For those who want to know the view
of Buddhism, this teaching is very complete. The four lines of this
teaching was received by a master called Sachen Kunga Nyingpo from
Manjushri himself.
But note that this receivership of
teachings from a vision has proper cause, ie, Sachen has engaged in
the practice of meditation and supplication in a retreat for months
previously and this retreat is based on a system of methods passed
down in an authentic lineage.
With this as a cause, the sign of
accomplishment, of actually receiving the vision of Manjushri can
actually be accepted. Otherwise, Tibetan Buddhism is quite
reluctant to accept teachings from visions/channelled
communications/dreams easily... Without proper cause, a
vision is never accepted. And even when accepted, the
teachings received have to be corroborated with extant scriptures
from Buddha Shakyamuni like the Tripitaka canonised in part of the
collection called Kangyur.
It was only after
reflection and meditation upon the deep meaning of this teaching
received that Sachen, being a noble bodhisattva
himself, realised that just these four lines encompassed the
breath of the entire Mahayana corpus of
teachings.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Commentary on Parting from the Four
Attachments
by H.E. Chogye Trichen
Rinpoche
Introduction
The teaching on parting from the
four attachments, like many other mind training teachings from all
Tibetan Buddhist traditions, is held to epitomize many important
instructions received directly from numerous enlightened
masters.
In learning this teaching, it is
important to know some of the background of the upholders of the
lineage, the family known in Tibet as the Khon family, the holders
of the Sakya lineage.
The origin of the Khon family is in
the realm of the gods of clear light ('od gsal). It is from the
heaven of the clear light devas that the Khon family descended to
our world. Thus they are known as the descendants of the clear
light.
Sometime after their descent, they
subdued some of the demonic forces that were circulating in Tibet
in those times. They found themselves in a conflict which took
place between their own tribe of descended gods and a group of
demons of the class known as rakshas.
One of the daughters of the raksha
demons was known as Yatuk Silima.. During the course of the battle
between the deva gods and the raksha demons, there was a love
affair between the raksha daughter Yatuk Silima and a descendant of
the gods.
Out of their matrimony, a child was
born, and given the name 'Khon Bar-Kye', which means, 'one born
between hostility and love', that is, one who is a mixture of these
two qualities. 'Khon' means 'hostility'; 'bar' means 'in between';
and 'kye' means 'born into'. This is how the name of Khon came to
be known in Tibet.
The Khon family has produced an
abundance of holy and blessed descendants throughout the
generations. For example, they were holders of many of the earliest
Nyingma lineages, masters such as Khon Dorje Rinchen. Numerous
great masters came from this family during the initial era of
Tibetan Buddhism.
Guru Padmasambhava, who brought the
dharma to Tibet during the first spreading of the Buddha's
teachings in Tibet, had twenty-five major disciples. Khon Lu'i
Wangpo is one of the most prominent of the twenty-five, as well as
being one of the original seven Tibetans to be ordained as Buddhist
monks.
As Khon Konchok Gyalpo had passed
away, the responsibility for Sachen's education and upbringing fell
on his mother. She sent Sachen to study at the great seminary of
Rong Ngur-mik, which is famed to have as many as ten thousand
students studying Buddhist philosophy.
One day in Sakya there appeared a
mysterious messenger riding a white horse, who announced that
Sachen was seriously ill from small-pox, and undergoing severe
health problems. Tradition has it that this messenger was an
emanation of Kardud, a protector associated with the deity
Vajrakilaya. The divine messenger said, 'How could you people leave
him in that state? Why don't you go and visit him?'
At that moment, Sachen's mother,
greatly saddened by this news, went back to Rong Ngur-mik to visit
him, and she wept at the sight of Sachen in his illness.
However, Sachen's mother was a
successful and highly innovative lady. Some time after she rescued
her son from the depth of illness, she realized that he should have
a special teacher so she appointed Bari Lotsawa so that Sachen
would no longer have to attend the seminary. This is how Sachen
came to appoint Bari Lotsawa as his personal tutor.
The enthronement of Bari Lotsawa as
Sachen's personal tutor coincided with the anniversary of the
passing away of Sachen's father, Khon Konchog Gyalpo, so there was
an excellent synchronicity of auspicious circumstances. In this
way, Sachen's mother was able to exert an important influence on
the circumstances under which Sachen was to be raised.
Having been given this highly
important task, Bari Lotsawa said to Sachen, 'You are not like an
ordinary child going through a conventional religious education.
So, although there are many meditational deities, in order to
properly succeed in your spiritual training, you must develop
wisdom. For this, you should do a retreat of the practice of
Manjushri."
With this proclamation, Bari
Lotsawa bestowed upon Sachen the empowerment of Orange (gold)
Manjushri, and asked the young Sachen to go into solitary retreat.
Sachen entered a retreat of Manjushri for about six months. During
this retreat, he beheld a beatific vision of Manjushri flanked by
two other Bodhisattvas, Akshayamati and Pratibhanakuta.
As Sachen sat enraptured with the
vision of Manjushri and the Bodhisattvas, suddenly Manjushri
uttered the teaching in four lines which came to be known as
'Liberating the Four Attachments.'
"If you are attached to this life,
you are not a person of dharma.
If you are attached to cyclic
existence, you do not have renunciation.
If you are attached to your own
benefit, you do not have altruism, bodhicitta.
If you have grasping-fixation, you
do not have the true view."
Having carefully contemplated the
meaning of these four lines, Sachen realized that these lines
encompassed not only the sutra teachings, but in fact held the very
quintessence of all the sutra and tantra teachings. Thus this
teaching came to be revered as a key oral instruction.
Sachen gave a detailed commentary
on these verses. Later this was passed down from Sachen to his two
sons, Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen and Sonam Tsem. Drakpa Gyaltsen held
this teaching with utmost regard, and meditated deeply on the four
lines. Through this he gained vast and profound realizations, and
produced the first written commentary on these four verses of the
Bodhisattva Manjushri.
This text is available in Tibetan
and English, having been first published both in India and later
reproduced by the Singapore Sakya Center, Sakya Tenphel
Ling.
Drakpa Gyaltsen's commentary was
not written in the erudite language of scholars, but rather, its
tone is experiential, the spontaneous expression of one in whom
deep realization has arisen through meditation. Since Drakpa
Gyaltsen had gained great confidence through his meditative
realizations of the meaning of the four lines, they would in the
future come to be used as the root verses for vast and
comprehensive teachings by scholars.
High ranking scholars would later
be able to give eloquent and dignified discourses based on these
four lines, spending an entire week elucidating the meaning of both
sutra and tantra based on them. The framework of the four lines
became a means of communicating all the fundamental teachings of
the Buddha.
These verses could then also be
used as a root text for accomplished meditators, whose realizations
could then come forth as spontaneous expressions of their own
individual meditative experience. Drakpa Gyaltsen's commentary is
just this, the expression of accomplished meditation.
This work of Drakpa Gyaltsen is
thus eminently practical, since it actually instills realizations
in the minds of practitioners. It is capable of evoking realization
as it is spoken, listened to, and learned. Drakpa Gyaltsen's
commentary is what is known as a nyam yang, a melody of meditative
experience. For this reason, we will use his precious words to
understand the meaning of Manjushri's four-line
teaching.
The well known 'Hundred Thousand
Songs of Milarepa' are said to have naturally arisen out of the
deep experience of meditation, and were spoken or sung
extemperaneously, without needing to plan intellectually what would
be said. Milarepa's songs were spontaneously evoked by his
realization in meditation. In the same way, this song of Drakpa
Gyaltsen is the uncontrived expression of his experience while
meditating on the four verses of Manjushri.
Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen's work
begins with two verses. The first is a supplication, followed by
his promise to express the meaning of the four lines. In the first
line, he pays homage to the most kind root Guru, and to the most
compassionate meditation deities, the yidams or
ishtadevatas.
Thus he indicates that one takes
refuge from the depth of one's heart and then seeks the blessing of
the Gurus and Deities, so that whatever he shares will be fruitful
and bear benefits.
This is followed by his second
verse, in which he resolves to give this teaching. This is a
prelude to introducing the first line of Manjushri Bodhisattva,
which refers to not being attached to the affairs of this life. In
order to follow the path of Dharma, he says one ought to listen to
and comprehend the meaning of the teaching on 'Parting from the
Four Attachments'. He asks that we be truly mindful, wakeful, as we
listen to his song of experience.
He then alludes to the meaning of
the first line, which says that if one is attached to this present
life, one is not a spiritual person, a person of dharma. The main
point is that a practitioner following the path of the Dharma must
behave in a way which conforms to the teaching of the
Dharma.
Any contrary behavior, where one
squanders one's life engaging in non-Dharmic activities, goes
against the very spirit of the teachings. In order to prevent this
from happening, one needs to listen to and be heedful of the
meaning of 'Liberating the Four Attachments.'
So, we can see that parting from
the four attachments means to let go of one's attachment to one's
welfare in this life alone. It means parting from being attached to
worldly existence. It means parting from the attachment to one's
own selfish purposes. And, it means letting go of grasping at and
fixating upon a set point of view or dogma, which one believes to
be 'supreme truth'.
What this teaching is basically
saying is that to be able to remain on the path of the Dharma,
whether one is studying, meditating, or expounding the teachings,
one's own person should really conform to and reflect the spirit of
the Dharma. Remaining true to the spirit of the Dharma means to be
untainted, unstained by any of the four traps, or four attachments,
spoken of by Manjushri.
If you
are attached to this life, you are not a person of
Dharma.
First, let us regard what it means
to part from the attachment to one's welfare in this life. Even
though one may take vows to observe moral precepts, to follow a
code of morality, the keeping of precepts should not be used as a
means to adorn oneself, meet the needs of this life, or enhance
one's name and reputation.
For example, consider someone who
upholds one of the three kinds of vows, such as the ten vows of an
upasaka lay practitioner, or the thirty-six Shramanera vows of the
female novice practitioner, or the two hundred fifty-three vows of
the fully ordained monk. It is important that, whatever vows one
may keep, they should not be kept with any intentions based on
attachment to this life, such as name, fame, status, and so on. To
maintain moral precepts simply in order to acquire worldly
possessions for one's welfare in this life goes against the spirit
of non-attachment to the affairs of this life.
What is being emphasized here is
the importance of making the keeping of moral precepts the
foundation for any further development of meditation. Whatever
practices one may later follow, their success depends entirely on
how stable is one's foundation of ethical conduct, whether it be
that of a lay person or that of a fully ordained monk or nun. A
practitioner must have this ethical foundation, as this is the
basis on which all subsequent study and practice can really
progress.
Regardless of what follows on this
foundation, such as study, contemplating and meditating on the
teachings, if one is professing to actually practice, then there
must be this ethical basis. One's being must be a fertile soil,
which is created in oneself through the foundation of a code of
ethics. It is out of this soil that all of the other seeds of
listening, contemplating, and meditating can germinate.
Without this foundation, whatever
study and practice one may do, these will only be artificial, fake,
and will not yield the bountiful fruits of
enlightenment.
Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen says that
you might as well abandon whatever study, contemplation, and
meditation you are doing if you have no moral precepts. He asks if
it would not be better to simply give up artificial Dharma
practice?
In order to further demonstrate the
importance of ethics, Drakpa Gyaltsen goes on to explain the
distinction between artificial, pseudo-morality, and genuine
ethics.
He says that the practice of
morality is something one simply cannot do without, whether it be
solely for the purpose of attaining higher rebirth within samsara,
or whether it is in order to attain ultimate liberation. It is so
indispensable that even for one who practices as a lay-person,
upholding five or ten precepts, if they maintain them genuinely and
without hypocrisy, that very practice will become the root cause
for attaining higher rebirth.
For one who wishes to attain a
precious human re-birth again in the future, it is said that one
could not possibly again gain such a re-birth without the
accumulation of virtuous, meritorious deeds in one's present
lifetime.
The ten virtuous deeds are:
Refraining from the following ten actions: 1) taking life, 2)
taking what is not given 3) sexual misconduct, which are the three
virtuous actions of body. Refraining from 4) lying, 5) slander, 6)
harsh speech, and 7) idle speech, which are the four virtuous deeds
of speech. Refraining from 8) envy, 9) ill will, and 10) holding
wrong views, which are the three virtuous deeds of mind.
One restrains oneself from these
ten non-virtuous actions while strengthening one's conduct with
positive actions, such as saving life instead of killing, giving to
the poor instead of stealing, and so on.
If any ethical precepts relating to
the ten virtuous deeds are practiced in this lifetime, they become
like a ladder upon which one will be able to ascend to the citadel
of liberation. Virtue is an absolute requisite.
If ethics and virtue are practiced
properly, not only does it guarantee a higher rebirth in the future
as well as the possibility of attaining ultimate enlightenment, it
also serves as an antidote for all the miseries and dissatisfaction
one encounters in this life.
One's practice of genuine ethics
gives a solace which actually pacifies and 'cools us down',
allowing us to relinquish whatever sufferings may torment us. This
is why it is so essential to persevere in the practice of
ethics.
Although ethical conduct is so
important, there are those who practice a kink of pseudo-morality,
without having genuinely ethical intentions. So, Drakpa Gyaltsen
goes on to give us some idea of how practitioners of
pseudo-morality would behave.
It is said that for one who
practices ethics simply due to attachment to one's welfare in this
life, his or her practice of virtue will only be the cause for
accumulating the eight worldly dharmas of attachment to gain and
loss, pleasure and pain, praise and blame, and fame and
infamy.
If one uses one's adherence to
moral conduct as a means for attracting respect, honor, a good
reputation, and personal happiness in the present lifetime, then it
follows that one's practice of ethics would suffer if any
conditions contrary to these were to befall oneself. If our ethical
conduct is for worldly concerns of this life alone, all we are
really demonstrating is how trapped we are in samsaric
attachments.
Not only this, but it is clear that
one who practices pseudo-morality, with attachment to this life
alone, would be very critical of others who do not observe moral
conduct. Such a one may be very judgemental and condescending
toward those who make even minor transgressions.
They would be neither understanding
nor forgiving towards transgressors, since in reality their own
moral conduct is practiced solely to attract respect, gain, and
happiness in this life. Thus will they chastise others for the
terrible weight of their sins.
Even further, the practitioner of
pseudo-morality may actually become very jealous of others who are
known to keep strict moral discipline. They may say, 'Oh, he or she
is very true to the precepts, but�K.', and
then go on to list their defects, such as greed, and so on,
proceeding to slander the person.
Although the ethical discipline of the person
they are criticizing may be very strong, the pseudo-practitioner
may be unable to tolerate the person and proceed to look for faults
in the person's affairs. In this way, they have become slanderous
and jealous.
An additional result of this is that one's own
practice of ethics will thus suffer from hypocrisy. For example, if
one is practicing the hypocritical type of ethical conduct, then
one may act in the presence of others as if one never touches
alcohol. But then, when no one is around, one may enthusiastically
drink up, all the while pretending that one never indulges! One who
practices moral conduct for this world alone will accumulate heaps
of hypocrisy.
For this very reason, Drakpa Gyaltsen asserts
the importance of abandoning such artificial morality, since it
becomes not only the cause for one to be reborn in the lower realms
in the future, but it also becomes the cause of present suffering.
The practice of pseudo-morality not only cannot ever become the
antidote to one's suffering and miseries, but in fact it actually
increases and fans the flames that cause suffering in this very
life. Isn't it better to abandon such phoniness?
Not only is there a difference between genuine
and artificial morality, but there are also varieties of moral
conduct associated with physical actions, verbal behavior, and
mental attitudes. If one wishes to be skillful in determining
whether an action is moral or immoral, not only in regard to outer
physical actions, but also in terms of internal mental attitudes,
one must examine whether or not one's attitudes are contrary to the
spirit of true ethics.
For example, if we are trying to follow the
moral discipline of body, then we should keep to and preserve even
the most minor actions of the prescribed physical
conduct.
Likewise, in regard to one's speech, we should
not overlook even short, simple requests or instructions given by
our spiritual teacher. If one overlooks them, one may instead think
that such and such is only a minor thing, so it doesn't really
matter; even if it contradicts the teacher's wishes, it is O.K. to
disregard it. If one says this to oneself, then one is disregarding
the verbal aspect of moral conduct.
One who is not careful and scrupulous in
following morality will certainly overlook minor things and so end
up accumulating many negative results or demerit as a consequence
of such careless negligence.
This can be illustrated by the story of
Ellapatra. Ellapatra was a naga, a serpent being, who in a previous
lifetime had been a disciple of Buddha. He was an ordained monk who
was following the Buddha's teaching.
Over the course of Buddha's lifetime, the
number of vows and precepts governing the conduct of monks
increased, as Buddha added further prohibitions. One such
prohibition was that a fully ordained monk should not uproot trees
or pull out grass from the soil.
In his birth as a monk, Ellapatra had
criticized Buddha, saying, 'This is such a small thing, what is he
going on about?' Disregarding Buddha's instruction, Ellapatra
uprooted a tree.
In the monk's next lifetime, he was born as a
naga, a snake, and this naga has a huge tree growing on his head.
Whenever a storm or winds blew the tree, the naga's brains and
internal organs were completely shaken up.
As a result of the monk's negative karma of
speech, saying ' We can overlook this statement of the Buddha since
it is such a small thing', he ended up creating powerful demerit.
This story illustrates that one who wishes to practice ethics must
be sincere as well as very careful, remaining conscientious about
even little things, in order to remain true to the original sense
and spirit in which the precepts were first laid out.
Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen is telling us that one
should not trouble oneself with the practice of artificial
morality.
Whether one studies or meditates, if one is
actually just interested in this life's welfare, wishing to appear
to others as a great practitioner, then it is artificial morality.
Wouldn't it be better not to go through so much trouble for
nothing?
We can also understand this principle in
relation to the practice of studying the dharma, which is
traditionally known as 'listening' or 'hearing'. We ought to study
dharma properly and with great intent, unstained by attachment to
out welfare and honor in this life, but rather in order to liberate
ourselves from such attachments.
If we learn and study in this way, then this
process of study becomes the most skillful method of acquiring the
splendor and wealth of knowledge. Through such wealth, one becomes
truly contented with whatever knowledge one has
acquired.
For a person who studies with such genuine
intentions, anything he or she may learn will serve to dispel the
darkness of ignorance. Anything such a person may study will serve
to ennoble and humble them, increasing their clarity and
luminosity. Thus it will eliminate the slumber of darkness, through
the light which has been lit within their being by authentic
study.
For this reason, it is said that one who
studies properly and with sincere intentions becomes an
irreplaceable guide to illuminate the ignorance of others, leading
them along the path to enlightenment. Such a person's knowledge
becomes something which they can pass on to others in order to
dispel their ignorance, guiding them to the citadel of liberation.
This is what makes study so important, provided it is not tainted
with the motive of enhancing one's own honor and
respect.
If instead one studies with worldly motives,
then instead of becoming a cause for liberation, one's study merely
increases the wealth of one's arrogance. Anything that one learns
serves to bloat the ego, making one pretentious and haughty. Not
only will such a person's learning cause them to suffer from pride
in themselves, but it will create problems for them as far as how
they perceive others who study and learn.
It is said that one who has studied with the
mistaken attachment to one's welfare in this life alone will look
down on those who have not studied as much as themselves. They may
say, 'Oh, well, even though he may have done this or that, he
hasn't really studied and doesn't know what he is talking about.'
Having put themselves on a pedestal, they are unable to see any
quality whatsoever in others, blinded by their own
arrogance.
Even further, in relation to those who are
known to have truly studied and learned, such a person will
actually be very jealous. They will try to look for weakness in the
person, saying, 'Even though they may be very learned in this,
still she is lacking in such and such other qualities.' This is
simply due to the person's own sense of insecurity and inferiority,
which causes them to disparage others, regardless of whether their
knowledge is greater or lesser than one's own.
Study of Buddhadharma is provided as a means
for one to gain liberation, to attain enlightenment. But for one
who studies while remaining attached to this life's welfare, rather
than their knowledge becoming the cause for liberation from cyclic
existence, instead it becomes the cause for them to acquire a
larger entourage, a bigger following and greater accumulation of
wealth. Their knowledge only serves to prove their importance.
Rather than becoming a cause of liberation, their knowledge becomes
an obstacle to liberation.
For one who professes to study but harbors
these sorts of improper motives, he or she will use their
popularity as a means of demonstrating their own importance. They
will behave as though no one could match their success. Swooning in
their own wealth and abundance of followers becomes a cause for
their descent into the lower realms of existence.
This song of experience of Drakpa Gyaltsen has
great teachings for practitioners of all different levels, such as
those who are climbing the ladder of knowledge. One's own study and
knowledge should not serve to inflate the ego, which will cause one
to suffer from the worldly dharmas. Rather, study should become an
antidote to exactly such problems.
Now Drakpa Gyaltsen's song moves on to the next
topic, the practice of meditation. This is also relevant here, for
if our practice of meditation comes out of attachment to this
life's welfare, this can have serious consequences.
He first highlights how essential meditation
practice is for anyone's life. He says that for someone who
practices meditation properly, it becomes the antidote, the direct
remedy, which nullifies the suffering and misery of life's
problems. This is for one not motivated to seek their own welfare
in this life alone.
The role of meditation is not only as an
antidote to the suffering and travails of life. Regardless of how
much one studies, regardless of how much one may train in moral
discipline, if one does not practice meditation, they will not gain
enlightenment.
Thus, meditation is the root cause of attaining
liberation, moksha, a state which is totally free from the cycle of
existence. The practice of meditation is the crucial factor which
enables one to gain liberation and ultimately Buddhahood.
Meditation is paramount, not only on order to alleviate day to day
misery, but to reach ultimate enlightenment, Buddhahood.
The attainment of the stages of enlightenment
known as the paths and bhumis is solely determined by the practice
of meditation, never by intellectualizing. The degrees of
enlightenment can only be perfected by one's own efforts in
maintaining the practice of meditation.
Although meditation is absolutely
indispensable, still, it is said that one who meditates while
seeking benefits, honor, and rewards for this life alone, will
suffer serious consequences. It is said that even though such a
person may physically place themselves in seclusion, in a place of
great solitude, still their mind will be set loose into even more
distraction than ever. They may discover a greater throng of
discursive thoughts than they had ever known before.
Seeking the benefits of meditation mainly in
this life, they may close the door and shut their eyes while their
mind roams free. Instead of being able to center the mind, instead
their mind may run wild like never before. Hence such a
practitioner will fail to gain any realization at all.
Drakpa Gyaltsen's view is also shared by Zapa
Tulku, who comments that even if one places oneself in a meditation
room, closing the door tightly and claiming to be in retreat,
although the eyes may be closed, the mind may be set
loose.
He says that the mind may actually become more
innovative in devising distractions than ever before. It may
concoct all sorts of plans and scheme. One may write, read, and
involve the mind in any number of interests which suddenly blossom,
rather than actually persevere in the practice to which one has
dedicated oneself. Whatever one may chant, in the name of
meditative recitation, may be disrupted by ordinary discursive mind
chatter. He says that somehow this happens to him as
well!
This shows us that we need to understand how
important meditation is, and that the quality of our meditation
should not suffer from mental distraction. However much one may
recite, it must be practiced with the appropriate degree of
concentration, of sustained attention. If such attention is
lacking, regardless of being in seclusion, the practice will not be
effective.
No matter how important meditation may be, yet
for one afflicted with attachment to their own welfare in this
life, his or her meditation becomes a cause of slandering others.
Such a person may say of another, for example, 'Oh, their form of
meditation is not quite right. They don't have the transmission,
they don't have the lineage'. In this way, the person may slander
the validity of others' meditation practice.
While they may do this, at the same time their
own meditation practice is very distracted. The moment such a
person tries to meditate, all they notice is how scattered their
mind is, how they are unable to develop any
concentration.
Due to this fact, meditation should not be
tainted or defiled by the concerns of the eight worldly dharmas,
but rather it should be directed toward genuine dharma practice.
Then meditation can truly become the root cause of alleviating the
sufferings of this life, as well as leading one through the stages
of enlightenment. For this to occur, we must be able to distinguish
between artificial meditation and genuine meditation which brings
about realization.
What we have discussed up to his point
essentializes the meanings contained in a quote from the
Abhidharmakosha, which speaks of the importance of ethical conduct,
of study, and of meditation. This trinity of factors, that is,
conduct, study, and meditation should go hand in hand with one
another. One's practice should not involve just one or two of these
aspects.
Thus far we have covered the commentary through
the explanation of the first of Manjushri's four lines, 'If you are
attached to this life, you are not a person of dharma.' The general
Buddhist teachings referred to by this first line are the teachings
on the difficulty of obtaining a precious human birth as well as
those on realizing the truth of impermanence and death. We will not
go into the details of explaining these two now, as you may have
already heard teachings on this subject.
Let us now move ahead to the meaning of the
second line.
If you are attached
to cyclic existence, you do not have renunciation.
The meaning of this line is that in order to
attain the state of nirvana, beyond sorrow and beyond the causes of
suffering, one must abandon one's attachment to the three realms of
worldly existence, also known as the three existences.
These three realms are the desire realm of the
six types of beings, the form realm of the gods with form, and the
formless realm of the formless gods. What are known as the six
realms of existence are sub-realms within the desire realm. The
'three existences' refers to extraterrestrial or celestial
existence, terrestrial or planetary, and subterranean or chthonic.
These three are similar to the three realms of
existence.
In order to be liberated from the three realms
and attain nirvana, one has to cease to attach oneself to these
three realms of existence. In order to know why one needs to detach
oneself from the three realms, we need to understand the
shortcomings and disadvantages of worldly existence.
If we are to develop renunciation with a sense
of revulsion for worldly existence, first we need to know the
nature of dwelling in worldly states of existence, and to know just
what sort of experiences worldly beings are forced to undergo. If
we carefully consider the nature of worldly existence, we can find
that it is stained by three kinds of suffering: the suffering of
suffering, the suffering of change, and the suffering of all
conditional phenomena.
To briefly look at the suffering of suffering,
it mainly concerns the suffering of the three lower realms of hell,
the realm of spirits, and the animal realm. If one truly ponders
what it would be like to exist in these realms, it can cause one to
tremble in fear. It is almost impossible to imagine what it would
be like to have to endure such a life. And regardless of how severe
the suffering in those states is, due to the weight of their karma,
beings born there are unable to die as long as their karma
lasts.
If one carefully contemplates such extreme
suffering within the three lower realms, it can engender a sense of
urgency, causing one to strive not to create any karma that would
lead one to such a rebirth. To even really imagine that one could
actually be there physically experiencing such a life causes our
fllesh to tremble in fear and insecurity.
Drakpa Gyaltsen asks us why instead of
seriously finding ways to restrain ourselves from non virtuous
deeds, which are the direct cause of throwing oneself down into the
three lower realms, whay are we instead actually cultivation the
very causes that will take us there?
Thus it is necessary not only to hear about and
begin to fathom and know about these realms, but to actually give
rise to a great sense of renunciation. This renunciation needs to
be so great that one feels a deep sense of revulsion toward any
actions that would lead to such painful experiences. We must learn
to restrain ourselves from such deeds that lead to this primary
type of suffering, the suffering of suffering.
Next, let us look at the suffering of change.
This kind of suffering principally afflicts beings of the higher
realms of existence. Drakpa Gyaltsen says that if one were to
consider the meaning of the suffering of change, we can start by
just observing the transitory nature of all beings.
There are countless examples of beings taking
birth in the higher realms and nonetheless falling into the lower
realms. Even the Lord of the gods or angels, Indra, who rules over
our physical world, actually later ends up being enslaved by
different beings of lowly birth.
Not only this, but those gods who are born as
the spirits of the sun and moon, which have the power to illuminate
the darkness of the world, will later be born in a place so dark
that one could not see one's own outstretched hand.
Likewise, even the most powerful universal
monarchs, who ruled over the entire world, have in later births
been enslaved and imprisoned. There is no definite certainty in
regard to favorable circumstances, from the condition of the
highest world ruler down to the pleasant conditions which ordinary
beings enjoy. All these conditions are transient; they fade away.
As soon as they are gained, they begin to slip away through our
fingers. </f