KADAMPA TEACHINGS - Amitabha Buddhist Centre

1 KADAMPATEACHINGSByGESHE LAMA KONCHOGfor free distributionPublished for free distributionAmitabha Buddhist Centre494-D Geylang RoadSingapore 389452 Tel: 6745 8547 Fax: 6741 2002 3000 books Amitabha Buddhist CentrePlease do not reproduce any part of this booklet by any meanswhatsoever without written permission fromAmitabha Buddhist CentrePrinted byAd Graphic Pte Ltd745 Toa Payoh Lorong 5 Singapore 319455 Tel: 6747 a Kind Heart by Venerable Sangye KhadroBecoming Your Own Therapist by Lama Thubten YesheCompassion & Wisdom by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tenzin GyatsoEssence of Tibetan Buddhism by Lama Thubten YesheGlimpse of Reality by Dr. Alexander Berzin & Venerable Thubten ChodronHow to Generate Bodhicitta by Ribur RinpocheI Wonder Why by Venerable Thubten ChodronThe Joy of Compassion by Kyabje Lama Zopa RinpocheLive with Compassion by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche (English & Chinese editions)Making Your Mind an Ocean by Lama Thubten YesheMirror of Wisdom by Geshe Tsultim GyeltsenPerfect Freedom by Kyabje Lama Zopa RinpochePracticing the Good Heart by Kyabje Lama Zopa RinpochePurpose of Life by Venerable Thubten GyatsoThe Meaning of Life by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche (English & Chinese editions)

2 The Mind, Karma and the Bodhisattva Path by Venerable Thubten GyatsoThe Path to Happiness by Venerable Thubten ChodronTeachings from Lama Konchong by Geshe Lama KonchogTeachings from the Mani Retreat by Kyabje Lama Zopa RinpocheThe Direct and Unmistaken Method - The Practice and Benefits of the EightMahayana Precepts, Commentaries by Trijang Dorje Chang &Geshe Lamrimpa; compiled and translated by Kyabje Lama Zopa RinpocheTransforming Problems by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche (Chinese edition)Transforming Problems into the Path by Venerable Thubten GyatsoWisdom Energy by Lama Yeshe & Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche (Chinese edition)Working with Anger by Venerable Thubten ChodronOther titles printed by Amitabha Buddhist Centrefor free distribution:These TEACHINGS were held at Amitabha Buddhist Centre , Singapore inMay, l995. Translator is unknown.

3 Transcribed and edited by ThubtenKonchog who accepts responsibility for all errors and has been said that while we have control over our own higherexistence and have the power of what we perform and what we discard,we must take the full essence of it. We must take full present, we have met with spiritual masters or spiritual guidesfrom whom we can obtain all the necessary positive qualities, yet wedo not practice the Dharma. If we were to practice, we would haveattained all the necessary positive conditions and we would be freedfrom all negative and discordant the present time, our body and state of mind are not reallythreatened by terrible diseases and we have the intelligence and wisdomto investigate what is wrong and what is right. Therefore, we mustrecognise and understand that if we use this opportunity for trivialpurposes, such as worldly pursuits, it will be a great loss.

4 It will be avery great , for the remainder of our life, we must try to do our best to integrateour mind throughout the day and night with the Dharma. Governedby an attitude of Dharma thoughts, we should pray to continue onlike this. By gaining such control over our mind, we can then takefull advantage of this body and mind and make full use of it, so that,after death and on leaving this body, we will not fall into the lowerrealms where there will be no opportunity to have this TeachingsIt is definite. We all know that we are going to die. There is no doubtabout that. But we do not know when it is going to happen! And,no matter how wealthy you are in this life, at the time of death, wewill lose it all. We have to leave everything lifetime is very short but the lifetimes to come will be much we are well prepared and ready for the next life, we can remain confidentand comfortable with the idea.

5 Since we understand that we go beyondthis life, the preparation for that journey is Dharma , we should set our motivation for listening to this Dharmateaching and for contemplating on it, so that it will be aimed atbenefiting that long journey rather than this very short is the one method that can be of benefit to ourself as well as toall other sentient beings. When we talk about benefiting oneself as wellas other sentient beings, it does not mean merely providing food, clothingor shelter. The actual benefits are created by giving the causes for providingthe conditions to achieve the state of higher rebirth. Ultimately, we areaiming for everlasting happiness, liberation and you do not have the wish to be of benefit to other sentient beings,then even though you have the wish to achieve Buddhahood, thistype of practice will not be a Mahayana practice.

6 If we do not aim toreach enlightenment for the sake of benefiting others, this is consideredto be the practice of the Solitary , therefore, whatever level of practice we undertake, even if it isjust to recite your level of mantra, it should be aimed at achieving3 Buddhahood for the sake of benefiting all other sentient beings. Withthis kind of attitude and this kind of motivation, it will become thecause to achieve course, temporarily, we do need to achieve the highest states of rebirthand self-liberation but that is not the final goal. The final goal is the fullyenlightened state - to be able to benefit all sentient beings. Withoutfearing the suffering of the lower realms and of samsara generally, thereis be no way that we can generate the full length of great is like, for instance, if we have experienced a severe disease and thenwe meet someone who has the same disease, we immediately feelsympathy and compassion towards if we are unable to generate and practice pure and directrenunciation, at least, we must try to generate a creative form ofrenunciation.

7 We must try our best to generate that form the present time, we have delusions which we do not have to putany effort into generating. They just spontaneously happen. However,if we could just spontaneously generate renunciation like that, wewould have entered the path. An example of this would be havingthe spontaneous realisation of recognizing that all sentient beings areour mothers. Whenever we see people or even tiny creatures, thatspontaneous feeling would be there - that is my mother!However, if we have yet to generate that kind of understanding becauseof this or that, this is not a spontaneous realization. Rather, it is acreative form of TeachingsIn other words, if we do not have a correct understanding of theexistence of past and future lives, then it would be very difficult to beable to generate the realization of recognizing that all sentient beingsare one s we had doubts about whether past and future lives actually exist,there would be no place for meditation on this subject and, in such acase, where there is only belief in this life then, of course, there couldonly be one we possess the potential to lead sentient beings temporarily intothe states of gods and humans then, ultimately, to the state of liberationand enlightenment?

8 No, because if were were to examine our situationat present, we do not have that potential or the capacity to do fully enlightened beings, the Buddhas, however, do have thiscapability and potential because they have an understanding of thementality of each and every sentient being, what interests that beinghas and what level they have attained and so forth. With this kind ofknowledge and understanding, they are then able to help accordinglyby performing at different levels of a being could be benefited by an emanation or a manifestation inthe form of a king, then the Buddhas would do so, and ifmanifestations of demons and spirits would benefit them, then theBuddhas would manifest as such. Their main responsibility andinterest is to be of benefit to all sentient we were able to achieve the state of full enlightenment or theomniscient state, we would then be able to liberate all sentient beings5into the state of Buddhahood just as the Buddhas do through therays of light emanating from their , it is from these reasons that we come to know just how urgentlywe need to achieve the state of Buddhahood - without which wecannot fully benefit is not achieved without creating causes and conditionsfor such, so we must accumulate the right causes and conditions tobe able to achieve enlightenment.

9 Therefore, whatever virtue weaccumulate - whether great or very tiny - must be dedicated towardsthis goal. This act is similiar to when you earn some money, whethera large or small amount, depositing it into a bank. Similarly, whateveramount of virtue we accumulate, we deposit into the bank of keeping this as your main project, then whatever practise ormeditation you undertake will become hopeful and is necessary to now and again explain this short form of motivationbecause the practice of motivation contains the entire path of thethree scopes. To be able to generate the right motivation is betterthan having direct visions of meditational of you might feel that I am only talking about the initialmotivation which we have known for a long time, but justunderstanding the information alone is not good enough - we mustintegrate this information with the TeachingsIt is said that the holy Dharma should be explained one hundredtimes.

10 This is the system that all the Lamas follow - of explaining theimportance of the initial motivation. From my side, although I donot know much, I also follow the tradition of the OneThe word Kadam , literally, means Bound by Command . The label KADAMPA is given to those practitioners who consider that even onesyllable of the TEACHINGS of the Buddha to be an actual beneficialinstruction that will lead them onto the Masters are those practitioners who know how to carryout, in the form of practice, every single syllable of the Buddha steachings, the practitioners hide all their qualities and express all of theirfaults rather than expressing others faults. They hide their qualitiesinside like a butter lamp hidden inside a vase. They not only do notexpress their qualities but they do not reveal the excellent teachingsthat they have , in our case, we are completely opposite to the Kadampas.