Practicing Wisdom

The Perfection of Shantideva's Bodhisattva Way

Dalai Lama, Thupten Jinpa, Thupten Jinpa

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780861717484
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Buddhism

Like the bestselling A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of the Night, Practicing Wisdom focuses on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva. While the former includes only a brief introduction to Shantideva's complex and crucial ninth chapter on insight, Practicing Wisdom is a full and detailed follow-up commentary, making it an invaluable statement on the fundamental concept behind Buddhist thought and practice.Shantideva says at the beginning of the final chapter of his Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life: "All branches of the Buddha's teachings are taught for the sake of wisdom. If you wish to bring an end to suffering, you must develop wisdom." Shantideva's ninth chapter is revered in Tibetan Buddhist circles as one of the most authoritative expositions of the Buddha's core insight, and all other Buddhist practices are means to support the generation of this wisdom within the practitioner. In Practicing Wisdom, the Dalai Lama reaffirms his reputation as a great scholar, communicator, and embodiment of the Buddha's Way by illuminating Shantideva's verses, drawing on contrasting commentaries from the Nyingma and Gelug lineages, and leading the reader through the stages of insight up to the highest view of emptiness. These teachings, delivered in southern France in 1993, have been masterfully translated, edited, and annotated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama's primary translator and founder of the Institute of Tibetan Classics.

1. INTRODUCTION

Developing Pure Motivation

Throughout this book, on my part as teacher, I have tried to develop as pure a motivation as possible to benefit you, the reader. Likewise, on your part, it is important to approach these teachings with a good heart and good motivation.

For those readers who are practicing Buddhists, and who take attainment of full enlightenment as their ultimate spiritual aspiration, it is also important for you to maintain the goal of becoming a good human being and warm-hearted person. With this aim you can ensure that your efforts here are beneficial, and will help you to accumulate merit and create positive energy around you. As you prepare to read this teaching, you should first take refuge in the Three Jewels and reaffirm your generation of the altruistic mind, aspiring to attain full enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. Without taking refuge in the Three Jewels, your practice does not become a Buddhist practice. And without generation of the altruistic aspiration to become enlightened for the sake of all sentient beings, your activities do not become that of a Mahayana Buddhist.

Some readers, no doubt, are not practicing Buddhists, but will nevertheless have a serious interest in the Buddhist teaching. Some readers will be from other religious backgrounds, such as Christianity, and will have an interest in certain aspects of Buddhist techniques and methods for spiritual transformation. For the readers who are not practicing Buddhists, you also can generate a good heart and good motivation as you prepare yourself to read these teachings; and if you find certain techniques and methods that you are able to adopt and incorporate into your own spiritual life, please do. If, on the other hand, you do not find any such helpful methods, you can of course simply put the book aside.

As for myself, I am just a simple Buddhist monk, with a deep admiration and devotion to the teachings of the Buddha, and particularly to his teachings on compassion and the understanding of the deeper nature of reality. I do not have any pride in my own ability to fully represent the rich spiritual teachings of the Buddha, however I do try my best to shoulder the responsibility history has placed on me by sharing my personal understanding of the Buddhist teachings with as many people as possible.

Many reading these teachings will, as their principal aim, be seeking methods to transform their mind. On the part of the teacher it is desirable, if possible, for him or her to have complete knowledge of the topics on which he or she is teaching. On my part, as far as I am concerned, I cannot claim to have full, complete knowledge of the topics I am dealing with here. However, the text we are studying is predominately about the doctrine of emptiness, and I do have a deep admiration for the philosophy of emptiness, and whenever I have the opportunity, I try to reflect on it as much as I can. Based on my little experience—I can claim at least a little experience—I have a sense that it is a living philosophy and that an understanding of emptiness does have an effect. Also, I feel emotionally connected to the idea of emptiness. This is as much of a qualification as I can claim for teaching this text.

Intellect and Faith

For all readers, whether you have developed a deep interest in Buddhism and are embarking on a spiritual path to explore the rich teachings of the Buddha, or whether you are just beginning, it is important not to be blinded by faith alone—taking everything on board simply on the basis of faith. If you do, there is the danger of losing your critical faculty. Rather, the object of your faith or devotion must be discovered through a personal understanding derived through critical reflection. If, as a result of your critical reflection, you develop a sense of deep conviction—then your faith can develop. Confidence and faith developed on the basis of reason will certainly be very firm and reliable. Without using your intellect, your faith in the Buddha’s teachings will simply be an unreasoned faith with no grounding in your own understanding.

It is important to study to expand your own personal understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. Nagarjuna, the second-century Indian master, states that both faith and intelligence are crucial factors for our spiritual development, and of the two, faith is the foundation. He clearly states, however, that for faith to have sufficient power to drive our spiritual progress, we need intelligence, a faculty that can enable us to recognize the right path and to cultivate deep insights. Your understanding should not remain, however, merely at the level of knowledge and intellect. Rather, it should be integrated into your heart and mind so that there is a direct impact on your conduct. Otherwise your study of Buddhism will be purely intellectual and will have no effect on your attitudes, your conduct, or your way of life.

The Root Text

In Tibetan Buddhism the root texts, such as the sutras and tantras, are the original words of the Buddha himself. In addition, there is the Tengyur, the extensive collection of treatises composed by authoritative Indian scholars. There are also thousands of commentarial works written by many great masters from all four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The root text we are using for this present teaching is “Wisdom,” the ninth chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara), written in the eighth century by the great Indian master Shantideva.

I received the transmission of this text from the late Khunu Rinpoche, Tenzin Gyaltsen, who was a great meditator and spiritual teacher. He specialized in the practice of generating the altruistic mind of awakening, based on Shantideva’s text. Khunu Rinpoche received the transmission from the renowned Dza Paltrül Rinpoche.

I will be using two important references as the basis of my commentary on Shantideva’s text. The first is by Khenpo Künpal and reflects the terminology of Nyingma, the Old Translation school. The other is by Minyak Künsö, who although a student of Paltrül Rinpoche, was himself a follower of the Geluk school and therefore used the terminology of the Geluk tradition. As I give the exposition of the root text itself, I will also highlight where these two experts give divergent interpretations of Shantideva’s ninth chapter. Let’s see how it goes!

2. THE BUDDHIST CONTEXT

Historical Background

The compassionate and skillful teacher Buddha Shakyamuni lived in India more than 2,500 years ago. He taught various techniques and methods of spiritual transformation, and did so according to the diverse dispositions, interests, and mentalities of the sentient beings he taught.

A rich spiritual and philosophical tradition developed that was enhanced and maintained by continuous lineages of great Indian masters such as Nagarjuna and Asanga. It came to full flowering in India and later went to many other countries in Asia. In Tibet, Buddhism began to flourish in the seventh and eighth centuries. A great many personalities were part of this historical process, including the Indian abbot Shantarakshita, the teacher Padmasambhava, and the then Tibetan monarch Trisong Detsen. From this period onward the development of Buddhism in Tibet was extremely rapid. As in India, successive lineages of great Tibetan masters contributed tremendously to spreading the Buddha’s teachings across the breadth of the entire country. Over time, and due to Tibetan geographical factors, four major Buddhist schools evolved in Tibet. This led to a divergence in the choice of terminology and to the emphasis placed on the various aspects of Buddhist meditative practices and views.

The first of the four schools is the Nyingma, the “old translation” school, which began from the time of Padmasambhava. Since the period of the great translator Rinchen Sangpo, the other three schools, known collectively as the “new translation” schools, evolved, giving rise to the Kagyü, Sakya, and Geluk. What is common to these four traditions is that they are all complete forms of Buddhism. Not only does each contain the essence of the teachings of the Hinayana, each lineage also contains the essence of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.

The Buddhist Path

For those who are not Buddhist or who are new to the teachings, it may be of benefit for me to provide a general overview of the Buddhist path.

All of us, as human beings with feelings and consciousness, instinctively seek happiness and wish to overcome suffering. Along with that innate aspiration, we also have a right to fulfill this fundamental aim. Regardless of whether we succeed or fail, all our pursuits in life are, in one way or another, directed toward the fulfillment of this basic desire. This is the case for all of us who seek spiritual liberation—whether nirvana or salvation, whether we believe in rebirth or not. What is obvious is that our experiences of pain and pleasure, happiness and unhappiness, are all intimately related to our own attitudes, thoughts, and emotions. In fact we could say that all of them arise from the mind. We see, therefore, in the teachings of all the major religious traditions of the world, an emphasis on spiritual paths based on a transformation of the heart and mind.

What is unique to the Buddhist teaching is that underlying its entire spiritual path is the premise that there is a profound disparity between our perceptions of reality and the way things really are. This disparity at the heart of our being leads to all sorts of psychological confusion, emotional afflictions, disappointments, and frustrations—in a word, suffering. Even in our day-to-day life, we are constantly exposed to situations where we feel deceived, disillusioned, and so on. One of the most effective antidotes to this type of situation is to consciously develop our knowledge, widen our perspectives, and become more familiar with the world. By doing this, we will find ourselves more able to cope with adversities and to be not so constantly in a state of frustration and disillusionment.

Similarly, at the spiritual level too, it is crucial to broaden our perspectives and develop a genuine insight into the true nature of reality. In this way, the fundamental misperception, or ignorance, that permeates our perceptions of the world and our existence can be eliminated. Because of this, in Buddhism, we find discussions on the nature of two truths that form the basic structure of reality. Based on this understanding of reality, the various levels of spiritual paths and grounds are explained. They can all be realized within ourselves on the basis of genuine insight. So, in Buddhism, when we embark upon a spiritual path toward enlightenment, we need to do so by cultivating genuine insight into the deeper nature of reality. Without such a grounding, there is no possibility of attaining heightened spiritual realizations, and our spiritual endeavor may become a mere fantasy built on no foundation at all.

Causality and the Four Noble Truths

When the Buddha gave his first public sermon following his full awakening, he did so within the framework of the four noble truths. These are the truths of suffering, the origin of suffering, the ceasing of suffering, and the path that leads to the cessation of suffering.

At the heart of the teaching on the four noble truths is the principle of causality. With this knowledge, the four truths can be divided into two pairs of a cause and an effect. The first pair is about what we do not desire, and concerns our experience of suffering. The second pair of cause and effect is about our happiness and serenity. In other words, the first truth of suffering is the effect of the second truth, its origin; and similarly, the third truth of cessation, which is the state of liberation, or freedom from suffering, is the effect of the fourth truth, the path leading to that state of freedom. The end to suffering is the goal of the spiritual aspirant, and is true freedom, or happiness. These teachings reflect a deep understanding of the nature of reality.

Three Kinds of Suffering

The truth of suffering refers to more than just our experience of our very obvious sufferings, such as the sensation of pain; animals also recognize this as undesirable. There is a second level of suffering, known as the suffering of change, which refers to what we more often regard as pleasurable sensations. Based on our own day-to-day experience of the transient nature of these pleasurable sensations, we can also recognize this level of suffering, for we can see in its very nature that dissatisfaction must always be a part of it.

The third level of suffering is known as the pervasive suffering of conditioning. This is much more difficult for us to recognize as suffering. To do so requires a degree of deep reflection. We have all sorts of preconceptions, thoughts, prejudices, fears, and hopes. Such thought processes and emotions give rise to certain states of mind, which in turn propel various actions, many of which are destructive and often cause further mental confusion and emotional distress. All of these afflictive thoughts and emotions are thus related to certain actions—mental, verbal, or physical. Some actions, however, are not specifically motivated by any negative or positive states of mind; rather they come from a state of indifference, a neutral state of mind. Such actions are normally not powerful and leave little impact. In contrast, actions that are driven by strong motivation or emotion—be it positive or negative—leave a definite impression on both our state of mind and our behavior. Especially if the motivation is negative, the imprint on both mind and body tends to be very marked. So, based on our own daily experience, we can infer a causal connection between our thoughts and emotions and their expression in our outward behavior. This cycle of thoughts and emotions producing negative behaviors, which in turn condition further afflicted thoughts and emotions, is a process that perpetuates itself without any special effort from our side. The third level of suffering refers to the nature of our existence as fundamentally enmeshed in an unsatisfactory cycle. When Buddhism speaks of the possibility of an end to suffering, it means freedom from this third level of suffering.

The Potential for Freedom

The questions could be raised here: “Is it ever possible to change the very nature of our existence, formed as it is by contaminated physical and mental components? Is it at all possible to exist without being enmeshed in such a conditioned existence?” In discussing cessation, Buddhism i...