Читать книгу The Four Seals of the Dharma - Lama Khenpo Karma Ngedön - Страница 8

This book is not intended for the individual who seeks happiness through sensory pleasures in this life alone. This teaching is for those people on a quest for nirvana and an authentic practice to reach it. Therefore, I have particularly focused on the reflection concerning impermanence and renunciation of samsara. These two notions constitute both the point of departure and the essential strength of the journey to nirvana for sincere practitioners who wish to enter this path.

The term renunciation indicates the necessity of renouncing the creation of causes that inevitably result in suffering. This is the path that the Buddha and the authentic masters of the past followed and applied.

During the teaching that I gave in Vic,¹ due to a lack of time, I was unable to cite sutras and shastras or to explain them in detail. I preferred to give a rational presentation of the topic—in other words a logic-based one.

To dissipate the doubts of readers who may ask themselves if qualified masters taught renunciation and impermanence and if they are truly necessary to reach nirvana or enlightenment, I offer several complementary, trustworthy sources here.

In The Sutra on Establishing Mindfulness² it is stated:

In samsara, you will never find

Even an ounce of happiness.

The Buddha also said³:

To meditate persistently on impermanence is to make offerings to all the Buddhas.

To meditate persistently on impermanence is to be rescued from suffering by all the Buddhas.

To meditate persistently on impermanence is to be guided by all the Buddhas.

To meditate persistently on impermanence is to be blessed by all the Buddhas.

Of all footprints, the elephants’s are outstanding;

Just so, of all subjects of meditation for a follower of the Buddhas, the idea of impermanence is unsurpassed.

Maitreya⁴:

Just as there are no good smells in a cesspit,

There is no happiness among the five classes of beings.5

Guru Rinpoche:

It is said that in this samsara there is not as much

As a pinpoint’s worth of happiness to be found.

But should one happen to find just a little,

It will contain the suffering of change.6

Jetsün Milarepa:

In short, without awareness of death

All Dharma practice is useless.

The master of Mahamudra, Gampopa, said:

The suffering that leads to disgust for the cycle of existences

must be seen as a spiritual master.

Nagarjuna:

Accumulating wealth, protecting it, and using it is exhausting.

So understand that it is the source of endless problems!

Gyelse Thogme Zangpo in The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas7:

The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to leave behind one’s homeland,

Where our attachment to family and friends overwhelms us like a torrent,

While our aversion towards enemies rages inside us like a blazing fire,

And delusion’s darkness obscures what must be adopted and abandoned.

The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to take to solitary places,

Avoiding the unwholesome, so that destructive emotions gradually fade away,

And, in the absence of distraction, virtuous practice naturally gains strength;

Whilst, with awareness clearly focused, we gain conviction in the teachings.

Atisha:

So long as you have not established stability

Distractions will harm your practice.

Abide in the solitude of forests and mountains.

Far from disturbing activities, you can thus fully devote yourself to Dharma practice,

And at the moment of death, you will have no remorse.

Manjushri’s teachings on mind training, called Freeing Oneself from the Four Attachments, state:

If you are attached to this life, you are not a Dharma practitioner.

If you are attached to the cycle of existences, you are not a renunciant.

If you are attached to your own benefit, you have not manifested enlightened mind.

If attachment persists, you are not endowed with the view.

The Four Dharmas of Gampopa constitute a concise instruction for practicing Mahamudra:

Grant your blessing so that my mind may become one with the Dharma.

Grant your blessing so that Dharma may progress along the path.

Grant your blessing so that the path may clarify confusion.

Grant your blessing so that confusion may dawn as wisdom.

In The Supplication to the Past Lineage of the Mahamudra, the Kagyü master Bengar Jampel⁸ also says:

It is taught that detachment is the legs of meditation.

Accord the great meditator who has cut off the bonds of this life—

Without desire for food or wealth—

The grace of indifference to gain and honor!

We can also cite The Chapters Stated with Intention9:

All that is living is impermanent and disappears at the moment of death;

All that is accumulated is impermanent and ends by dissipating;

All that is composite is impermanent and ends by separating;

All that is built is impermanent and ends by collapsing;

All that rises is impermanent and ends by descending;

Friend and enemy; happiness and suffering; good and bad;

All thoughts that cross the mind—everything is impermanent.

In short, if we truly want to obtain stable happiness—profound inner tranquility; perfect peace—we must take great care of the causes that lead to it:

Ethical humanism.

Nonviolence.

Contentment.

Confidence in the law of karma and the Three Jewels.

Moral ethics.

Impermanence.

These elements give meaning to our lives and are essential for accomplishing all spiritual practice. Without them, it is difficult to attain nirvana.

When we abide in a nonviolent state—ahimsa¹⁰—hostility around us ceases.

When we speak only truthful words, listeners adopt our point of view.

The precious gems of positive qualities accumulate around those whose honesty is unshakeable.

If we respect moral ethics, shila,¹¹ in all circumstances, we obtain spiritual strength.

Supreme happiness is the fruit of contentment.

When we trust in the law of karma and we respect it, our life goes from positive circumstance to positive circumstance.

When love and compassion bloom within us, all beings are dear to us.

When we develop pure thoughts, we purify that which is harmful.

The Buddha said:

Give up harmful actions;

Practice virtue tirelessly;

Cultivate a balanced state of mind;

This is the Buddha’s teaching.

1 This book is the result of teachings given by Khenpo Ngedön at the Buddhist center Karma Txöpel in Vic, Catalonia, Spain on May 26 and 27, 2012.

2 sangs rgyas bcom Idan ‘das. dran pa nye bar gzhag pa bzhi bstan pa, [The Sutra on Establishing Mindfulness]. Biollet: Kundreul Ling, Undated.

3 Patrul Rinpoche, Padmakara Translation Group. The Words of My Perfect Teacher [rdzogs pa chen po klong chen snying tig gi sngon ‘gro’i khrid yig kun bzang bla ma’i zhal lung zhes bya ba zhugs so]. Boston: Shambala Publications, 1999, P. 54.

4 Patrul Rinpoche, previously cited Footnote 3, p.137.

5 We count five states of existence (instead of six) when not distinguishing the demigods from the gods.

6 Patrul Rinpoche, previously cited Footnote 3, p.137.

7 Zangpo, Gyelse Thogme. “The 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas.” Lotsawa House. https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/gyalse-thogme-zang-po/37-practices-all-bodhisattvas. December 3, 2019.

8 Zangpo, Bengar Jampel. Sgrub brgyud rin po che’i phreng ba kar+ma kA tshang rtogs pa’i don brgyud las byung ba’i gsung dri ma me dpa rnams bkod nas ngag ‘don rgyun khyer gyi rim pa ‘phags lam bgrod pa’i shing rta [The Supplication to the Past Lineage of the Mahamudra]. Biollet: Kundreul Ling, Undated.

9 Sangs rgyas bcom ldan ‘das. ched du brjod pa’i tshoms (Udānavarga) [The Chapters Stated with Intention]. Publisher Unknown, Undated.

10 Ahimsa means nonviolence in Sanskrit.

11 Shila means moral ethics in Sanskrit.