Three noble principles
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Three noble principles (Tib. དམ་པ་གསུམ་, dampa sum; Wyl. dam pa gsum) — there are three things that make all the difference between your practice being merely a way of bringing temporary relaxation, peace, and bliss, or of becoming a powerful cause for your enlightenment and the enlightenment of others. They are:
- good in the beginning: arousing bodhichitta as a skilful means to ensure that your practice becomes a source of merit for the future
- good in the middle: maintaining the view of the nature of mind, the attitude of non-grasping free from conceptualization, that secures the practice so that the merit cannot be destroyed by circumstances, and
- good in the end: sealing the practice properly by dedicating the merit, which will ensure that it continually grows ever greater.
The three are referred to in a popular quotation from Longchenpa:
- "Begin with bodhichitta, do the main practice without concepts,
- Conclude by dedicating the merit. These, together and complete,
- Are the three vital supports for progressing on the path to liberation."
Alternative Translations
- three excellences
- three goods
- three supreme methods
- three supreme points
Further Reading
- Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, revised and updated edition (Harper San Francisco, 2002), pages 60-62.
- Sogyal Rinpoche, A Treasury of Dharma (Rigpa, 2005), pages 114-121.
- Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, A Guide to the Words of My Perfect Teacher (Boston & London: Shambhala, 2004), 'The Three Supreme Methods', pages 27-31.
- Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Repeating the Words of the Buddha, North Atlantic Books, 2006, pp. 106-?