Kamalaśīla's Stages of Meditation

Bhāvanākrama, སྒོམ་རིམ།

taught by Khenpo Jamyang Tenzin

This treatise was composed in Tibet by Kamalaśīla, the famous disciple of the celebrated abbot Śāntarakṣita. It is Kamalaśīla's most widely renowned work, comprising three books, the objective of which is to teach the authentic procedure for progressing on the spiritual path. In this course we will study the first book, which is the most extensive of the three and is rarely taught.

To help students build up their personal meditation practice, Khenpo Jamyang Tenzin will supplement his explanations on the text with daily sessions of guided meditation. In this way, this will be a comprehensive course, covering both the theoretical as well as the practical aspects of the Buddhist path.   

Introduction:

Kamalaśīla was an Indian Buddhist master from the great monastic university of Nālanda which flourished in the 8^th century. In the later part of his life, Kamalaśīla lived and taught in Tibet, continuing the work of his master, the celebrated abbot Śāntarakṣita, who was responsible for introducing the first monastic and scholastic lineages in the Tibet.

Kamalaśīla is widely renowned for his three treatises on the stages of meditation simply entitled Bhāvanākrama 1-3 ('bhāvanā' meaning cultivation or meditation, and 'krama' meaning stage). The objective of those works is to teach the authentic procedures for progressing on the Buddhist path.

The topic:

The resultant state of enlightenment, as anything else in the world, is not a product of coincidence. Everything arises depending on causes and conditions. Thus, very specific causes and conditions need to work together in order to bring about the full blossoming of human potential into the state of Buddhahood.

At the very beginning of his text, Kamalaśīla clearly states:

In brief, those who wish to swiftly attain omniscience

are to exert themselves in three points:         

compassion, bodhicitta, and the practice (combining method and wisdom).

from Stages of Meditation, book 1

The author then gives detailed instructions on how to cultivate the root of the path – compassion, followed by an explanation of the driving force leading to complete enlightenment – bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment.

The heart of the treatise is Kamalaśīla’s explanation of the path uniting method and wisdom.

Wisdom associated to method, and

Method associated to wisdom

- this is liberation. 

from Stages of Meditation, book 1

It is thus by cultivating those two aspects in a balanced way that one will be able to ascend to the heights of realization, similar to a bird soaring towards the sun by means of his two wings. Method, comprising the practices of the Bodhisattva’s perfections and so forth, associated with Wisdom seeing the true nature of reality, is declared to be the sole path to true freedom.

In this text, Kamalaśīla offers the students of the path the tools to understand the ultimate nature of things: the union of calm abiding and superior insight, the essence of Buddhist meditation.

In order to abandon the obscurations,

the Blessed One taught the path uniting calm abiding and superior insight.

He did so, because those two (combined)

are the cause for true, non-conceptual primordial wisdom.

from Stages of Meditation, book 1

Benefits:                                                                                                                                  

An individual possessing a genuine understanding of the path as a whole is equipped with the tools necessary to engage in the practice leading to perfect enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. His Holiness the Dalai Lama frequently teaches from Kamalaśīla's Stages of Meditation, praising it as one of the most important texts to understand the proper procedures and sequences of meditation practice.

In this course, we will study the first of the three Bhāvanākrama texts, which is the most extensive of the three and only rarely taught. Not only does it allow the students to gain a good understanding of what the Buddhist path consists of, it also gives specific instructions on how to cultivate its different aspects, from developing compassion to the wisdom of ultimate reality.

In addition to the theoretical explanations based on the text, Khenpo Jamyang Tenzin will offer daily guided meditation sessions to show us how to put the teachings into practice. Buddha Dharma is intended to reduce and eliminate negative emotions and mental afflictions, a transformation which can only be brought about by implementing the teachings and integrating them into our daily lives. These guided meditations, provided by Khenpo la, have been greatly appreciated both by beginners and more advanced students. We are therefore very happy that Khenpo la has agreed to guide his students in formal meditation practice again this year. 

Links and recommended readings: (only on Stages of Meditation, book 2)

http://www.preciousteaching.org/sutra/kamalasilas-bhavana-krama-the-middle-meditation-stage/

      The Dalai Lama (2003). Stages of Meditation, translated by Venerable Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa and Jeremy Russell, Snow Lion.