Disturbing Emotions

Review In our first session, we had a basic introduction to the topic. We saw that when we speak about refuge in Buddhism, we are not speaking about some passive act of turning to some higher power to protect us, but rather, we are taking certain measures to prevent our own...

Review We were speaking about the initial and intermediate level motivations in the lam-rim process for self-development on the spiritual path. We saw that on the initial scope, or with the initial scope, we are aiming for better rebirths. We want to avoid...

We looked at the unawareness of behavioral cause and effect and how that underlies our experience of unhappiness. Now we need to look at the second type of unawareness, a much deeper type of unawareness, which is unawareness of reality: how we exist, how others exist and how...

Chapters 5 to 8 Five: Indicating the Behavior of Bodhisattvas (1) There are no actions of the Buddhas that are not causes (for benefiting others). Even their breath is issued only for the sake of (acting as a) medicine for limited beings. (2) Just as the word “Lord of Death”...

Review In our last session we presented the first stages in the process for working ourselves up to developing bodhichitta. We saw that the first type of equanimity that we cultivate is the equanimity that tries to rid ourselves, at least...

The Three Objects and the Three Poisonous Attitudes The text continues with what we do after formal meditation on the tonglen giving and taking practice for developing relative bodhichitta. It says: (In regard to) the three objects, (take) the three poisonous attitudes and...

Fear of "A Breach of Guru-Devotion" Almost every classical text on the disciple-mentor relationship includes a section on the hellish suffering that follows from what is usually translated as "a breach of guru-devotion." The material derives mostly from Ashvaghosha's vivid...

Not Getting Angry toward Those Who Are Negative toward Us When people react a long time very negatively toward me, I have a problem to still have this feeling of love and kindness toward this person. Sometimes I feel I need to be tough with this person; it can’t go on like...

Contrasting Bodhisattvas with Ordinary Beings The text, Wheel of Sharp Weapons, begins with Dharmarakshita contrasting bodhisattvas with ordinary beings. Bodhisattvas practice tonglen – giving and taking – taking from others the three poisonous disturbing states of mind or...

The next three links – eight, nine, and ten – are the causal links that actualize (bsgrub-byed-kyi yan-lag). They are what activate the karmic aftermath of throwing karma in the moments preceding death so that the karmic results will actualize. Thus, they serve as the...