37 Practices of a Bodhisattva Part 3

(7)
Themselves captives in the prison of samsara,
Whom can the worldy gods protect?
Therefore, to seek refuge in those who do not deceive, The Three Jewels,
Is the practice of a bodhisattva.

(8)
The suffering of the lower realms, so difficult to bear,
Is the fruit of wrong deeds, so the Buddha taught.
Therefore, even at the cost of your life,
Never to commit negative actions is the practice of a bodhisattva.

(9)
Like dew on a blade of grass
Happiness in the three realms evaporates in a single instant.
To strive for the supreme state of liberation that never changes
Is the practice of a bodhisattva.

(10)
From beginningless time your mothers have cherished you.
If they now suffer, what good is your own happiness?
Therefore, in order to liberate limitless sentient beings,
Giving rise to bodhicitta is the practice of a bodhisattva.


The three jewels are the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha, where "dharma" refers to teachings and texts, the living doctrine, and "sangha" refers to lamas, teachers and fellow practitioners. It's interesting that this is the very deepest level of practice. We are not affirming commitment to a god, and I think when this was written, a god like Vishnu was what Trogme had in mind, but instead we are affirming commitment to the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha. Now when I say this, the thought occurs to me that the Buddha has been dead for 2500 years. What am I affirming commitment to? A simple answer is that I am respecting his life and teachings. At a deeper level, I would say that I am affirming commitment to my own inherent Buddha nature. I just attended a talk by Geshe Drakpa Gelek in which he mentioned that there are certain things common to all religions, such as a desire to cultivate kindness and compassion. He pointed out that compassion is a natural innate human tendency, which we can see manifested when we are children. As we grow older this inner goodness tends to get obscured, but this inner goodness, which we can see is present innately, is our Buddha nature. When we `take refuge' in the Buddha, we are affirming our desire to cultivate that inner goodness. This leads right into practice 10, developing bodhicitta. Bodhichitta is the heart of buddhism, it is the compassionate wish to help others. According to Buddhist mythology, every being was once our mother. Thus we should have compassion for every being as though they were our mother, no matter who that being is. It was pointed out by one teacher that we, in the west, tend to have neurotic relationships with our mothers, more so than in Tibet, for example. Thus, it might be better to visualize that every being has been a close friend instead.

Practice 8, relinquishing negative actions, is a tough one for me. I have dwelled on this a bit before, but the basic idea is that negative actions generate negative karma, which goes out into the world and causes suffering, both for myself and for others. Unfortunately my immediate desires often overcome my desire for long-term happiness, and I commit a negative action. The bodhisattva ideal is never to commit negative actions, even if it costs your life. Thus, if someone is about to kill you, and you have the option of killing them to stop them from doing so, the choice is clear. Give up your own life. Perhaps stupidly, I hope that my karma is good enough that I'll never be presented with such a difficult situation.

Practice 9, striving for unchanging liberation, is related to what I was just talking about: the idea that my desire for immediate gratification overcomes my desire for long-term happiness. The ultimate way to achieve true peace and happiness is to have less desire and more contentment. Geshe Drakpa Gelek in his talk mentioned that we humans all have a desire for money, for friends, and for good health. All of these things are necessary for happiness, he said, but if we go after any of them to excess, it will cause suffering. The key, he continually emphasized, is less desire and more contentment. That way you won't be constantly hungry, constantly desiring more. He told the following story to illustrate. Back in the time of the Buddha, someone found a "wish-fulfilling jewel," which is a jewel that will give the owner prosperity and other asked-for things. This person presented it to the Buddha as a gift. The Buddha then announced that he would give the jewel away to the poorest person in the country. So all the beggars from miles around rushed to the Buddha, fully expecting to be awarded the jewel, but the Buddha gave the jewel to the country's king. The country's king was the poorest because he was never content with anything he had. He always wanted more. This is a soul-sickness.

Well, I've gone on for a bit, haven't I? I guess I was inspired by Geshe-la. He was an inspiring speaker. He sat at the front of the room with a big smile on his face, and when he talked (in Tibetan) he used his right hand to gesticulate in front of his face. He then looked around the room as the translator gave the translation. Watching Geshe-la, and hearing his ideas, I was quite moved. Tonight's talk was open to the public. Tomorrow the retreat begins in earnest.