Shenpen Ösel The Clear Light of the Buddha’s Teachings Which Benefits All Beings Volume 5, Numbers and December 2001 “ no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death, no end of old age and death; no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no nonattainment Therefore, Sariputra, since the bodhisattvas have no attainment, they abide by means of prajnaparamita Since there is no obscuration of mind, there is no fear.” Shenpen Ösel The Clear Light of the Buddha’s Teachings Which Benefits All Beings Volume Numbers and Content Contentss This issue of Shenpen Ösel is devoted to a series of teachings given by The Very Venerable Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche in Seattle, Washington, October 26-31, 1999 The teachings were translated by Ari Goldfield In addition to the translated, transcribed, edited text of the teachings, we have included the songs that Rinpoche led © 1999 Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche AP rayer to A ver ar Prayer Aver vertt Nuclear W War Introduction 11 Comment ary on Chandrakir ti’s Entrance to the Middle W ay Commentary Chandrakirti’s Way by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche 11 28 37 51 57 66 79 91 93 105 107 The First Mind Generation: Perfect Joy The Second Mind Generation: The Stainless The Third Mind Generation: The Luminous The Fourth Mind Generation: The Radiant The Fifth Mind Generation: The Difficult to Overcome The Sixth Mind Generation: The Approach Continuing the Explanation of the Sixth Mind Generation: The Approach The Seventh Mind Generation: Gone Far Beyond The Eighth Mind Generation: Unshakable The Ninth Mind Generation: Excellent Mind The Tenth Mind Generation: Cloud of Dharma 122 Selected V erse rom Chandrakir ti’s Entrance to the Middle W ay Verse ersess FFrom Chandrakirti’s Way 13 130 ss Not to Be Shunned On Göt Götss angpa’s Eight Case Casess of Goodne Goodness Songs 12 A Song of Meaningful Connections 43 The Anger Cooling Song 59 Five Songs 116 Three Kinds of Confidence in Genuine Reality 145 Seven Delights St aff Staff Editorial polic policyy Editor Lama Tashi Namgyal Shenpen Ösel is a tri-annual publication of Kagyu Shenpen Ưsel Chưling (KSOC), a center for the study and practice of Tibetan vajrayana Buddhism located in Seattle, Washington The magazine seeks to present the teachings of recognized and fully qualified lamas and teachers, with an emphasis on the Karma Kagyu and the Shangpa Kagyu lineages The contents are derived in large part from transcripts of teachings hosted by our center Shenpen Ösel is produced and mailed exclusively through volunteer labor and does not make a profit (Your subscriptions and donations are greatly appreciated.) We publish with the aspiration to present the clear light of the Buddha’s teachings May it bring benefit and may all be auspicious May all beings be inspired and assisted in uncovering their own true nature L ayout and De sign Design Linda Lewis, Mark Voss Copy editors, TTranscribers, ranscribers, Recorders Glen Avantaggio, Alan Castle, Anita Castle, Kenn DeSure, Zach Ferdana, Marcia Glover, Denise Glover, Donald Lashley, Linda Lewis, Chris Payne, Rose Peeps, Mark Suver, Elisabeth Talsky, Mark Voss Dat abase manager Database Marcia Glover Back issue issuess coordinator Dan Miller Mailing coordinators Mark Suver, Daniel Talsky Mailing crew Members of the Seattle sangha S ÖSEL 2HENPEN SHENPEN ÖSEL Photo credit creditss this issue: Ryszard K Frackiewicz, pages 11, 28, 37, 51, 57, 66, 79, 91, 93, 105, 107, 130, back cover On the cover: Prajnaparamita with an excerpt from The Sutra of the Heart of Transcendent Knowledge A Prayer To Avert Nuclear War By Chatral Rinpoche Namo Guru Ratnatraya! To the Teacher and the Three Jewels, I bow True leader of the golden age—Crown of the Sakyas! Second Buddha, Prince of Oddiyana, Lake-Born Vajra, Bodhisattvas—eight closest spiritual heirs High Nobles, Avilokitesvara and Manjushri, Vajrapani and the rest! Twenty-one Taras, Host of Noble Elders, Root and lineage lamas, deities, Peaceful and wrathful gods! Dakinis in your three homes! (the earth, the heavens and the emanated worlds!) You who through wisdom or karma have become Defenders of the Doctrine! Guardians of the Directions! Seventy-five Glorous Protectors! You who are clairvoyant, powerful, magical and mighty! Behold and ponder the beings of this age of turmoil! We are beings born at the sorry end of time; An ocean of ill-effects overflows from our universally bad actions The forces of light flicker, The forces of darkness, a demon army, inflames great and powerful men And they rise in conflict, armed with nuclear weapons That will disintegrate the earth The weapon of perverse and errant intentions Has unleashed the hurricane Soon, in an instant, it will reduce the world And all those in it to atoms of dust Through this ill-omened devils’ tool It is easy to see, to hear and think about Ignorant people, caught in a net of confusion and doubt, [who] Are obstinate and still refuse to understand It terrifies us just to hear about or to remember This unprecedented thing The world is filled with uncertainty, But there is no means of stopping it, nor place of hope, Other than you, undeceiving Three Jewels and Three Roots, (Buddhas, Teaching and Spiritual Community, Lama, Deity and Dakini) SHENPEN ÖSEL If we cry to you like children calling their mother and father, If we implore you with this prayer, Do not falter in your ancient vows! Stretch out the lightning hand of compassion! Protect and shelter us defenseless beings, and free us from fear! When the mighty barbarians sit in council of war— Barbarians who rob the earth of pleasure and happiness, Barbarians who have wrong, rough, poisonous thoughts— Bend their chiefs and lieutenants To the side of peace and happiness! Pacify on the spot, the armed struggle that blocks us! Turn away and defeat the atomic weapons Of the demons’ messengers, And by that power, make long the life of the righteous, And spread the theory and practice of the doctrine To the four corners of this great world! Eliminate root, branch and leaf—even the names Of those dark forces, human and non-human, Who hate others and the teaching! Spread vast happiness and goodness Over this fragile planet! Elevate it truly with the four kinds of glory! And as in the golden age, with all strife gone, Let us be busy only with the dance of pleasure, the dance of joy! We pray with pure thoughts— By the compassion of that ocean the three supreme refuges And the power of the Realm of Truth; The complete sublime truth, Achieve the goal of this, our prayer Magically, just as we have hoped and dreamed! Translated from the Tibetan by Richard Kohn and Lama Tsedrup Tharchin SHENPEN ÖSEL Introduction T his double issue of Shenpen Ösel contains Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche’s teachings on Chandrakirti’s Entrance to the Middle Way, which is a commentary on Nagarjuna’s Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, which again is a commentary on the Prajnaparamita Sutras of the Buddha Shakyamuni’s second turning of the wheel of dharma It contains teachings on both absolute truth (the way things really are) and relative truth (the way things appear to be), which can be better understood by placing Chandrakirti’s text in the larger framework of the Buddha’s teachings ◆◆◆ I n Buddhism, “Absolute Truth or Absolute Reality means the end point of one’s analysis, in other words, the most basic or fundamental element of existence or experience “For example, if one takes a clay pot, a potter might say that in absolute terms it was clay, but a scientist might say it was a collection of atoms If he were being more precise he might say the atoms themselves consisted of atomic particles moving in space, but even this would be a rough approximation to reality In absolute terms atomic particles can no longer be defined precisely these days They cannot be said to be this or that or here or there; they have to be expressed in terms of probability No doubt scientists will express it differently again in a few years’ time “In the same way Absolute Truth presents itself differently to practitioners at the various levels of their practice Just as this emerges in the experience of an individual practitioner, it occurs historically in the way that the Buddhist Scriptures emerged as a progression of increasingly subtle teachings “The key stages in the Buddhist experience of the Absolute Truth of Emptiness [are] five-fold: l the Shravaka stage, the Cittamatra stage, the Svatantrika-Madhyamaka stage, the Prasangika-Madhyamaka stage, the Shentong Madhyamaka stage.” SHENPEN ÖSEL ... Chandrakirti’s Entrance to the Middle Way, which is a commentary on Nagarjuna’s Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, which again is a commentary on the Prajnaparamita Sutras of the Buddha Shakyamuni’s... 107 The First Mind Generation: Perfect Joy The Second Mind Generation: The Stainless The Third Mind Generation: The Luminous The Fourth Mind Generation: The Radiant The Fifth Mind Generation: The. .. To the side of peace and happiness! Pacify on the spot, the armed struggle that blocks us! Turn away and defeat the atomic weapons Of the demons’ messengers, And by that power, make long the