Dharma Teachings

101 102 TABLE OF CONTENTS Translator's Note Introduction Part I The Four Contemplations The Precious Human Existence Death and Impermanence The Shortcomings of Samsara Karma: Action and Result The Sources of Refuge Buddha The Three Jewels and The Three Roots The Practice of Dharma Going For Refuge Stages of Practice Part II The Three Jewels The Lesser Vehicle The Greater Vehicle The Six Perfections The Attainment of Buddhahood Footnotes The Prince and The Stallion 103 104 TRANSLATOR'S NOTE In the fall of 1974, Kalu Rinpoche arrived in Toronto to begin his second tour of Canada and the U.S.A. He visited Buddhist centres from New York to Hawaii and from Montreal to Vancouver and taught the Buddha's Dharma to many hundreds of people. Ingrid and I had the great honor of interpreting for Kalu Rinpoche during the seven months he spent on the continent. At one point, Rinpoche gave me a short text he had written on the practice of the greater vehicle (mahayana), and asked me to translate it into English. My first attempt at written translation had been a book Rinpoche had written for westerners several years before. It seemed to me that "Foundations of Buddhist Meditation" could benefit greatly from revision. Consequently, Part I of "Writings of Kalu Rinpoche" is an extensive revision of "Foundations" and Part II is a translation of the text Rinpoche gave me last year. In addition, I have added several footnotes to explain Rinpoche's references to standard material that is not yet readily accessible in English. Finally, I have taken the liberty to include a short story which Rinpoche often tells to illustrate "a magic show". This book could never have appeared in its present form without the help of many people. In particular,1 my thanks to Lobsang Lhalungpa and Tom Quinn for their help in correcting and revising the translation, to Chuchi Nyima and Sonam Rinchen for typing the manuscript, and to Petra Youngberg and Jaroslav Cikanek for preparing the book for publication. Ken McLeod Vancouver, 1976 105 Kalu Rinpoche 106 INTRODUCTION The four contemplations which motivate religious practice and the qualities of the Three Jewels are explained in this book. If you completely understand the significance of all these things, you will turn away from samsaric existence and strive to procure freedom, will believe in action and result (karma), and will either obtain buddhahood in this life or begin to approach freedom from samsara. In any event, the cultivation of the practice of virtue constitutes the basis of the supreme Dharma. Accordingly, don't merely appreciate the significance of all these ideas; practice the Dharma as well. Although I have no knowledge of English, I do have a little understanding of the true import of the Dharma. When the meaning of the Dharma is translated into written and spoken English by people who lack a knowledge of Tibetan, it is spoiled by misunderstandings, lack of understanding, and only approximate comprehension. A great many misconceptions, mistakes, distortions, and other faults emerge from such attempts: clear water has been sullied with mud. The supreme Dharma of the perfect Buddha, whose awareness and sight embrace everything and who shows sentient beings the noble path to freedom and omniscience, is virtuous from beginning to end, and, like pure and noble gold, should not be debased or tarnished. Accordingly, the translation of the words and meanings of this book has been entrusted to Kenneth McLeod of Canada, who knows both written and spoken Tibetan and has some experience and understanding of the significance of Dharma. However, since complete accuracy is of the utmost importance, Mr. Lhalungpa and other knowledgeable individuals have scrutinized this work. It is written without error and definitely reliable. May this work deliver many sentient beings from the ocean of suffering, the cycle of existence; may they attain the citadel of buddhahood. Kalu Rinpoche 107 108 PART I The Four Contemplations We are all concerned with practicing the Dharma. To begin, an appreciation of the difficulties in meeting with the opportunities and resources of the human existence will anchor your mind and lead you to engage in the Dharma. Laziness will be abandoned when you contemplate impermanence; then you will strive at Dharma practice. Your belief in cause and result will cause you to reject evil and to cultivate virtue effectively. When you comprehend the pain experienced in the cycle of existence, a definite and intense determination will make you strive only for freedom. The Precious Human Existence To possess the eight opportunities for Dharma practice means not to experience existence in any of the eight unrestful states: the hell beings, pretas, and animals, all tormented exclusively by suffering; societies and cultures which have no tradition of Dharma; the long-lived gods adrift on the currents of desire; human beings who are skeptics, believing neither in Dharma nor in the law of action and result; people born in a 'dark' age, i.e., when no buddha has appeared; or people who cannot understand the meaning of the Dharma because of retardation or defects in their speech, hearing, or sight. To possess the ten resources necessary for Dharma practice means first to have five inner resources, i.e., to obtain the experience of being human, to be born in a country where the Dharma is present, to have all five senses intact, not to be limited by the bounds of karma, and to have faith in the Three Jewels; and secondly, to have five cultural resources, i.e., the appearance of a buddha, the teaching of the Dharma, the stability of the doctrine, the presence of many who follow the doctrine, and favourable circumstances for Dharma practice through the kindness and faith of others. Together, the five inner resources and the five cultural resources comprise the ten resources for Dharma practice. The possession of these eighteen opportunities and resources constitutes the experience of the precious human existence. The difficulty of meeting with the precious human existence is illustrated in three ways: through causal considerations, numerical considerations, and examples. The karmic cause of the precious human existence is the observance of a completely pure ethical system. Individuals who do so are very rare. Secondly, while hell beings are as numerous as the atoms of the earth, pretas as the sands of the Ganges, animals as snowflakes, and those in the three higher realms2as the stars at night, those who have a precious human existence with the above opportunities and blessings are as rare as daytime stars. Finally, consider the following example. It is said that if all the 109 world were water and a wooden yoke were thrown thereupon to be blown about by the winds, a blind turtle surfacing once every hundred years would put its neck into that yoke more easily than you would obtain a precious human existence. Now that you have in fact obtained a precious human existence, for you not to set out on the path to freedom and so, when completely free of the suffering of the cycle of existence, to obtain the permanent peace of buddhahood, would be be more wasteful than, for example, for a poor man who finds a house filled with precious jewels not to do anything meaningful with them, but just to fritter them away. Consequently, resolve to disengage from all ordinary activity, a lot of business having little significance. Don't deceive yourself by pretending that you understand the Dharma or that you can meditate. Obtain the elixir of the Dharma from a qualified teacher or spiritual advisor. When you understand thoroughly the significance of the holy Dharma, never let go of your resolution to complete its practice by gathering the accumulations, clearing away limitations, and applying appropriately the techniques of transformation and perfection.3 Death and Impermanence Secondly, when impermanerice is contemplated, your neurotic concern with life diminishes and you are. able to cultivate virtue. What is impermanence?- The end of any acquisition of wealth or luxury is its dispersion; the end of any construction is ruin; the end of any meeting is separation; and the end of birth is death. Everything is impermanent. Moreover, this universe which seems solid and firm is impermanent; it will be destroyed in stages by fire, water, and wind. The four seasons also reveal impermanence. The power in the coming of spring causes the soil to become soft and reddish-brown in color; trees and plants bring forth shoots and buds. But spring doesn't last, for with the coming of summer the soil becomes moist and blue-green in color; grass, trees, and plants develop leaves and petals. With the coming of autumn the soil becomes firm and reddish-yellow in color; grass, trees and plants ripen with grain and fruit. And with the coming of winter the soil becomes hard and grey; grass, trees, and plants become dry and brittle. The seasons' changes come and go. The rising and setting of the sun and moon also reveal impermanence. Days are bright and clear, and nights are black and dark. Time, too, ever passes. The passing moments grow into minutes and hours. This impermanent world is like a waterfall; a repetition of similar events gives the impression of continuity. All sentient beings, the inhabitants of the universe, are subject to impermanence. All who have come before us have died, all that are living now will die, and all who come will but die. You yourself draw closer to death each year, each month, each day, hour and minute. Though you be brave and courageous, you cannot turn death away; though strong and fleet of foot, you cannot escape through flight; though clever and eloquent, your erudite discourses can do naught.

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