Training the Mind in Lamrim

My most dear, most precious, most kind, most wish-fulfilling one,
Thank you very much for your kind letter. I am very, very, very happy. Usually people explain their problems and they don’t say that it comes their mind, their past karma, they never say that. Most people don’t say that, so I am very, very happy to hear that you recognize that. It's so good. That means you have to purify the negative karma and you have to stop creating the negative karma again. Therefore, you need to do meditation on renunciation, bodhicitta and emptiness.

Not only that, of course to realize renunciation of your own samsara, then you need to have compassion for other sentient beings—the numberless sentient beings who are suffering in the oceans of samsara—and from that to develop bodhicitta and then also to realize emptiness, the very, very heart of the entire Buddhist path, that practice, that realization.

So the graduated path to enlightenment, the lamrim, when you read that, it's like touching all the teachings of Buddha, the Lesser Vehicle teachings, the Greater Vehicle sutra teachings and the Greater Vehicle tantra teachings. Lamrim is the basis for tantric teachings, so it is the most, most, most important practice.

For you it came out to meditate and to study the lamrim. There are many lamrims by different enlightened beings, but for you Lama Tsongkhapa's lamrim came out—either the Great Lamrim (Lamrim Chenmo) or the Middle-Length Lamrim. So from these two you can choose. If you study the Middle-Length Lamrim you will understand the Great Lamrim (Lamrim Chenmo).

The only thing that is taken out is negation of the different wrong views, in the section of emptiness. The teachings on emptiness are longer in the Lamrim Chenmo, as the negation of the different wrong views with logic is taken out of the Middle-Length Lamrim. If you want to know that, then you can study from the Lamrim Chenmo. It depends on whichever text you want. You can choose. The Middle-Length Lamrim is like having studied the Lamrim Chenmo as well.

So that’s incredibly good, after reading many lamrim texts and then you read Lama Tsongkhapa's lamrim it is very tasty. The words are profound and deep. You will think, “I should have read this many years ago. So many years ago I should have read this.” So it is very, very good to read, to study from beginning to end. Read it mindfully so it becomes a meditation that plants the seeds of enlightenment, so that means enlightenment. This is very, very important.

Read it four times from beginning to end. Each time you will find different points and something which you didn't learn before comes out. There is a story that if you read it nine times you get that benefit nine times.

In regard to the lamrim meditations, do effortful meditation, which means to go over the lamrim outlines during those months, over and over, and what is explained there and in other commentaries, what you remember, you can meditate like that.

The way to meditate, generally people think there is only fixed meditation, one-pointed meditation, but there are two types—analytical meditation and fixed meditation. All the meditations on the lamrim are analytical meditations, except shamatha or mental quintessence. Then after that there is effortless practice.

If you feel a connection with Manjushri that is extremely good, in order to develop your wisdom. It is so important to develop your wisdom, so you need Manjushri to clear away dullness or ignorance and to develop wisdom. I am going to translate a Manjushri meditation for you, but it will come later, as it needs to be translated.

However, you should read Chanting the Names of Manjushri every day. Even if you don’t understand it, it leaves positive imprints. It’s so good, so incredible, incredible, incredible. When you understand the benefits, you won't believe it. This practice especially helps you to develop wisdom and understand Buddhadharma.

Also it’s good if you read Praise to Manjushri (Tib: gang lo ma) every day, and recite Manjushri mantra. [You can find links to these prayers and practices in the FPMT Catalogue.]

Regarding recitation of Chanting the Names of Manjushri, and also Praise to Manjushri and Manjushri mantra, recite these mindfully so that it becomes the cause for the path to enlightenment. Recite with the motivation to benefit the numberless six realm beings—the hell beings, the hungry ghosts, the animals, the humans, the suras, the asuras and the intermediate state beings—so not only the beings in this world, but there are numberless universes, so there are all these different beings.

Please recite these prayers and mantras and also study and practice for everyone, so no one is left out. It's for everyone. Recite in order to achieve enlightenment, but not only your own enlightenment; it is also for them to achieve enlightenment, so then you need to attain enlightenment. Your motivation includes that—it includes every ant, every mosquito, every dog, every insect, wherever you go, whichever country, mountain, like that.

So please practice in this way.

With much love and prayers ...

My very dear one,
Thank you very much for your most kind letter. Well, I need to explain about this monk. He is totally dedicated to sentient beings, to help not only you, but all the sentient beings. That is his prayer and he told me that many times.

You should try to live your life as an ascetic, with no attachment to this life, without the eight worldly concerns, which is where all the problems come from, where all the obstacles to Dharma practice come from.

So, for example, you have strong attachment to this life but at the same time you wish to be free from suffering and to achieve the blissful state of bliss, ultimate happiness; you want to be free from the oceans of samsaric suffering, and for all beings to be free from the oceans of samsaric suffering—the oceans of hell beings’ sufferings, oceans of hungry ghosts’ sufferings, oceans of animals’ sufferings, oceans of human beings’ sufferings, oceans of suras’ sufferings, oceans of asuras’ sufferings and oceans of intermediate state beings’ sufferings. How is it possible to have those two thoughts? They are opposite thoughts. One thought is renunciation, thinking of peace, freedom from desire and attachment, freedom from delusion, and the other is wishing to have the attachments of this life.

Developing renunciation for this life depends on seeing samsara only in the nature of suffering, seeing that it is like being in the center of fire. Through that we see the shortcomings of delusion, including attachment to this life. Another example is when we are on the ice or snow and we have no clothing; we are freezing but at the same time expecting sunshine and warmth, so that doesn’t happen. How can those two things happen? While we are on the ice or snow with no clothing and we are freezing, but at the same time expecting to not have ice or snow and for there to be warmth and sunshine—it doesn’t happen together, so we have to choose one. If we don’t want to be freezing cold, then we need to be in a place where there is warm sunshine. Expecting both to happen together is hopeless.

We need to seek enlightenment, the state of omniscient mind, for sentient beings—to be able to do perfect works for sentient beings. That is the whole purpose of our life, why we are born as human beings. That is the most important goal to achieve for oneself and for sentient beings. This is what the monk wishes for himself and for all sentient beings. The cause of this is bodhicitta, great compassion for numberless sentient beings and bodhicitta. This is what sentient beings need, to achieve enlightenment, so they can receive perfect help without subtle mistakes.

It is the same thing relating to you and numberless sentient beings. For this we need the realization of guru devotion, that every guru is all the numberless buddhas and each buddha is all the gurus. We need this to arise without effort from our own side. After realizing guru devotion we need renunciation of samsara, then bodhicitta and then the realization of emptiness. This is what numberless buddhas want for you and also what they want for all sentient beings. These realizations are the foundation of tantra, the generation and completion stages. Then from that we can achieve the unified state of Vajradhara, which has seven qualities, embracing and so forth.

Please do the preliminary practices. I checked and it might be better to stay at the center and try to do the preliminary practices there and meditate on the lamrim, especially thought transformation, as well as the graduated path of the lower capable being—the sufferings of samsara, perfect human rebirth, the difficulties in obtaining it again, etc. In this way use the obstacles in the path to enlightenment for sentient beings, so that means using the path to bring happiness to sentient beings, then there are no obstacles.

The most important thing is for you to practice the lamrim, so read books like Essence of Refined Gold. Read this book from beginning to end, read it well and if there is something you don’t understand then you can ask Geshe-la or an old student you know well who has already studied the lamrim. Also, meditate on the lamrim—that is the most important thing—to have lamrim realizations.

First study the lamrim well, then after that, in order to have effortful realizations, follow the lamrim outline. Go through each topic in the lamrim outline again and again in order to have effortless meditation experience, no matter how many weeks, months or years it takes to have realizations. Start from guru devotion and if possible on the same day also do some meditation on the graduated path of the lower capable being, so go through the meditations one by one and try to have realizations by meditating on them, no matter how many weeks, months or years it takes, however long it takes to have realizations. If you can, try to do a little meditation every day on emptiness, by reciting the Heart Sutra or reciting one verse, even something like: “The I does not have true existence….” Try meditating on that, then meditate on the reason for that, which is that it is dependent arising. So you can meditate on different verses like that and try to realize emptiness.

The practices for you to do for the quickest enlightenment for sentient beings, so you can free them from oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to full enlightenment, the peerless happiness are:

• Refuge: 4,000 times
• Tonglen: 300,000
• Four immeasurable thoughts: 100,000
• Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga: 10,000
• Nyung näs: Try to do at least three nyung näs each year, but if you can do more, you are most welcome to do so.

Also recite OM MANI PADME HUM 500 million times, if you can. Attempt that if you can, but if you don’t finish it doesn’t matter. Count this mantra every day with Chenrezig meditation. Visualize beams of light emitting from Chenrezig to the six-realm sentient beings. Also if you have a prayer wheel, you can turn that and you can visualize beams emitting also from the prayer wheel to the six-realm sentient beings. You can turn the prayer wheel with your right hand and count the mantras with your left hand. This is just if you have a prayer wheel. Do whatever you can, reciting the mantras every day and counting in this way.

Do whatever you can. Don’t be afraid, even you don’t finish, its OK, just be happy in doing that. Just be happy, even just reciting some mantras every day, even if you don’t finish, it doesn’t matter. Whatever you can finish is good, very, very good.

From time to time, if possible, you can do a deity retreat. Please enjoy your life with bodhicitta.

With much love and prayers,

Lama Zopa

P.S. I’m very happy you informed me of your difficulties. Thank you very, very much.

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,
How are you? I’m sure you are very happy, having a meaningful life for sentient beings. I met your friend and we had a talk, and that’s why I am sending these cards, to say hello.

Please live your life with bodhicitta as much as possible, while eating, walking, sitting, sleeping or doing your job.

You must be very busy, but I think what makes life most worthwhile is if you can study Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand from beginning to end, slowly, slowly. If you read it mindfully, then it’s meditation. Do that three times. It’s very good to read it from beginning to end, write down anything you don’t understand, and later that can be discussed, not with anybody, because you might get wrong understanding, but with a student who has studied well or a geshe.

With much love and prayers ...

My dear one,
For you, the main lamrim text to study is Lama Tsongkhapa’s Middle Lamrim. Study this text three times from beginning to end.

When reading, it’s not like a puja. When you read the text, reflect on the subject by thinking about it and in this way it becomes a meditation. Take notes on any subjects which are difficult to understand and discuss later on with an old student or a geshe. When marking the book, for example, with a highlighter, do that in a respectful way with a colored pen not a black pen, because it’s like offering robes to a holy object or like painting a thangka.

FOR EFFORTFUL LAM RIM EXPERIENCE

• Guru devotion: ten months, using The Essential Nectar or the guidelines of the Middle Lamrim
• The graduated path of the lower capable being: five months
• The graduated path of the intermediate capable being: one month
• The graduated path of the highest capable being:
  • Bodhicitta: eleven months
  • Emptiness: three months

Practice this cycle for the number of months specified for each section, completing the whole outline five times altogether. Then start effortless meditation until you see that one guru is all the buddhas and all the buddhas are the guru, mixed, just one. When you have very stable realization for weeks and years, then you will able to correctly devote to the guru.

If possible, on the same day always do one meditation on the graduated path of the lower capable being.

Before, this life's happiness was most important and the next life's happiness was not important. Everything was done for this life, but through meditation you can change your mind. Then this life’s happiness is not very important and the next life's happiness is most important. All your efforts go for the happiness of your future lives. This means that you have renounced this life, more or less, by meditating on the perfect human rebirth up to karma.

Seeing that samsara is in the nature of suffering and it is like being in the center of a fire, what you need is liberation from its cause and to reach the everlasting happiness.

By realizing that the self-cherishing thought opens the door to all problems and obstacles, and cherishing others opens the door to all happiness, you must practice Dharma. You must totally change those two from how you were before. You previously acted with the self-cherishing thought, whereas now you are only cherishing others, not the self. Also, the extensive way is thinking of the kindness of sentient beings, and then generating bodhicitta.

There are also the seven points of cause and effect in order to generate bodhicitta—looking at other sentient beings who are suffering as yourself and generating infinite compassion for all sentient beings, and from there generating bodhicitta. Thus, whenever you see sentient beings, naturally you have the thought to achieve enlightenment for them. Like that, without effort realization of bodhicitta comes.

Regarding emptiness, when you see the I, action and object as merely labeled by the mind, you realize emptiness, tong pa nyi. When you see emptiness unified with depending arising—that those two are unified, complementing each other—this is the complete realization of emptiness, the pure view of Buddha Shakyamuni, Padmasambhava, Lama Tsongkhapa and Milarepa.

PRACTICES

• Vajrasattva: 50,000 mantras. These can be done either on retreat or in a loose way with daily sessions morning and night.
• Chanting the Names of Manjushri (Arya Manjushri Nama Samgiti) Recite this prayer three times. This is an incredible purification and accumulation of merit for you.

With much love and prayers ...

Dear one,
It comes out best to go to Bodhgaya and then to meditate on Liberation in the Palm of your Hand. Study this text from beginning to end, and do this twice. On top of this, it important to meditate on how samsara is in the nature of suffering, and the six types of suffering.

[The first type of suffering] is that nothing is definite in samsara and secondly, nothing gives satisfaction, however much we enjoy it, so of course there is always dissatisfaction. Nothing is definite in samsara, from life to life. Relationships change—friend, enemy, stranger, they all become like this—changing even in one life, even in one year, one month, one week or one day. In the morning that person is your friend, then by the evening they become your enemy. Also relatives change, so from life to life even relatives become enemies, changing from friend to enemy to friend.

The third one is having to leave the body again and again, whatever body is taken, however many beautiful bodies we have taken—as humans, non-humans, or worldly gods—we have taken all these bodies. Those looking very beautiful, male, female—all the human bodies that people think are very beautiful—also insects, butterflies and so forth, we have taken all these bodies numberless times. If we collect all the bodies we have taken, from one life to another life, there would be no empty space left.

Lama Tsongkhapa explained, for example, our father’s father’s fathers. It goes on and on like that, and also our mother’s mother’s mothers and so forth. From that meditation you can get an idea that this body is just a collection of old sperm and egg. Sperm from our father’s father’s fathers, and egg from our mother’s mother’s mothers. Realize it is garbage, it's extremely old garbage, and do not get attached. In this way, it helps to be free from samsara and to end taking rebirth [the fourth type of suffering], even though it has no beginning.

[The fifth type of suffering] is that after being high you become low; it’s always like that. We have been higher in the desire realm, as devas—form realm devas, formless realm devas, and the tip of samsara. We have received these rebirths numberless times through meditation, shamatha, but still we are not free from the suffering of samsara.

The form and formless realms are both in the nature of suffering. The form realm has no suffering of pain but it has the suffering of change. All the samsaric temporary pleasures are the suffering of change, therefore the form realm has the suffering of change. The formless realm doesn’t have those two [the suffering of pain and the suffering of change] but it has pervasive compounded suffering, from where the other two sufferings arise, being totally under the control of delusion and karma, and the contaminated seed of delusion. From there, suffering, delusion arises.

When you think about this in regards to the suffering of other sentient beings, then you develop compassion, from that you develop bodhicitta, and from that you generate the Mahayana path. If you practice tantra, on the basis of that, then practice tantra. This is the shortest path to enlightenment, so you can free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to buddhahood, the total cessation of all the obscurations and completion of all the realizations.

So that’s my talk. Don't only read one time, please read again and again and study it. Also you can show your friends, if you want, those whom you want to understand.

Thank you.

I checked and what comes out best is for you to do is prostrations to the Thirty-five Buddhas. You need strong purification to have realization of the path to enlightenment.

With much love and prayers...

My very dear one,
I discussed with __ who thought to set up her mind in the proper way, which means not going to extremes, not engaging in the heaviest negative karma, not thinking only of others’ faults and putting the blame for one’s own difficulties and problems on others. Instead, thinking in the proper way to have a healthy mind and body in order to practice Dharma from life to life. Therefore I am very happy that both of you came to see me this time.

I understand that it’s not an easy life, because the mind is not easy. One minute we think this way according to guru devotion and then next minute we think the opposite. This is quite normal for us sentient beings.

My suggestion is for you to read the lamrim and really stick the mind with that. If the mind sticks with lamrim, you will achieve a lot of peace, happiness and satisfaction, in this life and beyond. In this life you will have good relationships and happiness and you will be able to offer service to others. Otherwise you will suffer so much and also cause many difficulties to others. Even living together there will be lots of fights and not much peace, but a lot of suffering.

My idea is for you to please read Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand well from beginning to end, especially focusing on guru devotion, which is the root of the path. Depending on that we have obstacles or success. Also [read and meditate on] the perfect human rebirth, karma, and the suffering of samsara—each realm. That is very, very important. The extensive kindness of mother sentient beings is also very important, and then renouncing samsara and bodhicitta as much as possible.

Read it well from beginning to the end and meditate on it. Please read it well twice—slowly and well—relating it to your life and meditating on it while you read. After that spend five months meditating on guru devotion; two months on the perfect human rebirth up to karma; five months on the graduated path of the middle capable being; seven months on bodhicitta, the graduated path of the higher capable being, and nine months on emptiness. This means [that topic] is your main focus during that number of months.

Then go back again and whatever realization you didn’t have, go back again and again for that number of months. Do this based on the Guru Puja or Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga or Six-session Guru Yoga.

Please remember every morning when you wake up, rejoice, thinking, “I didn’t die today.” Think that life is very short; don’t think, “I will live very long.” If you think that you will live long, then problems will arise due to attachment, anger and the selfish mind. This increases problems in your life and causes harm to others, so it’s important to think about impermanence and death. It is very sure that death can happen any day, and if you remember that then everything will be very quiet and all the disturbing emotional thoughts will go away. The mind will be very quiet, there will be more Dharma in the heart, we will have a sincere wish to help to others and we won’t waste time. Please try to follow this as much as you can.

With much love and prayers...