Karma is a constant witness to all you do, now and in the future. Whether other people acknowledge your actions or not really does not matter: karma and the buddhas will do so with 100 percent accuracy. Trust yourself; trust your pure motivation and the good actions of karma.
Pure motivation is really not so difficult to understand. All you have to do is take it to heart and live it. Don’t be like the person who comes to me with a cup containing water, ten spoonfuls of sugar, ten spoonfuls of chili, ten spoonfuls of oil, and many other things all mixed up into a big mess. He says, “Rinpoche, this doesn’t taste good. I want it to taste better. Can you do something?” I say, “Sure, I’ll try.” And I start to pour some of the water out. The person jumps up and yells, “Oh, please, don’t pour any water out! I refuse to take anything out.” Wondering what I should do, I ask, “Can I add more sugar?” Again he objects, “No, no, I don’t want to add anything—just make it taste good. I don’t want to change anything except the taste.” What is one to do? For me, it is very easy. I simply say, “Fine, fine, I will pray for you.” Because there is nothing else for me to do except pray. People like this refuse to change, let alone let go of ego. Yet they still want something to happen! They are waiting for a miracle that will never come. All I can do is pray.
I am not saying that one should be completely fanatical here by insisting that Buddhism has nothing to do with improving one’s present situation in this life and is only for future lives. Genuinely practice the Buddhist path and this present life automatically improves, as if by default. You may also want to assume the responsibility for improving your future lives during your present one, but it is so much easier to accomplish that aim when you have the complete Buddhism.
In this book, I will discuss the reasons and ways to access the perfect spiritual path. The short version of how to do this is that we need to generate bodhichitta. To generate bodhichitta we must first calm our minds. That is done through shamatha practice. Through shamatha practice we attain a state of calm abiding. Having reached a certain peace, we are able to come closer to making all sentient beings feel at ease with loving-kindness and helping them be free of suffering through compassion.
The main point of the Buddha’s extraordinary teachings is the view that emptiness and compassion are indivisible. Neither compassion nor emptiness by itself is sufficient. Emptiness is free of the grasping to a self. Compassion is benevolence for all beings, which, by the way, includes oneself. These two are inextricably interconnected.
There are two approaches in Tibetan Buddhism. One starts with the methods of compassion and loving-kindness. Through these, one accumulates merit and is slowly led to realizing the view of emptiness. In the other approach, because one has arrived at the correct view by means of the extraordinary teachings of the Great Perfection, compassion naturally manifests as an expression of emptiness. The essence of mind is recognized as being empty and awake. From the expression of this empty essence, compassion originates. It’s as if one way proceeds gradually upward, while the other gazes down from above. The point here is that, regardless of where you happen to start from, the noble qualities of compassion, devotion, loving-kindness, and bodhichitta are always needed. This is true when you are trying to recognize rigpa and also after you recognize rigpa, when these qualities should be present in its expression.
I will discuss both of these ways further in this book. Some themes will be employed as an aid to recognizing mind nature in one context and as an enhancement in other contexts. Although we may glimpse the natural state through the blessings of a qualified master, we are unable to sustain this recognition unless we gather the accumulations and purify our obscurations. Based on the skillful means of Dzogchen, we are introduced to the unconfused aspect of our minds—the very essence of mind. Sem, or discursive mind, is the deluded aspect. From the very beginning of our training in rigpa, we explore the difference between being confused and being unconfused. As we meditate, meditate, meditate on the unconfused aspect, we gradually become more open. As this openness grows, from the state of emptiness compassion naturally arises. This compassion is the ultimate compassion. It is undivided emptiness and compassion, a topic I will cover in more detail later.
As I do not wish to repeat what I said in Carefree Dignity, please familiarize yourself with that book. The terminology is important for understanding the material I will present here.
Whether our Dharma practice will progress in the right direction depends on our attitude, our intention. Motivation is extremely important: it is what everything stands or falls with, and this is true not only in spiritual practice but in whatever we set out to do. Therefore, in Buddhist practice it is of utmost importance to continually correct and improve our attitude.
The attitude we need to cultivate is one that is suffused with bodhichitta. This enlightened attitude has two aspects. The first aspect is the urge to purify our negativity: “I want to rid myself of all shortcomings, all ego-oriented emotions such as attachment, aggression, stupidity, and all the rest.” The second aspect is the sincere desire to benefit all beings: “Having freed myself of all negative emotions, I will benefit all sentient beings. I will bring every sentient being to the state of complete enlightenment.”
This compassionate attitude of bodhichitta should encompass oneself as well as all others. We have every reason to feel compassionate toward ourselves. In the ordinary state of mind we are helplessly overtaken by selfish emotions; we lack the freedom to remain unaffected when these emotions occupy our mind. Swept away by feelings of attachment, anger, closed-mindedness, and so forth, we lose control, and we suffer a great deal in this process. In such a state, we are unable to help ourselves, let alone others. We need to relate to our own suffering here with compassion in a balanced way, applying compassion toward ourselves just as we would do with others. In order to help others, we must first help ourselves, so that we can become capable of expanding our efforts further. But we shouldn’t get stuck in just helping ourselves. Our compassion must embrace all other beings as well, so that having freed ourselves of negative emotions we are moved by compassion to help all sentient beings.
At this point in our practice, it’s okay if our attempts to experience the attitude of bodhichitta are a little bit artificial. Because we haven’t necessarily thought in this way before, we need to deliberately shift or adjust our intention to a new style. This kind of tampering with our own attitude is actually necessary. We may not yet be perfect bodhisattvas, but we should act as if we already are. We should put on the air of being a bodhisattva, just as if we’re putting on a mask that makes us look as if we are somebody else. The true, authentic bodhichitta only arises as a natural expression of having realized the view. Before experiencing this spontaneously and fully, however, we need to consciously try to move in that direction. Even though our efforts may feel a little artificial at this point, it is perfectly okay—assuming of course that this is the good and necessary kind of artifice.
The need to improve our attitude, to correct our motivation, is not particularly difficult to understand, nor is it that difficult to actually do. Although it may be simple, this does not mean that we should belittle its importance. At this point, we should repeatedly cultivate the bodhisattva attitude. This is very important. To look down upon it as an inferior or unimportant practice seriously detracts from real progress in spiritual practice. Therefore, again and again, in all situations try your best to motivate yourself with bodhichitta.
In Tibet there is a lot of livestock: many cows, sheep, yaks. The skin from these animals needs to be cured in order to be useful; it needs to be softened by a special process. Once the hide has been cured, it becomes flexible and can be used in all sorts of ways: in religious artifacts, to bind up certain offerings on the shrine, as well as for all kinds of household purposes. But first it needs to be prepared in the right way:
