Karma Trinley Ling

The Disadvantages of Losing Bodhicitta
Teachings by Khenpo Ngedon Rigdrol
Karma Trinley Ling
Den Haag, The Netherlands
Sunday 29 April, 2007

In general, the taking of the bodhisattva vow and the qualities and the benefits of taking the vow have been explained. Now we come to the part about what happens if we abandon the vow.

In general there are three faults regarding abandoning the bodhisattva vow.

The first fault is that bodhicitta degenerates in us. In case the bodhisattva vow has been fully broken then we will re-incarnate in one of the lower realms.

The second fault is that we are not able to benefit other sentient beings. In order to fully benefit other beings we need bodhicitta and therefore when bodhicitta degenerates in us we are not able to fully help sentient beings.

The third fault is that attaining the Bodhisattva levels is far away.

One question might arise: “presently we are all beginners and therefore bodhicitta will degenerate but can we then take the bodhisattva vow again to restore it?” The answer to this is: “yes, if bodhicitta degenerates we can take the vow again.” But the bodhisattva levels are still far away and it will take us even longer to reach them. If you continue in this way; to degenerate bodhicitta and then take the vow again, to degenerate and then take the vow again, it will take a long time to reach our destination. Even when you are close to the first bodhisattva level and you degenerate the vow it will take a very long time, Awakening and the bodhisattva levels are far away. Therefore it is important to continue and to be careful.

The opposite of taking the bodhisattva vow is giving it back. By doing this you forsake sentient beings. When you forsake or exclude sentient beings it is called “wrong view”. If you have a wrong view you might give back the vow. In general to have a wrong view is very dangerous. For example if you are a practitioner you have to accept the workings of karma, of causes and their results. One type of wrong view is: not believing in causes and their results - not believing that when you do a positive action it will have a positive outcome and when you do a negative action it will have a negative outcome. That is called a wrong view. Believing that there is no previous birth and no next birth is also a wrong view. Believing that the four Noble Truths are not true is also a wrong view because these teachings are found in both the lower and the higher vehicles and came directly from the Buddha himself.

Wrong views can arise in the mind very easily. In order to overcome this we have to contemplate and become certain about the workings of causes and their results and understand that they are infallible. It will always happen that the result will correspond with the cause. This is not something the Buddha created; it’s simply the way things are.

Normally there are three kinds of views, the highest view, the middling view and the inferior view.

The inferior view pertains to the view of the workings of causes and their results and this is in fact the general view of sentient beings in the world. This view of causes and their results is something everyone can understand - we are all a part of this. Furthermore if we really understand the workings of causes and their results then it will be easy for us to abandon negative actions and do positive actions.

The main point here is: why do we strive for positive actions and try to avoid negative actions? Primarily it is because we don’t want suffering. Perhaps we feel that in this very life we don’t need to do positive actions. We are content, we have it “good enough”, we have clothes, and we have food, so why do we need to do positive actions? Why do we have to give up negative actions? Maybe there’s no need to do this. The point is that we do positive actions and try to give up negative actions because we believe in our future. For example, today we had a very good lunch, but this is not enough, we need food for tomorrow, we need clothes for tomorrow. Tomorrow also comes. The Khenpo of today is on the relative level the same Khenpo of tomorrow, they are one. So, Khenpo also needs food for tomorrow, it is not enough only for today, that’s only for a few hours. Likewise when we rely on the understanding of a future life then we have to try to accumulate merit from positive actions. There is not only the present, not only this year, this life. That’s why we do positive actions. If we do not understand about the future we do not practice positive actions.

Here everything is present. We have it “good enough”, especially here in the west where it’s richer than Afghanistan, Africa and parts of India. By comparison everything here is luxurious and we have excellent conditions. So we do not need to do any extra kinds of jobs. We need to believe and have confidence in previous rebirths and the future. For example, we took food two hours ago so now we are not hungry - this is a result of previous actions. Likewise now we have this precious human body, with an intelligent and good mind, a good environment, and good conditions. This is because in former lives we did something good so that’s why everything now is good enough. In this way you can also understand there’s a past life. When we understand this key-point we will not suffer in the future.

We know the cause of suffering and we know the cause of happiness. That’s why we try to practice positive actions and try to give up negative actions completely and immediately. We cannot give up all negative actions immediately but slowly and a partially, little by little, we will be able to give up all negative actions. Therefore we have to take up virtuous actions and give up negative actions. It doesn’t matter whether we practice Mahayana or Hinayana this is generally the main viewpoint of Buddhism.

If we practice the branch of Mahayana then we also aspires for the happiness of others and a peaceful environment and society. In order to bring peace to our society then we also need that kind of peace ourselves. We need the causes for that. How do these causes come about? They come about through loving-kindness and compassion. If we posses this we naturally will not harm anyone. Therefore we need to think in the following way: just as we want to be happy so also other sentient beings have the feeling inside that they want to be happy - in this way we are exactly the same. In the same way that we don’t like to feel suffering or be sad similarly all sentient beings have the same feeling that they don’t want to experience suffering. In this way we are exactly the same.

If we understand this point; that every creature has the same feelings and that we all try to find happiness and peace, it is easy to develop loving kindness. If we have trouble and suffer we are not happy. This is how to understand ones feelings. In this way we can develop loving-kindness. If you understand this you won’t harm other beings. Because if somebody harms you then you know how much you suffer and how many problems you get. When you think in this way and you think of other beings in the same way then you really don’t dare to harm them.

The Mahayana teachings help us to develop our qualities and kindness. We each have the seed of great compassion but it has not yet fully developed. This is the worldly pure view or the first type of relief for us.

The second view is an uncommon view, a pure selfless view. This is a view of both the Mahayana and the Hinayana school. In order to have this extraordinary view you need to understand the Madhyamika view. In connection with this it is very important to understand the workings of causes and their results. There are, according to the Indian master Nagarjuna, in his text; “A Letter to a Friend” four types of individuals. The first type of individual goes from luminosity to luminosity, the second type goes from luminosity to darkness, the third type goes from darkness to further darkness and the last type goes from darkness to luminosity. These are the four types of individuals. We belong to the type of individuals who are going from luminosity to luminosity.

The type of individual which we are now depends on causes and their results. For example, if an individual in previous life times has done virtuous deeds and in this life is able to experience the results and additionally in this life performs more virtuous actions, then in future lifetimes this individual will proceed to further luminosity and further good actions. The luminosity of the future depends on the good actions we do now. The other three types of individuals you can understand in the same way.

Furthermore Nagarjuna also said that there are four types of natures. These types we can compare with a mango fruit. Some mangos are ripening inside but not ripening outside, some mangos look ripened outside but inside they are not ripened yet, some are ripened both inside and outside and others are not ripened outside nor inside. Likewise we human beings are like mango fruits. Some are ripened inside, which means they have a good motivation, but outside their behavior is a little rough.

The best type fruit is the one which is ripened both on the inside and on the outside. The most important feature here is to have a good motivation. This means that on the inside you have a good motivation and on the outside whatever you do it will be beneficial for others. The one who is ripening on the inside but not on the outside has a good motivation but outwardly is sometimes a little bit rough, this is the second best type. The third type of nature is that one is ripening on the outside but not on the inside, and this is a little bit dangerous. The outside appearance is very nice but inside the motivation is not real - this is complicated to understand. Someone who’s outside appearance is ripened but inside is not ripened is a little bit difficult. The fourth type of nature is that you are not ripening on the inside and also not ripening on the outside, and that’s easy to understand. Whatever you think inside is not very positive and whatever virtuous actions you do create little benefit.

We have been discussing the four types of humans found in “A Letter to a Friend”. Try to understand these teachings in the right way and always try to go “from light to light”. This is really important and if you practice in the right way the qualities will arise.

Practice doesn’t mean that you spend a certain time for your house or clothes as something separate. Practice means that you practice through working, through perceiving, through listening, while you are talking and so on. You can learn a lot of things if you are aware and if you know how to practice. It all depends on the individual. If you know how to practice then you can learn through daily life. In order to practice in this way we need a little bit background. Then it’s easy to deal with everything.

As a beginner, we need a little bit distance from crowded and busy cities. We need a peaceful place. In general it’s necessary to do this but of course it depends on the individual. Buddha himself advises to sometimes go to a mountainside and he also said that then a lot of positive qualities will arise because there are no objects of negative emotions.

However, you also have to check yourself from time to time and this can be illustrated by a small story. There was once a great meditator who stayed in retreat for a long time in a nice place. Then he thought; “Now I have reached a stable level. I have given up negative emotions, especially anger and therefore maybe it’s fine for me to go down to the town.” He then went to the town and in the town there was a stupa where he did khora and meditated. After a while many people came and started to do khora as well. One person stopped and started to look at him and said; “What a strange guy.” He asked, “What are you doing?” The meditator answered; “Meditating.” This person then commented; “A guy who looks like you and can really meditate like that is …”(he used a strong word) The meditator then became a little bit angry and stood up and tried to chase the man out of the town and to beat him.

This story shows that when we go to a peaceful place or a mountainside and have attained some kind of qualities then you have to check yourself by going to an object of anger, jealousy or attachment and see if that emotion will arise or not. This is a kind of exercise. Doing this with a positive result is the best sign of meditation practice. It isn’t necessary for a sign to be a rainbow or raining or a nice sky - these things may be good or maybe not. The main object of anger is an enemy and then attachment. In a remote place there are also no objects for attachment. In these types of places there is a kind of balance and you sometimes feel that you don’t have any negative emotions left. The best sign of success in our practice is we can manage to lessen our emotions. That’s the best sign of meditation. Milarepa and Atisha both told this as well.