06. Week 1 - Teaching 4 – Kadampa Festival Notes

2025 Summer Festival

06. Week 1 - Teaching 4

2025.07.28

Since you cannot become a Buddha merely by understanding Dharma, practise earnestly with understanding.

In 1994, VGKG said:

We should understand perfectly how to practice at least the 21 meditations on the SOTP, both during and outside the session. We need to understand perfectly without any mistakes, until we gain confidence thinking, “now my understanding is perfect and I have no doubts. I am so happy. I am now ready to do a long meditation retreat. " Our Dharma understanding makes us happy. Such happiness indicates that our understanding is perfect. From this confidence naturally comes.

It is wrong if we just remain happy with our understanding alone, without contemplation and meditation. We need to practice contemplation and meditation to gain deep experience and realisations. We can never become a Buddha, an enlightened being, through understanding alone. This is why Atisha is saying we need to practice Dharma with correct understanding. We know very well how to practice. Everything is explained very extensively e.g. in JPGF. But even those with less intelligence or who lead a busy life and who do not have much time, have the opportunity to practice through the New Meditation Handbook. This wonderful instruction explains clearly how to begin our meditation practice, how to meditate during the session and how to practice outside the session.

In NMH:

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I have prepared this NMH based on JT’s Lamrim commentaries. The purpose of doing this is to make it easier for people of the modern world to practice this precious holy Dharma known as Kadam Lamrim. Part 1 of this book presents the basic foundation of the path to enlightenment, and Part 2 presents the actual path to enlightenment. Detailed explanations can be found in the books MB, HTTYL, and JPGF. If you read this book sincerely with a good motivation, free from negative views, I guarantee that you will receive great benefit for your daily happiness.

In the chapter on Foundations, VGKG explains how to meditate on the Lamrim meditations:

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Each of the 21 meditation practices has 5 parts - preparation, contemplation, meditation, dedication, and subsequent practice. The instructions that explain these 21 meditations are called the SOTP or Lamrim. The realisations of these meditations are the actual spiritual paths that lead us to the great liberation of full enlightenment.

The purpose of the 2nd part, contemplation, or analytical meditation, is to bring to mind the object of placement meditation. We do this by considering various lines of reasoning, contemplating analogies, and reflecting on the meaning of these instructions. It is helpful to memorise the contemplations given in each section so that we can meditate without having to look at the text. When through our contemplations the object of our meditation appears clearly, we leave our analytical meditation and concentrate on the object single-pointedly. This single-pointed concentration is the 3rd part - meditation.

When we first start to meditate our concentration is poor, we are easily distracted, and we often lose our object of meditation. Therefore to begin with we will probably need to alternate contemplation and meditation many times in each session. For example, if we are meditating on compassion, we begin by contemplating the various sufferings of living beings until a strong feeling of compassion arises in our heart. When this feeling arises we meditate upon it single-pointedly. If the feeling fades or our mind wanders to another object, we should return to the analytical meditation and bring that feeling back to mind. When the feeling of compassion has been restored we once again leave our analytical meditation and hold the feeling with single-pointed meditation. Both contemplation and meditation serve to acquaint our mind with virtuous objects. The more familiar we are with such objects the more peaceful our mind becomes. By training in meditation and living in accordance with the insights and resolutions developed during meditation eventually we will be able to maintain a peaceful mind continuously throughout our life.

At the end of the session, we engage in dedication prayers. And then, we arise from meditation and engage in the 5th part of meditation, which is subsequent practice, during the meditation break. We’re not taking a break from remembering virtue. We’re taking a break from being in formal meditation. We’re using mindfulness to remember Dharma and carry whatever virtuous insights or special determinations and apply them in daily life. Say we meditated on compassion - we want our mind to be governed by compassion throughout the day. So we remember our compassion. Even when we see people who are temporarily happy or seemingly have good conditions, they are never an object of our jealously etc, they are always an object of compassion. Even when we see people who are being controlled by their delusions and creating horrible actions, creating suffering for themselves and others, then they’re not an object of our anger and hatred - they’re an object of our compassion. Because we understand that all living beings are trapped in an endless cycle of suffering. All of our actions are influenced by compassion. Then we’re really showing a good example and we’re making progress on the spiritual path.

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Advice for the meditation break consists of advice on how to integrate the meditation into our daily life. It is important to remember that Dharma practice is not confined to our activities during the meditation session. It should permeate our whole life.

When we’re holding these virtues in our heart we have a source of happiness. So of course we want to keep this, we want to be happy all the time, we want others to be happy. So we need to keep Dharma in our mind. If when we’re meditation formally we become very peaceful, we develop many good intentions - that’s wonderful - but that’s maybe 10-20 minutes of our day - just a small portion. If we arise from meditation and immediately forget this then during our day we’ll have no method to control our delusions. So our mind will be developing anger, jealousy, attachment, and so forth. So then when we remember Dharma our mind remains peaceful, we keep a good heart, and we naturally keep good discipline. We’re not developing delusions as much, less and less over time. We’re controlling our gross distractions during the day. Our mind feels light, joyful, and then the next time we engage in our Lamrim meditations, we have fewer distractions and more experience of those objects because we’ve been practising it. So our mindfulness and concentration are getting stronger. This means that during our meditation sessions we can control our subtle distractions - our mind will begin to mix more and more with that object. We will gain deeper and deeper levels of experience, and eventually realisation. Until one day through training in compassion in meditation and out, we will develop a spontaneous wish to permanently liberate all living beings from suffering. This is the realisation of universal compassion. And it is the gateway through which we enter the path to enlightenment.

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We should not allow a gulf to develop between our meditation and our daily life because the success of our meditation depends upon the purity of our conduct outside the meditation session. We should keep a watch over our mind all the time by applying mindfulness, alertness, and conscientiousness, and we should try to abandon whatever bad habits we may have. Deep experience of Dharma is the result of practical training over a long time, both in and out of meditation. Therefore we should practice steadily and gently without expecting results.

If possible we should try to meditate on Lamrim everyday. Even on days when you can’t do formal meditation you can still be practising Lamrim throughout the day.

  Through following Atisha’s advice and following Lamrim sincerely we will naturally become a Kadampa practitioner like Dromtonpa and Geshe Potowa. Then our life will become that of a Kadampa which will make every moment of our life meaningful. These kind of attainments are the real or true meaning of our human life. For this reason Atisha is advising us that when we understand perfectly the SOTP we should put this understanding into practice.
We can think, “Since I will never become a Buddha through understanding alone, I must sincerely practice contemplation and meditation.”

In 2007 VGKG said:

  Through just understanding the meaning of renunciation, bodhichitta, and emptiness we cannot attain enlightenment. We need to put our understanding into practice. We need to abandon our attachment problem through putting renunciation into practice. We need to abandon our anger problem and our self-cherishing problem through putting bodhichitta into practice. And we need to abandon self-grasping ignorance problem together with its imprints through putting our understanding of emptiness into practice. just understanding is not enough. We need to put our understanding into practice.

We need to apply joyful effort. If we do not apply effort, no one can give us liberation from suffering. Accomplishing Dharma realisations is not like receiving a gift in the holidays.

  No one can remove our suffering. No one can give us happiness as a present. We need to improve ourself.

What is pure spiritual practice? Geshe-la explains this at the end of the chapter on Death in HTTYL where he says:

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What does ‘engaging in pure spiritual practice’ mean? When we are practising spiritual teachings that are methods to control our delusions such as uncontrolled desire, anger and ignorance, we are engaging in pure spiritual practice. This, in turn, means we are following correct spiritual paths.

  Through putting renunciation into practice we can solve our attachment problem. Through putting bodhichitta into practice we can solve our anger problem and our self-cherishing problem. And by putting our understanding of emptiness into practice we can solve self-grasping together with our imprints. Through doing this we will attain enlightenment - Buddhahood.

There isn’t one problem or unhappiness that we experience that doesn’t come from attachment. Even our anger comes from our attachment. The stronger our renunciation, the fewer problems of attachment we’ll have.

Avoid places that disturb your mind, and always remain where your virtues increase.

1994:

  Through just reading this alone we may not gain a full understanding of its meaning. Generally if we sincerely practise patience, love, compassion, and cherishing others as explained in Lamrim teachings then even if we stay in a place that is disturbing to our mind it will not harm us, cause us any problems, or interfere with our practice.

We’re modern people and we live in a busy, modern world. Even if we’re in a challenging environment, if we can accept those conditions patiently without getting frustrated, our mind will remain peaceful. It’s not very often that we have the power to control all our external conditions. But as Shantideva said, “If I can simply control my mind, what need is there to control other things?” We learn how to do this. Instead of being in conflict with life difficulties, we accept patiently, then we’re controlling our mind and we have peace in our heart appearing where previously there was unhappiness and problems. Eventually through familiarity with this virtue we will be able to save our own and others’ peace of mind. We will be able to create harmony in our environment. Then it won’t be difficult to generate minds of love and compassion in difficult circumstances. In reality this kind of Dharma practice is so meaningful.

  But if we fail to do this practice of course we will have big problems. We may want to practice the spiritual path to make our mind peaceful and positive but if our environment is distracting then this will interfere with these wishes. If this is the case then it necessary to move to somewhere where our virtues will increase, such as a Dharma centre. In the West it is very difficult to find a place where there are few distractions, but Dharma centres are places where our virtues can naturally increase. However this depends upon the individual.

The main point is we need to control our mind by practising Dharma. When through practising Dharma we really, truly, gain control over our mind, we can be anywhere with anyone and transform it into a meaningful experience.

  So we should always try to be mindful and not get angry, and practise patience no matter what problem arises. We should try to control our attachment to the fulfilment of our own wishes. We should be patient with, and love, whoever is disturbing us, even if they are fighting with us. This does not have to be a problem. We can still keep a calm, peaceful, and happy mind. This is the Kadampa Way of Life. If we fail to do this then we need to be careful or we can waste our whole life. One day death comes, and we are finished. So Atisha is giving good advice. Although he is telling this to everybody it really depends upon the individual. If we have a chance to move then we should do it. But if we don’t then of course for the time being we should stay where we are. Atisha is not making rules, he is giving us ideas. So in this way we should try not to let the place where we are living interfere with our Dharma practice. We should try to continue with a peaceful and positive mind and develop our spiritual practice. It depends upon the individual’s capacity. If there is great difficulty from our side, then it is quite a good idea to move another place where our virtues increase, such as a Dharma centre.

Until you attain stable realisations, worldly amusements are harmful; therefore abide in a place where there are no such distractions.

1994:

  If through our Dharma experience we can control our circumstances then there are no problems. Until then even a good worldly position can harm our spiritual development. Therefore Atisha says, “abide in a place where there are no such distractions.”

In HTUTM: A distraction is a deluded mental factor that wanders to an object of delusions. So, if we unify our Dharma practice with our daily appearances, then we can transform what was previously an object of anger into an object of patience and compassion. So it’s no longer an object of distraction for us, but an object of virtue.

Avoid friends who cause you to increase delusions, and rely upon those who increase your virtue. This you should take to heart.

1994:

  If we have the determination to attain enlightenment and we want to engage in the practice of the spiritual path, what kind of place should we live in, and what kind of friends do we need? Atisha says “Avoid friends who cause you to increase delusions, and rely upon those who increase your virtue.” So this is the same as before, if we can practice patience, compassion, and love, in particular cherishing others, reducing our selfish motivations and keeping a good heart, then whether our friends are good or bad, we can help them. We can show a good example to our friends and eventually our friends will become like us. Living with them will help them. We don’t need to separate. This is most important. We need to learn to be patient and compassionate and maintain a good heart, and reduce selfish motivations. Then even if our friends are evil they will probably become spiritual practitioners. They will not interfere with our spiritual practice because we are practising patience and compassion. There will be no problem. But if we cannot do this, then it’s quite important to change if we still want to progress along the spiritual path. Atisha is giving advice to people who sincerely wish to progress along the spiritual path, and not to everyone. Normally we say that the spiritual guide is very important. Our spiritual friends are equally important. We are always with our friends, so it is easy to see faults in each other, and to get angry and fight with them, so we need always to be careful to maintain mindfulness, conscientiousness, discipline.

When we get experience with Dharma, we’ll think they’re kind when they’re being difficult. Just like Atisha’s cook.

  This helps our family life and helps us to maintain a healthy, harmonious life. This is very important. If our friend is a good spiritual friend he or she will spiritually influence us in a good way, but if he is not spiritual, always engaging in negative activities we will also become similar to them. The most important thing is that we learn to be patient, compassionate, have a good heart, and help our friends. We should show a good example, always keep a happy mind - and this will make our parents and friends happy, and there will be no problem. At this time it is very important for Buddhist practitioners to show a good example to their family and friends otherwise they will worry about us. They don’t know what we are doing, the real meaning of our activity - they don’t know. So we should show a good example, make them happy, and they will respect what we are doing. Unless their wishes are wrong we should try to fulfil their wishes. If their wish is wrong then of course we cannot accept.

Since there is never a time when worldly activities come to an end, limit your activities.

  This means that since our daily activities will never end we should never think, “First I will finish my important jobs and activities, and then I will study and practice Dharma.”

As soon as we finish one job, another comes to fill its place. We often give ourself jobs - “I should do this, and I should do this…” - filling up all our time. And then we have people in our life give us jobs. We have so many jobs we have a todo list. Where on our todo list is ‘practice Dharma right now’. Worldly activities are like an old man’s beard. Although he shaves it in the morning by the evening it’s grown back. Worldly activities are endless and time passes very quickly. Geshe-la says that Guntang Jampalyang said, “I spent 20 years not wanting to practice Dharma. Then I spent another 20 years thinking I could practice Dharma later on. Then another 20 years engrossed in other activities, regretting that I didn’t practice Dharma. This is the story of my empty human life.” Geshe-la also tells us the story of the Tibetan man Mondrul Chodak, who was greatly admired for his many skills talents. He lived a very full life, travelling from place to place, meeting many people - it looked like a very good life. Then suddenly he was faced with his death. And he thought to himself, “In this life I’ve done so much. I’ve engaged in so many business ventures and worldly activity. People tell me I’m very clever. But in truth I’m incredibly stupid. Because I neglected spiritual practice my whole life, which is the only thing that can help me at this time.” So with deep regret and a miserable state of mind, he passed away. So we need to be careful that this is our own story.

  This attitude is deceptive because we have no guarantee that we will not die today. We should study and practice Dharma right now and learn to ingrate Dharma into our daily activities as the supreme method to solve our human problems.

Whatever activities we’re doing, we need to integrate our Dharma practice into these activities. So we’re practising Dharma right now.

  Through putting renunciation into practice we can solve our daily problems of attachment. Through putting bodhichitta into practice we can solve our daily problems of anger. And by putting our understanding of emptiness into practice we can solve daily problems of ignorance. In this way we can solve all our human problems permanently.

Final conclusion:

  Because it is the supreme method to solve my human problems, I must integrate Dharma practice into my daily activities.

05. Week 1 - Teaching 3 07. Week 1 - Teaching 5