Resuming the Jangchub Lam Rim – the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment – Teachings

Tashi Lhunpo, Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India, 20 December 2015 – When he arrived at Tashi Lhunpo the other day and reached the deep veranda at the top of the steps His Holiness the Dalai Lama turned to his attendants and stated emphatically, “This is where we should put the throne”. Therefore, today, he walked through the temple, where Tibetans lately come from Tibet welcomed him with a poignant mix of joy and sadness, and took his seat where he could be seen by the greatest number of people. Ling Rinpoche, the prime instigator of this series of teachings, prostrated before him three times and offered the mandala and three representations of the enlightened body, speech and mind.

Many of the thousands of monks and nuns attending the Jangchub Lam Rim teaching waiting for His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India on December 20, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

“As I said the other day,” His Holiness remarked, “we don’t say these prayers just to clear our throats, but to make the occasion meaningful. So now we’ll recite the prayer for taking refuge and generating the awakening mind. When the Buddha appeared in India 2600 years ago, according to the Theravada tradition, he was compassionate and skilful. What he taught then has become an important tradition and he is regarded as a significant teacher, a teacher of non-violence. These days, people who adopt a curious, sceptical stance take interest in what the Buddha taught.

“It helps us achieve peace of mind, particularly when we face problems. Even irreligious people take an interest in the Buddha’s instructions. There are people who believe in a creator God and there are others, Samkhyas, Jains and Buddhists among them, who are more concerned with causality. They believe that if you treat people well, you’ll be happy, if you treat them badly, you won’t.

“The core of the Buddha’s teachings is the cultivation of love and compassion on the basis of an understanding of dependent arising. None of us wants suffering, so how does it come about? Because we create it through our mistaken actions. This is why the Buddha taught, ‘Do not commit evil; cultivate virtue; subdue your mind.’
“As long as we are subject to the distorted view that things are inherently existent, we’ll be subject to disturbing emotions, prone to creating problems for ourselves. The Buddha further taught, ‘Know suffering; overcome its origin; achieve true cessation.’ We can overcome suffering by following the path and overcoming negative emotions.”
His Holiness paused to ask for a show of hands from members of the audience to show who was attending these teachings for the first time.  A few hands went up.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking during the first session of the resumption of the Jangchub Lam Rim teaching at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India on December 20, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

“The Heart of Wisdom Sutra we recited just now was taught on Vulture’s Peak to an audience that included gods, demi-gods as well as human beings. It seems the conversation it records took place between beings with pure karma. It also seems that there were more people there than we could expect to gather on Vulture’s Peak as we see it today.”
His Holiness compared this anomaly to a story from the life of Milarepa. During one of his visits to India his student Rechungpa collected some instructions on black magic. When he went out to collect firewood, Milarepa found and burned them. Returning and seeing what had happened, Rechungpa was angry and quarrelled with Milarepa, who responded by summoning up a hailstorm. Rechungpa heard Milarepa calling out to him, but at first couldn’t see him. When he found him, he was sheltering inside a yak horn although apparently the same size as usual. He invited Rechungpa to join him in the horn. This, His Holiness said, is the sort of thing you can do when you are in full control of your mind and energies.
Similarly, a large group was assembled on Vulture’s Peak when Avalokiteshvara and Shariputra held their conversation. People able to see Shariputra, but not Avalokiteshvara, might have thought the Arhat was talking to himself. This was not a teaching available to the general public, so it was not recorded as if it were, which is why some people challenge whether it qualifies as a teaching of the Buddha.
Referring to the origins of Buddhism in Tibet, His Holiness declared that King Trisong Deutsan could have brought teachers from China, but he preferred to look to India. This was a time when the first seven Tibetans were ordained as monks to see how Tibetans took to keeping vows. There was opposition to Buddhism from humans and non-humans. Despite various ups and downs over time, Tibetans managed faithfully to preserve the Nalanda tradition, especially the understanding of logic and epistemology. Included in this were procedures for refuting others’ views, asserting your own and rebutting any resultant criticism.

Some of the thousands of western people attending His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teaching on the 18 Great Stages of the Path (Lam Rim) Commentaries at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India on December 20, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

Later, after King Ralpachen had died, the Western Tibetan King, Lha-lama Yeshe Ö wanted to invite Atisha to Tibet from India, but was kidnapped and held for ransom. His nephew Jangchub Ö suggested paying the ransom with the gold that had been collected to offer to Atisha. His uncle would not hear of it and said he would prefer to give up his life than place obstacles in the way of inviting Atisha to Tibet.
Ngatso Lotsawa was duly despatched to make the invitation. When he informed Atisha of Lha-lama Yeshe Ö’s sacrifice, the Indian master replied that he must be a bodhisattva and it wouldn’t be right to refuse. Tara predicted that Atisha would do well in Tibet and that he would be helped by an Upasaka.
His Holiness explained that Jangchub Ö told Atisha that he wasn’t looking for a very profound teaching, but would like something Tibetans could use. This is how Atisha came to compose the ‘Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment’. It’s aimed at the three types of person, but is also something that can be practised by one person in one sitting. His Holiness further remarked:
“Although I’m not going to teach it now, I’ve carried with me a copy of Lam Rim Chenmo that was given to me during a Long Life Offering in Tsang and which I brought out of Tibet.
“I often say that we should start teachings with an explanation of emptiness because of the importance of appreciating that cessation in possible. As I wrote in the ‘Praise to the 17 Masters of Nalanda’,
By understanding the meaning of the two truths, the way things exist,
We ascertain through the four truths how we arrive in and how we leave the cycle of existence.
Engendered by valid cognition our faith in the three refuges will be firm.
May I be blessed to establish the root of the path to liberation.

Monks serving tea to those attending the Jangchub Lam Rim teaching at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India on December 20, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

“We are here to complete the teaching of the 18 Stages of the Path texts. There are about 500 pages left. I’ll try to finish them in 10 days. We stopped last year in Zhamar Pandita’s ‘Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment’. Now I’ll start again with ‘Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand’ at the 11th day where Phabongka Rinpoche was encouraging his listeners to check their motivation.”
The teaching explained the hells, hungry ghost and animal realms and the risks of being born in them.
Coming back after lunch His Holiness said that sitting where he was in the open breeze was cool, but he was sorry he couldn’t clearly see the faces of the people he was speaking to. They were mostly sitting in the shade of a huge awning. He resumed the explanation of the animal realms. When he’d completed that he switched to Zhamar Pandita’s Treatise and the section on karma. At the end of the delineation of the ten unwholesome deeds is wrong view. This was clarified as being a denial of the workings of causality, which can arise from ignorance, but can also be provoked by anger. It could also entail denial of the Four Noble Truths or the existence of the Three Jewels.
His Holiness finished a little early, promising to continue in the morning in the hope that all will be done in ten days.

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