Linda: Motivational Lecture, Saturday AM, May 2

Motivational Lecture, Saturday AM, May 2

Verse 9: Developing bodhicitta will eliminate all negativities and will develop the basis for all positive qualities. The moment you develop bodhicitta, you acquire a meaningful name and you become a valuable human being.

Should bodhicitta come to birth
In one who suffers in the dungeons of samsara,
In that instant he is called the buddhas’ heir,
Worhshipful alike to gods and men.

The moment one conceives of bodhicitta, whether it is inspired of acquired, that moment is truly, truly important. Line 2: we are oppressed as we are in cyclic existence. We are bound here by our surrounding conditions and by our disturbing attitudes and emotions. Our compulsive actions, caused mainly by our disturbing emotions, are like chains which fetter us. In the instant we get bodhicitta, you are the heir to the Victorious Ones, the ones that have gone to bliss, and that person becomes a fitting object for reverence and homage and praise. One is entitled to a title and is truly meaningful. You are deserving of homage the moment you develop the highest form of bodhicitta – not realization or what you will overcome or gain later, but even a beginner bodhisattva ( a real one). As a beginning bodhisattva, you are still suffering, you are still changing and developing and you cannot help others in a significant way, but the bodhicitta is constantly present, it is second nature. The moment bodhicitta is second nature to you, is spontaneous and constant, at that moment you are a bodhisattva.

What is meant when bodhicitta arises in one? Not a kindhearted flash, but when it it really trained to be self extinguished, to have affection for all and to have aroused, again and again, the compassion to stop suffering and the love to increase happiness, and to take the responsibility to decrease suffering and increase happiness, and you wish and ask, over and over, to be enlightened for the sake of others – eventually this becomes spontaneous. It will no longer be an effort. When it is constantly present, you are a bodhisattva “born in us”.

We have a mind. Can our mind stretch to encompass more and more human beings. Sangay is bodhicitta and means mind expansion. Are we working to be expanded? And, when one does this with an all encompassing intelligence, one understands all human possibilities. Then this new bodhisattva has limitless good qualities and their virtue is vast. This kind of bodhisattva is exceptional in the world.

Thus, the text delineates the benefits of this spiritual path. The more you appreciate the benefits, the more you can be interested. The next verses give six analogies to aid in our understanding. Verse 10:

For like the supreme substance of the alchemists,
It takes the impure from of human flesh
And makes of it the priceless body of a Buddha.
Such is bodhicitta: we should grasp it firmly!

Just like a tiny amount of an elixir of mercury, when combined with other ingredients, has the capacity to transmute base iron into a large amount of gold, so can bodhicitta cleanse our bodies of all its impurities from birth, from unclean foods, from its unclean substances through giving us the capacity of accruing merit, and transmute this body into a buddhabody which can accomplish all that is desired and overcome all that is problematic. Since you gain such priceless qualities, then make an effort to arouse bodhicitta in you and then hold on firmly. Do you believe that? Even with this very body, we can do it now. And if you enter the Vajra Vehicle with the right intention and on the correct basis, one can attain enlightenment in this short lifetime. How? 1. iinsure long life through practices of crea and yoga tantra. 2. engage in the highest yogic tantra. 3. do it with the correct motivation. This leads to enlightenemtn and this body can become the body of the Victorious One. This is the power of the elixir of bodhicitta.

There is no short route. One has to go through the path of accumulation (of merit?), then the 4 phases of the path of preparation. Then, in just one session of perfect meditative equipoise, one achieves the state of exalted or aria being. And from this status, one becomes an Ultimate bodhisattva which sees reality. But the underpinning of all this is the desire to help others. Thus, one has a mental body that is not the result of actions by disturbing emotions or the imprints of ignorance.

The initial of the 10 bodhisattva stages is a purified body, due to the elixir quality of bodhicitta, but there are still imprints as a result of ignorance. Bodhicitta will then overcome the 84,000 disturbing emotions and give one the brilliance of wisdom that will shine forth. This transmutation is rare and priceless.

Verse 11: the second analogy

If the perfect ship’s captain of all migrant beings
Have with boundless wisdom seen its priceless worth,
We who wish to leave our nomad wandering
Should hold well to this precious bodhicitta.

Bodhicitta is like a monarch’s most precious and rare jewel. With it, one gets rid of the cuase of all misfortune and gains everlasting happiness. It is rare and difficult to find, so make an effort to find it, and once found, hold onto it. The ship’s captain is the fully Enlightened One. They are skilled, experienced, unbiased, and utterly benevolent to all on board. They know the value of this jewel and they have the path and the means to get it. Their ship is filled with merchants who also know the value of these jewels, and the captain takes them all to this Treasure Island. When one gets to this island and finds a precious jewel, you will want to hold onto it with all your might. We have the capacity to find this jewel, and when you find it, to not let go.

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This is the last lecture I will post on the blog site. I think one has a good idea of how the lectures will proceed and you are either interested or stopped reading these long ago! There are 5 more days of lecture and we will probably only get through the next 10 verses, out of 36, of the first part of the book. I will continue to take notes, as this, for me, is the best means of paying attention in class. Like the metaphysical/alchemical lectures, I will be happy to share those with others upon our return – which is very soon.

Next week, (our final week!), the metaphysical lectures (as I call them) will be on Emptiness and Compassion. If they are as deeply intellectual as these last, I will not post them. These lectures are, in fact, rather difficult to put in notes. But the notes I have, I will share with those who are interested.

The series of metaphysical lectures on the Vajrasattva Mediation (purification) ended on Friday. They were immensely inspiring, with beautiful and detailed visualizations and understandings that painted a glorious path. Each moment, a new vision arose – splendid, powerful, pure. And I would think, ah, this is it. There can be no more. And that vision kept going on and on and on until all that was left was the plentitude of the Non-Referential Emptiness. It was relentless and riveting and of immense grandeur and beatitude. And this was just a common lecture about the meditation. But such was the quality of the lecture and the quality of the teacher, that this path was laid in front, clear and unwavering, straight and shimmering, revealed as key points, right to the glorious goal.

How is it that one, such as I, came to hear and see truths such as these? Only from that source of Pure Compassion and Pure Mercy. A confirmation in a different modality, set in the light of a crystalline vision. And the thread that has wrapped itself around this entire journey is that you find what you seek. “Ask and you shall receive.” And with this thought comes the fear and care in knowing exactly what you are truly asking for and the motivation behind it, and the certitude that with that cause, the effect will surely come. Purity and Vigilance. Patience and Trust. Discernment and Union. It’s all there.