Dancing Dakini Wisdom

There are two methods for training the mind in bodhichitta: training the mind in the sevenfold cause and effect, and training the mind in equalizing and exchanging self with others. In the method of training the mind in the sevenfold cause and effect, we train ourselves to hold others as dear to us as our mother. This method has eight steps; the first step is a preparation, the next six are meditations to generate causes of bodhichitta, and the last stage is the attainment of bodhichitta. The eight stages of the sevenfold cause and effect are:

1) Developing equanimity. This is a meditation practicing on balancing our attitudes and feelings towards three groups of people we encounter: those we like and have an attachment to them, those we don’t like and have an aversion to them, and those we feel neither attachment nor aversion towards them. We contemplate how those we dislike now were our friends in this or past lives, how those we have a strong attachment to now were our enemies in this or past lives, and how those we are neutral towards have been both our friends and enemies in the past. Relationships and our attitudes towards others are impermanent and always changing and everyone has been both friend and enemy to us at some point. Understanding this, we make the determination to regard all people with the same balanced attitude, feeling neither attachment nor aversion to anyone.

2) Recognizing that all living beings are our mothers. Because our births have been countless, so we have had countless mothers. All these past mothers are the various living beings here with us today.

3) Remembering the kindness of all mother beings. We start by remembering the kindness of our mother of this life. Without her, we wouldn’t be here. We can remember all the kind things our mother has done for us, from giving birth to us to taking care of us, and every other way we can think of. Then we remember that all our mothers from our previous lives did the same.

4) Developing the wish to repay the kindness of all mother beings. It is natural to want to repay any kindness we have received once we recognize that kindness. We contemplate the best method for repaying our mothers’ kindness, and come to the conclusion that the best way to repay her kindness is to give her permanent liberation from samsara and make the determination to do this.

5) Developing affectionate love. Affectionate love is feeling close to someone and holding them dear to us. If we have affectionate love for all beings it is impossible to develop jealousy and anger toward them. From affectionate love develops cherishing love (caring for others’ well-being), and from cherishing love develops wishing love - the love that wishes all other beings to be happy. When we develop wishing love, we naturally develop great compassion at the same time.

6) Developing great compassion. Great compassion is a mind that wishes all beings to be free from suffering. We need to cultivate great compassion to enter the Mahayana paths. Enlightenment is only possible with great compassion. The sign that we have realized great compassion is that whenever we see another living being we have the spontaneous wish for them to be free from their sufferings.

7) Developing superior intention. Superior intention is the promise we make to personally liberate all beings from suffering in samsara. Just wishing for beings to be released from suffering is not enough; we are determined to do something about it. Superior intention is a firm decision and a commitment to free others from suffering.

8) Developing bodhichitta. Bodhichitta is a spontaneous wish, motivated by great compassion, to attain enlightenment to benefit all living beings. The sign that we have realized bodhichitta is that we never lose this thought. When we realize bodhichitta, we have entered the Mahayana path.

The Lamrim practices (Stages of the Path to Enlightenment) are divided into three scopes: Initial, Intermediate, and Great. The Initial Scope covers what we need to practice to attain a higher rebirth in future lives (and to avoid lower rebirths). The Intermediate Scope covers renunciation and how to attain liberation from samsara, the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, death, rebirth, and the suffering that goes along with it. So if the Initial and Intermediate Scopes provide us with the training we need to attain liberation, why do we need the Great Scope?

The Great Scope covers the Mahayana paths which give instruction on how to attain enlightenment and become a fully realized being, a Buddha. Only a Buddha can truly help all living beings to become liberated from samsara and attain enlightenment for themselves. The Initial and Intermediate Scopes are preparatory practices for Mahayana paths.

Not all of Buddha’s teachings are of the warm, fuzzy feel-good variety. Some of them are hard for us to hear and accept, but these teachings are often the ones that we really need to take to heart because they will really help us on our spiritual path if we honestly put them into practice. One of these difficult teachings is about recognizing our faults in the mirror of Dharma.

No one wants to examine their faults. They are painful to look at and admit we have them. Intellectually, we all know we are not perfect; after all, that is part of what makes us human and not fully enlightened Buddhas - at least, not yet. But ignoring and pretending we don’t have the faults that we do, whatever they are, only causes us more problems. One thing to remember is that having faults (and we all do) does not make you an inherently faulty or bad person. We all have Buddha nature that is covered with delusions; these delusions, in turn, cause us to have faults.

While we may understand that cherishing others benefits not only the recipient, but us as well, we still don’t practice it all the time with everyone we meet. Why don’t we do this if we know that is beneficial for all involved to do so? Because we are too busy cherishing ourself, of thinking we are more important than others, or at least our time is more important. We have made a habit of this self-cherishing mind. The good news is, just like with any other bad habit, the habit of self-cherishing can be broken with effort and practice.

Just as we tend to ignore our faults, we likewise tend to exaggerate our good qualities and take pride in them. As a result of this deluded pride, we develop an inflated view of ourself, and consider ourself superior to others in some way. It could be in our appearance, intellectual ability, physical ability, talents, knowledge, or experience. Our pride makes it hard for us to accept our mistakes, admit to being wrong about our views, or accept any criticism of ourself at all. We may even deflect the criticism by placing the blame on others (i.e., my parents raised me to be this way; it’s their fault!). We become defensive and may even retaliate in anger. This leads to further conflicts, pain, and suffering for all involved, and the negative actions create negative karma for ourselves that will ripen later, creating even more suffering in the future. Clearly, we need to do something to stop this cycle.

We don’t want to think about our thoughts because doing so is uncomfortable and disturbing to us. But if we do not recognize our faults, we can’t do anything to diminish and eventually remove them from our mind. If examining our faults just gets too painful, there is another practice we can do to help diminish our pride and increase our compassion: we can focus on the good qualities of others, and cease searching for and exaggerating their faults. We will naturally come to cherish them as a result, which will make both them and us happier and more peaceful. This is also an excellent way to generate merit (good karma).