friend who naturally exhorts one to be ethical, to study, to analyze, to meditate, and to work for the welfare of wandering beings who reach as far as space.
169 Bodhicitta beholds the totality of living beings like a mother does her only son. It is the nectar that is of one taste with being of help to others, hoping neither for reward or future result.
The Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta
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170
Bodhicitta functions like a spiritual friend: it demonstrates correctly and without mistake the essentials of what is to be done and what is to be avoided. 171
Bodhicitta fully protects one from viciousness, what does not work, the view of the perishable aggregates,3 2 bad rebirths, and the deficient vehicle as well. 172
The teacher [Sakyamuni Buddha] first produced bodhicitta then accumulated the collections and became the lord of wandering beings; hence we too should first of all cleave to this holy thing. 173
It is because of bodhicitta that one gives up the pleasure of meditative concentration, and in order to relieve others from their suffering goes down to the deepest hell as if into a pleasure park. 174
Even though some people know how to give a perfect explanation of the meaning of bodhicitta, since the collection of causes that gives rise to it is incomplete, bodhicitta is absent from their mindstreams. 175
Meditate Meditate Meditate Meditate
upon bodhicitta when upon bodhicitta when upon bodhicitta when upon bodhicitta when
afflicted by disease. sad. suffering occurs. you get scared.
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176 One who does not delight in others' good fortune does not have bodhicitta within, just as one who is angry with another person does not have love within. 177 One will understand the practice of bodhicitta from reading the Mahayana siitras, the Sikftisamuccaya, the Bodhicaryiivattira,
the Mahayiinasutriila1Jlkiira, the Bodhicittavivararza, the Abhisamayiila1JZkiira, the Bodhisattvabhumi, and so on. 178 If one does not attain an extremely stable cenainry concerning the presentation of bodhicitta, even though one may try hard to practice and so on, there will be no ground for the completion of one's desired aims. 179 If one does not have bodhicitta, one will not become enlightened even if one has other spiritual practices.
If one is paned from the life power, the other sense powers do not function. 180 Gaining supreme unsurpassable enlightenment
is contingent on this bodhicitta. Thus nothing in either the world or the state of peace can demonstrate its [inexpressible] goodness. 181 The medical treatises teach the ways to cure living beings of diseases. The Mahayana treatises teach the bodhicitta
that cures the afflictions.
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182 It is clear that holy texts call supreme bodhicitta
the thought with two aims because it arises in dependence upon living beings and the Buddha. 183 Bodhicitta and so on are supreme amongst all worship; they are
the unsurpassable worship. So it is proper to devote oneself to this source of good qualities. 184 If you want to produce in your mindstream this bodhicitta that is so hard to find, you should first make a great effort to meditate on its causes: love, compassion, and so on. 185 What is the vinue in having bodhicitta? And what is the fault, anyway, in being without it? Having investigated this with a penetrating intellect, let the logic of it sink in. 186 The precious supreme thought alone has the power to be a ground for the continual production of benefit and happiness for wandering beings, pervading space, who have been one's mother, and for relieving all the suffering of each of them. 187 Just as a wish-fulfilling gem is the be all and end all for the wealthy, this bodhicitta is the be all and end all
for every bodhisattva.
Th~ jew~/
Lamp: A Praiu of Bodhicitta
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188 I think that the holy beings believe that repaying the harm that others do with a heartfelt benefit is one of the modes of meditation of bodhicitta. 189 Thinking "I am a bodhisattva," do not despise even a bug. It is taught that the supreme ultimate bodhicitta pervades every wandering being. 190 Just as butter is the heart of milk, so bodhicitta is the heart of the Mahayana. Just as honey is the heart of a flower, so bodhicitta is the heart of the Mahayana. 191 One who wishes to be certain about bodhicitta should always ascertain its foundations, intent, and so on, as is explained in the Mahtiytinasutrtila7flktira. 192 If bodhicitta degenerates it is something that should be taken up again, just as it is correct to repair a golden vessel if it breaks. 193 Even if one's body is complete with every good qualiry, still one would be unlucky if bereft of sight. Even if one has every other good quality, one would still be unlucky if bereft of bodhicitta.
Tht! ]t!wt!l Lamp: A Praiu of Bodhicitta
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Whatever you meet with, never ever give up bodhicitta. If one mentally gives up supreme bodhicitta, there is no force for attaining buddhahood. 195
If you want If you want If you want If you want
to produce to produce to produce to produce
bodhicitta, you need faith. bodhiciua; you need to want it. bodhicitta, you need compassion. bodhicitta, meditate on these.
196
Relying on Mahayana bodhicitta, make virtues of the body pure, make vinues of speech pure, make virtues of mind pure. 197
Relying on the supreme vehicle bodhicitta, accomplish virtues of the body, accomplish vinues of speech, accomplish virtues of mind. 198
Even if one generates the supreme bodhicitta, if one does not ingrain it in one's personality, what is the use? Even if one plants and tends a seed, if a seedling does not grow, what is the use? 199
Even a buddha cannot act in such a way as to cause pleasure for every sentient being. But if non-artificial bodhicitta comes about, there is indeed pleasure for most all of them.
Th( Jew(/ Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta
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Remember bodhicitta if you Remember bodhicitta if you Remember bodhicitta if you Remember bodhicitta if you
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202
By relying on remembrance and introspection, give up doing things that are in opposition to bodhicitta. If you do such a thing, immediately repair it through making a confession and so on. 203
Just as someone who is famished takes joy in food, just as someone who is parched takes joy in drink, just as someone who is freezing takes joy in fire, so do the holy ones take joy in bodhicitta. 204
As long as thoughts and actions exclusively for selfish goals impinge, it will be hard for one to produce non-artificial bodhicitta in the mindstream. 205
In the morning when you get up, generate a heartfelt intention to be in accord with bodhicitta. In the evening when going to bed, investigate whether what you did was in accord with or in opposition to bodhicitta.
Th( jew(/ Lamp: A Praiu of Bodhicitta
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If you do not yank out by the root this noxious stem of self-interest, how will the lordly wish-fulfllling tree of bodhicitta that delights in altruism ever flourish? 207
It is because bodhicitta accomplishes both temporary happiness and, finally, complete buddhahood that one should strive to give voice to bodhicitta's greatness in its totality. 208
The altruism of ordinary folk, of sravakas, and of pratyekabuddhas cannot compete with the altruism of a bodhisattva whose mindstream has been moistened by bodhicitta. 209
Even if a non-Buddhist sets out the riches of the trichiliocosm,34 the merit created cannot compare with that created by offering a single meal with bodhicitta. 210
Having obtained this precious life of freedom, so hard to obtain, having met with the Buddha's teaching, which is so hard to meet, yet not to hold bodhicitta in the palm of one's hand, what greater misfortune than that could there be? 2II
From beginningless time until now I have been tormented by great sufferings for no purpose. If I do not enthusiastically accept bodhicitta, again without end will be my experience of pain.
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The daybreak bringer dispels the dark. Moonlight dispels the pangs of pain. Great wealth dispels poverty. Bodhicitta dispels afflictions. 213
The infinite accumulation of merit even from beholding with eyes of faith another bodhisattva is because of the power of bodhicitta. 214
The objective support of bodhicitta is mother beings equal to space. The objective support of bodhicitta is completely perfect enlightenment. 215
When the buddhas and bodhisattvas thought, "What is the means that lets one obtain easily the supreme stage where the two extremes [of sa111sara and nirvat).a] have been abandoned?" they saw that it was this precious bodhicitta. 216
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Unless and until bodhicitta becomes as rock-solid as Mount Meru, who will taste the nectar of entrance into the vast and profound stages [of the path]?
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Bodhicitta protects one from violence, bad rebinhs, the view of the perishable [aggregates], the deficient vehicle, and from deficient means. It is clear, therefore, that it is the best refuge. 219
Bodhicitta, resplendent in good qualities, is the finest of all things to be known. Anyone who does not study it must have a mind like a stone. 220
Cooling, producing joy in all, residing on high yet descending low, such is bodhicitta in a Victor's child, a moon in the path of celestial beings. 221
Selfish benefit is the ground in which suffering originates; helping others is the ground in which happiness originates; this is why the supreme noble ones are so enthused about opening the treasure mine of happiness and benefit for wandering living beings. 222
The statement that a tathagata's child should not be afraid of wild beasts is [said] on account of bodhicitta and not on account of a plan or preparation to harm others. 223
In the face of harm done to the Buddha's precious body, Dharma, or children, or to one's guru, friends, or family, cleave to moderating bodhicitta and buckle on the armor of patience.
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Although it is true that the spiritual activities of a bodhisattva who has already generated the thought of supreme enlightenment are difficult, still it is proper to take them up, because, like growing saffron, when one achieves one's aim there is such abundance. 225
Rid of fear, having taken up bodhicitta, without concern for possessions, body, or life, the lion's roar of the three baskets35 of the Buddhist doctrine is proclaimed for all to hear.
226 Having generated the thought of unsurpassed enlightenment you should protect all of the trainings; otherwise, your state will be akin to having a draught coming in through a hole. 227
Whatever work one engages in, one should do it after connecting it with bodhicitta. Going from happiness to the culmination of happiness, one reaches great bliss that never degenerates. 228
When the branches of the tree of bodhicitta, whose roots are firmly planted in the ground where thoughts of self-interest have been banished, become heavy with the fruit of helping others, it is definite that the hopes of wandering living beings will be fulfilled. 229
This should be one's practice: the three surpassing trainings in morality, concentration, and wisdom, with bodhicitta as the foundation.
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230 Is it not the case that the holy. beings accept as an aspect of bodhicitta the thoughts: "When will I be able to remove the suffering of others?" and "When will I be able to fully develop the talents of others?" 231 When happy remember bodhicitta. When sad remember bodhicitta. · When old remember bodhicitta. When dying remember bodhicitta. 232 A faith that wants to attain it, and compassion that extends to all living beings: the supreme bodhicitta is not hard to generate when one's Mahayana nature is awakened. 233 Misers are pleased by gold and silver. Lechers are pleased by young girls. Bumble bees are pleased by honey. The holy are pleased by bodhicitta. 234 Those who, on account ofbodhicitta, have set out to shoulder the great load of working. for wandering living beings equal to space, never for a single moment slacken in applying themselves to advancing the aims of others. 235 To be parted from a beautiful or ugly color is all right. To be parted from bodhicitta is not all right. To be parted even from relatives, friends, body, and life is all right. But to be parted from bodhicitta is not all right.
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236 Having taken up supreme bodhicitta, with remembrance, introspection, and conscientiousness, follow the training, practice the training, and keep to the training. 237 The five non-Buddhist schools of philosophy36 with their eternalistic or nihilistic views definitely do not have bodhicitta. If they do have it, you should ask them about it. 238 To know the essentials of bodhicitta, rely on a Mahayana spiritual friend, read the Mahayana sutras, and befriend the bodhisattvas. 239 An enemy's nastiness, though small, is noticed; a friend's kindness, though small, is noticed; but the holy turn them both to benefit without any distinction through bodhicitta. 240
The daybreak bringer is in the region on high, but still the hundred-petaled lotus down below bursts into bloom. Though supreme bodhicitta is in the region on high, down below a wholesome attitude blossoms in the mind. 241
Just from hindering a bodhisattva's virtue for a single moment, there comes about the endless suffering of bad rebirths. Know that is due [to the greatness] ofbodhicitta.
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To give up supreme bodhicitta in one's heart is the heaviest amongst the downfalls. If the life power peters out, all the other sense powers stop functioning.
243 Strive to fully take up this bodhicitta, the source of every happiness, for wandering living beings as long as existence endures.
244 If one wonders, "What is that thing in the world, without which there is no way?"in which holy being does one find anything other than supreme bodhicitta alone?
245 Due to bodhicitta, the children of the buddhas look out without partiality at wande_ring living beings like a mother [looks at] her only son, with a gaze of love that comes from the very depth of her being. 246
A thousand deeds apparently beneficial to others do not compare with the great surging deed that is done for others' benefit when one is in the grip of bodhicitta.
247 One who is of infinite benefit to wandering living beings, who brings relief from suffering and its causes through unsurpassed bodhicitta, is a·seedling buddha.
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While it is true that-should one incur a bodhicitta downfall-it is correct to take up [bodhicitta] again, since attaining the stages then takes longer, be careful nonetheless not to be stained by a downfall. 249
Taking bodhicitta as the underpinning, through the practice of the unification of the vast and the profound, the knowledge of all modes of meditation is obtained. This is because it is cenain that cause and effect do not lie. 250 With the mercury that looks like gold
one transforms iron into gold. With bodhicitta one transforms even afflictions into a branch of enlightenment. 251 A bodhisattva blessed by bodhicitta is like the lord of mountain ranges, impervious to even the most terrible situation that may arise. 252 Given that bodhicitta bestows the supreme and unchanging happiness of [the path of] no more learning,37 who is going to regard any divine or human happiness that comes along to be amazing? 253 Knowledge that reaches to the limits of the knowable, love that extends to every living being, and power that is like lightning: these have their origin in bodhicitta.
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255 Bodhicitta, the supreme vehicle that conveys one to the level of thoroughly non-abiding nirv~a. is like a [magical] stallion [that knows the path without being led] and has arrived where it wants to go.
256 When the splendor of bodhicitta has descended, with remembrance and introspection as your aids investigate every action of body, speech, and mind to see whether they are spiritual or not.
257 With bodhicitta one sees self-interest as being like a virulent poison. With bodhicitta one sees altruism as being like ambrosia.
258 If there is no bodhicitta, there is no bodhisattva. If there is attachment to this life, there is no human being, [only woe]. If there is no reversal of the attitude [of attachment], there is no renunciation. If there is an extreme, there is no [correct] view.
259 If one throws precious bodhicitta away, even if one seems to do something for the sake of others, it will only apparently be so. A tree that does not bear fruit may look good, but it cannot assuage hunger.
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260 Like a concatenation of everything in this world that is naturally precious, hard to find, unrivaled in its benefits is this bodhicitta that is highly praised by the buddhas. 261 If one wishes to engage in the spiritual deeds of Samantabhadra,38 one should look after the root of bodhicitta. If one wishes a fine tree to have a wide spread of branches, one conveys water to the root of the trunk. 262 With bodhicitta one sees self-interest as being like a poison and stops it. With bodhicitta one sees altruism as being like ambrosia and engages in it. 263 Even if one cannot, by what one does, help a person who is threatening or harming one's life, one should still not give up the thought to benefit [that person]; otherwise one will go against bodhicitta.
264 Thinking that bodhicitta informed by compassion is the thought that produces benefit and happiness for mother beings equal to space, the supreme persons scatter flowers of praise as offerings [to it]. 265 When Mahayana bodhicitta has arisen, the muddy effluent of cherishing self-interest subsides; the essential thing-the needs of others-is enthusiastically embraced, and one becomes an anonymous friend.
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267 Bodhicitta is the best means for getting nondual wisdom, the best bringer of pleasure to all living beings, the supreme amongst virtuous minds; it is the ornament of the universe.
268 There is no other dharma to be studied like bodhicitta. There is no other dharma to be reflected upon and meditated on like bodhicitta.
269 The sky of reality is obscured by clouds of adventitious stains. Gusts of bodhicitta wind clear them away, like a lamp [clears away] the darkness.
270 Certain about the faults of existence and understanding correctly the good qualities of enlightenmentin one who is in the Mahayana lineage, the seedling of bodhicitta flourishes.
271 From now until the heart of enlightenment the supreme loving friend is bodhicitta. How could it be that holy beings would not be devoted to it?
The jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta
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272 People look after their eyes even when there is considerable danger. Similarly, no matter how dangerous it gets the holy ones look after bodhicina.
273 A scholar who explains the holy doctrine, refutes what is not true with correct lines of reasoning, produces a taste of pleasure with his writing, yet does not possess bodhicitta-who would aspire to becoming that?
274 Given that a person who has this bodhicitta, which is praised by buddhas and bodhisattvas, is respected even by enemies, what need is there to mention that others do as well?
275 Bodhicitta is born without difficulty in one whose root of faith is firm, who is in the Mahayana lineage, and who from the bean wants to take it up.
276 The buddhas and the bodhisattvas continually check, as though heating, cutting, and rubbing gold, the foremost wealth that is this bodhicitta, the foundation of the wealth of the two purposes. 277 The thought to harm others is the enemy of bodhicitta. The thought from the bottom of one's heart to harm no one is the friend of bodhicitta.
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278 If you want supreme bodhicitta to arise mediate on the thought to be of benefit to all. If you want supreme bodhicitta to arise bring the knowledge of all modes of meditation continually to mind.
279 Those who wish to benefit enemy, friend, and stranger equally should grasp firmly the vast bodhicitta tree and not let it go, even at the cost of their life.
280 One's mindstream burning in a continuous rage, puffed up with pride and full of jealousywhen is the time that precious bodhicitta will be obtained?
281 The person who meditates on the thought "wandering living beings equal to space are my mother," looks to be on the very verge of having Mahayana bodhicitta arise.
282 With the ambrosia of bodhicitta, sickness is cured and one's courage increases. Without hoping for anything in return or for a [good karmic] result, all are equally benefited as one.
283 Look and see whether you do or do not have bodhicitta, root of the Mahayana. If you do not, make a commitment to it in accord with the ritual39 and make sure it does not degenerate.
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284 Enthusiastically embracing the needs of others is a friend to precious bodhicitta. Enthusiastically embracing self-interest is an enemy to precious bodhicitta.
285 It is It is It is It is
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286 By relying on the medicine of bodhicitta all the diseases of defilement are cured. So in all the world it is definite that there is no other medicine like this.
287 Even if you are sorely pressed by an unbearable sickness, try hard to meditate on bodhicitta, just as those who are suffering from intense heat go over ice-cold water in their minds.
288 If you want wandering living beings equal to space to be happy, treat bodhicitta as important. If you want to be of use to wandering living beings equal to space, treat bodhicitta as important.
289 Except that they rely on bodhicitta, no buddha ever was, is, or will be. Therefore, those who want to attain buddhahood obtain its bodhicitta seed.
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291 With With With With
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292 Even for the supreme sage, it was difficult to please every living being. But if one comes to have bodhicitta, almost everyone will come to be pleased.
293 If one really does have a mind to be a Mahayanist, then one should produce the bodhicitta that has not been produced and never let what has been produced degenerate:
294 In general, a virtuous thought atises only with difficulty; even more difficult than that is the beginning of the Buddhist path;40 yet more difficult is the arising of precious bodhicitta; nevertheless, one generates it by making an effort.
295 Mahayana bodhicitta arises from long and continued meditation on affection for whom one loves and compassion and so on, just as a seedling arises when all of its causes are brought together.
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296 If one is in possession of bodhicitta it is fine if one is sick, fine if one is dying, fine if one is studying, and fine if one is meditating; one seems to be fine no matter what one is doing.
297 If one has become habituated to this bodhicitta, what wrong would one not have abandoned? What good would one not have done? Enthusiastically strive to meditate upon it.
298 If one is without the vital juice of bodhicitta, one cannot even enter the Mahayana.41 If such is the case, how will one get to the supreme stage of buddhahood?
299 It is hard for bodhicitta to arise in a mindstrearn ever disturbed by afflictive emotions, just as it is [hard] for the hundred-petaled lotus to arise in a place with no marshlands. 300
When a foundation of bodhicitta has been laid down terrible wrongdoing is naturally stopped. All wholesome activity comes into one's hands; one is free from anxiety and panic and comes to be stable. 301
The life of a person who has not taken up bodhicitta is without purpose, like the hope of reaping a harvest without having planted a seed in the ground.
The jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta
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302 [The tiny bugs· that] go round in circles hover over the delicious taste released by the lotus. Those seeking liberation enthusiastically enter the hundred-petaled lotus of bodhicitta. 303 The total wealth of expert poets lies in their exceptional figures of speech. Similarly, the total wealth of holy beings lies in precious bodhicitta. 304 Amongst medicines, the victory medicine. Amongst jewels, the wish-fulfilling gem. Amongst flowers, the white lotus. Amongst virtuous minds, bodhicitta. 305 With With With With
bodhicitta one functions as a spiritual master. bodhicitta one progresses along the levels and paths. bodhicitta one applies oneself to the needs [of self and others]. bodhicitta one reaches the knowledge of all modes of meditation.
306 What merit is there not made, what wisdom is there not produced by one who makes every effort to keep Mahayana bodhicitta?
307 The bodhicitta of the Victor's children, which is the ground of my own and others' wealth, puts to shame even the jewel that is tied into a royal topknot.
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308 Wherever the great goodness of the bodhicitta jewel pendant is found, that place becomes more special [than other places], like those places where our supreme teacher stayed. 309 Motivated by bodhicitta, whatever activity one sets out to perform, it is all virtuous. The branches, flowers, and fruit that come
from the seed of a medicinal [plant] are all good. 310 Authoritative scripture and logical reasoning make clear that the benefits of the precious supreme bodhicitta jewel are infinite. 3II It is bad enough if one's morality degenerates, but it is even worse if bodhicitta declines. The result of the former is heaven, but the result of the latter is enlightenment.
312 Those whose mindstreams have been moistened by continually caring deeply about bodhicittawho could prevent them from going from joy to joy? 313 Something material does not have the capacity to give a buddha's enlightenment. For that reason the wish-fulfilling gem is not worthy of being an example of bodhicitta.
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314 It is true that a giant elephant attracts other elephants and that wealth attracts wealth.
But bodhicitta attracts everything that is glorious in the world and in the state of peace. 315 To be without bodhicitta and yet to feel oneself a Mahayanist is like getting rid of all one's wealth and yet thinking oneself to be rich. 316 Who would not like the gaze that bodhicitta makes one cast on every living beingthe finest, the lowest, and those in-betweenlike the gaze of a mother on her son? 317 Those who are proclaimed as the greatest gods in existence-Brahma, Vi~I).U, and Indra-do they have bodhicitta, the source of all benefit and happiness? 318 At the sight of this supreme bodhicitta that delights the buddhas and bodhisauvas, the moon that revels in the thought that it brings pleasure to all must go scurrying across the sky. 319 Like the moon, camphor, and white sandalwood when they have come together in a certain place, this bodhicitta cools things down, since it removes the pain of afflictive emotions.
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320 The nectar of bodhicitta, when it trickles down the throat of a living being, produces joy in the mind like that produced by divine ambrosia. 321 In terms of the division ofbodhicitta, there are four kinds [ofbodhisattvas]: the faultless ones, the ones practicing activities, the ones for whom only one life remains [before enlightenment], and the ones in their last existence. 322 Those who are attached to the taste of the pleasures of the five senses have difficulty even to make a wish for the supreme taste of bodhicitta. 323 What is the common moon in the sky when compared to this bodhicitta moon, this lovely, rounded orb of love with pity written on its face?42 324 It makes sense for those who have a firm intention to be liberated from all bonds and to obtain immutable happiness to hang on to bodhicitta.
325 If you want If you want If you want If you want
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326 If the protector [the enlightened one] did not fully describe [all] the greatnesses of bodhicitta, how could [they be expressed] by the likes of worldly beings, sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and the supreme aryas? 327 Bodhicitta benefits the low. Bodhicitta benefits the mediocre. Bodhicitta benefits the finest. Is it not the case that bodhicitta is of benefit to all? 328 If one has gained the ability to live without any food except bodhicitta, what need is there of the other abilities to live without food?43 Who, having seen the moon in the sky, would ever seize on the [reflection of the] moon in water as having an essence? 329 The splendor of the bliss of bodhicitta eclipses, as does the sun a firefly, the worldly happiness of a cakravartin emperor, of lndra, or of Brahma and so on, no matter how much it may be. 330 The bodhicitta pollen produced in the hundred-petaled lotus of compassion that is watered by the river of love is inexorably compelling to the fortunate bumble bees. 331 Since there never has been, never will be, and there is not now any enlightened being independent of bodhicitta, it is proper to always respectfully attend to it.
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332 If one gets rid of the river, how would fish ever get a chance at life? If one gets rid of bodhicitta, how would one get complete enlightenment, even if one wanted it?
333 Just as the ecstatic song of the messenger of spring44 delights all those with ears to hear, bodhicitta-moistened speech brings joy to the ear. 334 A virtue connected with bodhicitta increases right up until knowledge of all modes of meditation, just as the phase of the waxing moon keeps on increasing more and more.
335 What is a scholar if devoid of bodhicitta? What is a noble person if devoid of bodhicitta? What is a decent person if devoid of bodhicitta? [Not much,] so cherish the possession ofbodhicitta. 336 Who would rate highly being graced by many good qualities
if deficient in bodhicitta? Who would rate highly their body and face, though beautiful to look at, if there was something wrong with their eyes?
337 The practices for the supreme conventional bodhicitta are exchanging self for others and so on. The practice for the supreme ultimate bodhicitta is meditation on emptiness.
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338 When you walk, walk with bodhicitta. When you sit, sit with bodhicitta. When you stand, stand with bodhicitta. When you sleep, sleep with bodhicitta. 339 When you look, look with bodhicitta. When you eat, eat with bodhicitta. When you speak, speak with bodhicitta. When you think, think with bodhicitta.
340 If within one is bereft of bodhicitta, what is the use even if one behaves beautifully? If within one is bereft of bodhicitta, what is the use even if one spouts scriptures and reasoning?
341 Just as an elephant scorched by the sun descends into a lotus pond, those with mental wealth naturally immerse themselves in the bodhicitta sea.
342 Who could assen that there is a measurable extent to the goodness of bodhicitta? It would be like measuring space with a ruler or weighing out the ocean with a cup.
343 For those holy beings who possess complete bodhicitta, be they happy or even sad, they do not change.
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hear about is bodhicitta. explain is bodhicitta. look into is bodhicitta. meditate on is bodhicitta.
345 What thing to be abandoned is not abandoned with bodhicitta? What thing to be attained is not attained with bodhicitta? What act of benefit to others is not done with bodhicitta? What act of personal benefit is not done with bodhicitta? 346 Bodhicitta propels one to the level of complete enlightenment, just as virtuous karma propels certain living beings to a high rebirth. 347
The buddhas and the bodhisattvas praise bodhicitta again and again. Since this is the case, those who want good for themselves should hold on to bodhicitta. There is no doubt about it. 348 Having seen that I myself and all wandering beings equal to space want happiness and do not want suffering, with the awareness that self and other are equal one should meditate on bodhicitta continually. 349 Ignoring the accomplishment of one's own selfish aims and enthusiastically taking on the accomplishment of the aims of others, make an effort to unite with your mindstream the bodhicitta that cherishes others more than one's self.
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350 Thinking with bodhicitta that [living beings] are like one's father or mother, relatives or friends, wife or child, in every case become absorbed in the notion of joyfully helping [them]. 351 A fine being with complete bodhicittahow would such a person even for a moment eagerly embrace self-interest that is akin to poison? 352 Meditate on the supreme conventional bodhicitta
by means of exchanging self for others and so on. Meditate on the supreme ultimate bodhicitta by means of the wisdom free from extremes and so on. 353 However many good qualities have been
expressed by all those skilled in languages, they can hardly find room to vie with even a fraction of bodhicitta. 354 Since bodhicitta is what causes one to obtain the unequaled stage that is situated neither at the extreme of sarp.sara nor at the extreme of nirvat)a, my friends, it would be good to value it highly. 355 I have explained this practice of bodhicitta in order to familiarize my mind with it. If there is any part that is in error with regard to it,
before the buddhas and bodhisattvas I confess it.
Tht ]twt/ Lamp: A Praist of Bodhicitta
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356 Should there be any good from this litde composition that has taken supreme bodhicitta as its point of departure, I pray that bodhicitta will be born in the mindstreams of my mother [living beings] who are equal to space.
This jewel Lamp: A Praise ofBodhicitta was composed by Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen in Varana5i, India.
Tht ]ewtl Lamp: A Praiu of Bodhicitta
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TRANSLATOR'S
DEDICATION
That such a man as I, born in a place without this golden sun, could find this path to happiness defies all thought. That it might be is totally the work of Khunu Lama and my perfect friends. May all the good that comes from this be loaded on a bodhicitta ship to soon set sail across the world and dock in every creature's heart.
Translated by Thubten Thardo with Lozang Gyatso sexplanation ofdifficult verses in Dharamsala, India, in I993 at the urging of Wendy Finster and Patricia Donelly. Revised, edited, and annotated in I997 with help from Sara McClintock, john Dunne, and Samten Chhosphel.
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NoTEs
Nom from Introduction The information in this brief life history of Khunu Rinpoche is mainly taken &om the excellent mDzad rnam and rNnam thar thar pa'i them skas by Ngodup Gasha (1989, no place, 1000 printed). The author, who combines the best of traditional and modern biographical techniques, also says (p.78) that he is called Ang Rup and that he has published a Hindi translation of The ]t!Wt!l Lamp, which I have not consulted. Ngodup Gasha lists the following as the sources for his biographies: 1) The transcript of a corrected tape-recorded account by Khunu Rinpoche of his life and work in answer to a request by an American teacher in Kathmandu (1972); 2) Notes taken by the author while questioning Rig2in Tenpa, a learned Khunu scholar three years older than Khunu Lama, about the latter in Bodh Gaya (1979); 3) The remembrances/ideas of an educated Khunu man, Bhagat Singh, in the form of a rough list, ofKhunu Rinpoche's life (no date}; 4) A "Remembrance" by Lahauli Tashi Paljor in Dad bstod os pa'i ne gi rin po che (Delhi, August 1978}; 5) Sohan La! Sharma, Ne gi rin po che'i ngo sprod mdor bsdus. In Vidya-bharati, Haryana government information office (1986); 6) Roshan La! (Khu nu ba)'s Byang chub sems dpa' bstan 'dzin rgyal mtshan lags kyi ngo sprod 'dus pa. Given at a scholars' conference in Kye long (July 1986); 7) Mention made by Khunu Rinpoche to Ngodup Gasha at breaks in teaching.
1
In the following excerpt from one of Khunu Rinpoche's alphabet teaching poems, the underlined words in the English translation correspond to the beginning of a new line in the Tibetan version, where the first letter of each word is a successive letter in the Tibetan alphabet. This section teaches from the ninth letter "ta" to the sixteenth letter "rna" of the Tibetan alphabet: 1
''Taking refuge from the bottom of ~y heart in the tathiigatas [out oflove for]living beings who, relative to ordinary appearance (tha mal snang), seem as my aged mother, [I make the decision that] from today on (da nas) girding on the armor of great compassion for them, which I will never take off, I will cause to arise that bodhicitta that will liberate them from the sicknesses (na), old age, death and so on that they will suffer-a bodhicitta that is just like the brilliantly white god/planet SJWa (pa ba sangs); and the limll!m (pha mtha) spiritual practices of the bodhisattvas I shall weave like a spider web (ba rgya), without concern for body or even life, I shall practice as a great vehicle (ma ha ya na) free from attachment. • Ngodup Gasha lisrs the following editions of The jewel Lamp: x) Published when raught by Khunu Rinpoche in Sarnath to a large group, no date; 2) Published by the Dalai Lama's
l
Notes
147
sisterTsering Dolma in 1966; 3) Published on behalf ofBhagti A. S. Ranga when he was very young; 4) Published by A.S. Ranga pa Hu kum sen and Lid pa Tsewang Norbu, joint sponsors of an edition dated 1985 (wood-ox female) on the occasion of a Kalacakra initiation in Bodh Gaya; 5) Ngodup Gasha's Hindi translation, no date. I have not been able to locate the first, undated edition in this list, or any edition published prior to 1966. • The Sanskrit word bodhisattva has many meanings. Sometimes, the word specifically refers to Siddhartha (the Buddha-to-be) after his great renunciation. In other cases, it refers to any being (sattva} who is "intent on" the state of enlightenment (bodhi}. The word bodhi comes from the Sanskrit root, budh, ("to wake up" and "to blossom"), which also gives us the word buddha. An enlightened being is buddha ("awakened") because he has cut the continuum of ignorance, like a being who has awakened from sleep. And an enlightened being is buddha ("opened") because perfect knowledge has destroyed the state of being tightly squeezed shut and has opened awareness to what is to be known, like the petals of a fully blossomed lotus. s P~rftct Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lin~s, trans. Edward Conze, (Devon: Buddhist Publishing Group, 1983), p. 84.
Notes ftom VI!Tses 1 The "threefold analysis" is the analysis of a doctrine to make sure 1) that it is not contradicted through direct perception; 2) that it is not contradicted through inferential reasoning; and 3) that it is internally consistent.
The eight special attributes of the Buddha according to the Ratnagotravibhiiga are 1) fulfillment of one's own purpose by being 2) unmade, 3) totally spontaneous and non-motivated, and 4) in a state words and ideas are not equal to; and 5) fulfillment of others' pur-
2
poses by having 6) wisdom, 7) compassion, and 8) ability. The eight special attributes of the Dharma according to the Ratnagotravibhiiga are I) being a true cessation and hence 2) inconceivable, 3) non-dual, and 4) without concep-
3
tions; and 5) being a true path and hence 6) pure, 7) illuminating, and 8) an antidote. 4
The eight special realization and freedom attributes of the Sangha according to the
Ratnagotravibhiiga are r) having realization and hence 2) knowing how things are, 3) knowing what there is, and 4) having inner knowledge; and 5) freedom from 6) defilements, 7) impediments to meditative absorption, and 8) a lesser path. 5 The goddess Sarasvati is said to reside in the throats of poers, like a Muse.
The "knowledge of all modes of meditation" (tib. rnam pa thams cad mkhyen pa; Skt sarviikiirajfzattt} is the omniscience, or knowledge of the one hundred and sevenry-three aspects of the path, of a fully awakened buddha mentioned in the Perftct Wisdom siitras.
6
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VAST AS THE HEAVENS
The "form-body" is the body or collection of forms of a buddha that are accessible to living beings who have the good fortune to perceive them.
7
8
The "Vietor" is the Buddha; the "children" are bodhisattvas.
9
The parijataka tree is one of five heavenly, wish-fulfilling trees.
10 The white water lily (Skt. kumuda) is said to open only at night, by the light of the moon. The sun's rays cause it to close.
11 The term "non-abiding nirva~a" indicates that a fully awakened buddha is utterly free from S3J11Sira, yet due to compassion has nor entered into a more restricted form of nitv~a that precludes continued activiry within the world.
12
Ketaka is a semi-precious stone said to keep Lake Baikal, in Buriatia, ever clear.
"Surpassing intention" refers to the feeling of personal responsibiliry to bring all living beings ro the stage of buddhahood. 13
14
"High status" is birth as a god or human.
1'
"The highest good" is liberation or buddhahood.
"two chains" may refer either to karma and kkia, or alternatively to the two obstructions, k/eitivara!lfl and jeytivara~ 16 The
17
A "cakravartin emperor" rules the universe.
18 The "four opponent powers" are 1) a personal ethical standard; 2) regret due to having slipped from that standard; 3) resolve ro keep the standard in the future; and 4) a religious act ro specifically counteract the fall.
19 The translation of this verse remains conjecture; it may refer to the subdivision of bodhisarrvas in terms of rhe ten bodhisattva levels. See also verse 321.
20 The present Dalai Lama explains that the production of the thought is bodhicitta itself, while the six perfections, tantra, and the various meditative states are its result.
21 The term "paradise" here refers to a buddha-field, a pure land that a bodhisattva cultivates and makes manifest through the power of his or her vows. This pure land then becomes a place where other wandering living beings can take rebirth and practice, facilitating their progress on their path to enlightenment.
22
A cakravartin emperor possesses seven precious items that must always accompany him
Notu
149
wherever he goes: a wheel, a jewel, a queen, a minister, an elephant, a horse, and a general. The "three sufferings" are actual suffering, states that turn into suffering, and life as a process of decay.
23
24 The "seven-limbed practice" consists of prostrations, offerings, confession, rejoicing in good, requesting teachings, requesting the teacher not to die, and dedication of merit.
25
For the meaning of "high status" and "highest good" see notes 18 and 19.
A bodhisattva with king-like bodhicitta first attains enlightenment and then helps others to do so. A bodhisattva with ferryman-like bodhicitta attains enlightenment at the same time as others; and a bodhisattva with shepherd-like bodhicitta is the last to gain enlightenment, after all other beings have got there ·first. 26
Some praryekabuddhas, called "group-worker" (Tib. tshog.r spyod; Skt. vargaciirin) accumulate merit until the path of seeing; others, called "rhinoceros" (Tib. s~ ru; Skt. khadga) accumulate merit until the path of preparation. 27
28 The
Ornammt is the Abhisamayiila1f1kiira by Ajita Maitreya.
In the 1959 diary, the last line of this verse (recorded on June 3rd) is "The ultimate is emptiness free from elaboration."
29
In the 1959 diary, the first line of this verse (recorded on June 6th) reads, "Amongst happinesses, the end of craving is the [true] happiness."
30
31 The
"channels, winds, and drops" are the components of the subtle body that one meditates on and learns to manipulate during tantric meditation practice. The "view of the perishable aggregates" (Tib. Jig tshog.r Ia Ita ba; Skt. satkayad.T'!fl) is the wrong view that sees a permanent, single self in what changes moment by moment and is a collection.
32
The five skandhas or "heaps" are the one physical and four mental aggregates that define the person as devoid of self.
33
"trichiliocosm" (tib. stong g.rum; Skt. trisahasra) is comprised of a thousand times a thousand times a thousand universes the size of our own.
34 The
The "three baskets" are the Siitra, Vinaya, and Abhidharma collections of texts in the Buddhist canon.
35
36
150
The "five [non-Buddhist] schools of philosophy" are the Sarpkhya, Lokayatana,
VAST AS THJ!
HEAVENS
Vaise~ika,
Nyaya, and Jaina schools. Or, alternatively, they are the Sa111khya, Yoga, Nyaya,
Vais~ika, and Mima111sa schools.
37
The "path of no more learning" is the final stage on the path to enlightenment.
Samantabhadra is the bodhisattva whose aspirations are recorded at the end of the last book of the Avatarruaka Siitra, called the Garztf.avyiiha Sutra.
38
39
The present Dalai Lama usually uses a ritual composed by Atisa based on the
Bodhisattvabhiimi. 40
Literally, "that which aids liberation" or "that which is in accord with liberation" (Tib.
thar pa cha mthun; Skt. mok,abhiigiya), this refers to the beginning of the Buddhist path, the path of accumulation. 41
See previous note.
Literally, "with compassion in the shape of a deer as its marking." In Indian poetics, the moon is often referred to as "marked with a deer," since poets felt that the moon's markings had the shape of a deer.
42
The "ability to live without food" or, literally, "getting the essence" (Tib. bcud len; Skt. rasiiyana), is a yogic practice whereby one abandons eating food and instead survives on a
43
small dosage of a special elixir, which is sometimes taken in the form of tiny pills. 44
The "messenger of spring" is the cuckoo.
Notes
151
