8. The General Sufferings of Samsara

THE TEN NONVIRTUES

[WFGS pp. 131–35]

The result of negative action is rebirth in the suffering realms. This is the principal result, the result of a complete nonvirtue. An action has four factors: object, motivation, action and completion of action. If the action is not complete with all these four factors, it’s not a complete nonvirtuous action and the result may not be fully experienced; it may not mean a lower rebirth. Although we may not experience the full result, we will experience various suffering results when we take another human rebirth, such as experiencing the result that is similar to the cause. After a lower realm rebirth has been exhausted, there may still be some effect of the result of the principal karma to be experienced. Experiencing the result similar to the cause means we will have to experience the same suffering as the negative action we did. Creating the result similar to the cause means we will do the same action again and have to experience the same results. The possessed result is living in a horrible or suffering place as a result of that negative action.

THE GENERAL SUFFERINGS OF SAMSARA

[WFGS pp. 141–43]

In A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life Shantideva’s says,

[4:16–17] Although today I am healthy,
Well-nourished and unafflicted, 
Life is momentary and deceptive:
The body is like an object on loan for but a minute.

With behavior such as this
I shall not win a human body again,
And if this human form is not attained
There will be solely wrongdoing and no virtue.

The great pandit Chandragomin tells of a cow seeing grass at the edge of a cliff, running to it and, before it can take a bite, tumbling over the cliff. Samsaric pleasures betray us, just as grass betrays the cow. We shouldn’t trust these things, but this experience doesn’t come intuitively, it only arises through understanding.

The best way to destroy our trust in samsaric things is realizing the shortcomings of attachment and coming to see attachment as the real enemy. Unless we can overcome our wrong view that creates our attachment to samsaric pleasure, we won’t be able to do this.

The best way is to check up using examples from our own life. From the Dharma point of view, we do many childish and pointless things that we think are important. Sometimes we are so blind that we need to be shown examples. In Precious Garland, Nagarjuna says,

There is pleasure when a sore is scratched,
But to be without sores is more pleasurable still.
Just so, there are pleasures in worldly desires,
But to be without desires is more pleasurable still.¹

When we have a sore, it feels good to scratch it a bit, but if we keep scratching it, there will be even more pain. Not scratching it is pain; scratching it is pain. The best solution is not to have the itch at all. As long as we have samsaric desires, we will have dissatisfaction, so it’s better to be free from desire.

Food is another example. When we are hungry, we suffer, but when we eat too much, we also suffer. Or when we are without possessions, we are miserable, but when we are wealthy and have countless possessions, we have many enemies and great fear that our things will be stolen.

Despite the fact that we are full of such living examples, our wisdom is so small, our minds are so limited, that we have to depend on somebody to show them to us. But it’s not enough to listen to examples, we must understand their meaning and find a solution to the whole situation. The Dharma method provides this solution through recognizing the negative mind and changing it. This recognition must be profound, not just by reading the book.

Just as the lack of desire to attain enlightenment is the greatest obstacle to attaining our goal, when we desire enlightenment, we have the energy to live in the essential practice of the Dharma. If the body didn’t exist, there would be no samsaric problems such as discomfort, hunger, thirst or problems with possessions. Depending on this body, the three poisonous minds of greed, hatred and ignorance arise naturally. We have been drugged by these three poisons since beginningless time. If we can eliminate these three negative minds, we will no longer be a slave to our body; the suffering body will no longer exist. Changing the negative mind depends on practicing the teachings.

The meditation on the general sufferings of samsara [WFGS pp. 141–142] shows the suffering nature of all the realms of samsara. Without realizing this meditation, there is no way to fully and clearly understand suffering. As long as we don’t recognize samsaric happiness to be suffering, we will always be deluded, thinking that it is true happiness. This wrong concept will keep us suffering. It’s extremely important to understand these things beyond the level of mere words. What we must do is to actually experience this knowledge, realizing the clear and deep feeling that samsara is a blazing fire. Without this, there is no way to attain the fully renounced mind, however much we may talk about it. If the mind has not fully realized this point, we cannot renounce samsara. It is blocked, making our Dharma practice difficult, our meditation difficult, and we are hindered from attaining enlightenment. By discovering the suffering nature of samsara, this meditation is so useful; it protects us from suffering.

RENUNCIATION

If we can experience samsaric pleasures with renunciation and without attachment, we won’t experience the suffering result. Our attachment betrays us, just as the cow is betrayed by attachment to the pleasures of eating the grass at the edge of the precipice. When we follow attachment, we don’t think that we’ll be cheated. We presume there will be a pleasant result; but in fact, we are making arrangements for a suffering result to arise. In this way, we are cheated by attachment. If we understand karma and what brings suffering results, however, no matter many friends and relatives we have, no matter how comfortable our lifestyle, we have no interest in following attachment because we can see it as our enemy. Thinking of all the past suffering that attachment has caused and of all the future suffering it will bring, we have no wish to engage in actions that lead to attachment. We can enjoy things while our mind remains free from attachment to them; we are capable of changing samsaric enjoyments into Dharma actions, using our possessions in a positive way. Then our daily life becomes pure and controlled. We can always experience the happiness of our positive actions and will never be cheated by attachment.

When we are attached to an object, we are being cheated by our greedy mind, because we trust that our samsaric happiness is real happiness, which is a wrong concept. The classic Tibetan example is of cannibal, who uses sweet words to befriend somebody, enticing them with gifts and money, only to lead them to their death. Only when the victim arrives at the place of slaughter do they realize that their trust has been betrayed due to their greed.

The person whose mind is well trained in the nature of samsara and has achieved effortless renunciation sees the whole of samsara as a blazing fire. They don’t experience even a split second of desire for samsara, wanting only to escape from it.

Although we might be interested in attaining nirvana, the wish alone is not enough. Nor is it enough to think that samsara is a suffering place. We must develop strong aversion to it in order to bring about effortless renunciation. The person with this kind of mind sees all samsaric enjoyments as a blazing fire.

In northern Tibet where it is very cold, a hungry boy from a nomadic family wanted tsampa very much. Because there was no tsampa, his mother gave him cooked radish instead, and he cried because he didn’t like it. She gave him raw radish, partly cooked radish, sliced radish—she prepared it many different ways, but whatever the form the boy always thought, “This is radish” and saw it as ugly. This is the feeling the fully renounced mind has for samsaric enjoyments—no interest, no matter how high the enjoyment, how expensive the possessions, how nice and numerous the relatives and friends. They see all this as suffering by nature and are cynical about its empty promises.

Just because a person is poor and without possessions doesn’t mean they are renounced. Neither is a wealthy person who is living poorly in the jungle and trying to look like a yogi. The realization of renunciation can’t be judged by external appearances. It depends on our mental attitude; it’s not something that comes merely by getting rid of possessions. A king can have fully renounced samsara, and a beggar can be extremely greedy. Without trying to destroy the negative mind through living in mental discipline, we can’t be renounced no matter how much we separate ourselves from possessions. That only causes conflict. We must renounce the negative mind and live in the practice. We must know what true renunciation really is. If we have destroyed the negative mind, no possession can cause suffering. We can use any enjoyment, including our body, to help attain enlightenment. The principal cause of suffering is the negative mind; possessions are only the cooperative conditions. Therefore, we must destroy the negative mind.

Understanding suffering is fundamental to the knowledge of the evolution of samsara. Once we have it, we won’t get attached to these realms. We’ll develop stronger renunciation and get out of samsara more quickly. If we don’t have the desire to get out, we become lazy. The mind not recognizing the suffering of samsaric life is an ignorant mind. By recognizing suffering, we eliminate ignorance. Without this recognition, we can’t renounce samsara to reach enlightenment. It’s the same as if we have been poisoned; we must recognize the poison as the cause of our pain before we can alleviate the suffering.

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

[WFGS pp. 145–47]

The four noble truths give an overview of the Dharma and show what we can experience through practice. To completely purify every single defect of negative mind, we should fully realize every single absolute and relative truth, which includes all existence, which means attaining the omniscient mind. We then attain the two results of the two holy bodies. We can only do this through Dharma practice, following the Dharma path of wisdom and method.

All vehicles—the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana—include the paths of wisdom and method. The Vajrayana method is the quickest method, more subtle than the Mahayana, which is more subtle than the Hinayana. The wisdom is the same. Unlike the Hinayana, the Mahayana uses the methods of bodhicitta, great love, great compassion and the six perfections. The tantric path uses other methods such as the visualization of a deity where the result is taken as achieved—we practice as if we have already achieved enlightenment—which is why it’s called the resultant vehicle.

The Dharma explains everything that exists through the two truths, which are the base. All three vehicles lead to the two kayas, which are the result, and method and wisdom are the path that leads to that result. Although tantra uses very different methods from the sutra vehicle, the two are not opposed to each other. The tantric methods are compared to medicine that can sometimes be poisonous and sometimes nonpoisonous substances, the sick person needing one sort at one time and the other sort at another stage of their recovery.
Both the poisonous and the nonpoisonous substances are used as medicine to cure sickness.

The four noble truths counteract the sixteen wrong concepts. It takes a very long time to realize these subjects.

THE TRUTH OF SUFFERING

The first noble truth is the truth of suffering. True suffering was shown first by the Buddha, before the cause of suffering, because the cause of suffering is very hard to recognize. Because we have failed recognized the cause since beginningless time, we continue to suffer. Living beings are too ignorant to recognize the cause easily, and so they would lose interest if it was shown first, thinking that there was no reason to practice. Therefore, true suffering is shown first so that we will recognize it.

Why did you come here from the West? I think if you were really honest with yourselves, you would see that you’ve come here to find some happiness because you are suffering. No matter what we say our reason is—to learn, to experience and so forth—the real reason is because we don’t want suffering. This is the same reason we study the Dharma. Certainly, nobody expected to experience suffering at this meditation course! If we don’t recognize suffering, there would be no reason to put effort into finding its cause or into following the method of Dharma. We should also remember that perfect peace is not in the nature of suffering; it never changes.

The whole of samsaric suffering is included in the three sufferings: the suffering of pain, the suffering of change and pervasive compounding suffering. We could never finish explaining the suffering of even one sentient being, which is beginningless, so how could we do so in terms of all sentient beings? Yet all suffering is included in these three. We must meditate to realize these before we can gain a true understanding of samsara.

The first type of suffering is the suffering of pain, also called the suffering of suffering or of feelings. The three sorts of feeling are happiness, unhappiness and indifference. All our worldly mental and physical problems, such as worry and sickness, are the suffering of pain. These are things we can easily recognize and define as suffering.

Samsaric happiness is the suffering of change, the second type. The suffering of change is experienced when we eat delicious food, enjoy the sun and so forth. The enjoyment itself is in the nature of suffering. For example, if we like eating a certain food and we eat a lot of it, we get tired of it. If we get cold and sit in the sun, it feels good at first but then we get burned. If an enjoyment was not in the nature of suffering, it wouldn’t decrease by repetition. Enjoyments that are not suffering are things such as meditation, whose pleasure only increases as we develop it, bringing perfect peace until enlightenment. No samsaric pleasure can do this. Based on ignorance and attachment, chasing samsaric pleasure can only lead to continued desire, leading to repeated actions which bring suffering in the end.

The suffering of change is difficult to recognize because we are attached to it, because at present we see samsaric happiness as real happiness. Our whole life is spent working for samsaric happiness, ignorant that this “happiness” is in fact suffering. If we don’t clearly see this, we can’t understand the nature of suffering or of samsara. Even if we had great clairvoyance and could fly or travel beneath the earth, it wouldn’t help. Unless we recognize all suffering and renounce samsara, we are still suffering.

There’s no way to escape from suffering without renouncing the negative mind and we can only do that when we can see the whole of samsara only as suffering, not as happiness at all. We must see samsaric pleasure as like honey on a razor blade. With the mind living in the avoidance of the eight worldly dharmas, we can enjoy the honey, but with desire, the effect of licking the honey of those desires is far worse than a cut tongue, because unlike the wound it can never be cured. This is because it leads to greater attachment to samsara, which obscures the nature of attachment and of samsaric happiness, and causes the negative mind to increase.

The third kind of suffering is pervasive compounding suffering. This means that whatever we do is under the control of karma and delusions, so our suffering is all-pervasive. Ignorant of our true nature, suffering pervades the whole body. Wrong concepts dominate our samsaric existence; we have no control because of karma and delusions.

THE TRUTH OF THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING

Ignorance is the true cause of suffering because it’s the fundamental creator of our delusions that cause us to create karma. It’s wrong to think that there is no reason for suffering. Sentient beings are always suffering, meeting new problems. Although ignorance is the fundamental cause, there are many differing secondary causes due to karma and delusions.

Because our mind is pervaded with karma and delusions, we suffer and our suffering is individual to us. Our suffering arises strongly from them and not from someone else’s karma and delusions. Each of us creates our own suffering. If it were created by some other being such as God, then our ignorance should be God, but this doesn’t make sense.

THE TRUTH OF THE CESSATION OF SUFFERING

The true cessation of suffering is the result of completing the true path, which is the fourth noble truth. In the teachings, this noble truth precedes the fourth in order to show the existence of nirvana and give a reason for following the path. Nirvana is perfect peace, the cessation of all suffering. When we see this, we ask how we can attain it. The answer is through the path.

While our mind-and-body composite are bound by karma and delusions, we are not liberated and both body and mind are out of control. But there is such a thing as liberation because it’s possible to free the mind from all delusions.

The deluded mind is the opposite of the peaceful mind. It’s suffering. For instance, although sexual pleasure arises from the delusion of attachment, we see it as peace. Such happiness is not peace and seeing it as peace only increases our delusions. And delusions are in the nature of suffering.

Even when we are free from some suffering, we can’t assume we are permanently free from it. It can and will return. Only when we can be free from all suffering and attain nirvana will we be permanently free. When we use worldly methods to stop our sufferings, they might cease for a short while—perhaps—but they will certainly return again and again. Using Dharma methods, we can cease our sufferings permanently. If we couldn’t, then our Dharma practice would be meaningless. Unable to attain peace, there would be no reason to practice at all. And that would mean that there are no enlightened beings, those who have totally purified all their delusions and completed all the realizations. That would be impossible. That would also mean that what those enlightened beings show us—the Buddhadharma—is nonsensical.

But we can clear our mind of our delusions. Our mind is something that we can develop. When we started school, we were very ignorant, not knowing how to write or count, not knowing science or geography or anything. But over the years, we were taught and we learned so many things. Our knowledge and understanding increased. Just as we can acquire all this worldly knowledge gradually, studying it at school, we can study the Dharma and come to understand why we are suffering and how we can cease our suffering. We can also come to know that the nature of the mind is pure and if we continue to purify it of delusions, we can certainly become perfect, omniscient. We can certainly achieve the holy mind that sees every part of every sentient being, every tiny karma ever created and clearly remembers every second of every day of every sentient being simultaneously.

At present, our mind is limited. When we hear a pleasant sound and listen, we can’t hear a friend who is talking to us. When we read a book, we are so interested that we aren’t aware the radio is playing. Conversely, we can be reading the book and thinking of many different things. We have a mind incapable of complete concentration, very limited in its abilities.

The omniscient mind is never like this; it has no such obstacles. Such a mind that sees all past and future lives is unimaginable to us. Consider the number of sentient beings that exist, even on this earth. The number of humans is nothing compared to the number of animals, who are everywhere—in trees, in houses, in oceans, in the stomach, some visible, some invisible. Yet, the omniscient mind is aware of each split second of mind of all these living beings, as well as being aware of every atom of nonliving matter and how it changes constantly.

Just as it’s possible for a child to develop their mind through education, we can develop our mind all the way to enlightenment. Just as the ignorant mind isn’t permanent and unchanging, neither is the enlightened mind. For example, the person who invented the rocket didn’t always have that knowledge. They had to learn how to do it, eliminating their ignorance of the technique. We too can remove all ignorance from the mind, including being ignorant of enlightenment. Through Dharma practice, purification and realizations, this can be our experience, as ordinary education is already our experience.

Once our ignorance has been completely ceased, suffering can’t return. There is no longer a cause of suffering, which is ignorance. The cessation of suffering can’t give rise to ignorance. Only ignorance can cause ignorance just as the cure for the sickness doesn’t cause sickness. Ignorance and the cessation of ignorance are complete opposites. To think that we would still suffer after we had ceased all our ignorance is like the farmer expecting another crop of corn even though he had removed every seed the year before and never replanted. No farmer thinks like this. Rocks can’t bring corn; only the seed can do this. So, for the cessation of ignorance to cause ignorance is impossible. The creator, the negative mind, is impermanent. The cessation of suffering means the cessation of the creator.

THE TRUTH OF THE PATH THAT LEADS TO THE CESSATION OF SUFFERING

Wisdom is the true path. If it doesn’t go against the delusions, it isn’t the true path, since the liberated mind is the opposite of the deluded mind.

Some beings don’t want to renounce the negative mind of attachment because they are afraid of losing samsaric happiness.

THE SUFFERING OF BIRTH

There are eight types of suffering:

1. the suffering of birth
2. the suffering of old age
3. the suffering of illness
4. the suffering of death 
5. the suffering of encountering what is unpleasant
6. the suffering of separation from what is pleasant
7. the suffering of not getting what you want
8. the suffering of the five appropriated aggregates.

Even our birth involves great suffering, beginning with the conception in our mother’s womb. We don’t remember these sufferings, nor have they been scientifically explained. Even though we have feelings at birth and death, they are beyond the object of scientists’ minds, otherwise this would be explained in books. Because they have forgotten their own experiences, scientists don’t investigate them. The main reason people don’t consider that the fetus has a mind is that they don’t remember their own experiences. It’s extremely difficult for us to see others’ sufferings because mental states are so much harder to check up on than physical states.

The meditation on karma [meditation three in Wish-fulfilling Golden Sun] is very useful. We usually don’t see others’ sufferings and, presuming that they are happy, like the gods, we want to be like that. When poor people look at the very wealthy, all they can see is the enjoyment that they seem to have—on the surface, they look very happy—and the craving to also have that kind of life arises. This is the seed of existence in samsara.

But if we meditate on how suffering pervades the whole of samsara, we will see suffering more clearly, and then we can discover that they are all suffering—rich and poor, famous and unknown, even the gods who have bodies of light and many palaces and women, with beautiful parks, enjoying delicious and rich food. The richest man on earth would seem a beggar in comparison. If we could see their lives, it would be very difficult not to crave the same.

Seeing how the lives of every being in samsara, including ourselves, is only suffering, we lose any interest we had in the pleasures of samsara, even the wish to be the richest person of earth or a desire realm god. We understand that it’s not happiness, that it’s actually suffering. So, there is no attachment and no craving for samsaric enjoyments, and no evil friend or evil possessions that can cheat us because we know that they are just cooperative conditions and the main problem is within our mind. Unless our mind is free from delusions, the karmic imprints can easily allow these conditions to arise, and then we’ll be cheated. Then, we can come under the influence of false friends who lead us into wrong views and so forth. When we know this, others might tempt us to create nonvirtuous actions in order to enjoy samsaric pleasures, but we are stopped by being aware of the suffering results that will mean countless suffering lifetimes.

When we discover that the smiling friend who flatters and gives gifts is false, that they flatter us to betray us, that in time they will cause us trouble, we lose interest. We become skeptical and cautious, no matter what they give us.

If we discover the nature of suffering and understand its causes and results, we will have no interest in remaining in this samsaric state. No matter which realm in samsara we are born in or which state of mind we have there, it’s still suffering. When this knowledge becomes a conviction, we have the determination not to be reborn in samsara and therefore stop creating the causes.

We should follow Milarepa, who gave this advice to his disciple Rechungpa:

Son, if you want to practice the holy Dharma and have devotion arise from the depth of your heart, do not look back to this life. Follow my truth. The relatives are Mara who delay you, who prevent you from practicing the holy Dharma. Don’t believe what they say. Cut off attachment to them. And food and possessions are the spies of Mara. The objects of desire are like Mara’s noose, tying you to itself, therefore definitely cut off attachment.

We always think that beings in the womb are happier than they would be outside. We think it’s so happy and pleasant there. This is because we don’t understand the experience and have forgotten our own.

Creating positive karma is difficult; creating negative karma is so easy. Without any effort at all we can use our birth to increase our delusions, but this just creates more delusions. Usually, whatever rebirth we have is in the service of ignorance. But if our rebirth doesn’t arise out of karma and delusions, delusions won’t increase and our rebirth won’t be used for the ignorant, negative mind.

Taking care of this body when we are overcome with ignorance means we are slaves to the negative mind. Why is it difficult to use our rebirth for virtuous work? Because we took the wrong kind of rebirth, a suffering rebirth, not a perfect rebirth. That’s why this body is always in the nature of suffering. Having sat in meditation for just a few minutes, we already feel exhausted and uncomfortable, itching with insect bites, thirsty, hungry and so forth. This shows how hard it is to concentrate on virtuous work. It’s our fault for taking a rebirth created by karma and delusions.

We are always concerned about our troubles and how to stop them. If there are no troubles at present, we’re still concerned about possible future troubles. We collect possessions—clothes, money and so forth—and then worry that they will be stolen, broken or lost. All this is also the fault of the suffering rebirth. We worry about having the best situation and because of that, attachment and anger easily arise, and our ignorance increases. No matter how much we want to practice the Dharma, we find it so difficult when our attachment to possessions is strong. We become too involved in overcoming future troubles or trying to be free of poverty. We work hard to have enough food and be warm or cool enough and it takes up so much of our time that, even though we might want to practice, we have no time. All this is the fault of the suffering rebirth. If the rebirth were not in the nature of suffering, there would be no need to build houses or to work hard for possessions.

Although in the form and formless realms they don’t have sickness as we do in the desire realm, they do have death. They also have the suffering of change and pervasive compounding suffering.

The beautiful object is the object of the poisonous mind of attachment, and when we acquire it we can feel a deluded sort of happiness. The ugly object is the object of hatred and when we have to experience it, there is suffering. The neutral object is the object of ignorance and results in indifference. When the person or the object is neither an object of attachment or aversion, we are indifferent to it and fail to see any of its actual traits—its impermanence and lack of true existence and so forth—so even the neutral object is an object of ignorance for us. This probably won’t be a conscious thought because it’s in the nature of our relationship with a neutral object that we don’t especially notice it or check on it.

These three poisonous minds of attachment, aversion and ignorance that bring the three delusions of deluded happiness, anger and indifference, make us see objects in the wrong way, the opposite to the way they really exist. Whenever we interact with objects with our greed, hatred and ignorance, we create negative actions. Until we see objects in their true nature, with a positive mind, this will continue. This is how incredibly easy it is to create negative actions, making ourselves more ignorant. The whole problem is not understanding our relationship with the objects of the six senses, not using them in a positive way.

Even just here in this room, as we look at each other, all this is happening. We look at an object we like, and attachment and greed arise. We look at one we don’t like, and aversion and hatred arise. Then we look at a neutral object with ignorance. All of this is also due to having taken a suffering rebirth. It’s always like this when we go to town and see many different objects. Although they are all impermanent, we see them as permanent, so we fail to see how they really exist. In the depths of our heart, we think they are permanent and we’re unable to recognize this negative mind; even to understand that it is negative takes a lot of time. To recognize each type of negative mind takes so much meditation, so much study and practice. It’s not like differentiating external objects such as knowing wheat from rice by its shape and color and so forth.

We also see people as permanent. A friend comes to see us and we see the same person, unchanged from the last time we saw them. It’s always the same person. In the same way, we see inanimate objects such as the earth, the sky and so forth, with indifference. Seeing objects in this way, with the wrong concept of permanence, our ignorance increases.

And the worst wrong concept is seeing the person and the object as independent, self-existent. This definitely causes ignorance to increase. This misconception is the principal ignorance. Due to this, we totally believe that this person or object is self-existent, that it is an entity separate from all other entities. If we do a profound search for the object of this belief, it can never be found; it can’t be found anywhere, not on the head, not on the leg, not on the body, not anywhere. Without examining our misconception, we naturally believe in the existence of this self-existent entity. If we use our wisdom, the opposite of ignorance, we can never find the object of the belief of ignorance on any person or object.

That’s why the negative mind is an incorrect mind. It’s wrong; it’s deluded, because to the correct mind the object of ignorance doesn’t exist anywhere. Therefore, the wrong object—the object that doesn’t exist—is created by the deluded, ignorant mind. Every other negative mind arises from this wrong view, bringing with them all the different problems of pride, jealousy, greed, anger, envy and so on and so forth. When we completely believe in the ignorant view of the object, seeing it as permanent and independent, as self-existent, our ignorance definitely increases. This is because to our ignorant mind we see this false object—the one that is permanent, independent and truly existing—as true, as actually existing like that. That completely obscures the actual nature of the object.

Living in this ignorance, we have no way to discover the nature of ignorance. We can’t see the faults of ignorance, that ignorance is an incorrect mind. Continuing to view the world in this way, seeing everything as permanent and independent, this ignorance causes us to become more deeply mired in ignorance. Like a mother giving birth, this fundamental wrong view gives birth to countless other deluded minds. Habituated to this view, it becomes impossible not to have greed for permanent, independent, attractive things and hatred for permanent, independent, ugly things. This fundamental ignorance pushes us deeper and deeper into samsaric suffering.

Just as the mind gets more and more used to viewing objects as independent and viewing ignorance as correct, not false, in the same way it can be turned around to view objects in the right way. It can be trained to see that the object is not self-existent, independent and permanent; that it is completely empty. Nowhere on any of the atoms of the object is there this characteristic. The mind can be trained to see that ignorance is completely the wrong view; we can learn to see this more and more clearly, more and more deeply as the practice continues, transforming our mind from an ignorant, negative one to its opposite.

Without discovering that ignorance is the negative, false mind, we can never make our views faultless and clean. That’s why recognition of the negative mind is vital. It’s not an easy subject. Even the explanation, which is very profound, is difficult to understand. We can never change the wrong creation–our deluded beliefs—from untrue without discovering the wrong creator—our ignorance—and without fighting to overcome it. To see the object without mistake in views and actions, to see its nature, we must discover the creator. So, without confronting the wrong creator and destroying it, we cannot correct mistakes in our views and actions.

Because of our unsubdued mind, the actions of our body are also unsubdued, uncontrolled. When we are out of control, even our looks transform from a peaceful, smiling appearance to an angry, ugly one. Fighting and violence arise from the unsubdued mind encountering what it dislikes. Similarly, greed and desire arise from the unsubdued mind encountering a beautiful object.

With each split second, life moves toward death without choice, out of control. As soon as we are born, we face death. This is another suffering of rebirth.

THE SUFFERING OF BIRTH

[WFGS pp. 151–52]

We think that the mother’s womb is wide and spacious, and that the baby inside is relaxed and comfortable. But imagine animal meat and intestines, and then imagine living inside of it, like sleeping in a toilet. Although we all experienced this, we don’t remember it. As the fetus grows, although the sense of smell is not fully developed, there is so much suffering, even when it’s just a shapeless mass of cells.

If the mother is near a fire, she might feel pleasantly warm but the baby in her womb feels unbearably hot, due to the karmic creation of its own mind. This is not in the mother’s mind; she doesn’t experience it as the baby does. The principal cause of the baby’s suffering is created by its own mind. The mother doesn’t experience the baby’s suffering and the baby doesn’t experience the mother’s; each mind creates its own. Therefore, the suffering the mother experiences as a result of the baby is created by her own mind, her own karma. And it’s the same for the baby. Even though the baby is in her womb, the mother can’t feel its mind, its sensations or its feelings. The mother doesn’t have the power to prevent the baby’s suffering, as the principal cause of the karma of each is different.

For example, some people are terrified when they see a particular animal or insect, such as a spider or a snake, even though the person right next to them isn’t afraid. This is a karmic thing. Because the karma of each differs, the cause is different. Thus, one object has many different effects, depending on the karma of the person experiencing it. It’s the same thing with the baby inside the womb.

During each month of life in the womb, the baby evolves through different periods. When it is small, even the element of air pushes the body into shapes. It becomes round, then sort of square when the limbs develop, and the baby feels suffering as if it is being pulled and stretched. The principal cause of this experience is the negative mind and the cooperative condition is the air.

Once it is born, the baby’s skin is so fragile and thin, making it incredibly sensitive and causing it to suffer with the slightest discomfort. At first the baby cries a lot, but this generally decreases, although occasionally it can increase. Although there is a good reason for the crying, we can’t see how the baby can suffer because we keep it in warm clothes, comfortable and so forth. We presume the baby isn’t suffering because we are unable to know what the baby’s experience is.

Some people have to go through painful and difficult operations that endanger their lives. Even if they live, they aren’t as strong as before the operation. Some always feel pain when they walk quickly and so forth.

We should remember all the various sicknesses and imagine ourselves in that situation. For example, we can think about epilepsy, how it’s difficult to cure, how it comes on suddenly and can interrupt our daily activities.

Another suffering that comes from having taken rebirth is how we must separate from what we want. Separation of parents from children, of partner from partner, as well as separation from the objects and experiences we desire; things get broken, and money, clothes and food run out. We miss them and suffer. For example, in Tibet a person who had never eaten fish found it so delicious that, when he tried it for the first time, he gobbled it down in one go and immediately started to vomit it back up. Feeling his great enjoyment was being lost, he suffered terribly and tied a rope tightly around his neck to stop him from losing the fish.

When we examine our own experiences from rebirth until now, we will find that we have always been living in suffering.

As long as attachment is not renounced, there is always this problem. When we hear ugly rumors about a relative, we suffer. When there are dangers and problems, we suffer. When we are in a horrible place with poor conditions, we suffer. When we see ugly, unpleasant objects or have to eat horrible food we suffer. Each of our senses is forced to experience many ugly objects.

Even if we find the things we desire, there is always dissatisfaction and suffering. Our lives are full of examples of these problems.

Just as attachment and anger create karma, so does the third type of feeling, indifference, which leads to ignorance. The problem is not experiencing objects with any of these three feelings. Lack of equanimity keeps us in samsara.

Even in the upper realms, our body has been created by karma and delusions. Being deluded, we are uncontrolled and create so much negative karma, the karma to be reborn in the lower suffering realms for many future lives. If we can cease the continuity of the karma that makes us experience this deluded body, there will no longer be the continuity of the deluded body in future lives. Therefore, we must stop karma and delusions in this lifetime.

Because this deluded body is the result of past karma and delusions, no matter how many karmas have been created in previous lives that would bring future suffering, they can all be stopped. As we cease the cause of suffering, delusions, the results cease. Therefore, we should put all our energy into eradicating the cause, delusions. This is the fundamental means to be free from suffering because this one action, overcoming karma and delusions, can stop all future sufferings already created in past lives that will otherwise have to be experienced. Many negative results can be stopped by this one, very wise work. Cutting the delusions is Dharma work, even though they were caused in previous lives and the results will come in many future lives.

No samsaric action cannot compare to Dharma work. Worldly work is powerless. To overcome worldly problems that even ordinary people can recognize—the gross suffering that can be stopped by samsaric methods—we need many different samsaric methods. But there is no samsaric action that can stop all suffering for all beings. There might be a temporary solution to a particular worldly problem, but it will recur and no matter how long we do it for, it will never end. As we are working to alleviate one problem, another happens. We can never complete it. As long as we depend on worldly methods alone, problems can never end.

For example, we can temporarily overcome the suffering of hunger with food and when we feel cold, we can put on warm clothes, but even with all those things, we will still feel hungry later and still feel cold. When we feel sick, we will always need to buy medicine without end.

Another suffering of taking this deluded body is that it is the cause of suffering in future lives. We take those delusions into our next life because we have never tried to stop the principal cause, the delusions, and the cause that makes us take the body, karma. It’s vital that we understand the evolution of karma and not be attached to either our own present body or attached to taking another such samsaric body in future lifetimes.

With this deluded body, we need all the samsaric things that create difficulties in this world. There are so many problems on this earth—between rich and poor, bosses and workers, governments and the people, one country and another—all based on money. If we didn’t have this deluded body, there would be no need for money, but this body makes that need. All major conflicts such as killings, protests, wars, are based on the poor wanting money, the weak wanting power. As long as we have craving for this body, we get the problems that it brings. When we look at the causes of protests and so forth, they are not new. They aren’t caused by the employer or the government but by each person who followed ignorance, under the control of karma and delusions, having to take this deluded body without choice. Each of these suffering people created the cause of their body that caused those problems and makes them create so much negative karma. Having problems is inevitable because we have ignorance, which is the cause of our suffering. We are the creator, having not tried to cut off ignorance.

Practicing the Dharma to eliminate ignorance is the most profitable work we can do. It can stop every single problem that exists in samsara for everyone. Therefore, not spending our time practicing the Dharma when we have the chance is incredibly foolish—foolish from the Dharma point of view but not from the ignorant point of view. To our ignorance, any actions we do that are opposed to the Dharma are wise. Our ignorance would have us following samsaric methods to get what we want, not trying to cut off ignorance itself. The ordinary being thinks that renouncing samsaric enjoyments is very foolish, that we just exhaust ourselves for nothing. The view of ignorance and the view of the Dharma are completely opposite. The ignorant mind seeing things completely differently from the truly understanding mind. Why does the ignorant mind think that renunciation is foolish? Because it’s an ignorant, unknowing mind, one that has no understanding.

Another suffering of taking this deluded body is that all this life’s sufferings, those from rebirth to death, are due to the existence of this body. If we become free from karma and delusions, there would be no need to experience any of these sufferings.

Pervasive compounding suffering causes the other two types of suffering. Being in the nature of suffering, the body decays and perishes. The body is always experiencing different problems, one on top of the other. It’s very fragile and so easily encounters suffering.

SEARCHING FOR THE I

[WFGS pp. 154–56]

Why should we stop these three negative feelings? Because the whole problem between the subject and the object arises through feelings. But there is a remedy for these feelings, a way to make them nonexistent, and we should use these methods when problems arise.

Palden Chodak says,

Ordinary beings are always attached to the truly existent “I,” saying “I, I, I,” causing them to be attached to desirable objects. That attachment obscures the faults of ignorance.

Our belief in the truly existent I leads to attachment to desirable things, which obscures the faults, meaning the suffering results, of our ignorance and our attachment. We see a beautiful thing and we greedily become attached to it. This attachment clouds our mind, intoxicating it, so we fail to see that attachment itself is a deluded mind. We just naturally think that attachment to a person or an object is good and we don’t bother to check whether there might be any negative consequences. It’s never seen as a wrong mind, as a cause of suffering.

At the time we have a problem, if we were to search for the I rather than the external cause, this would completely counter the negative mind, because the negative mind never tries to discover what this I is. Because it’s opposed to the negative mind of attachment, it takes us from negativity, from attachment, aversion and ignorance. When these minds aren’t manifesting, the problem disappears. Seeking the I when there is a problem is like trying to find the object as it is viewed by the negative mind. Because we can’t find the I when we look for it, the negative mind just naturally vanishes. And the more deeply we probe what this I is, the less the negative minds can manifest. So, as the object of the negative mind goes, the negative mind also goes. It’s like hiding away an embarrassing object from a friend’s gaze for fear of ridicule.

As we proceed along the path, as our realizations increase, the negative minds that currently overwhelm us will diminish and finally be completely eliminated, becoming nonexistent. This is the opposite to how we see things now, where we believe in the truly existing objects we see and then get even more attached and our negativities increase. All other views become unimportant as the view of the self gets stronger. The whole world centers around this sense of I, so much so that we will steal and even kill to maintain it. This is because we see the I and the object of the I as truly existing, which is the view of a negative mind.

So, when there’s a problem, we should immediately investigate its cause, seeing what our belief in the I is and how that brings attachment, anger and ignorance. When we do this, we can cheat the negative mind, which has been cheating us since beginningless times, slowly stopping it from arising. We can keep the mind quiet and cool. The longer we can practice searching for the I, the clearer the effect will become.

So, how do we see the I? Usually, we have no real sense of what the I is; it’s too subtle and the deluded mind is too ignorant, so we can’t explain it. Ignorance can’t be clear about the object of the wrong view. Although our mind is always deluded, many times it doesn’t manifest strongly, so at those times it’s difficult to understand how we view it. As the negative mind gets stronger, the sense of I gets stronger, meaning the object of the wrong view also gets stronger and clearer to see. At that time, we can clearly see the I as self-existent.

The stronger the negative emotion we feel, such as when we are suddenly very afraid or incredibly angry, the stronger the sense of I will appear. At such a time of very strong emotion, this truly existing I is very easy to see.

IDENTIFYING THE WRONG VIEW

Only by repeated meditations on the emptiness of this self-existent I can we see how the I actually exists. Through meditation, we can come to understand that the I doesn’t exist inherently and that all phenomena also lack this inherent existence. If we can start this method as soon as we see a problem arising, the problem is stopped right away because greed, hatred and ignorance can’t arise. Samsaric happiness brings confusion and so does suffering. Any samsaric feelings cause us confusion, stopping us from attaining any peace, because when we see objects as permanent and independent, there will always be a degree of attachment, aversion or indifference.

How quickly these methods work depends on how strongly and deeply we understand them. It’s possible to immediately overcome a problem. One minute there’s a big hassle, the next minute the problem is solved, we have complete peace and can see no reason for the problem having arisen. It’s like the peace a very active person feels when they stop to take a rest. This is a method we can use even when there’s no apparent problem, because even when we have a degree of samsaric happiness, the mind is still confused and deluded.

We must practice this method of searching for the I before a major problem happens, so that when it does, we will be well trained and be able to deal with it. Usually, when we have a problem, we are overwhelmed by it and don’t even think of trying to use this method. We are so confused that we can’t think there is a method that can solve it. Even though we might know methods to generate bodhicitta, when we are overwhelmed by a problem, the negative mind is as huge as Mount Meru if it’s not well trained in this method.

Sometimes it’s difficult to recognize feelings in the depths of our heart. It’s so hard to see that the object viewed doesn’t exist anywhere. For example, when we look at a person, we instinctively see that person as permanent and independent. We can’t see how they are changing every split second, that they have arisen, are abiding and will cease at some stage. In the depth of our heart, we have the wrong concept of this permanent, self-existent person. We need to check up to confirm if we see things like this or not. We see the person as a permanent, independent entity, never changing from year to year. The continuity of the person is the same and because the shape seems the same we believe the person is permanent. Even if we feel indifferent to the person, the ignorant concept arises that they are permanent.

We also see a person as a single entity. For instance, there is somebody called Dorje. For us, his whole body is Dorje, as if his body were the self-entity, the self-existent Dorje. Viewing him as self-existent is the action of ignorance that functions even if we are indifferent to Dorje, neither attracted nor averse to him.  The more we allow this ignorance to develop, the stronger it becomes and the more difficult it is for us to understand the absolute nature of things, because this is the complete opposite. Our ignorance develops and becomes more habitual. We are stuck in seeing things as permanent and truly existent.

What does truly existent mean? For example, take the Nepalese king. We think his total body is the king. That person who is now the king hasn’t always been the king, physically or mentally, as we believe. Before, when there was no Nepalese population, no His Majesty’s government, there was no king. Before he received the title “king,” he was the same as any other person. In dependence upon the population, the title “king” was given to the one worthy of the title. In the same way, somebody becomes a president by being voted in; it all depends on the population. Where is the title? The title was given to him in dependence upon the population and the existence of this person’s mind and body. But our wrong concept feels as if the king or the president is a truly existing entity, something that doesn’t depend on the population or the title. In the depth of our heart, we think that each person exists by themselves and is permanent.

For example, a porter is somebody who carries luggage, they are dependent on luggage, yet we think that they are a porter as if they exist by themselves. There is the strong wrong concept that see the truly existing “porter” without the understanding that “porter” is just the title given to a specific job. Although the porter exists because they have the job of carrying luggage, we fail to recognize the title is dependent on the job.

It is the same thing with the I. Unexamined, we naturally believe in this truly existing I, one that exists without depending on any of the aggregates, that exists by itself. We can’t see how it depends on the aggregates. Because this wrong view of the I that exists independently is in complete opposition to the way the I actually exists, in dependence on the aggregates, the negative minds arise. It’s like the door that the negative minds can come through; if it’s open they come. Believing in the truly existent I, we think we are so important, and arrogance arises. This truly existent I is the center of our universe; it’s much more important than any other being. And then there is attachment to what this I wants and anger when its wants are frustrated.

Anyway, there is no such I, no such king or no such porter that exists independently of the aggregates, the population or the luggage. There is no such self-existent entity. It’s the same thing with a house. It cannot exist without depending on the parts. When the cement, the bricks, the wood and so forth are somewhere else, yet to come to the building site, there is no house. Each item is not “house.” Nor is one wall “house.” Nor is the person building it the “house.” Yet our view of the house is of this single entity. To us, this whole thing is a house, something that exists of itself as if it always exists by itself. We think “house” is a single entity without depending on parts or the construction or the label.

Lack of self-entity (rang gyi thup pe dze yö tong pa) and emptiness of self-existence (rang shin kyi tong pa) are slightly different—the latter is more subtle and harder to realize.

In Buddhism there are four different schools and each presents a different view. Emptiness is the subject matter of the Madhyamaka philosophy and was fully realized by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, Manjushri, Nagarjuna, and Lama Tsongkhapa. Their realizations of emptiness and lack of self-entity were facts to them, not concepts, as others saw them. To clearly see the positive view, the lack of self-entity, and the emptiness of self-existence, it’s so important to recognize the opposites, the wrong concepts of self-entity and self-existence, such as the concept that the I is self-existent.

The more we can identify the wrong view, the more we can clearly prove the right view. Therefore, we should study the wrong concepts and wrong views first. For instance, if we fail to recognize the wrong concept that brings all our problems, the negative karma and the delusions that are the principal cause of all our suffering, it’s very difficult to completely overcome all the delusions and stop all the problems. Without recognizing the principal cause and without relying on the right method—clearly seeing the right object—using other methods only makes other negative minds arise, and then overcoming delusions is far more difficult and takes much time. It’s also very dangerous to follow other methods to stop suffering if we have not clearly recognized the principal ignorance that is the cause of suffering—the wrong view of the true nature of objects. It’s dangerous because we can cause more problems by using samsaric methods of depending on external things.

For instance, if we knew that somebody was stealing things from this room, it would be a mistake to kill all the people in the room to stop the problem! This is an unwise method that causes more problems. Therefore, before apprehending the thief, it’s important to recognize who is the real thief or we may mistake the object and shoot the real friend. If we use the wrong method, besides killing our friend, we could leave the thief in the room. It’s the same thing in terms of checking the mind. By correctly checking, we can find the real thief and thereby cause no danger to another person who is not the real thief.

The worst thing is the wrong concept, the principal cause of all our suffering, the mind that grasps at an inherent self, and the self-cherishing thought that arises from that. This really is the thing that steals all our pleasures; this is the most dangerous thief. Why is this so and why should we destroy it? Because this thief steals our enlightenment, our everlasting happiness, and all the other realizations, including our ability to attain clairvoyance allowing us such things as seeing all past, present and future. This wrong concept is the main thief that steals the realization of absolute true nature.

Because of that, this ignorance also steals all our past, present and future happiness. Ignorant of the absolute truth, that all things are empty of inherent existence, we can’t understand karma fully. This leads to us mistaking the cause of happiness and suffering and creating nonvirtuous actions in the mistaken belief that they cause happiness. We are ignorant of their results, that they can only bring suffering, and so we run toward the lower realms in this ignorance. Even if we can obtain another upper rebirth, we will be devoid of happiness.

We have been suffering since beginningless times as the result of negative karma produced by ignorance of absolute true nature and the evolution of karma. All the beginningless suffering, all that inability to obtain any happiness, was stolen by this thief, the principal ignorance that is ignorant of the true nature of phenomena.

We are still creating negative karma, bringing a suffering result that we will have to experience with each of the six samsaric realms. Because such suffering arises from the ignorance of the absolute true nature, it steals the happiness of many future lives. This is why we must work hard to destroy it, to make it nonexistent.

If there were no inner, principal thief of ignorance, there would be no exterior thief, and there would be no relationship between them. But there is a relationship—when there is the inner thief, there is the outer thief. We have things stolen from us because of our karma and that is created by our ignorance, an ignorance created by not realizing the absolute true nature. So, this inner thief is the cause of the outer thief. We are the actual thief, all starting from our principal ignorance of not realizing the absolute true nature. When we have something stolen from us, the external thief is a condition, but the actual thief is our ignorance. Because of that, because we have no understanding of karma, we have stolen many things in the past and we will steal in the future. Just as our ignorance steals our happiness, we steal things because of that ignorance.

If our actions happened independent of the mind, that would mean that we, the person, would exist independent of the mind. For example, the action of speech, which arises from a person’s mind, is defined as the person speaking. Similarly, the action of thinking is defined in relation to the person who is thinking. There can’t be an action of thinking without a mind doing the thinking. It’s the same thing with ignorance. When our ignorance, not realizing the absolute true nature, steals our past and future happiness, we ourselves have stolen our past and future happiness.

Why do we say, “This person is negative?” Because their mind is negative (or cruel or miserly or so forth, according to the quality of mind). There is no negative mind separate from the person, just as there is no peaceful and humble mind separate from the person. If there were, they would exist independent of that mind, without having a relationship with that mind. The peaceful, humble, generous attitude would not be the person’s mind. But if that person’s qualities are not defined by depending on the mind, there’s no way to explain how the person is generous, humble, cruel and so forth. There is no way for a person to exist without depending on the mind. The mind wouldn’t be the mind of the person and the person wouldn’t have any mind. Without a mind, how can we call a person cruel? Cruelty is a function of mind, as are generosity and peacefulness.

So, just as we are defined by the actions of body, speech and mind and because our ignorance of absolute true nature is the principal thief, we are the principal thief ourselves. We destroy ourselves with our ignorance, as we have done in numberless past lives and will do in the future, as long as we follow ignorance. In that case, nobody else outside is the enemy. There is no external being who can be the real thief or the real enemy.

This is why the Buddha says,

You are your own enemy
And you are your own guide.
You are the creator of your own suffering
And you are the creator of your own happiness.

This is not an easy quotation to fully understand because it means many things. We are the principal creator of our own enlightenment—nobody else can give it to us—just as we are the principal creator of our own suffering, which all comes from our fundamental ignorance. Because of that, we are our own enemy and our own guide. The controlled mind gives perfect peace and everlasting happiness. We can create that by ourselves, and so we are our own perfect guide.

Conversely, the uncontrolled mind causes us pain and suffering. Therefore, our ignorance of the absolute true nature of the object makes us the worst thief. Who are we stealing from? Ourselves. For instance, without destroying the inner thief that is in our own mind, it’s impossible to get rid of the external conditions that bring about suffering, the external thieves. Even if we can identify an external thief and drive them from the country, they can still return after some time. Even if we kill this external thief, it still doesn’t help. Killing that one thief doesn’t mean the end to disturbance by thieves. Since we still have the karma of stealing on our mindstream, when the conditions arise, we will certainly have things stolen.

Killing one thief can’t eliminate all thieves. All it does is kill the body of the thief, but their mind, with its karma to steal, will continue and in another body will likely steal again, maybe from us. The thief’s body may be finished but there is still the continuity of the negative mind of the thief, and as long as we are both in samsara, it’s sure that they will at some time steal again from us. Killing doesn’t help and only causes us to create negative karma, as long as we are living in ignorance. Just as the thief can return if we kick them out, that is the same with any enemy.

So, we have been stolen from, but we have caused that theft. Who created the cause? We did. Actually, we created everything, from the fundamental ignorance that was the cause through to the theft that was the result. We should think, “The whole thing is my own fault; I started the whole thing by following ignorance. Everything, including the suffering result, is the fault of the ignorance, my mind, and therefore, it’s my fault. How can ‘my fault’ exist? It’s all created by my mind.”

This evolution is really important. By understanding it we discover ourselves. Every time we suffer, we can discover who we are and become more aware of our evolution, of our karmic propensities. This understanding really brings peace. We no longer get angry at external conditions because we understand things occur as the fault of our own ignorance. Seeing this clearly, we find no reason for anger with others, however much we may be disturbed and experience suffering from others. Unless we can see where this has come from, we will naturally blame the other person and want to harm them in retaliation, which just brings them and us more and more suffering.

There’s a big difference between understanding this and not understanding it.  With this understanding, we are always relaxed. Discovering the results of our own ignorance more and more, we get that much more energy to destroy it by following the path. If we were happy with ignorance, there would be no energy. If we didn’t understand karma, starting from ignorance, instead of decreasing our suffering, we would make it stronger, causing problems and suffering for many others. As a slave to the principal cause, ignorance, we do as it instructs us, which only makes our ignorance stronger. Not recognizing what we do as coming from ignorance, we are happy if we can destroy our enemy. We see happiness as the destruction of our enemy, and we’re happy not to follow the Dharma. We have no energy for Dharma practice, to create positive karma, to stop creating negative karma, because the negative mind is attached to the happiness that comes from getting what we want, such as killing our enemies.

Anyway, without destroying the principal, inner thief, no matter how much we destroy the outer thief, we can never bring the action to an end; there will always be outer problems. But not caring about the outer problems, paying more attention to the inner ones, to the only actual thief, and trying to destroy it by following the Buddhist path shown by the holy beings is the wisest way to end outer enemies and inner problems, the thief of ignorance.

Destroying the inner thief is one action. Since by following the path we completely destroy the inner thief, ignorance, there is no reason for the existence of the outer thief and no reason to experience the suffering result. Without creating the cause, we cannot experience the result. The result cannot come without cause; such a thing is impossible.

If we want to cease the temporal outer problems, the complete way, the only way is to destroy ignorance. The only method that will bring this about is subduing our mind through Dharma practice; no outer method can do so. Subduing the mind requires practice; it doesn’t suddenly happen and can’t be attained through chemicals, wearing beautiful clothes or eating delicious food. The way to subdue the mind is to practice, and that practice has to be the opposite of the action that is only done for the worldly comforts. It should be the opposite of samsaric actions. Subduing the mind requires learning to control the mind and transform it from a negative one. We ourselves don’t have the understanding of the method. We are not born with it. Rather, the method has to be explained, and that depends on the teachings as they were taught by the holy beings who went through it.

METHODS TO OVERCOME THE BELIEF IN THE TRULY EXISTING I

Generally, there are 84,000 teachings that were shown by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, but these can be summarized into the step-by-step presentation that is the graduated path to enlightenment, the lamrim. Even if we are not concerned about enlightenment, nirvana and so forth, it’s still necessary to practice these meditations since we want to avoid worldly suffering such as having our things stolen and so forth. Even people who don’t care about past and future lives at the very least don’t want to lose their pleasures, so they too must practice these meditations. There is no method other than the Dharma to stop suffering completely. Within the Dharma, there are so many methods depending upon our skill and understanding. If our understanding is limited, however, we find it difficult to control the negative mind when there is a problem and we only create new and bigger problems.

All ignorant sentient beings have the concept of I, always thinking of the self or the I as the most important thing. This is the foundation of all feelings. We have a strong feeling from the heart combined with a view of self-existence, of independence, of not depending on anything. From this concept comes attachment. This I that is separate from all other things sees other objects as desirable or not desirable depending on whether they can bring pleasure or suffering to this truly existing I. Attachment to objects of pleasure causes us to ignore the shortcomings of attachment itself, making the attachment self-perpetuating.

When we meditate on how attachment sees its object in the wrong way and causes us to discriminate, when we see objects as dependent on mind, we come closer to knowing the mind.

If we could overcome attachment, all other negative minds would diminish, but by destroying the negative mind we don’t cease all minds, just as the cup still remains after we have cleaned the dirt from it. Attachment causes anger and many other negative minds to arise through discrimination. Because of that, we view the one who disturbs our comfort as an enemy, we get jealous and fight. The I only makes us more ignorant.

One method is to meditate, to observe how the mind and the object of mind exist in dependence of each other. Without the mind, the object of the mind can’t exist. Say, we are looking at a flower. Without the mind observing the flower, in our view it can’t exist. We can also examine the flower itself. A flower is the seed, the stem, the petals and so forth. Without these elements, the flower can’t exist.

What we call a “flower” is just a word. The seed isn’t called a flower, nor is the stem, the leaf or the petal. The flower came from the seed. “Flower” is an English word. It’s not what we see before us, an independent entity; it depends on many things. This is just one example. Another is, say, “bread.” Before it’s made into its shape, the bread doesn’t exist. It’s dependent on the flour, water and so forth. We thought of making it, we thought of the word “bread.” It depends on the mind; it’s also dependent.

Another method to overcome our ignorance is to think of the shortcomings of feeling. When we see the negative mind in action, we should react in the same way as we do when we see a fire and know it burns. Doing so depends on the deep understanding of the early meditations, but even if we have this, it’s difficult. However, our practice must be strong. If it’s not, it won’t shake the negative mind, which at present is incredibly strong.

We can also remember the faults of the negative mind in accordance with our understanding of the Dharma. I’m just giving the seed here; it can be greatly amplified. Anytime we have a problem, we should think of it in these terms.

We can also change the aspect of the object of our negative mind. What we should renounce is the mind, not the object, so we should play with the mind in order to not cause ourselves problems. Cheating and playing tricks on the negative mind is a very useful practice so problems don’t arise. For example, greed arises when we see an object as beautiful and want to possess it. If we make the object look ugly in our meditation, we can overcome our greed. For instance, if we are attached to rich food, we can change the aspect and imagine the food as kaka. This is a method to keep the mind in peace, away from being overcome by the senses, and to stop the negative mind.

Another method is to imagine becoming stone or wood. This isn’t nearly such an advanced method and is best to apply to the momentary flare-ups of anger or greed. Stone or wood don’t have such feelings. It’s the lowest method but it can stop problems arising between two people. It’s also a bodhisattva’s practice to cheat the negative mind and give the other person we are in conflict with time to relax. We cheat the negative mind like we cheat a dangerous tiger that will destroy us. And yet, the tiger is not as dangerous as the negative mind, because it can only eat the body, not the mind. The negative mind, however, destroys this life and many future lives. It’s much more dangerous than anything else because all outer dangers arise due to negative mind. Therefore, the best way to protect ourselves is to destroy the negative mind.

USING THESE METHODS

Keeping the medicine in the packet doesn’t cure the sickness; we must take the medicine in order to be cured. In the same way, we must practice these methods to find out how they solve problems, to gain the experience of their help. It’s no good just reading the words. This is like listening to music. We should make our own experiments to see what effect they have on the mind, what they bring into the mind, and how they solve problems without harming a single sentient being. The method of destroying the delusions is a purely mental one; it has nothing to do with physical actions. There are so many other methods to bring external peace, but they harm many insects or people. For perfect peace to arise, however, we need not harm a single being. We have the methods given by the Buddha, all practiced within the mind. If an action harms another being, it’s not the way to enlightenment. In fact, it’s the opposite to the Buddha’s method. He himself achieved perfect peace and showed the method to bring it about without harming a single sentient being.

These methods are not something that can be learned in just one month. The purpose of the meditations is to progress through the stages we must go through in order to be free from suffering. The methods should be used whenever problems arise, to stop problems and find solutions while keeping our mind and the minds of others peaceful, without creating more negative karma.

Because our problems can’t be ceased in a month or a day, to deal with them we have to depend on methods for as long as they continue to arise. These meditations are something we will continue to work on, something to help until we’ve attained enlightenment, until we are completely out of suffering. These meditations are very effective and beneficial to ourselves and to other beings. They are to be practiced until we cease our problems. To complete the practice of these meditations within a month, we would have to subdue our mind within a month and to have completely overcome our problems. That depends on the experience of these meditations, which in turn depends on our understanding, which in turn depends on practice and training. To train, we must know the subject matter. It’s very difficult to know the entire subject in one month. Therefore, there’s no way to complete the whole experience in a month.

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Notes

¹ V. 169. See Hopkins’ Nagarjuna’s Precious Garland, p. 117. [Return to text]