The Role of Religion in Transforming One's Life into Liberation

The Role of Religion in Transforming One's Life into Liberation
by
Geshe Gedun Tharchin

The process of transforming one's life into an act of liberation can be achieved by changing one's mindset. The concepts of rebirth and karma are two widely accepted beliefs in many spiritual religious traditions, parallel to the existence of hell and heaven. Most religious traditions teach a strict lifestyle of austerity, even if it is aimed at generosity and especially motivated by the prospect of future rewards, a good rebirth or paradise, but this renunciation of the present life in anticipation of future rewards can be very limiting. In general, people are so frightened by the prospect of being reborn in a hellish or lower state that they fail to fully develop their humanity and live serenely in the present. These people devote their entire lives to the pursuit of future security, but they remain stuck in a sterile limbo that saddens them and imprisons them in the prison cell of constant fear and constant worry. These people are forced to invest a lot of time and energy in thinking about the future, and yet they do not know how to resolve their present worries, and especially their worries about future lives.

 The illusion instilled in the individual that he must sacrifice this life in order to attain a state of paradise or pure land in the next life does not yield anything, and it is conceivable that the same attitude will be transferred to the next life, even if the individual is reborn in a higher realm. It is unfortunate that a significant percentage of followers of religions, by delegating the pattern of their religious devotion to others, renounce serious spiritual deepening, their ability to think, and are merely slaves to the concept of sin and all the terrible consequences that entails, the constant fear of being condemned to hell or other forms of punishment for transgressing the rules dictated by a rigid formality of innumerable prohibitions that cannot be ignored according to the directives given in various religious teachings. Most followers of a religion live like children, never learning to take responsibility for their actions in a constructive, humane and intelligent way, and remain paralyzed by fear for their future lives, in constant fear of sins and misdeeds or bad karma.

Such people are convinced that it is only their devotion, deprived of the critical thinking capacity, which they believe must be kept instead in the safe of religion, the key to which is conveniently entrusted to the appointed custodians, and that this will save them from hell or other lower realms, but this does not make one grow and kills the true humanity and any possibility of an authentic and beautiful life. Every religion is truly important in life and it is essential to offer its most authentic teachings in the education of children so that they may know that there is more to life than matter, and it is an excellent tool for the spiritual development of every human being, but on the condition that it becomes a teacher that liberates and not a jailer that imprisons the conscience.

Every religion should overcome the worldly obstacles so prevalent in society and have the courage to open itself to deepening and dialogue with the rich traditions of other cultures spread throughout the world. It must be able to rid itself of the acquired certainties that lead it to remain rigidly confined within the boundaries of its own single faith tradition, which is nevertheless the fundamental and primary root. Religion does not always need the direction of a leader, and above all it should maternally correct the immature devotion of its followers, never nourish it. Religion should fully express that intrinsic quality that serves to show the way of human evolution in goodness, justice, compassion, brotherhood, and a wise view of one's own and the common good, of the environment, recognizing the infinite beauty and gift of life on this wonderful planet, thus truly helping each individual to build a true life protected from psychological and physical threats.

The main purpose of religion is to educate and guide people toward a peaceful present and a beneficial future. It is believed that creating a peaceful existence and harmony in the present will lead to favorable circumstances in later life(s) according to one's beliefs and religious tradition. A fundamental principle of all religions is the importance of love and self-love, extended to one's family and friends, and ultimately to humanity and the universe as a whole. Love and benevolence are not learned behaviors, but innate qualities present in all individuals. Such qualities include the ability to love oneself, which is not a self-centered emotion. In fact, it is essential to cultivate a deep sense of self-love and self-compassion in order to love every other being.

Finally, it is necessary to embrace these feelings with sincerity and authenticity, recognizing them as a form of non-selfish self-care and acknowledging the inseparable interconnectedness with every being, with nature, which is our home, knowing that any wrong deed will not become a sin to be punished in the hereafter, but is concrete evil, We can easily see this by observing the dramatically unhappy faces that surround us, not only of those who suffer, but above all of the perpetrators of evil, it is a pain that is very present, here and now. The realization that the goodness and example of a loving regard for life extends from us to our nearest and dearest, to all of humanity and the universe, is indeed a source of deep joy.

This form of love and kindness can be considered a religion in itself, as it provides protection for oneself and others through the practice of love and compassion. It is reasonable to think that a true sense of love prevents the possibility of experiencing fear in any form. Such love has the capacity to transform one's life, leading to a state of liberation from all forms of worry. An attitude of love allows the individual to become one with the universe and all of humanity. Any form of perceived danger or fear is eliminated, including the fear of death and the afterlife, in the context of loving-kindness.

It can be argued that religion is not primarily concerned with the fear of sin or bad karma, nor of future lives and the dead; its fundamental task is to direct and cultivate loving-kindness in the mind, which enables one to live in the present moment at peace with oneself and others, and in harmony with humanity and the universe. Religion can thus be seen as a way of opening oneself to the world and the universe as a whole through the practice of loving-kindness. It is really important to know the meaning and role of religion in human society in order to treasure one's inner religion.

Rome: 27.11.2024

 

 

Significance of The Four Seals of Buddha

Significance of The Four Seals of Buddha

 

by 

Geshe Gedun Tharchin

The Buddha's method of helping others is to introduce the transformation of their lives into a state of liberation through sharing his own experience of enlightenment. This experience led him to affirm the Four Noble Truths. 

 

The fundamental dynamic element of transforming suffering into liberation is the ultimate reality of all phenomena, namely the emptiness of all phenomena, particularly the emptiness of the self. 

Meditating on the emptiness of all phenomena, beginning with the emptiness of the self, is a method of cultivating wisdom that eliminates the concept of dualism, which views the two truths as distinct. Dualism sees the two truths, emptiness and the interdependent nature of any phenomenon or self as two distinct entities. From the perspective of Middle Way philosophy, the concept of dualism presents an obstacle to the acquisition of knowledge regarding the true nature of phenomena. 

Accordingly, the Middle Way, Emptiness and the dependent nature of phenomena are to be understood as a single concept, in order to gain insight into the four noble truths of Dharma.

In order to cultivate the wisdom that realizes the emptiness, non-duality and the Middle Way, it is essential to cultivate the realization of the four dharma seals in a gradual manner. The four seals constitute a fundamental component of the four noble truths.

In consequence, the Dharma seals serve as criteria or attributes that are employed in order to ascertain, from the perspective of Buddhism, whether an individual adheres to the teachings of the Buddha.  
 

There are three distinct versions of the Dharma Seals. 

1. In East Asian Buddhism, the Three Seals comprise impermanence, no-self and nirvana. 

2. In Theravada Buddhism, the Three Seals are impermanence, no-self and dukkha. 

3. In Tibetan Buddhism, the Four Seals are impermanence, dukkha, no-self and nirvana.  

      ༈ འདུ་བྱེད་ཐམས་ཅད་མི་རྟག་ཅིང༌།

        ཟག་བཅས་ཐམས་ཅད་སྡུག་བསྔལ་བ།

        ཆོས་རྣམས་སྟོང་ཞིང་བདག་མེད་པ།

        མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ་ཞི་བའོ། །

These four lines are commonly translated as follows:
1. All conditioned phenomena are impermanent.
2. All contaminated phenomena are suffering.
3. All phenomena are empty and devoid of an inherent self.
4. Nirvana is peace.

The four seals can be described in a more straightforward manner as follows:
1. All phenomena are constituted by a complex network of causes and conditions, and thus are subject to change and impermanence.
2. All phenomena associated with mental delusion have the potential to cause suffering.
3. All phenomena are characterised as being of an empty and non-self nature.
4. One who has transcended sorrow is at peace.

In the context of Tibetan tradition, The Four Seals are translated into ལྟ་བ་བཀར་བཏགས་ཀྱི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་བཞི། which is translated literally as "The Four Seals characterising the philosophical view of the teachings of Buddha".

An alternative translation in Tibetan is ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྡོམ་བཞི། which is a designation used in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to refer to a synthesis of the Buddha's teachings. The term is understood to encompass all teachings of the Buddha that are included within the Four Seals.

In the context of Tibetan Buddhism, the Four Seals are believed to serve the function of distinguishing Buddhist teachings from non-Buddhist teachings. A comparable concept can be found in the Pali tradition, where the three marks or seals of existence play a similar role.

In this reflection, we will examine the four Seals of Self, I or Person. The I or Self or Person is constituted by a complex network of causes and conditions. This is evident in the general concept of dependent dependent arising. It is widely acknowledged that the Person, I or Self is subject to change and subject to cessation, which implies impermanence. However, these general insights do not address the fundamental issues of suffering and pain.  

What, then, are the necessary steps to effect a transformation of life into liberation? It is necessary to cultivate the wisdom that realises the first three seals, which entails a profound knowledge and understanding of the entire process of existence, including the causes that brought about the phenomenon in question and the conditions that sustain it. 

 

Furthermore, it is necessary to inquire into the process of the existence of the self, I, ego, or person, which is neither within nor without the realm of composed things, neither singularly each of them nor a combination of them.

Once it is understood that the self, person, or I does not exist as a single, independent, tangible reality, the same can be said of the causes and conditions that compose it. Ultimately, it may be realised that the self, person, or I, as it has been understood for a considerable length of time, is nothing more than a name that has been mistakenly conceived as a false reality.   

It can be seen that the concepts of impermanence and suffering do not exist in the way that is commonly perceived; rather, they are a product of a false concept of dualism. In other words, they are not objective realities, but rather names that have been established by thought.

The practice of meditating on these initial three principles, with the aid of study, contemplation, and reflection, gradually reveals insights that dispel ignorance and eventually lead to profound wisdom. This wisdom recognizes the non-duality of the middle way, the emptiness of the self and phenomena, and transforms the sorrowful life into one of liberation. This realization is known as the fourth seal, or Nirvana, which can be understood as peace.

This is also a concise overview of the complete practices outlined in Prajnaparamita Mantra, Gate Gate ParaGate ParaSamGate Bodhi.

 

Rome: 24.11.2024 

 

 

16 Drops of Kadam meditation

 

16 Drops of Kadam Initiation

At the conclusion of the 2015 Jangchup Lamrim Teachings, His Holiness the Dalai Lama kindly bestowed the Sixteen Drops of Kadam Initiation.  Materials related to this initiation can be found below.

 Introductory Information

The following excerpt is from the Introduction to The Book of Kadam: The Core Texts, translated by Geshe Thubten Jinpa, which contains more information on the 16 Drops of Kadam Initiation. The Book of Kadam is available from Wisdom Publications here.

In chapter 2 [of The Book of Kadam], Atiśa then specifies his preferred divinities in the context of the second recollection—recalling one’s body as divinities—and makes the well-known selection of Buddha, Acala, Avalokiteśvara, and Tārā as the four gods of Kadam. At one point in the text, in the course of conversations between Atiśa and Dromtönpa on the four divinities, Dromtönpa’s heart opens up and miraculously reveals progressively the entire realm of the Buddha Śākyamuni, the realm of Avalokiteśvara, the realm of Tārā, and finally the realm of Acala. It is here that we also find explicit mention of Avalokiteśvara’s famous six-syllable mantra, oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ.

This deity yoga, in its developed form, came to be referred to as the practice of the sixteen drops, which is explained in some detail in Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen’s Elucidation of the Heart-Drop Practice (entry IV in part 1 of The Book of Kadam).

The sixteen drops are:

 The drop of the outer inconceivable array

 The drop of this Endurance World

 The drop of the realm of Tibet

 The drop of one’s abode and the drawn mandala

 The drop of Perfection of Wisdom Mother

 The drop of her son, Buddha Śākyamuni

 The drop of Great Compassion

 The drop of Wisdom Tārā

 The drop of her wrathful form

 The drop of Acala, their immutable nature

 The drop of Atiśa

 The drop of Dromtön Gyalwai Jungné

 The drop of the vast practice

 The drop of the profound view

 The drop of the inspirational practice

 The drop of great awakening

The idea of the sixteen-drops practice is fairly straightforward. Like a powerful camera lens zooming from the widest possible angle to a progressively smaller focus and, finally, to a tiny point, the meditation becomes increasingly focused, moving from the entire cosmos to this world in particular, to the realm of Tibet, to the practitioner’s own dwelling, and finally culminating within your own body. Within your body, you then visualize inside your heart the Perfection of Wisdom Mother, within whose heart is her son, Buddha Śākyamuni. Within the Buddha’s heart is Great Compassion Avalokiteśvara, within whose heart is Tārā, and so on, continuing with wrathful Tārā, Acala, Atiśa, and Dromtönpa. Within Dromtönpa’s heart you then visualize Maitreya surrounded by the masters of the lineage of vast practice. In his heart you visualize Nāgārjuna surrounded by the masters of the lineage of profound view; and within his heart you visualize Vajradhara surrounded by the masters of the lineage of inspirational practice.

Finally, inside Vajradhara’s heart, you visualize yourself as a buddha, embodying all three buddha bodies, and within your heart is a white drop the size of a mustard seed. This seed increases in size and turns into a vast radiant jewel container at the center of which your mind is imagined as a yellow drop the size of a pea. This, in turn, increases in size and turns into an ocean of drops the color of refined gold; the ocean is transparent, smooth, resolute, vast, and pervasive, and it reflects all forms. You then rest your mind, without wavering, upon this drop of great awakening, fused, and free of any sense of subject-object duality….

Although the first Dalai Lamas and their immediate disciples appear to have been the primary force behind the early dissemination of [The Book of Kadam] in the Geluk school, later, with Panchen Lobsang Chögyen (1570–1662), some masters of the so-called ear-whispered teachings (snyan brgyud) also took deep interest in the book’s transmission, especially the initiations into the sixteen drops. Among these masters was Yongzin Yeshé Gyaltsen (1713–93), who composed substantial works pertaining to the book and the meditative practice of the sixteen drops.

© Institute of Tibetan Classics, The Book of Kadam (Wisdom Publications, 2008)

This selection from The Book of Kadam by Thubten Jinpa is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.  Based on a work at http://www.wisdompubs.org/book/book-kadam.

Practices and More Information

More detailed information about the 16 Drops of Kadam initiation and practice, including the origin of the practice, the lineage, deity lists/charts, and two brief practice sadhanas, are available here.

A Tibetan-language list of the recitations to be done during the 16 Drops of Kadam initiation is available here.

Source: Jangchup Lamrim website