The Four Seals of the Dharma
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The Four Seals of the Dharma - Lama Khenpo Karma Ngedön
Introduction
The four seals of the Dharma represent the essence of all of the Buddha’s teachings. The explanations given here are short. Nevertheless, the meaning they express is as vast as it is profound. Furthermore, it is invaluable.¹²
Shakyamuni Buddha committed to the path by generating bodhicitta—the wish to attain enlightenment in order to accomplish the benefit of all beings. He followed the path by accumulating merit and, in the end, he realized enlightenment—the state of Buddhahood.
Once he had attained enlightenment based on his immense compassion for beings, he turned the wheel of Dharma three times. He transmitted three cycles of instruction, which make up a total of 84,000 teachings. The four seals sum up the essence of these teachings.
We consider ourselves Buddhist, but what does this expression mean?
Atisha said that a person who takes refuge vows toward the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha is a Buddhist. Thus, a Buddhist is someone who affirms the Three Jewels.
There are two differences between a Buddhist and a non-Buddhist.
- One difference relates to conduct or behavior (taking refuge falls into this category).
- One difference relates to the point of view regarding phenomena.
Manifesting love for all beings and practicing generosity is not ethical conduct exclusive to Buddhism. Many people of different convictions adopt this ethic—from a religious and non-religious point of view. We can, therefore, speak of a general or common conduct in this regard.
The specificity of Buddhism lies in the practice of generosity and of beneficial acts for others based on refuge in the Three Jewels—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
Regarding the point of view, we can distinguish two types of individuals:
- Those who accept the four seals (which we will explain in detail in the current text) can be called Buddhist.
- Those who do not accept or do not act in accordance with the four seals are not authentic Buddhists, even if they refer to themselves this way or wear monastic clothing or other identifying articles.
Study and understanding of these four seals are therefore essential.
In the world, we can distinguish those people who choose to follow a spiritual path from those do not follow any form of spirituality.
Furthermore, among those individuals who adopt a spiritual path, we can distinguish two types:
- Those who believe in the existence of a creator god.
- Those who do not accept the principle of a creator.
Today, those who believe in a creator god generally belong to one of the following four religious groups:
Christianity
Hinduism
Islam
Judaism
The religious traditions that do not accept a creator god include, notably:
The Samkhya school of India. This is a very ancient tradition including a school of thought that still exists today.
Jainism.
Buddhism.
With the exception of Buddhism, all religions affirm the existence of an inherent and independent self. Buddhism is the sole religion or philosophy that does not accept the reality of a self independent of any other factor.
Buddhism adopts the perspective of both the dependent origination and the emptiness of all phenomena. As such, no phenomenon exists solely based on itself in an independent fashion. This is also referred to as the absence of inherent existence. The teaching on the four seals of Dharma explains this point of