Sun Radiance: Thought Transformation, 7 November 1989, part 1

Yeah. We will meditate for about three minutes trying to transform our present attitude of mind into that of our bodhicitta, the motivation, thinking, in order to remove the suffering of the sentient beings and in order to lead them or place them place them to a happiness, excellent happiness where there’s no suffering. In order to do that, I must firstly try to attain a state completely free of all the faults and complete with all the excellent qualities. And to attain that state, firstly, I must do a study of the great vehicle path for which purpose here I will engage in the practice or in the activity of listening to these teachings. So try to think that and generate the motivation of bodhicitta, the enlightenment mind, for three minutes.

In the root text of the thought training, the lines goes like this. Giving and taking should be trained combinedly and firstly the training on giving and taking should be started from taking and taking should start from one’s own. Anyway, it will be explained. So the meaning of that verse explains firstly the term the term thought training in Tibetan. So thought in here refers to the mind and so far from beginningless time our mind has been very much under the influence of influence of the bad directions in doing bad things and that’s where our mind has been.

And now in this whole practice under the category called thought training lojong, here one tries to train one’s mind, train one’s mind not to be influenced toward bad direction, instead try to train one’s mind in coming towards good direction. And that’s what I call in that’s in short what’s meant by lojong, thought training, training one’s mind to come to good direction. The mind which is directed toward good, the good mind is like a pure water and bad mind, mind directed toward bad things, is like impure water. So good water or pure water in this case is water which is free of filth and which has some sort of what are called medicinal features or ingredients and helps improve ones, help cure some disease and so forth. Whereas, impure water contains poisonous stuff and is full of filth.

And when you drink it, it makes you feel with suffering, sickness, pain, and so forth. So now, as in the case of water, in order to have a good drinking, one will first try to purify the water and then have a good water pure and then drink it same. Here in this training the principle aim is to get the mind free of all the impurities and try to make pure. And that’s in short this whole practice is about. The whole practice is called thought training.

That’s what it’s about. The mind which is with fault is the self-cherishing mind, and that’s the direction our mind since the beginning of this time up to now has been towards. And the mind which is with good qualities is the mind cherishing others and that is the mind which we haven’t had so far. And that is the mind which we are here trying to generate, get born in our mind stream by trying to do our meditations on the thought of cherishing others. And by doing meditations and all the required And this also is another angle of looking at what the training, what the practice of thought training is about.

And at the moment with this, when we try to do practice, trying to generate the thought of cherishing others, it’s quite difficult. The self-cherishing mind seems to be more dominant and the mind cherishing others, it’s weak with us and when we try to generate it, it becomes so difficult. And that’s because we have been so used to the self-cherishing mind and haven’t had any familiarization with thought of cherishing others. Now, here there is a special technique or practice called giving and taking. And this giving and taking is principally a means for the practitioner to have that thought cherishing other become more powerful.

So in meaning saying, because it’s so difficult with us to be able to generate that thought, we have to apply special means, and that means is this practice called giving and taking, to make the thought cherishing other more powerful in our mind stream and to make the self-cherishing weak. In the main text of these practices called the thought training main basic are technically called the root text. So in the root text the line goes like the giving and taking should be trained combinedly and the order of taking should start from oneself. So that’s the line in the main root text. There in the second line, there in the second line it explains that one should start the practice of taking first and even with regard to the practice of taking first one should start from oneself.

Even though that is what has been explained in the second line but in that same text the first line says the training of giving and taking should be practiced combinedly. So in there, in the first line, the word giving comes first prior to taking, and that’s because in Tibetan wording or in Tibetan, poetical writing, it is much more easier if the word giving is, giving is placed before taking, so it’s just to do with the linguistic linguistic work or style and easiness, but in actual practice one starts the practice with taking and with taking one starts with oneself first. So with the actual practice one starts the practice of giving and taking, from taking and also with oneself. And the reason behind it is quite easy to understand. For example, if one person is very sick and on top of being sick, he is also very hungry.

So in that case, if we try to give some food to the person, it just wouldn’t work out. It just wouldn’t help the person because he is intensely tormented by sickness. So firstly, in that case, we should try to remove his sickness first. And then when he feels quite comfortable, then if you give him food, he can feel the delicious taste and it will serve him to get rid of his hunger. So that’s an example of how the reason behind the practice of taking should be first before the giving.

So with the practice, actual main practice before one does the giving one starts one’s practice with taking. So when one does the practice of taking, so what’s taking and giving will be explained after. So with the practice of taking, firstly before one actually starts the practice of taking, has to work or one has to meditate, means one has to develop a special strength of one’s compassion focused on other sentient beings and having done that then one starts the actual practice of taking and when one does after that when one does the practice of giving with that firstly one has to develop strong special strength of love focused on all other sentient being. And having developed that strong special strength of love, one then actually one then actually starts doing the practice of giving. Why one has to have a special strength of compassion before one does the practice of taking is because normally compassion is the mind by definition.

Compassion is the mind which focuses on the sentient beings who are suffering. And on top of that, compassion is the mind being focused on the sentient beings who are suffering. It is a mind which aspires thinking, may these sentient beings be free of suffering, may these sentient beings be separated from the cause of suffering. So it is the mind which is focused on the sufferings of sentient beings and which aspires that sentient beings be free of the cause of suffering and the suffering itself. So therefore with the taking practice or with a special force of compassion focused on sufferings of sentient beings, when one does the actual practice of taking, one does in visualization the practice of taking the sufferings as well as the causes of sufferings of other sentient beings upon oneself.

When one does that practice, if one who is doing this practice, if that person is not mentally very strong willed, then it is quite what I call quite a threatening thing, feeling, because person might actually feel or he might get a doubt, oh, if I do this practice, the sufferings may actually happen on me. The sufferings could actually be upon me, could come to me thinking that way. Wouldn’t you be frightened? So as one is actually what called taking the sufferings together with the causes of suffering of all other sentient beings upon oneself, therefore, one really has to have a strong willpower to be able to have a willingness to receive the sufferings. Therefore, as Rinpoche explained in the earlier teachings, that these practices especially are recommended for a bodhisattva who is of sharp faculty and who is of very strong courage.

Because for a bodhisattva who is of a very weak courage and not very determined in willpower, for them, they really get a feeling of fear and they also feel uneasiness when they do this practice. They’re thinking, oh, it could really happen to me. Therefore, one has to have a strong willpower. And for a bodhisattva who is strong willed, for them, when doing this practice, they feel more joy, you know, because they they actually work or think, or because my purpose is to remove other sufferings. Therefore, I am actually doing the actual act.

So for them, it’s a matter of how much more they can receive that much more joy they get. You all shouldn’t be afraid in doing these practices. You should try to train continuously in these practices because there are inconceivable amounts of benefits in doing these practices and it’s because that there are inconceivable benefit that all the bodhisattvas so far have willingly practiced these trainings and have seen that it’s something worthwhile to practice. So among you, those who are able to train on these practices and afterward able to draw experiences out of these practices, it’s amazingly good. And for those among you who think, oh, at the moment I can’t do that, then it is very good at least to have a kind of aspiration, rejoicing, and kind of a hope and future that, oh, these people who does such a who do such a wonderful, inconceivable, great practice, They are so good.

And may I be able to follow like that sometime in future. And with that sort of what call hope, do as much prayers as you can. Now what Rinpoche, what I call, has been explaining about these things need for no need to be afraid and have a kind of willingness to do is because because afterward in this session, there will be explanation about how one has to do the practice of taking. So at that point, it’s possible you might be feeling a bit uneasy and afraid and so forth. And regarding the actual practice of taking, there is one skillful means by which one does this taking practice, and that is to start the taking practice from oneself.

And that is why in the actual root text, the second line says the order of taking should start from oneself. That’s because when we are supposed to be taking the what are called sufferings and causes of sufferings of others, it is quite what I call quite a quite a practice where one might feel uneasiness because in the word other, it includes all sort of people. It includes people who are your relatives, friends, and also who are your enemies and who are neutral strangers. Therefore, it may be quite uneasy feeling to take the sufferings of these three different types of person at the beginning of the taking practice. Therefore this practice is called skillful means where the practitioner starts taking the sufferings of one self and this and in this practice how one does is firstly one takes the sufferings of one’s of possible future sufferings related with one self meaning one does the taking of one’s future sufferings And when one is well trained in this, then one shifts the practice of taking of sufferings and causes of sufferings of one’s parents.

And when one is trained on that, then one does the train, what call, does the taking of the sufferings and causes of suffering of one’s relatives. And then it may be quite more easy to shift to our enemies and strangers, and then finally everybody. There is not anybody who is who hasn’t got what I call love for oneself, meaning there is not anybody who doesn’t who is not concerned about his own interests, well-being. And because of that, the practice of taking is more meaningful and skillful, easier to do if one starts with oneself, taking oneself’s sufferings of next life. So next life is the lives following this life, all the future lives.

And because when we die in this life, there is bound to be next life. It’s not that our, what I call, our whole existence stops at the time of dying. It’s not that. The consciousness has to continue. If it’s a case where when we die everything stops, then there’s no need for doing spiritual practice here in this context, meaning Dharma practice.

But because it is the fact that somehow there will be next life, therefore, as long as there’s next life, there will be what I call actions which we will do, which will bring further our sufferings. And also, as long as there are next lives, there will have to be sufferings of the previous actions. And when we do experience those, then it will somehow will have to be a very intense, real feeling of suffering. Therefore, because it is fact there is next lives and there are suffering. Therefore, in this practice when one does the taking of the suffering as well as the cause of suffering, one starts with one’s future sufferings and causes of suffering being taken upon oneself in visualization on this very lifetime.

As in the next life, there will be suffering, and that suffering will have to be experienced upon that consciousness therefore meaning in next life there will be continuity of consciousness and there will be suffering and that suffering will have to be experienced upon that consciousness therefore it’s just a matter earlier or later that one will have to experience these sufferings of the next lives and it’s almost like saying that one is the same person who is experiencing the suffering. Therefore it may be more meaningful if one does the practice of taking the future lives possible sufferings together with the causes upon oneself in this very life. So this practice is done in this way when one does the inhaling or breathing in, along with that incoming air, one visualizes black black shape or form being entered into oneself and thinking that all one’s future life’s sufferings and their causes are being taken into oneself. And one has the air gone inside, one has to have a decisive feeling. Now I won’t have to have any sufferings and causes of sufferings in next life.

So when one does the what we call practice of taking of future lives causes of sufferings and sufferings together through along with the incoming air upon oneself in this very life, do repeatedly for some what I call fairly enough time, And when one feels that, oh, they practice on that is going fine, then try to do the practice of taking the sufferings and causes of suffering of the time about to die in this life. And when do that for a while. And when that becomes well, then try to shift it to the year prior to your possible dying. And when that work on what’s called when that becomes well, then shift it to next year. So in this case, ‘eighty nine is about to finish.

Now think that you take the sufferings and causes of suffering of yourself, which you might experience in 1990 and take that upon oneself through the incoming air. So in this way, one, what I call, does the taking of one’s causes of suffering and sufferings from long distance getting closer and closer to to the nearest possible time. So when one does these practices of taking one’s suffering and causes of suffering of future lifetimes and next years and then this month and then of the nearest evening time so forth. It is possible to have an attitude, willingness to do these, to have an attitude, willingness to do these practice because we can easily understand that there is personal individual willingness in sacrificing small amount of pain as long as it’s going to result in giving you more comfort afterward for a long duration of time. Suppose, because suppose in the example because one thinks that one will have long rest part of the life in less sickness one is willing to go undergo operations and in the ancient medical treatment one is also willing to let the physician strike the heart, burning hot iron on one’s body to get once cured because one sees, oh, it’s just a small pain because it’s anyway going to make me have a longer life with less sickness.

So it is possible with that sort of So when one’s practice on this taking of this cause of suffering and suffering itself related with oneself of future time, when that becomes when that practice become well, then one shift one’s practice to one’s mother who is the dearest and most kind of all one’s relatives. So one starts taking the sufferings and causes of sufferings of one’s mother of this life. Before doing that, what I call, one try to develop a strong, special strong strength of compassion focused on the sufferings of one’s mother thinking, oh, my mother is in such a miserable state of completely all the causes of sufferings, delusions, and so forth. And she’s in the very realm of cyclic existence all the time, bound to be in suffering. And on the other hand, she has been so kind to me.

Therefore, you know, how wonderful would it be if she is free of all the causes of suffering and suffering. So, therefore, with that thinking, try to generate a strong a special strong strength of compassion try to have it taken upon oneself. And when one does the taking, one thinks that all her suffering and causes of suffering are being taken in into one’s nose in along with the incoming air in the form of a black light. So here it is specified as black light. So coming in the form of black light.

So when they come inside regarding how they should be placed, normally there are one way of placing things. Suppose if somebody brings a thing, might place it in a special place where the things are to be kept. So it’s not like that sort of placing, meaning when one takes the suffering at the time when it is to be arrived at the destination, it’s not like the sufferings and causes of suffering of one’s mother being kept aside apart from one’s body. And also, there is another way of what called being arrived at destination, which is when causes and when cause of the suffering and suffering themselves, when they happen to arrive near one’s person, it disappears. So meaning, there are these two possible mistaken way of thinking at the end how regarding the cause of suffering and suffering of one’s mother should be taken.

So these two are not the proper way to do it. Instead, when one receives the cause of suffering and suffering of one’s mother, one thinks they come in the form of black light, enters, and now this is the point, and when they enters they absorb into the center of one’s heart where there is strong self-cherishing thought to oneself. So at the end, think that those absorbed into one’s self-cherishing thought, which is at the center of one’s heart. Well, if one just visualize the causes of suffering and sufferings of one’s mother, either being placed separate from one’s body or just disappearing when it just comes nearby oneself. If one does those two, then that doesn’t serve the purpose of the practice called thought training because in thought training the principle aim is to get rid of self-cherishing thought and to develop the thought cherishing other.

Therefore, it is most important that at that point one should think that they are the cause of suffering and suffering of one’s mother, that they are absorbed into one’s self-cherishing thought. Because when the self-cherishing thought is what I call, I call pulled, is pulled down with the sufferings and causes of suffering, then it becomes like a kind of a thing which is not to be cherished because sufferings and causes of suffering are something bad. And when one will call have them being mixed with the one’s self-cherishing thought, from that point one will have a start of disliking to the self-cherishing thought. And why it is important to maintain or develop that attitude of not liking to the self-cherishing part is because since beginningless time we have been very much considering the self-cherishing part as one’s friend. And have because of that, we have been very much being led into this repeated cycle of suffering, death, birth, and so forth.

Now we have to look at it as an enemy. And in course of trying to look at it as enemy, this, what I call, visualization is very effective means.