People can spend their entire life searching for enlightenment outside, travelling the whole world from the bottom of the oceans to the top of the mountains - they can search as much as they like, but it won't be found anywhere other than inside that which is doing the searching.

-- Chamtrul Rinpoche

To Control One's Mind

by Ayya Khema

Our old friend, dukkha, arises in the mind as dissatisfaction caused by all sorts of triggers. It can be triggered by bodily discomfort, but more often it is caused by the mind's own aberrations and convolutions. The mind creates dukkha, and that's why we must really watch and guard our minds.

Our own mind can make us happy, our own mind can make us unhappy. There is no person or thing in the whole world that will do this for us. All happenings act as triggers for us, which constantly catch us unawares. Therefore we need to develop strong awareness of our own mind-moments.

We have a good chance to do that in meditation. There are two directions in meditation, calm (samatha) and insight (vipassana).If we can achieve some calm, that indicates that concentration is improving. But unless that valuable skill is used for insight, it's a waste of time. If the mind becomes calm, joy often arises, but we must observe how fleeting and impermanent that joy is, and how even bliss is essentially still only a condition which can be easily lost. Only insight is irreversible. The stronger the calm is established, the better it will withstand disturbances. In the beginning any noise, discomfort or thought will break it up, especially if the mind has not been calm during the day.

Impermanence (anicca) needs to be seen quite clearly in everything that happens, whether it is in or out of meditation. The fact of constant change should and must be used for gaining insight into reality. Mindfulness is the heart of Buddhist meditation and insight is its goal. We're spending our time in many different ways and some portion of it in meditation, but all our time can be used to gain some insight into our own mind. That's where the whole world is happening for us. Nothing, except what we are thinking, exists for us.

The more we watch our mind and see what it does to us and for us, the more we will be inclined to take good care of it and treat it with respect. One of the biggest mistakes we can make is taking the mind for granted. The mind has the capacity to create good and also evil for us, and only when we are able to remain happy and even-minded no matter what conditions are arising, only then can we say that we have gained a little control. Until then we are out of control and our thoughts are our master.

"Whatever harm a foe may do to foe,

or hater unto one he hates,

the ill-directed mind indeed

can do one greater harm.

What neither mother, nor father too,

nor any other relative can do,

the well-directed mind indeed

can do one greater good."

The above words of the Buddha show quite clearly that there is nothing more valuable than a controlled and skillfully directed mind. To tame one's mind does not happen only in meditation, that is just one specific training. It can be likened to learning to play tennis. One works out with a trainer, again and again, until one has found one's balance and aptitude, and can actually play in a tennis match. Our match for taming the mind happens in day-to-day living, in all situations we encounter.

The greatest support we can have is mindfulness, which means being totally present in each moment. If the mind remains centred then it can't make up stories about the injustice of the world or one's friends, or about one's desires, or one's lamentations. All these mind-made stories would fill many volumes, but we are mindful such verbalisations stop. "Mindful" is being fully absorbed in the moment, leaving no room for anything else. We are filled with the momentary happening, whether that may be standing or sitting or lying down, being comfortable or uncomfortable, feeling pleasant or unpleasant. Whichever it may be, it is a non-judgemental awareness, "knowing only," without evaluation.

Clear comprehension brings evaluation. We comprehend the purpose of our thought, speech or action, whether we are using skillful means or not and whether we have actually achieved the required results. One needs some distance to oneself in order to be able to evaluate dispassionately. If one is right in the middle, it's very difficult to get an objective view. Mindfulness coupled with clear comprehension provides one with the necessary distance, the objectivity, the dispassion.

Any dukkha that one has, small, medium or large, continuous or intermittent, is all created by one's mind. We are the creators of all that happens to us, forming our own destiny, nobody else is involved. Everybody else is playing his own role, we just happen to be near some people and farther away at other times. But whatever we are doing, all is done to our own mind-moments.

The more we watch our thoughts in meditation, the more insight can arise, if there is an objective viewing of what is happening. When we watch mind-moments arising, staying and ceasing, detachment from our thinking process will result, which brings dispassion. Thoughts are coming and going all the time, just like the breath. If we hang on to them, try to keep them, that's when all the trouble starts. We want to own them and really do something with them, especially of they are negative, which is bound to create dukkha.

The Buddha's formula for the highest effort is worth remembering: "Not to let an unwholesome thought arise, which has not yet arisen. Not to sustain an unwholesome thought which has already arisen. To arouse a wholesome thought which has not yet arisen. To sustain a wholesome thought which has already arisen."

The quicker we can become a master of this effort, the better. This is part of the training we undergo in meditation. When we have learned to quickly drop whatever is arising in meditation, then we can do the same with unwholesome thoughts in daily living. When we are alert to an unwholesome thought in meditation, we can use the same skill to protect our mind at all times. The more we learn to shut our mind-door to all negativities which disturb our inner peace, the easier our life becomes. Peace of mind is not indifference. A peaceful mind is a compassionate mind. Recognising and letting go is not suppression.

Dukkha is self-made and self-perpetuated. If we are sincere in wanting to get rid of it, we have to watch the mind carefully, to get an insight into what's really happening within. What is triggering us? There are innumerable triggers, but there are only two reactions. One is equanimity and one is craving.

We can learn from everything. Today some anagarikas had to wait quite a long time in the bank, which was an exercise in patience. Whether the exercise was successful or not, doesn't matter as much as that it was a learning experience. Everything we do is an exercise, this is our purpose as human beings. It's the only reason for being here, namely to use the time on our little planet for learning and growing. It can be called an adult education class. Everything else we can think of as the purpose of life, is a mistaken view.

We're guests here, giving a limited guest performance. If we use our time to gain insight into ourselves utilising our likes and dislikes, our resistances, our rejections, our worries, our fears, then we're spending this lifetime to the best advantage. It's a great skill to live in such a way. The Buddha called it "urgency' (samvega), a sense of having to work on ourselves now and not leave it for some future unspecified date, when one may have more time. Everything can be a learning experience and the only time is now.

When we meet our old friend dukkha, we would ask: "Where did you come from?" When we get an answer, we should inquire again, getting deeper into the subject. There's only one true answer, but we won't get it immediately. We have to go through several answers until we get to the bottom line, which is "ego." When we've come to that one, we know we have come to the end of the questioning and to the beginning of insight. We can then try to see how the ego has produced dukkha again. What did it do, how did it react? When we see the cause, it may be possible to let go of that particular wrong view. Having seen cause and effect by ourselves, we'll never forget it again. Single drops fill a bucket, little by little we purify. Every moment is worthwhile.

The more we experience every moment as worthwhile, the more energy there is. There are no useless moments, every single one is important, if we use it skillfully. Enormous energy arises from that, because all of it adds up to a life which is lived in the best possible way.

Do not rely on an ordinary individual; rely on Dharma. Do not rely on the words; rely on their meaning. Do not rely on relative truth; rely on absolute truth. Do not rely on consciousness; rely on wisdom.

-- The Buddha

心中有事世间小，心中无事一床宽

星云大师

人是很不明理的，常常为了一点芝麻小事，而背负了很长时间的误会。

有一位囚犯被关在牢里，埋怨房子小，有一天，有一只苍蝇飞进房里，他就去扑捕，飞东抓东，飞西捕西，还是没有抓到，方醒悟到原来他的房间竟然这么大，连一只苍蝇也抓不着。所以，他觉悟到：“心中有事世间小，心中无事一床宽。”

假若，有徒众毁坏常住物，如打破了茶杯或把房子烧了，我不会生气；但是，只要有徒众，用一句话来伤人、侵犯人，我就比较不能宽恕他。因为侵犯人，就如同给人一刀。所以，不可以用语言、气势侵犯人。

近来，经常开示信众，讲话不要做“乌鸦嘴”，要做“喜鹊报喜”；待人不要做“相打鸡”（台语：斗鸡），要做“凤凰来仪”；处世不要做“木头人”，要做“微笑弥勒”。

偶翻《庄子》，见有一则发人深省的故事，内容大意是说，有个有名的斗鸡师，名叫纪渻子，他训练的斗鸡，远近闻名。

有一天周宣王要他训练一只勇猛无比的斗鸡。纪渻子接受任务后，一过数十日，一直没有消息，宣王等得不耐烦，就催着纪渻子，纪回答道：“还不行，此鸡生性自狂自傲，只会虚张声势，其实遇到强者，不堪一击！”

宣王又等了多日，再催问如何？纪渻子回答道：“还是不行，因为此鸡沉着不够，它一听到其他鸡叫就会冲动，摆开架势，还不是大将之风。”

又过多日，宣王再催；纪渻子回答道：“大王，现在仍不行，因为此鸡一接近其他鸡，它就会气昂昂、雄赳赳，像如此不能沉着的匹夫之勇，还不是最好的斗鸡。”

最后，宣王失望，不再催问。

一日，纪渻子主动向周宣王报告：“大王，你要我训练斗鸡，现在任务已完成了。此鸡现在听到其他鸡啼叫，恍如不闻；见到其他鸡跳跃，恍如不见，简直就像只木头鸡。气定神闲，从容安详，已是全能全德。只要其他斗鸡一见到它，就会落荒而逃，不战而胜，这才算真正的斗鸡了。”

True devotion isn’t blind faith. Devotion comes through your own study and practice.

-- Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche

Reciting the Mani Mantra to Realise the Three Kayas’ Nature

by Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche

The three ‘kayas’ are the various personifications of the Buddha. For instance, Amitabha Buddha is the Dharmakaya, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva is the Sambhogakaya and Guru Padmasambhava is the Nirmanakaya. And these three ‘kayas’ are not foreign to ourselves. In fact, the true nature of our mind has these three ‘kayas’ within it. We are reciting the six-syllable mantra to get rid of all the temporary defilements, so that we can realise the three kayas’ nature of our mind. In order to do so, we need to keep our body, speech and mind absolutely pure by not performing non-virtuous deeds with our body, speech and mind. The mantra should also be recited clearly word for word, and you should make great aspirations when you do the recitation, so that you can purify your obscurations and defilements of yourself and other sentient beings and attain the state of three ‘kayas’.

If you recite in this manner, then your efforts can truly benefit the Buddhadharma and all sentient beings in achieving the true path in this life and in all lives to come, thereby attaining Enlightenment ultimately.

Non-virtuous deeds are meaningless and bring only suffering to one. Therefore, you should at all times avoid committing non-virtuous deeds. Try to make great aspirations during your recitation to purify your body, speech and mind.

WHAT MAKES ONE A BUDDHIST

We are all followers of the Buddhadharma. That’s why we are called Buddhists. What makes us Buddhist is our practice of taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. On top of that, we also generate the awakened mind of Bodhicitta*. When we take refuge in the Triple Gem and generate Bodhicitta, we are actually making a kind of resolution to get rid all non-virtuous deeds, and to pursue all virtuous ones. However, in order to do so, we need to first understand what are virtuous deeds and what are non-virtuous deeds. We need to eradicate all non-virtuous deeds as they are the causes of all suffering and we need to pursue virtuous deeds as they are the causes of happiness.

All sentient beings, including the tiniest insects, have been our parents. And as our parents, there is no distinction between all sentient beings and our present father and mother. One should not have any doubt about that.

When you do the recitation, you should try to have devotion and a good intention. If you recite with this kind of devotion and motivation, you can truly attain Enlightenment. What have kept you as sentient being, stopping you from attaining Enlightenment is your negative karma and afflictive emotions. Therefore, to gain Enlightenment, you have to rid yourself of your afflictive emotions which cause all non-virtuous deeds. To eliminate afflictive emotions and bad karma, we need to rely on the teachings of the Buddha. And the core essence of the entire teachings of the Buddha is the six-syllable mantra. As practitioners of this precious Dharma, we need to eradicate all non-virtuous deeds in general, particularly the consumption of meat, as it has the heaviest negative karma. This is because all the livings beings that we eat are actually our own parents who have been very kind to us in many lifetimes. Eating meat is a non-virtuous act with such heavy misgivings that the Buddha Himself also mentioned that consuming the meat of other sentient beings who have been our parents one lifetime or another is the gravest and most heinous deed to commit.

Over the past few years, we have had the great opportunity to recite the six-syllable mantra in a retreat. You should realise that this opportunity has come to you as a result of your good karma in the past. You should consider yourself very fortunate to have this opportunity. Not only during a retreat, but at all times, you should make the best efforts to accumulate virtuous deeds and refrain from committing non-virtuous ones. And if you can refrain from eating meat at all, that is the most perfect way of not committing non-virtuous deeds. Even if you are not able to give up meat permanently, try to avoid meat consumption during special days of the month, such as the full month days on the 8th and 10th etc, according to the Tibetan calendar.

The human life is extremely precious and is only achieved once in a long while. Thus, it is extremely important that you do not waste this precious human life. Make it as meaningful as possible by following the Dharma and by not committing non-virtuous deeds. Once again, I would like to beseech you to avoid eating meat, as there can be no negative karma heavier than that, for the meat we eat comes from our parents. This is what the Buddha taught and this is what you should remember at all times.

You should also dedicate the merits of your practice for the benefit of all mother sentient beings, even to the tiniest insects, so that they can be freed from the obscurations in their minds and attain complete Enlightenment.

* Bodhicitta : The aspiration to help all beings attain True Happiness by becoming Buddhas, by being Bodhisattvas.

Actual phenomena - that is, the world and its inhabitants - are objects that we grasp at with our senses. These appearances are simply our mind’s manifestations of confusion. In the end, they are not actually existent in any way whatsoever, but are like the appearances in a dream. By thinking along these lines, train yourself to have some feeling for looking at the world this way.

-- 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche

無所不在的緣

濟群法師

佛法認為世界的生成與毀滅都來自因緣的聚散，所謂“因緣成世界、因緣滅世界”。因此，佛教對世界形成的解釋，簡單說就是“因緣因果”。在佛教的經論中，關於因緣的解釋很多。在《阿含經》中有這樣的偈子：“諸法因緣生，諸法因緣滅，我佛大沙門，常作如是說。”這是佛經中比較著名的偈子，關於此偈，在佛陀時代還有這樣一個故事：

一天，佛弟子馬勝比丘在城中乞食，他行走時舉止安詳，威儀具足。捨利弗尊者當時還未出家，並且是個外道，但見到這位比丘的儀表後，立刻被他表現出的風度所吸引，生起恭敬之心：憑此人的氣質，一定不是等閒之輩。不由自主地上前打聽：“我見您氣質非凡，跟旁人完全不同，能告訴我您的師父是誰嗎?他一定是位解脫的聖者，他的主要思想是什麼?”馬勝比丘回答說：“我的師父佛陀是一位了不起的智者，如果您有不明白的問題可以去請教他，他一定能回答您的所有疑難，我出家時間還短，許多道理還不清楚，不過在我們的僧團中經常念誦這樣一個偈子：諸法因緣生，諸法因緣滅。”捨利弗聽後，覺得大有深意，於是皈依在佛陀座下，後成為佛陀十大弟子中的智慧第一尊者。

“諸法因緣生，諸法因緣滅”中的“諸”，是眾多及一切的意思;“法”是指宇宙間的一切現象。宇宙間的萬事萬物都可歸於法的范疇，這些法從哪裡來呢?從因緣中來。《雜阿含經》進一步解釋道：“有因有緣集世間，有因有緣世間集，有因有緣滅世間，有因有緣世間滅。”其中，“集”是生起、產生的意思;“因”是諸法生起的主要條件、殊勝條件、親近條件;“緣”是諸法生起的次要條件、一般條件、疏遠條件。佛法認為，宇宙人生的生成滅亡都由條件決定，條件聚合時法就開始生起，條件解體時法則開始敗壞，重又歸於虛無，一切諸法都無非如此。

比如從種子生長為大樹，這一成長過程需要什麼樣的條件呢?種子是其中最重要、最親近的條件，而生長所需的陽光、水土，則是次要的、較疏遠的條件，但無論這些條件是親是疏都缺一不可。如果我們認為種子就是一切，而忽略了陽光、土壤等外緣的幫助，縱使再好的種子也無法發芽，更不必說成長為一棵大樹;反過來，若有充足的陽光雨露而沒有種子，就更是無稽之談。因此，無論是親的條件或疏的條件都同樣重要，只有眾多因緣和合才能成就法的生起。再如我們的這次講座，也是因緣的和合體。有法師來講課，也有在坐的諸位聽眾，還有南普陀弘法部舉辦這次活動，以及講堂的存在，只有這眾多條件的共同參與才能成就這次講座。

關於緣起的定義，經典中如是說道：“此有故彼有，此生故彼生，此無故彼無，此滅故彼滅”。緣起就是“此故彼”的關系，“此有故彼有”，是說因為具足這些條件，然後才有某種現象的生起：一張桌子是因為有了木料、木工、鐵釘、油漆、工具等等條件才形成，因為此處有這些條件出現，所以彼處才有物質出現。“此無故彼無，此滅故彼滅”，是說一旦聚成桌子的條件敗壞了，桌子也就逐漸消失。不僅桌子如此，世間的萬事萬物都是由條件來決定它的生存和消亡。由此可見，每一種法的形成，也都離不開因緣的基本規律。

It is certain that those things whose very existence is only due to thought and which do not exist without thought are not established by way of their own entity, like a snake that is imagined in a rope.

-- Chandrakirti

Not Believing in Inherent Existence Brings Peace

by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

The main thing we have to be aware of when we think about the atomic bomb is that it exists in mere name, it is merely imputed by the mind. So the atomic bomb, which appears to exist from its own side without depending on the base and thought labelling — which appears to us as an independent bomb — is empty, it is a hallucination.

Similarly, in all existence in everyday life, we always have these three: the “I” or the self, the action and the object. In everyday life, nothing exists in the slightest from its own side, except what is merely imputed on this basis by thought. Nothing exists in the slightest from its own side, therefore, the conclusion is that there is nothing to cling to; there’s nothing to grasp at or be attached to. There’s no reason to get angry or to feel jealousy or pride. There’s no basis for pride, for example, feeling pride in educational qualities that do not exist from their own side, over somebody who has a lower education.

If we think about evolution, we are aware that all these things exist in mere name and are merely imputed by the thought on the base. It’s okay just practicing awareness of this evolution, so we can understand the way things exist; by the power of practicing awareness of how things are dependent arising — that they depend on the base and the thought merely imputing on the base. So practising awareness of this with effort, we need to think that things do not exist from their own side. The answer comes from the depth of our heart — the understanding awareness that the subject, action and object that appear to exist from their own side do not exist. This appearance is a complete hallucination; things are empty.

In this way, there is so much relaxation, tranquility and calmness in the mind and things don’t bother us. People or the environment cannot disturb our mind. There is no space in the mind for anger or the dissatisfactory mind of attachment to arise; we can’t find any reason for it. This mind creates disharmony in our relationships and brings a lot of problems and dissatisfaction in our own life, and there is no reason for this mind to arise. Instead of seeing reasons for dissatisfaction, we feel the opposite and problems don’t arise.

Awareness of dependent arising also stops the ignorance that results in constant clinging to the subject, object and actions. We cling to the appearance that subject, object and action exist from their own side, but they are completely empty and not the slightest atom exists. So, in this way, although we have not yet received the ultimate liberation, we are completely free from the cause of suffering — the disturbing thoughts that produce karma. If we have ceased the cause of suffering completely, it is impossible for the disturbing thoughts to arise again. Even if this ultimate liberation has not happened; even if we have not achieved this yet, practicing awareness of this is like liberation, compared to someone who is suffering and who does not practice awareness of dependent arising of the nature of things — the subject, action, and object — in everyday life. We completely believe in the hallucinations of the world and completely grasp onto these, so our life becomes miserable, with anger, attachment, pride, jealousy and doubt. So many things are confused and we are unable to benefit others. Not only are we miserable and confused, but it interferes with our ability to benefit others.

For example, if we are depressed, we cannot do things and it is difficult for us to talk to others and to help others. However, if we constantly practice awareness, especially of dependent arising, the nature of things, it becomes the best protection from the sufferings of the life. In this way we give ourselves so much freedom.

When our mind is calm, it’s very easy to achieve concentration, with less distraction, and if we achieve concentration very easily, then there is quick success of the realisations. So in this way, in day-to-day life, with the practice of awareness — the virtuous thought of the awareness of dependent arising — we don’t create the karma to take rebirth again; the karma that throws us into samsara in future lives. We do not take the aggregates caused by karma and disturbing thoughts — the container of all problems, the originator or the base from which the problems arise. So in this way, it stops. Then we are able to quickly realise the emptiness of the “I,” the aggregates. By developing the wisdom of emptiness, in this way we are able to stop the continuation of the aggregates — samsara, which means cycle or cycling. These suffering aggregates are under the control of karma and disturbing thoughts, joining from one life to another life, always like this from life-to-life, so this gets stopped. By ceasing these, there is no circling of the suffering of rebirth and death. Once we cease rebirth, there is no death. There is no suffering of death, as well as all the problems between rebirth and death. Old age, sickness and so many other problems completely cease. So, this is the essential, the very basic, the most important meditation if we really wish to be free from problems and their cause; if we do not wish to die.

In my experience of the West, everything is there, but what people have not found or actualised, is how to stop death. Western people have actualised many other things, but the most important thing is missing — they have not tried to stop experiencing death. That is what I normally think, when I go to the markets and the department stores, and see all the machines and things.

In order to stop death, to never experience death or rebirth, we have to realise the cause. We are ignorant of the cause of rebirth and death, the true cause of suffering, which is a mental factor that exists within our own mind. It does not exist outside, separately from our own mind. It does not exist as something else apart from our own mind. We are ignorant of the nature of mind and how things depend on the mind; that the main creator of suffering and happiness is the mind. As long as we point out the main creator of happiness and unhappiness as an outside object, an external thing, then even if we know all the teachings of the Buddhadharma, all the teachings of sutra and tantra, even if we have studied all the five treatises and all the tantric teachings extensively, even intellectually, even if we know all the words — as long as we believe the creator of suffering is not ourselves, but somebody else or some outside object, then I think the problems are still the same, even though we have all the intellectual understanding of the teachings.

A sailor should cross the ocean if he has a boat. A general should defeat the enemy if he has an army. A traveller who wants to go to distant lands should pursue his journey if he has an excellent horse.

As for you, who has a precious human life for the moment, and has received instructions from a spiritual master, the embodiment of all the Buddhas of the three times, think with joy and enthusiasm of travelling the great path of the supreme Dharma and getting ever closer to the ultimate goal of liberation and enlightenment.

-- Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol

How Things Are Produced

by Geshe Sonam Rinchen

Products come into existence through causes and conditions. Asanga in his Compendium of Knowledge mentions three conditions in this context: the condition of no movement; the condition of impermanence; and the condition of potential. The Rice Seedling Sutra says: “Because this exists, that occurs” which indicates the condition of no movement. “Because this has been produced, that has been produced” indicates the condition of impermanence. “Conditioned by ignorance there is formative action” refers to the Condition of potential.

Many hold firmly to a belief that products, namely the physical world (often termed the container) and the living beings in it (referred to as the contents), come into existence through some creative force, such as Brahma, Indra, Vishnu or another creator, and that the act of creation is preceded by an intention. To negate that the physical world and living beings have been created in this way, Buddhist scholars place emphasis on the fact that every product comes into existence in dependence on its own specific causes and conditions and not through the intention of a creator god. This aspect of production is called the condition of no movement because there is no movement of intention involved.

Discourse on dependent arising constitutes discussion of a philosophical view, in this case the cornerstone of Buddhist philosophy. When we consider how things actually exist, which is what philosophy is about, it is important not to be prejudiced in favour of our own views but to be open minded and honest, and to conduct our investigation intelligently with enthusiasm to discover the nature of reality. If we hold certain beliefs, our tendency is to avoid anything that threatens them. Our principal concern should be to discover how things actually are and then build on that. 

“Because this has been produced, that has been produced” refers to the condition of impermanence and counters the belief that our world and living beings have been created by a force which is permanent. This force may be identified as a god or as some other creative principle which is unchanging and eternal. From a Buddhist point of view a condition, which here acts as a cause, is itself something produced by its own specific causes and conditions. It ceases when its result comes into existence. If an unchanging producer of things existed, it should either constantly produce without ever stopping or it should never produce anything at all because it could not undergo change from a state of production to one of no production. The container and the contents have not come from any cause or condition of this kind.

Others believe that the world and living beings have come about causelessly or have arisen from causes that are actually incompatible. A thing can only arise from concordant or compatible causes, which are those that have the potential to produce the particular result. For instance, in the context of the twelve-part process, ignorance gives rise to formative action. The compulsive contaminated actions that keep us in cyclic existence can only come from causes that possess the potential to produce them, namely from disturbing attitudes and emotions. The understanding of reality will never produce such actions. Thus things come into existence from their own specific causes and conditions, from that which is impermanent and compatible. No products, whether external, meaning not connected to our mental continuum, or internal, meaning connected to our mental continuum, come into existence through a creative force that formulates an intention to create them, from a permanent and unchanging principle, causelessly, or from discordant causes.

For instance, does a sunflower seed embody all three of the conditions we have mentioned? It is a condition of no movement for the sunflower because it does not formulate any intention to create a sunflower nor is there any force at work which intends the seed to create the sunflower.

The sunflower seed is an impermanent condition because it itself came into existence through other causes and conditions. At the moment when it ceases, its result, the Sunflower seedling, appears. The sunflower seed is a condition with potential because it has the specific capacity to produce a sunflower — something that is related to it — and will not produce any other kind of flower. The presence of a healthy sunflower seed and the other essential conditions will produce a sunflower. It will not come into existence without the presence of that seed nor will a zinnia seed produce a sunflower. So the sunflower does not come into being causelessly nor from discordant causes.

Similarly ignorance, the first of the twelve links, is a condition embodying all three conditions of no movement, of impermanence, and of potential. It produces formative action, the second link, which, in turn, acts as all three factors in the production of the third link, consciousness.

When we think about how things come into existence, not in terms of the sunflower and its seed but in relation to our own experience of happiness and suffering, we realise that suffering is not inflicted on us by some other force, but that it is a product, a natural outcome and result of certain conditions, as is the sunflower.

Pleasure and pain, happiness and suffering are the result of the three conditions mentioned above. They do not occur through the impetus of a creator who intends us to have these experiences, are not created by any force which is itself permanent, nor do they occur randomly or as a result of discordant causes. If we want to experience more happiness and less suffering, we must change what we think and do. We can create causes and conditions with the power to produce happiness and avoid doing what will bring us suffering. If our experiences were the result of some creator’s will, we could only turn to that creator and pray. However, from the Buddhist perspective, the responsibility lies with us.

The Rice Seedling Sutra explains that all dependently arising products, whether external or internal, have five features.14 These five, like the three conditions mentioned above, negate certain beliefs. The first feature is that products come into existence through causes and conditions, which demonstrates that they do not arise causelessly. The second feature is that they come into existence through a diversity of impermanent conditions. This shows that they cannot be the result of a single cause which is eternal, unchanging, and indivisible. A seedling has not come into existence causelessly, because it depends on its main cause, the seed, as well as on a variety of cooperative conditions, such as moisture, temperature, the growing medium, and other factors.

The third feature is that every product has come into existence from causes which are themselves selfless. There are those who hold that our six faculties and their objects are a truly existent “I” and “mine.” To counter this view it is stressed that the five sense faculties and our mental faculty, referred to as internal sources, and the six external sources, namely sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations, which are the five objects of the senses, and the objects of the mental faculty, have all been produced by causes and conditions that lack independent existence and so lack any truly existent self. Ordinary people regard the senses as a real self and the objects of the senses as objects of use or experience by such a self. Of course, there is a person or “I” who experiences but that person or self does not exist as it appears to do. Nor do the objects we experience through our senses exist objectively as they seem to do.

The fourth feature is that these products arise from causes and conditions that have the potential to produce them. This resembles the third of the three conditions mentioned above. The fifth is that they arise through lack of activity, which is equivalent to the first of the three conditions, the condition of no movement. Emphasis on these conditions and features is intended to help us overcome false beliefs we may have about how things are produced and exist. The Rice Seedling Sutra says: “If you ask why they are said to be dependently existent, it is because they have causes and they have conditions and are not without causes and conditions.”

All of us can understand the more obvious aspects of how a seed produces a seedling and that this requires the presence of the main cause and a number of contributing factors. The seed ceases and the sprout comes into existence without any hiatus in this process. But how do we come into existence, since each one of us is also a product? The production of a seedling from a seed is not as simple as it appears, though rather less complex than our own production. Are we the same substantial continuum as the ignorance that has produced us and is it our main or special cause? We cannot be one substantial continuum with the ignorance responsible for our present rebirth because we would have to be awareness and a mental factor, since ignorance is a type of awareness and a mental factor or activity.

The sperm and ovum of our parents are the main cause for our body of this life and are cooperative causes for the person we are, just as the tools used by a carpenter to make a table are contributing or cooperative causes.

Taking the example of a child: has this child been produced from a cause which is a condition of no movement? Has there been a movement of intention to create it? What about a planned pregnancy? And what about the carpenter’s intention to make the table? An architect draws a plan and then a building is constructed. Did the building come into existence through a movement of intention? We would probably say that mountains, valleys, and rivers are not the outcome of creative effort, but that houses, pots, tables, and persons are. If some products come into being through a movement of intention while others do not, we cannot make the general statement that products do not come into existence through the movement of intention.

In this context a movement of intention refers specifically to an intention formulated by a creator, such as the gods Brahma, Indra, Vishnu, or Ishvara in the Hindu pantheon. Are the things mentioned above created by them, and if they are, is the creative effort made by such a creator the outcome of a movement of intention? According to the Buddhist point of view there is no such creator nor any creation of this kind.

In the twelve-part process is formative action, the second part, the result of a movement of the mind? Who or what creates that formative action? We create and accumulate the action. Doesn’t it occur through a movement of intention? We hear again and again in the Buddhist teachings that there is no external creator, but that everything has come into existence through our actions, which originate in our minds. Our minds are, therefore, the sole creator. I have raised these points to show how much there is to think about.

Those who believe that everything is produced by a creator do not discount the role played by the seed but assert that the basic nature of the seed and that of the seedling are the same and that both are of the same nature as the creator. The creation is seen as an aspect or manifestation of the creator. This is a highly simplified presentation of certain beliefs associated with a creator, and it is worth investigating the sophisticated philosophical systems that underlie such assertions.

According to the Rice Seedling Sutra dependently arising products are profound in five ways. They are profound from the point of view of their causes, because they have not arisen causelessly nor have they been produced by a self that is a separate entity and a creator. They are profound as regards their nature or character, because they do not act as a separate self-existent creative force. They are profound in relation to their mode of production, because though they depend on many factors, they come into existence from their own specific causes and conditions without any confusion, and those factors have not created them with any prior intention of doing so. They are profound with respect to their duration, because they appear to exist for a protracted period even though they disintegrate moment by moment. They are profound in regard to their origins, because they come into existence through causes, but when an investigation is made to ascertain whether they come into existence from that which is of the same nature, that which is of a different nature, that which is both of the former, or whether they come into existence causelessly, they are difficult to understand.

When we investigate the natural world, ourselves, and the objects which surround us, we find there are other aspects of dependently arising products that may also be discussed: how they are not unchanging; how they do not discontinue; how a cause cannot produce a result without undergoing some change; how a small cause, such as an apple seed, can produce a significant result, such as a large fruit-bearing tree; how products are the outcome of a continuum. If we can establish the basis correctly, namely what actually exists and how it exists, we will also be able to establish proper paths of practice, which must be based on reality.

Do non-Buddhist philosophical systems accept dependent existence? And how do Buddhist philosophical systems view dependent existence? Everyone, of course, agrees that seedlings come from seeds, but when we investigate more closely, we are forced to consider the seedling’s actual nature. Is its nature the same as that of the seed? What is its true identity?

As has been said, the basic premise from the Prasangika point of view is that things exist dependently and are empty of intrinsic existence. Because of being empty in this way, their existence is necessarily a dependent one. This is emphasised to bring home to us that there is no self of persons or of other phenomena. Even though they lack such a self or identity and have no independent or objective existence from their own side, because they exist depending on a diversity of factors, they do indisputably exist. What is affirmed is their selflessness, and what is negated is that they come into existence through a permanent, unchanging creative force, that they have arisen causelessly, and that they have arisen from discordant causes.

Non-Buddhist Indian schools of philosophy generally do not accept that everything is dependently existent and assert that all phenomena are truly existent. The great Tibetan master Je Tsongkhapa writes that these assertions are not inconsistent nor anything to be ashamed of, since they are following the tenets of their own philosophical systems. He goes on to say that the Vaibhashikas, Sautrantikas and Chittamatrins, who are proponents of Buddhist systems of thought, accept the dependent arising of things produced from causes and conditions but nevertheless assert that these things are truly existent. This, he says, is an absurd contradiction. If one were to say to them that things are not truly existent because they arise in dependence on causes and conditions, they would dismiss this, since for them the very fact of their dependent arising confirms their true existence.

All proponents of Buddhist philosophical tenets accept the dependent arising of produced things. However, dependent arising defined by dependence on parts is not generally accepted by the lower schools of Buddhist philosophy. The Vaibhashikas and Sautrantikas assert the existence of partless functional things, such as partless particles and moments of awareness. Those things could not, in that case, depend on their parts. The Madhyamikas assert that all products and non-products depend on their parts.

There are three Tibetan terms with a similar meaning: tenpa (rten pa), to depend; drepa (’phrad pa), to meet; and töpa (ltos pa), to be related. In this context they are associated with the Tibetan expression for arising in dependence teney jung wa (rten nas byung ba) or its longer form, meaning arising in dependence and relationship, ten ching drel war jung wa (rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba), mentioned earlier. So when, in reference to dependently arising products, jung wa has the sense of produced, we can say arising or produced in dependence, through meeting, and through relationship. But jung wa, as we have already seen, can also mean existing, and so when we say arising or existing in dependence, through meeting, and through relationship, this refers to the dependently existent nature of all things, both products and non-products.

Now do these three –- arising in dependence, through meeting, and through relationship –- actually mean the same thing? For instance, the seedling has come into existence in dependence upon and in relation to the seed and to heat, moisture, and a growing medium. If something has arisen dependently, does it follow that it has also arisen through meeting? Does it need to meet what it depends upon? Have we come into being in dependence upon the person we were in our last life? Has the person of this life met with the person of the last life? For instance, if we were a god in our last life, have we met with that god? On the other hand meeting does not necessarily involve dependence because a tiger and the deer it kills have met but the two are not in a relationship of dependence. The three terms are similar but not completely synonymous in this context.

In his Compendium of Knowledge Asanga lists eleven points about dependent arising with respect to products: they do not have a creator whose self is a separate entity from the aggregates; they have causes; they are not objects used by self-sufficient substantially existent living beings; they are under the influence of other factors; they come into existence with no movement of intention; they are impermanent; they are momentary because they come in a continuum of many moments of a similar type; they are part of an unbroken continuity of causes and effects; there is concordance between causes and effects; there is a diversity of causes and effects; there are specific and definite causes and effects.

These eleven points demonstrate impermanence, suffering, and, in a general way, emptiness and selflessness. The first, that products are not created by a self which is a separate entity from the aggregates, indicates their emptiness of and lack of relationship to such an eternal, unitary, independent self. The third, that they are not objects of use by a substantially existent self-sufficient person, similarly indicates their lack of such a self.

The last three points show that dependently arising products associated with cyclic existence are unsatisfactory by nature because they correspond to their causes which are contaminated actions and disturbing attitudes and emotions. They arise in multifarious forms through the influence of these and take these particular forms as a result of specific causes and conditions. The other facts all demonstrate their impermanence.

As we have seen, products can be divided into external and internal products. Living beings and the five aggregates that make up their bodies and minds are internal products. Those that are not connected to consciousness, namely the physical environment consisting of mountains, lakes, rivers, and so forth, are produced from their own particular causes and conditions and are external products.

Why are dependently arising products divided into these two categories? Understanding the dependently arising nature of internal products helps us to stop seeing them as a truly existent self, while understanding that external products are dependently existent enables us to overcome the conception of them as inherently existent objects of experience by an inherently existent self.

Dependently arising phenomena are also classified as belonging either to the afflicted side, referring to everything associated with cyclic existence, or to the purified side, which refers to nirvana or the state beyond sorrow and the ending of worldly existence. This is to help us overcome our clinging to true existence by emphasising that neither the afflicted side, of which we need to rid ourselves, nor the purified side, consisting of what needs to be adopted and cultivated, is inherently existent. Dependently arising phenomena of the afflicted side can be summarised as true sources of suffering and their outcome, true suffering. When this is expanded, it can be presented in terms of the twelve-part process of dependent arising by which we remain in cyclic existence. Dependently arising phenomena of the purified side consist of true cessation and true paths of insight. When these are expanded upon, we consider how stopping ignorance stops all the other aspects of the twelve-part process, and how this is the way that we can extricate ourselves from cyclic existence.

The Buddha is your real body, your original mind. This mind has no form or characteristics, no cause or effect, no tendons or bones. It's like space. You can't hold it. It's not the mind of materialists or nihilists. If you don't see your own miraculously aware nature, you'll never find a Buddha, even if you break your body into atoms.

-- Bodhidharma

谁有虔诚心，我就睡在谁的家门口

嘎玛仁波切

导语：释迦牟尼佛说：“谁有虔诚心，释迦坐在他面前。”莲花生大师也讲过：“谁有虔诚心，我就睡在谁的家门口，我不去别的地方住。”密勒日巴大师也说：“佛法的贵重，不是物质可以衡量的，是金山银山都换不来的，但是背在肩上，却比一根羽毛还轻。”

我小时候听过一个故事。有位老和尚在山上闭关时，看到有一个人的福报快要没了，他将会经过一条河，桥上有很多妖魔鬼怪都在等着吃掉他，当天晚上可能就会遇到劫难。

虽然这个人平时没什么虔诚心，不信佛法也不愿意念经，但老和尚很想救他。于是，在这个人路过寺庙时，老和尚就叫人把他抓起来狠命打，打一下，就念一遍“皈依佛、皈依法、皈依僧”，打了很久才把他放了。这个人在下山的路上，因为身上很痛，每痛一下，马上就会想到“皈依佛、皈依法、皈依僧”，走一路痛一路，脑子里面想了一路，最后就没死。

很多人觉得很奇怪，他的大限已经到了，为什么还没死呢？老和尚说他一路都在念着“皈依佛、皈依法、皈依僧”，就已经躲过那个劫难了。这就说明当我们心里忆念着佛菩萨时，佛菩萨一定会保护我们的，就算这么不虔诚的人，佛菩萨也一样会保护。

如果心里非常虔诚，深信不疑地忆念着佛菩萨，佛菩萨肯定会时时刻刻和我们在一起，对这一点大家一定要有信心。越是深信，佛菩萨对我们的加持力就越大，我们的心与佛菩萨也会越来越相应，信心也会越来越强烈，当然也会越来越快乐，幸福感也会越来越强。为什么有些地方被称作圣地？因为那里所有的人，从内心散发的都是最虔诚的善愿，希望得到诸佛菩萨的加持。当越来越多的人带着这种想法时，从内心发出的力量，都是非常慈悲和善意的，这样强大正面的磁场，最终会凝聚成一股强大的力量，那片土地就会变成圣地了，也会让后续到那里的人，都得到慈悲的加持。

诸佛菩萨的加持力，时时刻刻都慈悲眷顾着所有众生，但只有每天都向佛菩萨虔诚祈祷的佛教徒，才能真正接收到。就像我们有了电视机，每天用遥控器把电视打开，频道调好收看节目一样。佛像，就是电视机，就是我们的心灵，就是诸佛菩萨加持力的接收器，我们需要经常感恩佛菩萨的加持，要打开自己心门的频道，用心向佛菩萨祈祷，才能接收发过来的信号。这样的祈祷，是心与心的交流，是把习惯用眼睛盯着佛经、佛像、法器的方式，换成打开自己的心灵，用“心”去感受佛菩萨的存在。

念经持咒，就是在调频道，我们每天用心和佛菩萨沟通、相应，当然就会感受到佛菩萨的存在。当我们开始用“心”跟佛菩萨对话时，佛菩萨就自然与我们的心融合在一起了，那种感受只有自己最明白。这时候，就会知道佛菩萨一直都在加持着我们。如果用手摸、用眼看，你肯定一辈子也摸不着、看不见。

因为我从小就接受这方面的训练，有太多的经验都是在自己身上验证过以后得出来的，才会这么自信地告诉大家。如果没有这方面的经验，根本就不敢这么讲，说谎是破戒，更何况我也不是一个喜欢怪力乱神的人。

如果半信半疑的去学、去信，那么我们得到的加持了就会打折扣。

就好像我们和好朋友相处，如果你对朋友半信半疑，总是怀疑别人对你的动机不纯，别人有心付出，你却不敢接受，这样的两个人根本没办法成为好朋友。只有真心诚意地交往，真心诚意地付出，双方才能完全体会彼此的心意，那种感受是完全不同的。

释迦牟尼佛说：“谁有虔诚心，释迦坐在他面前。”莲花生大师也讲过：“谁有虔诚心，我就睡在谁的家门口，我不去别的地方住。”密勒日巴大师也说：“佛法的贵重，不是物质可以衡量，是金山银山都换不来的，但是背在肩上，却比一根羽毛还轻。”

如果把佛法装在心里，就不用背了，因为已经和你融为一体。任何的金钱和物质，买不来也换不来心灵的健康，但佛法却可以让我们的心灵获得永恆的健康。有了健康的心灵做基础，就可以去创造属于自己应有的财富与物质，当然，最终能拥有多少，还是要看自身的福德大小。

佛，就像天上的月亮，如果我们的心很平静，像一潭清澈的水，所谓千江水有千江月，佛自然会很清楚地倒映在我们心里；如果我们的心无法沉静下来，像一潭浊水，越搅动就越不可能映射出任何倒影来。这时，就需要我们通过长时间虔诚地念经持咒净化我们思绪纷杂的大脑。有了长时间的净化，心能慢慢静下来时，我们再做任何事情，大脑的思路就会很清晰，逻辑思维也会非常清楚，这时的智商和情商都是很高的。如果没有经过这样的净化，平时再聪明的人，一旦脑子乱了，连小朋友都可以解决的事情，可能他在当下都想不出任何办法来。

如果希望佛在我们心中产生真正的加持，就必须经常让心沉淀下来，尽量延长心灵平静的时间。这也是为什么很多人愿意通过修行来净化心灵，借助禅定的力量，让杂乱的思想沉淀。心一旦静下来，得到诸佛菩萨的加持之后，就会积聚爆发力和无形的能量。

Don’t dwell in the past or anticipate the future. Regardless of whatever appears to the six consciousnesses, do not be attached, allow things to pass.

-- Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro

Taming Body, Speech & Mind

by Choje Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche

TAMING THE BODY

To train the body is relatively easy because physical actions are easy to see and to recognise. Our body is the first thing that involves us in the world, because it has a form, it has some sort of solidity. We do many things with our bodies and we all have many weird habits. Someone may go through different levels of emotional turmoil, but the first sign of the neurosis will be, for instance, slamming doors, or dropping plates in the kitchen. Such actions are very easy to notice. We should try not to react so strongly and so quickly at the first emotional impulse. Our mind is the boss, the body follows it's instructions, therefore we should be mindful, check our actions and try to overcome such habits.

Walking heavily and being noisy can disturb others. Hurting them is not what we really want. Learning to move slowly and gently can take some time, but it is possible and we should try to achieve this out of respect for others. Ordinary people will argue that this is taking their freedom away from them because they should be allowed to 'express their feelings' freely. This is what I call a shallow world. Expressing every feeling of yours in a wrong way doesn't do anybody any good. You should be aware that the moment you express something, it affects others. Remember causes and effects!

To tame ourselves is the only way we can change and improve the world. This means we should always remember never to hurt any being through our physical form, never to do any wrong physical action. Taming the activities of the body is very easy. Sometimes people think it's difficult, but it's not. Human beings train animals by teaching them, beating them, giving or denying them food or even giving them electric shocks! Lions are not meant to jump like they do in the circus. If we are able to tame animals, then how come we can't train our own body? It is more crucial to train ourselves than to train animals, because human beings are the cause of the world's problems, not animals.

TAMING THE SPEECH 

We need to tame the simple physical form, but the most lethal weapon I've seen used by people is speech! This is actually worse than machine guns. People use their speech to twist everything around. It's used almost every day by everybody to separate friends, to send wrong information, to hurt other people. Trying to build up a good friendship can take so many years and just a few words can ruin it in seconds. Words can hurt so much. They can sometimes be very harmful. Being human beings means we have enough intelligence to know that giving unnecessary pain and suffering to others is not the right way. Just as we don't like to be abused, other people don't like to be abused either.

I often look at the world and wonder why things are getting so bad. According to Buddha's teachings, we have lost respect for honest, true people. We ignore those who are honest and truthful, whereas liars, cheats and people who have a big mouth, are in high positions everywhere. So the world is changed in the wrong way. We are therefore also partly responsible for what is going on, because we don't have the wisdom to appreciate and value people who are wise, learned, honest and truthful. In traditional cultures, a truthful person's speech has value. A truthful person doesn't need to say very much, but people will respect his or her words. They know they'd better listen to so and so because he or she really speaks the truth. On the other hand, untruthful persons can talk all day and night but people won't value their words, because they know they're lying all the time and their speech has lost its meaning and its value.

In this modem world, we just turn everything upside down through our lack of wisdom. We know that the politicians make a lot of promises, and that they will not be able to deliver, but still we vote for them because we have a 'good feeling' for them, or because they talk so well.

For me, training our speech means learning to speak the truth, always being careful not to use speech to cause chaos or to bring more suffering into the world. If we can always remember this, then the gift of speech is really meaningful.

TAMING THE MIND

Taming the mind is more difficult than training the body or speech. Mind has such a big potential! It's the mind that gives you pleasure, happiness and joy, as well as pain, sorrow and unhappiness, - everything! If you really look into where your emotions start, where they come from, you will see they all have to do with your state of mind. For instance, when you feel mentally very stable, physically very well, if people abuse you or give you a hard time, at that specific moment, you will feel it's no problem, you can accept it, it doesn't hurt you, it's no big deal. But if you are physically and mentally not so well, then you become so negative that people don't even need to say anything wrong, you will get upset even if they say the right things to you. This shows that what matters is not what we say or do, but our state of mind.

To tame one's mind is the most difficult thing, but also the most essential. We can never be truly happy or peaceful without taming the mind. Therefore we should not feel afraid or overwhelmed by the task, but simply resolve to begin and stick with it. This is why we meditate.

I am never far from those with faith, or even those without it, though they do not see me. My children will always, always, be protected by my compassion. 

-- Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche

【你自己应当好好努力为善，因为完美的圣者，只能告诉你该走的道路，其他都得自己来】

慧律法师

身心不能取代，你看佛陀在世就是这样子。所以很多人不了解这个道理，就认为：我念佛，佛就一定会加被我！对不对？要靠佛。当然，佛是很重要的增上缘。可是，自己却不肯用功，不肯依真理而行事，也不能调伏自我。

如果靠佛可以成道，很简单！释迦牟尼佛当时在世的时候，那个阿难一直问问题；《楞严经》就是他 ── 阿难装不懂，开始一直问‥‥‥才有整部《楞严经》。释迦牟尼佛为什么不说：阿难，来！你跪下来，你不用修行了，来！我释迦牟尼佛直接就跟你加持，让你成道！有这么好的事吗？加持是增上缘，内心自己修行是亲因缘，亲因缘加上增上缘，这个才是最重要的！可是我们现在修净土法门的不了解。就说：我临命终要靠阿弥陀佛来接引！可是，他的心从来没有亮过。

大彻大悟不一样，大彻大悟、明心见性的时候，开发心镜光明，无量的光明，念一句佛，佛就现前‥‥‥为什么？干净的镜子、完全清净的镜子，任何的东西来，都可以反射的。所以，明心见性的人念佛，临命终往生极乐世界。

说来，其实没有来，阿弥陀佛是成佛，他哪里有来去？简单讲：接引往生极乐世界，是对众生讲的。阿弥陀佛法身没有来跟去的，讲接引往生净土，是对众生讲的。所以，若生实不生，说去实不去，就是这个道理。

大悟见性，大家都知道，法身并没有什么来去、生灭、增减的。我们一般修净土的人不了解，说：临命终要靠阿弥陀佛。这个观念对一半；记得！一定要靠自己，好好的守戒，诸恶莫作，众善奉行，清净我们自己的身心，临命终，身、口、意清净，立刻就转到极乐世界。

那很多人讲，看到经典就说：如果有五逆十恶重罪，临命终受到善知识的劝化，十念就可以往生！我说：这个叫做高空走钢索！你知道吗？高空走钢索的修行就是很危险的，活着的时候拼命的造业，然后曲解了经典、误会了经典，认为：我临命终念十念就可以往生。

平常造恶业的人，临命终不会善终的；恶业在临命终，它就缠绕着你的时候，病苦一来，你的冤亲债主一来，没有办法控制的。这个就是修净土的人那么多，为什么往生的人那么少，就是错误的观念。认为自己自力不重要；自力是最重要的，而他把它忽略了，这个就是最悲哀的，最悲哀的！

你想想看，你的心就像一面镜子来比喻。这个心如镜子，镜子如果说擦上一层黑墨，太阳光来，你能不能反射，当然不能反射，你能反射吗？没有作用。你的心充满着无明、贪瞋痴；你心里是想说：临命终借重阿弥陀佛来接引；行吗？

人家是：感应道交难思议，能礼所礼性空寂。感应道交难思议，我此道场如帝珠。都不懂得经典，自己看、自己听，自己误会佛的意思。人家念念从心起，念念从心起是指从真心，不是从妄心。

我现在请问你：有一个比丘来，他住茅蓬，我说：法师！你做什么？他说：我一心念佛。我说：好！我可以问你一个问题吗？念佛一声，功德无量，礼佛一拜，罪灭河沙，来！试说说看，你念多少佛了？他念二十几年了，住茅蓬，又拼了老命要念佛。念佛一声，功德无量，礼佛一拜，罪灭河沙，那你念了二十几年了，早就罪灭河沙了，你道理懂吗？不会！一点都回答不出来。

我说：这个叫做自性佛在念，念佛一声，功德无量，虽念，没有能念所念，这一句通达本性，本性当然是无量功德。礼佛、拜佛，当然，能礼是空，所礼也是空，佛是自性作，哪得心外可以求佛？

不懂得道理，念佛、拜佛有什么用呢？头撞破了也没有用，喉咙喊破了有什么用？没有用的！我们对第一义谛不了解，喊破喉咙也枉然！是不是？

我就告诉这个比丘：为什么讲：你念佛一声，功德无量？礼佛一拜，罪灭河沙？这个道理从何来能够接得上？这个就是接，这个就是本性在用功，叫做念佛一声，功德无量，念佛一声，一即一切，这一声就等同虚空，一即一切，一切即一，本性在念佛，才能叫做功德无量。

不然你念多少佛了？一天三万、四万、五万，跟佛在计较数目！对不对？每天都跟佛在计较！礼佛一拜，罪灭河沙，你这个道理讲得通吗？不通！念佛都用自己的观念，不听善知识的开示、不听善知识的讲解，自己参、自己悟，走偏了，自己也不知道，不晓得这个到底是什么含义。这个叫做生命当中的不圆满。

Since all living beings are bound by their craving for existence, you must begin by finding the determination to be free.

-- Lama Tsongkhapa

How to Practice Loving-Kindness

by Joanna Hardy

When I was introduced to the practice of metta — most often translated as lovingkindness practice — I definitely knew it wasn’t for me. It was too mushy and sentimental for my pragmatic mind. It was reminiscent of the wishful praying that I thought was reserved for the type of faith I had left behind.

I didn’t really believe that I — or maybe any living being — could possibly find the happiness, safety, ease, and freedom being offered through metta practice. Maybe we didn’t even deserve it! When I put my hand on my heart, as we are often asked to do during this practice, I felt numb and disconnected. I thought of loving-kindness as an unnecessary additive to the more important four foundations of mindfulness. I ignored the practice for many years.

Then, a wise and insightful teacher saw me struggling and assigned metta as my daily practice for three months. It wasn’t because my teacher thought I was not a kind and loving person — I am — but I needed a way to love all beings, and to offer that love to myself too.

I discovered that while loving-kindness is taught in many ways by different teachers, ultimately it is an equaliser and an antidote to hatred and aversion. It is a state that can be developed through practices that help us cultivate the unconditional, expansive qualities of the heart. Metta is the great balancer to insight and mindfulness practices.

When I discovered other translations of the word metta, like care, friendliness, goodwill, and benevolence, the practice began to feel more accessible and less lofty. Metta felt like something I could touch and cultivate daily. The great balancer began to do its work. My doubt began to melt.

In trying times such as these, it seems difficult to imagine that we could soften our hearts and find love amid all of the suffering we hear about daily. Yet, the prescription of the Buddha is that even in the darkest of places and times, our heart-mind has the capacity to be free from the burdens of hatred.

Here is a four-step instruction for metta. These steps are for practising loving-kindness for yourself. You can also practice metta for others in different categories, such as people close to you, friends, people you are neutral toward, people you find difficult, and ultimately all living beings.

Initially, set aside 15-20 minutes to do the four steps. As you develop your practice, you can add more time as you wish. Setting a timer is helpful.

1. PUT YOUR BODY AT EASE

Find a physically comfortable space. Sitting in a comfortable chair or lying down is helpful. If you feel at ease on a meditation cushion, that is fine too. The idea is to find a posture that allows the body to be in as much ease as possible. Allow yourself to feel held and supported by whatever you’re sitting or lying on. Closing the eyes can help to facilitate ease. If that’s not comfortable, then allow the eyes to be open and gazing softly at a singular point.

2. SOFTEN THE BELLY AND CHEST

Intentionally soften the belly to start. Feel the expansion and contraction as each breath fills the belly and chest area. Allow your breathing to facilitate space in your belly and chest area. Take your time; there’s no rush. If you feel tension, that’s okay.

3. RECALL FEELINGS OF LOVE AND KINDNESS

Focus on the heart area. Placing your hand on your heart can add to this step. See if you can recall feelings of care, kindness, and friendliness. Let them permeate your heart area. Stay with this while moving into the next step. If the feelings seem inaccessible or difficult right now, stay with the spaciousness and breathing into the belly and chest areas.

4. DO THE RECITATION

Reciting phrases is a classic way of practising metta. Whether we believe the phrases in the moment or not, it’s still useful to say them; they give the heart and mind something to land on and to aspire to. You can express them in any way you want, with these basic sentiments in mind. Repeat these phrases for the length of your practice period:

May I be safe

May I be healthy

May I be happy

May I be at ease

May I be filled with loving-kindness

May I be peaceful

In metta practice, it is normal for the doubting mind to pop up and challenge the notion of loving ourselves and others. Don’t let this doubt stop you. It is important to know that metta is not a practice of perfection, but one of cultivation. This is our practice — freeing our heart and mind from the clutches of fear, hatred, and confusion, regardless of what is happening in the world around us. I am happy to report, after trying it myself, that this skeptic is now convinced!

If you want to do your best for future generations of humanity, for your friends and family, you must begin by taking good care of yourself.

-- Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche

因果法

聖嚴法師

因果是從因緣而來的。從‘前與後’的關系看，叫作因果；從‘彼與此’的關系看，叫作因緣。你和我的關系，他和他的關系，彼此之間發生關系叫作緣。由現在的緣，連接上過去的緣和未來的緣，便是三個時間和位置的兩重因果關系。

諸位想聽佛法，結果來農禅寺聽聖嚴講‘因緣果法’，這是因果。諸位都聽過‘種瓜得瓜，種豆得豆’的話，種時叫因，得時叫果；好人一定有好報，壞人也一定有壞的下場。若僅從現在一生來說，因果論是不容易說服人的，佛法所談論的因果，必須是三世的兩重，並且是從現在的三世，追溯過去的三世，推展到未來的三世。

我們現在的三世是指這一生的時間過程：昨天、今天、明天，乃至往上有父母、祖先，往下有子子孫孫；過去的三世是指我們自己在此生未出生以前，無量世中的每一個時間的過程中，在何處做何事、遇何人；未來的三世是指這期生命結束以後，來生、再來生以後的無窮來生所接受到的一切。

如果僅僅講現在生的三世，是沒有辦法講得合理的。有的人做了很多的善事，積很多的陰德，可是沒有親生的兒子來繼承其遺產；有的人出生於窮苦的家庭，甚至有一雙為非作歹的父母，他自己卻是社會佼佼者，乃至是國家的忠貞志士，這種例子很多。因此，在人間能夠大富大貴、連續數代的，很不容易。以其興衰之間，似有因果，然非定則。如果把因果觀念延伸到過去三世及未來三世，對現在所遭遇到任何不幸，都不會怨天尤人；對於現在所得的成就和幸運，也不會覺得驕傲和炫耀。遇到倒霉不如意的事會心平氣和；遇到平步青雲，一帆風順的時候，仍會虛懷若谷、謹慎小心。只要時時努力，不必擔憂未來的前途。如果你現在不求努力改進，因循怠惰，既來的惡運不易除；已有的好運不會久，壞的會更壞，好的不會再來。若對今生所有的遭遇，平心靜氣的接受它，且繼續不斷的改善它，一定會有無限光明的前途，就在前面等待著我們；不僅僅是天堂或極樂世界，最後還能成佛。就如同我們將一分一毫的小錢，慢慢地存起來，日積月累，到最後甚至於可開一間銀行。所以我們的功德智慧都是從日常生活之中，隨時隨地、點點滴滴地逐漸累積起來，最後功德圓滿就成佛了。

相反地，因與果也不是必然的，剛才我們提到的‘種瓜得瓜，種豆得豆’，實則種瓜不一定得瓜，種豆也不一定得豆。記得我在日本求學時，曾遇到一位大居士給我一筆錢。我問他：‘你是不是要我替你做什麼？’他說：‘因為我在求學的時代很窮，靠別人的資助才完成學業。如今我有了力量，也以同樣的心態來贊助別人求學。’這種情形叫‘同類因得同類果’，因為前人對他怎麼做，他對後人也怎麼做。當時我告訴他：‘我是和尚，不可能很富有，將來大概無法以財力幫助他人。’他說：‘法師，你將來並不是以錢布施，而是以佛法做布施，以修行去化世。’這是‘同類因得異類果’。

如果助人不求回報，不懷任何目的，是種有漏的因，得無漏的果。什麼是有漏、無漏呢？我幫助人，而別人真正得到物質上、精神上的利益，將來他們也會給我回饋，來幫助我；這好象是做投資生意，種何因得何果，這是世間法，是有漏的。如果不求果報，那便做了善事而不以為有善事可做，雖度一切眾生而實無一眾生得度。這種情形對眾生而言，是有的，是種有為因得無為果；對佛菩薩來說，是既未種因也不得果，名為無漏因與無漏果。

有因不一定有果。如果我們將任何一粒種子放在倉庫裡，不去理會它，它是永遠都不會發芽的。若種因以後，不加以培植、照顧和保護，那麼這個因等於沒種；甚至將稻種存放數年後，再去播種，發芽的比例便會減少；光播種而不給予陽光、空氣、水及肥料等外緣，也難有結果可見。所以我們曾做過的好事，也必須繼續不斷地培養它，才能結成善果；若不加悉心的照料，而任其枯萎，是非常可惜的事。

反過來說，做惡事也不一定有惡報。很多人自認為業障深重，想學佛很難，更何況了生死，因此，干脆不學佛不修行，這就錯了。佛經裡有一段比喻說：麻園裡有很多的草籽，草籽會發芽長出草來，但由於麻很高大，草雖長出來，但得不到足夠的陽光及露水滋潤，不久，也就慢慢枯萎了。同樣地，我們雖然有業障，若能不斷地修行，且在修行的過程，業障也必然會起現行，可是，由於不再造惡業，且不斷地增強修行的力量，慢慢地也能將重罪轉為輕報；本來應該被砍頭的，因為修行的關系，結果被竹竿或樹枝打一下就算了；或者造了地獄因，當受地獄報，卻因修行很努力，結果害了一場重病就抵償光了。

再舉個例子：我在美國的道場，後院雜草叢生，拔不勝拔，真是‘野火燒不盡，春風吹又生’。我有一位洋弟子為了曬坐墊，將一塊三夾板平放在院子裡，結果他忘記將板子收回，一直放了三個月後我回美國時，才叫他收回。當他將板子拿起來時，發現木板下寸草不生，連草根草種子，都腐爛光了，而木板外四周是雜草成堆。淨土法門說帶業往生，生到極樂世界以後，等到花開見佛之時，業障也就消掉了。我們有很多的業障，只要至誠懇切地念阿彌陀佛聖號，定能生西方，到西方極樂世界以後，那些業障就沒有機會萌芽受報，慢慢地業的力量也就消失殆盡。

因此，種因不一定結果。但要想讓已種的因不結果，有二種方法：1.種善因而不繼續努力，因就不會結果。2.種惡因卻繼續不斷地努力修行，則惡因也不會結果。所以講因緣一定要講果報，講果報不一定是決定性的，如果是絕對的，那麼眾生就無法成佛了。但是在凡夫地，是沒辦法逃避因果，唯有努力不懈地學佛修行，才有辦法離開因果報應。一般人怕閻王、怕死、怕下地獄，閻王是真的存在，是我們自己所造的業所招感來的。因此，閻王是緣，不是因，我們不造因則閻王奈何不了我們的；我們造了業，就是沒有閻王，也會跑出一個來。諸位，我們如果站在緣的立場，那麼我們就不會造罪因，為什麼呢？因為‘無我’。一切的一切都是為別人幸福，如此還會有我嗎？所以，要做緣，不要做因，我們要不怕業果，就怕自己不能不造業因。

Take advantage of this human boat;

Free yourself from sorrow’s mighty stream!

This vessel will be later hard to find.

The time that you have now, you fool, is not for sleep!

-- Shantideva

Managing anger in a relationship

by Venerable Thubten Chodron

1. A key human emotion in any relationship is anger. In Buddhism there are two other words that are related to anger — hatred and ill-will. Are they similar from the perspective of Buddhist psychology?

Anger, hatred and ill-will are similar in that they’re all based on exaggerating the negative aspect of a person or situation or projecting negativity that isn’t there on a person or situation. Based on anger or hatred, ill-will goes further and makes plans to harm others. We’re angry, jealous, or spiteful and want others to “have a taste of their own medicine” so that they will know how we feel. However, harming them generally pushes them further away, and instead of regretting how they have treated us, they become angrier and the conflict escalates.

2. As anger is so much a part of our human emotions, is it possible to express a bit of anger that is not hurtful?

To answer this, let’s look at our own experience when someone else expresses a little bit of anger to us. What is our emotional response? We generally feel hurt, don’t we? How do we act when we feel hurt? Usually we either attack the other person, or we disengage and refuse to talk to him or her. In the same way, this is the way others feel and respond when we express a bit of anger towards them.

Does our angry behaviour bring about the results we want? Usually not. When we’re hurt and angry — especially with a family member or someone else we care about — what we really want is to be close to them. This is true, isn’t it? If we didn’t care about them and want to be close to them, we wouldn’t get so upset.

But our anger propels us to act in ways that bring about the opposite of what we want. For this reason, and also because anger is based on exaggeration and projection, it’s to our advantage to subdue our anger.

What is the first step we should take to prevent anger from arising in us?

First, we must recognise our anger and acknowledge that we have it. Blaming our anger on others — saying, “You made me mad!” — is not accurate. Our anger comes from the seed of anger inside of us; it comes from our self-centredness that filters everything through the lens of “me, I, my and mine.” The other person is only the external condition. We’ve got to own our anger and take responsibility for it, instead of blaming others. Only then will we be able to work effectively to subdue it.

After we recognise that we’re angry, instead of criticising ourselves for being angry and releasing our anger on others, we need to reflect on the disadvantages of anger. Of course, this is more effective to do when we’re not angry! By reviewing our lives and seeing the adverse effect of anger on our relationships and our internal sense of well being, we’ll want to learn the antidotes to anger.

One good source where you will find many antidotes to anger is Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, chapter 6. H.H. the Dalai Lama’s book Healing Anger and my book Working with Anger are both modelled on this. In the Pali tradition, Buddhaghosa’s Path to Purification and Dhammapala’s A Treatise on the Paramis are good resources as well.

Reading these books or hearing teachings is a good start, but alone they won’t eliminate our anger. We have to put the teachings they give into practice. Doing that takes time and joyous effort, but it pays off.

Divorce happens when two people in a marriage attack each other and say the nastiest words over the smallest things because they’re being driven by their feelings of anger. What is the best way to prevent such a situation from arising in the first place?

In our modern society, people have a lot of myths about romantic love and marriage. In the rush of “falling in love,” they expect that feeling to last forever and neglect to see the other person as a whole human being who has faults as well as good qualities. Or if they see the other person’s faults, they think, “They will change because they love me,” or “Our love is so pure that I will help them get over this problem.”

This way of thinking blinds us to the reality of intimate relationships — they require work. Both people need to work together and learn to communicate wisely and kindly. When each partner is willing to do this, the couple will grow closer and more accepting of each other as time goes on. Releasing their false expectations, they will learn to genuinely wish the other person to be happy and free of suffering.

To improve our ability to communicate, I recommend Marshall Rosenberg’s nonviolent communication. In books and DVDs of his seminars, he explains how to recognise and compassionately express our feelings and needs, and how to make requests — not demands — to other people. Like the Dharma, he tells us that instead of focusing on what the other person is doing and trying to get them to change and do what we want them to do, to look at what is going on inside of ourselves. Instead of judging others’ actions, he helps us learn to empathise with their feelings and needs.

When anger has arisen in one partner, how should the other partner react so as not to further aggravate the situation?

Rosenberg discusses four possible ways of responding to another person’s anger — the first two aggravate the situation, the last two help us communicate well.

Blame the other person: “You’re totally untrustworthy! You’re always picking at me! Shut up and leave me alone!”

Blame ourselves: “I’m such a failure, no wonder my partner is treating me this way. All the problems in the marriage are due to my inability to open up and love.”

Give empathy to the other person: “Are you angry because you need understanding and acceptance? Are you upset because you need appreciation/ fairness / safety, etc.?”

Give empathy to ourselves: “I feel scared and insecure when my partner is angry. I take refuge in the Three Jewels and feel supported by the Buddha’s compassion. I, too, can face this situation with kindness and compassion.”

How can one engage with the other partner in a relationship if he/she refuses to make the effort to curb the anger from arising but allows it to run uncontrolled?

Instead of describing the situation as “He/she refuses to make the effort to curb his/her anger,” describe it as, “He/she lacks the tools to see the disadvantages of anger and to manage his/her anger.” In other words, instead of seeing the situation as the other person’s fault, see it as something they are not yet skilled in doing. That will give you and them the mental space to relax in the situation.

It’s also worthwhile to examine the dynamics between the two of you. Are there things that you do that particularly annoy the other person or flame the fire of their anger? If so, you may want to look at your actions in more depth and see if there are other ways you could act or respond that would be less irritating or frustrating for the other person.

Another suggestion is to remember that the other person’s suffering lies behind their anger and offer them understanding and compassion. In that way, see that their anger has little to do with you and so don’t take what they’re saying personally. See it as an expression of their internal pain and confusion. Or you could suggest that the two of you together or separately seek help in working with your differences.

Shantideva said patience is a great virtue but how long can one maintain a relationship if the other partner is always angry and verbally abusive?

Patience doesn’t mean being a doormat. It doesn’t mean we allow or even enable a person to be verbally or physically abusive. Patience means that we are able to remain calm and clear in confronting harm and suffering. With that calm, clear mind we can then reflect on various courses of action and decide on the one that seems best. Patience can lead to being active and assertive; don’t confuse patience with passivity. They are very different. If someone is being physically or verbally abusive to you, for their benefit and your own, tell them that behaviour is inappropriate and leave the situation.

It is also possible that the other party in a relationship will regard this patience or non-retaliation as acknowledgement of faults, and hence will further continue with more verbal or even physical abuse as a result of the anger. How should one react when this happens?

That happens when we are afraid and therefore are passive. It doesn’t happen when we have a sense of our own dignity and self-worth.

How can one develop the right wisdom through Buddhism to know the right time to break off a relationship because of the uncontrollable anger from the other partner?

If we or our children or parents are in physical danger, it’s time to leave. If we are unable to handle the verbal abuse and lose our self-confidence and sense of self-worth, it’s time to separate from the person and work on re-balancing yourself emotionally and spiritually. If allowing the other person to continue to vent their anger damages them and makes them spiral downwards, it’s time to separate from the person. We can separate with firmness and compassion, doing what we need to heal and praying that the other person will seek out the help they need to heal. Try to do this with compassion for yourself and other person and without blaming yourself or the other person. Avoid creating a hard and fast negative image of the other person and reacting to them as if they were 100% evil or untrustworthy. They still have good qualities. They are hurting as much as you are.

When divorce occurs and children are involved, the parents still need to learn to cooperate for the sake of the children. That means not speaking badly of the ex-spouse in front of the children, and not using access to the children as a means to retaliate or to get what you want from the ex-spouse. It means respectfully coordinating with each other who will be with the children when, and how to raise the children.