Sutra of the Arborescent Array

Reflecting on the need to guard the mind, which is the root of the Dharma

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

The whole of the Dharma depends on the mind, and the mind is dependent on the precious human body. This is an interdependent relationship of support and what is supported: the mind is the root of Dharma, and the freedoms and advantages are the support or accessory for this. For this reason one need train only in taming the mind, as Nagarjuna advises: 

The vital point is tame your mind, for mind’s The root of Dharma, so the Buddha said. 

And the Great Omniscient One says: 

The Dharma depends on the mind, And that depends on the freedoms and advantages, interdependently.

Now that the many causes and conditions have come together, Tame your mind—that’s the main point of Dharma. 

The sufferings of fear and poverty that occur throughout this life and will occur in subsequent lives are the negative consequences of using your precious human body to indulge in pointless distractions, while all the happiness and good qualities of higher rebirth and ultimate excellence come solely from not wasting the freedoms and advantages. 

As we read in the Sutra of the Arborescent Array: 

Child of noble family, it has never occurred to those who wander in cyclic existence that their body ornamented with the freedoms and advantages is so difficult to find; because of their evil friends,f they continue to circle in cyclic existence and are tormented by the fire of suffering. But I, by reflecting on this supreme freedom, have been completely liberated from existence. You too should do likewise.

A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom
Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje
Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group
Shambhala, 2011

what is the point in obtaining this human body . . .

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

If you are wondering what is the point in obtaining this human body that is so hard to find, the benefits of doing so are enormous. Not only is one easily able, temporarily, to accomplish all the happiness and perfections of the higher realms, but one can also accomplish the nirvana of the lower vehicles and unsurpassable enlightenment as well. 

Without obtaining a human body, there is no way one can achieve any kind of happiness in cyclic existence, let alone accomplish liberation. But by starting from the most insignificant positive actions and devoting one’s efforts exclusively to the sublime Dharma, one obtains the manifold perfect qualities of higher rebirth and ultimate excellence.

As it says in the Jewel Garland,

If you constantly practice the Dharma,
You will make the whole world
And yourself happy,
And this will be all to the good.

With the Dharma you will always fall asleep happy
And wake up happy.
Inwardly you will be without fault, and so
Even in your dreams you will see virtue.

By wholeheartedly respecting your parents,
Venerating the head of the lineage,
Putting your wealth to good use, being patient, giving generously,
Speaking gently, avoiding slander, and telling the truth —

Observing these for one lifetime,
You will reach the level of Indra
And be Indra again and again.
Bit by bit you will accomplish Buddhahood.

And in the Sutra of the Arborescent Array we read:

Child of good family, whoever has the freedoms and advantages, on him will also fall the great and abundant rain of the Buddha’s teaching, and he will acquire infinite other benefits.

 Dudjom Rinpoche
Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom
Shambhala Publications
Photographer: unknown

 

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