LAM RIM TEACHINGS VOLUME I FOUNDATIONS OF THE PATH thoroughly revised edition Gehlek Rimpoche teachings 1987 - 1991 Jewel Heart Transcripts 2005 Jewel Heart First edition 1993; revised 2005 © Ngawang Gehlek All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This is the transcription of the Lam Rim teachings given in the United States from 1987 up to 1991 by Ngawang Gehlek Rimpoche, the spiritual leader of the Jewel-Heart Centers in the United States, the Nether- lands, Malaysia and Singapore. It were the first two rounds of Lamrim Teachings given on a weekly basis, starting above the garage in Rimpoche’s first house in Ann Arbor, USA. Twice a guest teacher took part in the project: Dagyab Rimpoche taught on the bodhimind and Geshe Yeshi Thabkye on wisdom. We are very grateful to Rimpoche for being so kind not only to teach all this but to also allow the teachings to be put on tape and be transcribed. We are also grateful for the continuous recording of the teachings and the provision of the necessary material. This second edition is thoroughly revised: The teachings have been more edited: previously spread-out information has been put together, the lan- guage has been grammatically adjusted; clarifications are put between [ ]. Questions and answers during the teachings as well as some discussions have been put in a separate chapter. The notes and glosses are updated and extended. The list of literature has been updated. The index has been refined. The outlines have been revised, by which the Lamrim structure has become more clear. Illustrations are added. Encouraged by the late Allen Ginsberg the illustrations are drawn from the Ti- betan Buddhist tradition as well as from the Western cultural and spiritual heritage. As a result the accessibility of Rimpoche’s teachings has improved. Having the option that this work of Rimpoche belongs to the basic material for learning, thinking and meditating, not only on a personal basis but also in study and meditation groups, we have inserted what- ever ‘tools’ may be of use for Lamrim-students. Therefore, additional literature is to be found at each sub- ject. Root texts that are often referred to or are basic material, are to be found in the Appendices. Verses of the Lamrim Dudon have been used as a brief introduction to a topic. A glossary is provided. The list of lit- erature contains, amongst other things, all translations we could find of the well-known Tibetan/Sanskrit works in relation to the Lamrim. Furthermore, English literature (and in The Netherlands also a list of Dutch literature) is added. The index (in each volume) carries entrances of ‘examples’, ‘stories’, ‘quota- tions’, ‘charts’, and ‘root texts’. The language check was done by Inge Eijkhout. The illustrations of Buddha, Atisha, Tsongkhapa and Manjushri are drawn by Marian van der Horst. The lay-out has been taken care of by Piet Soeters. Any mistakes are to be blamed to the transcriber, who enjoyed very, very much transcribing this rewarding work. If you find any mistakes, please e-mail to: [email protected] Nijmegen, August 2005. Marianne Soeters CONTENTS THE PRELIMINARY TEACHINGS AND ACTIVITIES I Introduction into Lam Rim 5 II The qualities of the Source; the Lineage of the Teachings 25 III The Qualities of the Teachings 37 IV How to Listen to and How to Teach the Dharma 61 V Preparing for Meditation: The Six Preliminaries 65 THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE PATH VI Guru Devotion: Whole-Hearted Commitment to a Spiritual Guide 81 VII Lamrim Meditation 103 APPENDICES The Practice of the Ganden Lha Gyema 113 Questions and Answers 137 Outlines 141 Charts 144 - Chart 1: Historical Overview - Chart 2: Basis, Path and Result Root texts 147 - A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment – by Atisha Kyabje Ling Rinpoche 155 Jewel Heart 157 GLOSSARY 159 INDEX 177 Buddha Sakyamuni I INTRODUCTION INTO LAM RIM Do kindly generate a pure thought, the thought of the bodhimind For the benefit of all the sentient beings, I would like to obtain the stage of a buddha, within the time of a short life like this. For that I would like to learn, listen, and practice. Generate such a bodhimind so that every moment, whatever we do, becomes a good practice. In such a way do kindly go through and study this. Lamrim is: how we give a mental training to our mind and uplift our spiritual standard from the ordi- nary everyday level to the extra-ordinary level of enlightenment. Lam is path, Rim is stage, so Lamrim means: stages of the path. Many of you have heard of the Three Principles of the Path and also of the Foundation of All Perfections.1 These are shorter versions of the Lamrim. However, if you have had teach- ings on those two or either one of them you will not be able to say that you had a full Lamrim training. Ways of training. The Lamrim has three or four different ways of training.2 The best way is: the student is given a teaching on one outline and he/she has to meditate on that completely until a realization of that point is obtained. Only then does the student move on to the next step or outline. That is called experien- tial teaching.3 You let the individual student experience the subject and realize the point; after that you move to the next point. If it is not realized the same point is held onto and you don’t give the next teach- ings at all. That is considered the best teaching, because when the teaching ends, the spiritual standard of the individual will be equal to where the teaching level has got to. That is not going to be possible for us, because it requires complete individual attention. Then the second category: the teachings will be given and the individual person is required to medi- tate on the subject four times a day. The explanation will also be given four times. The teacher will keep on repeating and the individual is expected to meditate by himself on the subject four times. If you can do that, it is very good.4 Traditionally in Tibet, when both teacher and students had time, Lamrim teachings used to be set up for two or three months. Every day the teachings would start at twelve in the afternoon and end at eight or nine in the evening and that would continue for two or three months. The people would meditate on the received teachings in the morning. The teachings were given in four rounds: they would be repeated three times during that day and the next day a shorted version would be given.5 Here it is not going to be like that. Today we are starting and we are not touching a Lamrim subject at all. We will be at the preliminary level. On the essential teachings I suggest you meditate twice a day, spend some time on it early in the morning and before you go to sleep in the evening. If you can do it four times a day, great! But if you can’t do that, do it twice a day. Whatever teaching has been given, you over- view it twice a day until the next teaching comes. During the next teaching you pick up the new subject as well. Then you concentrate on that and on what you went through before. What you have focused on be- 1 Root texts to be found in volume II. 2 See Pabongka Rinpoche, Liberation in Our Hands, vol. I, p. 25 or Pabongka Rinpoche, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, p. 41. 3 For the four ways of teaching, see note 38 on page 23. 4 This method was used several times by Gehlek Rimpoche in Vajrayana retreats. 5 First round: extensive teachings; second round: brief repetition and filling in some new details; third round: essence only, often presented in a verse; fourth round: short outline overview the next morning. Rimpoche still gives the Vajrayana teachings that way. 6 Lam Rim Teachings fore, will go shorter. You will notice that day by day it will take less and less time. Then again when the next teachings come, you can start focusing more on that subject and you focus less on what we have done earlier. If you do it that way, it will be helpful. By concentrating strongly on the new points twice every day and concentrating shorter on the points you went through before – continuously while these Lamrim teachings are going on – you will probably gain quite a good ground. The whole idea of it is to try to change the individual’s way of thinking, our way of looking, and our way of relating to our normal life. In other words, we will try to influence the individual so that our habit- ual patterns will change and we will pick up positive patterns as our habit. That way every effort, every work we are doing, will become positive, creating good karma and avoiding bad karma, and building a solid foundation within the individual. Up to now we have given you enough opportunity to come in and go out and touch on subjects here and there. We have done so for six months and six months is enough to make up one’s mind. Unless you do this constantly, it is not going to have much effect on you. So, for the people who are here, if you like it I will expect you to come here continuously from now on.6 Normal Lamrim teachings are started with a very long preliminary prayer.7 In one way the prelimi- nary prayers don’t seem to have so much of a point, but in another way it has a lot of important points.