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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0295

Lamrim Volume 1:  P39 L3 – L17

Date: 10 June 2022

Topic: However hard it is to cultivate Bodhichitta, it is much better than living with self-centeredness/self-cherishing attitude

Next, we will look at the 2nd paragraph on page 119 [of the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations, the Chinese text], “There arose in his heart the spirit of enlightenment that cherishes others more than oneself”, Bodhichitta – the spirit of enlightenment to cherish others more than oneself arose in Master Atisha’s mind. “That aspirational spirit”, indicating that he first developed the aspiration to uphold the spirit of enlightenment in his mind, subsequently “induced in him the engaged spirit of enlightenment. He then learned the practices pursuant to his promise to train in the great waves of Bodhisattva deeds;” that is, Master Atisha took the Bodhisattva vows. The text continues, “with those good actions he never transgressed the boundaries of the code of conquerors’ children” [V.1 P.39]; this statement indicates that Master Atisha never transgressed any of the boundaries and prescribed trainings pursuant to his Bodhisattva vows; this is one of his good qualities deriving from his pure observance of the ethical disciplines. While Master Atisha was in Tibet, Tibetans once asked Jowo Je: “Do you have pure observance of the ethical discipline?” Master Atisha replied: “My observance of the monastic vows is pure. I have never committed any cardinal or coarse transgressions of the Tantric and the Bodhisattva vows, except some mental misdeeds.” Because the monastic vows are to guard our physical and verbal actions, they are comparatively easier to adhere. And Rinpoche said: “For us, this alone is difficult; the mere guarding of our physical actions or speech is already very hard. Tantric vows and Bodhisattva vows are to guard our mind, so it is even more difficult to maintain.” This is part of the learning to engage in the deeds and trainings to become a Bodhisattva. [01:31] 　

Let’s go over this short paragraph; first of all,  the aspiration, what aspiration had arisen in his mind? It was cherishing others more than oneself – the altruistic Bodhichitta. Actually, we can observe the afflictions we had in this life. Most of the time, our afflictions arose because  people didn’t understand us, or what they said had hurt us, or they should have taken up the responsibility, but I ended up having to do more, so on and so forth; or we might aspired to help someone for many years or for numerous times, but he or she simply doesn't appreciate what we have done and even get mad at us. As Buddhists, we are practicing the mind training, after examining inwardly, we should be able to realize that it is very difficult to develop the altruistic attitude of cherishing others more than ourselves! [02:26]

Be that as it may, even if we don't develop the attitude to cherish others more than ourselves, we would not be happy either if we cherish ourselves more than others all day long. We would feel: “Wow! It is way too difficult to develop the spirit of enlightenment to cherish others; I don’t think I can cultivate such an aspiration.” Notwithstanding that, no matter how arduous it is to cultivate Bodhichitta, such hardship is much less than the suffering resulted from not cultivating it! Because if we don’t cultivate Bodhichitta, we would be “self-cherishing” all day long –  cherishing ourselves more than others; then, whatever conditions we face, the three mental poisons would pervasively dominate our [body, speech, and mind], or  be occupied with various self-centered train of thoughts. The agony brought by these train of thoughts to our lives, even the severity of such excruciating hurt and the depth of such wounds may be healed by cultivating Bodhichitta! Has this thought ever occurred in our mind? [03:15]

Cherish others more than oneself! If we can reverse the above habitual way of thinking, wouldn’t our life be presented with a different view? Why? For we’ve already transcended the narrow perspective along the route of self-centeredness, or the low-lying land of suffering that is damp and musty, we have surpassed. We  ascended to the top of the mountain for the panoramic view. Therefore, we should not take Bodhichitta as something very hard for us to cultivate, as if this attitude has nothing to do with me in this life. Never should we think that not cultivating Bodhichitta would make it any easier for us. In fact, without cultivating the spirit of enlightenment, the sufferings we generated by cherishing ourselves throughout the day is really enormous! [03:58]

Also, some  may say: “I wish that others would care for me sincerely.” Yet what happens is these people never aspired to care for others sincerely, rather they always grumble about not enough caring from others and begin to complain. The longer the complaint goes on, the more likely they would hold grudges against others, and then they might take revenge whenever opportunity arises, or fight endlessly and the like. Hence, it would be so difficult for people to get along peacefully and compassionately. Why? Whenever self-centeredness strikes, the peaceful and compassionate atmosphere would just disappear. [04:29]

Let me repeat it : however hard it is to cultivate the Bodhichitta, it is always better than to live with self-centeredness! Because every minute and every second enslaved by self-centeredness will further intensify our suffering, getting deeper and deeper. Let’s start to cultivate Bodhichitta, make an effort to cherish others more than ourselves. Regardless how tiny the effort is, even if it is just taking a small step, after all this is the very first step for us to turn away from this self-cherishing attitude, and setting sail this mega altruistic vessel. Hence, this undertaking deserves to be highly rejoiced. [04:59]

Everyone should not consider Bodhichitta is the practice entitled only for the Bodhisattvas; it seems hard for me to develop. Do keep in mind that the agony brought by the self-cherishing attitude could further distance us from the spirit of enlightenment, and becoming a Bodhisattva seems impossible - like without wings, forever and ever coop up daily in  a state of low temperature, low-altitude, and with oxygen deficiency, how painful it is to survive under such a confined self-centered situation. With this understanding, then we would not refuse to endure the long duration of cultivating Bodhichitta; we would be able to handle multiples of 12 years in cultivation. For countless eons, I have been controlled by the self-cherishing attitude. But now if in this life, I can learn the teachings of Lama Tsong-kha-pa and cultivate the spirit of enlightenment from such a pure lineage - which is unbroken from Shakyamuni Buddha till this day! If we are able to develop this Bodhichitta in our mind in this lifetime, then we would truly be like the depicted in this poetry, “once I reach the peak of the highest mountain, the glance I command will dwarf all the mountains  below”. [05:53]

We would then feel: Wow! We are like children playing with the clay. With a few clods of clay grabbed away by other kids, we sat on the ground, crying nonstop. Likewise, we are often confined by our sufferings and act such childishly. However, it is very hard for us to renounce; we are constantly dominated by this self-cherishing mindset and consider self-centeredness is sensible; and whatever our expectations, our wishes are reasonable and should always be regarded respectfully, on and on. It never occurs to us that actually “self-cherishing is the source of suffering, cherishing others is the root of all excellence;” is this right? This is Buddha’s teachings. [06:26]

So, after learning Master Atisha’s bearing, would you feel that no matter how low our starting point is, we should strive for aspiring to cultivate the spirit of enlightenment in our mind; we want to emulate Master Atisha and strive hard continuously , all the way until the altruistic Bodhichitta arises in our mind! [06:46]

讲次 | 0295 (2021-01-25 ~ 2021-01-27)

标题 | 修菩提心再难，也比我爱执好太多

《广论》段落 | P4-LL2 ~ P5-L3 成就菩萨律仪者……诸胜者子所有制限。

入门段落 | 第1册 P119-L9 ~ P119-LL1 “谓心发起爱他胜自”......菩萨学处的部

(更新日期: 2022年6月10日)

00:00

接下来看，在 119 页第 2 段。“谓心发起爱他胜自”，生起了珍爱他人胜过自己的菩提之心。“以此愿心”，就是先以发愿的形式，在内心中生起菩提心。这以后，“所引行心，受学菩萨广大妙行”，就是受取律仪。那么“学受随行所有学处，行贤妙故，能不违越诸胜者子所有制限”，完全没有违越任何一点菩萨戒所制定的界限和学处，这是尊者清净持戒这样的一个功德。所以阿底峡尊者在西藏的时候，藏人曾经去问觉窝杰，说：“您戒律清净吗？”然后尊者回答说：“别解脱律仪是清净的，密乘戒与菩萨戒的根本罪与粗罪从来没犯过，只有生起一些恶作罪而已。”因为别解脱律仪是守持身口的行为，所以比较容易持守。接着仁波切说：对我们来说，这点就困难了，身口就很难防。密乘戒与菩萨戒主要防护的是内心，所以比较难。这就是学习菩萨行、菩萨学处的部分。01:31

这一小段我们可以看一看，首先第一个说发心发起了什么呢？爱他胜自——珍爱他人胜过自己的菩提之心。其实我们可以观察一下，我们这一生有关于此世的烦恼，很多时候都是由于别人不理解自己、说话伤害自己，或者该别人负责的事情结果他不干，我多干了一些等等、等等、等等；或者多年、很多时候对一个人好像很发心帮他，但他不领情，还反过来生嗔心等等。对于我们这些修心的佛弟子来说，我们观察内心之后可以知道生起珍爱他人胜过自己的心是很困难吧！02:26

但是就算不生起珍爱他人胜过自己的心，整天珍爱自己胜过他人，我们也得不到快乐。我们会觉得：哇！生起菩提心这个珍爱他人的心太困难了，我应该修不起来。但是即使修菩提心再困难，也比不修菩提心的苦少受多了！因为不修菩提心就整天“我爱执”——爱自胜他，然后由于我爱执的原因，在一切境上广泛地发作三毒，或者各种以自我为中心的这种思路。这种思路在我们的人生中引生的这种痛楚，乃至这种痛楚的深度、这种伤痕的深度，可能修菩提心就好了！有想过这个理路吗？ 03:15

爱他胜自！这个心颠倒过来之后，是不是生命会呈现出另一番风光？因为我们已经超越了只爱自己的这一路的狭隘风光，或者痛苦的低洼地，潮湿的、有霉味的地方，我们已经超越了。我们登上了这样的山顶，可以瞭望更辽阔的这个风光。所以不要一看到菩提心就觉得是很困难的，好像此生与我无缘。不要觉得不修菩提心是很便宜的，其实不修菩提心的话，二六时中我们因为爱自所产生的痛苦实在是太多了！03:58

还有的人说：“希望别人把我放在心上。”没有希望自己把别人放在心上，总嫌别人给自己的不够，然后就开始抱怨；抱怨久了就生怨恨心，然后就会伺机报复、争吵不休等等，很难有一个和平的、慈悲的大家在一起相处的状态。为什么呢？我爱执大爆发的时候，人们就会在一起失去了平静和慈悲的这种气氛。04:29

我再讲一遍：生起菩提心多困难，总比带着我爱执活着好多了！因为我爱执对自我奴役的每一分、每一秒，都让我们的痛苦越来越深、越来越深。修习菩提心、开始珍爱他人胜过自己这样的努力，哪怕我们努力一点点、一点点，这毕竟是背弃我爱执这个路的一个起步，这个万吨巨轮的一个起航，所以它是非常值得随喜的。04:59

大家不要觉得菩提心永远属于菩萨，我好像很难生起。一定要知道，执着爱自之心的痛楚，乃至离菩提心越来越遥远，成为不了一个菩萨——好像没有翅膀、每天在狭小的爱我执的低温下、低空下、缺氧的状态下生存，是多么痛楚的一件事情。那我们就不会去拒绝修起菩提心所忍受的时间长，十二年我们再可以加长好多段。无量劫来受这个我爱执的控制，如果这一朝学到宗大师教法，修到这么清净的菩提心的传承——这传承到现在！如果此生能够在内心中生起菩提心的话，那我们真的是“一朝凌绝顶，一览众山小”。05:53

觉得：哇！就像一个小孩子玩那个泥巴，小朋友抢了几个泥巴，然后坐在地上大哭、哭个没完，很多痛苦可能就是这么狭隘的、这么幼稚的。但是我们却很难出离，一直在我爱执的控制下，认为以自我为中心是合理的，我的要求、尊重我怎样怎样都是合理的。没想到其实“爱自即是众苦因，爱他则是万善根”，是吧！这是佛陀的教诲。06:26

所以看了尊者的行谊，我会觉得不管我们的起步点是多低，我们应该努力地发起、一定要修起这样的菩提心，向阿底峡尊者学习，像上师那样努力不间断地，直到菩提心生起！06:46