The way to change our actions is by ‘practice’. But practice is not only about ritual, meditation, yoga, prayer and so on. It should pervade 24 hours of the day.

Gates to Buddhist Practice begins with the three poisons of the mind— attachment, anger, and ignorance that create endless karma, endless suffering.

The Five Poisons of the Mind**

The glossary lists five poisons or negative emotions that lead to rebirth in the realms of samsara—anger or aversion, pride, desire, jealously, and ignorance.

Working with Attachment and Desire

The problem

Attachment is being fixed in desire to the impermanent.

Desire and wanting for the impermanent lead to suffering because we want what we don’t and often can’t have. Even when we have it, it’s impermanent.

We fail to experience the preciousness of what we have.

Solution

Contemplate impermanence – so as to accept it naturally.

Replace attachment with aspiration to do what we can to help all beings overcome suffering and find unchanging happiness.

Meditate on desire – what it is and it’s source. See it’s illusory nature (if thought of as solid and permanent). See the five poisons as five wisdoms:

Poison	Wisdom
Anger or aversion	Mirror-like wisdom
Pride	Wisdom of equanimity
Attachment or desire	Discriminating wisdom
Jealousy	All-accomplishing wisdom
Ignorance	Wisdom of the basic space of phenomena

Table 1 Five Poisons of the mind and Five Wisdoms

Working with Anger and Aversion

Working with Ignorance

Daily Life as Spiritual Practice

The imperative to practice, p 35 – 37

Life is a special but short chance use our human form for spiritual progress—positive karma over the samsaric cycles of suffering.

Understanding and accepting impermanence is important

It seems paradoxical but in acknowledging that everything is impermanent, our experiences will become richer, relationships more sincere, appreciation greater for what we already enjoy

The essentials of spiritual practice, p 38

Impermanence and a good heart

Practice, begins p 38

Acknowledging impermanence and cultivating a good heart requires constant reiteration via practice.

Meditation, p 38

Repetition weaves impermanence into our being, so we suffer less from loss, reach equanimity with the real, and, to repeat, our experiences will become richer, relationships more sincere, appreciation greater for what we already enjoy

This doesn’t deny involvement with life—we approach it with less hope and fear, and compassion arises in us for others’ suffering

Contemplation, begins p 39

Compassion is natural to us but of deep seated self-centered habits, we need to cultivate it by contemplating the suffering of those who invest the dream of permanence with solidity

The essential teachings of Buddha come down to having a good heart, which is difficult

To develop and uphold compassion and a good heart, remind yourself that everyone has been your parent

Spiritual practice begins when you wake up, p 41

In the morning

Rejoice that you didn’t die and you have one more useful day

Remind yourself of the correct motive—a good heart, altruism

Renew commitment—today I’ll do the best I can, do right by others as much as I’m able

During the day

Check – How am I behaving? What is my real intention?

Contemplate the four thoughts (next part) precious human birth, impermanence, karma, the suffering of others

At night

Review—did I accomplish my intention to do no harm, did I cultivate joy, love, compassion, equanimity

Have I been virtuous, developed positive tendencies?

..don’t be harsh on yourself

Confess with sincere regret the harm you’ve done

Visualize light radiating from the Being that you pray to – God, Buddha, … – purifying, cleansing

Dedicate the positive things you’ve done to all beings

Daily meditation practice, bottom p 42

Have a routine

Alternate between Vipasana and Shamatha

Vipasana – analytical meditation, reason, conception – use this to contemplate as above

Shamatha – the quality beyond thought – relaxing

Do it throughout the day, in the midst of ‘life’

Do it whatever your doing

In the world, focus on what you’re doing (don’t be distracted by 100 thoughts)

Check yourself to reduce negative thoughts and focus on and increase positive thoughts

If this is hard find a way to remind yourself – e.g. a string around your finger

It’s useful to find a Buddhism center, p 44

But the point is to integrate the material into your practice, learn new approaches, reinforce what you know, have a new perspective

Change does happen but it’s slow so it helps to keep track, p 45

Be diligent, persevere, keep track so as to see and confirm change

We’ve been discussing essential Buddhist teaching, p 45

…the ‘sweet nectar’ of all the profound teachings

“Cultivating good heart in every aspect of daily life, practicing virtue, compassion, equanimity, love, and joy—this is the way to enlightenment.”

Part II The Four Thoughts that turn the Mind

The Importance of the Four Thoughts

Without foundation, practice may lead to no change.

The four thoughts found and inspire the spiritual path even in the face of hardship.

The first two of the four thoughts

The first two thoughts show

The freedom and opportunity of precious human existence and difficulty of attaining it
Impermanence shows us our human birth is as rare as our time is short

Which lead to equanimity and satisfaction with enough.

The second two of the four thoughts

Nevertheless we may seek only relative happiness in this and future lives

The 2^nd two thoughts, Karma and Suffering, reduce attachment to conventional happiness and result in gradual loosening of increasingly subtle ties to samsara

Conclusion

With less samsaric attachment, commitment to the path of enlightenment develops.

That is why the four thoughts are called preliminary.

The four thoughts are not just for beginners—they are foundation truths for the entire spiritual path.

The Lama

The four thoughts reduce the mind’s poisons and create short and long term benefits for self and others.

A spiritual teacher introduces the liberation teachings of the Buddha to us; with a poor teacher we may develop counterproductive habits.

So it’s important to find a good teacher.

Characteristics of a good teacher

A good teacher has

Contemplated and understood the essential teachings,
Meditated on them and realized their essential meaning.

Ideally we find a good teacher from

The word of others,
Observing directly their good heartedness and if they truly live their teachings.

When you’ve found a good teacher

Once a good teacher is found, one should follow their instruction diligently.

Precious Human Birth

Impermanence

Karma

The Ocean of Suffering

How to Contemplate the Four Thoughts

Talks of the importance of spiritual practice—this life is a rare opportunity, to not practice is like being on an eroding cliff (time) and doing nothing.

Repeated contemplation—analytical meditation or Vipasana—enables the correction of deeply ingrained patterns of thought.

But we can become attached to analytical meditation.

The other kind of meditation of Buddhist practice is Shamatha—calm abiding in which distracting patterns of thought are calmed and the mind comes to rest one pointedly.

We can also become attached to that bliss.

We overcome duality by cutting attachment to both. We need both. In alternating the methods, our perspective begins to change—intellectual understanding becomes experiential, we approach the true nature of mind ‘beyond thought and no thought’.

Beyond too much trying and too little. In Shamatha, when thoughts arise bring back focus gradually without forcing. Contemplate the persistence of the thought process and ‘use it to turn the mind back to dharma’.

Use the following step by step process.

“Begin by contemplating one of the four thoughts, then allow the mind to relax.

“Pray to the lama of another object of your faith for the blessing to accomplish something for your self and others before impermanence intervenes in this life… arouse compassion for the predicament of all beings and make the wish that all will be liberated from cycles of suffering… establish the commitment to apply your understanding and the methods of dharma diligently in order to accomplish this…

“Then contemplate the next thought etc…

“Awareness of mind’s true nature—the goal of all this—and thinking are not mutually exclusive. By being fully present with each experience and each transition, you remain close to their essence. In this way you can learn how to ride the wave of thinking without losing awareness.

According to the Buddha, inner leisure is the inner sense of natural relaxation of the mind; it is essential to dharma practice, for otherwise we’ll be perpetually distracted by thoughts and concepts…

A visualization process

“Begin by establishing pure motivation—five paragraphs above—then think in as much detail as possible about how things change

“When mind becomes weary, relax without forcing

“When thoughts surface again see yourself in high rugged terrain with precipitous black rocks. Nothing to cling to. One narrow precipitous but disappearing path. No safety. No family, friends or hope

“Call your teacher, God or Buddha, who say “Don’t be afraid. The treacherous cliffs arose because of clinging to belief in ordinary reality. The belief is so strong that you sense danger. The narrow path is the way of samsara. The shortness of the path is the insufficiency of your karma…

“The infallible being invoked asks “What is death? What is samsara? It seems good, bad, sad, happy, but it’s like a dream—no trace of solidity. To awaken from the dream is to realize the birth-less and deathless absolute nature

“Let your mind rest. Dedicate your practice to all beings that they may awaken from the dream of suffering

“Meditation on the four thoughts brings maturity and the natural ability for practice to support us in difficult and painful times

“Body, speech, mind and their precious opportunity are transient; seize the moment before impermanence takes its toll

Part III Refuge and Bodhicitta

Refuge

The four thoughts are ordinary preliminaries to Buddhist practice.

The first gate

The first gage to practice is the refuge vow—commitment to the way of harmlessness

Refuge lies in reducing our own harmful thoughts and actions: selfless compassion to liberate all samsaric beings.

The three jewels

We take refuge in the three jewels

Buddha One who shows us the way in virtue of having walked it

Dharma The road itself

Sangha Those with whom we walk and that offer us support from their own experience of the path

Buddha

#1 The Buddha exhibited

Obvious mental and physical perfection,

Speech that functioned as a perfect vehicle for communication of his message, and

Two kinds of complete and perfect knowledge:

Ordinary level phenomena,

The true nature of reality.

Dharma

#2 Dharma

Teachings—a multiplicity of means

9 Yanas or categories compromising

Hinayana – the way of personal salvation

Mahayana – seeking salvation for all beings

Vajrayana – the short path, a branch of Mahayana

Sangha

#3 Sangha

The many practitioners that maintain and unbroken lineage, preserving the scripture and practice that remains fresh like a living mala of prayer beads.

Three levels of refuge

Refuge has three levels of meaning

The outer

Inner

Secret

Outer

Above

Inner

In Vajrayana, the three inner sources of refuge are

Lama spiritual teacher,

Yidam chosen meditation deity through which we realize the true nature of mind, and

Dakini feminine principle of wisdom from which arises doing of enlightened activity.

The secret refuge

…is the true nature of mind, faultless Buddha nature, the essence of every being and has two faces

Dharmakaya – the absolute nature of mind

Rupakaya – form kaya – like the sun’s effortless brilliance which has two aspects

Sambhogakaya – Pure form manifestation, perceptible to great practitioners

Nirmakakaya – Manifestation for the benefit of those that can’t see Sambhogakaya

In Vajrayana, by relying on outer, inner and secret objects of refuge, we purify karma at outer, inner and secret levels.

On commitment and its importance

Once we take refuge we can be sure that suffering in samsara will eventually end.

But we have to make a commitment.

We decide on a path and keep to it: we decide to be mindful and alert.

When effort meets the blessings of the sources of refuge we can awaken tour intrinsic awareness, the true nature of mind.

Giving Rise to Bodhicitta

Wishing and Engaging Bodhicitta

Part IV Introduction to Vajrayana

Revealing our Foundational Nature

Faith

Prayer

Conversation with a Student

Preparing for Death

Part V On the Vajrayana Path

Guru Yoga

Introduction to the Great Perfection

Mind of Activity, Nature of Mind

Intellectual understanding alone is unstable, impermanent—we are working toward stable, unalterable realization—open naked awareness without projection

Start by acknowledging impermanence in every action, word, and movement of mind. Practice seeing impermanence in everything—this softens our stance on reality

Belief in solidity of experience produces attachment and samsara

Bring awareness to every ordinary moment of existence and jobs—by resting in awareness they developed amazing abilities

But the purpose of meditation is to bring awareness to all activities—integrate dharma and daily activity and gradually new priorities and a balance emerge

It’s not appearances that are binding but attachment to them

Difficulty in controlling thoughts in meditation is a sign of awareness of the unruly nature of mind and a sign of improvement

Meditation isn’t easy—it’s like leading a wild horse into the corral of awareness

Always do spiritual practice—as if you are at the edge of a cliff … the cliff between opportunity and samsara

The author prays that “every being’s true nature be revealed, that we each see clearly our inherent truth and find liberation from suffering imposed by limits of ordinary mind.”

“So it flows out, in rings of benefit.”