Lama Norlha Teaching
Lama Norlha Teaching
Through practicing generosity and the other Paramitas, May I achieve Buddhahood to benefit beings. (3X) Whatever merit we accumulate Through prostrating, making offerings, confessing, Rejoicing, requesting and praying, I dedicate to the goal of enlightenment. The earth is sprinkled with fragrant water and strewn with flowers; Adorned with Mount Meru, the four continents, the sun and moon. Imagining all this as a Buddha realm, I offer it May all beings enjoy this immaculate domain. Pray turn the Wheel of Dharma Of the Ordinary, Great or Small Vehicle In accord with the various attitudes and dispositions Of each and every being. Once we have entered the door of the Mahayana dharma, its very important for us to give rise to a vast motivation, and we call that motivation of the Mahayana bodhicitta. What that means is, its an attitude of wishing to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings whose numbers fill the extent of space. So we think upon all sentient beings, and understanding that all of them, at one time or another, have been our kind parents, and our current situation is one like as if mothers are not recognizing their children and children are not recognizing their mothers. So instead of recognizing the kind of fundamental positive connection we have with all sentient beings, instead we form other sorts of relationships: we make friends and enemies, we have attachment and aversion to various sentient beings, and it is in that way that we cycle again and again, we take birth again and again in samsara. And all of us are alike in that: although we all want to have happiness, we dont understand that virtue is the cause of true happiness, although we dont want to suffer, we dont understand that unvirtuous actions are the cause of suffering. So we end up engaging in unvirtuous actions that produce the suffering that we dont want to experience. When we look upon this situation that were all in, this should inspire us to want to attain enlightenment, not only for our own benefit, but for the benefit of all sentient beings who are basically in the same situation. And we should think, theres no way that I cannot attain enlightenment, I must attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. From among the six types of birth in samsara, we have been born in the human realm. Although we are not able to directly see the hell realms or the hungry ghost realms, we can see the suffering of the animal realm. We can see that the stupidity of animals affects their freedom and causes them to experience a lot of intense suffering. Realizing that we have not been born in one of the lower realms in which we have less freedom and more suffering, we should appreciate that we have in this lifetime attained a human existence. Within that human existence weve had the great good fortune of meeting with the dharma, and being able to listen to and practice the dharma. So for those reasons we are extraordinarily fortunate. Although we have this excellent support and vessel of a human body, if we dont make use of it, its not going to last for long. If we dont immediately seize this great opportunity and use it to practice dharma, then it is the nature of our experience that everything changes, and everything is impermanent. We often have this idea of our life stretching long before us in the future, but we actually have no power over that, no freedom to affect the length of our lives in that way. And every day, day by day, as each day is exhausted we grow closer to the time of death, and when that time actually comes, then theres nothing we can do to stop it. So in this time that we have now, before our body is destroyed, we should make our lives as meaningful as possible.
If we think about in our own lives, how many years have passed since the time of our birth until now, even though it could be many years, its all gone now, its as if it was over in a moment. So even though as you go through a single day, it may seem like the day is long as youre going through it, but at the end of the day when you look back over it, its as if it was just exhausted in a moment. So our life will go like that, just day by day, until it is completely exhausted, and the only thing that will benefit us at the time of death is our practice of the dharma. Kalu Rinpoche used to say that having this precious human existence with all the freedoms and opportunities that we need in order to practice the dharma is like finding a wish-fulfilling jewel, and this is like a wonderful or an amazing opportunity, and we must make use of that. The way to make use of that is to use this human existence to become free permanently from the ocean of suffering that is samsara. There have been many Buddhas who have come to this world, and those Buddhas have taught the dharma. They have taught the dharma according to the Hinayana and the Mahayana traditions, but very few Buddhas actually teach Vajrayana - the Diamond Vehicle or the Indestructible Vehicle. We are extraordinarily fortunate that the Buddha of this fortunate eon did teach Vajrayana, those teachings are available to us and we have the opportunity to practice them. In this current world that we live in, when the Buddhas teachings were spreading from India to other parts of the world, it often happened that one of those Vehicles was spread to a particular country. Sometimes, Hinayana was spread exclusively to one country, or Mahayana would spread to another country, or even Vajrayana alone would spread. But what was unique and special about the spreading of the dharma in Tibet is that due to the kindness of great kings, ministers and translators, all three of the Vehicles that were taught by the BuddhaHinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayanain their entirety, were spread to Tibet. Now Tibetan lamas have come to the West and given many teachings here, so we also have access to all three of these Vehicles. That is also particularly fortunate. All three of the Vehicles, especially Vajrayana, spread in Tibet, so there are many generations of experience with the teaching and practice of Vajrayana in that country. The upshot of this is that, whatever level of accomplishment was attained by the great masters of India, in terms of the fruit of both the study and practice (meditation practice and scholarship), those levels of mastery were equaled by the Tibetan masters. This kind of inconceivably wonderful transmission of the Buddhas teachings took place in Tibet. Basically we have at our disposal the lineages of these teachings, which have come in an unbroken line due to the kindness of many great lamas. Vajrayana, which is also sometimes referred to as Secret Mantra, is known to be the Vehicle of methods or means. Whereas Hinayana is like the foundation of the dharma (the teachings of Hinayana form the foundation of Buddhas teachings), and Mahayana is like the real main part, the real main essence of the Buddhas teachings, then Vajrayana is the means to make it al l happen. Vajrayana provides methods that allow us to achieve the ultimate fruit of the teachings. Sometimes when people start to practice the dharma, they learn calm-abiding meditation and maybe insight meditation, and they believe that meditation is about achieving a very restful, peaceful, pleasant state of mind, in which there is not a lot of thoughts in the mind -- and that is the whole purpose. When they are introduced to Vajrayana, they think that its complicated; it seems unnecessarily complicated or fabricated, or involves a lot of work, a lot of elaboration. But this is a sign of misunderstanding or lack of understanding of the meaning of the Vajrayana methods. Its true that there is no way for us to start the practice of dharma without establishing a stable practice of calm-abiding and insight meditation. First calming the mind through tranquility or calm-abiding meditation (in Tibetan known as shinay). Once one has that stable calm-abiding meditation, then add the insight aspect of meditation: that is extremely important. Milarepa said that to try to meditate or to do visualization without having calm-abiding or insight meditation is like trying to build a house without a foundation. The practice of calm-abiding and insight meditation is essential in order to do whats called the Generation Stage meditation, which are the stages of visualization in Vajrayana.
We have a lot of thoughts and conceptuality in our minds, and we have a lot of memories, emotions and confusion. Theres no way to get out from under all of that if we dont start with some kind of calm -abiding meditation and insight meditation. Well just be lost in all that habitual conceptuality and emotionality unless we stabilize our mind through meditation. Its very much like if you take some water from a creek, and you take some of the bottom dirt and sand with you and agitate it. Likewise, our mind with all of its thoughts and emotions is agitated. That water is cloudy when all of that dirt is mixed around and is mixed within it. But if you just let it settle down, then the silt, dust and dirt will go to the bottom and the water on top will be clear. So its the same way with our mindswe have to find a method to allow us to bring the mind to rest so that we have some clarity of awareness. Thats why in the beginning its essential to practice both calm-abiding and insight meditation. Milarepa also said that in the still pond of calm-abiding meditation, the flower of insight must blossom. And what hes referring to here is -- if were just stuck with calm -abiding, just concentration meditation, making the mind quiet and stable, and almost like having attachment, (attachment to that peaceful state of resting), then one wont be able to develop profound insight, or ones mediation will hit a wall. Its important to go beyond just that stillness and actually develop insight and understanding into the nature of mind. The practices of Vajrayana that involve visualization, sometimes called the Creation or Generation Stage (which basically refers to that stage of meditation which you are visualizing), is a profound method to foster the experience of insight. Vajrayana or Secret Mantra is often referred to as the Path of Methods or the Path of Means, and these are extremely profound and effective means. But it is possible for one to encounter many obstacles when on that Path. Because of that, it is extremely important when practicing Vajrayana to have a qualified guide - an authentic lama to guide ones practice - and also to have other fellow sangha members who are fellow Vajrayana practitioners. All of that helps to stabilize ones practice and to prevent obstacles. In Vajrayana, a qualified lama is one who is part of an authentic lineage. Its a lama who does not have broken or impaired samayas (samayas are the sacred commitments and bonds that he has with his teachers). Its someone who has received the proper transmissions of empowerments, re ading transmissions, instructions and blessings from a teacher that possesses a lineage in an unbroken way. Those are some of the qualities that are important for a Vajrayana lama. The authentic lama has genuine affection and loving-kindness towards his disciples. He has heartfelt compassion for sentient beings, wishes to benefit others and is not really concerned about his own benefit. He has a mind which is undeceptive. When a student is initially looking for a lama, or trying to decide if this is the right lama for one, then that is the time to examine the lama and make a decision about whether this is an authentic lama or not. Once one has made that decision, that this is an authentic lama, and starts to receive teachings and transmissions and so forth from the lama, then its very important that the student be unchanging in his dedication and devotion to the teacher in order to have the most fruitful relationship. That is the most important quality for the student. For the lama, the most important quality is that he be undeceptive. Then once one starts studying with the lama, the student will generally start learning the basic teachings of Hinayana, which are the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind. Basically through contemplating the nature of samsara, ones mind will turn away from worldly concerns and adopt dharma concerns. What this means is that we examine our relationship to the samsaric world and we see how, in our confusion, we have so much confidence that we can get happiness out of outer appearances and outer experiences. We also see that the appearances in samsara are lasting, permanent and truly existent. When we actually examine well the nature of the appearances of samsara, we see that they are not permanent by nature, they are not truly existent or independently existent by nature and they are not a source of lasting happiness. In that way our mind naturally turns away from the confused appearances of samsara. If we can understand that the appearances of samsara are illusory, then we will not have any difficulty in our dharma practice.
If we can have strong renunciation for the confused appearances of samsara, then we can actually attain the fruit of dharma practice. This means that at the time of our death our minds will be happy and contented, and we will meet that experience without any regrets. Its very important that we resolve that Im going to practice the dharma so that I have no regrets at the time of death. Then as the student progresses on the path, he will learn more about the principles of Mahayana, and will undertake whats called Ngndro or the preliminary practices. The practice of Ngndro forms the foundation of the Vajrayana practice. There are four different practices. The first one is prostrations (physical prostrations), going for Refuge, and developing the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of others -- Bodhicitta. That practice is a profound means to purify obscurations and negative karma - harmful actions one has previously accumulated. The second is the purification of the One-Hundred-Syllable Mantra. The third is the Offering of Mandala and the fourth is the devotional practice known as Guru Yoga. These four practices of Ngndro or preliminary practices were traditionally performed many times by the great lamas. You very commonly hear of great lamas finishing at least seven, twenty Ngndros. Rinpoche says his own root lama finished sixty Ngndros in his life. Sometimes you hear of lamas who did over one hundred. So it was not something they tired of because they recognized how profound and powerful these practices were. It is very important to form a foundation of ones Vajrayana dharma practice. The other thing to keep in mind is that the path of only Hinayana and Mahayana is a longer path. Its a slower path and it takes many, many lifetimes of accumulating merit and purifying obscurations until one can finally attain the fruit of enlightenment. Whereas Vajrayana is known as the Swift Path, the Profound Path - that if one practices it properly one can, like Milarepa, attain enlightenment in a single lifetime and in a single body. The practice of Secret Mantra/Vajrayana can allow one in a single lifetime to purify all of ones obscurations, accumulate all the merit that is needed to attain complete and ultimate freedom of mind that is complete enlightenment. Because Vajrayana teachings are so profound, the tradition is that it is extremely important that we accumulate a lot of merit before we undertake this practice. The tradition is to imagine that one offers a great cloud or mass of offerings that fill all ends of space, filled with all desirable qualities, beautiful forms, pleasing sounds and music, and delicious tastes and so forth. One offers this --whats known as a Samantabhadra Offering Cloud (an inexhaustible vast mass of offerings) --to the lamas, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in request for teachings of Vajrayana. One of the fundamental principles of Vajrayana visualization has to do with purification of the birth process. Theres a lot of confusion involved with the taking of birth, with the consciousness mixing with the fluids of ones parents at the time of conception. Many of the deity visualizations that we do involve a deity appearing from the state of emptiness, or from the seed syllable that then transforms into a deity. These are profound methods for purifying the confusion of the birth process. Doing deity visualizations, one begins to visualize the deity emerging from emptiness, often it comes from something small that then emerges into the larger form of the deity. So thats purification of the birth process. Then when one meditates on the full form of the deity, one often visualizes oneself as that deity. That part of the visualization is a profound method to help purify our habitual clinging to the aggregates of our physical and psychological sense of ourselves. We have very strong clinging to this body and to our various aggregates of our experience, such as our feelings, our opinions, our thoughts and so forth. So we all cling to that as being a self. The method of visualizing oneself as a deity is a way to purify or transfer that habitual clinging. Instead of identifying with this physical body, one imagines oneself to be the light form of the deity. So its a method of purification. Rinpoche was saying that that purification can happen in an instant. So at the instant that one just visualizes oneself as the deity, can be the instant that one purifies that habitual clinging to oneself as this physical form. Its extremely important that when doing deity visualization, one doesnt think of ones form as being solid -- its like made of light, its like a rainbow in space, its like a dream, like an illusion, like a reflection in a mirror, so it has that kind of insubstantial quality.
So these deities that we visualize ourselves as, actually come from Buddhas who have attained enlightenment, and within that state of enlightenment those forms of the deity have manifested in an enlightened state. Then the Buddha taught those, passed those down for practitioners to meditate upon, because they are profound means that allow one to approach that state of enlightenment oneself. So it is due to the power of interdependent phenomena that emerge within emptiness, and also due to the power of the Buddhas blessings, that these forms are taught to the disciples. These disciples then apply them in their own practice, and are able, through identifying with these pure forms, to purify their own impure perception of their body and their ego identification with the body. Through purifying obscurations and misunderstandings, they are able to realize the nature of their mind based on identifying with the light form of the deity. So there are great benefits to doing deity meditation. Theres the benefit of visualizing the initial generation of the form of the deity that comes from a state of emptiness, [which] as was said is a means for purifying the birth process. Theres also the benefit of meditating on oneself as the full form of the deity as a means to very quickly purify negative karma and obscurations accumulated in this lifetime. This is a very powerful method. Another way to explain it is that basically as sentient beings we have body, speech and mind, and right now we have confused body, speech and mind. Through Vajrayana practices in which we visualize ourselves as deities, ones ordinary body is then visualized as the light form of the deity, ones ordinary speech - when doing deity practice one recites mantra, reciting the pure sound of mantra - becomes the pure sound, and ones ordinary mind, instead of being engaged in its ordinary conceptuality and distraction, is then resting in a state of Samadhi or meditative absorption. Basically we are shifting these three fundamental modes of being that we havebody, speech and mind-- into this pure state of enlightened body, speech and mind. It is a very effective and profound method that can lead to the attainment of full enlightenment. If someone enjoys doing calm-abiding meditation and insight meditation exclusively, it is excellent if one is dedicated and diligent in that. But the thing to keep in mind is that if thats the only thing one does, it is hard to progress beyond a certain level. The methods of Vajrayana or Secret Mantra allow great progress and development on the path. The ultimate fruit of meditating on ones ordinary body as being the light form of the deity is one can arise as whats known as the Nirmanakaya. The ultimate fruit of reciting mantra is that ones speech will arise as the Sambhogakaya. And the ultimate fruit of resting ones mind in meditative absorption is that ones mind will arise as the enlightened Dharmakaya. So those three Kayas are basically the enlightened manifestation of body, speech and mind. If we are able to have a strong practice of whats called the Generation or Creation Stage meditation thats the visualization aspect, and also of the Completion Stage -referred to at the end of the meditation when we dissolve the visualization and then rest the mind in its natural state. If we have a strong practice which has both of those elements, then we can become free of suffering in this lifetime. At the time of our death we can be free of all suffering and fear and have freedom of mind that allows us to choose our next birth, or choose our experience in the future. But this is not possible to do so swiftly without Vajrayana. So maybe it would be good now to take any questions you have. He says, Id be happy to answer anything, because that would help peoples understanding, if you actually ask particular questions. Vajrayana is difficult to just explain in a simply, sort of obvious fashion, so its difficult for me to explain it, and its difficult probably for you to listen to it and to get it right away. So maybe it would be better if you had particular kinds of questions or concerns and maybe I could address those, so please feel free to ask anything. When you actually sit down to do Vajrayana practice, its really not that difficult in the sense that you have the instructions that youve been given, and you just go through it, and you try that every day. But when you just try to sum it all up, its such a vast and profound topic, its a little bit hard to e xplain in an easy-tounderstand way, especially because so much of it involves direct experience.
Also, although its called Secret Mantra, its not secret. Theres nothing secret because theres some problem or some fault that has to be kept secret. Its called Secret Mantra because it is so profound that its hard to understand at first, and its very easy to misunderstand if one just superficially hears some things about it. And through having a misunderstanding of the meaning of Vajrayana, one could then have a wrong view about it that would end up causing one a lot of suffering in the future. It could even cause rebirth in a hell realm if one turned against Vajrayana. It might be a little easier to explain the Vajrayana in the West, so much easier, because you can basically buy anything in this country and everything has been translated. Im not sure how much benefit it is ultimately, but people are generally educated enough so that they can read these books and basically or superficially at least understand the words. In Tibet it was not like that at all. But we have all these things available, so its possible that people have heard these things before or heard these general themes before, and so maybe it makes more sense.
Q: I have two questions: As far as the person teaching Vajrayana, is it best if the teacher only limit their teaching to what they have personally experienced through their own practice, rather than just reciting things that they read in a book? And my second question is if a person were to believe that they had a very short time left to live, what would be the best practice to do? A: Rinpoche feels that if one doesnt have personal experience understanding of Vajrayana, then its difficult to explain it to others. Its much better to have personal experience. That seems especially important in Vajrayana. Its probably okay in Mahayana to teach what one has just learned, generally what one has learned without maybe having full, personal, direct experience. But in Vajrayana the problem is the lineage: the lineage is so important, the lineage of empowerment. Its hard to get a teaching just by reading from a book. The lineage isnt really there. Its not the same as having a direct transmission from an unbroken lineage that comes through experience of each member of that lineage. So yes, its better to have personal experience. The best dharma is transmitted when one teaches with an understanding that comes from direct experience. So if one had only a short time to live, and that person had Vajrayana teachings, Vajrayana practices would be the best. If it was really that one didnt have much time, then it would probably be better to focus on one deity rather than many. If one had time to do many, that would be goodthe many that one had already learned. You were assuming that one had already been given some teachings or had some familiarity, or were you saying in general? Rinpoche sees the question in two ways. One could be a situation where ones life was cut short o r was going to be cut short. And the other situation is where were not necessarily having a shorter life but were so busy that we have very little time or we make very little time to practice. Often we feel like we dont have time for dharma practice, but if we allotted the time that we spent watching television for our dharma practice, we might find that we have a lot more time.
Q: What is the point of practicing Vajrayana with different deities? A: Whats the point of having different deities? Q: Yes. A: So the reason there are so many deities in Vajrayanaits just another skillful means, because we have so many preferences. The Buddha had great compassion and was very skillful, and made all these different options available because people have so many different ideas and inclinations. Thats why when you go to a restaurant theres usually a menu with many different things on it, its not just one thing
that everyone goes and gets the same dish. There are many things and there are many options, and different things you can add. And so its similar, because were like that, were all so different. Kalu Rinpoche used to explain it like that, and its really true. Its a very good way of describing it. Q: Is it important to achieve a certain level of detail in visualization? And also, another practical question on visualization: Say if youre having to imagine yourself as something, is that something that you project, or is that a feeling that you have? A: When you say, do you project do you mean visualize? Q: Yes, visualizing say your own body, because you cant see yourself. A: Right. Q: So are you projecting something or are you A: I see what youre saying, or is it sort of a sense that you have? Okay, so there are two questions, so Ill do maybe one at a time. One is, is it important to achieve detail in the visualization? The answer for the first one is, its very good if one can have detail in the visualization, but for most people thats difficult, to get a lot of detail, especially in the beginning, and so one way that its often explained to make it easier is, its the same way if someone says to you, think of New York City, or a certain block in New York City. Something just appears to your mind, just naturally theres going to be something in your mind, which is clear in a way, but if you sort of try to focus on anything, theres nothing really there. Its very hard to get the details, and yet you have a clear sense of something in your mind. So thats as much as it has to be in your visualization, just the way you can flash on New York, or a corner of New York, and you kind of see something. The important thing about visualization is that its like a rainbow in space. Its not substantial. It appears but its empty. Its empty but it appears, very much like a rainbow in the sky. You can distinguish the different colorstheres yellow, its different than the red or the blue, but its also insubstantial. So in that way your visuali zation is going to be kind of light, like that.
Then the second question was, when you are visualizing yourself as a deity, how does that happen? Do you sort of project something and think of it as being yourself, or do you just have a general sense of being the deity? So its similar when were visualizing or when were thinking of ourselves or this body as appearing as a deity, so say were thinking, Im Chenrezig. So keep in mind that its appearance and emptiness, and that mind is appearance and emptiness. So its not going to be a rigid thing where you have to project and then push it back. In the same way that you can think of someone that you know. For example I could think of my father, hes in another state. I dont know where he is in relation to me right now, but I can still imagine him somewhere. And I dont need to know exactly whether hes behind me or to the right or the left. But something appears to my mind. I just think father and then I have his appearance there. A good way to start is, if youre thinking Im Chenrezig, youd start by having a picture of Chenrezig. You can just look at the picture, and then you have the general sense, I am Chenrezig, I appear as Chenrezig. And thats enough. You understand what Chenrezig looks like, and then you just think that I appear as Chenrezig. And then slowly it becomes and feels more natural over time. When you practice Vajrayana, it is tricky in the beginning. You feel like youre fumbling, but when you start to get the hang of it, you get some little bit of direct experience, it gets easier. We also find, as you do more Vajrayana practice, then when you go back to do calm-abiding or insight meditation, your experience is enhanced. In the beginning there are two separate stages. Theres the Creation Stage where youre doing the visualization of the deity, and then theres the Completion Stage where you imagine that the visualization dissolves and you just rest in emptiness, or you just rest in the nature of mind. At the beginning they are
separate and seem different. But when you meditate on the Creation Stage, the more you meditate on yourself as the deity (and you do so in an undistracted state), then its like the two stages start to melt together - the visualization stage and the stage in which youre just resting in the nature of mind. When you rest in the nature of mind without any contrivance, then that experience that you attain through resting in the nature of mind that informs your Creation Stage (when youre meditating on yourself as the deity) - they start to enhance each other until theres not really much difference between them anymore. So at the beginning there is a difference, but as one goes along, one starts to understand how they are not really different, they are not separate. Ultimately through these practices one can realize what is called Mahamudra, in which one sees directly the nature of mind. So again, if we were to exclusively meditate on calm-abiding and insight meditation and not do any visualizations, it is definitely possible that one could become very happy doing that, but one would also not be able to develop much beyond that. What happens when we practice the profound means of Vajrayanawe practice the Creation Stage and the Completion Stageis that we find that we are rapidly developing, the mind is continually stretching beyond itself, and developing and progressing. And ones interest in meditation tends to intensify. The more one does these practices, one sees directly their fruit. Q: Is it a prerequisite for Mahamudra practice to do deity practice? A : He cant say that it wouldnt be possible. Its possible, but highly unlikely that someone would be able to just sustain a state of Mahamudra without prior preparation, or without having done the Creation Stage and the Completion Stage. Rinpoche does point out that just doing the Creation Stage does not necessarily lead to Mahamudra. So just visualizing deities alone is not enough to realize Mahamudra. That Completion Stage in which there is a recognition of uncontrived essence of mind is an essential part too. When Creation Stage and Completion Stage are in union, that is what leads to the realization of Mahamudra. In the same way that a bird needs two wings in order to fly, we need these two aspects together in union. We cant fly with just one wing. So all the Buddhas have attained enlightenment with these two together integrated. Its a good example to help us understand. We need these two together beca use they inform each other. So it would seem to be the wisest path, these two, Creation Stage and Completion Stage, together. If someone has freedom of mind, then they just do Mahamudra, their mind is in a state of Mahamudra. And thats what Mahamudra isits this union, its the realization of the essence of both of those, of the Creation Stage and the Completion Stage. So its not something that we can tease apart or choose, okay Im just going to have one of these three, because they really are all together. Mahamudra is both of those. Its not something that were able to say, I prefer a hamburger to a sandwich, or I prefer Mahamudra to the Creation or Completion Stages, because Mahamudra is the basis, the foundation of all of that, of both Creation and Completion.