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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0159

Tape: -

Date: 2019-10-07 ~ 2019-10-09

Topic: Tsong-kha-pa wrote the commentary to rectify incorrect practices

English Lamrim Volume 1, page 34: Therefore, having seen that they lack the path pleasing to the wise,… I was inspired to explain this path of the great trailblazers

Introduction of the Four Interwoven Annotations Vol. 1 P68-L7 ~ P70-L3

Greetings to all! It is time for us to discuss Lamrim again. Today we will study the Introduction of the Four Interwoven Annotations together. Prior to the study, everyone please examine: “With my current state of mind, am I able to focus on listening to the teaching right away? What kind of motivation should I have prior to this study?” With full attention, and for the sake of benefiting countless motherly beings, helping them to completely alleviate suffering and attain ultimate happiness, we have to achieve the ultimate enlightenment; to achieve this goal, we need to know the cause for achieving the ultimate enlightenment; to understand that cause, we must listen to the teaching. Therefore, the purpose of our listening to the teaching is for such an all-encompassing aspiration. At this given moment, we should study hard at the causal stage – listen to the teaching. (So,) don’t be distracted, don’t be lethargic! Because every day, the time we spend on listening to the teaching is not much; with such a limited amount of time, we must try our best to stay focused. [01′09″]

Very Well! Everyone, please turn to page 68 of the Introduction of the Four Interwoven Annotations 《四家合註入門》. Please look at the colored section in the middle of the page. I will read it to you first:

Despite the practitioners’ enthusiasm, they “studied a little”, meaning they learned very little. At Master Tsong-kha-pa’s time, many practitioners considered themselves highly achieved; however, they didn’t study much, and that was the situation at the time. In sum, they were very interested in applying the union of meditative serenity and insight as well as its approximation; they were very much into meditation practice, but the scriptures they studied were very very minimal – they did not study much. [04′08″]

And for the 2nd type, it says, “while those who have studied much”, meaning there were also many practitioners who studied extensively. However, while at their actual session of meditation, they were not skilled in the key points of practice. “Contemporary practitioners” refers to the practitioners and meditators at that time. What were their situations? Let’s imagine what they were like. They were “taking side in meditating what they believe in”; that is, as to whatever teaching or practice one believed in, due to “taking side” regardless of good or bad, they considered theirs were good. Besides, without encompassing understanding of the Buddha Dharma, what they studied or learned was just very partial, a small portion; attachment thus arose. It says, “they tend to view the scriptures through the eyes of partisanship”. To what Bhagavan had imparted, they were unable to use reasoning, short on the capability, lack of such discerning “wisdom”, unable to perceive the differences. Thus, they were unable to differentiate the meanings among the different scriptures. What does “differentiate” mean? For instance, they couldn’t perceive the difference between this section and that section; they should be able to clearly tell them apart; however, those practitioners were not able to make such distinction, so the intended meaning could not be understood. [05′22″]

Hence, throughout the entire process of meditation practice, this 2nd aspect is also very important. Why did Master Tsong-kha-pa compose this treatise? That was because back then there were many schools in Tibet, and each had their own preferred meditation/cultivation practice. However, Master Tsong-kha-pa noticed that many of them lacked a thorough understanding of practice and Buddha’s teaching. Some of them seemed to be pretty good practitioners, but there were many faults in terms of their ways of cultivation. Under such circumstances, composing this treatise was something of great significance. If this treatise had not been composed, many expedient means of meditation/cultivation practice and approaches would have remained incorrect. What is even lamentable is that many practitioners didn’t even recognize that. [06′09″]

We can notice here are two types of scenarios: one is those who were in favour of applying the union of meditative serenity and insight as well as its approximation samadhi practices but lacked scriptural knowledge; while the other is those who studied much but were not skilled in the key points of practice. In fact, both types of practitioners seemed to be diligent at meditation practice and both were very fond of practice. However, even they liked it, their approaches were incorrect. Who noticed this problem? It was Master Tsong-kha-pa who observed that. After Master Tsong-kha-pa noticed it, what did he do? He rectified such mistakes, by providing a very precise practice approach for those practitioners who were very fond of cultivation and who worked very hard at it, so that either in this lifetime or life after life, all the efforts and hard work, and tears they put into practice will not fritter away. This great kindness is very profound! [06′58″]

讲次 0159

科判

标题 大师造论校正

音档 -

日期 2019-10-07 ~ 2019-10-09

广论段落 P2-L1 故离智者欢喜道……故我心意遍勇喜

手抄页/行 -

手抄段落 -

入门段落 第1册 P68-L7 ~ P70-L3 其次第二、著作之因者……学修的方法都是错误的。

大家好！又到了我们研讨《广论》的时间了，今天我们会一起学习《四家合注入门》。在学习之前，请大家观察一下自己的内心：我现在的状态，是否能够马上专注在闻法上呢？是以什么样的意乐来学习呢？要用专注的心，为了利益无穷无尽的如母有情究竟地离苦、究竟地与乐，为了这样的目标，我们必须去成就无上正等菩提；为了成就无上正等菩提，我们需要知道成就无上正等菩提的因；为了了解那个因，所以才要闻法。那么当下的起步点呢，就是在因上努力，就是听闻。不要散乱、不要昏沉！因为每天我们在正法上听闻的时间也不是很多，就这么少的时间，一定要设法让自己的心能够专注。 [01:09]

所以整个的修行过程之中，这第二部分也是很重要的。他当时为什么要造这个论呢？就由于当时藏地有很多教派，各有自认为好的修行方式，但是在宗大师看来，很多都是不理解真正修行的方法和佛陀的教义。有些人看起来自己是一个很好的修行者，但是他修行的方法很多是错误的。在这种状况下，造这部论是非常具有意义的事情，因为如果不造这部论的话，有很多修行的方便、学修的方法都是错误的。最可惜的是，很多人自己都不知道。 [06:09]

我们会发现在这里边讲了两种状况：爱乐止观双运及其随顺的人就寡闻；广闻的人却没有达到修行的扼要。实际上这两种似乎是很用功修行的、很欢喜修行的人，可是很欢喜修行，修行的方法却是错误的，而这个是谁发现的？是宗大师发现的。宗大师发现了之后，要怎么办？他校正这些错误，来给这些非常爱乐修行、非常用功修行的人一个正确的修行方法，让大家一生一世乃至生生世世为了修行所流的汗水和泪水不至于白流，这是非常深的恩德！ [06:58]