The Inseparability of Samsara and Nirvana
This world that we live in has many different
races, cultures, religions and philosophies.
Among these, one single wish is shared: to be free
from suffering. Everybody wishes to be happy. Every
individual, every community, every nation dedicates
all its efforts to the attainment of happiness.
Due to the efforts that we have already made, tremendous progress has been achieved in technology and science. However, have we really achieved the goal that we
are seeking - happiness? It is
very clear that unless outer
material progress is linked
with inner spiritual progress,
the present progress will
bring more suffering, rather
than more happiness. There
is much that needs to be accomplished; many things
need to be done, and many
wishes need to be fulfilled in
our lives. The most important thing that needs to be accomplished, however, is
spiritual development. Only through spiritual development can we make our minds attain real peace and
happiness.
And so, the most important thing in our life is
spiritual practice. There are many different religions
and many different teachings that preach spiritual practices. Each one of these major teachings has its
own beauty and its own way of helping mankind
solve its problems. What is lacking, however, is the
actual application of these teachings to our daily
lives. Because of this, we are
afflicted by a great deal of suffering and a multitude of problems. Therefore, in order to
attain individual peace, and to
establish peace and happiness
not only within our local communities but in the world as a
whole, it is very important for
every individual to make an
effort in their spiritual development. If we exert ourselves,
we will find the potential to
change the world.
We have access to the same teachings that brought great masters to achieve realisations. These were originally ordinary persons like us, but they made the necessary effort
to achieve the realisation. So if we work hard, there
is no reason why we cannot succeed. It is very important for us to understand the teachings. Also whatever
practice we learn, we need to apply to our daily life.
Following is a general outline of the basic teachings
of the Sakya Tradition.
The Inseparability of
Samsara and Nirvana
by His Holiness Sakya Trizin
2014 • NO. 14 • Melody of Dharma 15
The great Lord Buddha created the enlightenment thought for the benefit of all beings without any
exception. His purpose was to remove each and every
sentient being from the suffering of samsara and lead
them to enlightenment. By the time He meditated
under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, the Buddha had
accumulated infinite amounts of wisdom and compassion, and had finally attained perfect enlightenment.
He was now free from all forms of obscurations and
had acquired every conceivable quality.
After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha performed many great physical activities, voice activities
and primordial wisdom activities. Among all the great
activities that He performed, the most important activity was the voice activity: the turning of the wheel of
Dharma. Through the turning of the wheel of dharma,
He taught what He had realised, so that sentient beings
could also enter onto the path and eventually attain enlightenment. And so, the Buddha’s most important
activity was the turning of the wheel of Dharma.
Just as space has no limits, the number of sentient beings that inhabit it has no limits. These numberless
sentient beings are all different. We each have different minds, different mentalities, different propensities,
different tastes, and so forth. And so, in order to suit
every level of mentality and every propensity, the
Buddha gave many different teachings, a hugely vast
array of teachings. Just as we need different medicines
in order to cure different diseases, similarly the Buddha gave many different teachings to help different
levels of sentient beings.
There are many different types of teachings.
These can be divided according to the time when they were given- the first Dharmachakra, or turning of the wheel, the second Dharmachakra, and the third Dharmachakra. They can also be divided according to subject - the Tripitaka, or Three Baskets of the Buddha’s teachings, comprises three kinds of teachings: the Vinaya, the Sutras and the Abhidharma.
The purpose of turning the wheel of Dharma is
to tame our minds, which are so caught up in defilements. Since beings are afflicted by three defilements,
the Buddha gave three teachings as their antidote. The
Buddha taught the Vinaya in order to establish proper
moral conduct - how to lead a virtuous and disciplined
life as an antidote to desire, the first defilement.
As an antidote to the second defilement, hatred,
the Buddha taught the Sutras in which He explained
the different types of meditation that we can use to
tame our minds. And finally, as an antidote to ignorance, the Buddha gave teachings on wisdom in the
Abhidharma.
Followers can be divided into two types: whose
who follow the lower path, or the smaller goal, and
those who follow the higher path or the great goal.
This is why there are two vehicles, the Hinayana and
the Mahayana. Mahayana itself is divided into two paths: the cause yana and the result yana. The basic
Mahayana is referred to as the cause Mahayana because it requires a long time to work on the cause
and to achieve the result. Mantrayana or Vajrayana,
on the other hand, is called the result yana because
its practice makes it easier and quicker to achieve the
result. According to the Mantrayana, the result is present from the very beginning and can be taken into the
path. This is why it is called the result yana. Although
Buddhism originated in India and spread to many different countries, it would seem that only in Tibet do
we have all the different levels of teaching: the Hinayana, the Mahayana, and the Vajrayana. However,
the practitioners are all Mahayana and combined with
Vajrayana teachings.
And so, all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism
belong to the Mahayana vehicle, and their practice
integrates Vajrayana’s methods and techniques. All
the major schools that exist today bear absolutely no
difference, from the creation of the enlightenment
thought and the view of shunyata or emptiness, to
final enlightenment. The only difference that one can
point to is in that each school has its particular lin-
eage, whereby the teachings originated in India and then came to Tibet through translators and masters, who created different lineages. Although each lineage places emphasis on different aspects of the teachings, for example some stress philosophical training, others meditation, their goal and achievement are identical.
Today the Sakya school has many different teachings: sutra teachings, mantrayana teachings, and many
of the other sciences, but the most important teaching
that we have in our tradition is the Lamdre teaching,
which means the path that includes the result. The
main teachings started in India by the great Virupa,
one of the eighty-four mahasiddhas. He was born into
a royal family. From a very young age, he had very
special qualities and already viewed all samsara as
suffering; and so, early in his life, he renounced his
station and became a monk. He entered the great monastery of Nalenda where he excelled in the knowledge
and practice of the Mantrayana teachings. He became
so renowned for his learning that after the passing
away of his teacher, he succeeded him as abbot of
Nalenda Monastery. During the daytime he gave
Mahayana teachings to the monks, taught debate and
composed texts; but at night, in the intimacy of his
monk’s cell, he assiduously practised Mantrayana. Although he practised for a very long period of time, he
received no significant signs and eventually became
disillusioned.
And so one night, convinced that he didn’t have a
karmic connection with tantric practice, he threw his
rosary into the latrine and vowed to henceforth dedicate himself exclusively to teaching Mahayana. That
very might, Vajra Nairatmya appeared to him and
remonstrated him. “Noble son, do not act in this way.
Pick up your rosary, clean it, and take up your practice
again. I am your karmic deity and I will bestow my
blessings upon you”. The following night, Nairatmya
again appeared to him, this time in her mandala of fifteen goddesses, and she bestowed upon him the four initiations, upon which he attained the first bhumi.
From that evening onwards, Virupa attained a new
bhumi each night and, on the night of the twentyninth day, he became a bodhisattva of the sixth bhumi,
a great mahasiddha. He then left his monastery and
performed many great miracles, subduing many evil
forces and converting those who were on the wrong
path. Just by hearing his name, people were cured of
their ignorance.
He had many general followers, but Krishnapa
and Dombipa were the two main disciples to whom he
gave pith instructions. To Krishnapa, he gave the very
brief teaching known as the Vajra Verses, which comprises the essence of the entire Tripitaka and Vajrayana. As butter is extracted from milk, the essence of
the Buddha’s sutras and tantric teachings is condensed
into these pith instructions. Krishnapa then passed the
teaching on to his closest disciples, five great Indian
gurus. One of these was called Gayadhara, who came
to Tibet many times, and gave this teaching to the
great translator Drogmi Lotsawa. Drogmi Lotsawa
was the first Tibetan to receive this Lamdre teaching.
He was a highly accomplished master and many of
his male and female disciples attained great realisations. To these he gave general tantra explanations
and the pith instructions separately. He would not give
the general tantric explanations to the disciples who
received the pith instructions, and he would not give pith instructions to those who received the general
teachings; he would not give both at the same time, to
prevent the teachings from becoming distorted.
Among the disciples to whom he gave these
teachings was Seton Kunrik, who attained high realisations and in turn passed them on to Zhangton Chobar. The latter was a hidden yogi, who appeared to the
public eye as an ordinary labourer, who worked other
people’s fields. As he could emanate his body to several places, he could work many people’s fields at the
same time. He transmitted the teachings to the great
Lama Sakyapa, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo of the Khön lineage.
The Khön lineage is believed to have descended from celestial beings who came down to the human realm. Of three brothers who came, two returned to their realm, while one stayed and settled in Tibet. With him began a lineage called ‘The Clear Light
Race”. One of his descendants, Yapang Kye, subdued
local spirits called Rakshas and took a Raksha wife,
after which the lineage took the name of Khön, which
it maintains until today.
The Khöns were formerly Bön practitioners, but
in the eighth century, the great Indian abbot Sangharakshita came to Tibet and gave ordination to eight
Tibetans, including a member of the Khön family.
Many subsequent generations of the Khöns were
henceforth devout Nyingmapa practioners. But during
Khön Konchok’s time, it was felt that the teachings
were becoming corrupted and that it was necessary to
start a new school. Konchok Gyalpo had the ancient
teachings buried and founded the Sakya Order, with
the building of the first Sakya Monastery in 1073.
Khön Konchok’s was a disciple of Drogmi Lotsawa and received from him the general tantric teachings. These he subsequently transmitted to his son,
the great Lama Sakyapa Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, who
also was given the pith instructions by Zhangton Chobar. As he gave them, Zhangton Chobar gave strict
instructions to Lama Sakyapa not to disclose them
to anyone for eighteen years, not even to speak their
name. After eighteen years, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo
would be the owner of this great teaching.
So for eighteen years, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo
didn’t so much as mention the name of the Lamdre
to anyone and kept it completely secret. In the meantime, he studied and mastered the teachings. The great
Lama Sakyapa was an emanation of both Manjushri
and Avalokiteshvara, a manifestation of all the Buddhas’ wisdom and compassion combined. He was, in
reality, a fully enlightened being but he took a human form and followed his human destiny as perceivable
by the common eye.
And so it is that, at one point during these eighteen years, he fell ill and forgot most of the precious
teachings. As these were strictly oral teachings, and
had not been put to writing, he became very worried.
His guru had passed away, and the teachings were
extremely difficult to find - they were only practised
in India, in the secrecy of high mountains or deep
forests. Even if he travelled to India, it would prove
difficult for him to find the teachings. As he prayed to
his guru Zhangton Chobar, the latter appeared to him
in a dream and gave him the teachings again, jogging
Lama Sakyapa’s memory. Again he prayed, and again
his guru appeared to him and gave him the teachings.
By now, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo remembered most
of the teachings. As he continued praying, the great
mahasiddha Virupa, founder of the Lamdre, which
he had received directly from the deity, appeared to
him in the sky, his body dominating the whole of
the Sakya mountain. As he spoke these words:” This
earth belongs to me.”, he gave to Lama Sakyapa the
full Lamdre teaching, along with many pith instructions and several additional teachings. The great Lama Sakyapa was now the owner of all the Buddha’s teachings. Sachen Kunga Nyingpo gave the teaching to his
sons and to many of his disciples, and the Lamdre was
passed on from master to disciple in an unbroken lineage that is still alive today.
The Lamdre teaching is very profound and very
vast. Although it is a single teaching, it can be practised in many different ways. People who follow the
gradual path will begin with the Hinayana path, then
the Mahayana, then the Vajrayana. For those people
who follow the direct path, it depends upon their individual state of mind and their karmic connections.
There are very many different ways to present the
Lamdre teachings to disciples. The common way to
teach it is by dividing it into two parts: the preliminary
part and the main part.
The preliminary part is included in the preliminary teaching known as the Triple Vision. The Triple
18 Melody of Dharma • 2014 • NO. 14
Vision refers to the base, the path and the result or, in
other words, the impure vision, the vision of experience and the pure vision. The base is contained in sentient beings. Due to their karma and defilements, sentient beings experience the impure vision, the reality
that that we, as ordinary beings, perceive. Then there
is the vision of experience, as perceived by yogis who
have engaged in the path and whose meditation has
changed their perception. Finally, after great effort, the
practitioner attains the result, which is the pure vision,
and finally Buddhahood.
Every tradition has its preliminary part - the initial
practice of all the paths, the root of all dharma and the
foundation of all vows. As Buddhists, the first thing
we do when we enter the path is to take refuge in the
Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Our very first meditations are divided into three parts: taking refuge and
creating the enlightenment thought, practising the
main part of the meditation, and ending with the dedication of merits.
Taking refuge is the same in every school. Normally we divide the refuge into five parts: the cause,
the object, the way, the benefit and the rules of refuge.
The cause refers to why we take refuge in the
Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and this can be out of
fear, faith or compassion. The object is the Buddha,
Dharma and Sangha. In Mahayana, the Buddha is the
one who possesses the three kayas - the dharmakaya,
the sambhogakaya and the nirmanakaya; the Dharma
is the teaching that leads us to realisation; and the
Sangha refers to the assembly of great bodhisattvas
that have already reached the irreversible state. The
Buddha is our guide, the Dharma is our path, and the
Sangha are our spiritual companions.
The benefit of taking refuge is immense. As it is
said in the scriptures regarding the merit of taking refuge, if the latter had a physical form, there wouldn’t
be enough space in the entire universe to accommodate it. It is boundless.
Then there are rules: general rules and individual
rules. The first general rule is that, no matter what,
even at the cost of our life, we should never give up
the Triple Gem, the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Secondly, whatever happens, we should always seek
the guidance and the blessing of the Triple Gem. The
third rule is that we should continuously make offering to the Triple Gem, and the fourth is that we
should practice refuge diligently, from the bottom of
our hearts. The fifth and last rule is that, wherever we
are, whatever we do, we should always remember the
Triple Gem. The specific rules are that we cannot take refuge in worldly deities, harm any sentient being,
taking non-believers as our friends, show disrespect to
any representation of the Buddha, Dharma or Sangha.
And so, the first thing we do when we embark on
the path, is to take refuge. Next, we need to develop
the enlightenment thought (bodhicitta). The essence
of the enlightenment thought is the altruistic wish to
benefit all beings. Like taking refuge, creating the enlightenment thought is an essential part of the preliminary practice. In order to produce the enlightenment
thought, we need to develop renunciation.
The next thing we need to do in our preliminary practice is to meditate. For this, there are three steps
to follow. The first is to meditate on why we need to
develop renunciation; the second is to meditate on the
difficulty of obtaining a precious human life; and the
third is to meditate on the law of karma.
In order to develop renunciation, the Lamdre
gives a detailed explanation of the impure vision. This
is in accordance with the first turning of the wheel of Dharma by the Lord Buddha, in which He taught
the four noble truths - the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the cessation of suffering, and the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering.
In order to be free from suffering, we must begin
by understanding its nature. Just a when we are sick
and need treatment, we must first know the nature of
our disease. And so, the first noble truth, the truth of suffering must be thoroughly understood. The teachings give an extensive explanation of the suffering of
samsara. There are three types of suffering: the suffering of suffering, the suffering of change, and the
suffering of the conditional nature of all things. The
suffering of suffering refers to the tangible suffering
that we all experience: physical pain, mental anxiety,
and so forth. Beings in the lower realms - the hell realms, the hungry ghost realm and the animal realm
- continuously and intensely experience the suffering of suffering, whereas beings in the higher realms - the
human realm, the demi-god realm and the god realm,
beings experience a mixture of suffering and happiness.
In reality, there is no such mixture. First of all, we
experience the suffering of physical pain and mental
anxiety. And then, we also experience the suffering of change, which means that everything that is created
by causes and conditions is impermanent. Anything
that is impermanent causes suffering. This means that
the external world as we experience it is subject to
change, much like the change in seasons. Change also
occurs continually in our own existence, for example
with our growing older, with our losing loved ones,
and so forth. Everything is in a state of change.
The third kind of suffering is the suffering of the
conditional nature of all things. What we normally
look upon as being happy feelings or indifferent feelings, we only do so in comparison with other feelings. In reality, there is no real happiness in samsara.
Although certain parts of samsara are less painful and
others are more so, there is not a single iota of samsara
that is worth being attached to. Much like if food is
mixed with poison, it doesn’t matter whether the food
tastes good or bad, it is equally harmful. And so, in
order to arouse renunciation, the teaching emphasises
meditation on suffering.
And so, in order to fully arouse the renunciation
thought, the compelling urge to free ourselves from
suffering, we need to meditate extensively on the suffering that is experienced in each realm.
The second part of the preliminary meditations is
to reflect on the difficulties of obtaining precious human birth. As ordinary beings, due to our karma and
defilements, we perceive the impure vision. This impure vision comes from our own previous actions; in
order to be free from this wheel of existence, we need
to practise the Holy Dharma. And in order to practise
the Holy Dharma, we need to obtain a precious birth
as a base to do so.
This precious human birth is very rare and difficult to obtain. The cause of a human birth is the
practice of virtuous deeds in previous lives, especially pure moral conduct, generosity and sincere prayers.
Such a cause is very rare. If we look at the world today, how many people are there practising the spiritual path? Even among those who appear to be practising the Dharma, many are only practising outwardly and
superficially. Since the cause is rare, the result is also
very rare. So from the perspective of cause, precious human birth is very rare.
There seems to be so many people in the world;
however, if you think about it, there are very few
humans in relation to other beings. For example, it
is very easy to count how many people live in one
house; but it would be impossible to count how many
different beings, including insects, there are in that
same house. So from the point of view of the number
of beings that exist in the universe, human birth is
very rare.
If human birth itself is rare, all the more so is
one that is endowed with the necessary attributes to
practise the Dharma, such as freedom from all the unfavourable states of mind, and right conditions, such
a being born at the time of a Buddha coming to this
universe or at a time when a Buddha had given the
teaching and the teaching is still a living tradition, and
also being born with sound organs and enthusiasm to
receive the teaching.
And so, we can see how difficult it is to encounter
the Dharma. Therefore, we must realize how precious human life is, more precious than the wish-fulfilling jewel. The wish-fulfilling jewel is the most precious thing among all material things. It can bestow all our material requirements such as food, medicine, clothing, and so forth. However, it cannot bestow a higher rebirth, self-liberation, or enlightenment. Through this precious body and hard work, we can not only achieve higher rebirth and personal liberation, but even the ultimate enlightenment is within our reach. Therefore,
we must not only intellectually understand the precious body, but we must also fully appreciate how
precious and very rare it is, more valuable than the
wish-fulfilling jewel. With something so precious, we
understand that there is no greater loss than losing this
very precious opportunity. If make use of this precious time, we will never know whether or when such
an opportunity will present itself again. Therefore, it
is very important for us to work when we have all the
right conditions and are free from all the unfavourable
states. We must fully understand the impermanent nature of our precious human life.
In other teachings, precious human birth and impermanence are treated separately but in this particular one, they are combined. The precious human birth
that we have now is impermanent. Everything is impermanent, including our precious human birth. In the
Sutras, it is said that the best offering we can offer to
the Buddha is to reflect about impermanence, because
reflecting about impermanence will turn us away from
our attachments. Reflecting about impermanence will
speed up our practice and our efforts on the spiritual path. Thinking about impermanence is a powerful
antidote to suffering, and it will eventually help us to
realise ultimate truth.
In this way, we must be mindful that this human existence that we are enjoying now has no definite
lifespan. People can die even before they are born, or
soon after birth, or when they are babies, or grownups, and so forth. Moreover, even if one is set to have
a long lifespan, there is no guarantee that one will live
it out, because anything can happen at any moment.
Much the same as a butter lamp that can be blown out
at any moment by a gush of wind, so can our precious human life be extinguished at any time. Even if we
are young and healthy, anything can happen - inner
or outer obstacles - and we can lose our life. And so
not only is it important to practise the Dharma, but it
is important to practise it with now, not to waste precious time.
The third preliminary meditation is on the law of karma: cause and effect, one of the unique teachings
that the Buddha gave in order to show what one must
do and what one must reject. Everything that we have
now, including the life that we living, who created
them? No one creates anything apart from our own
actions. This has two parts: illusory vision and karmic vision.
The illusory vision, the dual vision that we perceive, does not exist in actual reality. It is just an illusion, just as in a dream. When we are dreaming, everything feels as real as it does in normal life, and yet
when we awake from our dream, there is not a single
sign of what we saw and felt while dreaming. Likewise, everything that we perceive during our waking
life is an illusion. This is our illusory vision, the dual
vision wherein subject and object appear separately.
All sentient beings experience the world as the illusory vision.
Karmic vision means that each individual sentient being experiences its particular vision; some beings experience less suffering, some experience more
suffering, and so forth. Whatever actions we take,
karmic vision will follow, just as our shadow follows
us wherever we go. Similarly, a virtuous action or a
non-virtuous action is like a seed that we plant. In
due course, it will ripen and produce a result. There
are non-virtuous deeds, virtuous deeds, and neutral
deeds. Non-virtuous deeds are actions created out of
ignorance, desire and hatred, the same as if the root of
2014 • NO. 14 • Melody of Dharma 21
a tree is poisonous, whatever grows on it, flowers and
leaves, will be poisonous. Non-virtuous deeds create
suffering in this life and continue through to the lives
that follow. There are physical actions, verbal actions
and mental actions.
Similarly, virtuous actions are deeds performed
without hatred, desire or ignorance. Actions that are
based on loving kindness and compassion are called
virtuous deeds. For example, if the root of a tree is
medicinal, then whatever grows on the tree will also
be medicinal. Any action that is performed without
defilements is a virtuous deed. Virtuous deeds create
happiness in this life and in lives that follow.
Then there are actions that are neither virtuous nor
non-virtuous, such as walking, sitting, etc. Since they
do not produce any negative results, they are superior
to non-virtuous deeds; yet, since they do not produce
any positive results, they are inferior to virtuous deeds. It is important to turn them into positive deeds.
One must abstain from negative deeds. If one wishes
to be free from suffering, one must abstain from its
cause. If we continue to indulge in the cause of suffering, we cannot expect to experience happiness.
Therefore, we must abstain even from negative deeds,
even from tiny ones. It is said that the accumulation of
water drops forms the ocean. And we must perform as
many virtuous deeds as possible. Even if these are tiny
virtuous deeds, we must try to accumulate them. And
indifferent actions that are neither virtuous nor nonvirtuous, can be transformed into virtuous deeds by
changing the motivation behind them and by practising the skillful means of the bodhisattva’s way of life.
So, this was a brief explanation of the impure vision.
The second part - the vision of experience - has
two parts: the common vision of experience and the
uncommon vision of experience. The common vision
of experience refers to what the common practitioners,
the common yogis and the common Mahayana practitioners experience. The meditation here is on loving kindness, compassion and the enlightenment thought.
By practising these, one will experience the vision of experience. In order to arouse the vision of experience, one must practise loving kindness.
When we see how samsara is full of suffering, we
feel loving kindness toward all beings, who so wish
to be free from suffering. We feel that we must work
to become enlightened for their sake. We might think
that the goal we need to aim for is personal nirvana,
the extinction of all our aggregates, but this is not a
valid goal. We are just a single person. In ordinary
life, if we are a kind-hearted person, it doesn’t feel
right for us to be in a safe place when the members
of our family are in trouble. We would rather suffer
along with our family than see them suffering on their
own.
Although our consciousness has changed since
we were born, and the mind that we had as a baby is
different from the mind that we have as a grownup, it
is still part of the same mind continuum. Throughout
our life, it is the same mind that takes different forms
and perdures. Whilst our body came from our parents,
our consciousness was there before we were born, part
of a continuum of many lives and it has continued to
be our consciousness until the present time. When we
die, our consciousness does not die with our body - it
cannot be burnt or buried. It continues in a different
form. There is no point in time considered to be the
beginning of a mind. We take birth, we die, and then
take on another form. And so, every time we have
taken birth, we have had a father, a mother, a family,
and friends. Because we have lived an uncountable
number of lives, every single being has been at some
point in time dear father, mother, relative, lover or
friend, as dear to us as are our present loved ones. And
so, to leave other sentient being behind as we achieve
our own salvation is not an acceptable goal. We must
think of other sentient beings, and achieve liberation
for their sake.