05. Week 1 - Teaching 3

I will give some essential commentary to the Heart Sutra and Heart of Wisdom. In this way you will receive the lineage blessings of these teachings.

Buddha’s teachings are included within 2 - Sutra and Tantra. Sutra teachings are open to everyone. To practice Tantra we need to have an empowerment.

The Heart Sutra teaches us how to train in the Perfection of Wisdom, which is the main path through which we will attain the state of full enlightenment.

1st we should know what wisdom is in general. Then we need to know what is the perfection of wisdom. Then we need to know how to train in the perfection of wisdom. Then we need to know what we need to do to complete the perfection of wisdom. This is in the New Heart of Wisdom.

What is wisdom?

It is a virtuous intelligent mind that functions to understand and realise meaningful objects. Even animals such as dogs have intelligence. But wisdom is a virtuous intelligence. If we carefully check, most of the objects we understand don’t give us much meaning. Temporarily they have some benefit, but ultimately they’re deceptive.

If we realise emptiness directly we will be permanently liberated from the sufferings of this life and all our future lives. Emptiness is therefore one example of a meaningful object. The mind that realises emptiness is wisdom.

Another example is realising the existence of our future lives. Realising this gives us great meaning and is a most important meaningful object. Any mind that realises this object is wisdom.

In Buddhism we often use the word ‘karma’. What is the real meaning of karma? Its real meaning is actions and effects. The connection between our actions of previous lives and our experiences of this life is the real meaning of karma. This connection is very subtle and profound and very difficult to understand. Because we’ve collected good actions in previous lives, e.g. giving love, giving Dharma, because we’ve been kind, we have certain experiences in this life. As a result of giving material help to others who needed it in previous lives, in this life we will be free from poverty. As a result of accumulating actions of moral discipline, we now experience a human life that has great meaning. In previous lives we practised patience, so now we experience a physically attractive or beautiful body in this life. As a result of practising concentration in previous lives in this life our mind is mostly calm.

In previous lives we also developed some wisdom. As a result of this we now have the opportunity to develop the understanding of meaningful objects. This is karma.

There are many meaningful objects we can understand with wisdom. There are different levels of meditation.

What is the Perfection of Wisdom?

It is a very higher level wisdom. It is a wisdom that realises the emptiness of all phenomena associated with compassion for all living beings.

In the POW sutra, of all the Buddhas of the 10 directions who attained enlightenment, there was no main path other than the POW. In the same way, finally, all living beings will attain enlightenment. But there is no main way that they will attain enlightenment other than the POW.

Path means spiritual path or realisations. Prajnaparamita or the POW is also called the Great Mother because all Buddhas are born from the POW.

The POW will take us to Buddhahood in 1 short life.

The POW Buddha presented in the Sutras is the common path. The higher POW Buddha gave in the tantras is the uncommon path - this is the quick path to enlightenment.

Developing the POW depends upon training. When we develop the actual POW through sincerely training we will possess a wisdom realising emptiness combined with compassion for all living beings. We will have these realisations together. We are like a bird and with these 2 wings we can fly through the sky of enlightenment and reach the pure land of Buddhahood. Understanding all these benefits we make a strong determination to train in the POW, and we meditate on and maintain this determination all the time and put it into practice.

The meaning of ‘GATE’ is go. GO GO GO!

Our Guru is telling us, “Go now! Escape now!”

How do we train in the perfection of wisdom?

Because the POW is wisdom associated with compassion for all living beings, there are 2 stages:

1. Meditation on compassion for all living beings
2. Meditation on emptiness conjoined with compassion

1. Meditation on compassion for all living beings

All Buddhas of the past and present changed the object of their cherishing from themselves to all living beings. We should follow their example. They completely abandoned self-cherishing. Look at the results. They attained enlightenment and have the power to benefit living beings every single day by bestowing blessings and manifesting help. What have you been doing since beginningless time until now? Enlightened beings always choose other living beings.

We understand and think, when I was born I took nothing with me from my previous life other than suffering and problems. This shows me that self-cherishing has deceived me, harming me and causing every life to be wasted. We should understand and think, following Buddha’s example, now is the time to change the object of cherishing from myself to others. I must do this. Make this determination, understanding that self-cherishing has deceived us. In truth, the happiness and freedom of all living beings is more important because they are countless and I am only one. I must liberate all living beings from their suffering permanently. We can only do this by attaining enlightenment. This is universal compassion. We should meditate on this wish every day until it becomes spontaneous. This wish is bodhichitta - mind of enlightenment. Once that mind is spontaneous we have improved our mind and have become a bodhisattva, a pure being. Bodhisattvas have this spontaneous wish in the same way that we have an effortless wish to eat and drink.

Developing and maintaining compassion for all living beings brings inconceivable benefit to our life. Detailed explanations can be found in Modern Buddhism, NESTH.

2. Meditating on the emptiness on all phenomena motivated by compassion.

When we do this we are training in the POW. Although right now we don’t have the POW in our mind, we can train in the POW through meditating on emptiness of all phenomena with a compassionate motivation.

Now is an essential explanation on how to meditate on the emptiness of all phenomena.

First we meditate on the emptiness on our body, then our self, then on all other phenomena.

{Explanation in HTUTM and other books}.

This meditation has inconceivable meaning. It is not easy to understand, because we lack familiarity. The very essence of Buddha’s teachings is his teachings on emptiness.

If we search for our body with wisdom it become unfindable. This proves that it doesn’t exist. This is the emptiness of the body the real nature of our body. Instead of finishing this teaching quickly we need to think carefully.

We perceive clearly the absence of the body we normally see. We remain on it, keep our concentration on it. In meditation we develop special understandings and a special feeling. Sometimes we may be shocked or surprised, it seems that our body disappears and becomes non-existent. Our self-cherishing ignorance almost disappears. We feel relaxed, comfortable and happy. Of course at the beginning our concentration will not be stable. But generally we will develop a special feeling and understanding. For some people when they realise this they will also realise their sickness and problems also cannot exist.

However after meditation we have the problem of forgetting everything. We believe again the body normally we see actually exists. Our meditation therefore has little power to solve our daily human problems. This is our contradiction. This is because our meditation practice is not qualified. It is therefore important to believe continually and never forget that the body that we normally see does not exist even if we see it. We are seeing or perceiving just an appearance but we do not believe it exists. Then Geshe-la gave the Teaching on the 2 moons {in HTUTM}. Similarly, even though we see it, we do not believe it exists. It is therefore very important in the meditation break that the body we normally see does not exist and get used to it. We will then believe whatever we normally see does not exist. From one point of view our body exists as mere imputation or mere name. This is not separate from the emptiness - the emptiness of the body emptiness and appearance are one. They are non-dual. Mere appearance and emptiness are non-dual. If we realise this spontaneously and directly we will automatically attain enlightenment.

Attaining enlightenment is easy - we just need to apply effort to purify our mistaken mind and realise non-dual appearance and emptiness. This is purification practice.

We should move to the mediation on the emptiness of self. Then we move to meditate on the emptiness of all phenomena.

{Explanation of the stages of concentration}

If there is no body we normally see why do we experience sufferings of the body such as sickness? Because of the darkness of our self-grasping ignorance we mistakenly believe that the body we normally see exists. Our experiences of suffering and sickness, and so forth are mistaken appearances, as hallucinations, as in dreams. Buddha says you should know all phenomena are like dreams.

How do phenomena exist? They exist as mere appearance. This mere appearance and emptiness are non-dual.

How do we accomplish or complete the training of the POW?

{Transmission}