Jigdral Yeshe Dorje

The Benefits of Cultivating Faith

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

 

Seat of Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje ~ Pema Osel Ling Shrine Room ~ Santa Cruz Mts CA

There are boundless virtues in cultivating and increasing one’s faith. It is the foundation for all virtuous practice.

It clears away all the sufferings of cyclic existence and is the first step on the path to liberation. As a result of your faith, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will constantly keep you in mind. You will have a sense of shame, a sense of decency, and wisdom. In all your lives, as soon as you are born, you will meet a sublime teacher, the sacred teachings, and spiritual companions, and you will thus be able to practice the Dharma. You will be protected by those gods who delight in virtue. Falling asleep peacefully, in your dreams too you will have pleasant visions of encountering your teacher and the Three Jewels and practicing the Dharma, and you will wake in a happy frame of mind.

You will accomplish all your wishes and die peacefully, guided by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. You will have none of the terrifying experiences of the intermediate state. You will be reborn wherever your aspirations lead you, and uphold the lineage of the Three Jewels. Swiftly, you will attain Buddhahood. Such are the infinite benefits of having faith, as we read in the Sutra of the Precious Lamp:

Though for kalpas one might venerate beings
Numerous as the atoms of the universes in the ten directions,
Bringing them every kind of happiness, In comparison, nothing is more sublime Than the merit of faith in this Dharma.


A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom
Complete Instructions on the Preliminary Practice of the Profound and Secret Heart Essence of the Dakini
Dudjom Rinpoche, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje
Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group
Published by Shambhala Publication

Six Mistaken Qualities We Must Avoid

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

When we put all our energies into a practice, it is quite common for bad deeds from the past to surface, so that all sorts of unwanted things happen to us: we fall physically ill, feel mentally anguished, experience the manifestations of negative forces and obstacle makers, fall victim to hostile people, bandits, and thieves, find ourselves subject to people’s criticisms and false accusations, and so on.

These are said to be signs that we are purifying ourselves, like the dirt that comes out when one washes a container. Therefore, when such things happen to you, don the great armor of diligence that renders the practice impervious to unpleasant circumstances.

Although it may happen that we get one or two good qualities here and there as signs of progress on the path, it can be hard to distinguish whether they are genuine signs or obstacles caused by demons.

Even supposing they are genuine, the moment we attach any importance to them, they will turn into demonic obstacles, so get rid of all expectation, apprehension, and doubt, and do not be attached to good signs or frightened by bad ones.

It is said that while we are on the path, there are many mistakes we can make and ways in which we can go astray, but the principal errors are: to treat the teacher as an equal; to be lacking in pure perception with regard to one’s spiritual brothers and sisters; to criticize other philosophical systems while being proud of one’s own; to act hypocritically with regard to the commitments; to give the five poisons free rein; to have no respect for the law regarding actions and their effects; to air one’s views and indulge in big talk about emptiness and so forth; to tell all and sundry about one’s experiences; and to lie that one has sublime qualities that one does not have.

To make these the basis of one’s practice is obviously the greatest error, yet even if the Buddha were to appear in person, it would seem difficult to block this perilous path onto which one can stray, for we ourselves mm are blessed by demons, and beings in the decadent age have but little good fortune, so that there is much running after purely meaningless talk without understanding the real point of the Dharma.

Even though we follow a teacher, train in acquiring good qualities, practice in retreat, and read many profound texts, it does not do the slightest bit of good to our minds and our characters get worse and worse. We grow ever more proud, the eye of pure perception grows dim, and we pass the time only in examining others’ faults.

People like us are impervious to the Dharma, we are breakers of the commitments, burdened with evil deeds from the past; we have truly been blessed by demons.

Our kind Teacher, the Buddha, summed up the Dharma as follows:

Abandon all evildoing,
Practice virtue perfectly,
Completely subdue your mind:
This is the Buddha’s doctrine.

If we were to summarize the whole result of practicing the Dharma, it is that the mind has to be tamed. And yet nowadays there are practitioners who devote themselves principally to harming others for the sake of the Dharma, getting involved in disputes using the teachings as a pretext, tricking and deceiving people with the excuse that it is for the sake of beings—everything in fact that the Buddha taught as being at variance with the Dharma. Do not follow such ways.

In particular, there are the eight ordinary concerns, of which Nagarjuna said:

You who know the world, take gain and loss,
Or bliss and pain, or kind words and abuse,
Or praise and blame—these eight mundane concerns—
Make them the same, and don’t disturb your mind.

These eight ordinary concerns, not to speak of others, seem to stain even those who claim to be genuine Dharma practitioners without their noticing, so it is very important to remain thoroughly attentive.

Moreover, there are six mistaken qualities we must avoid:

  • mistaken patience, where we are unable to put up with difficulties in practicing the teachings but manage to put up with the most grueling tasks in order to see through our projects for this life;
  • mistaken aspiration, where we have no wish to practice the Dharma but are full of enthusiasm when it comes to achieving the eight ordinary concerns;
  • mistaken enjoyment, where we have no taste for listening to the Dharma, reflecting on it, or meditating, but have plenty of appetite for material enjoyments;
  • mistaken compassion, where we have no compassion when we or others perform negative actions, but feel compassion for people who are experiencing hardship for the sake of the Dharma;
  • mistaken care, where we fail to introduce our dependents to the Dharma but help them succeed in this life;
  • and mistaken rejoicing, where rather than meditate on joy with regard to people performing positive actions, we are delighted when our enemies meet with difficulties.

If we are always able to take the lowest seat, there will be no way for pride and jealousy to creep in. And as long as pride does not arise, obstacles cannot occur. But the moment we start to feel proud and think, “Even my teacher is no better than I am,” “Other practitioners do not know as much as I do,” and so on, obstacles will happen.

Dudjom Rinpoche – A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom ~ Shambhala Publications

The Three Jewels

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

The objects of refuge for those who strive for complete liberation are the Three Jewels. The Three Jewels have the power temporarily to protect us from the fears of cyclic existence and ultimately to establish us in ultimate excellence, and they are therefore an infallible refuge, for as the Great Master has said,

Samsaric lords, however good, will let us down.
As objects of refuge, the Three Jewels will never fail.

The Three Jewels are identified differently according to the different categories of greater and lesser vehicles. Here, in the unsurpassable tradition of the Great Vehicle, there are three categories of object:

objects in which realization is manifest,
those that are sources of inspiration, and
the absolute object of refuge.

(a) Objects in which realization is manifest

These are:

  • the Jewel of the Buddha who embodies the four bodies and five wisdoms, who is endowed with the two puritiesc and is the ultimate fulfillment of the twofold goal.
  • the Dharma of realization and transmission—the cessation and path included in the truth of untainted complete purity, and the Excellent Words that express it as perceptible words and letters.
  • the Sangha—the true Sangha of sublime Bodhisattvas on the great levels, children of the Buddha endowed with the qualities of realization and liberation; and the surrogate Sangha of beings following the Great Vehicle on the paths of accumulation and joining and of sublime Listeners and Solitary Realizers following the Basic Vehicle.

(b) Sources of inspiration

  • all fashioned images representing the Buddha, for example, drawings or paintings and statues;
  • books containing the Dharma, the Buddha’s teaching, in the form of letters;
  • and the Sangha of ordinary beings following the path—the lesser Sangha of lay practitioners and intermediate ordinees, and the so-called greater Sangha of fully ordained monks, four such taken together being called an assembly of the Sangha. There is also the Sangha of knowledge holders comprising those, whether monks or lay practitioners, who are following the path of the Mantra Vehicle and abide by the commitments. Whichever discipline they observe, these are all fieldsg by which beings may acquire merit.

(c) The absolute object of refuge

The ultimate refuge is the Buddha alone. Neither of the other two is the ultimate refuge, for the following reasons. Once one has seen the truth, the teachings that make up the Dharma of transmission have to be discarded. The Dharma of realization in the minds of Bodhisattvas, Listeners, and Solitary Realizers is subject to improvement and is therefore impermanent and deceptive. As for the Sangha, since its members are themselves still on the path to be trodden, they do not have the ultimate qualities; and since they are unable to eliminate their latent tendencies and the obscurations
particular to their respective levels without depending on the Buddha, they still have fear. As we read in the Sublime Continuum,

One will be abandoned, one is deceptive by nature,
And one does not have and is still afraid. For these reasons
The two kinds of Dharma and the assembly of sublime beings
Are not the highest, everlasting refuge.

Ultimately, the refuge of beings
Is the Buddha alone, because,
the Buddha being none other than the body of truth,
the Capable One embodies the teachings
And that is the final goal of the community too.

ii. The particular refuge objects of the Mantra Vehicle

According to the tradition of the Diamond Mantra Vehicle there are, in addition to the above, the particular Three Jewels: the teacher, the object from whom one receives blessings; the yidam, from whom one receives accomplishments; and the dakinis and Dharma protectors, who are charged with accomplishing the activities.

Furthermore, we distinguish the teachers as the embodiments of all Three Jewels (their bodies as the Sangha, their speech as the Dharma, and their minds as the Buddha), the yidam deities manifesting in their peaceful and wrathful forms as the nature of the Buddha in the body of perfect enjoyment and body of manifestation, their tantras as the extraordinary Dharma, and the dakinis and Dharma protectors as the special Sangha. In this way, we take them as our refuge.

The Great Master expresses it thus:
The Lord Teacher, root of blessings,
Yidam deity, source of accomplishments,
Dakinis, who perfectly grant the blessings.

  • Dudjom Rinpoche – A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom