Making Friends Out of Enemies

By Lama Pema Tsewang

Dungse Lama Pema Tsewang teaches on the foundational meditation text use to transform difficulties into supports on the spiritual path. Bringing together his studies, personal guidance of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, and his own experience, Lama Pema presents an accessible direct explanation for developing compassion for oneself and others. This is a practical text with practical commentary that one can use throughout one's spiritual journey.

 

Lama Pema, born in the Tsum Valley of Ghorka, Nepal, is a close disciple of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. He was appointed by Rinpoche to be the abbot of Thrangu Monastery Canada and continues to give spiritual guidance to the monastic and lay community there. He continues to return to his homeland and has recently organized the rebuilding of the Tsum Monastery under the kind umbrella of Thrangu Rinpoche. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lama Pema Tsewang
• Release date: Aug 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393518280

Lama Pema Tsewang

Dungse Lama Pema was born in 1972 to a renown family of Tibetan Buddhist practitioners in Tsum, an area in the Himalayas near the Tibetan border His ancestor, Guru Chökyi Wangchuk (also referred to as Guru Chöwang), was a famous 13th-century “treasure revealer” (Tib. tertön) and a speech emanation of the great Tibetan Buddhist king, Trisong Deutsen. Guru Chöwang rediscovered eighteen treasures (Tib. terma) hidden by Guru Rinpoche (Skt. Padmasambhava) and other realized Buddhist masters. In this sense, Guru Chöwang was unusual in that not only did he uncover teachings from the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, but also from the Gelug, Sakya, and Kagyu traditions as well, including a terma from Marpa the Translator. Five of his “heart” termas are concerned with developing devotion to one’s guru, and as an indication of how precious they are thought to be, many of the treasures he revealed are still practiced today. Guru Chöwang continues to be regarded as one of Tibet’s most important treasure revealers.   Lama Pema is descended from this distinguished family lineage.  When he was a young boy, he wanted to become a monk and as a result of his determination, when he was nine years old, he entered Thrangu Tashi Chöling Monastery in Boudhanath, Kathmandu. After completing his studies in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and rituals as well as an extensive traditional three-year retreat at Namo Buddha, Nepal, the V.V. 9th Thrangu Rinpoche appointed Lama Pema as Vajra Master, one of the highest posts in the Monastery. Thrangu Rinpoche then asked Lama Pema to go to Vancouver, Canada to support his North American activities and to teach on his behalf. Lama Pema also oversaw the construction of what would become the first traditional Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in the Pacific Northwest. Thrangu Monastery Canada in Richmond, BC was completed in 2010, and Lama Pema has been responsible for all aspects of the Monastery’s day-to-day operations, as well as for the lay and monastic communities’ well-being. It is Lama Pema’s unwavering commitment to upholding and preserving precious Buddhist teachings that inspires students. 

Book preview

Introduction

I am deeply delighted to have the opportunity to share these instructions with you and would like to personally extend my greetings to you all. The essence of these instructions, known as the Seven Points of Mind Training, is very profound and we can’t receive these mind training (Tib. lojong) teachings easily. In fact, they are so precious that if a person can study and practice all of these instructions from beginning to end, he or she can attain enlightenment. At the very least, by observing the teachings, a person can make his or her life meaningful.

In 2011, my teacher the V.V. 9th Thrangu Rinpoche asked me to teach at Karma Kagyu centres in the West, and Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD in Woodstock, NY) invited me to give lojong instructions and a transmission (Tib. lung). Since then, I have offered these instructions elsewhere. Although I originally presented the teachings in Tibetan, Jigme Nyima at KTD and Tenzin Yonten Lama at Thrangu Monastery Canada kindly provided English translations. I received these teachings from my own teacher, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche; the instructions have not changed, that is I have followed his same instructions and taught in the same manner. More recently, some students asked me to publish the lojong teachings I’d given into a book. David Schofield and Jackie Larm transcribed and edited the teachings, so this book is the result of those requests and efforts.

In this book, we are going to look at lojong teachings by analyzing a text called the Seven Points of Mind Training. A basic premise in Buddhism is that as ordinary human beings, we are typically engrossed in disturbed and afflicted states of mind, which cause our minds to be coarse and inflexible. When our minds are mixed with harmful afflictions such as greed, pride, jealousy, hatred and anger, and ignorance and delusion, we fail to think and act wisely. Consequently, our afflictions bring us ongoing unhappiness, suffering, and pain. Anger, for example, leads to fights even among family and friends, hatred, violence, wars, great mental suffering, and so on. This is why the afflictions we have are our greatest enemies. Rather than helping other beings, all these afflictions we have lead to much suffering, for ourselves and for others. We therefore need methods to transform our minds and develop a positive attitude of loving-kindness and compassion. Applying lojong instructions enables this process of making friends (a loving mental state) from your enemies (the afflictions). For that reason, we call these instructions mind training. They allow us to overcome the afflictions and plant seeds of love and bodhicitta (sometimes translated as the altruistic or awakening mind). It is only through this love and bodhicitta that we can ultimately find peace. Thus, the Seven Points of Mind Training instructions are the root of being mentally at ease and experiencing an improved quality of life. Mind training is a very effective basis for all other forms of Buddhist practice and more broadly, for your everyday life. It will benefit you and others.

Many of us have started our Buddhist journeys and have established Buddhist identities. I assume that some of you are long-time students who have significant amounts of knowledge and experience. You may have previously heard and practiced the lojong teachings to some degree. In fact, I think some of you may be quite proficient in these teachings. Of course I also assume that some of you are relatively new to these teachings or are perhaps learning them for the first time. Or some of you may not be Buddhist at all and therefore some of the fundamental contemplations, such as the preliminaries, the teachings on the nature of karma, cause and result, and so on may be new to you. In any case, practicing the Buddha’s teachings (the buddhadharma) ensures that this life will be genuinely meaningful because we will be able to benefit ourselves and others. This is the way to bring true significance to our lives. In particular, lojong instructions helps us to tame our minds, allowing us to achieve greater and greater states of happiness and fulfillment, which we can then extend to others.

Applying lojong instructions to our daily lives disciplines in our minds, allowing them to be freed from these mental afflictions that would otherwise harm us and others. We then gain control over our minds. This can be compared to working out our physical bodies. When we engage in physical exercise, we are working to train and tone our muscles and improve our bodies’ condition. Similarly, lojong allows us to develop an ongoing practice, one that strengthens mental well-being and cultivates the inner qualities we possess. If you use the Seven Points of Mind Training instructions well, they will help you. It will be like taking the advice of a doctor because you’re ill. Like a doctor, it is my role to advise and explain a great deal to you, and you will discover that with these instructions, you can recover and regain wellness. Otherwise, if I say a whole lot to you but you don’t use the advice, it’s not going to do you any good.

The Origins of Lojong (Mind Training)

We could interpret the Seven Points of Mind Training using several different systems within Buddhism. For example, we could view these instructions from the perspective of the Hinayana/Foundational Vehicle, the Mahayana/Great Vehicle, or the Secret Mantra Vehicle. What is important to keep in mind is that these Seven Points of Mind Training teachings contain all of the most essential instructions from each of the three Vehicles just mentioned. It has been stated that the lojong instructions we’re learning are a combination of the Kadampa version and Mahamudra lineages, and they are the pith instructions of the Buddha.

The principal source of the Seven Points of Mind Training teachings was the illustrious Lord Atisha, a tenth-century Indian Buddhist master who travelled to Tibet and taught the buddhadharma. But before Lord Atisha brought the teachings to Tibet, there was the era of the three great Tibetan Buddhist kings, when authentic Buddhist teachings flourished; Buddhism was widely disseminated and practiced in Tibet. However, during an ensuing period under the reign of King Langdarma, Buddhism fell out of favour. The teachings degenerated to the extent that they were nearly wiped out altogether. Now, Lord Atisha came to Tibet in the period that followed King Langdarma’s reign and he helped restore corrupted teachings. Lord Atisha disseminated the teachings once again and from him various lineages appeared whereby teachings were transmitted in an unbroken fashion from one master to another, all the way down to the present.

Lord Atisha sought the instructions through which he could find the most essential means to develop and cultivate bodhicitta. Lord Atisha’s three distinguished teachers, Dharmaraksita, Maitri-yogi, and Lord Serlingpa, gave him the pith instructions that were later codified as the Seven Points of Mind Training. So, it was the glorious Lord Atisha who was initially responsible for bringing the lojong instructions to Tibet.

These same instructions came to me by way of the V.V. Thrangu Rinpoche, who himself received many teachings, including these teachings on mind training, directly from the previous Gyalwang Karmapa, His Holiness Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. Through my connection with these masters, I have had the opportunity to receive the transmission of mind training instructions. I cannot claim to have any special qualities, realization, or blessings, but I can say that because I have received these instructions from Kyabje Thrangu Rinpoche and by extension H.H. the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, I know that these teachings bear their qualities, their realization, and their blessings. Therefore, I can assure you that you will receive those same blessings by hearing these teachings from me.

Relative and Ultimate Truths

By examining the sutras (the Buddha’s discourses), we discover that the Buddha presented teachings in different ways in different contexts, which we now place into different categories. For example, we say he gave Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) as well as Secret Mantrayana/Tantrayana/Vajrayana teachings, as I mentioned before. Vajrayana teachings are further subdivided into four classes: the action, performance, yoga, and unexcelled yoga tantras. The Buddha did this because he taught according to different levels of understanding, addressing the fact that we as students require a variety of practice methods. Such is the case with relative and ultimate truths. Sometimes the Buddha would give teachings based on there being a self (i.e. a relative truth). However, in other contexts, he would give teachings from the perspective of there not being a self, emphasizing the view that all phenomena are empty of inherent or independent existence (i.e. the ultimate truth).

Within most Buddhist contexts, we are primarily concerned with realizing emptiness, so normally in Buddhist philosophy, we say the self is not existent. The reason we meditate on selflessness is to understand that all phenomena and the person are in essence empty. In that regard, one needs to meditate that everything in essence is selfless. However, the notion of the selflessness of the person and phenomena can be quite confusing — we usually tend to think that we have a self, that we exist, etc. Then we have thoughts of me, mine, my name, etc. But upon examination, you will see that whatever name you have is due to interdependence. Names are given to us because other people exist. Or if you look at parts of our body, we have a head, we have our limbs, eyes, nose, and so on, and only when they are constructed together do we call it our body. Yet, if you separate all of those parts, you can’t point out this or that as the body. This shows that the self does not exist.

But Lord Serlingpa, one of Lord Atisha’s masters, presented these mind training instructions not primarily in terms of the view of selflessness or emptiness but rather from the point of view of there being an existent self in relation to others. Therefore, in the Seven Points of Mind Training, most of the instructions are given from the perspective of there being a self, relatively speaking. Why did Lord Serlingpa do this? It is not as if we are pretending that there is something existent when in fact there is not. Rather, it is to set the necessary conditions; the idea of an existent self becomes the basis of our meditation. Let’s use a flower as an analogy. Serlingpa told Atisha that flowers and fruit will not grow in very clean places. They need places where there is mud and so on, and for a flower, you need to have the right conditions in the right proportions, such as fertile soil, moisture, manure, warmth, and fertilizer. Without them, you cannot expect the seed to germinate much less produce the desired flower. In the same way, lojong instructions are presented from the relative perspective of there being an existent self so that we can learn to develop true kindness towards others. If we were to meditate exclusively on the ultimate view (i.e. the emptiness of all phenomena and the absence of a really existent self), it would be very difficult for us to discover within ourselves the qualities of love and compassion that are necessary when relating to others. If we were to use the above analogy, relying on the ultimate view alone might be like planting a seed in a barren place where the conditions for growth are absent.

Therefore, in the context of the lojong instructions, much of our effort is centered around using the idea of a relative existent self as a basis for developing love, compassion, and the bodhicitta mind needed when relating to others. In that way, here we use meditations involving the idea that there is a self to overcome ego-clinging and self-cherishing. In the Seven Points of Mind Training, the most extraordinary teaching is the meditation on relative bodhicitta, where we use the existence of the self to cultivate the pure, altruistic mind. In the root text, there is one line that says practice sending and receiving in alternation. This practice of sending and receiving, or exchanging the self for the other, is called tonglen in Tibetan. Tonglen is clearly based upon the relative distinction of there being a self in relation to another, and in fact, it can only be done with the concept of a relative self. It is a method that uses the notion of the self constructively, so that we learn to relate to others more compassionately and more generously. This is one of the reasons why Lord Serlingpa gave the original instructions from the point of view of relative existence.

Here, we are relying on Chekawa Yeshe Dorje’s composition of the Seven Points of Mind Training. He structured the main presentation of the mind training instructions as follows:

The Preliminary Teachings

The Actual Practice, that is training in bodhicitta;

Transforming Misfortune Into the Path that Leads to Awakening;

Condensed Instructions for a Lifetime of Practice;

Evaluating Mind Training;

Commitments of Mind Training; and finally

Guidelines for Mind Training.

Each of these seven points will be explained in the chapters that follow.

At first, the prospect of training the mind may indeed seem challenging. Nevertheless, once we begin, we will eventually see genuinely positive and beneficial results. By applying lojong instructions, we can gain more peaceful, more restful, and healthier states of mind. We will experience greater and greater states of mental calm and stability. We will feel more relaxed and more at ease with ourselves. Ultimately, our states of mind will become entirely healthy and wholesome. It is my hope that people can benefit from these teachings. The aim of my life is to help others, but I always think that if I can’t help them, at least I should not harm them.

1

The Preliminary Teachings

As members of this Karma Kagyu tradition, we recall three extraordinary lineage masters: Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa. Each master had their own activity and individual paths to realization. Marpa was a householder who became enlightened after practicing Mahamudra. Milarepa was an ascetic yogi who became a Buddha in one lifetime. Gampopa took vows of ordination and became a monk, but also became a Buddha in one lifetime. These masters serve as examples for us; although we may have different individual lifestyles, practices, and paths, we all have the potential, the seed to become a Buddha. Their examples give us the strength of determination and inspire us to practice. As Karma Kagyu practitioners, we may be engaged in Mahamudra practice and we may also be interested in practicing lojong (= mind training) instructions. In both cases, sincere faith and devotion are indispensable. Therefore, I would like for us to begin by reciting the Mahamudra Lineage Prayer (Tib. Dorje Chang Thungma) together. Please do so with sincere devotion in order to ensure that you are fully receptive to the blessings of the lineage [prayers recited].

The first line of the