Lord Buddha, his teachings, philosophy
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Buddha, Sangha And Dharma
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
On the spiritual path there are three factors: Buddha, the master or the presence of the enlightened, sangha, the commune or group, and dharma, your true nature. Life blossoms naturally when there is a balance between the three.
The Buddha is a doorway, and the doorway needs to be more charming than what lies beyond so that people come to the doorway.
Similarly, the closer you get to the master, the more charm, newness and love you feel. Nothing in the world could give that much peace, joy and pleasure. It's like depth without a bottom. This is a sign that you have come to the master.
Once you enter the door, you see the world from there, from the eyes of the master. Then in any situation you will think: “How would the master handle this?” See the world from the eyes of the master and the world looks so much more beautiful as a place filled with love, joy, cooperation and compassion.
Looking through the doorway there is no fear. From inside your home, you can look at the storm and the bright sun too; yet you can be relaxed as you are in the shelter. Such a sense of security, fullness and joy comes. That is the purpose of having a master.
Sangha is charming from a distance, but the closer you get, it pushes all your buttons and brings out all the unwanted things from within you. If you think a group is good it means you are not yet completely with the group. When you are totally part of that group, you will find that some bickering will come up. But you are the one who makes the group – so if you are good, your group will also be good.
Sangha has a reverse nature to Buddha. Buddha makes your mind one-pointed; sangha, because it is of so many people, can scatter your mind, fragment it. Once you are used to a sangha, it loses its charm. This is the nature of sangha. Still, it is very supportive. If it were repulsive all the time, then nobody would be part of sangha.
Buddha uplifts with Grace, love and knowledge, Buddha pulls you up from above, and sangha pushes you up from below.
Dharma is to be in the middle. Avoiding extremes is your nature –to be in balance, to smile from the depth of your heart, to accept entire existence totally as it is. Often you crave for Buddha and are averse to sangha, and you try to change; but by changing sangha or Buddha, you are not going to change. The main purpose is to come to the centre deep within you, which means to find your dharma. A sense of deep acceptance for this moment, for every moment, is dharma. All problems and negativity are generated from our mind.
The world is not bad; we make our world ugly or beautiful. So when you are in your dharma, your nature, you will blame neither the world nor the Divine.
Dharma is that which puts you in the middle and makes you comfortable with the world. It allows you to contribute to the world, be at ease with the Divine, to feel part of the Divine.
Buddhism, Nyingma: Three Nobilities
The Three Nobilities
Girish Deshpande
When you chant and recite any mantra, bear in mind the importance of the Three Nobilities: Bodhichitta, Non-objectifying Wisdom and Dedication. This brings benefit to the one reciting and for those it is meant to bring benefit.
The two aspects to remember are: Firstly, keep secret your mantra recitation and its result. Secondly, be mindful not to speak to others who are not Dharma practitioners about your practice and accrued benefit. If we are not mindful of this, the result will not be perfect due to many forces that may be counterproductive.
The three nobilities are as important as your yearning to achieve the result by reciting the specific mantra. The first nobility is called Bodhichitta, which is ‘Awakened Mind’. It means generation of a special motivation to benefit all sentient beings with the virtues being accumulated. This motivation should be generated prior to any kind of virtuous practice. You can read this line to motivate yourself for the benefit of all: ‘‘I will benefit all sentient beings bestowing them with eternal bliss and qualities.’’
The second nobility is called Non-objectifying Wisdom. It means whatever virtue is accumulated or practised, it’s done without any sense of desires clinging to the mind. This, in other words, is called primordial awareness and is maintained during the main practice itself. One should be fully aware without any clinging or self-centric desires such as, ‘I am the one who practises this virtue’ or ‘this is the virtue I'm practising and for them I practise’. In fact, one should cut out such thoughts from the mind stream. When the mind is devoid of such discriminative thoughts, all emotions naturally calm down.
The third nobility is called Dedication. It means whatever virtue has been accumulated, for example, by chanting and reciting the mantra, it is dedicated to bringing to sentient beings whatever benefit is possible to rid them of their suffering and bringing them happiness. Usually, the dedication prayer is chanted only after the virtuous practice. Chant this line as a dedication prayer: “May all motherly sentient beings attain enlightenment through the power of all the virtues I might have accumulated by chanting and reciting the mantra.’’
Feel what other beings need. Feel what you need. We will discover that the need and requirement are one and the same, that is, happiness. Each and every being needs nothing more than happiness.
Therefore, all sentient beings are similar and even the same. However, just like us, other sentient beings too get trapped in the net of suffering. Now feel and chant this: “May all sentient beings be free from sufferings and its causes.” This is the real definition of compassion. Extend this practice further from one being to two and four – for instance, from your family and then to the neighbourhood, to your town and other towns, cities and to country – and further towards all sentient beings.
Practise this daily and see the result. Don’t forget that Dharma belongs to nobody. It comes to those who endeavour the most. So begin, now.
The writer is a practitioner of Nyingma Buddhism .
