Lecture No. 0309
Global Lamrim II
Lecture No. 0309
Lamrim Volume 1: P41-L15 ~ L26
Date: 17 May 2022
Topic: The History of Yeshe Ö and Jangchup Ö Inviting Master Atisha to Tibet
Today, we will continue studying the good qualities of Master Atisha, starting with “What he did in Tibet”. Everyone, please turn to the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations, (Chinese text) page 133. [00:17]
Before we begin this discourse, everyone please pay attention to making aspiration! After making aspiration, while listening to this discourse of the Global Lamrim, we can arise a lot of motivation. For instance, those who are eager to please the teachers can contemplate: “I will listen to the teaching earnestly, and offer this practice of listening earnestly to the teachings to all of my virtuous teachers, with the hope to please them and to be taught by virtuous teachers life after life.” This is because virtuous teachers wish that we are able to listen to the Tripitaka accurately and contemplate the teachings as instructed so that we can correctly put what we have learned into practice. As for students who want to repent what they did in their past lives, or those with lots of karmic obstacles in this current life, or those with a lot of afflictions, when they want to repent, they may take this section of learning as a practice of repentance. [01:10]
In short, we can shape our mind in the manner indicated above, and embrace the entire process of listening to the teaching with Mahayana aspiration. And then, we can further contemplate: “I wish what I do will please my teachers. Pleasing my teachers will also please all Buddhas of the ten directions. Thus, at the same time, we can earn great merits. Don’t fritter away this precious time. [01:35]
So, let’s take a look at the first paragraph of the Chinese text, page 133 of the Introduction: 2. What he did in Tibet is divided into five subtopics: First, by applying the teachings he eradicated erroneous perceptions and established the new trail for practitioners: the royal renunciates, the Tibetan kings, uncle Yeshe-o and nephew Jang-chup-o, sent to India in succession the two translators, Gya-dzon-seng and Nag-tso Tshul-trim-gyalwa. Because they made great efforts to invite him again and again, Atisha went to Upper Nga-ri during the time of Jang-chup-o. [V.1, P. 41] When they welcomed him there, his hosts prayed that he might purify the Buddhist teaching. Based on this prayer, he furthered the teaching through activities such as composing the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, a text that brings together the stages of practice, condensing all the key points of the sutra and mantra vehicles. [02:21]
We can take a look at Rinpoche’s Introduction. It says, “What he did in Tibet”; what follows is the Dharma undertakings that Master Atisha established in Tibet. The omniscient Master Jam-yang Shaypa (we translated as Venerable Miao in the past) annotated this section with five sub-topics. The first is “by applying the teachings he eradicated erroneous perceptions and established the new trail for practitioners”, meaning Master Atisha established a purified teaching trial by eradicating the erroneous perceptions prevalent in Tibet. [02:53]
In this section, everyone can pay closer attention to this first sub-topic, like the words used here “by applying the teachings he eradicated erroneous perceptions.” We can contemplate the “erroneous perceptions”. Many of our erroneous perceptions come from what we have heard or learned from others, and some of them come from what we construe through our thoughts.
Thus, such erroneous perceptions would mislead us to make poor judgment in terms of dealing with how to eliminate suffering and how to attain happiness. We would assume our chosen path is happiness, but it turns out to be suffering in the end. After putting in all the effort, we would discover that it is deceiving! Therefore, such perceptions as to how to eliminate suffering and attain happiness are inaccurate and thus should be rectified. [03:32]
So, what we can apply to rectify erroneous perceptions is very important, and as indicated in the text, it is “by applying the teachings”. As we all know, Buddha Dharma serves the function of salvaging and compassion; that is, Buddha Dharma can salvage us from suffering in body and mind, and help us safeguard our three karmic doors towards happiness and ensure that they are on the path to [ultimate] happiness. Thus, whenever we feel we have some misconception in our mind, don’t forget the reminder from this sub-topic – eradicating erroneous perceptions by applying Buddha Dharma. [04:03]
In this section, it says by applying the teachings, Master Atisha eradicated all erroneous perceptions in Tibet. Do we have erroneous perceptions in our mind about practice? Through listening to the teachings from virtuous teachers, – that was how Master Atisha eradicated people’s erroneous perceptions by giving them teachings – we can eradicate erroneous perceptions in our mind by listening to the teachings. Such a way of listening to the teachings has a direct impact in terms of eliminating suffering and attaining happiness; they are not mere theories. [04:30]
Next, “the royal renunciates, the Tibetan kings, uncle Yeshe-o and nephew Jangchup-o, sent to India in succession the two translators, Gya-dzon-seng and Nag-tso Tshul-trim-gyal-wa,” meaning two translators were delegated to India to invite Master Atisha; “Because they made great efforts to invite him again and again, Atisha went to Upper Nga-ri during the time of Jang-chup-o.” Rinpoche said during the latter dissemination period in the Tibetan history of Buddhism, the situation was very chaotic. Many adepts did not go to Tibet, instead, many self-proclaimed Panditas came to Tibet from India; they expounded many wrong views, claiming these were Tantric practices. One of the examples Rinpoche mentioned here is the Red-robed Acarya, advocating union and liberation. At that time, what many Acaryas from India to Upper Ngari taught was a debased practice of Tantra, causing great contamination to the sublime teaching. And then the impact Lang-dar-ma brought to the Buddha Dharma was so tremendous that the precepts became non-existent for up to seventy years. Why? Because the promulgation of the Buddha Dharma depends on if the precepts remain in the world. [05:38]
[From what Rinpoche described here] It seems that Buddhism in Tibet at that time was in bad shape. Try to imagine: desperately inviting virtuous teachers from India, instead of true virtuous teachers, there came those who promoted erroneous perceptions. As for the [corrupt] practice of “union and liberation” [sbyor sgrol], it happened prior to the arrival of Master Atisha in Tibet; some Indian Blue-skirted Panditas or Red-robed Acaryas (they were addressed as such, differentiated by blue or red skirts) promoted sexual misconduct with women as union practice, and the corrupt practice of killing of enemies as a way of redemption. Such corrupt practices were called the practice of union and liberation. Evidently, such practice is absolutely not Buddhism! [06:22]
Thus, what they taught inflicted tremendous defilements on the sublime teachings. They claimed this was Buddhism, but it was absolutely not Buddhism; it was a corrupt belief! Hence, it would lead people to engage in non-virtuous deeds, even to the extent of harming others and themselves! To make matters worse, Tibetan Buddhism was severely tarnished by Lang-dar-ma, causing great impact, and precept practice became non-existent in Tibet for seventy years. Whether the sublime teaching can remain in the world depends on whether the preservation of the precepts remains in the world. Before Master Atisha came to Tibet, the damage done to Tibetan Buddhism seemed to be brutal! [06:59]
Since the arrival of Master Atisha, the teachings were revived from the Khams and Amdo areas and then gradually revived from the south to the north. At this time, Tibet had no unitary king. Lang-dar-ma passed away, and though King Yeshe-o was the royal descendent of the Songzän Gambo king, he was not the Tibetan king of the entire Tibet. Rather, he was only a king in the Nga-ri area. King Yeshe-o noticed the chaotic situation of the teaching, and to revive the sublime teaching perfectly and completely, he contemplated: “After all, who is the virtuous teacher to be invited from India to benefit the entire Tibet? And who is that Pandita?” King Yeshe-o put great effort into observation. Because the dependent condition of Master Atisha would greatly benefit Tibet, King Yeshe-o was determined and tried to invite Master Atisha many times. [07:56]
Later on, the uncle of Jang-chup-o, King Yeshe-o, to invite Master Atisha to Tibet, he sacrificed everything, including his own life. For the sake of inviting Master Atisha, he sought for gold. Unfortunately, he was caught by the king of Gaya and was jailed. When his nephew, King Jang-chup-o, came to his rescue, the Gaya king said: “You all have to forsake Buddhism and convert to my religion, or bring gold that is the same weight as King Yeshe-o, then he can be released.” That is, when they went to rescue King Yeshe-o, that mean Gaya king demanded: “You all convert to my religion.” He believed in Islamism. He said another alternative was to trade in gold the same weight as King Yeshe-o. [08:41]
Later, they decided to go back and collect more gold. Then, King Jang-chup-o returned with the gold and visited King Yeshe-o in the prison. King Yeshe-o said: “The gold you have collected is not easy to come by. Since I am already old, it is unlikely for me to live another ten years even if I get out of prison. Therefore, you had better take the gold to invite Master Atisha!” And then, King Yeshe-o wished to relay this message to Master Atisha: “Such an ordinary being like me in the Tibetan region, for the sake of preserving Buddha’s sublime teachings, I offer everything and even offer my entire being to the teaching! Master Atisha, you are such a great Bodhisattva. Whether you care for the Dharma in Tibet, you know it yourself. Although I am not able to meet with you in person in this life, I supplicate I will definitely meet you in my next life!” [09:31]
As indicated here in the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations, I asked Rinpoche a question: “Master, was this what the Uncle King stated?” Rinpoche said: “It was his uncle’s verbal message to be passed to Master Atisha. The message went like this: ‘I am just an ordinary being. In my countless past lifetimes, not once have I died for the sake of preserving Dharma undertakings. This time, I am determined to offer my life to do so. My greatest aspiration is to invite you to Tibet, put Buddhism in Tibet in order, and promulgate pure Buddhism perception.’” Then Rinpoche said, King Yeshe-o offered everything to the Dharma undertakings. It was not until the time of his nephew King Jang-chup-o that the translator Nag-tso Tshul-trim-gyal-wa was able to invite Master Atisha to Tibet. [10:08]
Thus, “prayed that he might purify the Buddhist teaching”, meaning King Jang-chup-o implored Master Atisha to put Buddha Dharma in order. After that, Master Atisha “Based on this prayer, he furthered the teaching through activities… condensing all the key points of the sutra and mantra vehicles,” without missing any part, “such as composing the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, a text that brings together the stages of practice.” At that time, Jang-chup-o asked Master Atisha questions regarding the aspect of the seven ways of practising the Dharma. In response, Master Atisha expounded on the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. At the beginning of the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, it says: “Urged by the good disciple Jang-chub-o, I shall illuminate the lamp for the path to enlightenment.” Disciple Jang-chup-o asked me many questions, and to reply to him, I gave the teaching of the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment is not presented in question-and-answer format. Rather, Jang-chup-o asked many questions, like “In Mahayana teachings, does Bodhisattva need to rely on monastic vows to have achievement? And what about Tantric teaching, so on and so forth?” There were seven questions asked. [Based on these questions,] Master Atisha composed the text that brought together the stages of practice, condensing all the key points of the scriptures as the reply. [11:10]
【全球广论 II 讲次: 0309】
讲次 | 0309 (2021-03-15 ~ 2021-03-17)
标题 | 智光王、菩提光王迎请尊者入藏史迹
《广论》段落 | P6-L7 ~ P6-LL5 藏中所作事理者……而兴教法。
入门段落 | 第1册 P133-L1 ~ P135-LL3 藏中所作事理......经咒要义的论著来作答覆。
(更新日期: 2022年5月17日)
00:00
今天我们继续学习阿底峡尊者的功德。今天是要学阿底峡尊者在“藏中所作事理”，大家把书翻到《四家合注入门》133 页。00:17
在听讲前请大家注意发心！发心之后，其实对听这一讲全广也可以有很多作意，比如说如果有特别迫切想要修令师欢喜的同学，就可以想：我认真听法，然后认真听法的这个修行供养我所有的善知识，希望能够令他们欢喜，生生世世得到善知识摄受。因为善知识希望我们能够准确地听闻三藏，然后如理思惟，才能够正确地修行。那么想要忏悔自己的过去生也好、现在生也好很多业障的同学，或者内心中很多烦恼，想要忏悔的时候，也可以把听这节课当作是忏悔的一个修行。01:10
总之，就是在内心中可以有这样的作意，可以把听法整个的这个过程用大乘发心来摄持。之后你可以去想一下：愿我所做一切令师欢喜。令师欢喜，也会令十方诸佛欢喜。所以同样的时间可以赚到大笔的资粮，不要荒废这时光。01:35
那么我们就看 133 页第一段：
在这里边，大家可以稍稍注意一下这第一个科判，比如说“以法破除邪解”这几个字。我们可以想一下这个“邪解”，有的人的邪解是听来的、学来的，还有的是自己想出来的。那么这样的邪解，会导致我们对如何离苦得乐的这个判断失误，就是会走上你以为是乐、结果是苦的，奋斗了一番之后发现是欺诳！所以这样的不是正确的离苦得乐之道，是要被校正的。03:32
那么用什么来校正很重要，所以它这里面“以法”——这个法，大家都知道法有救护的、慈悯的这样一个功能，所以能救拔我们身心中的痛苦，把我们的三业驱使到乐的这个方向或者轨道上。所以，当我们内心觉得对什么事情理解错误的时候，别忘了这个科判的点醒，就是用法来破除邪解。 04:03
说透由说法破除藏地的一切邪执，那我们的内心中会不会有一些对于修行的邪执呢？那就透由善知识说法——因为阿底峡尊者是透过说法破除存在在人心中的一些邪执——我们透由听法破除我们内心中的一些邪执，这样的听法对我们走向离苦得乐有直接的作用，不是只是一些理论罢了。 04:30
看起来那个时候藏地的佛法的状况是满惨的，像想要从印度迎请善知识，结果真正的善知识没有来，来了一些说邪法的。关于这个“合度法”，是指阿底峡尊者没有到西藏之前，有一些从印度来的蓝裙班智达还有红裙阿阇黎等人——他们被称为是这样的，都是以蓝或红裙这样的称呼——他们宣扬与女人邪行为合修、伤害仇敌为救度的邪法，这个法叫合度法。很显然这样的法绝对不是佛教！06:22
所以他们对圣教产生了极大的垢染，因为他们说这是佛教，其实这完全不是佛教，是邪法！所以会引导众生造恶业，甚至会伤害别人、伤害自他！又经历了朗达玛破坏教法，然后影响所及七十年没有戒法。因为教法能不能住世就观待于戒法是否住世，所以阿底峡尊者来到西藏之前，西藏的教法看起来是被破坏得很惨烈啊！ 06:59
由此教法在阿底峡尊者来之后，教法从下方的康区、安多等处向上复兴。这时候的西藏已经没有统一的国王，朗达玛已经死了，天尊师长智光虽然是松赞冈布王的皇统之一，但是并非是全西藏的国王，只是阿里地区的小王。天尊师长智光王见到教法非常地混乱，为了能完善地复兴教法，他就在思考着：到底是哪一位善知识从印度来能够饶益整个西藏呢？谁是那位班智达呢？他就做了很多很多的观察。因为阿底峡尊者对西藏有广大饶益的这样一个缘起，所以他就下决心要多次努力地迎请。07:56
后来，菩提光的叔叔天尊师长智光王，为了迎请阿底峡尊者抛弃了身命等一切所有。他为了迎请尊者而去寻求黄金，被迦罗的这个国王抓起来关进了监狱。当他的侄子菩提光王来救他的时候，那国王说：“你们大家舍弃佛教，归入我的教法；要不然就拿和智光王身体等重的金子来，就可以放了他。”他们去救国王的时候，那个恶王说：“要不然你们就全归入我信的教。”他信的教是伊斯兰教；要不然就拿跟这个王身体等重量的金子。 08:41
后来他们就决定要回去筹金子，所以菩提光带着黄金来到了狱中。然后智光王就说：“你带着这么多的金子来是很不容易的，但我年事已高，就是出了牢狱也无法再活十年，所以你还是把这些金子拿去迎请阿底峡尊者吧！”然后天尊师长智光就希望托话给阿底峡尊者说：“像我这样一个西藏境内的普通凡夫，为了佛陀的圣教，乃至身命等一切都奉献给教法了！尊者您是大菩萨，是否顾念西藏的教法，您自己知道。此生虽然见不到您，祈愿来生一定要值遇您！” 09:31
然后在《入门》上，到这儿我就问问题说：“师父，这是他叔叔说的吗？”师父说：“是他叔叔在狱中给阿底峡尊者带的口信，说：‘我是一个凡夫，我生生世世没有为佛教事业献出生命，这一次我要把生命献给佛教的事业。我最大的希望，请您到藏地来整理藏地的佛法，弘扬清净的佛法知见。’”然后师父说，他把一切全部贡献给佛法的事业，直到他的侄子菩提光的时候，那措戒胜译师才能从印度迎请尊者过来。10:08
所以“启请治理佛陀圣教”，菩提光王启请尊者治理佛教，启请后，觉窝杰具德阿底峡尊者“依是因缘，总集一切经咒要义”，无所缺少地“束为修行次第，遂造《菩提道炬论》等，而兴教法”。当时菩提光曾对尊者请问了七个修法方面的问题，尊者为了回答他的问题，就宣说了《菩提道炬论》。在《道炬论》中开头就有说到：“应贤弟子菩提光，劝请善显觉道灯。”弟子菩提光对我问了很多的问题，为了回答而说此《菩提道炬论》。这本论并不是以问答的形式，而是菩提光问尊者很多问题，比如“大乘佛教中，菩萨的所依身是否需要别解脱戒？密咒圣教又是如何如何？”问了七个，因此就著作出一本总集一切经咒要义的论著来作答覆。11:10