The Three Principal Aspects of the Path

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas see clearly that our neglect of others, our self-preoccupation and our disregard for the connection between actions and their effects are responsible for all our miseries. The feeling that it doesn't matter what we do as long as we can get away with it kills our chances of liberation and enlightenment. Our selfishness robs us of worldly and supramundane good qualities, leaving us naked and empty-handed. It separates us from happiness now and in the future and fetters us to suffering.
Resolve never again to let yourself be dominated by this mean and selfish way of thinking and do everything in your power to combat it. Your happiness begins the moment you recognize self-cherishing as your chief foe. There are many good reasons why cherishing others makes sense. Shantideva says:
The state of Buddhahood is accomplished
Equally through living beings and Victorious Ones.
What kind of behavior then is it to revere
Victorious Ones but not living beings?
...If we truly want to please Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and all those noble beings in the world whom we admire and whose sole guiding principles are their affection, love and compassion for others, we can do nothing better than to cherish living beings.
--from The The Three Principal Aspects of the Path an oral teaching by Geshe Sonam Rinchen, translated and edited by Ruth Sonam

The Compassionate Life

Reflect on the basic pattern of our existence. In order to do more than just barely survive, we need shelter, food, companions, friends, the esteem of others, resources, and so on; these things do not come about from ourselves alone but are all dependent on others. Suppose one single person were to live alone in a remote and uninhabited place. No matter how strong, healthy, or educated this person were, there would be no possibility of his or her leading a happy and fulfilling existence.... Can such a person have friends? Acquire renown? Can this person become a hero if he or she wishes to become one? I think the answer to all these questions is a definite no, for all these factors come about only in relation to other fellow humans.
When you are young, healthy, and strong, you sometimes can get the feeling that you are totally independent and do not need anyone else. But this is an illusion. Even at that prime age of your life, simply because your are a human being, you need friends, don't you? This is especially true when we become old and need to rely more and more on the help of others: this is the nature of our lives as human beings.
In at least one sense, we can say that other people are really the principal source of all our experiences of joy, happiness, and prosperity, and not only in terms of our day-to-day dealings with people. We can see that all the desirable experiences that we cherish or aspire to attain are dependent upon cooperation and interaction with others. It is an obvious fact.
Similarly, from the point of view of a Buddhist practitioner, many of the high levels of realization that you gain and the progress that you make on your spiritual journey are dependent upon cooperation and interaction with others. Furthermore, at the stage of complete enlightenment, the compassionate activities of a buddha can come about spontaneously only in relation to other beings, for those beings are the recipients and beneficiaries of those enlightened activities.
--from The Compassionate Life by Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

Dharma talk by H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche on how your past imprints influence your current actions and what it is that you must do to break this cycle.

The Dalai Lama at Harvard

Question: I have the strong wish to be reborn in any of the realms in a position to truly help other sentient beings in that realm. Is it wrong for me in these circumstances not to have the strong wish to leave the wheel of cyclic existence?
Answer: Your wish to stay in order to help is certainly right. One of Shantideva's prayers, roughly translated is, "As long as there is space, I will remain with sentient beings, to serve and help them." Therefore, I also am trying to practice this. Helping others is the real purpose of life; it will bring the most satisfaction. The one action of helping others out of a sincere motivation brings two results--satisfaction for yourself and benefit to others. It is most beautiful.
One might ask whether there is a contradiction between a Bodhisattva's developing a determination to leave cyclic existence by viewing it as faulty and a Bodhisattva's wishing to remain in cyclic existence in order to help others. An answer to this is given in Bhavaviveka's Heart of the Middle Way: ...because of being under the influence of love and compassion, one is not captivated by the idea of retreating into solitary peace and, with an attitude of seeking to bring about the welfare of other sentient beings, remains in cyclic existence. This attitude is really marvelous. Though you are really fed up with cyclic existence, still because of a willingness and a determination to serve others, you voluntarily accept to remain.
However, as is indicated by the frequently cited example of a lotus that is produced from mud but not polluted by it, a Bodhisattva stays in cyclic existence but is not affected by its faults. It would indeed be hypocritical to claim from one's mouth that one had taken up the practice of a Bodhisattva but actually to be happily stuck in cyclic existence with great attachment. (p. 91)
--from The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace by H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso,

Practices to Open the Heart

In his closing discussion on loving-kindness, Buddhaghosa asks: "What is the proximate cause of loving-kindness?" The answer is the observation of lovableness in the person to whom you are attending.
Bring to mind right now someone whom you find lovable. It could be a person you have a romance with, or a child, or a dear friend, or a great teacher--someone to whom your heart would leap like a deer in the forest if this person were to walk through the door, someone whose presence is so lovable that a gladness arises on seeing him or her. If you can sense that in a dear friend, then try to seek out the lovableness of a neutral person. Then, finally, when you break down all the barriers, see it in a person who has done you injury.
It's a great key if you can seek out something to love, even in the enemy. Bear clearly in mind that this does not endorse or embrace evil. The crucial point here is to be able to slice through like a very skilled surgeon, recognizing vicious behavior that we would love to see annihilated as separate from the person who is participating in it. The doctor can be optimistic. A cure is possible: the person is not equivalent to the action or the disposition. Moreover there is something there that we can hold in affection, with warmth. That really seems to be a master key that can break down the final barrier and complete the practice.
One way of approaching this is to look at the person you hold in contempt, and try to find any quality he might share with someone you deeply admire and respect. Is there anything at all noble to be seen, anything that would be akin to what a truly great spiritual being would display? Focus on that: There is something there that you can love. The rest is chaff, that hopefully will be blown away quickly, to everyone's benefit. It is as if you could see a little ray of light from within, knowing that its source is much deeper than the despicable qualities on the outside. That light is what you attend to. (p. 112)
--from The The Four Immeasurables: Practices to Open the Heart by B. Alan Wallace

Our Emotion as Object of Meditation

The object of meditation this time is emotion. In other words, we specifically focus on the emotions that arise from our feelings of good, bad, and indifferent. In the first of the equanimity meditations, we made the choice to not follow up these emotions. This time we make the choice to meditate on them. We might choose to meditate on sensations and feelings that arise in our immediate, present environment. We might also choose to meditate on an event or person that sets off strong sensations, feelings, and emotions.
Let's say you choose to base your meditation on an event such as a family argument. This time you contemplate an aspect of that event and try to disentangle the sensations, feelings, and emotions. Sensations are what you feel with your body. Feelings assess whether that sensation is nice, nasty, or neutral. What emotions arise as a result of those sensations and feelings?
As we now know, equanimity means not getting caught in further exaggerations: "Oh, I am so bad because this is what I did," "Look how good I am," "How could anyone love someone like me?" and so on. In this meditation, equanimity means not judging whether we are good or bad people, but just noting what happened.
--from Enough!: A Buddhist Approach to Finding Release from Addictive Patterns by Chonyi Taylor

A Deeper Type of Spiritual Practice

Everyone tries to remove superficial pain, but there is another class of techniques concerned with removing suffering on a deeper level--aiming at a minimum to diminish suffering in future lives and, beyond that, even to remove all forms of suffering for oneself as well as for all beings. Spiritual practice is of this deeper type.
These techniques involve an adjustment of attitude; thus, spiritual practice basically means to adjust your thought well. In Sanskrit it is called dharma, which means "that which holds." This means that by adjusting counterproductive attitudes, you are freed from a level of suffering and thus held back from that particular suffering. Spiritual practice protects, or holds back, yourself and others from misery.
From first understanding your own situation in cyclic existence and seeking to hold yourself back from suffering, you extend your realization to other beings and develop compassion, which means to dedicate yourself to holding others back from suffering. It makes practical sense...by concentrating on the welfare of others, you yourself will be happier.
--from Mind of Clear Light: Advice on Living Well and Dying Consciously by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Transcendent Wisdom

"You may ask: If there is no sentient being, whose is the goal? We grant that desire [for liberation, etc.] is indeed delusive. Still, in order to eradicate suffering, effective delusion, whose result [is understanding of the ultimate] is not prevented."--Shantideva
Objection: If sentient beings do not exist, who is it that attains the fruition of the spiritual path--full awakening? And while on the path, for whom does one cultivate compassion?
Response: Sentient beings do exist. It is for them that compassion is felt, and compassion is cultivated by existent people. Whatever is designated by delusion is to be acknowledged. Due to cultivating compassion while on the spiritual path, the fruition of full awakening is attained. Who attains awakening? That, too, is to be established conventionally, without [ultimate] examination or analysis. In order to pacify the suffering of oneself and others, impure appearances that arise due to ignorance are not to be rejected.
--from Transcendent Wisdom, Revised Edition by H.H. the Dalai Lama,

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Daily Practice Towards Realization

Attaining realization is not such a long path once we become able to integrate all our movements of energy in our practice, because then every action is governed by presence and becomes a step on the path and an expression of virtue.
Practice is not only sitting in meditation, reciting mantras, or chanting. It is the application of practice in daily life that is most difficult, working with our energy in every life situation, with every sense perception, with every person we meet, whether we want to encounter that person or not.
--from Wonders of the Natural Mind, New Edition: The Essence of Dzogchen in the Native Bon Tradition of Tibet by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, fore. by H.H. the Dalai Lama

• Online Bookstores by specialization. Bookshop Blog - Looking for a list of Online Bookstores? We provide a list of online bookstores organized by their specialty. If you'd like to be added to the list of online bookstores then simply fill in the form at the bottom of this page. Italy Libreria Atlantide, in print and out contact via email only.

• Taking Buddhist Tourism to a New Level: The Monk for a Month ... - Fred's qualifications are that he has been a Buddhist for over 30 years, he has been to many retreats at Wat Rampoeng, read many books on Buddhism, and has learned from Thai teachers including Luangpau Charoen of Wat Amphawan outside of ...

• My Top 10 Books On Buddhism - I'm often asked about what books on Buddhism would recommend, so I decided I'd jot down my favorite Top 10 books on Buddhism. Turning the Mind Into An Ally – Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche – I feel like this is probably the best book for ...