creating yourself as a perfect vessel
Taking refuge, taking that vow of refuge. If you have taken refuge then you have created yourself as a perfect vessel to plant or to establish hearing, contemplation and meditation.
Parting from the four attachments, Nepal June 2009
(->videos on youtube)
If you have attachment to this life and if you do the hearing and contemplation, such kind of hearing and contemplation will only increase the wealth of pride. And obtaining such kind of wealth of pride will develop arrogance. The arrogance of despising those who you project as someone who has not, who hasn’t heard or contemplated. Hearing and contemplation done with an attachment to this life will also cause you to have jealousy or envy towards those who have hearing or contemplation. Such kind of hearing and contemplation will only generate the motivation of acquiring material wealth or worldly entourage or disciples. So therefore, such kind of hearing and contemplation will become like the cause of lower realm or lower birth. So Drakpa Gyaltsen says, ?..? therefore hearing and contemplation coming from attachment to this life, in other words hearing and contemplation which is motivated with eight worldly dharma, should be discarded.
Parting from the four attachments, Nepal June 2009
(->videos on youtube)
necessary quality of hearing and contemplation
Your hearing and contemplation must assist in helping you to help others.
Parting from the four attachments, Nepal June 2009
(->videos on youtube)
After that, after taking the refuge or after really applying the refuge as your practice, after disciplining yourself with the triple gem, what do we then do? Or not only after, after it is not like time cases here. What else can we do, what else should we do. Thö sam gom sum, hearing, contemplation and meditation. So here Jetsun Rinpoche Drakpa Gyaltsen is poking us again. ?..?
It is indispensable, hearing and contemplation is indispensable. Someone who is trying to engaging into hearing and contemplation means, someone who is acquiring the enlightened wealth. This is quite an important point by the way. ?..? Someone who is doing the hearing and contemplation must do it in order to dispel the ignorance. Someone who is doing the hearing and contemplation must do it so that so what you are hearing and what you are contemplating will benefit others. Lastly we should do the hearing and contemplation, most importantly we should do this hearing and contemplation so that this hearing and contemplation becomes the seed of the dharmakaya. So important all these. Because when we do the hearing and contemplation, we are trying to finish our PhD. We are trying to finish our thesis, doctor degrees or something like that. We are trying to become a smart person. Well informed, well read person. That’s again attachment to this life. Isn’t it. Basically hearing and contemplation, we do it not for degrees, not for your career. Also when we do the hearing and contemplation, instead of going, instead this hearing and contemplation going against the ignorance, you suddenly become kind of very proud, egoistic. This is one big problem with Rinpoches like myself, Khenpos, learned monks, so called learned monks. And then now this is of course being transferred to many western, european, american. chinese buddhist students, I don’t know, instructor or teacher, or stuff like that. Yes, to the certain extend, many of this students or teacher, whatever your want to call them, they have gathered lot of information. It is like, they studied diligently, but because they have studied and contemplated diligently with a motivation of really wanting to build their image, build their – basically whatever they are doing is not really going against the ego, against the ignorance. You see lots of problems.
hearing, contemplating, meditating
On top of the discipline then what we do is thöpa. Thöpa means actually more like a receiving the teachings such as what’s happening now and reading the text. Reading the texts, very important. Lord Maitreya in the, towards the end of the Uttaratantra, Maitreya has stressed that it is only through the hearing that one will open the door to the spiritual path. So important. So one must do a lot of hearing, reading. Now if you are really a serious dharma practitioner, if you seriously want to engage in the Dharma path that is not enough, contemplation is necessary. And when we are talking about contemplation we are talking about basically analyzing. Is this path any good for me, can I do it, does it make any sense. Is it logically or is it just a big you know like – you have to contemplate, really. You really have to contemplate. Because, just because it is coming from the Buddha you cannot take it on face value so to speak. Because there are so many religion or religious teachings. I for one, I don’t do much contemplation but a little contemplation when I do some of the religious instructions are not for me. Some of the religious instructions basically for me it is a survival kit that is designed for certain part of the world, for a certain society. Mere for few people who are afraid of sand storm or stuff like that. So you have to really contemplate. You really have to contemplate whether this is suitable for you, does it make sense, all of that. Hearing, thöpa sampa, hearing and contemplation. So now if you have, let’s say, if you have, that is hypothetically, an example, if you have one hour of free time, you should do hearing 15 minutes, contemplation, 15 minutes. So I am giving hearing and contemplation equal standing, and equal importance. Then, half an hour, if you are really want to follow a path, you have to meditate. Because if you are not meditating then it’s a bit like cooking all day and not eating. Or reading the menu over and over and over and not eating. There is no point. You have to meditate. And meditation is basically, once you develop a certain confidence through the hearing and contemplation, completely, one pointedly remaining with that confidence is meditation
Student: Thank you Rinpoche for the illustrations. Would you explain the difference between contemplation and meditation.
Oh, contemplation has a lot of analysis. Is this it, is this not it, am I doing right. You know, no no, Nagarjuna said this, not like that. It is not as much like a reading or a hearing, listening, it’s more like you making lots of stories in your head, debating. When you meditate, specially when you meditate, you see after hearing and contemplation you then come to some kind of a conclusion. Right? You have to come to a conclusion. Once you come to that conclusion, meditation you then no more you do the analysis. You basically try to get used to that conclusion. Meditation in Tibetan, many times, the Tibetan word for meditation is gom. Gom has this connotation of getting accustomed to whatever that view.
You know the logic is very limited. Logic is very very limited. Logic is a very good tool. Even in the Buddhist studies actually we spend a lot of time studying Buddhist logic. It is called pramana. Actually like standard Buddhist philosophy student will spend almost six years just study Buddhist logic. Very important. But we have always been told that the logic we study to value and to validate the view. This is always for the purpose though. Once you establish the view then you see – I think the Buddhist concept of hearing, contemplation and meditation, you must have heard this, this is a very important one. I don’t know, I dare say, I don’t know maybe I am totally wrong, this is probably a concept west doesn’t have. Maybe west has hearing and contemplation. Meditation I don’t know, maybe they have it in their own sort of way but for, specially for a spiritual path meditation is so important, so important. Because the logic alone cannot, logic can only bring you from A to maybe D. You know, A B – C –- D. That is about it then the logic will collapse. From there – but it has done its good job you know. Because somewhere when you are around C lots of dreams and physical experience and things like light coming from the nostrils and you know like visions of the Buddha and you know like sharman is coming inside you and stuff like, that will come and those are very dangerous. So for that you need logic. And once you combat them then what you need? You need daringness. Daringness. And what do I mean by daringness? I was telling earlier. To be useless.