The Oral Instructions of Mahamudra - Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

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The first great preliminary guide, training in sincerely going for refuge, the gateway to entering Buddhism; and training in the compassionate mind of bodhichitta, the gateway to entering the Mahayana, the main path to the state of enlightenment

      2. The second great preliminary guide, training in purification practice, the gateway to purifying non-virtuous actions and obstructions

      3. The third great preliminary guide, training in the practice of the mandala offering, the gateway to accumulating the collection of merit and attaining an enlightened Pure Land

      4. The fourth great preliminary guide, training in Guru yoga, the gateway to receiving blessings

      Venerable Sakya Pandita said that if you have no practice of going for refuge to the Three Jewels – Buddha, Dharma and Sangha – you are not a Dharma practitioner. This means that if we are unable to practise refuge purely we will not enter Buddhism, and if we do not enter Buddhism we will have no opportunity to attain permanent liberation from suffering or the supreme happiness of enlightenment. Then we will have lost the real meaning of human life.

      Understanding this, we make a determination, thinking:

      I will practise refuge purely so that I can enter Buddhism.

      We meditate on this determination.

      Since without a cause there is no effect, we first need to generate the causes of pure refuge practice in our mind by contemplating as follows:

      I and all mother living beings as extensive as space are drowning in the vast and deep ocean of samsaric suffering, where the sea monsters of the Lord of Death devour our bodies again and again.

      We experience the suffering of dying in so many different ways and all our countless bodies are consumed by the sea monsters of the Lord of Death.

      We have to experience an endless cycle of rebirth, with suffering produced by waves of unbearable pain, and each time we are born, we are born alone and have to experience suffering for our entire life.

      Then comes death.

      Again we are born alone and have to experience suffering for that entire life.

      Then again death.

      And again we are born, and so on.

      We have to experience this cycle of unbearable suffering endlessly, and the cause of all of this suffering is that we have taken rebirth in samsara, the cycle of impure life.

      What does taking rebirth in samsara mean? It means that in each of our lives due to ignorance we grasp our body or mind as our self, thinking, ‘I’ ‘I’, where there is no I, or self. Through this we experience the sufferings of this life and countless future lives as hallucinations endlessly.

      Having understood this, we feel how unbearable samsaric rebirth is for both ourself and others; and how unbearable is this uncertainty of suffering and rebirth.

      We also think:

      I am in samsara, the cycle of impure life; it is like being trapped in a circle of fire.

      We generate a feeling of strong fear of this unbearable cycle of rebirth and meditate on this fear again and again, holding it single-pointedly without forgetting it. Through meditating in this way day and night we should never forget the fear of taking rebirth in samsara in general and in the lower realms in particular.

      Usually, there is no point in developing fear, but the fear explained here opens the door to pure refuge practice and so is extremely meaningful. It is an indispensable cause of pure practice of refuge. Up to now we have not been able to practise going for refuge to the Three Jewels purely because of the fault of lacking this fear. Therefore we should contemplate:

      The endless suffering of this cycle of rebirth is terrifying, like being trapped in a circle of fire. Therefore I will strive day and night to permanently cease this samsaric rebirth by striving to permanently abandon its root, the ignorance of self-grasping.

      We meditate again and again on this determination, holding it single-pointedly without forgetting it. The mind that maintains this determination continuously is authentic renunciation, which opens the door to liberation.

      Now, upon what method should we rely to permanently cease samsaric rebirth and permanently abandon its root, the ignorance of self-grasping? We can accomplish this aim only through receiving Buddha’s blessings, receiving help from Sangha and practising the Dharma of the three higher trainings. Thus, the only refuge that permanently liberates us from the endless sufferings of samsara is the Three Precious Jewels – Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. This refuge cannot be found elsewhere. Having understood and contemplated this, we should develop within our heart irreversible faith and trust in the Three Jewels. This is also a cause of pure refuge practice.

      Then, through the power of correct imagination we visualize, actually appearing in the space in front, our root Guru in the aspect of Guru Sumati Buddha Heruka, whose nature is our root Guru, Je Tsongkhapa, Buddha Shakyamuni and Heruka, surrounded by all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions. Observing them, we briefly meditate single-pointedly with a mind of strong wishing faith, thinking:

      How wonderful if I and all mother living beings become like these enlightened beings.

      Having generated and visualized the objects of refuge in front in this way, we recite the ritual prayer three times while making a promise:

      O Guru Sumati Buddha Heruka, from now until I attain enlightenment I will rely upon and hold as my objects of refuge only the Three Jewels – Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

      I will apply effort to receiving Buddha’s blessings, receiving help from the Sangha and attaining the realizations of the Dharma Jewel as the ultimate protection for myself and others from the fears of samsara.

      Reciting this ritual prayer three times we take the Mahayana refuge vows. It is very important to do this every day.

      The meaning of going for refuge to the Three Jewels is making a promise to apply effort to receiving Buddha’s blessings; to receiving help from the Sangha, the pure spiritual practitioners who show a good example; and to attaining the realizations of the Dharma of the three higher trainings – training in moral discipline, training in concentration, or meditation, and training in the wisdom of emptiness, all with the motivation of renunciation – as the ultimate protection for ourself and others from the fears of samsara. These promises are the essential commitments of going for refuge.

      Bodhichitta is a mind possessing two aspirations – wishing to directly benefit each and every living being every day, and wishing to attain enlightenment ourself for that purpose. A mind that spontaneously wishes to attain enlightenment for the sole purpose of permanently liberating all living beings from suffering is bodhichitta. When we generate this precious mind we become a Bodhisattva and are called a ‘Son or Daughter of Buddha’. Because this compassionate mind of bodhichitta opens the door to the Mahayana path for us, it is called the ‘gateway to entering the Mahayana path’.

      To gain a realization of bodhichitta we need to make effort to practise it. It is impossible for such a precious mind to arise naturally without training. How should we practise it? Je Tsongkhapa says:

      On the ground of equanimity pour the water of love and sow the seed of compassion. From these the medicinal tree of bodhichitta will arise.

      Here, ‘the ground of equanimity’ refers to affectionate love observing all living beings, ‘the water of love’ refers to cherishing love observing all living beings, and ‘the medicinal tree’ refers to the realization of bodhichitta.

      Thus, there are four stages to the practice of bodhichitta:

      1. The practice of affectionate love

      2.

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