Ringu Tulku Rinpoche
Chapter 1: The Excellence of Bodhichitta
Stanza 1 Homage
BA 3 First half of stanza 1
October 29 2010
Transcribed by Albert Harris
Teachings on the Bodhicharyavatara Online Shedra
So now, we come to the first chapter of Bodhicharyavatara and the first half of the first stanza is the homage. Now this is the homage, the original homage by Shantideva himself and here he says in Tibetan [speaks in Tibetan]. In English: “To those who go in bliss, the dharma, they’ve mastered: and to all their heirs, to all who merit veneration, I bow down.” So here, the first is “To those who go in bliss”, This is the translation of Sugata [epithet of Buddha meaning “one who has gone to bliss”: Andrew Pearcy]. The [prefix of] the Sanskrit word sugata, su, is well, beautiful, beautifully, completely, nicely, wonderfully. Su is well, good, completely and gata is gone, one who has gone in a very good way.
Now this, sugata, is one of the names, one of the words referring to the Buddha. The main words refer to the Buddha, tathagata, sugata, and [there are] many others, but here Shantideva has chosen the word sugata.
Now with sugata, there are three [meanings], well-gone, beautifully gone…without carrying any negativity or negative things with him. He’s gone over or gone beyond. All the negative things that we have with us are not with him, are not with any kind of faults and therefore [it is] sugata, nirvana.
Another [meaning is] gone without obstacles or without returning, having not to return. The way he has experienced and understood, practised, has developed the oldest, negative things. He doesn’t need to come back again. So therefore, it is also well gone. Like somebody who has become enlightened, has got rid of all the ignorance and all the habitual negative tendencies have left, so therefore they don’t come back. Like somebody who has had infectious diseases. You once get this disease, measles, or something like that; once you get it, you never get it back again so it’s completely got rid of.
Another meaning is gone completely. The journey that Buddha took, that Buddha has gone through, is complete, there’s nothing more…nothing more to attempt…there’s nothing more to get. It’s complete. There are three-different objectives to the meaning of su.
So anyway, this reference to the Buddha, all those beings who have got rid of their ignorance, their negative emotions, their negative habitual tendencies, developed their wisdom and compassion to the utmost and thereby have attempted lasting peace and happiness and have been able to free themselves from all kinds of problems and pain and suffering, to those Buddhas, to those enlightened beings, to those beings who have done that, this is the homage to the Buddha.
Now this becomes very important in Buddhism because when we talk about going [into] refuge to Buddha, for instance, it’s not talking about…”Buddha, please come and help me and save me ,” and things like that. It is about an idea as a possibility, a transformation. To understand and know that there is a possibility for a complete transformation, complete freedom from the problems and suffering and pain, freedom from ignorance, freedom from all this negative way of reacting; that is possible for anybody and everybody, any beings can attain that, everybody has the potential to experience that. And that’s the main thing for Buddhists, that’s the main thing. Every being has the capacity or the potential.
It’s not that everybody is already enlightened. When we talk about Buddha nature, it’s not saying that everybody is totally good and there’s nothing negative. Nothing like that. But, there is a possibility to improve, a possibility to develop. There’s a possibility to enhance, develop, you know, to learn. Therefore, we can train and we should train positively and then we become positive. [If] we become completely positive, we can get rid of all the negativity from us. That is the Buddha. Therefore, if you have that understanding, that I have that possibility, I would work on it myself; and if I know that there is that possibility in every sentient being, then I would also work to help everybody to attain that.
Therefore, this becomes very important. That’s the first thing. He bows down, he appreciates and he gives his homage.
The second one is the dharma. The dharma is the experience, the complete experience of somebody who has become a sugata or the Buddha. That’s the dharma. Dharma is the teachings, the experience, how to transform yourself, the way, the path, methods and skilful means are as important. Because, even if you have a kind of idea, or if you know somebody or you have heard about somebody who has that experience of complete wisdom and compassion, if you don’t know how to develop that or how to get there, then it doesn’t work for us. Therefore, we need to have the understanding that there is a method, there is a way, there is a step by step kind of a road or a path that I can walk on and everybody can walk on. There’s not just one path, there are many different kinds of paths. There are many levels…many paths that are suitable for [all] beings, wherever I am. It’s not that I’m so bad that I can never practise dharma-I’m not good enough to practise-there’s nothing like that. However, a beginner, however low or negative they are, they can start with that stage and then they can go forward. That is extremely important…so the second [stage] is homage to the dharma.
And the third is sangha. So here he says, “and [to] all their heirs.” In the Tibetan it says jhalse. [The prefix] se is like “the heirs”, the children or the prince or the princess. The Buddha’s heirs or the Buddha’s child or sons and daughters…it can be many different [things]: the body, the heirs of the body. It’s like your child, your son and daughter. For Buddha, Rahula was his physical son-the body-a son of the body.
And then we always say his children, the sons and daughters of his voice or his speech. We say that the arahants, the avataras and prithvi Buddhas, his monks and nuns and many devotees, were there following his teachings. They are regarded as the sons of his speech. And then there are the sons and daughters, the heirs of his heart, the bodhisattvas.
So all these are heirs of the Buddha, especially the heart-heirs of the Buddha who practise the same kind of bodhichitta, the same kind of wisdom and compassion, working, training after the Buddha, them all. That’s very important because now the Buddha is the ideal, the dharma is the experience of the Buddha, the path. And the sangha is those people who are actually practising or who are actually trying to follow that path. That’s the sangha, especially the bodhisattva sangha. He says to all of them, “I am a refuge, I pay homage, I bow down.” But not only to them. To all who merit veneration, not only bodhidharma and sangha, but to every other being also who are worthy of my veneration, I respect [them]; to them all I bow down.
There are people who are more learned than me, who are more qualified than me, more elderly than me, more experienced than me. To them [all] also I should show my respect whether it is in a spiritual way or a mundane way. Also, those worthy of my respect and worthy of my homage are those who have been kind, nice and helpful to me and have been kind and compassionate [doing] good things for me and others. So there is not just bodhidharma and sangha or only Buddhists…to every being, to every thing, to every kind of community, anything that is worthy of my veneration and my respect and veneration, to them all I bow myself.
http://www.bodhicharya.org/wp-content/uploads//2010/10/BA-3-Chapter-1-Stanza-1.pdf
MOTIVATION
October 19 2010
Video by Wangdu
Transcribed by Albert Harris
I’m very happy that you have already started studying Bodhicharyavatara, The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva; and also you have studied discussions and started to initiate the discussion with action and non-action: and I think there are lots of discussions going on in that and I’m very happy about it. In due time, maybe I will also say something about that.
Now, I wanted to go through the text of the Bodhicharyavatara and try to briefly explain stanza by stanza. I’m using the translation of the Padmakara Translation Group, of course there are other translations also in English and they’re all equally good, and there is also a commentary on this book, The Way of the Bodhisattva, by Khenpo Kunpal, into English. His English translation is also from the Padmakara Translation Group and it’s an excellent translation. I think it is also translated into other languages. There are translations of this text, Bodhicharyavatara, I think, in many languages, including the languages in the west. Some people thought that this kind of teaching that I’m going to give, or the explanation that I’m going to give, should and could also be translated into other languages: and if there are people who would like to do that I’m very happy. They can verbally translate it and then make it available in audio to the people who want to listen to them.
Now, to start the book, as you know, it’s tradition that we should first remind ourselves to generate the right motivation or to remind ourselves of the motivation for doing this study or teaching on this text, and if there is…I’m sure there is no negative or no other motivations for it, but also, if there is, then to correct them because we can always change our motivations, we can always remind ourselves and kind of change our way of thinking a little bit. So to do that-this is not actually for studying this text but for anything we do-why do we do anything? Because we want something good coming out of it, some benefits for me and for others. It is not easy or it’s most usual for any beings, any human beings that we first look at what good and what benefits it will bring to me. That’s nothing bad, there’s nothing wrong. But it is also important that [although] what it brings is good for me, for me only is not enough. We should also think what my actions, whatever I’m doing, is bringing something that is good for others as well. That’s why, if I do something that I feel and I understand is good for me and good for others as well and nothing really bad for anybody, then I must understand it, I must feel very strongly, clearly, that what I’m doing is a good thing. I’m proud of what I’m doing, I’m satisfied with what I’m doing, I feel meaning with what I’m doing, I feel purposeful and useful [for] my life that I’m living now, today.
Therefore, to really understand this and use this way of finding out that what I’m doing is something that is worthwhile doing or not and then doing those things that are worthwhile is a way of making my life worthwhile. I think, in a way, it’s a very important way to bring happiness to myself, satisfaction to myself because if I’m doing something that I feel is useful and beneficial to myself and others most of the time then I have to feel kind of satisfied and content and happy.
Therefore, this motivation is not something that we kind of pretend to generate or to try to artificially make as a prayer or [just] to say words, but it’s a genuine way of living our life. So therefore, generate the bodhicitta, try to generate bodhicitta, try to think what I’m doing is something that’s worthwhile and good for myself and for others, for now, in this moment in life, these days and also for the long term. I’m going to do something that is going to bring good things, happiness, and lots of benefit for now, for myself and others and I also wish that I could eventually get rid of all the sufferings of all the beings and bring a lasting peace and happiness.
This is a very big thing and many times we might think that it may not be possible. It’s too big; it’s too great a motivation. But, if it is possible that I, or one person, can be freed from suffering and pain and bring a kind of happiness to oneself, then it’s also possible to bring that to all the beings. It might take a long, long, long time; it is of course not an easy thing at all. But there is a possibility and there’s nothing wrong to wish for the best.
Therefore…we all know that this is not something that is going to happen soon, easily, but that’s the most important thing that should happen. Therefore, even if it’s just one prayer, one wish, one strong kind of aspiration, why not make it?
So, I don’t want to take too long because this whole book is about how to generate this and how to work on this. Therefore, I don’t need to talk much at this point, trying to generate the bodhicitta. This, actually, should go at the beginning of every teaching, every lesson, every meditation, every practice, every morning, every starting of the day. But of course, I will not say it because it is going to take time. I know everybody has not that much time. So please, listen to this if you want to remind yourself, otherwise just remind yourself. It doesn’t need to take a long time. That’s the first thing.
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