The Very Venerable Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

The Seven Points Of Mind Training

Birmingham Karma Ling, December 2002

III. How To Carry the Practice Onto The Path

B. The Special Application Of The Teaching: 6

6. To Bring Unexpected Circumstances To The Path, Whatever you meet with meditation.

So what is it we are training in here? It is the Bodhicitta training. When one is doing this training then whatever arises on the path, negative or positive, one transforms everything into our friend or helper on the path, For example if we have illness and suffering this is good. Generally if we have enemies we should respect them. The reason for this is if there is someone who is learned and clever, if they have enemies they will improve. Even if one is not a Dharma practitioner, if one is an ordinary person, if one has enemies it is beneficial and one's wisdom can increase. If one was to never meet unfortunate circumstances or enemies and things were always comfortable one would never have the opportunity to practice patience, tolerance and so on. If we encounter enemies then we have a situation where we can accumulate merit. We can train in Bodhicitta, generate compassion and practice patience. Our qualities will increase due to our enemies

Some people think enemies are not good, they have a harmful intent towards us. I cannot respect them. Because that person has ill will towards me and wishes me harm I cannot show them any love. The people who say nice things one will feel like giving them love, as we prefer to hear nice things. I have to like this person. Generally the majority of us like to have happiness. But happiness doesn't like us. Happiness doesn't think you are nice does it? Emptiness doesn't like us. Emptiness doesn't say it likes us. As practitioners though we say we like emptiness don't we? We like happiness. We like the loving kindness and compassion, but they don't say they like us do they?

The enemies don't like us. Why do we label them enemy? It's because we think they have ill will towards us. If they didn't have ill will we wouldn't call them enemy.

Because of the harmful intent we call someone enemy. If that person does cause harm to us it is beneficial as we can practice patience .If one has no object to have patience with then our patience will not increase. If we have no object to have loving kindness and compassion for then they also will not increase. We don't have any loving kindness for compassion for a stone, or for the space. Are you able to meditate like that? Can you have compassion for the space? The space has a lot of suffering. We need to take the space to the level of enlightenment. We can't think like that can we?

We need an object don't we? an enemy is a good object isn't it? If you remember the student of Patrul Rinpoche from yesterdays story. He was sitting in the sun thinking he was meditating on loving kindness but he wasn't really was he? Unfortunate circumstances enemies and difficulties are good for our practice as when we encounter them if we can train in Bodhicitta at that moment we can purify aeons of negative karma. If one is a Bodhisattva one likes enemies and rejoices whenever one meets them. We like our mother and when we see her we become really happy. It's like that for the Bodhisattva when he sees an enemy.

The enemy gives the Bodhisattva great joy and he has no suffering. If we see an enemy we become quite sad. If you think that now the enemy is here and he will harm me and I will have suffering. If you think that way then one will really experience suffering.

What we call joy and happiness does not depend on an external object. For us we see the enemy as a source of suffering and unhappiness. The Bodhisattva rejoices when he sees an enemy. So the happiness or suffering do not depend on the enemy, but on our attitude.

Food also is not the source of happiness. If I'm really hungry and I eat a lot of food I feel happy. But if I continue to eat then after some time I will feel sick and my stomach will become bigger and the food that was so nice before makes me feel ill just looking at it. If food really were a source of happiness then the more I ate the happier I would become. Food does not give happiness; it comes from one's own mind.

We would all agree that a diamond is a very beautiful and precious thing, If we had one the size of the top of my thumb we'd be very happy. But dust and bits of gravel we never like them. They hurt our feet and we sweep them out of the house. If the whole world was made of diamond and there was no dust or bits of gravel, if the world was like that, then dust and bits of gravel would be perceived as very expensive and precious. When we saw some dust or gravel we would be really happy, and maybe put in on our shrine. Maybe we would sell it in a shop for a lot of money. If a bit of diamond were in our house we'd think how dirty and sweep it outside immediately. We wouldn't like the diamond, even if it were vary small, it would make us angry.

At the moment a small diamond would cause us to be happy, but if it were the other way around it would cause us to be unhappy. It all depends on one's mind, all made by one's mind. This is the first level of wisdom. The second level is emptiness. As explained yesterday, everything is emptiness, the diamond is emptiness and the dust and gravel are emptiness. When we say emptiness we don't mean that there is nothing at all. What is meant is that though nothing is real, anything can arise.

If we become ill we pray that we take on all of the sickness of all the sentient beings, on behalf of them may their entire illness manifest in mine, and may they be free of illness. Then your own illness transforms into a way of purifying vast amounts of negative karma and it becomes very beneficial for you. One's qualities will increase. Also if one has an enemy one thinks that may the enemies of all the sentient beings be joined in this one enemy and may they never have to experience an enemy again. This will purify one's karma.

If one has negative thought such as anger, wrong view one thinks that may all the negative thoughts of all beings come into my thought and may they never experience such thoughts again. Further if due to our ignorance we perform some unwholesome activity we think that may the unwholesome activities of all beings be contained in this activity. May they never commit such activity again. This is a very powerful way to purify one's negative karma. Whatever one does one can transform it with this method. The main cause of experiencing suffering is the mental attitude one has towards things. Oh this is going to harm me; I am going to suffer now. Without this attitude we would be happy all the time. One could get along with everybody. One could stay anywhere and do any activity. One would be happy always. One's mind would be come vast and very powerful.