At one time time Buddha dwelt at Sravasti in the Jeta grove in the garden of the Bene-factor of Orphans and the Solitary together with a gathering of great Bhiksus, 1250 in all, all great Ar-hats whom the assembly knew and recognized: Elders Sari-putra, Mahamaudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa, Mahakatyayana, Mahakausthila, Revata, Suddhipanthaka, Nanda, Ananda, Rahula, Gavampati, Pindola-bharadvaja, Kalodayin, Mahakaphina, Vakkula, Aniruddha, and others such as these, all great disciples; together with all the Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas: Dharma Prince Manjusri, Ajita Bodhisattva, Gandhastin Bodhisattva, Nityodyukta Bodhisattva, and others such as these, all great Bodhisattvas; and to-gether with Sakra, chief among gods, and the numberless great multitudes from all the heavens.

At that time the Buddha told the Elder Sariputra, "Passing from here through hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhalands to the West, there is a world called Ultimate Bliss. In this land a Buddha called Amitabha right now teaches the Dharma. Sariputra, for what reason is this land called Ultimate Bliss? All living beings of this country endure none of the suf-ferings, but enjoy every bliss. Therefore, it is called 'Ultimate Bliss'.

Moreover, Sariputra, this Land of Ultimate Bliss is everywhere surrounded by seven tiers of railings, seven layers of netting, and seven rows of trees, all formed from the four treasures and for this reason named 'Ultimate Bliss'.

Moreover, Sariputra, the Land of Ultimate Bliss has pools of the seven jewels, filled with the eight waters of merit and virtue. The bottom of each pool is pure, spread over with golden sand. On the four sides are stairs of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and crystal; above are raised pavilions adorned with gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, mother-or-pearl, red pearls, and carnelian.

In the pools are lotuses as large as carriage wheels: green colored of green light; yellow colored of yellow light; red colored of red light; white colored of white light; subtly, wonderfully, fragrant and pure.

Sariputra, the realization of the Land of Ultimate Bliss is thus meritoriously adorned.

Moreover Sariputra, in that Buddhaland there is always heavenly music, and the ground is yellow gold. In the six periods of the day and night a heavenly rain of mandarava flowers falls, and throughout the clear morning each living being of this Land, with sacks full of the myriads of wonderful flowers, makes offerings to the hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhas of the other directions. At mealtime they return to their own country, and having eaten, they stroll around,

Sariputra, the realization of the Land of Ultimate Bliss is thus meritoriously adorned.

Moreover Sariputra, in this country there are al-ways rare and wonderful varicolored birds: white cranes; peacocks, parrots and egrets ; kalavinkas and two-headed birds . In the six periods of the day and night the flocks of birds sing forth harmonious and elegant sounds. Their clear and joyful sounds proclaim the five roots,29 the five powers the seven Bodhi shares, the eight sage-ly way shares,30 and dharmas such as these. When living beings of this land hear these sounds, they are alto-gether mindful31 of the Buddha, mindful of the Dharma, and mindful of the Sangha.

Sariputra, do not say that these birds are born as retribution for their karmic offenses. For what reason? In this Buddhaland there are no three evil ways of re-birth.32 Sariputra, in this Buddhaland not even the names of the three evil ways exist, how much the less their actuality! Desiring that the Dharma sound be widely proclaimed, Amitabha Buddha by transformation made this multitude of birds.

Sariputra, in that Buddhaland, when the soft wind blows, the rows of jewelled trees and jewelled nets give forth subtle and wonderful sounds, like one hundred thousand kinds of music played at the same time. All those who hear this sound naturally bring forth in their hearts mindfulness of the Buddha, mindfulness of the Dharma, and mindfulness of the Sangha.

Sariputra, the realization of the Land of Ultimate Bliss is thus meritoriously adorned.

Sariputra, what do you think? Why is this Buddha called Amitabha? Sariputra, the brilliance of that Buddha's light is measureless, illumining the lands of the ten directions everywhere without obstruction; for this reason he is called Amitabha.33

Moreover Sariputra, the life of that Buddha and that of his people extends for measureless limitless asankhyeya kalpas; for this reason he is called Amitayus.34 And Sariputra, since Amitabha realized Buddhahood, ten kalpas have passed.

Moreover Sariputra, that Buddha has measureless limitless "sound-hearer" disciples,35 all Arhats, their number incalculable; thus also is the assembly of Bodhi-sattvas.

Sariputra, the realization of the Land of Ultimate Bliss is thus meritoriously adorned.

Moreover Sariputra, those living beings born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss are all avaivartika.36 Among them are many who in this very life will dwell in Buddhahood.37 Their number is extremely many, it is incalculable and only in measureless, limitless asankhyeya37 kalpas could it be spoken.

Sariputra, those living beings who hear should vow, 'I wish to be born in that country.' And why? Those who thus attain are all superior and good people, all coming together in one place. Sariputra, one cannot have few good roots, blessings, virtues, and causal connections to attain birth in that Land.

Sariputra, if there is a good man or good woman who hears spoken 'Amitabha Buddha' and holds the name, whether for one day, two days, three, four, five days, six days, as long as seven days, with one heart uncon-fused, when this person approaches the end of life, be-fore him will appear Amitabha Buddha and all the assem-bly of Holy Ones. When the end comes, his heart is without inversion; in Amitabha Buddha's Land of Ultimate Bliss he will attain rebirth. Sariputra, because I see this benefit, I speak these words: If living beings hear this spoken they should make the vow, 'I will be born in that land.'

Sariputra, as I now praise the inconceivable bene-fit from the merit and virtue of Amitabha Buddha, thus in the East are also Aksothya Buddha,38 Sumeru Appearance Buddha,39 Great Sumeru Buddha,40 Sumeru Light Buddha,41 Won-derful Sound Buddha,42 all Buddhas such as these, number-less as Ganges' sands. In his own country each brings forth the appearance of a vast and long tongue, every-where covering the three thousand great thousand worlds,43 and speaks the sincere and actual words, 'All you living beings should believe, praise, and hold in reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue44 of this Sutra of the Mindful One of Whom All Buddhas Are Protective.'45

Sariputra, in the Southern world are Sun Moon Lamp Buddha,46 Well-Known Light Buddha,47 Great Blazing Shoulders Buddha,48 Sumeru Lamp Buddha,49 Measureless Vigor Buddha,50 all Buddhas such as these, numberless as Ganges sands. In his own country each brings forth the appearance of a vast and long tongue, everywhere covering the three thousand great thousand worlds, and speaks the sincere and actual words, 'All you living beings should believe, praise, and hold in reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of this Sutra of the Mindful One of Whom All Buddhas Are Protective.'

Sariputra, in the Western world are Measureless Life Buddha,51 Measureless Appearance Buddha,52 Measureless Curtain Buddha,53 Great Light Buddha,54 Great Brightness Buddha,55 Jewelled Appearance Buddha,56 Pure Light Buddha,57 all Buddhas such as these, numberless as Ganges sands. In his own country each brings forth the appearance of a vast and long tongue, everywhere covering the three thousand great thousand worlds, and speaks the sincere and actual words, 'All you living beings should believe, praise, and hold in reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of this Sutra of the Mindful One of Whom All Buddhas Are Protective.'

Sariputra, in the Northern world are Blazing Shoulders Buddha,58 Most Victorious Sound Buddha,59 Hard to Injure Buddha,60 Sun Birth Buddha,61 Net Brightness Buddha,62 all Buddhas such as these, numberless as Ganges sands. In his own country each brings forth the appearance of a vast and long tongue, everywhere covering the three thousand great thousand worlds, and speaks the sincere and actual words, 'All you living beings should believe, praise, and hold in reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of this Sutra of the Mindful One of Whom All Buddhas Are Protective.'

Sariputra, in the world below are Lion Buddha,63 Well-Known Buddha,64 Famous Light Buddha,65 Dharma Buddha,66 Dharma Curtain Buddha,67 Dharma Maintaining Buddha,68 all Buddhas such as these, numberless as Ganges sands. In his own country each brings forth the appearance of a vast and long tongue, everywhere covering the three thousand great thousand worlds, and speaks the sincere and actual words, 'All you living beings should believe, praise, and hold in reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of this Sutra of the Mindful One of Whom All Buddhas Are Protective.'

Sariputra, in the world above are Pure Sound Buddha,69 King of Past Lives Buddha,70 Superior Fragrance Buddha, 71 Fragrant Light Buddha,72 Great Blazing Shoulders Buddha,73 Vari-colored Jewels and Flower Adornment Body Buddha,74 Sala Tree King Buddha,75 Jewelled Flower Virtue Buddha,76 Vision of all Meaning Buddha,77 Such as Mt. Sumeru Buddha,78 all Buddhas such as these, numberless as Ganges sands. In his own country each brings forth the appearance of a vast and long tongue, everywhere covering the three thousand great thousand worlds, and speaks the sincere and actual words, 'All you living beings should believe, praise, and hold in reverence the inconceivable merit and virtue of this Sutra of the Mindful One of Whom All Buddhas Are Protective.

Sariputra, what do you think? Why is it called Sutra of the Mindful One of Whom All Buddhas Are Protective? Sariputra, if a good man or good woman hears this Sutra and holds to it, and hears the names of all these Buddhas, this good man or woman will be the Mind-ful One of whom all Buddhas are protective, and will irreversibly attain to anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. There-fore, Sariputra, all of you should believe and accept my words, and those which all Buddhas speak.

Sariputra, if there are people who have already made the vow, who now make the vow, or who are about to make the vow, 'I desire to be born in Amitabha's Country', these people whether born in the past, now being born, or to be born in the future, all will irreversibly attain to anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Therefore, Sariputra, all good men and good women, if they are among those who have faith, should make the vow, 'I will be born in that country.'

Sariputra, just as I am now one who praises the merit and virtue of all Buddhas, all those Buddhas equally praise my inconceivable merit and virtue saying these words, 'Sakyamuni Buddha can complete extremely rare and difficult deeds. In the Saha Land, in the evil time of the five turbidities,79 in the midst of the kalpa turbidity, the view turbidity, the affliction turbidity, the living beings turbidity, and the life turbidity, he can attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi and for the sake of living beings, speak this Dharma which in the whole world is hard to believe.'

Sariputra, you should know that I, in the evil time of the five turbidities, practice these difficult deeds, attain anuttara-samak-sambodhi and for all the world speak this dharma, difficult to believe, extremely difficult!"

After the Buddha spoke this Sutra, Sariputra and all the Bhiksus, all the gods, men, and asuras, and others from all the worlds, hearing what the Buddha had said, joyously welcomed, faithfully accepted, bowed and withdrew.

Tibetan Buddhists believe that saying the mantra (prayer) Om Mani Padme Hum, invites the blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion.

They also believe you can produce the same effect by spinning the written form of the mantra around in a prayer wheel (called "Mani wheels" by the Tibetans). The effect is said to be multiplied when more copies of the mantra are included, and spinning the Mani wheels faster increases the benefit as well.

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, has said that having the mantra on your computer works the same as a traditional Mani wheel. As the digital image spins around on your hard drive, it sends the peaceful prayer of compassion to all directions and purifies the area.

The Mani mantra is the most widely used of all Buddhist mantras, and open to anyone who feels inspired to practice it -- it does not require prior initiation by a lama (meditation master).

The six syllables of the mantra, as it is often pronounced by Tibetans -- Om Mani Padme Hum -- are here written in the Tibetan alphabet:


Reading from left to right the syllables are:

Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum
(ohm)(mah)(nee)(pahd) (may) (hum)



The True Sound of Truth

An old story speaks about a similar problem. A devoted meditator, after years concentrating on a particular mantra, had attained enough insight to begin teaching. The student's humility was far from perfect, but the teachers at the monastery were not worried.

A few years of successful teaching left the meditator with no thoughts about learning from anyone; but upon hearing about a famous hermit living nearby, the opportunity was too exciting to be passed up.

The hermit lived alone on an island at the middle of a lake, so the meditator hired a man with a boat to row across to the island. The meditator was very respectful of the old hermit. As they shared some tea made with herbs the meditator asked him about his spiritual practice. The old man said he had no spiritual practice, except for a mantra which he repeated all the time to himself. The meditator was pleased: the hermit was using the same mantra he used himself -- but when the hermit spoke the mantra aloud, the meditator was horrified!

"What's wrong?" asked the hermit.

"I don't know what to say. I'm afraid you've wasted your whole life! You are pronouncing the mantra incorrectly!"

"Oh, Dear! That is terrible. How should I say it?"

The meditator gave the correct pronunciation, and the old hermit was very grateful, asking to be left alone so he could get started right away. On the way back across the lake the meditator, now confirmed as an accomplished teacher, was pondering the sad fate of the hermit.

"It's so fortunate that I came along. At least he will have a little time to practice correctly before he dies." Just then, the meditator noticed that the boatman was looking quite shocked, and turned to see the hermit standing respectfully on the water, next to the boat.

"Excuse me, please. I hate to bother you, but I've forgotten the correct pronunciation again. Would you please repeat it for me?"

"You obviously don't need it," stammered the meditator; but the old man persisted in his polite request until the meditator relented and told him again the way he thought the mantra should be pronounced.

The old hermit was saying the mantra very carefully, slowly, over and over, as he walked across the surface of the water back to the island.




The Meaning of the Mantra
"There is not a single aspect of the eighty-four thousand sections of the Buddha's teachings which is not contained in Avalokiteshvara's six syllable mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum", and as such the qualities of the "mani" are praised again and again in the Sutras and Tantras.... Whether happy or sad, if we take the "mani" as our refuge, Chenrezig will never forsake us, spontaneous devotion will arise in our minds and the Great Vehicle will effortlessly be realized."
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
-- Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones
People who learn about the mantra naturally want to know what it means, and often ask for a translation into English or some other Western language. However, Om Mani Padme Hum can not really be translated into a simple phrase or even a few sentences.

All of the Dharma is based on Buddha's discovery that suffering is unnecessary: Like a disease, once we really face the fact that suffering exists, we can look more deeply and discover it's cause; and when we discover that the cause is dependent on certain conditions, we can explore the possibility of removing those conditions.

Buddha taught many very different methods for removing the cause of suffering, methods appropriate for the very different types and conditions and aptitudes of suffering beings. For those who had the capacity to understand it, he taught the most powerful method of all, a method based on the practice of compassion. It is known as the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, because practicing it benefits all beings, without partiality. It is likened to a vast boat that carries all the beings in the universe across the sea of suffering.

Within the Mahayana the Buddha revealed the possibility of very quickly benefiting all beings, including oneself, by entering directly into the awakened state of mind, or Buddhahood, without delay. Again, there are different ways of accomplishing this, but the most powerful, and at the same time the most accessible, is to link ones own mind with the mind of a Buddha.

In visualization practice we imagine ourselves to be a Buddha, in this case the Buddha of Compassion, Chenrezig. By replacing the thought of yourself as you with the thought of yourself as Chenrezig, you gradually reduce and eventually remove the fixation on your personal self, which expands your loving kindness and compassion, toward yourself and toward others, and your intelligence and wisdom becomes enhanced, allowing you to see clearly what someone really needs and to communicate with them clearly and accurately.

In most religious traditions one prays to the deities of the tradition in the hopes of receiving their blessing, which will benefit one in some way. In the vajrayana Buddhist tradition, however, the blessing and the power and the superlative qualities of the enlightened beings are not considered as coming from an outside source, but are believed to be innate, to be aspects of our own true nature. Chenrezig and his love and compassion are within us.

1. You'll know that you are Deliberately Creating Peace when...you feel guided to take your focus off the external world. Deliberate Creators know that we are, at all moments, creating our future. Some of us are doing this creating 'deliberately' while others, by getting caught up in the swirl of events that surround us, are doing this creation 'by default'.

Which do you choose: to create deliberately or by default?



2. You'll know that you are Deliberately Creating Peace when...
in relationship with others, you strive to bring the focus to areas of harmony and agreement instead of conflict and discord. Deliberate Creators appreciate that what we resist, persists, and therefore make thoughtful determinations of where attention should be placed.

Which relationships in your life could benefit from a short time spent focusing on areas of agreement?



3. You'll know that you are Deliberately Creating Peace when...
you let go of the idea that you can only feel peaceful when everything around you is going a certain way and instead, recognize that you have the power within you to choose to experience peace.

Who (or what) have you allowed to destroy your sense of peace - and how can you reclaim it?



4. You'll know that you are Deliberately Creating Peace when...
you notice that, when someone 'pushes your buttons', instead of expending your energy trying to get the other person to change, you search inside yourself and ask, 'what happened inside me that led me to react that way to you?' Whenever we feel a painful emotion (anger, resentment, jealousy, fear, depression, desire for vengeance, grief) this simply means that someone has activated one of our wounds and a powerful opportunity for healing lies right in front of us.

The next time you find that your 'buttons' have been pushed, where will you focus your attention -- inward or outward?



5. You'll know that you are Deliberately Creating Peace when...
you find yourself put off by anti-war demonstrations and the notion of judging and condemning the players in a dispute. Deliberate Creators understand that we cannot be engaged in a battle and be a source for peace at the same time.

Where are you investing your energy -- in a battle against war or in a commitment to peace?



6. You'll know that you are Deliberately Creating Peace when...
you find yourself focusing on what you are wanting instead of what you are not wanting. Deliberate Creators recognize that what we focus on expands and they give careful thought as to what they want to have expand in their lives.

What in the world would you like to see expand?



7. You'll know that you are Deliberately Creating Peace when...
instead of praying for an outside force to bring peace to others, you commit to being one who radiates peace from within.

Are you ready to become a source of Peace?

Q: What would you say is the purpose of life?

A: To come out of misery. A human being has the wonderful ability to go deep inside, observe reality, and come out of suffering. Not to use this ability is to waste one's life. Instead, to use it to live a really healthy, happy life! ~The Art Of Living~

By faith one crosses over the stream, by strenuousness the sea of life; By streadfastness all grief he stills, By wisdom is he purified. ~The Essence Of Buddhism~

When we speak of dharma, we usually refer to the teachings given by the Buddha, but in fact dharma has two meanings: one is the scriptural dharma that came down to us from the Buddha and the other is the dharma of realization. Actually, the root of all dharma is realization, meaning that one understands the true nature of phenomena just as it is. To obtain such understanding, one has to develop all the good qualities of meditation with much diligence, effort, and perseverance. Through this work in meditation, one comes to a point where a very special understanding, knowledge, and insight never experienced before arises. At this time one reaches the ultimate fruition, true realization. This is what is meant by the dharma of realization. But in order to achieve this realization, we need a foundation to work from. We need to work from the scriptural dharma which is the dharma as a teaching given us by the Buddha.

There are two main classes of scriptural dharma: the teachings of the sutras and the teachings of the tantras. The sutras of the Buddha were given in three different waves or turnings of the wheel of dharma. The first turning of the wheel of dharma were the Hinayana teachings. These teachings were intended for individuals whose mind was not yet very open and had a lesser aspiration to achieve enlightenment.

The second wave of teachings called the second turning of the wheel of dharma are the teachings on emptiness and on the Prajnaparamita teachings. These are teachings of the Mahayana.

Finally, the third wave of teachings were the bridge between the sutras and the tantras. These were the teachings in which the Buddha taught that absolutely everyone has Buddha-nature or Buddha-essence.


THE SUTRAS

Now the first turning of teachings were given in Varanasi which you can visit in India nowadays. The Buddha taught in the deer park (which is now called Sarnath) which at the time was a very remote and very solitary place.6 After the Buddha reached his enlightenment, he remained completely silent and didn't teach for seven weeks. The reason for this was to show that the dharma is very rare, very special, very valuable, and this is why the Buddha just remained silent for some time and until he was requested to teach. The request was made by many gods including Brahma. Having had the request to teach, the Buddha went to Varanasi and gave the teachings in the deer park. He gave the teachings to five men who were called "the five good followers" who were connected by previous karma to the Buddha and who through this link, were the first ones to receive his teaching.

The subject matter of this first turning of the wheel of dharma was the teaching of the Four Noble Truths. The Buddha expounding these Four Noble Truths to make it very clear to all those who were going to follow the Buddha's path what the teaching was, why one needed to practice it, and what kind of results one could be expected from the practice. So to clarify the path the Buddha laid it out in a very clear form of the four truths.

He showed that if we don't practice the path of dharma, we will wander on and on in samsara, but if we practice the dharma, we will gain the liberation of nirvana. The Buddha first taught that suffering is inherent to samsara and that this is what we must really overcome. Secondly, he taught that the cause of this suffering are the disturbing emotions (or kleshas) and karma. To counteract samsara we must engage in the aspect of nirvana which again has two parts. The third noble truth of cessation or peace shows what we can achieve. Nirvana is cessation of suffering. And fourth the way to achieve this is the truth of the path. Since samsara is by nature suffering, we have to go beyond samsara to eliminate samsara. Since nirvana is peace, this is what we have to try to achieve. But achieving nirvana and eliminating samsara can not be done automatically. So it is done through working on the causes of these that we can achieve our goal. This is why the Buddha expounded on the four truths in the form of causes and their effects. The causes of the suffering of samsara are the disturbing emotions such as lust, anger, and ignorance and karma which need to be overcome. In the same way, the cause of peace and bliss of nirvana is the path which needs to be practiced.

So this is how the Buddha gave the whole outline of his teaching in the form of these four truths. Within each aspect of samsara and nirvana, there is this causal relationship between cause and effect.

This series of teachings which began in Varanasi were called the turning of the first wheel of dharma. Later the Buddha taught the second wheel of dharma at Vulture Peak in Rajagriha, India. The people who were present during this teaching were arhats and bodhisattvas in great numbers. The teaching itself was mostly the exposition of the Prajnaparamita. This is when the Buddha gave the teachings on emptiness and on the conduct of a bodhisattva through the teachings on the six paramitas.

In the first turning of the wheel of dharma, the Buddha showed that one had to abandon samsara to achieve nirvana. But how is this possible? Does it mean that we have to go on a long journey to where we have never been before to find nirvana? Does it mean that we have to create something new called nirvana? In fact, it doesn't mean that at all. All it means is that we have to understand the actual nature of phenomena10 that we have to understand that our present view of reality is mistaken, and we have to remove our impurities. And once we see things as they really are, this is when we can achieve Buddhahood.

The third turning of the wheel of dharma is also called the teachings that gave complete clarification. These teachings were given in Shravasti and other places in India in the presence of all the great bodhisattvas. These teaching revealed that Buddha-nature is present in the mind of all beings. We may wonder why this was taught last. The reason is that in the second turning, the Buddha taught that everything was empty of inherent nature. This teaching could lead to the belief that the goal of the Buddhist path-nirvana-is actually simply complete emptiness or annihilation. To avoid this mistake, the Buddha gave this third set of teachings showing that the mind is not just nothingness. When one achieves Buddhahood, the original intrinsic luminosity of the mind becomes manifest. This luminosity or clarity of the mind means that the mind is not a dark, obscure thing by nature, but it has its own inherent, intelligent clarity. Once one has removed the veils, the thick shroud of ignorance, the inherent clarity of the mind, this brilliance of the intelligence of mind, will shine in its fullness. Once this clarity of the mind has manifest, then one can understand all things of nirvana and samsara very clearly. One has the understanding of phenomena and this knowledge is accompanied by the greatest of bliss and peace.

THE TANTRAS

The three turnings of the wheel of dharma that have just been described correspond to the sutras taught of the Buddha. The Buddha also taught the tantras which are the teachings of the Vajrayana. The Buddha gave four tantras: the kriya tantras, the carya tantras, the yoga tantras, and the anuttarayoga tantras.

These teachings were given in many places. Sometimes the Buddha gave these teachings in some of the god realms such as Tushita and some of the teachings were given in physical places in India. Those receiving these teachings were bodhisattvas and dakas and dakinis practicing the secret mantas. The sutras already provided very deep and vast teachings on the nature of phenomena. But with the Vajrayana, the Buddha was able to give people the possibility to achieve the fruition of the Buddhist path very quickly and without major hardships. The Vajrayana can do this by providing special skillful means such as the meditation on the generation stage and the completion stage of a deity,12 and using meditation techniques of looking at the nature of the mind directly.

So the Buddha turned the wheel of dharma and gave all the various teachings of the Hinayana, the Mahayana, and the Vajrayana. in different places with different people and at all different times. But also because he was teaching students of vastly different abilities, at times it seemed to them as if the Buddha was mainly spreading the Hinayana; at times it seemed to them as if he was teaching the Mahayana and sometimes as if to the Vajrayana. Of course, this was just a matter of the way in which the people were perceiving the teachings of the Buddha; it seemed to some that the Buddha was giving completely Hinayana teachings and to others that he was giving completely Mahayana teaching. The Buddha could also be somewhere else and through his miraculous powers giving other teachings to others.

Because of this, some people started having the impression that the Buddha had only given the Hinayana teachings, and had not given the Mahayana teachings which were made up by someone else. Others believed that the Buddha had given the Mahayana teachings, but had not given the Vajrayana teachings and that these Vajrayana teachings had been fabricated by his followers. The belief that the Mahayana and the Vajrayana teachings were created by someone else is based on the belief the Buddha was just an ordinary man with no extraordinary qualities of enlightenment instead of seeing a Buddha as being a very exceptional being who came into the world to help people out of his great compassion and to lead them to liberation. Once one thinks of the Buddha as an ordinary Indian man, then next one will have doubts as to whether he actually gave the various teachings attributed to him and one begins picking and choosing between teachings of the various vehicles.

It is a mistake to identify the Buddha as an ordinary person and to start thinking that maybe the Buddha didn't have complete knowledge, or was not able to teach a complete range of teachings or that the Buddha could have taught in this place, but not in that place. It is not worth entertaining such doubts because the Buddha was not an ordinary person nor was he a god who if pleased with you will send you to heaven and if displeased throw you into the hell realms. But at the same time, saying the Buddha is not a god doesn't mean that we should think of the Buddha as someone devoid of any special qualities of knowledge, intelligence, and understanding or without any special direct intuition and insight. He was indeed a very special being who gave the complete set of dharma teachings which were not in contradiction to each other. Each has its own relevance. Whoever practices a teaching of any level or vehicle properly will be able to achieve the respective result of that particular path.

The Buddha could have remained in our world for thousands and thousands of years, and this may have been quite beneficial. On the other hand, there would have been the danger that people would start thinking that the Buddha was permanent which could generate all kinds of misconceptions. Instead by passing away, the Buddha showed that if he had to die, then, of course, everybody else would have to also die one day. So it was to make everyone aware of the impermanence of life so that they could generate a sense of renunciation, a sense of urgency in the practice, a sense of weariness with this world. It was also to instill the feeling that dharma, the teachings of the Buddha, is very rare, very precious, and very valuable. So this is why the Buddha passed away in Kushinagari in India.

Why did the Buddha come into our world? The reason was the very exceptional compassion of the Buddha wanting to help all beings and to lead them onto the path that leads to real happiness. He wanted to show individuals the path to peace, the path to true happiness by teaching the four truths or the two truths that describe the true nature of everything. He showed us that we can have the choice to choose our own happiness and travel on the path that leads to ultimate liberation and happiness. So the Buddha because of his very great love and compassion for all of us, did not keep these teachings to himself, but turned the wheel of dharma.

THE FIRST COUNCIL

After the Buddha passed away, his teachings were preserved without any alteration or without any loss by means of three great councils. The Buddha didn't speak from books that he had written and he didn't write anything down. Instead people came and asked him questions and voiced their doubts and their uncertainties. The Buddha would answer these questions, so that the teaching of the Buddha were actually answers to various people's questions and doubts. These questions would become the opportunity for expounding the truth, for speaking of the true nature of everything.

We may ask, "Well, if everything was just said by the Buddha and nothing was written down, how come things didn't get lost or altered or modified as time went on?" The reason this did not happen was that many of those who were receiving the Buddha's teaching were monks totally dedicated to the path of the Buddha. When they listened to the teaching, they did it with all their heart and immediately put the teachings into practice so they realized the fruition of the path extremely quickly, allowing all the qualities of intelligence to rapidly blossom in them. Among other things, they achieved the power of perfect memory which means each word the Buddha said was engraved very deeply in their memory so that every word was kept in their minds and nothing was lost.

After his passing away one of the Buddha's most important monks named Mahakashyapa gathered 500 arhats for a great council to keep all the teachings in tact. The meeting took place in the great Banyan cave which was on the bank of hot springs which are quite close to Vulture Peak near Rajagriha. So these 500 arhats gathered there and the meeting was presided over by three of them in particular: Ananda, Mahakashyapa, and Upali. They recited every word of the Buddha that they had heard and each of these three expounded on particular aspect of the teaching of the Buddha. So Upali expounded the Vinaya teachings, Ananda the Sutras, and Mahakashyapa the Abhidharma. They would begin by saying, "Thus have I heard. This is how the Buddha spoke" and then they would recite everything they had heard. In this way, they established very clearly and formally what the Buddha's teachings were, so that from that point onwards all the teachings were classified into these three groups and kept very systematically.

The purpose of this first council was to make sure that all the immaculate words of the Buddha would be preserved in their purity and wouldn't be lost. For instance, if even one part of a sutra had been lost, then the whole teaching of the Buddha would have lost some of its meaning. That is why they wanted to keep everything in tact. But, of course, it is possible that some of us will have doubts about this. We may feel that if there were no books to record the teachings of the Buddha, then maybe the sutras are not complete or maybe some of them have been made up by his followers so it is quite possible that the sutras are not pure teachings at all.16
Well, we do not need to entertain that kind of doubt because the arhats were very great beings who respected the Buddha's teaching so deeply, that they wanted to keep the teachings very pure, as they had been delivered originally by the Buddha.

When the Buddha taught, he was not teaching as a great scholar who wanted to demonstrate a particular philosophical point of view or to teach for its own sake. His desire was to present the very essence of the deep and vast teachings of Buddhism, and for that reason he gave teachings which suited the varying abilities of his disciples. All the teachings he gave, some long and some short, were a direct and appropriate response to the development of the disciples who came to listen to him. Of course, people have very different capacities and different levels of understanding. They also have very different wishes and desires to learn and understand the dharma. If the Buddha had taught only the very essence of his own understanding of those vast and far-reaching teachings, then, apart from a small number of disciples who had great intelligence and diligence, few people would have ever understood the Buddhist teachings. The Buddha taught whatever would enable a person to develop so he or she could progress gradually towards the very deep and vast teachings. When we analyze all the Buddha's teachings, we see that they fall into three main approaches or vehicles.

The Buddha's teachings helped each student in a way appropriate for his or her level. On the relative level4 each student received some benefit from what the Buddha taught. On the absolute level, all of the Buddha's teachings have the same goal. When one analyzes the Buddha's teachings on the relative level, one finds that there are three levels. But, when one examines them from the absolute level, one sees there is only one level, or yana, because all beings are directed towards the same goal.

THE HINAYANA

Of the three vehicles or yanas in Sanskrit, the first is the Hinayana. Hinayana literally means "lesser vehicle," but this term should in no way be a reproach or be construed to any way diminish the importance of the teachings. In fact, the teachings of the Hinayana are very important because they suit the capacities and development of a great number of students. If it weren't for these teachings, which are particularly appropriate for those who have limited wisdom or diligence, many persons would never be able to travel the Mahayana path. Without the Hinayana teachings there would be no way for practitioners to progress in the dharma, because they would have never entered the path. The path is similar to a staircase: the lower step is the lower step. This doesn't mean it is not important or should be ignored, because without this lower step one can never reach the top of the stairs. One can never gain access to the upper stories of a building without that lower step. It is very necessary. It should be very clear that this term "lesser" vehicle is in no way a pejorative term. It just puts the path into a realistic context.
The fundamental teachings of the Hinayana are the main subject matter of the first turning of the wheel of dharma. These teachings were given mainly in India in the town of Varanasi, which is now called Benares. The main subject matter of these teachings is the four noble truths.

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

If the Buddha had taught his disciples principally by using his miraculous abilities and various powers, it would not have been very effective in helping human beings on the path of liberation. The best way to show them that wisdom and liberation was to point out the very truth of things; to point out the way things really are. So this is what he did: he showed the truth through the four noble truths and the two truths (relative and absolute truth). By seeing the way things really are, the students learned how to eliminate their mistakes and their delusions. Eliminating one's mistakes and delusions automatically destroys the causes of one's suffering and hardships. This allows one to progressively reach the state of liberation and great wisdom. That is why the four noble truths and the two truths are the essence of the first teachings of the Buddha.

THE FIRST NOBLE TRUTH

The first noble truth is the full understanding of suffering. Of course, in an obvious way, people are aware of suffering, knowing when they have unpleasant sensations of hunger, cold, or sickness, and recognize these as things that they don't like. But the first noble truth includes awareness of all the ramifications of suffering, because it encompasses the very nature and essence of suffering. This includes knowledge of the subtle and the obvious aspects of suffering. The obvious aspect of suffering is immediate pain or difficulty in the moment. Subtle suffering is more difficult to understand, because it begins with happiness. But by its very nature this happiness must change because it can't go on forever. Because it must change into suffering, subtle suffering is the impermanence of pleasure.

For example, when Thrangu Rinpoche went to Bhutan with His Holiness Karmapa, he was invited to the palace of the king of Bhutan. When he arrived there, the palace was magnificent, the king's chambers were beautiful, there were many servants who showed complete respect and obedience. But he and Karmapa found that even though there was so much external beauty, the king himself was suffering a great deal mentally and had many difficulties. The king himself said that he was quite relieved that His Holiness had come and emphasized how much the visit meant to him because of the various difficulties with which he had been troubled. This is the subtle aspect of suffering.

We think that a particular situation will give us the most happiness we can ever imagine, but actually, within the situation, there is a tremendous amount of anguish. If we think of those who are really fortunate-those gods or human beings with a very rich and healthy life-it seems as though they have nothing but happiness. It is hard to understand that the very root, the very fiber of what is taking place is suffering, because the situation is subject to change.
What is happiness? By its very nature it can often mean that there will be suffering later on. There is no worldly happiness that lasts for a very long time. Worldly happiness includes an element of change, of built-in suffering. For that reason, the first noble truth of the awareness of suffering refers not just to immediate suffering, but also to the subtle elements of suffering. The Buddha taught the truth of suffering because everything that takes place on a worldly level is a form of suffering.

If we are suffering but are not aware of it, we will never have the motivation to eliminate this suffering and will continue to suffer. When we are aware of suffering, we are able to overcome it. With the more subtle forms of suffering, if we are happy and become aware that the happiness automatically includes the seed of suffering, then we will be much less inclined to become involved in an attachment to this happiness. We will then think, "Oh, this seems to be happiness, but it has built-in suffering." Then we will want to dissociate from it. The first truth is that one should be aware of suffering and once we have a very clear picture of the nature of suffering, we can really begin to avoid such suffering. Of course, everyone wants to avoid suffering and to emerge from suffering, but to accomplish this we need to be absolutely clear about its nature.

When we become aware that the nature of day-to-day existence is suffering, we don't have to be miserable with the thought that suffering will always be present. Suffering doesn't go on forever, because the Buddha entered the world, gave teachings, and demonstrated clearly what suffering is. He also taught the means by which suffering can be ended and described the state beyond suffering which is liberation. We do not have to endure suffering and can, in fact, be happy. Even though we cannot immediately emerge from suffering by practicing the Buddha's teachings, we can gradually eliminate suffering in this way, and move towards eventual liberation. This fact in itself can make us happy, even before we have actually completely emerged from suffering. Applying the Buddha's teachings, we can both be happy in the relative phase of our progress and then, at the end, we will gain wisdom and liberation and be happy in the ultimate sense, as well.

The first noble truth makes it clear that there is suffering. Once one knows what suffering is, one must eliminate that suffering. It is not a question of eliminating the suffering itself, but of eliminating the causes of suffering. Once one removes the causes of suffering, then automatically the effect, which is suffering, is no longer present. This is why, in order to eliminate this suffering, one becomes aware of the second noble truth, the truth of universal origination.

THE SECOND NOBLE TRUTH

The truth of universal origination is an English translation of the name Buddha himself gave to this noble truth. It means "that which is the cause or origin of absolutely everything." The truth of universal origination indicates that the root cause of suffering is negative karma and the kleshas. Karma is a Sanskrit word which means "activity" and klesha in Sanskrit means "mental defilement" or "mental poison." If one does not understand the Buddha's teachings, one would most likely attribute all happiness and suffering to some external cause. One might think that happiness and suffering come from the environment, or from the gods, and that everything that happens originates in some source outside of one's control. If one believes this, then it is extremely hard, if not impossible, to eliminate suffering and its causes. On the other hand, when one realizes that the experience of suffering is a product of what one has done, that is, a result of one's karma, eliminating suffering becomes possible. Once one is aware of how suffering takes place, then one can begin to remove the causes of suffering. First, one must realize that what one experiences is not dependent on external forces, but on what one has done previously. This is the understanding of karma. Negative karma produces suffering and is driven by the defilements. The term "defilement" refers mainly to one's negative motivation and negative thoughts, which produce negative actions.

THE THIRD NOBLE TRUTH

The third noble truth is the cessation of suffering through which it is explained that the causes of karma and the defilements can be removed. We have control over suffering, because karma and the defilements take place within us-we create them, we experience them. For that reason we don't need to depend on anyone else to remove the cause of suffering. The truth of interdependent origination means that if we do unvirtuous actions, we are creating suffering. It also means if we abandon unvirtuous actions, we remove the possibility of experiencing suffering in the future. What we experience is entirely in our hands. Therefore, the Buddha has said that we should give up the causes of negative karma and the defilements. Virtuous actions result in the external state of happiness and unvirtuous actions result in suffering. This idea is not particularly easy to grasp, because one can't see the whole process take place from beginning to end.
There are three kinds of actions: mental, verbal, and physical. These are subdivided into virtuous and unvirtuous physical actions, virtuous and unvirtuous verbal actions, and virtuous and unvirtuous mental actions. If one abandons these three types of unvirtuous actions, then one's actions become automatically virtuous.

There are three unvirtuous physical actions: the harming of life, sexual misconduct, and stealing. The results of these three unvirtuous actions can be observed immediately. For example, when there is a virtuous relationship between a man and woman they care about each other, protect each other, and have a great deal of love and affection for each other, so they will be happy because they look after each other. Their wealth will usually increase, and if they have children, their love and care will bring mutual love in the family. In the ordinary sense, happiness develops out of this deep commitment and bond they have promised to keep. Whereas, when there is an absence of commitment, there is also little care or love, and sexual misconduct arises. This is not the ground out of which love arises, or upon which a nice home can be built in which children can develop happiness. One can readily see that from the lack of commitment to sexual fidelity, many kinds of difficulties will arise.

One can also see the immediate consequences of other unvirtuous physical actions. One can see that those who steal have difficulties and suffer; those who don't steal experience happiness and have a good state of mind. Likewise, those who kill create many problems and unhappiness for themselves, while those who protect life are happy.

The same applies to our speech although it is not so obvious. But on closer examination, we can also see how happiness develops out of virtuous speech and unhappiness from unvirtuous kinds of speech. At first lying may seem to be useful because we might think that one can deceive others through lies and gain some advantage. But Sakya Pandita said that this is not true. If we lie to our enemies or persons we don't get along with very well, because they do not like us they are not going to believe us anyway. It will be very hard to deceive them. If they are our friends, we might be able to deceive them at first by telling a lie. But after the first time, they won't trust us any more and may think that we have been a hypocrite. So we see that lying doesn't really work. Then if we look at the opposite, a person who takes pains to speak the truth will develop a reputation of being a truthful person who can be relied on. Out of this trust, many good things will emerge.

Once we have considered the consequences of lying, we can think of similar consequences relating to other kinds of damaging speech: slander and coarse, aggressive, and useless speech. Except for the immediate and the short-term consequences virtuous speech produces happiness and unvirtuous speech produces suffering.

When we say useless speech, we mean speech that is really useless, not just conversational. If we want someone to relax and feel comfortable it is all right to talk without the conversation having great meaning as long as our intentions are to benefit that person. However, if we just chatter for not reason, that is "useless speech." Worse than that is "chatter rooted in the defilements" when one is saying bad things about other people because of dislike or jealousy of them or when one sets people against each other. When one just gossips about the character of people, that is really useless speech. Besides being useless, this very often causes trouble, because it sets people against each other and causes bad feelings.

The same applies to "harmful speech." If there is really a loving and beneficial reason for scolding, for example, a child when he is doing something dangerous or not studying in school, that is not harmful speech because it is devoid of the defilements. Rather it is a skillful way of helping someone. If there is a genuine, beneficial attitude and love behind what one says, it is not harmful speech. But if speech is related to the defilements such as aggression or jealousy, then it is harmful speech and is something to give up.

We can go on to examine the various states of mind and see that a virtuous mind produces happiness and unvirtuous states of mind create unhappiness. For instance, strong aggression will cause us to lose our friends. Because of our aggressiveness, our enemies will become even worse enemies and the situation will become inflamed. If we are aggressive and hurt others and they have friends, then eventually those friends will also become our enemies. On the other hand, if we wish to benefit others, goodness will come out of it through the power of caring for our loved ones and then through wishing to help them develop goodness. Through this they will become close and helpful friends. Through the power of our love and care, our enemies and people we don't get along with will improve their behavior and those enemies may eventually become friends. If we have companions and wish to benefit others, we can end up with very good friends and all the benefits which that brings. In this way, we can see how cause and effect operate, how a virtuous mind brings about happiness and how a unvirtuous mind brings about suffering and problems.

There are two main aspects of karma: one related to experience and one related to conditioning. The experience of karma has already been discussed. Through unvirtuous physical actions, one will experience problems and unhappiness. Likewise, through unvirtuous speech such as lying, one experiences unhappiness and sorrow. Through unvirtuous states of mind, one also experiences unhappiness. This was demonstrated by the example of an aggressive attitude. All of this is related to the understanding that any unvirtuous activity produces unpleasantness or unhappiness.
The second aspect of karma relates to conditioning. By being unvirtuous with our body, speech, or mind we habituate ourselves to a certain style of behavior. Unvirtuous physical or verbal behaviors add to the habit of doing things. For example, each time we kill, we are conditioned to kill again. If we lie, that increases the habit of lying. An aggressive mind conditions our state of mind so we become more aggressive. In later lives, then, that conditioning will emerge so that we will be reborn with a great tendency to kill, to lie, to engage in sexual misconduct, and so on. These are two aspects to karma. One is the direct consequence of an act and the other is the conditioning that creates a tendency to engage in behavior of that kind. Through these two aspects, karma produces the happiness and the suffering in life.
Even though we may recognize that unvirtuous karma gives rise to suffering and virtuous karma gives rise to happiness, it is hard for us to give up unvirtuous actions and practice virtuous actions because the defilements exercise a powerful influence on us. We realize that suffering is caused by unvirtuous karma, but we can't give up the karma itself. We need to give up the defilements because they are the root of unvirtuous actions. To give up the defilements means to give up unvirtuous actions of body (such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct), the unvirtuous actions of speech (such as lying, slander and harmful and useless speech), and the unvirtuous aspects of mind (such as aggressive, covetous, or ignorant mind). Just wanting to give up the defilements does not remove them. However, the Buddha in his great kindness and wisdom has given us a very skillful way to eliminate the very root of all the defilements through the examination of the belief in the existence of self or ego.

We cannot easily understand this belief in a self because it is very deep-rooted. First of all, we have to search for this self that we believe in, and through this search we can discover that the self does not exist. Then we will be able gradually to eliminate the belief in a self. When this is done, the defilements are also eliminated because with an elimination of the belief in self, unvirtuous karma is also eliminated.
This belief in a self is a mistaken perception. It's an illusion. For example, if one had a flower and were to interrogate one hundred people about it, they would all come to the same conclusion that it is indeed a flower. So one could be pretty sure that it is a flower. But, if one asked a person "Is this me?" he would say, "No, it's you." A second person would say, "It's you." One would end up with one hundred persons who say this as "you" and only oneself would consider it as "me." So statistically one's self is on very wobbly ground.

We also tend to think of "me" as one thing, as a unity. When we examine what we think of as ourselves, we find it is made up of many different components: the various parts of the body, the different organs, and the different elements. There are so many of them, yet we have this feeling of a single thing, which is "me." When we examine any of those components and try to find something that is the essence of self, the self cannot be found in any of these bits and pieces. By contemplating this and working through it very thoroughly, we begin to see how this "I" is really an incorrect perception.
Once we have eliminated this wrong way of thinking, the idea of an "I" becomes easy to get rid of. So, all of the desire rooted in thinking, "I must be made happy," can be eliminated as well as all the aversion rooted in the idea of "this difficulty must be eliminated." Through the elimination of the idea of "I," we can annihilate the defilements. Once the defilements are gone, then unvirtuous karma that is rooted in the defilements can go. Once the unvirtuous karma is gone, suffering will no longer take place. This is why Buddha says that the root of suffering needs to be abandoned.
To summarize, once we recognize what suffering really is, then we begin by removing its causes. We stop doing unvirtuous actions that create suffering. To stop these unvirtuous activities, we dig out their root, which are the defilements and the various unhealthy attitudes. To eradicate the defilements we need to remove their heart, which is the belief in a self. If we do that, then we will eventually come to realize the wisdom of non-self. Through understanding the absence of a self, we no longer create the defilements and negative actions and this brings an end to that whole process. This outcome is certain, thus this is the third Noble Truth of Cessation.
The very essence and nature of cessation is peace. Sometimes people think of Buddhahood in terms of brilliant insights or something very fantastic. In fact, the peace one obtains from the cessation of everything unhealthy is the deepest happiness, bliss, and well being. Its very nature is lasting, in contrast to worldly happiness, which is exciting for a time, but then changes. In contrast, the ultimate liberation and omniscience of cessation is the most deeply moving peace.

Within that peace all the powers of liberation and wisdom are developed. It is a very definitive release from both suffering and its result, and is a definitive release from the defilements, which are the cause of suffering. There are four main qualities of this truth of cessation. First, it is the cessation of suffering. Second, it is peace. Third, it is the deepest liberation and wisdom. Fourth, it is a very definitive release. Cessation is a product of practicing the path shown to us by the Most Perfect One, the Buddha. The actual nature of that path is the topic of the fourth noble truth, which is called the truth of the path, because it describes the path that leads to liberation.

THE FOURTH NOBLE TRUTH

The truth of the path is called "the truth of the path" because a path leads one to the ultimate goal. One does this step by step, stage by stage, progressively completing one's journey. The main stages of Buddhism are called "the five paths" because by progressively traversing them, one eventually reaches one's destination which is cessation. This path of the Buddha can be analyzed through its five main stages which are called the five paths. The names of the five paths are the stage of accumulation, the stage of junction, the stage of insight, the stage of cultivation, and the final stage of no more learning. Properly speaking, the first four of these are the path, with the fifth one being the effect.

The first path is called the "path of accumulation" because on this path we accumulate all the positive factors one to progress. We try to cultivate diligence, good qualities, and wisdom which penetrates more deeply into the meaning of things. We commit ourselves to accumulating all the positive aspects of practice. We gather the positive elements into our being while at the same time working on many different ways to remove all the unwanted elements from our life. We also apply various techniques to eliminate the blockages and obstacles that are holding us back. This is called the stage of accumulation because we engage in this manifold activity and gather all of these new things into our life.

In ordinary life we are caught up in worldliness. Even though we don't want to be, we are still operating on a level of conditioned existence (Skt. samsara) because we are still under the influence of the defilements. They have a very strong habitual grip on our existence. We need to get rid of these defilements in order to find our way out of samsara. Of course, we want to find happiness and peace and we know it is possible. But even with the strongest will in the world, we cannot do it overnight. It is like trying to dye a large cloth, in that one needs to bring many different elements together to change the color.

So, first of all, in order to gain good qualities, we need to work on creating all the different conditions which will make those qualities emerge. To develop the various insights of meditation and real wisdom, we need to develop great faith and confidence in the validity and usefulness of that wisdom. Once we are convinced of its value, we need to change our habits so that we have the diligence to do all the things necessary to make insight and wisdom emerge. Therefore, there are many factors and conditions we must generate within our life that will bring about our happiness.

To remove all the unwholesome factors binding us in samsara, we must uproot belief in a self, eliminate the various defilements which are hindering us, and bring together the many different conditions that make this transformation and purification possible. We talk about accumulation because we are assembling all the different conditions for this transformation. We won't be able to progress in a significant manner until we have gathered all these causes and conditions in a proper and completely perfect way within ourselves. For that reason, the purpose of this stage of accumulation is to complete all the necessary conditions by gathering them into our existence.

Eventually, because of the complete gathering of favorable conditions, we will reach the third stage which is the "path of insight." This is the stage during which insight into the way things actually are is developed, beyond the veil of delusion. Linking the path of accumulation and the stage of insight is the second path of junction. Here our inner realization, the very way we can perceive things, begins to link up with the truth of the actual nature of phenomena, because we are gathering all the favorable circumstances that will eventually lead us to the actual insight itself. When we attain insight into the way things really are and this insight develops beyond the level of delusion and mistaken views, we realize that there is no self. Once there is no longer a belief in self, there are no longer any root defilements of attachment, aggression, or mental darkness associated with the idea of self. Once there are no longer any defilements, one does nothing unvirtuous and has no more suffering.

Now, it is true that once we have that insight, all suffering is immediately removed, but in another way, that is not true. This is because the delusion of self is a habit which has been built up for such a long time and is very, very hard to remove. For example, when we believe in the self and we hit our finger with a hammer, it hurts. Even when we have realized that an unchanging self is just a delusion fabricated by our minds, still when we hit our finger with a hammer it hurts. We still have the feeling, "I am suffering," because there is an enduring built-up association of "I" with the flesh of our body. Removal of that long established conditioning of self is carried out through a long process of accustoming oneself to the truth of non-self. This is the fourth stage of the cultivation of insight.
The fourth stage is called the path of cultivation. The word gom is usually translated as "meditation" but actually means "to get used to something" or "to accustom oneself."5 This is why it is translated here as "the path of cultivation," while other texts translate it as "the path of meditation." But this stage is the idea of getting used to the insight into the nature of things. Through becoming more and more familiar with the truth of things,6 we can remove the very fine traces of defilements and subconscious conditioning that still exist. Through gradual working on these, the goal of Buddhahood will be attained.

Through the cultivation of insight, we eventually reach the goal of the fifth path that is called "the path of no more learning." Through cultivation, we remove even the most subtle causes of suffering. Once this is completed we have reached the highest state and there are no more new paths to go along making this "the path of no more study" or "the path of no more learning."

Shakyamuni Buddha


The famed statue of the Buddha
at Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya
where Buddha attained enlightenment


BIRTH

In 563 or 566 B.C.E., a prince was born to a noble family of the Shakya clan, in a very beautiful park called Lumbini Grove, which lay in the foothills of the Himalayas (in present-day southern Nepal). This beautiful park was not far from the capital city of the Shakya kingdom, Kapilavastu. The prince's father, King Shuddhodana, named his son Siddhartha. He was a member of the Kshatriya, or royal warrior caste, and his clan lineage, the Gautamas, was ancient and pure. His mother was Mahamaya or Mayadevi, daughter of a powerful Shakya noble, Suprabuddha. Before the conception of Siddhartha, Queen Mahamaya dreamed that a white elephant, extraordinary and utterly beautiful, entered her body. Soon after the birth, soothsayers predicted that the young prince would become either a Chakravartin, a universal monarch, or an "awakened one," a buddha. So from the very beginning of his birth, he showed signs of perfection.
PRINCEHOOD

Seven days after the birth, Queen Mahamaya died; her sister, Siddhartha's aunt, Mahaprajapati Gautami, who was also married to King Suddhodana, thereafter raised and brought up Siddhartha like her own child, with great care and love, in the wealthy circumstances of a noble family.

His father naturally wanted his son to be his successor and provided him the very best possible education and pleasurable occupations. He tried to prevent Siddhartha from coming into contact with any religious or spiritual path in order to steer him toward becoming the next king of the Shakyas.

As a young prince, Siddhartha was fully educated and mastered the arts and sciences of his day, including even the art of war and other trainings, displaying a sharp intellect and the strength and power of a great physique. When the young prince reached the age of sixteen, he married Yashodhara and engaged in the pleasures of the world. He continued to relish the comforts of the palaces, gardens, and varieties of wealth of the royal lifestyle.

RENUNCIATION

In his late twenties, Prince Siddhartha encountered the "four signs" during excursions from the palace. They made an extremely strong impression on him. These signs were: an old man, a sick person, a corpse, and a monk or a yogin. Through them he realized that the vanity of youth, as well as one's health, and even life, may end at any time; furthermore, he realized that the only way out of this suffering world of samsara was through finding and following the right spiritual path.

At twenty-nine, after the birth of his son, Rahula, Siddhartha left the palace and kingdom behind and engaged in an ascetic path. He became a homeless, wandering yogi, seeking the truth for the sake of all sentient beings. He began to practice, mainly under the guidance of two ascetic teachers, Arada Kalama and Rudraka Ramaputra.

ENLIGHTENMENT

When Siddhartha realized that he was not reaching his goal, liberation, he gave up the ascetic way of life and turned to meditation, deciding to seek enlightenment on his own. After six years of hardship and practicing near Nairanjana River, he began to travel and gradually came to the region of Gaya. Siddhartha went to Bodhgaya, where he sat under what was later to be known as the Bodhi-tree, vowing to exert himself in his meditation until he reached his goal of enlightenment.

After forty-nine days, at the age of thirty-five, Prince Siddhartha attained complete enlightenment, or buddhahood, overcoming all the obscurations and temptations of Mara. At this point, Siddhartha was a buddha, a fully awakened or enlightened one, and he knew that for him, there would be no further rebirth in samsaric realms.

TEACHING AND BENEFITING BEINGS

Seeing that what he had achieved was not possible to communicate directly, he remained silent for seven weeks. Buddha gave his first discourse in Deer Park in Benares, which is known as "the first turning of the wheel of dharma." In this discourse, he taught the four noble truths, the interdependent nature, and the law of karma, at the request of Indra and Brahma. His earlier five ascetic companions became his first disciples and began to form the bhikshu (monastic) sangha. At Vulture Peak Mountain near Rajagriha, Buddha turned the second wheel of dharma, in which he taught the nature of all phenomena as being shunyata or emptiness and anatma or selflessness. There followed a period of many years of teaching at a variety of places, such as Vaishali. The teachings of this period are known as the third turning of the wheel of dharma, in which Buddha taught a variety of subjects, including the notion that all sentient beings possess tathagata-garbha - the basic heart of buddha.

Through these teachings, Buddha showed the way that leads all beings to the experience of awakening and liberation from samsara. This demonstrates clearly his limitless compassion and loving-kindness towards all beings who are looking for liberation and freedom from the realms of samsaric existences.

King Bimbisara of Magadha became a follower of Buddha and offered a monastery near Rajagriha, the capital of Magadha, which became very important historically for the development of the sangha. Buddha spent a great deal of time mainly in the region of Rajagriha and Vaishali, moving from place to place and living on alms. The number of his followers grew very fast. Buddha's most important students were Kashyapa, Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, and Ananda. Buddha later founded orders of nuns, or bhikshuni, and had many followers and establishments in these regions.

Since he was born as the prince of the Shakyas, after his enlightenment he was known as "the Shakyamuni" or "the Sage of The Shakyas," and from his clan name, he was later called Gautama Buddha.

During his life, his cousin, Devadatta, who had always been jealous of what Siddhartha had achieved, sought to become the head of the Buddha's sangha or community. Devadatta planned to destroy the Buddha. Though he did not succeed, he brought about a schism among the monastic communities in Vaisali that caused great harm to the sangha's spiritual development.

PARINIRVANA

At the age of eighty, Shakyamuni Buddha empowered his close disciple, Kashyapa, as his regent to continue the sangha's activities. Lying on his right side and facing west, Buddha entered into parinirvana. (Other accounts and some sutras state that Buddha partook of spoiled food, which caused him to pass away.) His relics are distributed and enshrined in seven stupas and elsewhere.