THE
FIRST TEACHING OF
HH THE 17TH
GYALWA KARMAPA TSURPHU,
JULY 1998
Today I would like to
present a brief teaching on Refuge.
You are not a Buddhist if
you don't take Refuge. It is the understanding and
observing of Refuge which defines one as a Buddhist. It is
said, 'You are not a Mahayanist if you don't have
Bodhichitta'; it is the generation of Bodhichitta or the
Bodhisattva aspiration that decides whether or not your
practice is Mahayana. Therefore it should be understood
that the entire path is included within the principles of
Refuge and Bodhichittha. All the teachings given by the
Buddha Shakyamuni come down to Refuge and Bodhichitta.
Therefore we have teachings
on the roots of Refuge, the general and particular
precepts of Refuge, and many other instructions related to
Refuge.
The roots of Refuge are
faith and compassion:trust and confidence in the Buddha,
Dharma and Sangha and compassion wishing to liberate all
sentient beings from suffering.
Faith in the Three Jewels
is of three types. The inspired faith is the positive
inspiration you receive when you visit places of worship
where there are many sacred objects, or when you meet
great masters or attend inspiring sangha gatherings. The
aspirational faith is that whereby you wish to get rid of
suffering and attain the peace of higher states of
existence; you wish to practise good deeds and abandon
negative deeds for that purpose, and have confidence in
the possibility of achieving that goal. The faith of full
confidence is to understand that the Three Jewels are your
only and ultimate Refuge, and to have heartfelt
understanding of and trust in the Buddha, Dharma, and
Sangha.
Compassion for all sentient
beings is to want to liberate all sentient beings from all
the kinds of problems and sufferings in the ocean of
Samsara. All these beings have been my mothers and all
have loved me and cared for me as my mother, and I, myself
personally, would like to help them to become liberated
from all their sufferings. That is compassion.
These are the roots of
Refuge.
What is the essence of
Refuge? It is that I have no other ultimate guide but the
Buddha; I have no other true path but the Dharma; I have
no other companions with whom to tread the path but the
supreme Sangha. We need companions with whom to tread our
path: if we want to cross the river we need a boatman; the
boat would not move on it's own. If we rely on wrong
companions or friends we can be led astray, so we want to
find the right companions and travel together on the right
path. That is the supreme sangha.
This is the clear and
unchanging commitment to the Three Refuges which is
necessary.
The instructions on
observing the Refuge commitments are many and can be
categorised into the general and the particular and so on.
First of the general
instructions is not to give up your Refuge even in
exchange for your life, or for great awards. If someone
were to pile up the greatest amount of wealth on one side
and tell you it could be yours if you would abandon your
Refuge, you would not want to give up the Refuge; not even
for your life. Secondly, whatever sufferings and hardships
you go through, you should not rely on anything but the
Three Jewels. Third, you should always make offerings to
the Three Jewels and the sacred objects of body, speech
and mind. Fourth, you yourself should observe the Refuge
and bring others to the Refuge of the Three Jewels as much
as possible: it is not enough that oneself alone should
abide by the Refuge precepts, one should also bring others
to the right direction; if somebody is going in a wrong
way you should try to lead them on the right path. Fifth,
you should make prostrations to the Buddhas of the ten
directions, to the Buddha of whichever direction in which
you are heading. This means to pay homage to the Buddhas,
morning, noon and evening.
Then there are the
instructions on the particular precepts regarding the
Three Jewels. First, if we go for Refuge to the Buddha we
don't take worldly deities and gods as an ultimate Refuge.
Worldly gods are those like Brahma, Indra, Vishnu and
Shiva; tsens and gyalpo. Since they themselves are in
Samsara, how can they help you to become liberated from
it? So, as it is said in the Thirthy-Seven ways of a
Bodhisattva, one should not go to them for Refuge.
Secondly, going for Refuge to the Dharma means to give up
harming sentient beings, semchen. Semchen here includes
not just those with four legs and hairy beings but all
those who have senses or minds. One should give up killing
and robbing, and should try to tread the path of
non-violence. Thirdly, when you go for Refuge to the
Sangha you should not spend time with negative companions;
if you spend time with negative companions you will be led
into negative ways and not into positive ways.
There are three precepts to
observe with regard to paying respect to the Three Jewels.
First, regarding going for Refuge to the Buddha, you show
reverence to the Buddhas and their representatives.This
includes putting Buddha images in a place of respect and
making prostrations and offerings and so on. Second, going
for Refuge to the Dharma requires you to show reverence to
the Dharma and its representations, even to a letter or a
syllable by which the Dharma is written. Not to mention
the books and Dharma materials. Third, taking refuge in
the Sangha requires you to show respect to the sangha and
the representatives of the Sangha, even those who are
merely wearing the robes of the Sangha; even if you find a
piece of red robe on the street you should think that this
is also a representation of the Sangha and should not
treat it in a disrespectful way.
Now for the three
instructions on accordance. First, in going for Refuge to
the Buddha, let your mind be in accord with the Dharma. If
we claim to go for Refuge to the Buddha but our mind is
completely in opposition to the Dharma it is not all
right. Let your mind be infused with the Dharma, and
generate peace and humility in your mind. Secondly, in
going for Refuge to the Dharma, we should let our speech
be in accord with the Dharma. We claim to be taking Refuge
in the Dharma, and so to let our speech go totally
contrary to the Dharma is wrong. Therefore we try to give
up telling lies, slandering others, and speaking hurtful
words; we try to infuse our speech with the Dharma in our
daily life. Thirdly, in going for refuge to the Sangha we
should let our body be in accord with the Dharma. We
should try to live our life in accord with the Dharma and
give up negative actions of the body, such as sexual
misconduct and so on.
What are the benefits of
observing the Refuge precepts? We should not go for Refuge
if there were no benefits. First, by going for Refuge we
begin to practice Buddhism or Dharma. Second, we create a
favourable basis for all precepts and levels of
ordination. Third, we are protected from harm from humans
and non-human beings; all obstacles and harmful influences
are pacified. Fourth, we will not be separated from the
blessings of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha in all our
lives to come. Fifth, the effects of negative karma will
be reduced. There are so many benefits that it is
difficult to count them all.
Now we'll talk about
Bodhichitta. All of the paths, without exeption, of a
Bodhisattva, must be completed within the context of
Bodhichitta. First try to think of all those beings
experiencing great sufferings whom you yourself have seen,
like those people who are disabled or sick and have much
suffering, and then think of all the other beings who are
undergoing immeasurable sufferings. You think of this
again and again until you feel real and great compassion
for them. You feel as if, ' I personally will dispel all
their sufferings; I will do it even if I must do it
alone.' When this kind of aspiration and courage arises in
you it is the beginning of your becoming a Bodhisattva;
developing the compassion and courage form the preparation
and training of a Bodhisattva.
There are three kinds of
aspiration for a Bodhisattva. First is the king-like
aspiration. A king has power and can give orders to help
and give benefits to his subjects. This means I aspire to
become enlightened myself in order to be able to help all
other sentient beings to attain Enlightenment. Second is
the captain-like aspiration, which means you want to
become enlightened alongside all other sentient beings. A
boatman loads his boat with passengers and goes with them
across the river; the boat doesn't go alone. This kind of
wisdom is called the Sacred Wisdom aspiration. Third is
the shepherd-like aspiration, which is when I aspire, 'May
all beings become enlightened because of my positive
deeds. I will become enlightened only after every one of
them has attained enlightenment.' A shepherd will take
care of the sheep first, and only then will he go home.
This is the supreme courage and compassion. Of these three
the most noble is the third, but you can choose whichever
is more suitable for you; there is no difference.
There are three precepts of
Bodhichitta: abstaining from negative actions,
accumulating positive actions, and working for the benefit
of others. Abstaining from negative actions can be
elaborated into the eighteen root precepts, but the
essence of all of them can be condensed into not to
abandon sentient beings. To give up on any sentient being
is worse then any other negative deed, therefore one must
place emphasis on this.
The Refuge and Bodhichitta
is not just a preliminary or something to be done in the
beginning and then be left behind. We usually recite
verses on Refuge and Bodhichitta at the beginning of our
practices, but it should not be thought that it is only
for the beginning. These two should always ccompany you
throughout the path. One should maintain compassion, not
giving up on any sentient beings, and a strong commitment
to Refuge is the most important basis for the Buddhist
path. 'I myself personally will bring all sentient beings
to Enlightenment.' One should try to generate a genuine
aspiration of this kind and work on it as one would dig
for gold. That one should be genuine means one should not
be false; if you are not drunk but act like a drunk you
are not being genuine. One should genuinely generate this
aspiration. We human beings are greedy, so that if we are
digging for gold we are not thinking of anything else but
this gold; one should be simularly focused on the
generation of Bodhichitta, concentrating only on this.
If you don't have an
understanding of and emphasis on Refuge you can't even
practise Hinayana, let alone Mahayana. If you don't have
an inclination towards Bodhichitta you can't practise
Mahayana, let alone Vajrayana. It is very important to
understand this basic principal. If genuine Bodhichitta is
established in your mind you will enter the path of the
Bodhisattvas, will always meet genuine spiritual friends
in your lives to come, will receive the nectar of the
Dharma teachings, and will actualise Enlightenment, the
perfect Buddhahood, without much delay. Perfect here means
perfect in terms of the complete abandonment of all that
is to be abandoned and the full accomplishment of all that
is to be accomplished. 'Buddha' is' Sangye' in Tibetan.
'Sang' means awaken: you awaken from all the afflictions.
'Gye" means blossem: the wisdom opens like the petals
of a blossoming flower.
Now that we have laid the
foundation for the ocean of Bodhisattva activities, we
should say prayers such as the Zangpa Chopa Monlam, the
prayers composed by Nagarjuna, Two Hundred Prayers, and
Lobpon Pawo, Seven Hundred Prayers. We should say them not
just once or twice but every day, and as constantly as
possible throughout our lives for the benefit of others.
The reason why I talk about
Refuge is that we should not waste this life of ours which
is endowed with the eight freedoms and ten opportunities.
Of course there are many who are more learned then I am,
but I have tried to say a few words on this. A fool like
me doesn't know much, but if you keep it in mind I think
there will be some benefits.
To all of you who have
helped in gaining sponsorship for the Shedra, and who
spread the teachings of the Karma Kagyu troughout many
countries, I would like to express my thanks and
appreciation. I wish and I pray that I will be able to
visit the Western countries in the near future, and that
the Buddhadharma will spread all over the world.
May all of you have good
health and may there be happiness and well being in this
life and in other lives to come. I wish and dedicate that
all the positive deeds I have done in all the three times
will ripen for the benefit of all my mother sentient
beings and especially you all. I request you all to engage
in non-violence and to abandon all harmful deeds towards
any beings. I pray that there will be timely seasons, good
harvests and the greatest prosperity and happiness for all
the beings on this earth.
Due to my young age I am
not able to serve the monasteries and the Buddhadharma
very well at present, but I will ensure that I do not
become a disgrace to my lineage in my contributions to the
Dharma and the lineage.
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