THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF THE PATH Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche Tuesday night teachings 1987 – 1988 Jewel Heart Transcript ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This is the transcription of a series of Tuesdaynight talks, given in the United States in 1987-1988 by Gelek Rinpoche, the spiritual leader of Jewel-Heart. The course is based on a text of Je Tsongkhapa, The Three Principle Aspects of the Path to Highest Enlightenment. We used the text-translation of Robert Thurman, to be found in his book Life and teachings of Tsongkhapa, pg. 57-58, the text used at that time. The transcript is lightly edited. In transcribing I took the liberty of adding a few words where thought necessary and Gelek Rimpoche moderately adjusting the sentences; only just enough for the text to be well understood without Rinpoche's intona- tion and way of talking. Questions and answers on the talks are only transcribed as far as understood and thought relevant and for the sake of easy study put in the Appen- dices. The drawing on the cover we received from Alfred Woll. These teachings have proved to be very, very useful for the first step - the introductory year- of the Jewel Heart Training Programm. After this one moves into the Odyssey to Freedom and from there into the big Lam Rim Teachings. For the sake of the students as well as the facilitators, headings and divisions in the text, suggestions for home- practice, suggestions for reading, notes, glossary and index were added. This third edition has been revised on three points; 1. The English is revised by Anne Warren, USA. 2. The total text has been adapted to the purpose these teachings: an introduction into Buddhism, as the first step of the Jewel Heart Training Programm. Pieces of text less suitable to this purpose and more suitable elsewhere have been transferred to their proper places. E.g. a teaching piece on dharma, which is very concise and difficult, has been moved to the Lam Rim Teachings. Pieces on refuge, on concentration and on emptiness haven been transferred to the Odyssey to Freedom. A small piece of the Lamrim teachings in Malaysia, Muar may-june 1992, have been inserted. Within this Three Principles teachings some pieces have been shifted around in order to make it easier for group discussion. 3. The suggestions for reading at each chapter have been updated. They are meant to be a help to the students as well as to the facilitators. Any mistakes are to be blamed to the transcriber, who enjoyed very much transcribing those beautiful inspiring western-oriented talks. Nijmegen, 3rd, revised edition August 2001 Marianne Soeters © 1994 Gelek Rinpoche / Jewel Heart Contents Part I 1 My Need for Spiritual Development 1 Spirituality and Watching the Mind 13 What are Our Real Problems 25 Part II 37 Preliminary Remarks on the Root Text 37 Introductory Stanzas 53 The Need for Determination to Be Free 67 Embracing Life 81 Facing Death Realistically 97 Seeking Refuge 115 Renunciation 125 Karma: Actions and Their Results 153 Suffering in Samsara 165 Our Distored View 175 Building the Determination to be Free 187 The Four Noble Truths 199 Delusions and the Circle of Existence 215 Why Develop the Altruistic Attitude 225 The Perfect View 305 Outlines of the Root Text 330 The Practice of Ganden Lhagyema 333 Overviewing Meditation 353 Questions and Answers 365 Glossary 405 Literature 421 Index 427 THE ROOT TEXT THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF THE PATH by Je Tsongkhapa (Lozang Dragpa) (1357-1419) Homage to the Great Masters 1 Heart of the Buddha’s teachings, path praised by Bodhisattvas, gateway to liberation, this I will explain as best I can. 2 Not addicted to samsara’s delights, fulfilling the mission of precious life pursuing the fully reliable path, listen with a clear mind, you fortunate one. 3 Lacking the determination to be free, you remain stupefied by samsara’s delights. Since obsession ropes all beings to samsara, first free yourself from it. 4 Wonderful is this life, short its nature. Don’t cheat yourself with fleeting pleasure. Deeply contemplate the certainty of karma and the constant suffering of samsara. See beyond the cycle of lives 5 No longer craving fantasy, a steadfast desire for liberation. Attaining these two is the first breakthrough 6 Seeking freedom for yourself alone can never bring the exaltation of peerless Buddhahood. Therefore the wise develop bodhimind. 7 Swept away by four raging rivers, tightly bound by karmic chains, so hard to escape, trapped in the iron cage of self grasping, shrouded by pitch-black ignorance, 8 born again and again in endless cycles of life, constantly tortured by the three sufferings, all our mothers are in this plight. Please generate ultimate compassion and love. 9 Without opening the wisdom eye seeking freedom and generating bodhimind cannot cut the root of samsara. Strive to see interdependance 10 Whoever sees that cause and effect can never fail in samsara or beyond and destroys all objectivity has entered the path that Buddha enjoys. 11 Interdependent appearance—infallible. Emptiness—inexpressible reality. As long as these two seem separate Buddha’s insight in not understood. 12 Perceived simultaneously without alternation, seeing infallible interdependence destroys objective identity. With this, the analysis of wisdom is complete. 13 Further, appearance eliminates the extreme of existence. Emptiness eliminates non-existence. Emptiness itself is cause and effect. Understanding this protects from these extremes 14 Once you understand the essence of the three principles, maintain solitude and great enthusiasm my child, and quickly achieve the ultimate mission of life. Reverence to the Holy Gurus! Translation: Gelek Rimpoche PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. MY NEED FOR SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT Welcome to this series of talks. This is a meditation op- portunity provided by Jewel Heart, open to friends who are interested in spiritual development. Why we base spiritual practice on a tradition As you all know, today many different people offer a number of spiritual paths in various different ways. What you are going to read here is based on the Buddhist tradi- tion as it developed first in India, then in Tibet and is now developing in the West. However, it will not necessarily be presented here in a strictly traditional way. I would like to focus on people’s needs and teach accordingly. Still, what is taught here is based on traditional Buddhism as it developed via Tibet. The reason we need to base our practice on a tradition is that we want development; we want benefits. Develop- ments and benefits are sure to come if we follow a path that has been taught by somebody who has him- or herself developed spiritually and obtained the awakened state by following certain principles and practices. Not just one, but 1 THE THREE PRINCIPLES a number of people, one after another, have done so by following this path. So, it is safer for us to follow this path, because it has been proven by experience. If we don’t have this sort of base, we won’t know what we are doing. Actually, in the West, the spiritual path has developed quite well now; it is developing everywhere. However, most people do not know what they are doing. They just do it for the sake of doing it, they sit for the sake of sit- ting, they aim for the sake of aiming. Really, they don’t know exactly what they are doing, where they are going, or what they are working for. That is what I observe; you find different things here and there, but, in general, peo- ple do not know exactly what they are doing. Take those who emphasize sitting meditation. They sit because they are told to sit, but I do not know whether they really know where they are going, what their goal is, how they would like to pursue the goal and all this. I do not know. People have short-range goals sometimes, “Well, I’d like to have a little harmony and a little pleasure and so I’ll sit down and meditate.” I am not saying that is bad, do not misunderstand, but I don’t think it is a very good way of pursuing a spiritual path. My need for a spiritual path and practice Why do people need a spiritual path? I suggest you first ask yourself the question: “Why do I need a spiritual path?” I am sure many of you have thought about that and many may not have thought about it. My feeling is that the very first step is to find out why you need a spiritual path. You may have different answers. Some will say, “I do need a spiritual path, because...”- I don’t know what pur- pose you have. Some will say, “Yes, I have a problem, I have pains, problems and misery and I would like to get rid of that.” Some people don’t even think about having a problem, some people think, “I need a spiritual path, be- cause I know that is the right thing to do and the other things are the wrong things to do.” I am not sure how 2 Gelek Rimpoche much you know it is the right thing to do. You have to question yourself about these sorts of things. The first and foremost step is this: you need to know, you have to make clear to yourself why you do need a spiritual practice, why you do need a spiritual path. I think that this is very important. Then you will begin to know what you are doing it for. Otherwise, you may do it like a lot of people, just for fancy’s sake, out of curiosity, for whatever reason, or for some funny reason half known and half not-known and then tell yourself it is something you need.