37 Practices of a Bodhisattva Part 9

(28)
If Shravakas and Pratyekabuddhas, who strive for their benefit alone,
Expend effort as if to extinguish a fire burning on their heads,
Then for the benefit of all beings,
To cultivate joyous effort, the wellspring of all postive qualities,
Is the practice of a Bodhisattva.

(29)
Vipashyana perfectly endowed with shamatha
Completely conquers all afflictions.
To cultivate meditative stability
That transcends the four formless states
Is the practice of a Bodhisattva.

(30)
Without superior knowledge,
It is not possible to attain perfect enlightenment through
The first five paramitas alone.
Therefore, joining it with skillful means
And not conceptualizing the three spheres
Is the practice of a bodhisattva.


These three practices correspond the the last three of the six paramitas. Practice 28 concerns the paramita of joyous effort. This is the energy that we try to cultivate that allows us to help other beings. I've always been lazy, so i should pay attention to this one. Shravakas and Pratyekabuddhas, according to my understanding, are followers of the Hinayana path, which means that they are ascetics striving for detachment from the world, without the desire to help others achieve enlightenment.
The passage here is saying that these ascetics are really expending a lot of effort, just to try to realize their own salvation. If we are going to help others, we are going to need even more energy. I believe that this energy comes with practice: practice actually helping as well as the practice of visualizing helping others, such as during bodhichitta or tong-len practice. The more you associate helping others with positive thoughts, the more willing you are to help, even if this association begins somewhat artificially.

Practice 29 is about achieving meditative stability. Shamatha is calm abiding meditation. Shamatha meditation is the practice of sweeping thoughts from your mind. You usually focus on your breath, and whenever you notice yourself forming conceptualized thoughts, you stop and return the attention to the breath. Pema Chödron recommends saying the word "thinking" to yourself whenever you catch yourself thinking, and then returning to the breath. Gradually, as you practice, the spots in between your thoughts will grow longer and longer. Vipashyana meditation is analytic meditation. Here you are trying to meditate to achieve deeper nonconceptual understanding of things. For example you can meditate on emptiness, or you can meditate with your own mind or body as the focus. Thus when you have a thought, you stare directly at the thought. One teacher described this as watching the watcher. In order to engage in vipashyana meditation, you need to be good at shamatha, so that you can calm your mind down enough to be able to observe itself. The union of vipashyana and shamatha is called samten, or stable meditation, where you are supposed to be able to achieve superior nonconceptual knowledge. I am still working on my shamatha while engaging in a little bit of vipashyana.

Practice 30 concerns the sixth paramita of cultivating superior nonconceptual knowledge. This is direct realization of emptiness and is one half of being a bodhisattva. The other half is having bodhichitta, the compassionate desire to help others. Once you see the true nature of reality and can become unattached to it, you can help others achieve that same realization. Indeed that's what Shakyamuni did 2500 years ago. After experiencing the empty nature of reality directly though meditation, he set out to prepare others to do the same. So he gave a series of teachings (the four wheels of dharma), in which he gradually ramped things up. At first, in the first set of teachings, he emphasized personal salvation. It was only in the third set of teachings that he felt his audience was ready for the bodhisattva vows, in which we vow to benefit other beings. In fact, in this third set of teachings, he said that every being is destined to eventually become a Buddha.

Well, that's it for now.

May you, the reader, have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.