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The happiness of the three higher realms of samsara, like a dew drop on a blade of grass, lasts but a moment, and then is quickly gone, so instead strive for the supreme state of never changing liberation.
The happiness of the three higher realms of samsara, like a dew drop on a blade of grass, lasts but a moment, and then is quickly gone, so instead strive for nirvana.
Johnathan in my experience 'letting go' is very confusing emotionally to be tough when we get out of step with the world. Is this correct?
As far as the three higher realms that would be peace and love and so forth. Where do you go from there? My sense of nirvana is kinda going with the flow and being slow and careful, is hard to find fault with happiness in the three realms or do you mean the happiness of a meal when hungry or a joke thats not even forced? I think so, but then its not the problem really just the impermanence is there.
I do not know if that is correct or not, My whole life experience has been about letting go of just about everyone and everything several times over. I find it quite natural now with little emotion involved.
Please read the following. It will explain what is meant by the 3 Realms and this entire practice as well. I received it in a series of emails by "Unfettered Mind" that discussed the 37 Practices:
Worldly Pleasures Last Only A While and Vanish This verse relates to the practice of an intermediate level practitioner—a person who aspires for liberation from cyclic existence. Why should we aspire for liberation or nirvana? Because the pleasures of the three worlds are transitory. They’re nice while we have them, but they don’t last long and afterwards we are left, once again, struggling for pleasure.
The three worlds refers to the desire realm, form realm and formless realm. The desire realm is so called because the beings in it are hooked on sensual objects—sights, sounds, odours, tastes and tactile objects, as well as on proliferating conceptions resulting from these. We human beings are part of the desire realm and we can see from our own experience how geared we are to external objects—procuring the ones we find desirable and protecting ourselves from the ones we deem undesirable. Beings in the form realms have deep levels of concentration, which is very blissful, and beings of the formless realm abide in subtle states of meditative absorption in a state of equanimity, which is more refined than the joy of the concentrations of the form realm.
Samsara is comprised of those three realms. No matter where we are born in these three realms, the joys of existence there are like dew on the tip of a blade of grass. It is there for a short while, and then it evaporates, gone forever. We may consider our human life very long, but in comparison to beings in the celestial desire realms and in the form and formless realms, it is short. Even so that pleasure lasts only a while, and then it is gone. At the end of our lives, what we are left with at most are good memories and a lot of photo albums and scrapbooks. But what good are they? It’s pretty sad if the only happiness we have comes from remembering past experiences. It’s like being happy watching other people’s lives on TV. No one makes movies showing people watching TV or looking at photo albums for hours. Why not? Because that’s boring. Would you watch a movie that only showed someone watching TV? Instead of having a vibrant and lively mind ourselves, our pleasure comes only from sitting there observing others’ lives.
Happiness that doesn’t last is not true happiness. It is not something we want to devote our life trying to attain because there is never any end to our efforts in attaining happiness. Whatever happiness we manage to have is always in the process of fading and going out of existence. So, if we really want a top grade happiness, an AAA type of happiness, we should aspire for the peace of liberation which never disappears. For that reason, nirvana is also called the unconditioned and the deathless.
Rather than seek out the pleasures found in cyclic existence, only to have them end when a good rebirth ceases, let’s aspire for the never-changing supreme state of liberation. Nirvana is never-changing in that once liberation is attained, it never ceases. Once ignorance has been completely eradicated from our mindstream, there is no cause for it to ever return. In this way, a state of lasting happiness, peace and freedom from afflictions and karma is attained.
Americans often say they stand up for freedom. But, in consumer society we are bound by attachment and thus are not free. Our minds are tied up, not just by craving, but also by resentment, hostility and a host of other disturbing emotions. Are you free when your mind is tormented by craving something—a house, a relationship, delicious food or whatever? Are you free when your mind is overwhelmed by jealousy because others have more or by competition, wanting to prove yourself and be better than someone else? These mental states aren’t indicative of true freedom, even if on the physical level we have the “freedom” to buy what we want or go where we like.
In a Buddhist sense, real freedom is not about having the ability to act out any kind of impulse that comes into our mind. True freedom is not being enslaved by hostility, clinging, craving, resentment, spite and so on. So, we want to generate a sincere and steady aspiration for liberation—the kind of freedom where we are free from having a body and mind under the influence of ignorance, afflictions and karma. That’s true freedom, because the mind is free—it can abide in deep concentration with wisdom and compassion.
Cultivate Bodhicitta instead of striving for happiness, for happiness is of little value when countless sentient beings, who have been like mothers to us since beginningless time, are still suffering in samsara.
So here's a recap of the first 11 (feel free to comment or suggest wording changes.
Practice #1: Commitment
Having gained this rare precious human rebirth, listen, think, meditate and practice the Dharma unwaveringly, day and night, in order to free oneself and others from this ocean of samsara.
Practice #2: Abandoning negative homelands
When ones emotion's towards those they love, hate or are indifferent to, harms their ability to practice Dharma then they should either let go of these emotions or if that is not possible, leave.
Practice #3: Relying on solitude
It is better to dwell alone in silence than to dwell in a negative place. In doing so, disturbing emotions gradually decrease, virtuous activities naturally increase and when the mind becomes clear, certainty in the Dharma is born.
Practice #4: Abandoning attachment to this life
Abandon attachment to this life for eventually all relationships will end, all possessions will be lost and even the consciousness will depart from our bodies.
Practice #5: Abandoning Negative Friendships
Sever friendships with those who cause hatred, desire and ignorance to arise within us, who cause us to engage less in study, reflection and meditation and who cause our love and compassion for all sentient beings to become lost and forgotten.
Practice #6: Relying on a Teacher
Cherish teachers above all else who embody what we seek to develop in ourselves, as it is through them that we rid ourselves of faults and increase our good qualities.
Practice #7: Seeking Refuge
Like us, worldly gods are bound in samsara and thus cannot protect us, so instead we must take responsibility for protecting ourselves by transcending suffering through our own efforts. In order to do this, we have to depend on the path—the Dharma, on the teacher— the Buddha, and on the other beings who are experienced—the Sangha.
Practice #8: Refraining from Destructive Behavior
To avoid the intolerable suffering of a rebirth into the lower realms one must, as the Buddha taught, avoid destructive actions even at the cost of ones own life.
Practice #9: Striving for unchanging liberation
The happiness of the three higher realms of samsara, like a dew drop on a blade of grass, lasts but a moment, and then is quickly gone, so instead strive for nirvana.
Practice #10: Developing Bodhicitta
Cultivate Bodhicitta instead of striving for happiness, for happiness is of little value when countless sentient beings, who have been like mothers to us since beginningless time, are suffering in samsara.
Practice #11: Exchanging happiness for suffering
To seek happiness for oneself is to create suffering for oneself, so instead seek to make others happy.
If under the sway of compulsive desire and longing for things that he does not possess, some unfortunate person has stolen your riches or lets others rob you and idly stands by; then out of compassion and with no attachment, dedicate to him your body, your possessions and all your merits accumulated from the past, present and future.
One evening a thief crawled through the window (the door, as always, was unlocked, unknown to the robber), but discovered that there was absolutely nothing to steal in the hut. At this point Ryokan returned from his walk and caught the thief searching the room.
He approached the thief and warmly shook his hand. The thief was so surprised. Ryokan told the prowler: "You must have come a long way to visit me, and you shouldn't leave empty-handed." Ryokan looked around the empty room, but he too couldn't find anything to give him, so he took off his only robe and handed it to the robber.
"Please, take my clothes as a gift," Ryokan said.
The thief was too astonished to say anything, and he took the robe and slunk away into the cold night. Ryokan sat naked and gazed at the full moon through the window. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon."
I am going to resurrect this thread. I started it almost 10 years ago. I hope there are others interested in the topic and will contribute to the discussion and the laying out of the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva in simplified English. I have recapped the first 12 below and will give some time for any interested to make comments or revision suggestions before moving on.
Practice #1: Commitment
Having gained this rare precious human rebirth, listen, think, meditate and practice the Dharma unwaveringly, day and night, in order to free oneself and others from this ocean of samsara.
Practice #2: Abandoning negative homelands
When ones emotion's towards those they love, hate or are indifferent to, harms their ability to practice Dharma then they should either let go of these emotions or if that is not possible, leave.
Practice #3: Relying on solitude
It is better to dwell alone in silence than to dwell in a negative place. In doing so, disturbing emotions gradually decrease, virtuous activities naturally increase and when the mind becomes clear, certainty in the Dharma is born.
Practice #4: Abandoning attachment to this life
Abandon attachment to this life for eventually all relationships will end, all possessions will be lost and even the consciousness will depart from our bodies.
Practice #5: Abandoning Negative Friendships
Sever friendships with those who cause hatred, desire and ignorance to arise within us, who cause us to engage less in study, reflection and meditation and who cause our love and compassion for all sentient beings to become lost and forgotten.
Practice #6: Relying on a Teacher
Cherish teachers above all else who embody what we seek to develop in ourselves, as it is through them that we rid ourselves of faults and increase our good qualities.
Practice #7: Seeking Refuge
Like us, worldly gods are bound in samsara and thus cannot protect us, so instead we must take responsibility for protecting ourselves by transcending suffering through our own efforts. In order to do this, we have to depend on the path—the Dharma, on the teacher— the Buddha, and on the other beings who are experienced—the Sangha.
Practice #8: Refraining from Destructive Behavior
To avoid the intolerable suffering of a rebirth into the lower realms one must, as the Buddha taught, avoid destructive actions even at the cost of ones own life.
Practice #9: Striving for unchanging liberation
The happiness of the three higher realms of samsara, like a dew drop on a blade of grass, lasts but a moment, and then is quickly gone, so instead strive for nirvana.
Practice #10: Developing Bodhicitta
Cultivate Bodhicitta instead of striving for happiness, for happiness is of little value when countless sentient beings, who have been like mothers to us since beginningless time, are suffering in samsara.
Practice #11: Exchanging happiness for suffering
To seek happiness for oneself is to create suffering for oneself, so instead seek to make others happy.
Practice #12: Responding to theft
If under the sway of compulsive desire and longing for things that he does not possess, some unfortunate person has stolen your riches or lets others rob you and idly stands by; then out of compassion and with no attachment, dedicate to him your body, your possessions and all your merits accumulated from the past, present and future.
some comments.practice1,imo,skillfull means for us to do capable work,good karma.there is a phraise in the spirit of the bodhi-sat-va as in ya,think cosmically,act locally.dharma is cosmic.our body is local to do what we can.
I think it come down to:
have a seeking spirit
Be open minded/open hearted
Be Compassionate
Be resolved
Embrace the moment
And, of course, never give up
@Lionduck said:
I think it come down to:
have a seeking spirit
Be open minded/open hearted
Be Compassionate
Be resolved
Embrace the moment
And, of course, never give up
In case anyone is not familiar with the topic here is a link that will explain what they are. My goal is to simplify the language as much as possible without losing the essence of each practice.
Thanks @paulyso for commenting on the first 12 practices.
I will wait a week before moving on to the 13th Practice in case others want to chime in with comments or rewording suggestions.
As a side note I have recently experienced the need to enact the 5th practice. My best friend of 22 years has changed so much in that time. I have spent the last 3 years trying to help him help himself. He is caught in the downward swirl of alcoholism and depression. After 3 years I have not been able to help him out of this downward momentum and have come to realize I am just being pulled down along with him. I notice the 3 poisons building within me whenever I am in contact with him, whether it is in person, on the phone or even a simple text.
For a few months I just avoided him but decided that was unfair as I was no longer being a friend to him even though he still believed us to be friends. I formally withdrew my friendship with explanation and he has somewhat accepted this.
It was not an easy decision but ultimately he was derailing my progress along the path and causing much disharmony within myself. Some would say I am just a lousy friend. They are entitled to their own thoughts, they do not affect me. I am on my path and I got to a point where I felt that relationship was a boulder in the way of my moving further.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
@johnathan said:
Thanks @paulyso for commenting on the first 12 practices.
I will wait a week before moving on to the 13th Practice in case others want to chime in with comments or rewording suggestions.
As a side note I have recently experienced the need to enact the 5th practice. My best friend of 22 years has changed so much in that time. I have spent the last 3 years trying to help him help himself. He is caught in the downward swirl of alcoholism and depression. After 3 years I have not been able to help him out of this downward momentum and have come to realize I am just being pulled down along with him. I notice the 3 poisons building within me whenever I am in contact with him, whether it is in person, on the phone or even a simple text.
For a few months I just avoided him but decided that was unfair as I was no longer being a friend to him even though he still believed us to be friends. I formally withdrew my friendship with explanation and he has somewhat accepted this.
It was not an easy decision but ultimately he was derailing my progress along the path and causing much disharmony within myself. Some would say I am just a lousy friend. They are entitled to their own thoughts, they do not affect me. I am on my path and I got to a point where I felt that relationship was a boulder in the way of my moving further.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Yes, twice. On two occasions I have had to "Fling the Flaky Friend" as much for their good as my own. These people are socially known as Emotional vampires. Best avoided, for everyone's sake.
@johnathan said:
Thanks @paulyso for commenting on the first 12 practices.
I will wait a week before moving on to the 13th Practice in case others want to chime in with comments or rewording suggestions.
As a side note I have recently experienced the need to enact the 5th practice. My best friend of 22 years has changed so much in that time. I have spent the last 3 years trying to help him help himself. He is caught in the downward swirl of alcoholism and depression. After 3 years I have not been able to help him out of this downward momentum and have come to realize I am just being pulled down along with him. I notice the 3 poisons building within me whenever I am in contact with him, whether it is in person, on the phone or even a simple text.
For a few months I just avoided him but decided that was unfair as I was no longer being a friend to him even though he still believed us to be friends. I formally withdrew my friendship with explanation and he has somewhat accepted this.
It was not an easy decision but ultimately he was derailing my progress along the path and causing much disharmony within myself. Some would say I am just a lousy friend. They are entitled to their own thoughts, they do not affect me. I am on my path and I got to a point where I felt that relationship was a boulder in the way of my moving further.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Yes, last year I formally ended a friendship of around 35 years that had a lot of ups and downs.
Finding out he’d made unwanted drunken sexual advances toward my good friend after she And her husband invited him to their home for Xmas made it a pretty easy decision.
The hard part was that I was not able to let on why I was ending the friendship out of respect for the people involved.
There’s only so much you can do for people @johnathan - even parents end up having to let their kids go when battling drug addiction. You need to look after yourself.
@johnathan said:
A friend and I are currently having a look at these practices and seeing if we can boil these practices down to simple English....
Is that "simple English" without Sanskrit/Pāli? Without Chinese? What kind of "simple" are you looking for?
Sometimes translating loanwords has the effect of rendering them unidentifiable. Would you recognize a "Revealer" as a bodhisatva? What about a True Gnostic? That is another translation for "bodhisatva." "Revealer" is how bodhisatva was translated into Chinese in some of the oldest Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures. The "True Gnostic" reading can be read with bodhi as gnosis and satva as truth.
The poem that these 37 practices are taken from is by Venerable Gyalsé Tokmé Zangpo, a thirteenth century Tibetan Vajrayāna sage, and their presentation reflects that worldview. Readers will notice guruyoga as a practice of the bodhisatva in practice 6.
Trying to keep non-English words to a minimum, here's what I thought up:
1 -- The bodhisatva meditates and studies the Dharma for the liberation of all sentient beings.
2 -- Obsession with the world, hatred of the world, apathy to the world; the bodhisatva goes forth into homelessness to prevent these.
3 -- The bodhisatva cultivates purity of mind alone and secluded, without distraction.
4 -- The bodhisatva is not concerned with the worldly or the convention, the provisional or the transient.
5 -- The bodhisatva does not associate with those who spread rage, obsession, and stupidity.
6 -- The bodhisatva holds the guru closer to their heart than their own body.
7 -- The bodhisatva takes refuge in the three jewels and turns away from the gods.
8 -- The bodhisatva never retaliates against assailants and accepts all hardship as the fruit of karma.
9 -- The bodhisatva turns away from the shallow bliss of the three realms and turns towards the deep bliss of nirvāṇa.
10 -- The bodhisatva rouses bodhicitta for the sake of all beings.
11 -- The bodhisatva forsakes happiness for the sake of others' suffering.
12 -- When stolen from, the bodhisatva blesses the thief.
13 -- When wrongly accused, the bodhisatva blesses the accuser.
14 -- When slandered, the bodhisatva praises the slanderer.
15 -- When criticized, the bodhisatva recognizes a teacher.
16 -- When betrayed, the bodhisatva loves the traitor like a mother loves a child.
17 -- When condescended to, the bodhisatva lauds in return.
18 -- Even if poor and hated, the bodhisatva has no bitterness or hatred.
19 -- Even if rich and loved, the bodhisatva sees the emptiness of riches and fame.
20 -- The bodhisatva battles in the inner enemy, hatred, rather than the outer enemy, the hated.
21 -- The bodhisatva forsakes that which breeds attachment, obsession, and passion.
22 -- The bodhisatva rejects essentialism.
23 -- The bodhisatva regards the beautiful, wondrous, and fascinating as non-existent.
24 -- The bodhisatva sees adversity like a mirage and does not cling to vengeance.
25 -- The bodhisatva gives generously with no hope of renumeration.
26 -- The bodhisatva is ethical without care for reputation.
27 -- The bodhisatva is patient and without hatred, even with those who cause harm.
28 -- The bodhisatva is vigorous and perseveres.
29 -- The bodhisatva unites śamatha and vipaśyanā in the samādhi that surpasses the formless absorptions.
30 -- The bodhisatva obtains the wisdom that is independent of the three realms.
31 -- The bodhisatva examines their own shortcomings.
32 -- The bodhisatva does not criticize peers.
33 -- The bodhisatva is not concerned with property.
34 -- The bodhisatva refrains from harsh speech.
35 -- The bodhisatva guards the heart against affliction.
36 -- The bodhisatva is mindful.
37 -- The bodhisatva dedicates all virtue accrued from these undertakings, with wisdom independent of the three realms, to the destruction of saṁsāra.
I am not sure what the original intent was, that was 10 years ago... for me now I think the practice of focusing on the practices and making the phrasing flow in a way that's easily read and understood is all I am looking for... the process helps me actually learn the practices. I read dozens of phrasings for each one, many just don't "flow" for me and thus are harder to memorize. (I have "so-called" ADHD-PI which is actually the new phrasing of "so-called ADD" which means that I can sit still and not need to run around but I am easily distracted and have a difficult time focusing. So when something I am reading "does not flow" well it is next near to impossible to remember. I don't need the phrasing stripped of sanskrit or pali as I am familiar enough with most terms. I just need to reorder some sentence structure and get down to the gist without losing essence.
Your recordings are very simple and are easy to understand but they have lost some of the essence of what they are truely meant to reflect on.
When I started this thread a member named Upalabhava wrote about the 1st practice:
I think you have (over) simplified it. The first practice is to meditate on your current circumstances.
You are a human. Particularly, you are the precious kind of human. You exist in the luxury and leisure of a life free from gross sufferings such as starvation, being born in a disadvantaged socio-economic category, and free from profound physical and mental disabilities, etc.
Meditate on this fortuitous confluence of conditions. Maintain the practice for further fortuitous confluences of conditions.
It's just that for every single one of the 37 steps you are going to be meditating on dharma, so you need to focus the meditations. The first meditation is specifically focused on engendering a profound recognition of the fortuitous conditions that make the current moment as it is experienced by you, a precious human rebirth, possible.
Alright, I'm going to start looking at the simplest ways to state the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva without losing the essence of the practice.
Responding to Injury
If someone intends to kill you or do you harm,
Even when you have not done the slightest thing wrong,
Out of compassion take all his misdeeds upon yourself.
I've only just read the thread. As a relative newbie, I really appreciate the simplistic approach. I get Buddhism is a "practise with homework" but sometimes I feel that some people can get caught up in the wording and miss the point.
Thanks @FeistyGibblets
I am just waiting for a new laptop to arrive so I can continue. I compare 10 different wordings before composing my own in hopes that I don't lose the essence of each practice. Not easily done on a cell phone.
Comments
Here's an attempt at;
Practice #9
The happiness of the three higher realms of samsara, like a dew drop on a blade of grass, lasts but a moment, and then is quickly gone, so instead strive for the supreme state of never changing liberation.
The happiness of the three higher realms of samsara, like a dew drop on a blade of grass, lasts but a moment, and then is quickly gone, so instead strive for nirvana.
works just as well.
As far as the three higher realms that would be peace and love and so forth. Where do you go from there? My sense of nirvana is kinda going with the flow and being slow and careful, is hard to find fault with happiness in the three realms or do you mean the happiness of a meal when hungry or a joke thats not even forced? I think so, but then its not the problem really just the impermanence is there.
I do not know if that is correct or not, My whole life experience has been about letting go of just about everyone and everything several times over. I find it quite natural now with little emotion involved.
Please read the following. It will explain what is meant by the 3 Realms and this entire practice as well. I received it in a series of emails by "Unfettered Mind" that discussed the 37 Practices:
Cultivate Bodhicitta instead of striving for happiness, for happiness is of little value when countless sentient beings, who have been like mothers to us since beginningless time, are still suffering in samsara.
To seek happiness for oneself is to create suffering for oneself, so instead seek to make others happy.
Practice #1: Commitment
Having gained this rare precious human rebirth, listen, think, meditate and practice the Dharma unwaveringly, day and night, in order to free oneself and others from this ocean of samsara.
Practice #2: Abandoning negative homelands
When ones emotion's towards those they love, hate or are indifferent to, harms their ability to practice Dharma then they should either let go of these emotions or if that is not possible, leave.
Practice #3: Relying on solitude
It is better to dwell alone in silence than to dwell in a negative place. In doing so, disturbing emotions gradually decrease, virtuous activities naturally increase and when the mind becomes clear, certainty in the Dharma is born.
Practice #4: Abandoning attachment to this life
Abandon attachment to this life for eventually all relationships will end, all possessions will be lost and even the consciousness will depart from our bodies.
Practice #5: Abandoning Negative Friendships
Sever friendships with those who cause hatred, desire and ignorance to arise within us, who cause us to engage less in study, reflection and meditation and who cause our love and compassion for all sentient beings to become lost and forgotten.
Practice #6: Relying on a Teacher
Cherish teachers above all else who embody what we seek to develop in ourselves, as it is through them that we rid ourselves of faults and increase our good qualities.
Practice #7: Seeking Refuge
Like us, worldly gods are bound in samsara and thus cannot protect us, so instead we must take responsibility for protecting ourselves by transcending suffering through our own efforts. In order to do this, we have to depend on the path—the Dharma, on the teacher— the Buddha, and on the other beings who are experienced—the Sangha.
Practice #8: Refraining from Destructive Behavior
To avoid the intolerable suffering of a rebirth into the lower realms one must, as the Buddha taught, avoid destructive actions even at the cost of ones own life.
Practice #9: Striving for unchanging liberation
The happiness of the three higher realms of samsara, like a dew drop on a blade of grass, lasts but a moment, and then is quickly gone, so instead strive for nirvana.
Practice #10: Developing Bodhicitta
Cultivate Bodhicitta instead of striving for happiness, for happiness is of little value when countless sentient beings, who have been like mothers to us since beginningless time, are suffering in samsara.
Practice #11: Exchanging happiness for suffering
To seek happiness for oneself is to create suffering for oneself, so instead seek to make others happy.
If under the sway of compulsive desire and longing for things that he does not possess, some unfortunate person has stolen your riches or lets others rob you and idly stands by; then out of compassion and with no attachment, dedicate to him your body, your possessions and all your merits accumulated from the past, present and future.
One evening a thief crawled through the window (the door, as always, was unlocked, unknown to the robber), but discovered that there was absolutely nothing to steal in the hut. At this point Ryokan returned from his walk and caught the thief searching the room.
He approached the thief and warmly shook his hand. The thief was so surprised. Ryokan told the prowler: "You must have come a long way to visit me, and you shouldn't leave empty-handed." Ryokan looked around the empty room, but he too couldn't find anything to give him, so he took off his only robe and handed it to the robber.
"Please, take my clothes as a gift," Ryokan said.
The thief was too astonished to say anything, and he took the robe and slunk away into the cold night. Ryokan sat naked and gazed at the full moon through the window. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon."
I am going to resurrect this thread. I started it almost 10 years ago. I hope there are others interested in the topic and will contribute to the discussion and the laying out of the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva in simplified English. I have recapped the first 12 below and will give some time for any interested to make comments or revision suggestions before moving on.
Practice #1: Commitment
Having gained this rare precious human rebirth, listen, think, meditate and practice the Dharma unwaveringly, day and night, in order to free oneself and others from this ocean of samsara.
Practice #2: Abandoning negative homelands
When ones emotion's towards those they love, hate or are indifferent to, harms their ability to practice Dharma then they should either let go of these emotions or if that is not possible, leave.
Practice #3: Relying on solitude
It is better to dwell alone in silence than to dwell in a negative place. In doing so, disturbing emotions gradually decrease, virtuous activities naturally increase and when the mind becomes clear, certainty in the Dharma is born.
Practice #4: Abandoning attachment to this life
Abandon attachment to this life for eventually all relationships will end, all possessions will be lost and even the consciousness will depart from our bodies.
Practice #5: Abandoning Negative Friendships
Sever friendships with those who cause hatred, desire and ignorance to arise within us, who cause us to engage less in study, reflection and meditation and who cause our love and compassion for all sentient beings to become lost and forgotten.
Practice #6: Relying on a Teacher
Cherish teachers above all else who embody what we seek to develop in ourselves, as it is through them that we rid ourselves of faults and increase our good qualities.
Practice #7: Seeking Refuge
Like us, worldly gods are bound in samsara and thus cannot protect us, so instead we must take responsibility for protecting ourselves by transcending suffering through our own efforts. In order to do this, we have to depend on the path—the Dharma, on the teacher— the Buddha, and on the other beings who are experienced—the Sangha.
Practice #8: Refraining from Destructive Behavior
To avoid the intolerable suffering of a rebirth into the lower realms one must, as the Buddha taught, avoid destructive actions even at the cost of ones own life.
Practice #9: Striving for unchanging liberation
The happiness of the three higher realms of samsara, like a dew drop on a blade of grass, lasts but a moment, and then is quickly gone, so instead strive for nirvana.
Practice #10: Developing Bodhicitta
Cultivate Bodhicitta instead of striving for happiness, for happiness is of little value when countless sentient beings, who have been like mothers to us since beginningless time, are suffering in samsara.
Practice #11: Exchanging happiness for suffering
To seek happiness for oneself is to create suffering for oneself, so instead seek to make others happy.
Practice #12: Responding to theft
If under the sway of compulsive desire and longing for things that he does not possess, some unfortunate person has stolen your riches or lets others rob you and idly stands by; then out of compassion and with no attachment, dedicate to him your body, your possessions and all your merits accumulated from the past, present and future.
thank you johnathan.very helpful.
some comments.practice1,imo,skillfull means for us to do capable work,good karma.there is a phraise in the spirit of the bodhi-sat-va as in ya,think cosmically,act locally.dharma is cosmic.our body is local to do what we can.
practice 2,be nonsectarian.our lord shakyamuni,advise cling not to strong political or religios beliefs.may lead to dukkha.
practice 3,sage insight.counter negative with positive with right effort.what we feed affects our brain.the skill of the bodisatva empty the content .
I think it come down to:
have a seeking spirit
Be open minded/open hearted
Be Compassionate
Be resolved
Embrace the moment
And, of course, never give up
Peace to all
practice 4, the art of gain and loss.imo,enjoy the gain,respond to the loss althowhile know change.the skill of the bodhi,rest with form and empty.
thumbs up.
practice 5,wise decision,choose those who affirm,build up,when we in dukkha,so we can build up others in need.
In case anyone is not familiar with the topic here is a link that will explain what they are. My goal is to simplify the language as much as possible without losing the essence of each practice.
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/gyalse-thogme-zangpo/37-practices-all-bodhisattvas
practice 6, discern and feel who is true as shakyamuni,advise to investigate a teacher.speech and action are like two legs,is it straight or wobbly.
practice 7,the way is not in the sky,is in the heart,i once heard.align with good hearts there is the sky.
practice 8,safe bet,refrain from bad,do good ,peace of mind should follow,as our lord shaky suggest.
practice 9, nirvana is like the oasis of your heart you can tap into...cool and refreshing.
johnnathan,do you want me to continue?if yes ,tommorrow.this is interesting,37 practices.
@paulyso
Yes, please continue... you only have 3 more to go until you are caught up to where I left off.
I am enjoying your minimalist pairing down of the practices.
practice 10,have a heart.what good is enlightenment if motivated by self.see with heart then the mind can be useful.
practice 11,the art of happyness,being selfless can make others happy .helping others is the value of helping yourself.
practice 12,material goods are temparary,but dharma is lasting.goods maybe stolen but they miss the mark what is the treasure,the dharma.
Thanks @paulyso for commenting on the first 12 practices.
I will wait a week before moving on to the 13th Practice in case others want to chime in with comments or rewording suggestions.
As a side note I have recently experienced the need to enact the 5th practice. My best friend of 22 years has changed so much in that time. I have spent the last 3 years trying to help him help himself. He is caught in the downward swirl of alcoholism and depression. After 3 years I have not been able to help him out of this downward momentum and have come to realize I am just being pulled down along with him. I notice the 3 poisons building within me whenever I am in contact with him, whether it is in person, on the phone or even a simple text.
For a few months I just avoided him but decided that was unfair as I was no longer being a friend to him even though he still believed us to be friends. I formally withdrew my friendship with explanation and he has somewhat accepted this.
It was not an easy decision but ultimately he was derailing my progress along the path and causing much disharmony within myself. Some would say I am just a lousy friend. They are entitled to their own thoughts, they do not affect me. I am on my path and I got to a point where I felt that relationship was a boulder in the way of my moving further.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Yes, twice. On two occasions I have had to "Fling the Flaky Friend" as much for their good as my own. These people are socially known as Emotional vampires. Best avoided, for everyone's sake.
Oh yes, it's a 'thing' all right....
Yes.
Our first befriending has to be to ourselves. We can not practice or even function if being emotionally vamped as @federica mentions.
It can get more subtle ... for example advanced zeniths may make us uncomfortable, spiritual types may interfere with our sense of what is right and left behind and indeed may bring us down when up in the clouds or vice versa.
https://studybuddhism.com/en/tibetan-buddhism/original-texts/sutra-texts/seven-point-mind-training
Thank you @Lobster I am very interested in exploring the 7 point mind training you linked to.
Yes, last year I formally ended a friendship of around 35 years that had a lot of ups and downs.
Finding out he’d made unwanted drunken sexual advances toward my good friend after she And her husband invited him to their home for Xmas made it a pretty easy decision.
The hard part was that I was not able to let on why I was ending the friendship out of respect for the people involved.
There’s only so much you can do for people @johnathan - even parents end up having to let their kids go when battling drug addiction. You need to look after yourself.
What do you mean by
Is that "simple English" without Sanskrit/Pāli? Without Chinese? What kind of "simple" are you looking for?
Sometimes translating loanwords has the effect of rendering them unidentifiable. Would you recognize a "Revealer" as a bodhisatva? What about a True Gnostic? That is another translation for "bodhisatva." "Revealer" is how bodhisatva was translated into Chinese in some of the oldest Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures. The "True Gnostic" reading can be read with bodhi as gnosis and satva as truth.
The poem that these 37 practices are taken from is by Venerable Gyalsé Tokmé Zangpo, a thirteenth century Tibetan Vajrayāna sage, and their presentation reflects that worldview. Readers will notice guruyoga as a practice of the bodhisatva in practice 6.
Trying to keep non-English words to a minimum, here's what I thought up:
@Vimalajāti
I am not sure what the original intent was, that was 10 years ago... for me now I think the practice of focusing on the practices and making the phrasing flow in a way that's easily read and understood is all I am looking for... the process helps me actually learn the practices. I read dozens of phrasings for each one, many just don't "flow" for me and thus are harder to memorize. (I have "so-called" ADHD-PI which is actually the new phrasing of "so-called ADD" which means that I can sit still and not need to run around but I am easily distracted and have a difficult time focusing. So when something I am reading "does not flow" well it is next near to impossible to remember. I don't need the phrasing stripped of sanskrit or pali as I am familiar enough with most terms. I just need to reorder some sentence structure and get down to the gist without losing essence.
Your recordings are very simple and are easy to understand but they have lost some of the essence of what they are truely meant to reflect on.
When I started this thread a member named Upalabhava wrote about the 1st practice:
I think you have (over) simplified it. The first practice is to meditate on your current circumstances.
You are a human. Particularly, you are the precious kind of human. You exist in the luxury and leisure of a life free from gross sufferings such as starvation, being born in a disadvantaged socio-economic category, and free from profound physical and mental disabilities, etc.
Meditate on this fortuitous confluence of conditions. Maintain the practice for further fortuitous confluences of conditions.
It's just that for every single one of the 37 steps you are going to be meditating on dharma, so you need to focus the meditations. The first meditation is specifically focused on engendering a profound recognition of the fortuitous conditions that make the current moment as it is experienced by you, a precious human rebirth, possible.
Not sure how to explain it any better.
Alright, I'm going to start looking at the simplest ways to state the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva without losing the essence of the practice.
If someone intends to kill you or do you harm,
Even when you have not done the slightest thing wrong,
Out of compassion take all his misdeeds upon yourself.
I've only just read the thread. As a relative newbie, I really appreciate the simplistic approach. I get Buddhism is a "practise with homework" but sometimes I feel that some people can get caught up in the wording and miss the point.
Thanks @FeistyGibblets
I am just waiting for a new laptop to arrive so I can continue. I compare 10 different wordings before composing my own in hopes that I don't lose the essence of each practice. Not easily done on a cell phone.
practice 13, a loss can be a gain.when the heart forgives,there is space for giving.