ATISHAS LAMP FOR THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Geshe Sonam Rinchen, Sonam Richen Geshe, Ruth Sonam | 118 pages | 20 Oct 1997 | Shambhala Publications Inc | 9781559390828 | English | Ithaca, United States Read Download Atishas Lamp For The Path To Enlightenment PDF – PDF Download Atisha's most celebrated text, entitled Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment , was written for the Tibetan people at the request of Jangchub Wo. It sets forth the entire Buddhist path within the framework of three levels of motivation on the part of the practitioner, represented by the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana paths. Atisha's text thus became the source of the lamrim tradition, or graduated stages of the path to enlightenment, an approach to spiritual practice incorporated within all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Geshe Sonam Rinchen's lucid and engaging commentary draws out Atisha's meaning for today's practitioners with warmth and wit, bringing the light of this age-old wisdom into the modern world. Here is an excerpt:. In the state of enlightenment our wisdom truth body is the fulfillment of our own highest aims, while our form bodies are for the well-being of others. In order to attain enlightenment we must complete the stores of merit and insight, and the best way to do this is by working for others. This is done most effectively with the help of extra-sensory perception, which depends upon the development of a calmly abiding mind. The text now explains the reasons for developing such higher perception and how to do so. Just as hens can't fly because their wings are not sufficiently developed for flight, our work for others is hampered without the different forms of higher perception. Enormous merit can be created in. If we are sincere in our wish to gain enlightenment swiftly for the sake of all beings, which is what we promise to do when we take the Bodhisattva vow, we must develop these different types of higher perception as the surest way of completing the great stores of merit and insight. We will only gain them if we know how and set about creating the necessary causes and conditions. If we are lazy about doing this our wish to develop them is futile. How is it done? By practicing placement meditation and developing meditative stabilization in which bliss, the outcome of total mental and physical pliancy, is experienced. This is calm abiding. Maitreya's Ornament for the Mahayana Sutras describes the nine stages of increasing mental stability and clarity which lead to this state. His Differentiation of the Middle Way and the Extremes describes the five faults and how to overcome them through the application of eight counteractions. When trying to develop a calmly abiding mind, continuous practice with the same focal object is essential. If we are trying to make fire by rubbing two sticks together, we can't break off and begin again after some time. After that, generate love for other sentient beings by thinking of the sufferings of death, old age, sickness and rebirth as well as the three sufferings and the general suffering of samsara. In that way, generate bodhicitta. It is necessary to generate the aspiration to attain enlightenment, and the benefits of doing so have been explained in the sutra called Array of Trunks. Atisha also quotes three verses from another sutra, the Sutra Requested by Viradatta , to further explain the benefits of bodhicitta. There are two types of bodhicitta, relative and absolute. The teachings explain that in order to practice engaged bodhicitta, we should take the bodhisattva ordination, but in order to do so we should hold one of the seven levels of pratimoksha ordination, such as gelong , gelongma , getsul , getsulma and so forth. The bodhicitta of aspiration can be generated without dependence upon a lama, but engaged bodhicitta depends on a lama. To find a lama from whom we can take the bodhisattva vow, we have to know the qualifications of such a lama. First, the lama should know all about the ordination and how to bestow it. Furthermore, he should himself be living in the bodhisattva ordination and have compassion for the disciple. Atisha then goes on to explain what, in that case, we should do. This is what we can do. Visualize the merit field and all the buddhas and, in their presence, generate bodhicitta, the intention to attain enlightenment. I will not get angry or harbor avarice, covetousness, jealousy and so forth. I will not harm other sentient beings in any way. I will live in pure discipline by avoiding all negative actions, even worldly desires and sense objects of attachment, such as attractive sounds and beautiful forms and so forth. I shall give up such things. As all the buddhas have followed pure moral conduct, so shall I. Even though it takes an endless amount of time to work for even one sentient being, I shall remain in samsara. I shall make pure the impure realms of sentient beings, places where there are thorns, rocks and ugly mountains. I shall also purify my three doors of body, speech and mind and keep them pure. From now on, I will create no more negative actions. The best way to keep our three doors pure is to generate aspirational bodhicitta, engage in the practice of bodhicitta and follow the path to enlightenment. This depends on observing the three levels of moral conduct—the pratimoksha, bodhisattva and tantric vows. If we do this properly, we can complete the two collections of merit and transcendent wisdom. One thing that really helps us complete these two collections is the ability to foresee the future; therefore, we should try to acquire clairvoyance. Without it, we are like a baby bird whose wings are undeveloped and has not yet grown feathers and remains stuck in its nest, unable to fly. Without clairvoyance, we cannot work for other sentient beings. The person who has achieved the psychic power to foresee the future can create more merit in a day than a person without this ability can create in a hundred years. Therefore, to complete the collections of merit and transcendent wisdom quickly, it is necessary to acquire the psychic power to see past, present and future. In order to do this, it is necessary to achieve single-pointed concentration [Skt: samadhi ; Tib: ting-nge-dzin ]. For this, we must understand the details of the method of attaining samadhi, such as the nine stages, the six powers and the four mental engagements. In order to practice samadhi meditation properly, we must ensure that the conditions are perfect. Therefore, we should find a perfect environment, remain quiet and avoid having to do work such as healing the ill and making astrological predictions—any activity that keeps us busy. The way to meditate to attain single-pointed concentration is to focus our mind on a virtuous object, such as an image of the Buddha. We visualize such an image in front of us and simply concentrate on that. But that is not the point. Next we have to practice penetrative insight [Skt: vipashyana ; Tib: lhag-tong ]. Without it, our samadhi cannot remove our delusions. Doing so also depends upon achieving method, such as compassion and so forth. This can lead us to fall into individual liberation, or lower nirvana. Similarly, practicing only method and not wisdom is also a mistake and causes us to remain in samsara. The Buddha taught that of the six perfections, the last of the six is the path of wisdom and the first five—charity, morality, patience, effort and concentration—are the path of method, or skillful means [Skt: upaya ; Tib: thab ]. First, we should meditate on method, then on wisdom, then on both together. By practicing both together, we can receive enlightenment; by practicing the wisdom of selflessness alone, we cannot. Realizing the five aggregates [Skt: skandhas ], the twelve sources and the eighteen constituents as empty of self-existence is recognized as higher wisdom. There is existence and non-existence: there is no such thing as the production of the existent, nor is there such a thing as production of the non- existent. There is no such thing as production of both the existent and the non-existent, nor is there production of neither the existent nor the non- existent. That is one form of logic negating the production of both the existent and the non-existent. There is also another form of logic negating production of a thing from self, other, both or neither—the four extremes. The main thing to discover here is non-self-existence. With the mind, we can switch our life to suffering or we can switch it to happiness, just as we change television channels, choosing to watch programs about fighting and war, or peaceful things, like the nature programs people seem to enjoy. Experiencing happiness or suffering depends entirely on what we do with our mind. Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive's editor Gordon McDougall was present throughout these teachings and has now has skillfully edited them into written form that retains the flavor of a great master giving precise instructions to the students sitting before him. Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains how to take care of our minds so that our happiness is in our own hands, gives profound teachings on the Buddhist philosophy of emptiness, discusses the need for ethics and a solid refuge, shows us how to cut the root of samsara, explores why practicing certain tantras is important and especially emphasizes how the guru is the most powerful object of our Dharma practice.