12. Week 2 - Teaching 9

We need to check or think what are the good qualities we need to adopt? In general we cannot say what are good qualities. Or we can say everything has good qualities. Everything functioning thing has good and bad qualities. For instance, a seller of guns can say that the guns he sells have very good qualities - they are very powerful, they can kill very quickly. In this context, we must regard good qualities as those that are achieved through training in Dharma practice.

We can remember from the root text of Training the Mind by Bodhisattva Chekhawa (our Kadampa book Universal Compassion) the indication or sign of having trained is reversal. We can apply this to training in the stages of the path, Lamrim - we will achieve special indications or signs.

“The indication of having trained in the practice of relying upon the Spiritual Guide is the reversal of our previous lack of faith in our Spiritual guide such that we have unchangeable faith.”

This is the single most important realisation we can achieve. This faith is the root of the spiritual path and the very life of Dharma practice, for without it we will not receive any spiritual blessings or attain realisations.

“The indication of having trained in the practice of meditation on our precious human life is the reversal of our previous lack of interest in pure Dharma practice.”

With this reversal we are inspired to use our human life in the most meaningful way possible, and we always have the strong wish to take the essence of our human life by practising Dharma purely. Working merely to have enough food and improve our external conditions is not the essential meaning of human life. Having a good job may be temporarily useful, but once we have stopped working and are travelling towards our new life it ceases to have any real meaning and so it lacks real essence.

To take the real essence of our PHL we need to gain 3 attainments:

• Protection from lower rebirth
• Protection from rebirth in samsara
• Full enlightenment

These 3 attainments are called the essence of human life, because it is only human beings that can achieve them.

“The indication of having trained in the practice of meditation on impermanence is the reversal of worldly concerns; or a reversal of our attachment to the things of this life.”

By successfully training in meditation and practice on death and impermanence we experience the reversal of our previous attachment to this life. With this reversal our Dharma practice will become pure and we will easily gain great results.

“The indication of having trained in the practice of meditation on the sufferings of the lower realms is the reversal of our previous lack of fear of lower rebirth.”

Just as animals have seeds or potentials for attaining a human rebirth in the future, we have seeds or potentials for an animal rebirth in the future.

Enlightened beings see this clearly. They warn us that we need to protect ourselves from such dangers.

“The indication of having trained in the practice of refuge and karma is the reversal of our previous lack of actual protection from lower rebirth.”

With this reversal we achieve actual protection from lower rebirth. We need to prepare now.

“The indication of having trained in the practice of meditation on the disadvantages of samsara is the reversal of our previous lack of renunciation.

With this reversal we have a strong continuous wish to attain permanent inner peace. This wish will open the door to liberation.

“The indication of having trained in the practice of the three higher trainings is the reversal of our previous lack of progress on the path to liberation.

With this reversal we will attain actual liberation from suffering. Liberation means the continuous experience of inner peace, life after life.

“The indication of having trained in the practice of bodhichitta is the reversal of our self-cherishing mind.

We experience the reversal of our self-cherishing mind, the root of all our suffering. With this reversal we will develop bodhichitta. With this precious mind we will enter the Mahayana path and become a bodhisattva bound for enlightenment.

“The indication of having trained in the practice of emptiness is the reversal of our self-grasping.

By successfully training in meditation on the selflessness of persons and phenomena we experience the reversal of our self-grasping. Without the Lamrim teachings it is difficult for us to even recognise self-grasping ignorance in our mind. We need to listen to and study the instructions of our Spiritual Guide.

“The indication of having trained in the practice of generation stage is the reversal of our ordinary appearance and ordinary conception.

With this reversal we purify our mind and thus experience only pure objects.

“The indication of having trained in the practice of completion stage is the reversal of our subtle dualistic appearance.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t know at present what dualistic appearances are, you can understand it later.

The meditations and practices of generation and completion stage giving rise to the 10th and 11th reversals are exclusive to HYT. And with the 11th reversal we have reached our final goal - enlightenment - and fulfilled the wishes of our bodhichitta mind.

These are all the good qualities of having trained in the SOTP. Until we achieve these indications we need to read and listen to teachings and continually practise Lamrim and the generation stage and completion stage of HYT. When we have achieved these indications of reversal through our training, then this a measurement of having successfully accomplished that practice. For example, when we achieve reversal of our previous lack of faith through training in the practice of relying upon the SG, this is a clear indication that our meditation on relying upon the SG has been successful. The measurement of having passed in this meditation. If there is no reversal this indicates that we failed.

The main point is that we should practice. Without practising Dharma there is not much sense in studying it. In order to improve samsara we do not need Dharma. There are so many instructions and books on developing samsara. We don’t need Dharma to do this. We need Dharma to solve our daily problems of anger, attachment, and ignorance. To find real happiness, pure happiness. To accomplish refuge - real refuge of protection in our mind and to achieve the final goal of permanent inner peace of full enlightenment. There is great hope because we are living in a very special time. Many people have interest in Dharma and it’s fresh. Like special fresh food. At this time there is a great possibility of organising meditation and retreat programmes.

If we understand Dharma but we don’t practice, what will happen later is that we will have no feeling. We may read Dharma books and hear teachings but we will have no good feeling. We will have no interest because we think we know it all already. ==This is the very worst thing that can happen.== This is a huge obstacle. In Tibetan there is a special name for this called ‘chöday’ which means ‘studying a lot but never trying to practice.’ Then what happens is only pride remains. There is no faith, no appreciation of other practitioners, no positive feeling. All that remains is pride, thinking that we know everything and we look down on others. When the teacher gives teachings there is no feeling because the student thinks, “I know this, I know this.” Or they even mentally criticise, thinking, “This is incorrect, I know better.” Then very ordinary feelings develop. This is the very worst thing that can happen.

It is said that an evil person can gain control of their mind through the practice of Dharma. But a chöday, a person who has developed the feeling that they know Dharma already cannot control their mind through Dharma practice. A chöday, a person with this bad habit, will not receive any benefit from hearing the Dharma. Everything becomes meaningless to them. This is possible.

Of course without Dharma understanding how can we practice? We therefore need to follow the study programme sincerely but at the same time we need to practice.

The attainment of each reversal depends on the practice of meditation. To do this we either need a meditation programme, or we do it individually through our own determination.

Sometimes even though our motivation is pure and we have interest to train in the SOTP Lamrim, and we give energy and effort putting our knowledge into practice, there may still not be much feeling. It is very possible when we read Dharma books and listen to Dharma teachings, contemplate and meditate, sometimes there’s no good feeling. This is because of bad, impure winds through our channels which cause negative thoughts to develop strongly, like clouds. When impure winds strongly manifest, impure minds and negative thoughts arise. This is like clouds covering the sky and the sun can’t shine. Even if a practitioner is pure it can still happen. When this happens, we should not be discouraged. How? Impure bad conditions can appear naturally like a cloud appearing naturally, and the sun cannot manifest, we cannot see it. Similarly although we are pure practitioners doing everything perfectly and in accordance with what the Dharma or our teacher says, sometimes these kinds of situations arise for a few days or a few weeks. When this happens we shouldn’t be discouraged. Never be disappointed. We temporarily relax our meditation a little bit. We don’t push. We don’t practise too strongly. We emphasise the preliminary practices. Purifying, accumulating merit in particular, for example the practice of making mandala offerings, engaging in actions of service and devotion. This is a skilful method. In this way we gently make progress in the meditations on the SOTP. We should practise Lamrim continually in this way until we achieve any of the indications of reversal that we have listed.

There are many levels of these reversals. They can be temporary, they can be complete, they can also be of varying strengths. We should understand this. We need to be happy with Lamrim all the time. For myself, I love HYT very much. I have never once given up the practice of HYT since I received the empowerments and commentaries from my root guru. I have loved HYT very much. I have emphasised and concentrated on this practice. But the more I love HYT the more I love Lamrim. I understand how the SOTP of Sutra, Lamrim, is so important for my progress in the SOTP of Tantra. We should therefore continually train in Lamrim until we attain the eleven reversals I have listed. Until then we should read, listen, contemplate and meditate on Lamrim teachings continually and we should follow Atisha’s Advice. We should keep this advice in our heart. In this way we should try to become real Kadampas.

We have no specific test, no rules, no way to understand who have these indications of having trained. If we all live together in one room for a long time, we could understand through certain indications. Otherwise we cannot understand through a short time.

Do not look for faults in others, but look for faults in yourself, and purge them like bad blood.

Do not contemplate your own good qualities, but contemplate the good qualities of others, and respect everyone as a servant would.

It seems we always try to hide our faults. There may be some exceptions, but generally we try to hide our faults. And we are very skilful in recognising the faults of others. Atisha said we should practice in the opposite way.

This is very important advice. If we look for others’ faults, then what happens is that we lose our appreciation of others. We lose our faith, our good feeling. What remains is only bad feelings.

Having bad feelings about others breaks our relationships. Harmony disappears.

In this way harmony disappears, communication becomes difficult. In this way it interferes with the fulfilment of our own wishes. Of course it also harms others. Especially those that live in a community, a small group, a family. It is therefore very important to follow Atisha’s Advice. If we look for faults in others then what happens is that in reality not only will we ourselves receive bad results, but this also destroys the happiness of our community and our society in general. This is a real mara.

We should never look at others’s faults. Instead we should look at our own faults and try to abandon them. If we do this continually we will have fewer faults.

We should follow the example of Geshe Ben Gungyal. If we do this, the impurity of our mind will gradually reduce. We will become a pure being and experience everything as pure. Do everything that Atisha says. From time to time with loving-kindness if we see someone doing something wrong we can say, “Please don’t do that.” This is not criticising, we’re speaking the truth in order to help them. In order to ensure their actions become pure we are guiding them in the correct direction. Such a kind action has no faults. Otherwise without a good reason we should never judge others’ faults. Instead we should look at our own faults and try to abandon them.

The KWOL is opposite to the life of an ordinary being.

Other than that without good reason, if we contemplate our own good qualities we will probably develop pride. For this reason Atisha said, “Do not contemplate your own good qualities.” This is because there is a danger of developing pride.

When we have pride it’s very difficult to make progress in developing spiritual qualities.