Transforming Suffering and Happiness into Enlightenment Root Text Composed by Dodrupchen Jigme Tenpe Nyima ∗ Commented by Khenpo Sodargye 2020 ∗ The root text was translated by Adam Pearcey from Lotsawa House in 2006. The commentary was taught by Khenpo Sodargye in Chinese in June 2020 and the translation into English was completed by his students in December 2020. We should know that the mind is a big subject that deserves everyone’s study. The mind is full of mystery on both the phenomenal level and on the ultimate level. – Khenpo Sodargye Contents Contents iv Lecture One1 1 Understand the Secret of the Mind3 The Title of the Text.......................3 The Author of the Text.....................8 The Author’s Homage......................9 The Author’s Intent in Composing the Text.......... 11 The Secret of the Mind..................... 14 Lecture Two 29 2 Embrace Uncertainty and Randomness 31 The Secret of the Mind..................... 31 The Strength of Thinking Pattern................ 37 All Appearances Arising as Enemies............. 42 Suffering Is Not Necessarily an Obstruction.......... 49 Two Steps............................. 51 Lecture Three 57 3 Unlatch Yourself from the Prison of Suffering 59 An Incisive Teaching for Modern People........... 59 Dropping the Attitude of Being Entirely Unwilling to Suffer 64 Two Positive Thoughts to Accept Suffering.......... 74 Make Your Practice Efficient.................. 82 Lecture Four 85 4 See Suffering as an Ally and Be Joyful 87 Be Confident in Your Practice and Exert Great Efforts.... 87 Cultivating the Attitude of Being Joyful When Suffering Arises 90 Seven Approaches for Transforming Suffering Joyfully... 97 Lecture Five 108 5 Choose a Practice and Familiarize with It 110 Suffering and Antidote..................... 110 Practice Is the Basis for Transforming Suffering........ 112 Seven Approaches for Transforming Suffering Joyfully... 114 Do Not Be Caught Unprepared by Suffering......... 129 Lecture Six 136 6 Suffering Is a Gift 138 Practice to Transform...................... 138 Develop a Sense of Joy for the Transformation........ 141 Reinforce the Attitude of Dropping and Cultivating..... 152 Pray to the Lama and the Three Jewels............ 159 Lecture Seven 162 7 Always Stay Confident and Cheerful 164 Learn and Practice the Dharma................. 164 Embrace Suffering........................ 169 Always Stay Confident, Cheerful and Happy......... 172 Distance Yourself from Ordinary Social Activities...... 175 Start Your Practice in Solitude................. 179 The Summary of Transforming Suffering........... 184 Lecture Eight 193 8 Seek Happiness from Within 195 Happiness Is Determined by the Mind............ 195 The Benefits of Transforming Suffering............ 197 The Wise Seek Happiness from Within............ 210 The Essence of a Hundred Instructions............ 221 Transforming Suffering Through Absolute Truth....... 223 Lecture Nine 229 9 Invest Your Happiness for Inexhaustible Gain 231 Cherish the Dharma Teaching................. 231 Happiness May Block Our Spiritual Path........... 238 Unite Happiness with Dharma Practice............ 244 Other Ways of Turning Happiness into the Path....... 258 Lecture Ten 262 10 Turn Yourself into a Lion-Like Practitioner 264 Auspicious Coincidences.................... 264 What This Training Brings................... 269 How the Buddha Transformed Suffering and Happiness.. 285 Afterword............................ 290 Lecture One 2 If we never come to know the innermost secrets of the mind, no matter how hard we try to seek happiness and avoid suffering, we will find our efforts to be useless, leaving us to wander in samsara continuously and to experience endless suffering. On the other hand, if we seriously study how the mind works, understand its secrets and apply this knowledge to the training of our mind, then no matter what external circumstances occur, they can bring neither harm nor benefit to us and we will remain peaceful in the face of whatever situation we may find ourselves. – Khenpo Sodargye Understand the Secret of the Mind 1 The text is made up of three parts, the wholesome beginning, which includes the initial statement, the wholesome middle of the main text, and the wholesome ending which contains the concluding statement. Within the wholesome beginning appears the title of the text, the homage to Noble Avalokiteshvara and the statement of intent. The Title of the Text Root Text Title: Transforming Suffering and Happiness into Enlightenment This title indicates the profound instruction contained within this famous text, which is directed toward the training or transforming of the mind. Suffering and happiness accompany us throughout our entire life. It is impossible for any person to avoid the experience of suffering over the course of one’s lifetime, nor is it possible for any person not to experience happiness, regardless of how fleeting that experience might be. Thus, it can be said with certainty that the alternation of happiness and suffering is a fact of human life, although some lives contain more suffering, while others are endowed with more happiness. Ordinary people pursue happiness with all of their hearts, while simultaneously trying at all costs to avoid suffering. To seek hap- 1 Understand the Secret of the Mind 4 piness and to avoid suffering is considered by almost everyone to be perfectly natural. Dharma practitioners however, make the choice to transform both suffering and happiness into the path to enlightenment. Unafraid of suffering, they do not indulge in the endless quest for temporal happiness. Instead, they see both suffering and happiness as favorable conditions with which to further their spiritual practice. • Why Transform? Some people may wonder, while the desire to transform suffering into enlightenment is understandable, why would one wish to transform happiness into anything else? Isn’t happiness what we are all longing for? Is it not something to rejoice in? Why then transform it? The fact is that both happiness and suffering need to be transformed into the path of enlightenment. But why, you may ask, is this so? Most often, when suffering strikes, ordinary people generate a great deal of negative emotion. They become sad, depressed, anxious or filled with a sense of hopelessness. They feel rejected, fragile, vulnerable etc., and may even lose the ability to continue moving forward with their normal life. In times of happiness, however, they may become arrogant and complacent, and may even begin to look down on others. From this we can see that both suffering and happiness have the potential to engender a negative mindset in the minds of ordinary people. These negative mindsets can, and must be, eliminated through the training of the mind. Happiness is not sustainable for those without great merit. As a Chinese saying states, “Great virtue promotes growth.” Only with great merit or virtue can one enjoy the acquisition of great wealth and high reputation without the accumulation of bad karma. Many 1 Understand the Secret of the Mind 5 believe that once they become rich, happiness will follow soon behind, but that is not necessarily the case. Even if one were to become exceedingly wealthy, unless one had attained considerable merit or virtue, one would only experience more and more negative emotions and suffering, until eventually, one would end up with nothing at all. Therefore, from the worldly point of view, although there is a natural desire to embrace happiness and reject suffering, this is a shallow idea that is not grounded in reality. From a spiritual point of view, unless both suffering and happiness are transformed into the path to enlightenment, they cannot help but bring harm into one’s life. For those experienced practitioners who have learned to use happiness as the path to enlightenment, when they are happy, they do not give rise to arrogance or contempt for others, nor do they create negative karma. Instead of looking down on, or feeling superior to others, they dedicate their happiness to other living beings, and thus their happiness becomes a cause to increase merit and virtue, as well as providing a favorable condition for enlightenment. Though it may seem strange, for many practitioners, suffering is easier to cope with than happiness. For example, in times of turmoil, many will devotedly engage in Dharma practices, but later, when they have gained fame, wealth, or position, their Dharma practice is quickly abandoned. In the early years at Larung Gar, Dharma friends underwent all of the hardships associated with poor living conditions but were diligent in engaging in their Dharma practice. Being strong minded, they seldom encountered obstacles to their practice. However, once they began to receive the veneration of others, received more offerings and gained higher reputations, their practice and virtues faded away. This was likely due to their lack of merit, and this is the type of story one hears of often in life. This is why we need to transform happiness into the path to 1 Understand the Secret of the Mind 6 enlightenment. Certainly, it is also necessary for practitioners to transform suffer- ing into the path to enlightenment. In samsara, almost everyone experiences more suffering than happiness. Whether you have recognized this distinction or not, living beings are fettered by three types of suffering. These can be classified as: suffering upon suffering, suffering caused by change and the all-pervasive suffer- ing of conditioning. As we have said earlier, it is impossible for anyone to avoid the experience