09. Week 2 - Teaching 1 – Kadampa Festival Notes

2024 Summer Festival

09. Week 2 - Teaching 1

2024.08.02

2 special messages from Geshe-la:

  “Welcome everybody to the NKT International Festival. They are the special method to maintain the NKT-IKBU from generation to generation - through this we can fulfil ours and others’ wishes easily. Please keep this message in your heart.”
The benefits of listening to Dharma Teachings (as per Arya Sura)

The teachings this week will be structured differently to 1st week - these are teachings and commentary to 2 HYT practices - Blissful Path, and The Yoga of Inconceivability.

For our personal benefit Venerable Geshe-la appeared from his heart this very profound Vajrayogini self-generation practice: The Blissful Path. It does not come from Buddha Shakyamuni or Je Tsongkhapa. It comes from our Spiritual Guide’s heart - he created it directly. It is both very short and very profound. It contains all the essential meaning. It can be practised by very busy people every day. We need to engage in it with strong faith and concentration. Because Geshe-la created it especially for us, if we have strong faith and a special recognition of our Spiritual Guide, then his instructions are more powerful than if 1000 Buddhas gave us teachings.

From Portugal, Venerable Geshe-la said:

  Today I am giving some essential instruction of Vajrayogini Tantra, so you will receive the transmission and lineage blessings of these precious instructions. The Blissful Path is a ritual sadhana that teaches us how to attain enlightenment quickly and easily. Without hard work, we don’t need to much. These teachings are very special technical methods, like special technology, that spiritually lead us quickly to attain spiritual realisations and the ultimate goal of human life, enlightenment.

We have this opportunity because of the teacher we have met.

In the preface of Essence of Vajrayana there is a brief mediation on the preciousness of our human life. We should contemplate the 3 special characteristics of our human life: its freedom and endowment, its rarity, and its great meaning.

Not only is it rare but it quickly disappears. Even if we’re fortunate enough to escape untimely death, in 10 or 20 years we are old. It decays so quickly.

If we use our human life to accomplish spiritual realisations, it will have great meaning.

From Portugal:

I would like to remind you what enlightenment is - it is an inner wisdom light that gives those that have it the power to benefit living beings each and every day by bestowing blessings and emanating various kinds of things for their purpose. Our emanations will cover and protect all living beings. We will be completely free from mistaken appearance. It will happen. Because we have met Buddhadharma. How fortunate we are!

Vajrayogini is a female enlightened being that is a manifestation of the clear light of all Buddhas. She is also known as Vajravarahi, the consort of Buddha Heruka. Her mind is omniscient wisdom that sees all phenomena directly and spontaneously. Her function is to lead us to her pure land, Keajra, without abandoning this human body. How fortunate we are! If we read stories of yogis we will see how they attained enlightenment. We can do the same. How fortunate we are!

In Guide to Dakini Land is the story of Gonche - if Gonche can do it, I can do it! Rejoicing in our own good fortune protects us from discouragement and encourages us to practise purely and sincerely. Our Spiritual Guide is a great ocean of infinite good fortune.

From Portugal:

  As I said, the Blissful Path teaches us to attain enlightenment quickly and easily. How? By generating ourself as Vajrayogini - this is special internal technology. How lucky we are. How lucky and fortunate I am to teach you and show an example. And how fortunate you are to be receiving these teachings. How fortunate! We are not proud. We should always rejoice, be happy, and maintain confidence. Vajrayogini is an enlightened being and we are an ignorant being. We change the basis of imputation of ourself from our ordinary body and mind to Vajrayogini’s body and mind, which are completely pure. We should know that we ourself and other phenomena are mere imputations by mind or thought."

From NKT Glossary:

  All phenomena are imputed upon their parts. Therefore any of the individual parts or the collection of its parts is the basis of imputation of that object. E.g. car. In the same way, we ourself are imputed on our body or mind. Whether we are a samsaric or enlightened being depends upon our basis of imputation.

Through this practice Venerable Geshe-la is actually liberating us.

From Portugal:

  We should know that ourself and all other phenomena are mere imputations by thought or mind. Always keep this knowledge. We cannot buy it or find this knowledge anywhere else. There are no phenomena other than mere imputations by thought. If we think carefully and more precisely we can understand that by perceiving our body and mind that we think , I I me me. Our body and mind are the basis of imputation of ourself, and ourself is imputation upon our body and mind. They are not our self, but they are the basis of imputation of our self. Basis of imputation and object of imputation are not the same. Normally when we first think I I me me, by seeing our body and mind, it seems that we are perceiving our body and mind as ourself. This is mistaken appearance. It is incorrect. Due to this mistaken appearance, we develop self-grasping ignorance that believes in an inherently existent self that experiences continual suffering in life after life.

What does taking rebirth in samsara mean? It means that in each of our lives due to ignorance we grasp our body and mind as ourself, thinking I I where there is no I or self. Due to this we experience the sufferings of this life and countless lives as hallucinations. We need to change this painful situation by generating ourself as Vajrayogini. This is self-generation practice. Through correct imagination from wisdom we generate ourself as Vajrayogini and an imagined pure world and enjoyments of Vajrayogini. Eventually we will gain deep realisations of ourself as Vajrayogini. This inner realisation is called generation stage Tantra.

08. Week 1 - Teaching 6 10. Week 2 - Teaching 2