Why Great Emptiness Requires Mahāyāna Bodhicitta (Part two)
For someone who has genuinely aroused bodhicitta, the effectiveness of practices such as the accumulation of merit and purification of obscurations, as well as Guru Yoga, is beyond the power of words to describe. By contrast, one who has not generated Mahāyāna bodhicitta has not even entered the Mahāyāna path. How, then, could such a person possibly realize the Mahāyāna view of emptiness?
Why Great Emptiness Requires Mahāyāna Bodhicitta (Part one)
Only when one has aroused Mahāyāna bodhicitta and directly realized the emptiness of both subject and object can one truly be said to awaken to the great emptiness, in which all phenomena without exception are empty. Without generating Mahāyāna bodhicitta, it is impossible either to realize emptiness completely, or to avoid a one-sided or partial realization of emptiness.
What is the “ostrich practice” in spiritual cultivation?
How should this be practiced? It is very simple. When someone attacks or troubles you in daily life, just ignore it—like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. But this “sand” is the “sand of bodhicitta” . Let your entire body and mind be immersed in bodhicitta; then external attacks will be like wind passing over sand dunes, leaving no trace.
Three Ways of Generating Bodhicitta（Part Two）
Practitioners of the Mahāyāna, however, do not enter such a nirvāṇa. They regard remaining among sentient beings and working for their liberation as nirvāṇa itself. They liberate sentient beings, yet in reality no sentient beings are liberated.
The Reasons Why Genuine Renunciation Fails to Arise (Part Two)
When the true nature is seen, liberation is attained. But before you can see through appearances to their essence, you must relinquish the obstacles that prevent such insight. Ultimately, these obstacles are nothing other than attachment to saṃsāra.
The Reasons Why Genuine Renunciation Fails to Arise (Part three)
The consequence of lacking genuine renunciation is that, in daily life, you will be unable to relinquish many forms of greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt. Even after studying Buddhism for a long time, your purpose for doing so may remain vague. Conceptually, you say, “I want to leave saṃsāra.” But if you examine yourself to the core —you will find that this is not truly the case.
Why Is Bodhicitta the Defining Boundary Between the Mahāyāna and the Theravāda?
This is a profound question. Mipham Rinpoche once critiqued Tsongkhapa's position on precisely this issue. According to the Gelug tradition, arhats have realized the great emptiness; they enter nirvāṇa simply because they lack the vast bodhicitta of the Mahāyāna. Mipham Rinpoche, however, maintained that arhats realize only the emptiness of the self of the person, but have not realized the emptiness of phenomena.
Characteristics of Bodhicitta (Part Two)
To take Buddhahood as one's object means that bodhicitta cannot merely be a kind or compassionate intention. In generating bodhicitta, one must also orient the mind toward wisdom . Whether we seek our own Buddhahood or the Buddhahood of all sentient beings, wisdom is indispensable. This is an extremely important point.
Characteristics of Bodhicitta（part one）
Bodhicitta is the aspiration for all sentient beings to attain the greatest benefit— liberation and Buddhahood. It is the wholehearted resolve to strive toward this goal, making the vow to attain Buddhahood oneself for the sake of others. In essence, it is what we often express as: “For the benefit of all sentient beings, I vow to attain Buddhahood.”
Why Are Study and Contemplation So Important in Buddhist Practice?
Why is this so? Because through study and contemplation, you come to realize, “Ah, so this is the true nature of the world.” Once the mind truly be convinced of this, renunciation naturally arises. And to put this into practice,, one must cultivate bodhicitta; then a strong aspiration to benefit others naturally arise.
The Four Stages of Madhyamaka Practice (Part Four)
What is meant by equality ? Equality means that the essence of mind and the appearances of mind share the same nature—emptiness and luminosity. The essence of mind is emptiness and luminosity; likewise, the phenomena perceived through seeing, hearing, and all forms of experience are also emptiness and luminosity. This is called equality. It is the genuine state of Dzogchen.
The Four Stages of Madhyamaka Practice (Part Three)
Freedom from conceptual elaborations is direct cognition itself. Conceptual elaboration means one is still relying on thinking and feeling, yet thoughts and feelings are bound to disappear. When genuine understanding and awakening occur, what is realized does not disappear along with them.
The Four Stages of Madhyamaka Practice (Part Two)
Therefore, determining emptiness as dependent arising means that emptiness is not something separate from phenomena; it is precisely the nature of phenomena themselves. This is exactly what the Heart Sūtra means by “Emptiness is form.” This constitutes the second stage of Madhyamaka practice.
The Four Stages of Madhyamaka Practice (Part One)
Therefore, this method of practice consists of repeatedly alternating between contemplation and direct experience. When you can no longer continue, simply stop. Do not think about anything or try to do anything. Just sit and rest.
Methods for Not Being Attached to Pleasant Feeling (Part Three)
You may ask, “A pleasant feeling isn’t something tangible—how can it be offered to the Three Jewels? In fact, all you need to do is to make this intention in the mind. Don’t, as the song says, “secretly enjoy it all by your self.” When happiness arises—for example, when someone gives me a cup of yogurt—I should think to myself: “This yogurt is delicious; I offer the pleasant feeling that comes from enjoying it to the Three Jewels.”
Does One Need to Study the Five Great Treatises to Learn Buddhism?
So what should beginners do? We only need to understand and master the scriptures and treatises appropriate to our own situation, together with the methods for putting them into practice.
Three Common Pitfalls in Study, Contemplation, and Practice (Part One)
If our minds do not become pliable, we will never know what a pliable mind feels like. Then we will be unable to genuinely abide in that state as a bodhisattva, and we will not be able to enter the Path of Accumulation. Upon entering the Path of Accumulation, one becomes a genuine bodhisattva. The mind can then frequently abide in the state of bodhicitta and experience its taste.
Are You Still Craving Harmony and Ease in Interpersonal Relationships?
Why do we pursue harmonious interpersonal relationships? Ultimately, it is still self-grasping (ātma-grāha) at work. First, there is the fear of and aversion to loneliness; second, there is the attempt to expand one’s sense of power and security through identification with a group.
Three Common Pitfalls in Study, Contemplation, and Practice (Part Two)
What is actual practice? Useful practice is actual practice. Observing the mind and taming the mind effectively is actual practice. Otherwise, it is merely foolish practice or blind cultivation. Yet many people practice in exactly this blind way.
Three Common Pitfalls in Study, Contemplation, and Practice (Part Three)
Before awakening, however, it is essential to generate mental attitudes that accord with renunciation and bodhicitta. Producing these attitudes is what truly matters.