Karmapa - Nagarjunas Letter to a Friend

8/7/2019 Karmapa - Nagarjunas Letter to a Friend

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The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa’s

Ogyen Trinley Dorje

teachings to foreign students on

Nagarjuna’s

Letter to a friend

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Sunday, 20th December, 2009

Setting the scene: early morning, Tergar MonasteryIt’s approaching six thirty in the morning; mist and smoke, from early morning fires in thefields and local villages, drift through the gates and across the grounds of Tergar Monastery. A few Westerners are already circumambulating in the chilly pre-sunrise.Meanwhile, outside the registration booth, a small group of weary foreigners huddlesuncertainly. They are hoping that they will still have the chance to register. All their planshave gone awry and, having finally arrived in Bodhgaya a day or more late, they havecome directly to Tergar. One group, travelling from Kathmandu, had been in a bus crash.Another’s bus had broken down. Several had been delayed because of snowboundairports in Euope. At just turned six thirty, the first of the Teaching Team volunteers arrives,and by seven o’clock the registration booth is open; these early-bird latecomers are issuedwith badges and cards. In two hours’ time they will be sitting in the assembly hall with1,500 other people from more than fifty two countries. All the worries and difficulties of the journey will be forgotten.

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The following summary of the morning’s teachings is based on Ringu Trulku Rinpoche’stranslation from Tibetan into English, except where the Gyalwang Karmapa spoke directly in English.

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The teachings should have begun promptly at nine o’clock. Gyalwang Karmapa wasseated expectantly on his majestically high, intricately carved and gilded throne. Thesound crew was confident. Hours of preparation had gone into setting up the soundsystem: microphones, speakers, and the FM translation transmission system. At the finaldress rehearsal everything had worked perfectly, but now suddenly, it took on alife of its

own and began emitting high-pitched squeals, squeaks and whines. The audience satpatiently while the sound crew dashed back and forth, fretting over banks of equipment,antennae, cables and microphones. His Holiness smiled, pulled faces, and tentativelytapped his microphone. Finally the problems were resolved, and the teachings were under way.

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Having greeted everyone warmly, Gyalwang Karmapa explained why he had chosen thisparticular text – Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend – because, not only did it thoroughlycover the philosophy of Madhyamika, but it was mainly an instruction for householders onhow to practice dharma. In ancient India householders who held the five precepts wouldstudy the text. It was His Holiness’ hope that this teaching would provide a new

perspective for laystudents on how to be a householder and practice the dharma at thesame time. A new edition of the text, containing the original Tibetan and translations intoHindi, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, English, French and German, had been publishedspecially for the occasion. He pointed out the illustration depicting Nagarjuna on the frontcover which he himself had drawn and wryly commented that some people hadcomplained, “The face doesn’t show much character and the body looks like a rock.” Heexplained that, although he hoped to be able to go through the whole text, there would notbe enough time to cover all the stanzas, so his objective would be to convey the essentialmeaning, stopping to elaborate on some points in detail but glossing over others.

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Turning to the text, Gyalwang Karmapa then read and began his commentary on the firstthree verses which form an introduction to the teaching and more detailed instructions, andrequest people to listen to the teachings.

Stanza One:Listen now to these few lines of noble songThat I’ve composed for those with many virtues, fit for good,To help them yearn for merit springing fromThe sacred words of He Who’s Gone toBliss.

The Karmapa explained that its author, Nagarjuna, was a great scholar who, it is said,lived during the 1st or second century CE. The main exponent of the Madhyamika schoolof Buddhist philosophy, he wrote Letter to a Friend, a text focussing on the six paramitas,to his friend, a South Indian king called Surabhibhadra. This is one of the many texts

written by him preserved in Tibetan literature, which include several commentaries onsutra, and other important texts on tantra, demonstrating that he himself was practisingboth. It was he who composed the Mula-madhyamaka-karika which is the foundational texton Madhyamika. It was he who brought the Perfection of Wisdom sutras to the Mahayanatradition. There are two accounts of how this happened. One tells how the King of theNagas gave these books to Nagarjuna. The other, found in a Chinese souce, is from abiography of Nagarjuna written by the great Indian scolar, Kumarajiva, who travelled toChina and translated many Buddhist texts into Chinese. According to Kumarajiva,Nagarjuna had a vision in which he entered a jewelled palace where he met a greatboddhistatva who showed him many caskets, containing sutras which he had never seenbefore. When he rose from this vision he wrote down what he had read —the 100,000Stanza Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.

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Although the letter was written specifically for the king it also applies to others as well,including ourselves, commented the Gyalwang Karmapa. In the first stanza Nagarjunasays that all his instructions come from the sacred words of the Buddha himself and fromno other source, and their purpose is to generate the yearning to do the positive.

Stanza Two:

The wise will always honour and bow downTo Buddha statues, though they’re made of wood;So too, although these lines of mine be poor,Do not feel scorn, they teach the Holy Way.

Even if a statue of Buddha is not made of precious materials, wise people still honour theimage. Similarly, though these instructions were written by a simple monk, the source isthe Buddha, so it is worthwhile listening to them.

Stanza Three:

While you have surely learned and understoodThe Mighty Buddha’s many lovely words,Is it not that something made of chalkBy moonlight lit shines glowing whiter still.

The text refers to the Great Muni , the one of great capacity who can defeat the kleshas,the afflictions, so Nagarjuna says that even though you may already know the teachings of the Great Sage, it is worth heeding these verses because a chalk or plastered buildinggleams clearly and brightly in moonlight.His Holiness explained that it is important to know about what we don’t know, but even the

things we know have to be internalised. This is the threefold process of hearing or studying, thinking, and meditating. Initially we have to study, applying our wisdom and our intellect.

Stanza Four:Six things there are the Buddhas have explained,And all their virtues you must keep in mind:The Buddha, Dharma,Sangha, bounteous acts,And moral laws and gods-each one recall.

The fourth verse introduces the actual instructions, which are organised into three maintopics. The first topic is the practice of positive virtues, the second is understanding thenature of samsara and feeling renunciation, and the third is seeing the benefits of liberation. The first general instructions are common to householders and monastics: sixthings to be mindful of the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, ethical behaviour, giving, anddeities.Gyalwang Karmapa stopped momentarily and surveyed the assembly hall, thencommented in English on the fact that the traditional tea was not being provided during theforeign teachings.“No tea break, “ he observed, “I hope my words become tea.”He then began to discuss the meaning in the Buddhist tradition of taking refuge in the

three objects of refuge: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

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There was a further exchange at this point between the Gyalwang Karmapa and theaudience because at the FM transmission stopped working properly and members of theaudience were gesticulating anxiously that they couldn’t hear.“Can you hear me?” asked the Karmapa, looking down over the audience, who shook their heads. When he realised that they couldn’t hear the translations, he quipped inEnglish,“Is it the FM not working or the mind not working?” Everyone laughed. He then

advised us to try to meditate on patience while the sound crew worked to rectify theproblem.A few minutes later, the teaching resumed and Gyalwang Karmapa continued hiscommentary on taking refuge. He said that generally it can be difficult to differentiatebetween Buddhists and non-Buddhists, but that refuge, if properly understood, provides ademarcation line. Three things had to be considered: the person who takes refuge, theobjects of the refuge, and the nature of the refuge. With reference to the first, those whogo for refuge can be categorised according to the three capacities of beings. Those of small capacity take refuge with the motivation that they do not want to suffer in the lower realms. Those of medium capacity have understood the nature of samsara as suffering or unsatisfactoriness and wish to liberate themselves. Those of great capacity , because of

their immense compassion, are motivated by the wish to liberate all sentient beings fromsamsara.Earlier, during the Gunchoe teachings His Holiness had raised the question whether thosewho do not believe in rebirth can be classified as Buddhists. He now returned to thisdilemma again, questioning whether it was possible or meaningful for people who do notbelieve in rebirth and cyclic existence to take refuge. He was unsure what its functioncould be for such people. He also clarified the purpose of differentiating between peopleof different capacities. It would be wrong to think in terms of one being better thananother, which might lead us to try to do something beyond our capability. The categorieswere there to help us. We needed to examine our own mindstate and decide which wasthe most suitable starting point for us. Then we would be able to make a naturalprogression, step-by-step, based on our aspirations at that point in time. It would also bewrong to look down on others because they had different aspirations.Moving on to the objects of refuge, the Gyalwang Karmapa first considered the historicalBuddha. Born more than 2500 years ago, a prince who enjoyed a protected life of luxury,he renounced samsara, underwent hardship during six years of meditation, then finallyachieved enlightenment. This, he explained, is the biography of the Buddha as a humanbeing, a bhikkshu who then became a Buddha. The Tibetan word for Buddha – sangye –has two parts: sang means to awaken from ignorance and gye means vastness in the waythat mind or wisdom becomes vast.At this point Gyalwang Karmapa made a Hindi/Sanskrit pun . In Hindi the word budhu

means idiot, but change the spelling slightly and the word becomes buddha Thus we canall become Buddhas from budhus.The supreme emanation Buddha revealed the Four Noble Truths to his five disciples inSarnath, and at this point they experienced the true Dharma. The Dharma has two parts:true cessation and true path which means the experience of liberation and the path.Cessation occurs when all karma is exhausted and negative emotions completelyextinguished. His Holiness emphasised that cessation was not to be understood in anihilistic way, as a form of annihilation, but rather as a completely joyful experience, similar to the feeling of relief and well-being we experience on becoming completely well after along, painful illness. The true path is the clear realisation that leads to freedom.Finally, the third object of refuge, is the noble sangha which means those who have

experience of cessation and the path.

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As to the manner in which we take refuge, there are three things to be considered: our motivation, the depth of our refuge which depends on our motivation, and the level of our faith and devotion.When we understand and appreciate the suffering of the three realms, the fear of thissuffering propels us to seek liberation from samsara and pursue enlightenment. It isimportant to understand that ‘fear’ here refers not just to being frightened but also includes

realizing the disadvantages of samsara. Having seen its negative side, we have theconviction that we must free ourselves from cyclic existence. His Holiness warned that tobe ruled only by fear was the road to madness. It was also essential to clearly understandthat there should only be fear of samsara; the objects of refuge should never become asource of fear. Indeed they are the source of fearlessness. The question of fear alsoapplies to the samaya relationship between guru and student in the Vajrayana tradition.The guru should be viewed as our best friend who will always help us in whatever situationwe find ourselves, so, in one way, it is inappropriate to have fear of the guru with regard tobreaking samaya.With regard to faith and devotion, His Holiness observed that though foreign disciplesusually go through a process of examining the Buddhist teachings, becoming convinced

and then taking refuge, and consequently their faith is based on a clear understanding,there is often a different process at work for Tibetans and those who have been born intoBuddhist families. Such people may not have `gone through this thought process, but mayhave developed great faith and devotion. However, when we consider faith and devotion, itis crucial to have a correct understanding of how the objects of refuge help us; if this ismisundertoood, there may be many problems. Faith can degenerate into blind faith andsuperstition. His Holiness illustrated this point effectively and humourously, giving threeexamples of blind faith in action. For Buddhists the Buddha embodies compassion, lovingkindness and blessing, but a person of blind faith may suppose that the Buddha, out of his great compassion, will take care of everything. Someone who flings their dirty clothesinto a corner, thinking the Buddha will wash them, will end up with a pile of dirty laundry.When crowds of mosquitoes are buzzing around, someone who believes that Buddha willprotect them from being bitten, will end up being badly bitten. A school student who relieson blind faith in Buddha rather than studying hard to pass their exam will get a zero. TheBuddha taught the way but then we have to practise it. The Buddha is in a different world – the pure realm—and cannot transform us into enlightened beings. We have to do thework ourselves. If you then ask, why do we need the Three Jewels, the answer is that weneed to know the way and we need someone to instruct us. Buddha shows the way, andwe have to follow that path, work hard ourselves and then there will definitely be a result.Once we have taken refuge, we still have to work on ourselves.

Who then are the noble sangha? In the Hinayana sutras it states that someone who

upholds ethical discipline, who has achieved a degree of meditative stabilisation, hasgenerated some wisdom and is contented, and has abandoned the afflictions, can becalled one of the noble sangha. They have entered the path, and if they continue topractise the ten virtuous actions they will attain enlightenment, without a doubt. Because of their qualities, the ten virtuous actions will continue to grow and increase.In the end, the final result depends on us.

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After offering three bows and prayers, His Holiness continued his teaching on Nagarjuna'sLetter to a Friend. in the afternoon of December 20, 2009.

There are benefits that come from bringing to mind the gods who live in the higher realms.In order to arrive at their high status, they needed to develop their practice of peaceful

abiding (shamatha), so remembering their achievements can have the positive effect of our becoming more mindful and aware. We can also recall that in order to arrive at arebirth in a higher realm, the gods had to engage in numerous virtuous actions. So weshould bring to mind how the gods attained their rebirth. Being a powerful god is the resultof positive actions.

His Holiness then read out the Verse Five:With body, speech, and mind always relyOn wholesome deeds, the tenfold virtuous path.Avoiding liquor at all costs, thus find

True joy to lead a life of virtuous deeds.

The ten wholesome, or virtuous actions, are to avoid the ten unwholesome or unvirtuousones. We should understand why it is important to follow this teaching, for it leads us awayfrom what is not harmonious with Dharma and turns us towards what is.In the Vinaya, a positive way of life is emphasized through respect for the rules of conduct.There is a lot say about this, but not much time, so we will focus more on the life of thehouseholder, who develops respect for the Dharma.First let us look at vows. Taking refuge in the three jewels is the basis for all other vows.Any other kind of Buddhist vow we might take is based on refuge. If we take refuge, wecan become an upasaka (a lay holder of vows).The initial promise we make when takingrefuge is not to harm living beings and refrain from violence. The first practice of Buddhism

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is not to harm others. In particular, abstaining from harming is the basis of theFoundational Vehicle.Not harming can be understood in terms of avoiding the ten unwholesome actions: thethree related to the body (killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct); the four related tospeech (lying, harsh words, gossip, and divisive talk); and the three related to the mind(wishing to harm others, envy, and wrong view). All of these actions injure others. If we are

able to purify our minds, then doing harm to others along with its very basis is eliminated.The mind is the basis of the first seven unwholesome actions of body and speech, whichdirectly harm others. If the three negative mental actions are not present, then the negativeactions of body and speech will not happen. If we eliminate negative actions and theafflictions (klesha) from our mind, we will naturally have a mind that benefits others,because the ten negative actions of the mind stem from the afflictions of hatred, excessivedesire, and ignorance. Therefore, giving these up relates directly to not harming others.Hinayana also speaks of not harming others. Sometimes we may think that the Mahayanais the only path of compassion, but that is not completely true. The extent of thecompassion may differ, as the Mahayana aspiration is for all living beings, but in theFoundational vehicle there is a very strong desire not to harm others. If we speak only of

not harming others, it is difficult to separate the Hinayana from the Mahayana.Motivation is extremely important. In the beginning, we may have a good motivation, but if we have not worked on eliminating our negativity, then we could harm others later.Meditation helps us to work on our afflictions. We can learn to subdue and control our anger, for example, and in general, our minds will become more flexible. If we do notmeditate, we may start with intention to help others, but it is possible that our negativity willreturn and subvert what we are trying to do, so we could wind up harming others.According to the Abhidharmakosha, the first seven negative actions (the three of the bodyand the four of speech), are karmic actions; the three of mind are not karmic actions, butcreate the path through which actions happen.If we commit a negative action, we can make a firm resolution not do it again. Then we canpurify the negativity in front of a Dharma support, such as a statue or image of the Buddha.Our motivation should be so strong that even at the risk of our lives, we would not do itagain.If we take as an example, the negative action of killing, then we can see that it starts withrejection or aversion. At this point, however, the action is not complete, so we have time tostop it. There are many different stages so we can tell ourselves why we should not killand change our intention. If you can catch it at this stage, then an action is not complete.So our intention is the main thing and it allows us to catch a negative action before ithappens.You might think that the three negative actions related to mind happen so quickly that

there would be no time to change them. But it is possible. For example, suppose you reallywanted a certain computer. First you think of computer—how critical it is to your life; howbeautiful it is, how useful, and so forth. You think of all the good things connected with itand you convince yourself that you have to have that very computer. Your life will go well.You’ll finally be happy. If you don’t have it, you’ll be just miserable. Finally, you think , “Imust absolutely have that computer.” You mind narrows down around this one thing andbecomes stuck to it. So there is a process here and there is time to interrupt it. First wehave the thought related to a negative emotion, then an object for it appears, and finallywe do something negative.We must be mindful, aware, and conscientious, because these patterns repeatthemselves. When problems arise, they provide an occasion for these afflictions to

surface. So we have to apply ourselves again and again to identifying and halting negative

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thoughts.Working with our minds is especially important, because the mind is the source of our physical and verbal actions. If we do not this, then our negative actions become likethieves who steal away our merit and virtues. If we are involved in any of the ten negativeactions, we will accumulate karma. So our intention to improve ourselves and change isvery important. If we do not have this positive motivation, then transforming ourselves is

very difficult. Mindfulness and awareness are arising with every moment and we should tryto maintain this continuum and not waver from it because negative actions can be haltedby mindfulness.The third negative action related to the mind is wrong view. In the Abhidharmakosha, it issaid that for monastics, it is difficult to avoid wrong view because they are dependent onothers: They beg for food and rely on other people for donations. This may led them to saysomething in order to receive offerings; they could play the dancing monkey for their sponsors.For lay people it is difficult to avoid wrong views due to the way that they use divinations(Tibetan, mo). When they encounter difficulties, lay people tend to ask for a mo. They alsopractice Dzambhala to accumulate wealth or Tara if they are sick. This is not the right way

to apply the Dharma, because we are using it to gain worldly benefits. These are the kindsof mistakes lay people make.Actually, the Buddha already made an excellent mo for us. He said that if we engage invirtuous actions, the results will be virtuous; if we engage in negative actions, the resultswill be negative. This is very clear. The most effective mo is to practice virtue.In working with negative actions, it is also very helpful to take vows. They give constancyto our actions and provide a counteracting force to our negative tendencies. They alsoserve as a basis for awareness. There are hundreds of ways to take vows. One way isrelated to number of people. For example, first we meditate on not killing. Then we canvow not to injure one person, a group of people, or no one at all. In terms of time, we cantake a vow for one day, one month, one year, or until you die. You could also take a vownot to kill or seal from the Karmapa (laughter).If someone takes a vow to give up any, some or all of the negative actions, we shouldpraise and encourage them, and also rejoice. We should all train in avoiding the tennegative actions.Another way of working with the afflictions is to look into how they come about. We canexamine to see: Where did this negative action come from? Where does it stay? Wheredoes it go?

The last two lines of Verse Five state: Avoiding liquor at all costs, thus find

True joy to lead a life of virtuous deeds.

This applies to both the lay and ordained sangha. For those with lay vows, there arenegative ways to earn a living, such as selling alcohol, selling poisons, killing others, andselling meat. However, the main negative actions are all contained with in the ten that weshould abandon. We should also practice the six perfections. These are very important.

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Question and answer:

Question: When we are separated from our root teacher, sometimes we are moved totears from longing. Is this crazy? Answer: Not really. When we recall the positive qualities of our teacher and are moved totears, that is devotion. It is positive and strong. If you’re oversupplied, perhaps you could

pass some along to me (laughter).

Question: How should we understand the eight worldly dharmas or concerns? Answer: We can understand the eight, (gain and loss, praise and blame, pleasure andpain, fame and infamy), as belonging to three types: white, black, and mixed. The blackdharma is a concern only for this life; one looks to benefit oneself and does not think of others. The white dharma is concern for others. The mixed dharma is what most of ushave, black and white together. Genuine Dharma is not just for this life, but for life after life.

Day Two: AM

Gyalwang Karmapa began by reviewing yesterday’s discussion on ethical discipline,emphasising that practising ethical discipline was important for the world in terms of transforming society. Behaving ethically meant abandoning the ten non-virtuous actions.For householders who hold the lay vows, adopting ethical behaviour can also be veryhelpful on an individual level; a couple who quarrel can create a harmonious relationshipinstead, for instance.The Gyalwang Karmapa continued his teaching with an exposition of verse six. He

explained that the previous verses had been applicable to both householders and thoseholding monastic vows, but the sixth verse is addressed specifically to laypeople.

Stanza Six:Possessions are ephemeral and essence less—Know this and give them generously to monks,To Brahmins, to the poor, and to your friends:Beyond there is no greater friend than gift.

Stanza four had mentioned the six paramitas, one of which is generosity. Three thingsneeded to be considered with reference to generosity: the objects, the reasons, and thebenefits. This verse explains the importance of generosity and who best deserves toreceive it. There are two types of object: the higher ones, those who are a field of goodqualities, which includes Brahmins, monks and nuns, and those who are a field of benefitsuch as one’s parents. The second group includes the poor and disadvantaged. Thereason for giving is that wealth is impermanent and unstable – as we can see from thepresent economic crisis – so the most effective way of using our wealth is to share it, eventhough we may have limited resources.The benefit of giving is that , even if you give only a little it establishes predispositions for future lives and ensures rebirth in a good migration with good resources.

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Stanza Seven:Keep your vows unbroken, undegraded,Uncorrupted, and quite free of stain.Just as the earth’s the base for all that’s still or moves,On discipline, it’s said, is founded all that’s good.

This verse is an instruction for monks and nuns. Monastics have taken vows of ethicaldiscipline and it’s important not to allow them to degenerate. One needs to give up allharming of others. The actions to be abandoned are the seven of body and speech, andthe three mental actions that are the cause of the former. Hence, one trains in abandoningthese by hearing, thinking and meditating. Ethical discipline should be uncorruptedmeaning that it is not kept only because of concern for this life. It must be quite free of stain meaning that ethical discipline should not be solely for the purpose of future liveseither. The basis of one’s virtuous actions should be the goal of attaining liberation andomniscience. The three precepts are ethics, concentration and wisdom, and ethicaldiscipline is the basis on which we realise the latter. His Holiness observed that if we

cannot control body and speech, we cannot control our minds. Even for hearing, thinkingand meditating one needs one-pointedness of mind, and this too is difficult to developwithout a base of ethical discipline.

Stanza Eight:Generosity and discipline, patience and diligence,Concentration and the wisdom of thusness-Those measureless perfections, make them grow,And be a Mighty Conqueror, who’s crossed samsara’s sea.

This verse gives more detailed instructions for monks and nuns and lists the sixperfections.

As it is said in the Madhyamika-avatara, if ethical discipline exists, the other fiveperfections grow and increase, but, without it, it is very difficult for the other five to develop.To become a bodhisattva is not easy. A bodhisattva has to have great skill, realcompassion and wisdom, and training in all six perfections in order to attain this.

Nagarjuna’s detailed instruction for householders, which follows, has nine parts, the first of which is to respect one’s parents.

Stanza Nine:Those who show their parents great respectWith Brahma or a Master will be linked;By venerating them they’ll win repute,In future they’ll attain the higher realms.

His Holiness commented that we all come from many different backgrounds and lifesituations. He himself had been able to meet a wide range of people, many of whom hadlove and respect for their parents, but some of whom had great difficulty doing this, so itwas necessary to explore ways in which we could relate to this verse. He himself had no

problems loving and respecting his mother and father. His only problem was having little

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opportunity to do this. He suggested that perhaps he was not the right person to giveinstructions to those who did have problems doing so. However, there are many teachingsin Buddhist texts on cultivating patience, kindness and compassion, and how to regard allbeings as attractive. Perhaps those who have difficulty loving and respecting their parents,he advised, could use these trainings, so that they abandoned feelings of anger andhatred, and practiced patience. In that way they could rid themselves of negative feelings

towards their parents. As we as Buddhists must practice equanimity and show lovingkindness and compassion towards all sentient beings, whether they are relatives andfriends or not, if there were difficulties, perhaps we could include our parents in the latter group. Moreover, we need to reflect on our past history, learn to forgive ourselves andothers, and let go of any painful or negative feelings we may still harbour.

Stanzas Ten and Eleven:Eschew all harm, don’t steal, make love, or lie,Abstain from drink, untimely greed for food,Indulging in high beds, and singing too,

Refrain from dancing, all adornments shun.

For men and women who keep this eight-branched vowAnd emulate the vows the Arhats took,Their wish to nurture and to cleanse will grantThem handsome bodies as celestial gods.

This second and third verses of detailed instructions to householders encourage them totake the eight Mahayana sojong precepts, which can be divided into 4 root precepts , and4 branches and are taken for twenty-four hours. During Buddha’s time, the Buddha

instructed his followers to observe the sojong precepts on the 8th, 15th and so forth of themonth. It is said that those who had done so, when they heard one word of instruction fromthe Buddha, became Arhats. By observing these precepts, His Holiness said, there will begreat benefits in the next life.

He then introduced Verse 12, which lists actions and attitudes to be avoided by house-holders.

Stanza Twelve:Stinginess and cunning, greed and sloth

And arrogance, attachment, hate, and pride(“I’ve breeding, good looks, learning, youth, and power”)—Such traits are seen as enemies of good.

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Question and answer session

Q.When I have a negative emotion like attachment and look into it, the emotion becomesstronger. What should I do? His Holiness advised that there are many different ways to work on negative emotions. Hesuggested that sometimes when you dislike a particular person, something has happened

or they have done something to you, it can help to change your focus, moving your mindaway from that person or situation, in order to defuse the anger. This can help.

Q. Is it permissible to support ourselves by selling dharma articles with the intention of benefitting others? Westerners need Dharma articles.His Holiness suggested that there were several things to be considered. If the motivationwere more than just a business, it might be permissible, but one needed to consider howand to whom they were sold. For instance, there was the danger of selling them to peoplewho would not respect them.

Q. Monks and lamas eat meat in Tibet, especially during Losar. Is this not a wrong thing todo? His Holiness commented that the questioner seemed to know Tibetan custom! He thenexplained how, historically, because of the geography, climate and situation, there used tobe little choice of food in Tibet, and it was very difficult to get vegetables and so forth.Nowadays things had changed. New fruits and vegetables had arrived in Tibet, particularlyfrom China, and it was his hope that this would lead to a change in the Tibetan diet, so thatmonks and lamas eating meat would no longer be an issue.

Q. When there are too many mosquitoes, I kill them. I’m sorry. I don’t want to do it, but how can I stop it?

His Holiness commented that this was a difficult dilemma. The right conditions in terms of room, screens, nets, repellant and so forth could help. However, it was essential for us tounderstand that although an elephant is very large and a mosquito is very small, thedifference is in size not value, both are living beings. Thus, although a mosquito may seemsmall and insignificant it has life and it is probably wrong to take that life. Instead weshould use our skills and resourcefulness to find a solution which does not harm them.Talking from personal experience he said that a few days ago he had noticed that the anti-mosquito device that many people use here seemed to be killing the mosquitoes, so hedidn’t turn it on and tried driving them away instead. That didn’t work and they continued tobite him in spite of everything. Then he developed a genuine feeling of giving.“So at least I was giving my blood freely; they benefit from receiving it and I have the

positive benefit of giving. I’m trying this, I’m not saying that everyone has to do this, butthis is my current thinking.”

Q. Would His Holiness please give the refuge vows. How can we take His Holiness as root guru? His Holiness began his reply by saying that this question of the ‘root guru’ was somethingwhich had been bothering him for some time. He explained that usually when we use theterm ‘root guru’ it is in the context of Vajrayana practice. The ‘root guru’ is the one fromwhom we receive an empowerment, the reading transmission and the root instructions. Itis also possible, however, to have a ‘spiritual friend’. This is the person who shows us theright way, and instructs us in what is to be adopted and what is to be abandoned.

Gyalwang Karmapa explained that from his personal point of view he felt he did not have

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the qualities to be a root guru yet, although he was working hard to develop them, and itwas his aspiration to gather all the genuine qualities that are necessary. However, manypeople has placed their hopes, wishes and confidence in him, so, in order to encouragethem, he accepted the role of root guru. He thought that he, the individual Ogyen Trinley,did not have the qualities to be a root guru, but through his connection with the Karmapalineage, there might be some benefit to people. Thus, whenever he agreed to take

someone as a student or to be their root guru, he visualised the great masters and tookinspiration from them. It was important to understand that the focus should not be on himpersonally but on the lineage and the teachings of the lineage. Even someone withhundreds of negative qualities was worth listening to if they gave one positive instruction.His Holiness reminded everyone that one of the four reliances instructs us to rely on theteaching(Dharma) and not on the person. “It’s the teaching that is great, not me,” hemaintained, and advised everyone to take the teachings as the main guru and regard himas a spiritual friend; then there wouldn’t be any problems.

Gyalwang Karmapa concluded the morning session with two reading transmissions:Thogme Sangpo’s The Thirty Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva and the dedication prayer

from Shantideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva.

Day Two: PM

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Today we will begin with discussing mistaken attitudes, or literally, “what is turned aroundthe wrong way.”

Verse 12 reads:Stinginess and cunning, greed and sloth,And arrogance, attachment, hate, and pride(“I’ve breeding, good looks, learning, youth, and power”)—Such traits are seen as enemies of good.

When people are stingy, they’re unable to give to others. They can’t give either theDharma or material things, but must keep everything to themselves.The next mistaken attitude is translated as “cunning” but actually it’s made up of twowords. g.Yo means that you conceal your faults and sgyu means that you pretend to havequalities that you do not, so there are two ways of being cunning. “Sloth” refers to allowingourselves to be carried away by laziness.With pride, we think we’re something very special. We are puffed up, inflated with

ourselves. We are one hundred percent certain that you are a wonderful person, even if we actually don’t have so many positive qualities. We are so stuffed with the idea of our self that there’s no space for anything else. Our mind is obese. We think that we are somehigh ranking VIP. Or we think we’re special because we have tons of money or years of learning. No matter what positive qualities we may have, it’s important not to come under the sway of pride.Of the three poisons, attachment comes in two kinds: attachment to people and to materialthings. Then, even though we may have all that we need and more, we still have aversionand feel the need to compete with others. None of these mistaken attitudes are good for this life or the next. They steal away our positive qualities and so they are seen as“enemies of good.” None of them allow us to make good connections with others, which is

another reason why we should discard them.It’s a tradition in India and Tibet that great masters are very humble. They say things like, “Ireally don’t know very much.” “I haven’t studied a lot.” “I have no realization.” Now that theDharma is spreading to the East and West, many masters are traveling and they still followthis tradition of humility. However, some people assume that the masters are actuallytelling the truth and take what they say at face value: “Well, if he doesn’t know, then there’sno need to take teaching from him.” They have not yet learned that this is an expression of humility. It is possible that someone could have false humility and harbor pride deep within.Such a person is not a true practitioner. So students have to understand this tradition of humility. When the teacher and students are of one mind, then something good canhappen.Real humility is felt deep inside. Even if we have many positive qualities, we understandhow much more we have to learn. When we compare ourselves with others, we can seethat what we know is like a drop of water in the ocean. We feel a natural humility when wesee the great qualities we have yet to attain.It is important for us to practice love and compassion, to the point that they becomeinexhaustible. From our heart we wish that living beings be free of suffering and find realhappiness. We want to extinguish all the suffering of living beings and be their servant. Tobe able to do this well, we have to work on reducing our pride. But we should not do thisby putting ourselves down. The Supreme Continuum (Uttaratantra shastra) by Maitreyagives reasons why the Buddha taught about Buddha nature, (tathatagarbha). If we know

that this essential nature of ours, (and that of all living beings), is basic goodness, the

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potential for full awakening, then we will not be discouraged or plagued by a sense of worthlessness. We should definitely not seek to diminish our pride by putting ourselvesdown because that will just make us feel hopeless. Instead, we can just think that there aremany more qualities that we could attain and that now we are a small pond compared tothe vast ocean of what is possible. This humble mind is what we need to develop.

Verse 13 concerns with being careful or conscientious:Carefulness is the way to deathlessness,While carelessness is death, the Buddha taught.And thus, so that your virtuous deeds may grow,Be careful, constantly and with respect.

We may have the name of a practitioner or call ourselves Buddhist but we may not reallypractice, so we are merely assuming these names. What we should do, however, isexamine ourselves to see what is positive and negative. In this way, we should be thewitness for ourselves. As it states in The Seven Points of Mind Training: “Of the two

judges, rely on the first.” And the first is we ourselves.

This verse compares being careful and attentive to nectar. The word for nectar, or amrita,in Tibetan is made up of two syllables: Dud (Tib. bdud) refers to maras or demons, whichactually refer to obstacles of various kinds, such as old age and sickness or the four traditional maras of the afflictions, fear of death, the aggregates, and worldly pleasures.And tsi (Tib. rTsi) here means “to get rid of.” So the word means that those who are able torecall the nectar of carefulness are able to eliminate obstacles. Such a person is a trueDharma practitioner. To avoid negative actions of body and speech, we look very carefullyat our minds to make sure that a mara does not slip in, whether it is during or after asession of meditation.

This careful attentiveness is actually necessary for any kind of practice. When followingthe Vinaya, we need this carefulness and mindfulness, for example, in observing the fivevirtuous acts. In the Mahayana the mind is much more important than body and speech.We need to be aware and evaluate what is going on in our mind. This is even more true inthe Vajrayana.

Verse 14 continues to speak of carefulness:Those who formerly were carelessBut then took heed are beautiful and fair,

As is the moon emerging from clouds,Like Nanda, Angulimala, Darshaka, Udayana.

Here Nagarjuna speaks of first being corrupted by misdeeds and then purifying ourselvesof them. This process is likened to the moon escaping from behind the clouds. It tells usthat change is possible. The examples given are Ananda, who had strong attachment;Angulimala who killed hundreds; Darshaka who killed his mother, and Udayana whocommitted many negative actions.

So it is possible to purify even extremely negative actions, and this process happensthrough stages of purification. First we regret what we have done and see it as a realmistake. We make a confession in front of the Three Jewels or a lama; we vow not to do it

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again, and then we practice to purify it through reciting, for example, Vajrasattva’s mantra.What is most important is that we see what we have done as wrong. Fearing suffering,some people might still harbor some hesitation deep down inside and this will subvert thepurification. So it is important to confess from our very depths. When we can do this, itbrings us true joy and happiness.

We should not think, however, that we are all black inside. This would be an obstacle toour path of practice. If we reflect on our present and past lives, the fact that we have mademistakes is not at all surprising. From our numerous past lives, we are not arriving hereperfectly white; there are faults that we have not discarded; it is due to our karma and our afflictions, we have taken our present birth. What we have done wrong in past lives mightbe huge compared to this life.

So it’s good to recognize what we have done wrong, but we should not feel totallydiscouraged and think that there’s nothing to be done. We can change by recognizing our faults and then confessing. And when we do this, it should be complete; we shouldn’t leavebehind anything inside us. Confessing is like splitting an apple in half; we totally cut

ourselves off from what is wrong. For example, Milarepa worked very hard on building thetowers to purify killing so many people. We can look at this from two sides: from one sidehe was purifying his negative action, and from another side he was creating great joy.

Day Three: AM

The Gyalwang Karmapa began by saying that this the third day of the teachings wouldalso be the final session. Consequently it would not be possible to give a detailedcommentary on the whole text so he preferred to at least give the reading transmission of

it, occasionally commenting, in order that both he and the audience would have a sense of completion.

The next three stanzas, 17, 18, and 19, contain instructions to abandon lowly actions of body, speech and mind.

Stanza 17:Understand your thoughts to be like figures drawnOn water, sandy soil, or carved in stone.Of these, for tainted thoughts the first’s the best,

While when you long for Dharma, it’s the last.

This verse is concerned with abandoning negative thoughts. The simile compares adrawing on water which is immediately erased, with a drawing on earth which remains for a short while, and a carving on rock which can last for centuries. His Holiness explainedthat, especially when we first begin to practice, we experience many afflictions in our minds. Thus, we should train our minds so that these afflictions become like words onwater. When, on the other hand, we train in positive qualities such as loving kindness andcompassion and so forth, the results should be like rock carvings, at best, or, at least, as if drawn on the earth.

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Stanza 18:Three kinds of speech are used by humankind,And these the Victor variously described:Like honey, sweet; like flowers, true; like filth,Improper speech—the last of these eschew.

This verse describes three different types of speech – helpful and beneficial which is sweetlike honey; truthful and beautiful like a flower; the last is wrong speech, unclean like dirt,and refers to such things as lies and divisive speech, which should be avoided.

Stanza 19:Some there are who go from light to light,And some whose end from dark is darkness still,While some from light to dark, or dark to lightEnd up, thus four, of these be as the first.

Verse 19 explains why we should stop non-virtuous actions and train in positive qualities.Our ultimate aim is enlightenment, but in cyclic existence negative emotions influence our actions, and our actions harm others. If we turn away from these non-virtuous actions andwork on positive deeds instead, our lives now will become happier and there will our rebirths will also be more fortunate. Gyalwang Karmapa quoted from Shantideva’s TheWay of the Bodhisattva “If you ride the horse of bodhichitta you will go from one happyplace to another. So how could a bodhisattva ever be lazy?” Of the four possible directionswe can take in samsara, he advised, we should aim to go from light to light, to turn ‘good’into ‘better’.

His Holiness then read verses 20 to 29, pausing to comment on verse 29.

Stanza 29:You who know the world, take gain and loss,Of bliss and pain, or kind words and abuse,Of praise and blame—these eight mundane concerns—Make them the same and don’t disturb your mind.

This verse refers to the eight worldly concerns and the problems that can arise if wedepend too much on external conditions for our happiness and well-being. This leads to an

imbalance in our lives and our mental states become like waves on the ocean. For instance, some people when praised become overjoyed, but then when they are criticisedthey become sad and depressed. Consequently they have no stability. If, instead, we canbe content with whatever conditions we face, we will always be happy. His Holinesswarned that Dharma practitioners should not pay too much attention to what people aresaying about their practice. He advised that if we can maintain internal stability andequanimity, irrespective of what is happening externally, life becomes trouble-free. Aspractitioners we should understand and accept the nature of samsara. The definition givenof samsara is ‘not everything goes well’, so why should we be surprised when things gowrong? If you put your hand in hot water you will be scalded. You shouldn’t be shocked bythis – it’s how things are. If you take a bath in icy water, you aren’t surprised that it’s

freezing cold! Our view of samsara should be similar – we should be expecting problems

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and not be thrown off balance by them.

Gyalwang Karmapa went on to suggest ways in which it was possible to maintain mentalequipoise in daily life. The Abhidharma lists five ever-present mental factors, one of whichis samadhi- a one-pointed factor of stability. Speaking from his own experience he saidhow sometimes he was so busy that when he reviewed the day at night, he failed to recall

anything useful that he had done and felt that the day had lacked purpose and that thisprecious human life was being wasted. His Holiness then moved on to consider what itreally means to waste time. The essential thing, he advised, was to maintain a stableawareness in whatever we are doing, and if we can do this we will never be wasting time.There was no point fretting over time spent brushing our teeth, sitting in a traffic jam, or standing in a check-out queue. These were merely external conditions. We always have achoice, whatever we are doing; we can always make use of our minds. Some peoplemisguidedly believe that their happiness and well-being depend on external conditionssuch as acquiring a new car, but, a careful examination will show that happiness dependson internal not external factors. If we understand this, whatever is happening around us,we can work on our minds and use that time in a positive and meaningful way. It is

fundamentally important to understand that happiness comes from within.

Gyalwang Karmapa then gave the reading transmission of verses 30 – 57.

He paused again at verse 58, to discuss the correct understanding of impermanence.

Stanza 58:It’s all impermanent, devoid of self,So if you’re not to stay there refugelessAnd helpless, drag your mind away, O King,

From plaintainlike samsara, which has no core.

Observing that some people became fearful when they meditate on impermanence, hecommented that this was not the point; it is not intended to bring fear. As Buddhists webelieve that this birth is but one of a succession, a cycle of birth and death. However,people often mistakenly think in terms only of this life—one birth, one life, one death. As aconsequence, death becomes uncertain and frightening. The correct way to look atimpermanence, however, is as a sequence of births and deaths which we can seeoperating at all levels of our everyday lives. Moment by moment, new things come intobeing, that is birth, and other things come to an end, that is death. Understanding

impermanence in this way should have two positive effects: firstly, it should reduce our fear of death itself, and secondly it should heighten our appreciation of our moment-to-momentexistence leading us to value and focus on each moment. If we fail to do the latter, we maywaste our lives. If we take each moment as a drop, we can make our lives an ocean of happiness.

Gyalwang Karmapa resumed his reading of the text and completed the readingtransmission.

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Question and answer session

Q. Should not some Rinpoches have the aspiration to take rebirth as females, as Tara did,in order to show that women are capable of enlightenment? Having suggested that this was worth praying for, His Holiness commented that In Tantra itis clear that one can attain Buddhahood in the body of a woman. A Buddha can emanate

in any form – male or female—hence Tara, but it would be wrong to think in terms of acompetition between men and women. There needs to be a reason such ascompassionate action for the benefit of women requiring birth as a woman. It doesn’t haveto be a Rinpoche, His Holiness observed, some of the audience could do it too.

Q.There are so many bhikkshunis here – but none from the Tibetan tradition. When will Your Holiness start gelongma ordination? If Your Holiness does not start the tradition, whowill? Gyalwang Karmapa explained that during the recent Vinaya Conference, there had been agreat deal of discussion on the issue of gelongma (Skt. Bhikkshuni) ordination and how itcould be introduced into the Tibetan tradition. There were several difficulties which neededto be thoroughly discussed, as it would be wrong to act hastily. One difficulty was thatthere were no gelongma in the Mulasarvastivadin tradition, which Tibetan Buddhismfollows, although it seems that some Tibetan masters in the past may have ordained nuns.A second was finding a method by which the gelongma ordination could be introduced sothat its future was stable. Possible solutions discussed at the conference included carryingout gelongma ordination by a sangha of monks only, or by a combined sangha of monksfrom the Mulasarvastivadin tradition and nuns from the Chinese Dharmagupta tradition. Itwas difficult to know at what point gelongma ordination would become possible but HisHoliness promised that he was working hard on the issue, with pure motivation. It couldnot be done hastily. It had to be done properly in order to secure the future of the

gelongma.“Don’t worry. I will do it,” he said in English. “Be patient.”

Q. What is the right way of life for a nun who is working in a hospital far from other sanghamembers? For a getsulma (novice nun), His Holiness advised, the most important thing from theVinaya point of view, is keeping the four root vows, and not doing something which laypeople would take offense at in terms of making them lose their respect for or faith in thesangha.

Q. How should we meditate on selflessness? And how does this relate to helping sentient

beings? His Holiness commented that although we often think of ourselves as separate andindependent , a closer examination of our situation proves that we are not. From the veryair we breathe which sustains our life, to the food we eat and the books we read, we aredependent on others. We are a part of everything around us, and compassionate action isa product of a thorough understanding of this interdependence. From his own experience,he observed, the more he understood interdependence the more he understood howimportant others were, and the importance of working for their benefit. Usually we think Iexist, so others exist, he said. We need to understand that I exist because others exist. If others didn’t exist, I wouldn’t exist.Understanding selflessness and emptiness is basic to understanding compassion too, he

said. Sometimes when meditating on selflessness it seems as if all becomes nothing, but

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when one really understands selflessness, compassion also arises.

This concluded the teaching. Gyalwang Karmapa thanked everybody for coming .

Hundreds of years ago the friendship between Nagarjuna and King Surabhibhadra hadproduced this text, and now, because of the text, everyone at the teaching had formed a

karmic connection, and he would pray to ensure that this connection would be renewed infuture. He hoped that everyone would carry the experience of friendship, love andharmony they had shared back to their own countries, East and West.

Day Three: PM

The Closing Ceremony

After three days of inspiring teaching, His Holiness brought to a close his discussion of Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend with thanks to the students who had gathered for so far away.

He said, “I am happy to have been able to give teachings on this text and thank you for giving me this opportunity. Letter to a Friend was composed over a thousand years agowhen the great scholar Nagaruna sent a letter to his dear friend, King Decho Zangpo. I amvery happy to have been able to speak about this text to faithful students from the Eastand West. The fact that we could all meet here is due to our gathering considerable meritin the past. I sincerely hope that in the future we will be able to meet again and again. I amcontinually doing as much as I can to make this possible.”

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As thanks to His Holiness for these special teachings and with prayers for his very longlife, leaders from Dharma centers and the organizers offered him the supports of body,speech, mind, qualities and, activities. Then Lama Chokyi from France spoke for everyonewhen he compared His Holiness to a skilled gardener. In the beginning, the seeds arerather colorless and not very attractive, but the gardener knows that with care they will

grow into beautiful flowers, so he nurtures them as they grow to maturity. Likewise, in thebeginning, we students are rather undeveloped, but with His Holiness’s compassion andteachings, we hope to blossom into true flowers of the Dharma.

Afterward, Michele Martin with Pi Chun Chen translating into Chinese offered thanks to allthe many volunteers who made this event possible. She said, “We have often heard thateverything arises through dependent origination. And these teachings are no exception.They are due to the auspicious gathering of a whole range of causes and conditions. Wewould now like to thank and offer our gratitude to some of the main and obvious ones.”Beginning with His Holiness’ General Secretary, Drupon Rinpoche, and continuing throughthe people on security, Tergar Monastery, the Kagyu Monlam Administration, Jeff Chen for

the website and registration along with a group of 60 Taiwanese; Karma Yeshe for allaspects of electronics; Norbu, Mr. Shi, Jack Rosa and Chopin for the website and sound;the translators into nine languages, and Ngodup Tsering; Ani Renzhan, Ani Renju and thereporters for registration and website; the chant masters Khenpo Sherap and KarmaChoephel; Khenpo Tengye and the Hua Yen Foundation for the book of Letter to a Friendin 8 languages; those working in registration; Drolma for keeping our environment cleanand pleasant, and John Barhnill for medical services.

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Finally, thanks were extended to all who came, more than 1,500, from 52 different

countries. Michele continued: “We have done our best to make this a special experiencefor you and ask for forgiveness for anything that was inadequate or a problem. You havebeen a wonderful audience and we hope that you will take home fine memories of youtime here and a deepening connection with the Dharma. And we hope that you will sharethe teachings with others when you return home. The practice and spreading of thegenuine Dharma is the best offering we can make to His Holiness. We all make theaspiration that we will meet again and have the precious opportunity to hear His Holinessteach for immeasurable numbers of years. Thank you all.”

Afterward, everyone had the opportunity to offer their auspicious scarves and personalthanks to His Holiness and receive his blessing. Many stayed behind in the surrounding

gardens of Tergar Monastery to enjoy the sunny, warm weather, to circumambulate theshrine building where His Holiness stays, remaining a little longer in his presence.

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Documents

Karmapa - Nagarjunas Letter to a Friend