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 Ga Rabjampa Kunga Yeshe's extensive treatise on Mind Training:
A Stream of Nectar - Pith Instructions for the Cultivation of the Two Bodhicittas taught by Khenpo Ngawang Jorden According to the Mahāyāna, it is said that the entire Buddhist path is contained in one thing only: the practice of bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment. This text teaches methods of mind training for the cultivation of bodhicitta. These methods are easy to apply in everyday life and have the power to produce a profound inner transformation.
Dispeller of all the darkness of wrong-doings, Source of everything excellent and good,
Foundation for the spiritual sustenance of all limitless beings - Homage to the jewel which is bodhicitta! A Stream of Nectar, Opening verse
Introduction: Ga Rabjampa Kunga Yeshe lived in the 15th century in Kham, Eastern Tibet. A disciple of the famous Sakya masters Rongtön Sheja Künrig and Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo, he is the founder of the Tharlam monastery. Among his numerous writings on both sūtra and tantra is his very extensive commentary on the Mind Training in Seven Points, which focuses on the cultivation of bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment, in its relative and ultimate forms. The teachings contained in the Mind Training in Seven Points were originally brought from India to Tibet by the famous Indian master Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna, and later brought into this form comprised of the seven points listed below. The text on the Mind Training in Seven Points by the great scholar Chekawa Yeshe Dorje became one of the most celebrated and most commented upon works on this subject in Tibet. The topic: Those longing to overcome the hundredfold sufferings of the world, Those longing to dispel the miseries of sentient beings,
And those longing to experience hundreds of joys, Should never abandon this bodhicitta. Śāntideva, Bodhicaryāvatāra I, 8
The Buddhist path of the Mahāyāna can be subsumed into the practice of the two bodhicittas or minds of enlightenment, relative and ultimate. The relative bodhicitta is the personal commitment to attain complete enlightenment for the sake of all beings, followed by the practices leading to this goal. It is also called the method aspect of the path. The ultimate bodhicitta is the wisdom aspect, offering the profound view of reality, free from all mental concepts and elaborations. Precisely the methods to build up and develop those two bodhicittas, with an emphasis on the relative aspect, are the focus of this work. The seven points covered in this text are: - The preliminaries of mind training
- The main practice of training in bodhicitta
- Turning adverse circumstances into the path of enlightenment
- Condensing the practice of one life
- Evaluating one’s mind training
- The commitments of mind training
- Advice for the mind training
Benefits: These practices of Mind Training focus primarily on the method aspect of relative bodhicitta, allowing one to develop genuine love and compassion for all beings equally. This then becomes a most powerful tool to overcome all selfish habits and traits of personality, which are actually the most imminent obstacles on the path to complete freedom. Taking full responsibility for the way one perceives the world and reacts to it, a practitioner equipped with those means will be able to transform even unfavorable conditions into the path of enlightenment. In this way, everything “good” and “bad”, from one’s personal wellbeing up to all outer and inner obstacles, will be of assistance for one’s development of compassion and wisdom. Links and recommended readings: http://lojongmindtraining.com/ http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/sutra/level3_lojong_material/specific_texts/seven_point_attitude_training/seven_point_attitude_training/7_point_attitude_togmey_zangpo.html http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Seven_Points_of_Mind_Training http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/sakya-masters/jamyang-khyentse-wangpo/ambrosia Geshe Thupten Jinpa (transl.) (2005). Mind Training: The Great Collection, Wisdom Publications. Jamgön Kongtrul (2005). The Great Path of Awakening, translated by Ken McLeod, Shambhala. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1992). Enlightened Courage, Editions Padmakara. B. Alan Wallace (2004). Seven Point Mind Training, Snow Lion Publications. |
