How Should We Study and Contemplate Renunciation and Bodhicitta (Part Two)?
Only when we truly believe in rebirth will we develop the wish to escape saṃsāra, thereby giving rise to genuine renunciation.If our desire to transcend saṃsāra becomes strong, and the scriptures teach that bodhicitta is indispensable for liberation from saṃsāra, then we will naturally develop a powerful aspiration to generate bodhicitta and become a bodhisattva.
Bodhicitta in the Three Principal Aspects of the Path
Why does bodhicitta have such power? Because it not only accumulates merit and purifies obscurations, but also directly counteracts self-grasping, reducing it substantially. What is self-grasping? For example, suppose a cup of water is placed here , and both of us are thirsty. Without bodhicitta, my first thought would be, “I should drink it first.” That is self-grasping.
The Correct View of Emptiness in the Three Principal Aspects of the Path
If lay practitioners continually orient their efforts around the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, awakening may become possible within the span of a single lifetime. In other words, once renunciation and bodhicitta have arisen, and one repeatedly engages in study, contemplation, and practice concerning the correct view of emptiness, there is a genuine possibility of attaining awakening in this very life.
How Should We Study and Contemplate Renunciation and Bodhicitta (Part One)?
The purpose of discussing The Relationship Between Buddhist Theory and Practice is precisely to bring our conceptual understanding into alignment with the actual behavior of our minds. If the two are not aligned, a split arises between what we know and how we actually behave. Therefore, we must diligently study and contemplate the texts just mentioned, allowing genuine renunciation and authentic bodhicitta to arise within our minds.
The Reasons Why Genuine Renunciation Fails to Arise (Part one)
There are several levels from which we can examine why genuine renunciation (nekkhamma) fails to arise. The most obvious and superficial reason is that our perception of suffering is insufficient—that is, the suffering doesn’t feel intense enough.
Renunciation in the Three Principal Aspects of the Path
What is renunciation? It is a state of mind that combines two aspirations: first, a strong longing to break free from samsara, and second, a sincere desire to attain liberation. Put simply, it is the resolve: “I must practice! I must attain liberation!” Practice and liberation become the absolute priorities in one’s life, while all other concerns take a secondary place. This is what it means to arouse genuine renunciation.
The Path of Practice Before One's Spiritual Faculties Mature
Therefore, in order for our spiritual faculties to mature sufficiently to receive the pith instructions of Dzogchen or the direct pointing to mind-nature in Chan Buddhism, we must engage in study, contemplation, and practice.
Why does the purpose of our Buddhist practice become blurred?
Although we may have been studying Buddhism for a long time, the purpose of our practice often remains vague. Why does this happen? Because we only have a conceptual renunciation, not a genuine one.
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng Directly Pointed Out Mind-Nature to Huiming.
“Without thinking of good, without thinking of evil—that is Venerable Huiming’s original face.” This is actually a direct pointing to mind-nature. Not thinking of good or evil means returning to the ālayavijñāna. When you examine what the ālayavijñāna really is, you will discover that it has no substantial essence whatsoever.
Buddhist Practice Is Not a Path to a Buddhahood Certificate
Buddhist practice is not about completing tasks imposed upon you by others, but about genuinely changing your own heart
What Are the Signs of Mature Spiritual Capacity?
What does it mean to have a ripe spiritual capacity? It means that a person has already engaged in spiritual practice in earlier stages of life, or even in previous lifetimes.
Without Discriminative Thought, How Does a Buddha Benefit Sentient Beings?
When we pray to the Buddha, what we are actually doing is praying to the intrinsic nature of our own mind. How does he bless you? You yourself are already a Buddha! Then why don’t you feel that you are a Buddha? Why are there so many sufferings? In truth, it is because, on this basis, you have given rise to ignorant discrimination—establishing an ego, and establishing grasping at phenomena.
How Does One Experience the Ālayavijñāna?
As mentioned earlier, through meditation we can directly and clearly experience the Ālayavijñāna. Once this experience arises, one discovers that all phenomena emerge from it, and that all phenomena can also withdraw back into it during samādhi.
The Difference Between the Second and Third Turnings of the Dharma Wheel
Our true nature is the same in this respect. Of course, we cannot say that true nature either is or is not a “thing,” because it lies beyond dualistic judgments such as existence and nonexistence. Yet there are two characteristics that ordinary people may speak of. First is emptiness (śūnyatā): its essence cannot be found. Second is luminosity: it possesses the pure capacity, as seen in the pure perception of Buddha and Bodhisattvas.
The Schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Their Theoretical Foundations (Part Two)
In addition to Madhyamaka, the foundational theories employed in Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism also include the Tathāgatagarbha teachings of the Third Turning of the Dharma Wheel, as well as Yogācāra (Consciousness-Only).
What is the practice of winds, channels and essences?
According to Vajrayāna teachings, once the winds are drawn into the Emanation Wheel, sensations of the physical body begin to dissolve, and the appearances of the external world likewise fade away. Thereafter, through the guru’s pith instructions, one proceeds to recognize the true nature of all phenomena.
The Buddha’s Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma
The teachings preserved from the Buddha’s three turnings of the Dharma Wheel became the most fundamental and original theories of Buddhism. Yet these truths were not invented by Śākyamuni Buddha. They were already so in their nature; the Buddha discovered them and proclaimed them, thereby establishing the earliest Buddhist doctrine.
What is the Ālayavijñāna?
What kind of state is the ālayavijñāna? It is a condition in which the six sense faculties have completely quieted down. The eyes no longer truly see—even when open, forms are seen yet not perceived. The ears no longer truly hear—sounds may arise, yet one does not register them. Bodily sensations begin to fade. The tastes and smells perceived by the tongue and nose completely disappear. Even conceptual thinking within consciousness ceases.
Are You Accumulating Merit the Wrong Way Too?
If you do not accumulate merit, there is simply no way to carry out genuine practice. Your mind unconsciously keeps reinforcing this sense of “I” as an individual, and may even use so-called “merit” to armor and protect it. Practicing in this way, you will never experience the Dharma-nature of selflessness (dharmatā), and liberation will remain forever out of reach.
Methods for Not Being Attached to Pleasant Feeling (Part Two)
Another method is to reflect in advance and remind yourself that this pleasant feeling will not last, and that if it changes, you will face it calmly. Repeating this to yourself again and again is what we often call “preparing yourself mentally in advance.”