The Very Venerable Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

The Seven Points Of Mind Training

Birmingham Karma Ling, December 2002

VII. Guidelines of Mind Training

B. What to Adopt: 7-11

7. Adopt the three main causes.

The first cause is to have an excellent lama or teacher, one has to have the wish or desire to practise the Dharma and thirdly one needs the right causes and conditions to practise the Dharma, for example one needs a place to practise one needs things to eat and a situation which will enable one to carry out one's practise. If you have all three of these conditions then one prays that all sentient beings will have them and that one will practise for the benefit of all sentient beings.

If one doesn't have the three conditions then one thinks there are many sentient beings who don't have these conditions also so may I take all the negativity and obstacles which are preventing them from enjoying these perfect conditions into my self and may I purify them and may my suffering be a substitute for all sentient beings so that they may enjoy these conditions in the future.

8. Meditate on three undiminished things.

The first thing that shouldn't be diminished is one's faith and devotion for the Three Jewels. If one is a beginner and cannot give rise to this perfect unshakeable faith then one feels in one's mind, deep within one's mind that to have faith and devotion would be a very positive thing.

The second thing not to diminish or lose is one's feeling or liking to practise the mind training, may one never be separated from the mind training. This is going to be beneficial in this life and beneficial in future lives not only for myself but also for all sentient beings. Through this practise of the mind training I will ultimately be able top help beings in limitless ways.

We should practise the mind training in the same way as a small child eats sweets. They don't have one they have another and another and they taste so nice they want more. We have to be like that with the mind training, we can't get enough. The third is whatever one has made commitments for with Bodhisattva vow or ordination, the Vajrayana or whatever, and then one doesn't break these commitments.

9. Have the three inseparable things.

The three inseparable things are not being separated from the virtuous activities of body speech and mind. One accomplishes as much virtuous activity as one can with these three aspects of oneself, the body, speech and mind.

10. Train impartially in all areas.

Pervading everywhere and very deeply, this is how one's practice should be. Also not having preference to the objects of one's practise for example, one will find it quite easy to have loving kindness and compassion, tolerance to one's parents and loved ones and one's associates who you have a favourable feeling for anyway. But somebody who annoys you, you may think you can't give any compassion to that person and I can't give any help to them. One shouldn't have these different standards, one tries to be equal with everybody.

Further to that apart from having the object of sentient beings to practise with one can practise with the elements, fire, water, air and so on, or some kind of object like hitting your head on the car. So don't get angry with situations like that and don't get angry with the elements. If it's raining there is no need to get angry about it if it's a person or the elements or the circumstances then also one tries not to give rise to the mind poisons.

In Sherabling there is a cook who cooks for the monks and sometimes he gets annoyed and he gets a big ladle and hits the saucepan and says arghhhhhh shouting at the saucepan. Just hearing that in the background and not seeing what is happening you think the cook has gone mad and is hitting somebody but when you look around the corner he is hitting the saucepan. Then you can say to him, what is happening why are you having this argument with the saucepan? Why are you hitting it and he just laughs. He replies that if I'm angry and hit the saucepan then my mind becomes very peaceful after that! Some people do give rise to anger to the elements and to different objects like saucepans!

That is the all pervasiveness of the slogan but being deep, then from ones deep mind one has the wish to benefit sentient beings. Some people recite at the beginning of teachings the four immeasurable may all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering ... Etc and they just chant the words it is at the level of the throat and it's not getting deeper than that. I had an experience in some European country, not quite sure where it was, in some countries you have mosquitoes and other flying insects and people have a stick with a flat piece on the end, and if they hit the insect it obviously will die. So this person was sitting there saying his prayers, he was reciting his prayers saying may all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness WHACK! Every so often an insect would come.... May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.... WHACK! Then it just the words at the level of the throat and has no deeper meaning.

There was another man who had a dog, the dog caused him quite a lot of difficulty was always barking and running after him. Then the man had hit the dog so the dog is quite angry and the man is also angry towards the dog. So this man was doing his daily practise, reciting his text. Normally this man had a good attitude with his mind. He was thinking may all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness, then he thought hold on a minute, I'm saying all beings and the dog is also a sentient being. So then he thought I have been hitting the dog which isn't very good I should have compassion for him it's terrible I should be nice to the dog. Some time later the dog was barking again and was annoying him and some times the dog would nip him, he forgot about compassion and he became angry again. Because the dog kept annoying and biting him then running off and barking through the window he couldn't really practise properly but slightly differently he said may some beings be free from suffering..... He changed the words to some beings! Later on he made his peace with the dog and they ended up friends.

11. Especially practise mind training on those things that are hardest to practise on.

Meditating with compassion for one's enemies, meditating with compassion to the demons and obstacle makers and people who are jealous of us, generate compassion for them, and people who have harmful intentions to you, have compassion for them. If you can, meditate with compassion for these beings.

If one takes the example of the enemy then this enemy is completely under the power and control of the anger, he thinks I don't like that person, I hate that person, I have got to give him some suffering I have got to give lots of people suffering, I have to hurt everybody. So then because of this uncontrolled anger he doesn't have any peace in his own mind and he doesn't cause other sentient beings to have peace in their minds he is just causing problems. So it's suffering and problem for him as well as for the others.

Why do you give rise to anger towards the enemy? you think I am angry towards that person because they have a mind which is intent on causing me harm, they want to give me pain and suffering, for that reason I am angry towards them and one gives rise to anger towards the enemy. You think that person is the enemy and he has the intent to cause harm and suffering towards me so I have to also give harm to him. You have to think about this very well. When this person is using harsh speech and saying bad things what is it that is harming you? Is it the words that are harming you? The words are not harming you. So if a person picks up a big stick and hits you on the head who should you be angry towards? The stick, or the man?

Normally we get angry towards the person who has hit us, normally one has this mind state that whoever causes me harm then I have to cause them harm and they are my enemy. If you really think about it, it was the stick that hit you on the head, it was the stick that really hurt you. You think if it is not the stick that hurt me it is the person that held the stick so then it's not him its his body which hurt you.

You think I have to be angry towards his body but then you think again it's not his body which caused me harm it's his mind, the anger in his mind that hurt me. So then you get angry towards his anger, it's because of his anger I have suffering so then I have to get angry towards his anger. How should one think about this and what does one need to have?

One needs to have wisdom when one is thinking about this. If one thinks about it properly with wisdom one can see that the person is under the control of the anger, so because of that one generates compassion for them. If you think that this person is really under the control of the mind poison of anger and what's going to happen to them. Because of his uncontrolled mind he is going to cause harm to others and suffering to them and he is never going to experience happiness and peace in his own mind. Also he is creating all the causes to be reborn in the hell realms, which has been created from anger.

This person who has created the causes to be reborn in the hell realms because of his very strong anger and all the hell beings just taken rebirth in the hell realm, who is it necessary to have the compassion for? It's the person who is creating the causes at this moment the person who is your enemy, the person who is experiencing the uncontrolled mind, which is ruled by the anger, under the power of anger. It is that person you should have the compassion for.

What is the reason to have compassion for the person who is the enemy now rather than the hell being? The difference is that the hell being through the fruition of his actions is now experiencing the rebirth in the hell realms and that is the start of him purifying the karma that he has accumulated. But the other person, the one who is the enemy now under the control of the anger he is accumulating the causes to take rebirth in hell so one has to have compassion for him. Use him as the object for your compassion right now because he is accumulating moment by moment the causes to be reborn in the hell. He is going to have the suffering the person in the hell realm has started the process of purifying. So the object of your compassion should be the person who you call enemy who is under the power of the conflicting emotions such as the anger.