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Principles of Tibetan Buddhism , cont.

Hinayana

Weariness with samsara is the motivating force for the Hinayana practitioner. The codes of moral discipline of the Vinaya are the means or the path.

The Hinayana way is to take Refuge in the Buddha. The essence of the Hinayana Vows which are the codes of moral discipline is weariness with samsara. Weariness with samsara brings about the wish to be free from suffering. The followers of Hinayana take refuge in the Buddha alone and pledge themselves to work from not until death to liberate themselves from samsaric suffering. Hinayana Dharma is concerned with the pacification of emotions.

The Hinayana Sangha strives to attain Arhatship the word Arhat means "pure destroyer". This refers to those who have destroyed their conflicting emotions and no longer have a

a. Shravakas (listeners) who follow self-liberation teachings and are very disgusted by the samsaric world;

b. Prateyekas self-Buddhas who wish to free themselves from samsara but avoid aiding or liberating others for fear of being stained or caught by emotion.

There are four basic thoughts that turn the mind away from worldly interests and towards the road to Enlightenment. These four thoughts are the basis upon which Buddhist Dharma is built.

The First Thought

Precious Human Birth. There are six realms of samsara: hell realms, hungry ghost realms, animal realms, human realm, demi-god realm and god realm. It takes great accumulation of merit to be born in the human realm and it is said that this is the only realm from which it is possible to gain enlightenment.

We, in the human realm can be motivated by our own suffering to improve our lives. We can also feel compassion for the pain of others and can act to lessen the pain of others. Finally, human beings can feel loving kindness toward others and can act to benefit them. Without suffering, human beings would exist in a kind of god-realm, living only for the pleasures of today and having no thought for the future or for anyone else's well-being.

Precious human birth needs eight favorable conditions so that one has all the causes and conditions to make it a truly precious human birth:

1. To not be born in the hell realm (hatred)

2. To not be born in the hungry host realm (miserliness)

3. To not be born in the animal realm (Ignorance)

4. To not be born in the god realms (jealousy, pride)

5. To not be born in a barbaric land where there are no teachings

6. To not have wrong views (ie, not believing in reincarnation, the law of cause and effect, karma)

7. To be born in a time when a Buddha has appeared and is giving teaching

8. To be born with all our faculties (senses) intact.

The Second Thought

Impermanence. Buddha said that all composite phenomena are impermanent. He described this truth in four ways:

a. all things that are gathered, such as wealth and possessions, will be exhausted, disbursed

b. all things that stand such as trees and houses will fall

c. all meetings will end in separation

d. all that is born will die

The Third Thought

Cause and Effect. Karma (simply stated each virtuous act has virtuous results and each non-virtuous act has negative results). The Buddha stated that all external existence is manifestation of karma and all sentient beings have individual levels of suffering brought on by their individual actions. Without a seed there would be no fruit; without action, the six realms would not exist. The seed of karma is planted by our minds and it flowers when body, speech and mind carry out the actions. It bears fruit in the effects we experience later in our lives.

The Fourth Thought

Wheel of Samsara. All the realms are characterized by three kinds of suffering:

1. The suffering of suffering. This is the basic suffering that is found in samsara. It is produced by feelings of pain and loss. It is the suffering created by the ego-self.

2. The suffering of change. This is compared to an exquisite fruit which contains poison. We are attracted to the fruit and have the rich experience of eating it but this is followed by pain. The suffering of change is the most prevalent form of suffering in the three higher realms of human, demi-god and god

3. The suffering of composition (source of all suffering). Likened to fruit not yet ripe enough to eat yet holds within itself all the potential flavor, nourishment and the seeds of future fruit. It is that subtle feeling or our innate nature; that quiet voice that says there is more. Not knowing how to access this, we strive to fulfill ourselves with external things and people which become the source of even more suffering. It can be an endless circle of dissatisfaction and suffering.

When we work to remove misery we begin at the grossest level of suffering of suffering and when we have worked through that, we will begin to deeply feel the suffering of change and when we have accepted and realized this level of suffering we will then be able to work on the suffering of composition.

Mahayana

Mahayana view says that we cannot become fully enlightened until all sentient beings become enlightened. It is the Mahayana way to take Refuge in the Three Jewels (Buddha, the Dharma (his Teachings) and the Sangha of beings who have dedicated their lives to the practice of these teachings. The Three Jewels are also called "View, Meditation, and Action".

We first visualize that all sentient beings without exception have gathered with us to take refuge. With devotion to the purity and wisdom of the Three Jewels, we offer our body, speech and mind, whatever material wealth we have, and all things of value that exist in this world. When we make this offering, we do not give up anything or necessarily give away anything, but we are practicing giving up our attachment to things and people which is the cause of creating suffering for ourselves. The basis of Mahayana practice is Bodhicitta (self-less compassion). Those who practice Bodhicitta are called Bodhisattvas. The Mahayana result is to experience all manifested phenomena as a dream, having no inherent existence of its own.