THE ASIAN CLASSICS INSTITUTE
COURSE XI
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Part II
1) Give the names of the root text and commentary we are going to use for our study of the perfections of patience, effort, and meditation; also name their authors and give their dates. (Tibetan track in Tibetan.)
We will use as a root text the Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (Bodhisattvacharyavatara, Byang-chub sems-dpa'i spyod-pa la 'jug-pa) and as a commentary the Entry Point for Children of the Victorious Buddhas (rGyal-sras 'jug-ngogs). The former was written by the Indian Buddhist Master Shantideva (c. 700 AD), and the latter by one of the principal disciples of Je Tsongkapa, named Gyaltsab Je Darma Rinchen (1364-1432).
jangchub sempay chupa la jukpa
gyalse juk-ngok
2) Describe the principal problem of anger that we cannot see directly. (Tibetan track answer in Tibetan.)
The principal problem of anger that we cannot see directly is that a single instance of anger focused at a bodhisattva destroys thousands of eons of good karma that we have amassed previously; and we cannot be sure who around us is a bodhisattva.
jangchub sempa la mikpay kongtro chik gi ge-tsa tsawa ne jompar jepa
3) Describe two of the problems of anger that we can see directly.
a) It ruins our own happiness, in the sense of giving us no ultimate peace; no happiness of mind; no pleasure physically; no easy sleep; and no settled mind.
b) It ruins our relationships with friends and family, who become tired of being around us, and leave us.
4) Quote from memory the lines that describe the immediate cause of anger, and the usefulness of this cause. (Tibetan track in Tibetan.)
If there is something
You can do about it,
Why should you feel upset?
If there is nothing
You can do about it,
What use is being upset?
gelte chusu yu na ni
de la migar chishik yu
gelte chusu me na ni
de la miga je chi pen
5) What is the antidote that can prevent this cause of anger?
Maintaining a sense of joy and happiness, refusing to be upset by things we cannot do anything about now.
6) State the logic that supports the idea that we can develop patience even towards great sufferings. (Tibetan track in Tibetan.)
The way we think of anything is based primarily upon how we have become accustomed to think, on our mental habits. As such there is no quality of the mind which does not come easily if you make a habit of it.
sem kyi dzintang tamche gompay tsawachen yinpe gomna lawar min-
gyurway sem kyi chu gang-yang me
7) Relate and explain the example used to demonstrate that patience is a state of mind.
Some people, warriors in battle, become even more ferocious when they see their own blood spilled. Other people, cowards, faint even at the sight of other people's blood being spilled. There is no difference in the blow that caused the wound, or the body that took the wound, only in the states of mind of the respective persons.
8) Why are those who conquer their mental afflictions real warriors, as opposed to those who go out into war and kill other humans?
Those who slay other humans in battle hardly deserve to be called warriors, since the very nature of their enemies is to die eventually anyway. But those who fight the mental afflictions must learn to bear with constant physical and mental wounds, and then kill a very resilient enemy.
9) In general, there are three types of patience. Name and describe them briefly. (Tibetan track name in Tibetan and describe in English.)
a) The patience which takes on sufferings willingly: To stop seeing
suffering as something terrible, to incorporate it into one's
practice and use it as a path.
duk-ngel dangdu lenpay supa
b) The patience where you concentrate upon the Dharma: The desire and devotion to learn and practice a wide range of Dharma subjects.
chula ngepar sempay supa
c) The patience where you don't mind it when others do you harm: The ability not to become angered when you are blocked from what you want and get what you don't want; and when people try to attack you, hurt your reputation, and so on.
nupa jepa la ji mi-nyampay supa
THE ASIAN CLASSICS INSTITUTE
COURSE XI
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Part II
1) Describe the example that Master Shantideva uses to refute the idea that we can be angry at persons who harm us in a way which appears to be intentional.
The basic elements within our body do not say to themselves, "I think I will fall out of balance and make this person sick." Neither do even our enemies pre-meditate their harms towards us in the sense of saying, "I think I'll start getting angry now." They are not under their own control, but rather under the control of the mental afflictions.
2) Name the principal qualities of the primal One and the Self-Existent Being which were believed in by early non-Buddhist religions in India. (Tibetan track also give Tibetan for the two, as well as a synonym for the second.)
The primal One creates all things as expressions of Himself. The Self-Existent Being, also known as the Original Mental Being, experiences all objects on his own accord, without relying on any other influence. They are said to be uncreated, and thus unchanging, and yet still able to cause effects and be affected, which is impossible.
tsowo
dak
dak sherik gi kyebu
3) Give examples of things which are (a) changing yet eternal; (b) eternal but not changing; (c) permanent but changing; (d) impermanent and also changing; and (e) unchanging but able to do something. (Tibetan track give the Tibetan for the last.)
a) The mind changes but is eternal; it had no beginning, and has no end; it is caused by previous instances of mind and changes from moment to moment, even with a Buddha.
b) Empty space is unchanging, and had no cause, but has existed and
always will exist; it can be occupied or not, but does not change in its nature either way.
c) Again, the mind is permanent (never stops), and changes from moment to moment.
d) Jobs and worldly relationships are impermanent (they will all end one day), and also change from moment to moment.
e) There is no such thing.
takpay ngupo
4) What causes a thing to ever change? (Tibetan track give four synonyms for "changing thing.")
The fluctuation of the energy of the thing that produced it, its cause, causes the thing to change. Changing thing, caused thing, produced thing, and thing that does something are all synonyms for "changing thing".
mitakpa duje jepa ngupo
5) Could an uncreated, unchanging being ever create itself, and why?
No, because by definition it would change by the act of producing an effect.
6) Could an uncreated, unchanging being ever produce something else, and why?
No; because it was never produced itself, it cannot produce something else.
7) Could an uncreated, unchanging being ever experience or be aware of any other object, and why?
No, because it would have to be unwaveringly aware of every object, since it never changes.
8) Could our world or the objects and people in it who make us angry ever have been created without a cause?
It is completely illogical and impossible for a changing thing not to have been created by a cause.
9) Why does Master Shantideva advise patience, and even pity, for those who harm us?
Because they do not even know enough to stop harming themselves, much less us.
10) Name the direct cause for our pain when someone hits us with a stick, and then the thing which impelled this direct cause. At which should we be angry?
The direct cause for our pain is the stick or whatever; the thing that impels it is the anger of the person who swings it; so we should be angry not at the person or the stick, but at his or her anger, an emotion which we also share.
11) Explain the role of perception in the true cause of the objects and people which make us angry.
Our karma forces us to perceive the objects and people which make us angry. If we had collected good karma instead of bad karma, we would be perceiving these same objects as pleasant.
12) Why do we live in the desire realm, where a human body is sure to be hurt by other people and things constantly?
We would not be here if we had not had the necessary mental afflictions to propel us here. The fact that we are here proves that we did not work to eliminate our mental afflictions in the past. This is one of the facts that you realize during the path of seeing.
THE ASIAN CLASSICS INSTITUTE
COURSE XI
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Part II
1) Give the reasoning that Master Shantideva uses to show that we should not be angry with those who do harm to us verbally. (Tibetan track answer in Tibetan with two lines from the root text.)
That, because the mind is not physical and does not have a body, it cannot be harmed.
yi ni luchen mayinpe
su kyang gang duang shom mi nu
2) Give the reasoning that Master Shantideva uses to show that we should not be angry with those who do harm to images or shrines. (Tibetan track answer in Tibetan with one line from the root text.)
He says it is improper to be angry with them, for the reason that the Buddha and the other Three Jewels cannot be harmed anyway.
sanggye sokla nu mi nga
3) What method does Master Shantideva advise for avoiding anger towards those who harm our Lamas and family relatives? (Tibetan track answer in Tibetan with two lines from the root text.)
We should recognize the true situation, which is that—as explained before—these people are reaping the results of their own past deeds, and we should not feel anger for those who are the instruments for them to receive the results of their own past karma.
ngamay tsul gyi kyen dak le
gyurwar tongne trowa dok
4) Name four reasons why it is appropriate to take joy whenever our enemies receive praise, or other things that they seek.
a) In the short run, I can feel the same happiness that they feel when they are praised.
b) Karmically, I will be more happy throughout the future.
c) My positive attitude towards others is the best method for attracting new people to the Dharma.
d) In a negative sense, the karma from being unhappy with others' happiness is so bad that I will not find any happiness myself in the future.
5) Name four reasons why we should not be glad when something negative happens to
those we dislike.
a) It doesn't benefit us in the slightest.
b) You can't take any (nasty) credit for the negative thing, because it could never have happened just because you wished for it.
c) Karmically, taking joy in the problems of another is the best way to ruin one's own happiness.
d) In terms of rebirth, the karmic result could well be a birth in the hells.
6) Give the reasoning that Master Shantideva states to demonstrate that we should cherish the opportunity which we get to practice the Dharma when we meet irritating people. (Tibetan track use two lines from the root text to answer.)
Those who give us a chance to practice patience are relatively much more rare than poor people, since if we do not respond with anger then we cannot meet them in the future.
ditar parnu majena
gayang nupa mije do
7) Give the scriptural reference, and name the scripture from which it comes, that demonstrates why we should respect living beings as we do the Buddhas themselves. (Tibetan track in Tibetan.)
The Excellent Collection of Dharma Teachings (Dharma Sangiti Sutra) says: "The field of living beings is the field of the Buddhas, and it is from this field of the Buddhas that we reach the fine qualities of the Buddhas; to do the opposite is very wrong."
yangdakpar dupay do le, semchen gyi shing ni sanggye kyi shing te, sanggye kyi shing de le sanggye kyi chu nam toppar gyur gyi der ni lokpar druppar mi rik so
8) Name the single highest method of repaying the kindness of the Buddhas.
Doing good to living beings is the single highest method.
THE ASIAN CLASSICS INSTITUTE
COURSE XI
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Part II
1) Explain the role of the fourth of the six perfections in attaining the result of the first three and the last two; then name the two results.
Attaining the result of the first three and the last two is dependent upon effort, much in the way that a flame never flickers in the absence of a breeze. The result attained from the first three is primarily the collection of merit, and the result attained from the last two is the collection of wisdom.
2) Give the brief definition of effort stated in Master Shantideva's root text. (Tibetan track in Tibetan.)
"What is effort? It is joy in doing good."
tsun gang ge la trowao
3) Name the three things that act against the perfection of effort, and describe them briefly. (Tibetan track name in Tibetan and describe in English.)
The three things that act against the perfection of effort are laziness, which is attraction to the pleasant feeling of sloth; an attraction to improper activities; and the feeling of being discouraged—of thinking to yourself that you cannot accomplish things.
lelo ja-ngen la shenpa gyiluk
4) Name and describe three factors that promote a feeling of laziness. (Tibetan track in Tibetan.)
Sloth an attraction to the sweet enjoyment of some pleasure, and a reluctance to engage in virtuous activities; a craving for time spent sleeping, and in general the lack of disgust for cyclic life that comes from these two.
nyomle nyila tenpay sepa
korway dukngel la mi-kyowa
5) Relate and explain the metaphor of the oxen and the butcher.
If knowing how fast we must die we continue to enjoy lazing around, then we have failed to notice how those around us in our life are being slaughtered steadily by the Lord of Death, and sit as complacently as oxen who watch their brethren steadily being slaughtered by a butcher.
6) Name four experiences at the moment of death that Master Shantideva uses to deny that we can do anything significant to help ourselves at that time. (Tibetan track in Tibetan.)
a) You are tormented by the memory of the wrong deeds you have done in your life.
rangdik drenpe dungwa
b) You hear the roar of the hell realms in your ears.
nyelway dra tupa
c) Out of terror you cover your body in shit.
trakpe mi-tsang lu gu
d) You reach the depths of insanity.
nyupar gyur
7) Give three causes which Master Shantideva mentions that bring us to cry out in our minds as we are destroyed by death. (Tibetan track in Tibetan.)
a) We had expected some excellent results in our lives without exerting ourselves in virtue at all.
ge la tsunme drebu dewa dupa
b) We had also expected to live as long as an immortal being.
hlandra yunring sun du rewa
c) We had become increasingly sensitive to multiplying sufferings.
sen chung duk-ngel nu mang
8) How does Master Shantideva describe our priorities and perception of what is happiness?
He notes that we easily give up the ultimate source of happiness—the holy Dharma—and instead seek those things that seem to cause happiness and but actually bring pain: bad deeds to get what we want; the distraction of the hustle and bustle of the world; and skipping around mentally from one interest and attraction to another.
THE ASIAN CLASSICS INSTITUTE
COURSE XI
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Part II
THE ASIAN CLASSICS INSTITUTE
COURSE XI
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Part II
THE ASIAN CLASSICS INSTITUTE
COURSE XI
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Part II
THE ASIAN CLASSICS INSTITUTE
COURSE XI
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Part II
THE ASIAN CLASSICS INSTITUTE
COURSE XI
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Part II
THE ASIAN CLASSICS INSTITUTE
COURSE XI
Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Part II