Читать книгу The Buddha Book: Buddhas, blessings, prayers, and rituals to grant you love, wisdom, and healing - Lillian Too - Страница 25

1 Having the right understanding

2 Having the right aspiration

3 Having the right speech

4 Having the right conduct

5 Having the right livelihood

6 Making the right effort

7 Developing mindfulness

8 Developing concentration.

Today Buddhists of all traditions strive to keep Buddha’s teachings uncorrupt and true to the original texts. Tibetan Buddhists are especially mindful that the words of Buddha can be traced back to their original source, since they have been carefully passed on from one realized master to another over hundreds and thousands of years. It is for this reason that teachings given by highly realized beings, such as the high lamas of Tibet or the master abbots of Buddhist temples in China, are considered so valuable. Like a bright lamp guiding us on a dark night, Buddha’s words hold out the promise of permanent happiness and eternal bliss.

For many centuries, sacred texts containing the secret teachings of Buddha were carefully preserved in Tibet. The country and its beliefs were protected by high mountains, and the Buddhism of Tibet – the Mahayana and Vajrayana schools, which hold out the promise of enlightenment within a single lifetime – florished. The invasion of Tibet by China in 1959 forced the Dalai Lama to flee the Land of Snows. Many high lamas followed him into exile, bringing with them precious teachings, valued lineages, and secret rituals and practices, which they are now sharing with the people of the world.

From the reincarnated high lamas – living buddhas and yogis – we can learn the meditations that will bring the highest purpose into our lives. We can learn to meditate on the Lam-Rim: the graduated path to enlightenment, the step-by-step way to attaining a peaceful and contented heart. But such a heart does not emerge suddenly. It comes from deep understanding, contentment, and genuine love, caused by overcoming greed, hostility, and ignorance. If you are to make spiritual commitment the center of your life, painstaking determination is required.

Transforming our rough, materialistic, and self-cherishing minds into the gentle and immeasurably kind heart of compassion is a long and winding road. For in truth we are embarking on the spiritual path to become saints and sages. We are, in effect, seeking the perfection of wisdom. Buddha knows that it is a hard journey. He has been through the process, so he sends emanations in earthly form to guide us, teach us, pick us up, and occasionally hold our hand.

Prayer flags hung in the wind adorn Buddhist monasteries. The flags send blessing energy in all ten directions, bringing purification and dissolving life’s obstacles.