Category: Learning Buddhism

The Path to Learning Buddhism and Cultivation

By Practitioner Yundun Duojibai V, Gadu with a heart of humility

Recently, when I was giving speeches to the friends at the Rotary Club, I was often asked a same question by a number of kind people, which is “What is a correct path of learning Buddhism and cultivation, and how can we correctly follow that path?”

In the following, I am going to use an analogy which is not exactly very appropriate but quite understandable by general public to explain the above question.

First, we must know that there are two very important acts or conducts on the path of learning Buddhism and cultivation, namely, “cultivation” and “dharma practice.”

1. The so-called “cultivation” means that we should, in our daily life and in our interaction with other people, correct our deeds that are not good so as to conform to the precepts and doctrine transmitted from the Buddha’s teaching. The goal is to make us become a humble practitioner who has the bodhicitta of great compassion, always considers the interests and benefits of others, possesses the correct knowledge and views, follows the guidance of the 128 views expounded by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, and is liked and praised by the general public. (Please respectfully read the Dharma of Cultivation discoursed in the treasure book of H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III)
2. The so-called “dharma practice” means relying on the method that the Buddha left to us and was transmitted to you by the great kind and knowledgeable advisor to deeply enter into the practice of the dharma so as to increase your reward of fortune, acquire great wisdom, end the cycle of birth and death, be able to casually control your journey in the human world, and enjoy your presence in the three dharma spheres.
3. Comparing “cultivation” and “dharma practice” in term of the relative allocation of effort, the former, “cultivation,” should have a percentage of about 85-90%. The latter, “dharma practice,” although it takes only a percentage of only about 10-15%, is also indispensible. One must proceed on both these two aspects concurrently and should not emphasize only either one based on your own preference. The important person who connects your “cultivation” and “dharma practice” together is the great kind and knowledgeable advisor, your master. Therefore, on the path of learning Buddhism and cultivation, everyone must have a master who provides reliance and guidance.
4. In Buddhism, the concept of master represents the general form of the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha). That is to say, the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha collectively form one entity through the master. Therefore, your master represents the Buddha Jewel, Dharma Jewel, and Sangha Jewel to transmit the dharma to you and guide you in cultivation. Thus, you need to rely upon and follow a great good knowledgeable one who possesses the bodhicitta of great compassion, always thinks about benefiting living beings, and has the correct knowledge and views as well as realization of virtue, state, and power as your own master to teach you the dharma and guide you in your cultivation.

Next, I will make an analogy in term of “television.”

1. “Cultivation” is like the process of assembling a television set by yourself. If your cultivation is always conducted according to the precepts and doctrine taught by the Buddha that include Belief-Vow-Practice, Commandment-Concentration-Wisdom, the Five Precepts, the Ten Virtues, the Four Limitless States of Mind, the Six Paramitas, the Three Comprehensive Precepts, and so on and your conduct is based on the bodhicitta of great compassion, your television set is guaranteed to be of good quality. Otherwise, its quality will not be good or the television set may have defects in it.
2. “Dharma practice” is similar to the method of operating the television set and using the channels of TV stations. Once your master taught you the method of operating the television set and provided you with the information about the channels of TV stations, you should remember well and practice diligently.
3. The Buddha lands of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are analogous to various different TV stations that are always in operation, 365 days a year and 24 hours a day, without any time off. They all broadcast to all living beings with great benevolence and equanimity.
4. Even with the TV stations, your television set as well as the knowledge about TV channels and the method of operating the television set, you are still not able to view the programs from the TV stations. You still need the empowerment by your master using his or her realization of virtue, state and power and the siddhi power from the authentic lineage of Buddhism as the electric power. Only with the connection of electricity, can your TV set be utilized to display video images.
5. If your TV set is of good quality (your cultivation is perfect) and you can also operate it correctly and correctly select the TV channels as taught by your master (analogy of cultivating according to the teaching and practicing the dharma with the three karmas of body, speech, and mind in correspondence to the master’s teaching), once the set is turned on, the image of Buddha land displayed on the TV screen is certain to be perfect and free of defects. If not, there may be various kinds of problems from the TV screen such as having sound but no image, or having image only but no sound, or having fuzzy and unclear images with snow-like spots on the screen. These phenomena can be due to any of the faults of a defective TV set, inappropriate ways of operating, or incorrect channel selection (indicating that you did not act according to the teaching in your cultivation or dharma practice or that you made mistakes in the correspondence of the three karmas). At this time, you should not blame your master or the TV station. Instead, you should thoroughly repent yourself before your master and Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. You should modestly examine yourself and uncover your faults and shortcomings in views, in cultivation, or in dharma practice. Are you acting according to the teaching? Do you still have your three karmas in correspondence with your master? Did you commit various sins violating the law of cause and effect due to your ignorance and karmic impedance? Under such circumstance, you should immediately reflect upon yourself and correct it right away. If you have delusions or misunderstanding in your views, cultivation and dharma practice that you cannot resolve by yourself, you should immediately ask for help from your master to expel the delusion and eliminate the impedance to prevent the consequence of stepping onto the wrong path.

Actually, the path of learning Buddhism and cultivation is quite simple and straightforward. By practicing honestly according to what I described above, anyone will receive blessing and empowerment from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as well as dharma protectors and the benefits of good health, family harmony, success in all one does, and ending the cycle of birth and death are absolutely guaranteed.

Finally, I like to mention that my above discourse was made based on the attitude of honesty and being responsible for the law of cause and effect. At the same time, here is an advice from me to all kind and virtuous ones here:

“Do no deed that is evil; do all that is good.”

Once I was invited to give a speech at another Rotary Club. The president of that club was a Catholic follower and has quite a bit of prejudice toward Buddhism. At the beginning of my speech, I mentioned, “Although Catholicism is regarded as another external religion by Buddhists, its doctrine of guiding people to do kind deeds is very good. Among Catholics, there are many good cultivators whom we admire very much. Their benevolence and acts of great love are what we should learn from. Within the Catholic religion, there are also Bodhisattvas who manifested as Catholics for the affinities of saving and transforming different kinds of people. Therefore, we should have mutual respect and not attack each other.” Upon listening to this, he laughed heartedly and kept nodding. In the end, he listened attentively to my entire discourse of 45 minutes.

After my discourse, a friend of mine at the Rotary Club raised a question, “I have been cultivating and learning Buddhism for many years in the exoteric sect. My master once taught us in our meditation practice that the esoteric sect does not belong to orthodox Buddhism. Only those people who like to eat meat will become believers of esoteric Buddhism. I did not quite agree with him at that time. I knew from your conduct when you were at the Rotary Club that rinpoche you are a devoted Buddhist. Your personality and character are also respectable. That is why I dare to raise this question now. I like to hear your opinion and get guidance from you. What is the difference between the exoteric sect and the esoteric sect? Do both belong to Buddhism?”

Upon hearing this question from this friend of mine in the old days, I was very thankful for his benevolence. He is truly a good Buddhist disciple. Because he knew me and because he wanted to defend me and all of Buddhism, he raised this question that many Buddhist disciples are confused about.

First I gave a discourse on the issue of eating meat. In esoteric Buddhism, a monastic bhiksus or bhiksunis is called a lama. Once being ordained to become monastic practitioners and received the Great Precepts of the Three Altars, they must abide by the precepts that were handed down from Sakyamuni Buddha. Therefore, monastic lamas must be vegetarian and are not allowed to eat meat. Only those of them who break the precepts will ever eat meat. Among rinpoches, there are two kinds, monastic rinpoches and layperson rinpoches. For example, dharma kings in the Sakya Sect of esoteric Buddhism and the well-known H.H. Dharma King Mindrolling Trichen are layperson rinpoches. Layperson rinpoches are permitted to eat meat. However, they must conduct the dharma to elevate the souls of the deceased bodies to higher realms. On the other hand, monastic rinpoches are not allowed to eat meat. If they do, the act is a violation of the precepts.

Next, the question of “What is exoteric Buddhism, what is esoteric Buddhism, and what is the difference between exoteric Buddhism and esoteric Buddhism?” was asked by many kind virtuous people when I was giving speeches at many Rotary Clubs. I will give a brief explanation below.

Based on my own comprehension and realization, a perfect and complete Buddha-yana (vehicle of Buddhism) consists of exoteric Buddhism and the practice of tantric rituals (rituals are the predefined formal procedures of dharma practice). We can regard exoteric Buddhism as half of the system of Buddha-dharma. Only esoteric Buddhism is a complete system of Buddha-dharma. Why can we say so? The so-called esoteric Buddhism that we know has six major divisions, combining the exoteric Buddhism and the practice of tantric rituals. Tantric rituals include five major categories of mantra, mudra, visualization, common and non-common mandala, and outer and inner tantric initiations. Therefore, a true practitioner of esoteric Buddhism must first start from learning the sutras and classics of exoteric Buddhism that includes Hinayana and Mahayana. Then he will  study the classic works of Tantrayana, precepts, and quite a number of commentaries, such as the Hetu-Vidya Treatise, the Mulamadhyamakakarika Treatise, the Treatise of Prajna, the Abhidharmakosa Treatise, the Treatise on Precepts and Discipline, the Treatise on Wisdom and Truth, the Treatise on Supreme Practice, the Treatise on Liberation by Mahayana Practice, and so on. Meanwhile, he should also complete the Four Preliminary Practices. After fulfilling all these requirements, he must pass a rigorous exam at an open debate contest for being admitted into the academy of tantrayana to have the opportunity of receiving initiation of profound Buddha-dharma and learning and practicing the rituals. The cultivation of the dharma starts from the generation stage and, after the completion stage, eventually achieves the  stage of unattached application.

Therefore, the supreme and profound tantrayana should not exclude the exoteric school. On the other hand, cultivating only the practices from the exoteric school will not lead to the realization of the two bodies of sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya. That requires truly and deeply entering into the cultivation and practice of the supreme and secret teaching of tantrayana. One must combine the cultivation and practice from exoteric teaching and tantric rituals to realize the three bodies of dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya and attain great accomplishment in the current lifetime.

Exoteric sect and esoteric sect are both Buddhism. Unfortunately, within the two sects, some people who do not understand the theory and essence of the teaching were attacking each other. That is sinful. Buddhist disciples who received their precepts especially should not do that. Such acts must be repented!

Link: https://wisdomtea.org/2023/07/13/the-path-to-learning-buddhism-and-cultivation/