Integration

by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

The definition of a sentient being is to have a mind that experiences pain and pleasure, suffering and happiness. As I mentioned previously, we humans all unconditionally desire happiness and freedom from pain. Likewise, in the animal realm, the instinct is also  to seek happiness and freedom from suffering. However, animals are limited in their pursuit of this due to their inability to think clearly and act positively. In the human realm we have the critical intelligence that animals lack.

Human beings have the ability to discern what is true happiness and what is not. We can understand the causes of happiness and reject the causes of suffering. Even though we as humans possess this capacity for discrimination, it remains dormant if we don’t use it. To be able to use this ability, we need to cultivate the three wisdoms. With the hearing wisdom, the contemplative wisdom, and the meditative wisdom, the natural aptitude we have can be brought out to the fullest extent to serve our most basic needs.

We must acknowledge our potential and capacity. If we fail to do so, we degrade ourselves to the level of animals. Demeaning ourselves is a common problem. Saying, “Oh, I can’t do this,” is actually a form of laziness. “Oh, it’s beyond me. I can’t think. It’s too much pressure to think.” Things like this keep us stuck at a lower level of intelligence, unable to develop our potential. First you must acknowledge your critical intelligence and how it needs to be trained  and developed.

Next, endeavour to comprehend true happiness, which has a wide range. There are two kinds of happiness: sensory pleasure and mental happiness. Sensory pleasure is when you see, hear, smell, taste, or experience something wonderful — music being played, a nice  perfume, a scented flower, tasty food, the feeling of being warm and comfortable, or coolness on a hot day. Mental happiness is much more subtle. Pleasurable physical sensations can only be created through objects that have the capacity to give you gratification. But who is the true experiencer of this happiness? Although sensory perception is experienced, the pleasure is in the  discriminative mind. It’s the inner mind that truly experiences this contentment, this pleasure. When the inner mind is totally stressed and worried about something, the pleasures surrounding the sensory body, like being in a beautiful house or a nice garden, do not give rise to mental ease. Mind is depressed. Mind is worried. This inner mind that is in pain dominates the experience and outshines the sensory pleasures that are being fed to the sensory organs. 

Most of the time happiness depends on its own resource, the inner mind. The inner mind has a constant dialogue going on within itself, depending upon your view, perspective, and attitude. It is this inner mind that shapes one’s ability to find deep happiness and strength. That’s where the Dharma comes in. The Dharma is not going to provide you with anything for the sensory body. Dharma is all food for the inner mind. Dharma provides you with the view, perspective, and attitudes to train yourself and discipline this inner mind. Dharma guides you to bring  out your positive qualities and eliminate your negative characteristics. If you really want  happiness, you have to first discern the kind of happiness you want. If you want sensory pleasure, then Dharma does not have much to offer you. If you want happiness of mind, however, then  Dharma has a lot to offer.

In our current condition, we have no consistent happiness. What is the problem? From my point of view, and I have really drawn a strict conclusion on this matter, it is because we lack the practice of bodhichitta — we are unaware of the practice of bodhichitta. If we gain a knowledge and awareness of the practice of bodhichitta, we will be able to follow Through on that longing to be free from suffering and be happy. The more we engage in bodhichitta practice,  the stronger the blessing of the practice will be in our lives. If that practice of bodhichitta is not there, it is very difficult to be free from suffering and to sustain our mind in true, uncommon  happiness. 

We have two states of mind: relative mind and the absolute state of mind, which is enlightened. Ultimately, there is no difference between an enlightened being’s nature and that of a sentient being. Realisation of the enlightened nature is one way to fulfil the longing all sentient beings have to be happy and free from suffering. Through realisation we can actually transform all our perceptions, thoughts, and emotions and attain the state of freedom, happiness,  and bliss.

Having this longing for happiness motivates us to eventually establish it. Fuelled by the power of this longing, we should generate the aspiration bodhichitta and not give up the wish to be free. When the realisation of that wish is completely stabilised, we can interact with the world like so many of the great practitioners of the past. But in our lifetime, for us to feel that strong renunciation is difficult; also, the circumstances of our lives don’t always allow us to do that easily. Still, we shouldn’t give up the desire to become a genuine practitioner. The reason to become a genuine practitioner is to fully understand the wisdom of the Buddha’s enlightened teachings and to be able to integrate our mind with them for the benefit of all beings. To do this, we first need to purify our mind in the correct ways. Next, we need to establish our mind in the state of happiness that comes from practising the Buddha’s teachings. Finally, we have to have the wish to benefit others as much as we can. The practice of bodhichitta makes  that possible. 

We are trying to verify that which needs to be purified. We do not want to purify anything and everything, but rather something that harms and hurts us over and over again. We seek to purify something that we can actually verify, not only once, but again and again and again  with our critical intelligence.

That which truly harms us is anger of all types — big, medium, small, gross,  subtle — and all kinds of attachment, jealousy, competitiveness, and pride. The ultimate maker of all these negative emotions is stupidity. If we were wise and had no trace of stupidity, we wouldn’t get so involved in negative emotions. We wouldn’t be so hooked by these emotions. The motor that runs all of these emotions is stupidity itself — ignorance. This is the fifth disturbing emotion. These five, attachment, jealousy, competiveness, pride and stupidity are negative because they  cause use to experience the harm and pain that result from our mind being in an unhealthy state. This is what needs to be purified. Imagine a future without any attachment, aggression, jealousy, competitiveness, or arrogance. Our mind is going to be quite pure. Our mind is  going to be quite peaceful. Our mind is going to be quite free. 

We have to aim our mind towards being that way. We have to see the possibility for something like that to happen in our mind by taking the support of the Buddha’s teaching. If we remedy the root, the symptoms are naturally cured. That root, according to the Buddha’s  teachings, is nothing other than our self-importance. Our self-importance brings up these five negative emotions throughout the day and long into the night. Imagine having a good practice to remedy this self-importance, so it is not out of control. And then slowly, slowly get to a point where the self-importance is realised to be a thing designated by mind. In reality, there is no  self to be found. And then have a deeper sense of true wisdom to remedy the self-importance, a realisation of selflessness, the state of enlightened mind.

The initial stages of purification are very simple and easy to understand. We can all identify how much we have suffered from our own attachment, jealousy, pride, ignorance, and  aggression. There is no reason to deny or dispute this, although in the midst of an attack by  these emotions, we might defend or justify them. Later, when we regain our sanity and have some wisdom to fall back on — not simply going with the emotions or indulging the emotions — we will be  able to admit the suffering that has been created. We would never call it sane to indulge in our surging emotions and be carried away by deluded behaviour. The time when we are sane is  when we actually have some wisdom to fall back on in self-reflection, so that we can see what  actually hurt us, how it hurt us, and what could have been avoided, what we could have done  differently.

No matter how we are trained, as a philosopher or a practitioner, there are times when we are insane. But still, there are times we are sane. Otherwise everybody would have to be admitted to the mental hospital, and that would be too much of an expense for the state and federal governments! The times when we are sane are when we have wisdom to fall back  on. During those times, we want to practice the Dharma, learn the essence of the Buddha’s wisdom, apply the enlightened teachings to our mind, and actually change. We want to change this random insanity, unpredictability, and dependence on outer circumstances that create the  situation for our mind to react in terms of the five afflicting emotions. That we do not have control over outer circumstances makes our state of mind unpredictable in a negative way. If somebody says something that is hurtful, we react. This makes our life very unstable. We are shaky all the time, and to a degree, we are insane. And we want to change that.

To try to change that, we must get hold of our mind in a particular way. A lot of people try to control their rage, attachment, jealousy, and pride, but somehow the emotions get  out of control. We know these emotions are not good, that these emotions are not helpful, and that they hurt others and us. We want to try to hold them back, but we don’t know how to get a proper grip on them. Mind, with its emotional energy, is not something we can easily seize. A  concrete object, even a hot iron ball, can be held in our hands, given proper mantras and training. Workers building the Empire State Building actually threw hot iron from one hand to the other.

We can do that with physical objects, but with the mind it’s not so simple. Basically, there is no possibility of holding our mind without embracing it with wisdom. We have to give the mind something to do that is opposite to how it normally reacts or uses its energy. Unless we have the wisdom to counteract the habitual power of the mind that is making us react in a particular direction, that habit actually can become much more explosive and difficult.

We are talking through all this on the level of thought, on the emotional level. We must have some wisdom that actually guides the mind from the wrong habitual pattern to a new one, creating a new habit. Without this, it’s very difficult for the mind to control itself. And  that’s why we have hopeless cases. We never learn from life; we only wear ourselves out. And then maybe we get some freedom. But if we have to wear ourselves out to get some freedom, it is almost impossible to wait for all the neuroses to wear themselves out.

To try to hold your mind — to suppress the temptations and seeds of temptation that are ripening within the disturbing emotions — is disastrous. It simply doesn’t work. Mind at that point needs to know what it should do. What would be the best thing for mind to do when it gets angry, for instance? Use the energy of anger to fuel kindness. That you can do, because you know anger is not good. Anger harms you, and it harms others. You do not necessarily want to get angry. One who follows anger is powerless. So, be really convinced that being kind will remedy  this anger. Generate kind thoughts and feelings — this you have to learn from Dharma. But once you have learned it, you can do it.

Kindness and angry thoughts cannot exist together. One will always overpower the other. If you examine the competition between anger and kindness, which will win in the end? People tend to say, “Oh, maybe the anger will be much stronger.” That’s only because of bad habit, however. If you don’t have that habit, if your habit is not that way, anger has no reason to win, because it doesn’t do any good to you or anyone else. It harms you, and it harms others too. Anger is based on ignorance, based on actually having no self-control. All those points make the anger fundamentally weak. Kindness, on the other hand, does good for you and others. You know that already. It remedies anger by freeing you from it and from the sensation of it. Kindness based on practice is self-willed. For all these reasons, kindness will win out over anger.

If you have habitually indulged in anger for a long time, of course, that might give it added power. But in objective terms, anger has no reason to win out over kindness, while kindness has all sorts of reasons to win out over anger, as does sympathetic joy over jealousy. If you don’t practice and want to continuously indulge, well, that is another story. But if you practice, sympathetic joy has many reasons to win out over jealousy, just as detachment has  much more reason to win out over attachment, as does humbleness over arrogance and pride. All the practices of the four immeasurables and positive qualities have solid, genuine, real  reasons to win. And this is your capital. Right? If you don’t know your own capital, you can never actually increase your wealth. You have to know what your capital is in order for your wealth to increase. The practices of bodhichitta that you try to cultivate have all the reasons to win over  that which you want your mind to be free from.

To do that, to free your mind is to learn through the hearing and contemplative wisdoms and to put them into practice through meditation. The application aspect is important here. Merely reading a medical text is not going to cure you of a disease, is it? You have to not only read it, but also do what the text suggests. You have to put the instructions into practice.  From my point of view — and this is from the point of view of the teachings, too — you have a great  chance to free yourself from the five negative disturbing emotions, day by day, week by week, and month by month. There can come a time when you will have no negative emotions in your  mind from morning till night, and eventually not even in your dreams. What makes this happen is the practice of bodhichitta, the practice of the genuine four immeasurables. Based on the practice of the four immeasurables, generate the real and genuine wish to be enlightened for the benefit of others. This is not just an ordinary wish, but a deep and heartfelt desire that all  beings be free from the suffering produced by the five disturbing emotions.

This is not an abstract thing. Our own suffering is very clear. We want to be free from suffering, not only for ourselves, but also for all beings. We want to attain the state of mind’s  perfect health — complete realisation of its own absolute and relative potentials, with the perfect  bliss that comes with it. If there is no bliss in the realisation of absolute truth and in the full blossoming of the potential of the relative positive qualities, what’s the point? There is bliss in realisation. Although it’s non-dual, it’s still blissful. We want that kind of freedom for all sentient  beings, as well as for ourselves.

It’s not like chanting by rote, when we have no time to think what we are saying. Now we know what enlightenment is. It is not theoretical. Now, with this wish — for all beings to be enlightened — strong inside of us, nothing else can occupy our mind. This wish comes up in our thoughts; it is a deep, burning flame inside of our heart. Thoughts come and go, but the burning  is there all the time. Yearning for enlightenment is there all the time.

In the past, perhaps the yearning for happiness and freedom was there, but it didn’t have a broad aim. Maybe the yearning only focused on the self. This time it’s not focused on yourself, it’s focused on all beings, everyone. That much is different. In the past, you did not know true, uncommon happiness. Now you know what happiness is. In the past, you did not know what freedom was. Now you do. In the past, you did not know what caused suffering. Now you know. In the past, you did not know how to get happiness. Now you do. In some ways it’s the same, but in another way it is not, and that makes all the difference. Very simply, there is a very  big change inside of you. That yearning is burning as it always has, but now it’s united with the  aim to be free from suffering: knowing what suffering is, what the cause of suffering is, and wishing happiness not merely for yourself but for all beings, to have the happiness that is  enlightenment.

What can bring uncommon happiness to you is wishing that others be happy. Wishing that others be happy, wishing others to be enlightened, and dedicating your whole life to the practice of the paramitas, which actually engages in the work of enlightenment, is what brings you there. 

Bodhichitta practice brings you to that ultimate happiness. This time, something is different. You were on the wrong track in the past, but now you are on the right track. Being able to discriminate between the two with your intelligence is a big improvement. In the past  you longed for freedom and happiness only for yourself, and that put you on the wrong track. Longing for freedom and wishing for happiness is good, because that’s needed. There’s no  harm in that. But wishing that only for yourself puts you on the wrong track. It is not only you who is in need of freedom and happiness. The need here is all-pervasive, because all sentient beings  need this, so you direct your focus towards them as well. Focusing only on yourself in the past led you astray. Now, longing for all beings to be free from suffering and wishing all beings to be happy and perfectly enlightened is the right track.

How do you know that this was the wrong track and that you are now on the right track? When you wished only for you own happiness, you never got it. Instead, it made things worse. But wishing all beings to be free from suffering and wishing all beings to be happy is  how all of the buddhas and bodhisattvas became enlightened.

If you want happiness for yourself, practice kindness — you will be happy. If you practice attachment, you will suffer. If you practice compassion, you will be happy. If you practice aggression, you will be unhappy. From your own life experience you can see the evidence and feel quite encouraged to go in the right direction. When you yearn from deep within not only for yourself, but for all beings, to be free from suffering and have happiness that gets  translated into wishing all beings to be free from the sufferings of samsara and to be enlightened. Occupy your mind with that and making those prayers — then nothing can attack you. There is no way for the negative emotions to strike. You have secured your mind completely. It is impossible for negative emotions to arise while you are practising bodhichitta. While there is sunlight, it is impossible for darkness to come.

As long as you are practising bodhichitta, how can negative emotions attack you? Only when your mind leaves bodhichitta practice and gets back into old habits, into its usual pattern, can your mind be attacked. This life, this day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month affair of your whole life, is where you must secure your mind. If you truly secure your mind, there is no way for it to be attacked by the afflicting emotions. Compare the power of your newly learned bodhichitta practice with the power of countless aeons of various births with all their negative habits. Which is more powerful? The newly learned practice is much more powerful  than anything else.

Feel encouraged. This is the capital that will secure your mind through the practice of bodhichitta. Never second-guess what supports you the best. The more convinced and clear you are inside, the greater the practitioner you will become. If you are second-guessing, doubting, not quite sure what supports you the most — wondering if you want this support for sure — it will take a long time to mature. Eventually you will mature, but in the process you will be quite abused by all the negative emotions. The sooner you settle your mind on this, the quicker you  will be able to secure your mind in the practice of bodhichitta.

Additionally, there won’t be such a contest between wisdom and ignorance. Right now we are still somewhat relying on ignorance. When we pit wisdom against ignorance, wisdom has already won. We only have to fight against habit. In the deepest analysis, we have  no real conflict here, but only a conflict in the power of habits, which is easy to remedy. When habits challenge us, we can take them on. However, we can’t take ignorance on all by ourselves and win.

The first step is to get as clear as possible. Gain conviction in the wisdom of the Dharma, in the practice of the Dharma, as the remedy that supports you. Do not second-guess yourself, have doubts, or remain unsure. If the challenge of the habitual tendencies comes, you can take them on. That can actually be exciting, since you have no confusion. It’s a way you can actually measure your growth. Everyone wants to grow, so it can be exciting. The more habitual power you can overcome, the more exciting it gets. Removing fundamental ignorance is the most important thing. Your own experience removes that ignorance. You yourself are the best teacher of all. Your own experience teaches you what supports you and what doesn’t, what makes sense and what doesn’t, what enlightens you and what makes you stay in the same dark  ignorant place.

From all of our experiences, we can discern that what the Buddha taught and what sentient beings experience are not different things. It’s proven that the five negative afflicting emotions harm us, hurt us, and bring us down constantly, day by day, hour by hour. The primary cause of that is self-importance. What can actually remedy the five negative disturbing  emotions? The practice of the four immeasurables, and particularly a wish for all beings to be free  from suffering and happy — this wish being translated into a wish for the enlightenment of all beings. That yearning for all beings to be enlightened, making that a prayer and keeping that yearning and praying going all the time, is aspiration bodhichitta. That deep wish for oneself  to be enlightened for the benefit of all beings secures your mind. The negative emotions  cannot attack you when this is present. Only habit can attack you. And the frequency and success  with which habits attack you are a measure of your growth. This can be exciting. It’s not like you are always going to win. You might have some regrets here and there. But basically you will win. You could bet on this, unlike on a soccer game, which could go one way or the other. Here you  can bet, because there’s no danger of losing in the long run.

This is really the essence of the Buddha’s teachings, the essence of the practice. This is what you will learn. Try it out. From tonight until tomorrow morning, right before you fall asleep, or right after you wake up, or simply continuously, make this yearning for freedom inside of you — yearn for all beings to be free from suffering. Make this wish inside of you for all beings to be happy, and translate that into the wish for enlightenment for all beings. Keep this wish throughout the night and day; see how your mind is sustained in a state of peace and bliss and is subsequently protected and secured from negativity. That alone is evidence, and will make you more convinced.