Saka Dawa Day

On this Saka Dawa Day I am awe struck and humbled by the Buddha’s determination to relinquish neurosis and wake up. It makes me think of how deeply I am attached to my world, and although I pay lip service to the Buddha Dharma I have to wonder if I really do want to attain enlightenment or would rather have a glass of wine and watch the movie I just rented, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Golden Buddha, Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya, India

Today to celebrate the Buddha’s enlightenment and Parinirvana I decided to read through my old notes of some of the teachings I have received over the years. I have actually had the good fortune of having received guidance in Bodh Gaya, the very place of Buddha’s awakening and Kushinigar the place of his Parinirvana from some of my teachers. Some of the pith instructions included here were from talks given in Bodh Gaya and elsewhere.

After accepting the offering of rice milk from the Brahmin girl Sujata the Buddha bathed in the Narajara River. He then took his seat under the Bodhi tree saying: “Here on this seat my body may shrivel up, my skin, my bones, my flesh may dissolve, but my body will not move from this seat until I have attained enlightenment, so difficult to obtain in the course of many kalpas.”

Wow, now that is taking one’s seat. So today I have devoted a little bit of time thinking about what is enlightenment and how I might move or continue in that direction. Looking through my old notes I thought I would share some of those teachings. These are from handwritten notes, now hard to read so if I have made some mistakes please forgive me.

On Impermanence

Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche

“Conflicting emotions come from within this mind, this inner security we have set up for ourselves, where we think of our emotions as legitimate. For the world to function it is not necessary to have a belief that it is real or permanent. If I am convinced that all phenomena are impermanent I am convinced that my distractions will be reduced. We have to give up wrong views, an improper attitude towards others, that everyone is ever lasting …There is a discrepancy between how things are and how we see them. We know everything is impermanent but we would rather see it as permanent.”

Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche, December 10, 2000, Bodh Gaya, India

While circumambulating the Maha Bodhi Temple I asked Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche how one should practice when not sitting on the cushion and he left me with this pithy one liner.

“You should make impermanence your post-meditation practice.”

During this same series of teachings given at Sechen Monastery, in Bodh Gaya, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche had these words of wisdom to share, which might be of some relief to practitioners in these tough economic times.

Enough is enough

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Kushingar, India

“Buddha has said that his genuine disciples will never be without food, clothing or shelter. Anything beyond that is to maintain your spider web. We need to have faith that by taking refuge and pursuing the path of the Bodhisattva that somehow we will be taken care of. If you don’t have faith, you are never going to feel secure, you are never going to feel you have enough. To do genuine practice one needs to reduce one’s activities and become outrageously unconventional”

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, December 9, 2000,Bodh Gaya, India

I am not sure my wife will buy this logic as I continue to struggle to make a living as a photographer and stubbornly refuse to look for another day job.

On making offerings

Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Nangchen, Tibet 20

“People may object to the idea of making offerings to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, saying that you should instead give alms to the poor and needy – that is more useful. If we are only taking the materialistic point of view then that would be true. However, the three jewels, the precious Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are endowed with blessings, but in order to receive the blessings that are naturally present one needs to open up and totally let go of all levels of attachment in body, speech and mind. The way to do this is to relinquish clinging. By the act of offering everything on an outer, inner and innermost level we insure that everything we could possibly cling to is relinquished. By opening up totally and letting go of all objects of clinging we become open to the blessings that naturally enter due to the power of former aspirations and vows of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

It is not that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have any need for our offerings. In Tibet, somesay they waste so much butter making butter lamps. How could the Buddhas and Bodhisatvas have any need for that? The fact is they don’t. What happens while making an offering, for example lighting a butter lamp, is that one calls to mind the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with a lot of appreciation. With great respect we call to mind the superior qualities of the Buddha’s body, speech and mind, his virtues, activities and so forth and each time we bring these qualities to mind it changes us in some way. There is an instant of admiration that immediately takes place and it opens our minds. When we light a butter lamp we imagine not just this one lamp but innumerable lamps we are offering and we make the wish that these lamps will help dispel the darkness and ignorance of all sentient beings. All of these together – the devotion, keeping the qualities of enlightenment in mind, letting go of attachment, making offerings and the strong aspiration to benefit beings, coincide to perfect the accumulation of merit. So it is much more than simply lighting a butter lamp.“

Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Leggett, California 1999

On Buddha

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

“Nothing is more important than looking at your mind in the present moment. Recognition of this is termed Buddha, non-recognition is termed sentient being. The most important thing is to look again and again at the true nature of your mind. No matter what we experience we should look directly at the nature of our minds…Buddhahood is achieved in an instant. The instant we recognize the nature of our mind we are a Buddha.”

The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Seattle, Washington

“Shakyamuni Buddha was a human prince. He was an Indian guy, which we often forget. We think of him as a glowing golden statue, a beautifully carved wooden statue, or a stone statue, but that’s not true. That’s not who he was.

It’s very important for us to see clearly that our teachers are human beings. They’re all on the path to enlightenment. The historic Buddha is different, he’s already enlightened, but the rest are all in the same boat. The only difference is that there may be different levels of realization; some are on the tenth bodhisattva bhumi, some are on another of the bodhisattva bhumis. Some may be on an ordinary bhumi.”

The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche - Penetrating Wisdom

Seeing our teacher as the Buddha. That’s another one to ponder. But I guess if we see the Buddha as a human being we could see our teacher as the Buddha.

What is enlightenment?

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Vancouver

“Pointing out in Ati yoga, this is it. If you have merit and devotion after that moment, from then on your outlook is totally different. Having no paranoia, not bothered by fears and expectations – that is enlightenment. In Ati yoga, if you have intense devotion towards the guru all the Buddhas qualities can be transferred to you. Actually, you already have it but you still need some downloading action. The Buddha said, “I show you the path of liberation, but understand liberation depends on you.”

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

From Guru Yoga teaching on Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro

OK, sounds so simple. So close you can’t see it. If only I had true devotion and I could get out of my own way.