Sun Radiance: Thought Transformation, 14 November 1989, part 1

All other sentient beings apart from yourself are very kind in the sense that they all have been your mother. But still, at present, they are very much in a situation being fully tormented by sufferings. And because of this, at this point, try to try to generate a good altruistic motivation working for their welfare, thinking this way, in order to remove the sufferings of all sentient beings equal to the infinite as equal to the expense of the space, I must firstly do studies on the path through which I must get rid of all the faults and try to cultivate myself to be with all the good qualities. And in trying to achieve that, firstly, I should involve in the listening and the study of the great vehicle path. So try to have that kind of attitude, which is at this point called the mind of enlightenment or bodhicitta.

And in trying to generate that attitude of motivation, we will meditate now for about three minutes. The great compassionate the greatly compassionate teacher Buddha has said in his teachings where a part of it goes like in meaning. And the bodhisattvas, they greatly realize are altruistic, working for altruistic work or motivated, altruistically motivated Buddhist sages working for others. For them they should not try to practice too many things. Instead they should integrate all their practices into one point and if they practice that one point, then that one point’s practice is like a kind of a over encompassing thing as if a person would see a fruit on his palm as clear as that.

So it would be explained. So what’s that one point which encompass everything? That one point is the great loving or compassion. Compassion in the sense that thought wanting to remove the sufferings of others. In the practices of the thought training, especially at the point where it comes to the practice of taking taking and giving, so taking the sufferings of others and giving one’s happiness and virtue to others.

So at this point of especially at the point of taking and giving, one does the practice of taking with a special with a special strength of compassion and one does the practice of giving with a special strength of love, love in the sense of thought wanting to bring happiness to other. So because these two are the special work of point where in the first one it has got to do with the compassion, therefore at this point Rinpoche will explain a little bit more into detail about compassion. So with the special strength of compassion, when one does the taking of the sufferings of all other sentient beings who are one’s mother, one also does the one also does the taking off the causes of suffering of other sentient beings who have been one’s mother. So because it has to be a practice where one especially brings the skillfulness and the strength of compassion. Therefore, compassion at this point means a thought which feels, oh, these sentient beings be free of sufferings.

And this kind of a wanting a situation that the sentient beings be anyway free of suffering is compassion and making a prayer may all these sentient beings be completely free of suffering. This is called a prayer of compassion. And may may myself alone will do that responsibility of removing the sufferings of other sentient beings. That is called the exalted resolve of compassion. And may the may the Lama deity or Lama who is inseparable from deity, may the Lama deity please bless me to have that to have that actually happen, and that is called the supplication of compassion.

So at this point, when one does the taking one does the taking with the compassion having four four qualities. And if one has this compassion having the four qualities, then one will also have the bodhicitta, the enlightenment mind because it has been said in what called the precious garland that its root is the compassion, in that the line has to be understood as meaning it’s being referred to enlightenment mind, that enlightenment mind has its root in compassion. So once a person has an enlightenment mind, then from that moment onward the person becomes a great vehicle practitioner, a Mahāyānist. And as a person become Mahāyānist, a great vehicle practitioner, then he has to do is the practices of the six perfections which are means to purify one’s continuum to be understood as meaning which is to purify one’s bad mind. And then he has to practice the four means of attracting or drawing disciples, which are means to purify the continuum or mind, bad mind of others.

And then he attain enlightenment too after that. So because that Buddhahood that Buddhahood has to attain in a sequence order starting from great compassion, therefore, in that in that quotation just previously cited, it says that that very one or that one point, once a person has the then it is like a clear knowing of things as if a fruit on palm of one’s hand because once a person attain enlightenment too, then one has the all knowing mind by which one sees everything as clearly as a fruit on one’s palm. Once the person has the great compassion then it has been explained in other parts of the teachings of Buddha that once a person has his great compassion, then it is one point or one Dharma or one path into which everything can be included. And how that is to be understood is, for example, it is not now. Nowadays, it doesn’t happen.

But in the path when when humans were of very great fortune, at that time fortune in the sense of being very karmically very lucky. So in the past when humans feel very fortunate at that time in the world, there used to be different kings, and some kings are known as the chakravartin king or sometimes called universal monarch and literally called the wheel-ruling king. So those will ruling king, they used to be a different king. Some king they have a will have a wheel of gold and they’re called the king with the golden wheel. And some king has used to have what I call a silver wheel, and some king used to have a bronze wheel, and it continues.

So the explanation will not be into detail of each of them. Instead, we will just or I could take one out of those different kinds of wheel different kinds of will. So let’s say with the golden wheel, a king with a golden wheel. So literally what they call golden wheel wheel-ruling king, a king who rules by golden wheel. So with that, it would be a case like in the past used to be whenever a king has that wheel, either it be gold, silver, or any kind, then all he all the king has to do is just send ahead the send ahead the wheel up in the space, just throw it, and the wheel would just rotate by itself and would produce a great sound and which would be a great, what I call, source of fear for the enemies that just by mere hearing of the sound of the wheel, the enemies would not be able to approach the king and his four four groups of army.

So four groups of army, they are mainly represented by three, one on cavalry, on horse, and in infantry on on foot, and those on chariots. So these four kinds of a group of groups army would follow the king, but king follows the wheel. So wherever there’s the wheel, all the four along with the king somehow has to follow and they don’t have to do anything, just the wheel by itself conquers all the enemies. So in in the same case here, as long as a person has this great compassion, all of the good qualities of the good qualities of the great vehicle come along due to the force of that compassion. And also another example how everything in the great vehicle path depends down depends on this great compassion is also understood by another example like it is.

The great compassion is like the life organ. So in Tibetan we have a concept that life sustaining power within everybody is itself an organ. So it is this compassion is like a life organ as long as a person has this life organ, then all other organs like eye organ, ear organ, tongue organ, and so forth can remain there. But if that life organ is gone, then all others are also gone along with. So through different kinds of reasonings and examples, we understand that great compassion is really precious as something indispensable on the great vehicle path.

And therefore, in the teachings of Buddha, it has been it has been it has been said the phrase the phrases goes like this one point should be held firmly and this one point should be completely accomplished. So that whole advice is refers to the Bodhisattvas to practice this great compassion. This message has a very special appeal to our way of normal attitude because normally if we, for the first time or for some what I call temporary duration of time when we hear about great compassion and when the teacher emphasizes that, oh, this great compassion is very important, then maybe couple of days, we might hold it as important and perhaps do meditation on it for some days. But after some time, if we happen to be in some other gatherings and if there was a talk about some other thing being more important or being emphasized as being important, then we might leave this great compassion here and do that one. And after some time, if there was another talk somewhere else, somehow emptiness practice is being emphasized, then we might perhaps tend to leave this thing all over again and start that one.

And in this way, whole life is just wasted and nothing being accomplished and just stretching bit bit bit everywhere. In the Lama’s hometown, there used to be a proverb. A two pointed mind does not accomplish its project, and two pointed needle do not sew do not sew. How would you say does not sew? Do not sew.

Yeah. So language I think that’s quite true. In the past, when in Tibet, there used to be the great Indian master called in Tibetan Jowo-je and popularly called by Indian name, Atisha. So when he was in Tibet, he used to what called scold the Tibetan meditators saying, oh, you Tibetans, you meditate on 100 deities and you don’t perfect even with one. And whereas Indians, they meditate on one deity, but they accomplish or they perfect in 100 deities.

So the teacher, Atisha, used to scold like that. For us, maybe whichever single practice to which we feel more inclined, more interested, perhaps take that as our basic principle of practice and don’t leave don’t leave there, don’t give it up. Instead, if there are any other practices you feel like doing, then do all those other practices by mainly being based on that principle one practice. And in that way, whatever practice one does will become powerful and meaningful. So the greatly compassionate Buddha greatly compassionate teacher Buddha has said or advised in that lines that we should integrate our practice in this one point that is of compassion and try to generate it more and more, increase it and what we call integrate all other into this.

So all that emphasis on this great compassion coming from Buddha is because of his great compassion for us sentient beings, and also he advises these all of his experiences which he has gained while he was training. When one has all the four thoughts related with great compassion starting from these sentient beings, they are anyway be separated from suffering. May this being the first, and second, may these sentient beings be free of all the sufferings being the prayer, compassion. And third, may myself alone be responsible or undertake this task of being responsible for removing their suffering, which is called the exalted resolve related with compassion. And may the Lama deity please bless me to actually actually let that happen of being the compassion supplication.

So these four being integrated and focused on one focused object would somehow be so powerful because whole whole, what I call, accommodation of the mind is emphasized or brought into one single focused object. And on top of that, if you are doing it regularly every day, then there will be extra strength or power of that thought because you’re doing it regularly. So in this way, if we have what I call these four related with compassion focused on one particular focused object, then it will some how be very powerful in generating those compassion not born before and those born before to not decline. It’s quite clear with example of our everyday life experiences like there are four people bent on one project, then every day if they focus all the energy, time, everything into accomplishing that project, then somehow within a period of week or month, it will be accomplished. And whereas if we just those four people or if they are added together or split apart, If they just do it one day and leave it next day in a scattered schedule of time, then we understand it won’t it won’t be accomplished.

With the compassion, it’s not just a kind of thought thinking what a pity sentient beings. What a pity sentient beings. What a pity sentient beings are suffering, and may these sentient beings be free of suffering. That itself to have that itself is not what compassion is all about, and that itself does not constitute a powerful practice on compassion. Whereas the actual practice on compassion has to be like your whole existence, which which can be grouped into four activities or four conducts literally called the four conducts, going, standing, sleeping, and sitting.

So these four constitute your whole existence. So actual practice of compassion has to integrate your every aspect of whole four kind of conducts plus eating, drinking, and giving teachings, learning about the path, everything. They all have to integrate it or they all have to be motivated or has to be done with the motivation of compassion. And that’s how the actual practice of compassion means. And if one does that or if one does through that way, then your practice on compassion becomes very vastly vastly effective.

So with this having four qualities, if one work on if one does does the work on informing about the path to other people, giving teachings to other people, and doing the acts of generosity and the other five perfections and doing meditation on emptiness, doing meditation on love, doing meditation on the practice of giving and taking. Everything if one does with the motivation or with the or or through, sorry, through compassion, then that’s how your whole practice from the spiritual point of view is done through compassion. Compassion implying that in all those practices, your basic starting point has to be compassion. So even if you are sleeping, you can sleep through compassion being motivation. And if you are eating food, you can eat food through compassion being motivation.

Everything. So how sleeping can be done through through compassion being motivation is like, oh, I have to I have to remove the sufferings of the sentient beings and place them to place them to the ultimate happiness. And for that purpose, firstly, I have to have a healthy body. My body has to sustain. And in order to have it sustain, I need to sleep a little bit.

So I laugh because in Tibetan, that term little bit is used in a very formal way in this context. So it’s yeah. So for that purpose, I will have to sleep a little bit. So you can sleep like that. And same, in order to remove the sufferings about the sentient beings and to place them to ultimate happiness, Firstly, I have to have a body, which is a live, sustainable body.

And in order to have it sustained, firstly, I must eat food. So in this way, you can do eating or you can eat foods with compassion being motivation. The same one can do meditation on emptiness on emptiness through compassion being the motivation. Like, one can think at the beginning, oh, these sentient beings who have been my mother and so kind to me. But at the moment, they are very much very much roaming, wandering in the whole ocean of misconceptions and misunderstanding, perceiving everything as truly existent whereas it is not truly existent.

Therefore, may these sentient beings somehow somehow have the realization that a realization of perceiving everything as not truly existent. And for that purpose, first, I start with myself. Therefore, you start the meditation on emptiness through compassion. In Tibet, we have a saying, Dharma. So Dharma mean this whole teaching of Buddha, the spiritual path.

And I’m sorry because I think there are some new students in here. So in in Tibet, we have a word called saying that Dharma is like a round brown sugar. So do you have brown sugar here? In India, we have plenty. So Rinpoche was asking if you know.

So in Tibet, we have a saying that Dharma is like a brown round brown sugar. From whichever side you eat, It it all tastes sweet. In the teachings and practice of Buddhist teaching, everything has to be what I call transformed and done and practiced through one’s mind. And from the Dharma’s point of view, there is not anything from its side that it is Dharma. Meaning, there is not anything from Dharma side saying that this is Dharma and this is non Dharma.

It all depends how your mind practices, how your mind holds the attitude. So everything has to be done through one’s mind, and through one’s mind, whatever practice one does, it determines whether one’s practice is dharmic or nondharmic. So with all this understanding as background, if we do the practice of compassion as an integrated single point practice, then how strong it develops that strong we can have the enlightenment mind, bodhicitta. And the work coming out of bodhicitta from compassion will be something automatic, something work on natural, like if you have if you if you plant a seed and if it if the seed is perfect in all its conditions and all the, what I call, all the cooperative factors like the fertilizers and everything, if they’re all on there, then for the sprout to germinate is something a natural process. Even though you may what can you mean?

How much ever you may pray that, oh, may the sprout not germinate may the sprout not germinate, it wouldn’t, what can stop the sprout germinating from the seed. It’s it is a natural process. Want to have the enlightenment mind, bodhicitta, and because why we want it want that is because we want to perfect or we want to accomplish all our interest, welfare, and we want to accomplish the welfare of the sentient beings. So that is possible only if one has has the basic compassion. So everything or everything that is good quality contained in the great vehicle path and also in the inferior vehicle path, they all has to come from that basic compassion.

And to be explained more, easier to understand everything that is good in this world, in this whole universe. We can say that all the good things that we see in the universe, we can say that they all has the root and source in this compassion. So compassion is everything from where all the good qualities in universe sprung from. For example, at this this point or at present, we have attained human body, human rebirth, and we are somehow have sufficient things to eat and fairly good life, comfortable life. So how this bit of how this little bit of a comfort and happiness came from.

We have to say it came from virtuous actions and from where those virtuous action came from. There have been once virtuous action done in the past lives, And from where that happened was because in the past life, we have been able to have we have been able to have the good opportunity to listen to the teachings where a teacher taught us the non virtuous things to be abandoned and virtuous things to adopt and in accordance to the guidance we we work on practice. And therefore, in the past life, it has been a compassionate teacher who has taught us, and that compassionate teacher’s lineage of instructions has to go or or has to originate from the compassionate Buddha who in the first place told everything out of our great compassion. It’s very important that everything starts down to great compassion. We have an instance, an incident in the past, a teacher called Indian teacher called Ārya Asaṇga.

So that teacher Ārya Asaṇga, he meditated on a deity visualization of Maitreya for twelve years. And even though meditating for twelve years, he didn’t have a vision or he didn’t have a mystic vision of the deity Maitreya. But after twelve years of retreat and meditation, he somehow went out of his cave and saw a very worm-eaten, fully tormented fully tormented, what I call a dog, a she-dog being very much, what I call, infected by all sort of germs and insects, and the master generated great compassion. And out of that great compassion, it’s force, he was able to have the vision of Maitreya, you know, on on whom he was doing the meditation.