Buddha’s teachings

In his 45-year teaching career, the Buddha gave teachings to a wide variety of people. Those who came to him fell into three main groups — as people also do today. Buddha gave them different teachings, which can be classified into different types of Buddhism.

Theravada (The School of the Elders)

The Theravada provides teachings about cause and effect (karma), as well as pacifying meditations to create distance from difficult thoughts and feelings. Following these teachings – also described as the Small Way (Sanskrit: Hinayana) – the understanding arises that thoughts and feelings are not personal. This gives us the opportunity to act in a beneficial way and accumulate positive karma.
The teachings spread mainly through countries in South-East Asia, including Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma. Today, the School of the Elders (Sanskrit: Theravada), is the closest example of this type of Buddhism. Their goal is liberation from all disturbances.

Mahayana (Great Way)

Mahayana teachings attract people whose primary motivation in life is to be useful to others, also known as the Bodhisattva Attitude. The teachings and meditations of the Great Way aim to gradually increase compassion and wisdom. Supporting development on this way is the wisdom that the world is like a dream. Therefore, it can be changed through our thoughts, words, and actions. These Buddhist teachings spread chiefly through northern Asia – into Japan, Vietnam, China, Tibet, and Korea. For this reason, the Great Way (Sanskrit: Mahayana) schools are also known as Northern Buddhist schools. Their goal is to become not just liberated, but fully enlightened for the benefit of all. The Mahayana includes the Theravada teachings.

Vajrayana (Diamond Way)

Buddha’s teachings described as the Diamond Way (Sanskrit: Vajrayana) are about the mind itself. These direct teachings that Buddha gave are for those who have a special kind of confidence. They understand that they can only perceive perfection outside because they have the same innate perfection inside. In Vajrayana, the Buddha is not considered a person; rather he is a mirror to our own mind. The teachings point out mind’s perfect qualities directly. They are often known as Buddhist Tantra. When Buddhism was destroyed in its native land, these teachings survived mainly in Tibet. The Vajrayana also includes the Theravada and Mahayana teachings.

The life of the Buddha

The life story of the Buddha begins in Lumbini, near the border of Nepal and India, about 2,600 years ago, where the man Siddharta Gautama was born.

Although born a prince, he realized that conditioned experiences could not provide lasting happiness or protection from suffering. After a long spiritual search he went into deep meditation, where he realized the nature of mind. He achieved the state of unconditional and lasting happiness: the state of enlightenment, of buddhahood. This state of mind is free from disturbing emotions and expresses itself through fearlessness, joy and active compassion. For the rest of his life, the Buddha taught anyone who asked how they could reach the same state.

“I teach because you and all beings want to have happiness and want to avoid suffering. I teach the way things are.”
– The Buddha

Buddha’s early life

Greco-buddhist representation of Buddha Shakyamuni from the ancient region of Gandhara, eastern Afghanistan. Greek artists were most probably the authors of these early representations of the Buddha.

India at the time of the Buddha was very spiritually open. Every major philosophical view was present in society, and people expected spirituality to influence their daily lives in positive ways.
At this time of great potential, Siddhartha Gautama, the future Buddha, was born into a royal family in what is now Nepal, close to the border with India. Growing up, the Buddha was exceptionally intelligent and compassionate. Tall, strong, and handsome, the Buddha belonged to the Warrior caste. It was predicted that he would become either a great king or spiritual leader. Since his parents wanted a powerful ruler for their kingdom, they tried to prevent Siddharta from seeing the unsatisfactory nature of the world. They surrounded him with every kind of pleasure. He was given five hundred attractive ladies and every opportunity for sports and excitement. He completely mastered the important combat training, even winning his wife, Yasodhara, in an archery contest.
Suddenly, at age 29, he was confronted with impermanence and suffering. On a rare outing from his luxurious palace, he saw someone desperately sick. The next day, he saw a decrepit old man, and finally a dead person. He was very upset to realize that old age, sickness and death would come to everyone he loved. Siddharta had no refuge to offer them.
The next morning the prince walked past a meditator who sat in deep absorption. When their eyes met and their minds linked, Siddhartha stopped, mesmerized. In a flash, he realized that the perfection he had been seeking outside must be within mind itself. Meeting that man gave the future Buddha a first and enticing taste of mind, a true and lasting refuge, which he knew he had to experience himself for the good of all.

Buddha’s enlightenment

A painting showing the Bodhi tree under which Siddhartha Gautama is said to have attained enlightenment and become the Buddha

The Buddha decided he had to leave his royal responsibilities and his family in order to realize full enlightenment. He left the palace secretly, and set off alone into the forest. Over the next six years, he met many talented meditation teachers and mastered their techniques. Always he found that they showed him mind’s potential but not mind itself. Finally, at a place called Bodhgaya, the future Buddha decided to remain in meditation until he knew mind’s true nature and could benefit all beings. After spending six days and nights cutting through mind’s most subtle obstacles, he reached enlightenment on the full moon morning of May, a week before he turned thirty-five.
At the moment of full realization, all veils of mixed feelings and stiff ideas dissolved and Buddha experienced the all-encompassing here and now. All separation in time and space disappeared. Past, present, and future, near and far, melted into one radiant state of intuitive bliss. He became timeless, all-pervading awareness. Through every cell in his body he knew and was everything. He became Buddha, the Awakened One.
After his enlightenment, Buddha traveled on foot throughout northern India. He taught constantly for forty-five years. People of all castes and professions, from kings to courtesans, were drawn to him. He answered their questions, always pointing towards that which is ultimately real.
Throughout his life, Buddha encouraged his students to question his teachings and confirm them through their own experience. This non-dogmatic attitude still characterizes Buddhism today.

“I can die happily. I have not kept a single teaching hidden in a closed hand. Everything that is useful for you, I have already given. Be your own guiding light.”
– The Buddha, while leaving his body at the age of eighty

Being a Buddhist

           Buddhists generally describe themselves as happy people. But becoming Buddhist doesn’t magically change the world around us to fit our needs. So what is it that changes?

To be a Buddhist, we don’t need to wear any special clothing, change our eating habits, or give up material possessions or a social life. It’s as simple as changing our perception — not taking the obstacles that come our way so seriously, and seeing everything around us as interesting and full of potential. Simple to say but not always easy to do.
By understanding the teachings and using tools like meditation, as Buddhists we gradually alter our view of whatever is happening in life. It’s not about putting on rose-tinted glasses but rather removing veils that prevent us from seeing how things really are.
The Buddha’s teachings are a great treasury of helpful advice and each tradition emphasizes different aspects of Buddhism. When it comes to living the teachings, monks, nuns, and lay people have quite different lifestyles. What can we say here about Diamond Way Buddhists?
Diamond Way Buddhists are lay people, often with families and regular jobs, who incorporate Buddhist methods into their daily lives.

What makes you a Buddhist?

In order to be able to become Buddhist, we need to take responsibility for creating our own lives, with the confidence that cause and effect, or karma, really functions. Through our thoughts and judgments, we create habits and attitudes that either limit or free us. Through experience, we see that we create today the causes of our situations tomorrow.
If we want to take this responsibility and decide to use this chance to reach the state of a Buddha, what do we need?
We need values that we can trust. Mind is the only thing that doesn’t change. It wasn’t born and cannot die. It is always and everywhere like space. Enlightenment, or Buddhahood, is a fully developed state of mind and is the goal of Buddhism. As Buddhists, we make a connection with this state – we open up to it – and this we call taking refuge. We also take refuge in the teachings (Dharma) that bring us to the goal, in our friends on the way (Sangha), and in our teacher (Lama).
From the state of complete joy and accomplishment of enlightenment, we can do the most to benefit others. So Buddhists also strengthen their determination to pursue this goal, so that we can share it with others. And to use whatever strength and insight we get on the way for the benefit of all. This noble aspiration is known as the Bodhisattva Promise.

How do we become enlightened?

Practicing meditation, we get used to being in a state with less disturbing emotions and more joy and clarity. Then we try to bring the perspective experienced in meditation into daily life. If a difficult situation comes up, can we see it from a bigger perspective with less drama? Can we see the potential even in that person who’s triggering our emotions today?

It is really important to start the day by remembering compassion. It doesn’t have to take long, but just for a moment be aware of how many beings there are and really wish that everybody becomes free from suffering. It makes a big difference if you wish that whatever you do will benefit them somehow.
– Hannah Nydahl, interview in Buddhism Today

Our meditation practice is like a laboratory; we work on ourselves in a closed environment. Then we check our view and reactions in daily life — stuck in traffic, negotiating at work, or trying our best with our partners, co-workers, or children. The proof of spiritual development is being better able to handle real-life situations with grace, skill, and humor.
If this sounds reasonable and like something one can use, then it’s natural to ask where to begin.

Where to start?

The easiest way in the West is to find a Buddhist center near you, where you can get an introduction to Buddhism and learn meditation. There are usually books, magazines and recorded lectures available to check out. If you like the people and meditations in the Buddhist center, then it makes sense to visit a lecture by a Buddhist master like Lama Ole Nydahl or Karmapa when they teach in your city or country.

What is Buddhism?

• Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to Insight into the true nature of reality. Buddhist practices like meditation are means of changing yourself in order to develop the qualities of awareness, kindness, and wisdom. The experience developed within the Buddhist tradition over thousands of years has created an incomparable resource for all those who wish to follow a path — a path which ultimately culminates in Enlightenment or Buddhahood. An enlightened being sees the nature of reality absolutely clearly, just as it is, and lives fully and naturally in accordance with that vision. This is the goal of the Buddhist spiritual life, representing the end of suffering for anyone who attains it.
  Because Buddhism does not include the idea of worshipping a creator god, some people do not see it as a religion in the normal, Western sense. The basic tenets of Buddhist teaching are straightforward and practical: nothing is fixed or permanent; actions have consequences; change is possible. So Buddhism addresses itself to all people irrespective of race, nationality, caste, sexuality, or gender. It teaches practical methods which enable people to realise and use its teachings in order to transform their experience, to be fully responsible for their lives.
   There are around 350 million Buddhists and a growing number of them are Westerners. They follow many different forms of Buddhism, but all traditions are characterised by non-violence, lack of dogma, tolerance of differences, and, usually, by the practice of meditation.

សិក្ខាបទ៥

សិក្ខាបទ ៥ (បាលី បញ្ចសីលានិ, សំស្ក្រឹត បញ្ចសីលានិ) គឺជា សិក្ខាបទចាំបាច់ របស់ពុទ្ធសាសនិកជន ដែលសមាទានដោយគ្រហស្ថ (ឧបាសក និង ឧបាសិកា) អ្នក​កាន់​ពុទ្ធសាសនា​និកាយ​ថេរវាទ និង មហាយាន ។ សិក្ខាបទ នៃប្រពៃណីទាំង ២ នេះ មានសារសំខាន់ដូចគ្នា គឺការប្រកាន់យក កិរិយា​វៀរចាក​ការ​សម្លាប់​សត្វ, វៀរចាក​ការលួចយកទ្រពគេ, វៀរចាកការប្រព្រឹត្តខុសក្នុងកាម, វៀរចាកការពោលនូវពាក្យកុហក, វៀរចាកការសេពគ្រឿងស្រវឹង ។ សមាទានសិក្ខាបទ៥ គឺជាការ[[ប្រតិបត្តិ[[ដំបូង និង ទៀងទាត់ប្រកប​​​ដោយវិរិយភាព នៃពុទ្ធសាសនិក ដែលជាគ្រហស្ថ ។ សិក្ខាបទ៥ នេះ មិនតាំងឡើងដោយការបង្ខិតបង្ខំទេ ប៉ុន្តែជាក្បួនសំរាប់គ្រហស្ថរៀន ធ្វើដោយស្ម័គ្រចិត្ត ដើម្បីសម្រួលការប្រតិបត្តិ។

ខាងក្រោមនេះគឺ បញ្ចសិក្ខាបទ ឬ បញ្ចសីលា ជាភាសាខ្មែរ និង បាលី ។

1. បាណាតិបាតា វេរមណី សិក្ខាបទំ សមាទិយាមិ ប្រែថា ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណាសូមសមាទាន នូវសិក្ខាបទ គឺចេតនាជាហេតុវៀរចាកកិរិយាធ្វើនូវសត្វមានជីវិតឲ្យធ្លាក់ចុះកន្លង គឺសម្លាប់សត្វ ។
2. អទិន្នាទានា វេរមណី សិក្ខាបទំ សមាទិយាមិ ប្រែថា ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណាសូមសមាទាន នូវសិក្ខាបទ គឺចេតនាជាហេតុវៀរចាកកិរិយាកាន់យកនូវវត្ថុដែលគេមិនបានឲ្យ ដោយកាយឬដោយវាចា ។
3. កាមេសុ មិច្ឆាចារា វេរមណី សិក្ខាបទំ សមាទិយាមិ ប្រែថា ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណាសូមសមាទាន នូវសិក្ខាបទ គឺចេតនាជាហេតុវៀរចាកកិរិយាប្រព្រឹត្តខុសក្នុងកាមទាំងឡាយ ។
4. មុសាវាទា វេរមណី សិក្ខាបទំ សមាទិយាមិ ប្រែថា ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណាសូមសមាទាន នូវសិក្ខាបទ គឺចេតនាជាហេតុវៀរចាកកិរិយាពោលនូវពាក្យកុហក ។
5. សុរាមេរយមជ្ជប្បមាទដ្ឋានា វេរមណី សិក្ខាបទំ សមាទិយាមិ ប្រែថា ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណាសូមសមាទាន នូវសិក្ខាបទ គឺចេតនាជាហេតុវៀរចាកកិរិយាជាទីតាំងនៃសេចក្តីប្រមាទ គឺផឹកនូវទឹកស្រវឹង គឺសុរា និង មេរ័យ ។

How to Find a Buddhist Teacher

A good Buddhist teacher help you a lot on the path to enlightenment. However, before finding a teacher, you should make clear why you need one. Bear in mind that a Buddhist teacher cannot create life you want or make a high-spirit person that you want to be. Furthermore, a teacher cannot alleviate your pain and enrich you enlightenment.
So, why do you need a Buddhist teacher? As one begins the spiritual trip of practicing Buddhism, one still falls victim to his habitual behaviors. Without the guidance of a master, one cannot walk out of the cycle of wrongdoings. You need a teacher standing outside your inner world and show you the direction to progress.

• Remove Ego
  You might think you are doing well in practice. A complacent person tends to be self-indulged in his/her own practice. However, once challenged by masters, your insight disappears just like a smoke in the breeze. A teacher will pull you out of ego and look yourself with deeper insight.
• Start From Buddhist Centers Nearby
  Figure out whether there is a Buddhist center around where you are living now. It is ideal to start Buddhist practice with teachers in a Buddhist center nearby. This will save lots of troubles and time. Meanwhile, a person will be less distracted by other problems brought about by the commute everyday.
• The Best Teacher is Usually the Most Ordinary One.
  How can you tell a real teacher from a fraud one? Many school institutions will authorize qualified teachers to teach. A good teacher must have some association with authorized institutions. And he will never bagger who he is and will never promise that he can give you a great way to attain enlightenment.

A Buddhist Philosophy of Education

A Buddhist philosophy of education is based on a Buddhist social philosophy. No society will manage education without associating it with beliefs in regard to justice, freedom and equality. The system of education will be one of the systems relying on the social systems.

Buddhism and Education

• Buddhist education should teach people to be good people and abandon any animal instincts and bad behaviors. Moreover, it teaches people the path to attain mental freedom.
• One of the way to carry out Buddhist education is to establish the Buddha as the primary philosophy and to derive an educational philosophy from that. The other way is to teach Buddhism in schools and institutions so as to enrich the youth with Buddhist teachings. This is a good way to train the youth to be good person and purify their mind with moral merits. But it doesn’t mean that we will make Buddhism as the basis of the system of education, but to reinforce the existing education system.

The Goal of Buddhist Education

• The critical goal of Buddhist education is to attain wisdom. Buddhism believes that the ultimate of wisdom is inherent in each person’s nature, stating that everyone has the potential to achieve wisdom. However, the majority are distracted by misunderstanding and misconceptions, therefore, are incapable of being aware of this kind of potential. In this sense, Buddhism aims to teach us recognize the intrinsic part of human nature.
• Buddhist wisdom varies from individual to individual. It is related to the degree to which one’s delusion is and there is no inherent difference among all human beings. Buddhism helps us remove delusion and regain the wisdom to remove confusions of individual potential and achieve happiness.
• Buddhism considers deep meditation and concentration as the crucial factors in order to attain wisdom. Buddhism teaches the way of meditation and the mindfulness of concentration.

Buddhist Social Philosophy

Buddhism and Social Philosophy 
           Some argue that Buddhism offers no social philosophy. However, this argument makes no sense since it all depends on how we define social philosophy. If social philosophy refers to social morality that governs people’s behaviors, Buddhism has many teachings on this sense, like The Five Precepts and The Noble Eightfold Path. But if the social philosophy refers to the way to organize the structure of society, Buddhism stands outside.

         Buddhism admits the individual personality, stating that each person has the right to experience personally. Buddhist social forms aim at promoting mundane equality and maximum freedom, even though they are incapable of creating everlasting peace and contentment in mind. Buddhist society is not to provide home for human beings, but help people to search for a way to go beyond sickness, aging and death.
Buddhism shows no interest in designing a frame for individual relationship, but it does organize a form for the complex forces within the individual. Meanwhile, Buddhism is slow in analyzing the relationship between individual, but does analyze the relationship between the individual and the Buddha. What’s more, Buddhism encourages morality in a society.
Buddhism suggests that a good society is one where all the people are good people from within. Each person improves himself/ herself from within, the whole society will become a well-modeled society. Buddhism focuses more on individual than the system, stressing that the problems of human beings should be corrected within human beings but not in the system. The Buddha teaches that the best society is one with a democracy of socialism administrated by people who are concerned a lot about the well-beings of its people. Buddhist social philosophy is based on the liberation from siuffering and endeavor to make an equal, free, democratic and stable society.

How to Transform Your Life

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATIONS
The illustrations in this book depict the eight auspicious
symbols, a peacock, the mirror of Dharma, the sun shining
through clouds, and hands in prayer.
The symbolism of the eight auspicious symbols reveals
how to begin, make progress on and complete the Buddhist
path to enlightenment. Just as peacocks are said to thrive
on plants that are poisonous to other birds, sincere spiritual
practitioners can make good use of whatever circumstances
arise in their daily life. Through the mirror of Buddha’s
teachings, Dharma, we can see our own faults and have
the opportunity to overcome them. Like the sun dispelling
clouds, we can develop the wisdom that can remove all
delusions from our mind; and the hands in prayer holding a
wishfulfilling jewel symbolize that by following the spiritual
path we will eventually experience the completely pure
mind of enlightenment.
PART ONE:
Foundation
Come under the great umbrella of Buddhism
​
Introduction
Through practising the instructions presented in this book
we can transform our life from a state of misery into one
of pure and everlasting happiness. These instructions
are scientific methods to improve our human nature.
Everybody needs to be good-natured with a good heart,
because in this way we can solve our own problems as
well as those of others, and we can make our human life
meaningful. Every living being has the same basic wish
– to be happy and avoid suffering. Even newborn babies,
animals and insects have this wish. It has been our main
wish since beginningless time and it is with us all the time,
even during our sleep. We spend our whole life working
hard to fulfil this wish.
Since this world evolved, human beings have spent
almost all their time and energy improving external
conditions in their search for happiness and a solution to
their problems. What has been the result? Instead of their
wishes being fulfilled, human suffering and problems have
continued to increase while the experience of happiness and
peace is decreasing. This clearly shows that until now we
have not found a correct method for reducing our problems
and increasing happiness. The actual correct method
for doing this is changing our attitude from negative
to positive. We must understand this through our own
experience. If we check carefully how we are experiencing
HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
​
problems and unhappiness, we can understand that they
are all created by our uncontrolled desire, wishing ourself
to be happy all the time. By stopping this wish and instead
wishing for others to be happy all the time, we will not
have any problems or unhappiness at all. If we sincerely
practise every day stopping wishing for ourself to be happy
all the time and instead wishing for others to be happy all
the time, then we will understand from our own experience
that through this practice, which prevents attachment to the
fulfilment of our own wishes, we will have no experience
of problems or unhappiness at all. Thus, if we really want
pure and everlasting happiness and freedom from misery,
we must learn to control our mind, principally our desire.
With wisdom we can understand how our human life is
precious, rare and meaningful. Due to the limitations of their
body and mind, those who have taken rebirth as animals,
for example, have no opportunity to understand or practise
spiritual teachings that are methods to control delusions such
as uncontrolled desire, anger and ignorance. Only humans
are free from such hindrances and have all the necessary conditions
for engaging in spiritual paths, which alone lead to
pure and everlasting happiness. This freedom and possession
of necessary conditions are the special characteristics
that make our human life so precious.
Although there are many humans in this world, each
one of us has only one life. One person may own many cars
and houses, but even the richest person in the world cannot
possess more than one life; and, when that is drawing to an
end, he or she cannot buy, borrow or manufacture another.
When we lose this life, it will be very difficult to find another
similarly qualified human life in the future. A human life is
therefore very rare.
INTRODUCTION
​
If we use our human life to accomplish spiritual
realizations, it becomes immensely meaningful. By using
it in this way, we actualize our full potential and progress
from the state of an ordinary, ignorant being to that of a fully
enlightened being, the highest of all beings; and when we
have done this we will have the power to benefit all living
beings without exception. Thus, by using our human life for
gaining spiritual realizations we can solve all our human
problems and fulfil all our own and others’ wishes. What
could be more meaningful than this?
Maintain harmony and joy all the time
​
Inner Peace
Inner peace, or mental peace, is the source of all our happiness.
Although all living beings have the same basic wish to
be happy all the time, very few people understand the real
causes of happiness. We usually believe that external conditions
such as food, friends, cars and money are the real
causes of happiness, and as a result we devote nearly all our
time and energy to acquiring them. Superficially it seems
that these things can make us happy, but if we look more
deeply we will see that they also bring us a lot of suffering
and problems.
Happiness and suffering are opposites, so if something is
a real cause of happiness it cannot give rise to suffering. If
food, money and so forth really are causes of happiness, they
can never be causes of suffering; yet we know from our own
experience that they often do cause suffering. For example,
one of our main interests is food, but the food we eat is also
the principal cause of most of our ill health and sickness.
In the process of producing the things we feel will make us
happy, we have polluted our environment to such an extent
that the very air we breathe and the water we drink now
threaten our health and well-being. We love the freedom and
independence a car can give us, but the cost in accidents and
environmental destruction is enormous. We feel that money
is essential for us to enjoy life, but the pursuit of money also
causes immense problems and anxiety. Even our family and
​
HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
friends, whose company we enjoy, can also bring us a lot of
worry and heartache.
In recent years our knowledge of modern technology has
increased considerably, and as a result we have witnessed
remarkable material progress, but there has not been a
corresponding increase in human happiness. There is no
less suffering in the world today, and there are no fewer
problems. Indeed, it might be said that there are now more
problems and greater dangers than ever before. This shows
that the cause of happiness and the solution to our problems
do not lie in knowledge of material things. Happiness and
suffering are states of mind, and so their main causes are not
to be found outside the mind. If we want to be truly happy
and free from suffering, we must learn how to control our
mind.
The real source of happiness is inner peace. If our mind
is peaceful, we will be happy all the time, regardless of
external conditions, but if it is disturbed or troubled in
any way, we will never be happy, no matter how good our
external conditions may be. External conditions can only
make us happy if our mind is peaceful. We can understand
this through our own experience. For instance, even if we
are in the most beautiful surroundings and have everything
we need, the moment we get angry any happiness we may
have disappears. This is because anger has destroyed our
inner peace.
We can see from this that if we want true, lasting
happiness we need to develop and maintain a special
experience of inner peace. The only way to do this is to train
our mind through spiritual practice – gradually reducing
and eliminating our negative, disturbed states of mind and
replacing them with positive, peaceful states. Eventually,
​
INNER PEACE
through continuing to improve our inner peace we will
experience supreme permanent peace of mind, or ‘nirvana’.
Once we have attained nirvana we will be happy throughout
our life, and in life after life. We will have solved all our
problems and accomplished the true meaning of our human
life.
Since we all have within us our own source of peace and
happiness, we may wonder why it is so hard to maintain
a continually peaceful and joyful mind. This is because
of the delusions that so often crowd our mind. Delusions
are distorted ways of looking at ourself, other people and
the world around us – like a distorted mirror they reflect a
distorted world. The deluded mind of hatred, for example,
views other people as intrinsically bad, but there is no such
thing as an intrinsically bad person. Uncontrolled desire,
also known as desirous attachment, on the other hand, sees
its object of desire as intrinsically good and as a true source
of happiness. If we have a strong craving to eat chocolate,
chocolate appears to be intrinsically desirable. However, once
we have eaten too much of it and start to feel sick, it no longer
seems so desirable and may even appear repulsive. This
shows that in itself chocolate is neither desirable nor repulsive.
It is the deluded mind of attachment that projects all kinds of
pleasurable qualities onto its objects of desire and then relates
to them as if they really did possess those qualities.
All delusions function like this, projecting onto the world
their own distorted version of reality and then relating to
this projection as if it were true. When our mind is under the
influence of delusions we are out of touch with reality and
are not seeing things as they really are. Since our mind is
under the control of at least subtle forms of delusion all the
time, it is not surprising that our lives are so often filled with
​
HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
frustration. It is as if we are continually chasing mirages, only
to be disappointed when they do not give us the satisfaction
for which we had hoped.
When things go wrong in our life and we encounter
difficult situations, we tend to regard the situation itself as
our problem, but in reality whatever problems we experience
come from the mind. If we were to respond to difficult
situations with a positive or peaceful mind they would not be
problems for us; indeed, we may even come to regard them
as challenges or opportunities for growth and development.
Problems arise only if we respond to difficulties with a
negative state of mind. Therefore, if we want to be happy
all the time and to be free from problems, we must develop
and maintain a peaceful mind. Sufferings, problems, worries,
unhappiness and pain all exist within our mind; they are all
unpleasant feelings, which are part of the mind. Through
controlling and purifying our mind we can stop them once
and for all.
To understand this fully, we need to understand the relationship
between the mind and external objects. All objects,
whether pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, are mere appearances
to the mind, just like things experienced in a dream.
This is not easy to understand at first, but we can gain some
understanding by thinking about the following. When we
are awake many different things exist, but when we fall
asleep they cease. This is because the mind to which they
appear ceases. When we dream, the only things that appear
are dream objects. Later, when we wake up, these dream
objects cease. This is because the dreaming mind to which
they appear ceases. If we think deeply about this, we will
understand how we can cause all the unpleasant things that
we dislike to cease simply by abandoning impure, deluded

INNER PEACE
states of mind; and we can cause all the pleasant things
that we desire to arise simply by developing a pure mind.
Purifying our mind of delusions through spiritual practice
fulfils our deepest longing for true, lasting happiness. We
should memorize and contemplate the meaning of the following
words:
The things that I normally see in dreams do not exist.
This proves that the things that I normally see while
awake do not exist,
Since both of these things are equally mistaken
appearance.
I will never grasp at the things that I normally see,
But just be satisfied with their mere name.
By doing this I will liberate myself permanently
From the sufferings of this life and countless future
lives.
In this way I will be able
To benefit each and every living being every day.
We should understand that although delusions are deeply
ingrained, they are not an intrinsic part of our mind and
so they can definitely be removed. Delusions are just bad
mental habits, and like all habits they can be broken. At the
moment our mind is like muddy water, murky and polluted
by delusions. However, just as it is possible to separate
mud from water, so it is possible to purify the mind of all
delusions. With no delusions remaining in our mind, there is
nothing that can disturb our inner peace and joy.
Since time without beginning we have been under the
control of our mind, like a puppet on a string. We are like a
servant working for our mind; whenever our mind wants
to do something, we have to do it without any choice.

HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
Sometimes our mind is like a crazy elephant, creating so
many problems and dangers for ourself and others. By
sincerely engaging in spiritual practice we can reverse this
situation and gain mastery over our mind. Transforming
our mind in this way, we will finally enjoy real freedom.
For our spiritual practice to be successful, we need
the blessings and inspiration of those who have already
gained deep inner realizations, but we also need to give
ourself constant encouragement. If we cannot encourage
ourself, how can we expect anyone else to? When we
understand clearly that inner peace is the real source of
happiness, and how, through spiritual practice, we can
experience progressively deeper levels of inner peace, we
will develop tremendous enthusiasm to practise. This is
very important because to attain the supreme permanent
inner peace of nirvana we need to engage in spiritual practice
sincerely and diligently.
This does not mean that we should ignore external
conditions. We need inner peace, but we also need good
physical health, and for this we need certain external
conditions such as food and a comfortable environment
in which to live. There are many people who concentrate
exclusively on developing the material side of their life,
while completely ignoring spiritual practice. This is one
extreme. However, there are other people who concentrate
exclusively on spiritual practice, while ignoring the material
conditions that are necessary for supporting a healthy
human life. This is another extreme. We need to maintain a
middle way that avoids both extremes of materialism and
spirituality.
Some people believe that those who strive to attain nirvana
are being selfish because they seem to be concentrating only
​
INNER PEACE
on their own inner peace, but this belief is incorrect. Our real
purpose in attaining the supreme permanent inner peace of
nirvana is to help others do the same. Just as the only way
to solve our own problems is to find inner peace, so the only
way to help others to solve theirs is to encourage them to
engage in spiritual practice and discover their own inner
peace. This way of benefiting others is by far the best. If
through training our mind we succeed in pacifying – or even
completely eliminating – our own anger, for example, we
can certainly help others to control theirs. Then our advice
will not be mere words, but will have behind it the power of
personal experience.
We can sometimes help others by providing them
with money or better material conditions, but we should
remember that the greatest benefit we can give is to help them
overcome their delusions and find true, lasting happiness
within. Through technological progress and by organizing
society in fairer, more humane ways, we can certainly help to
improve people’s lives in some respects, but whatever we do
will inevitably have some unwanted side effects. The best we
can hope for is to provide people with conditions that bring
some temporary respite from problems and difficulties, but
we cannot give them true, lasting happiness. This is because
the real cause of happiness is inner peace, which can be
found only within the mind, not in external conditions.
Without inner peace, outer peace is impossible. We all
wish for world peace, but world peace will never be achieved
unless we first establish peace within our own minds. We can
send so-called ‘peacekeeping forces’ into areas of conflict, but
peace cannot be imposed from the outside with guns. Only
by creating peace within our own mind and helping others
do the same can we hope to achieve peace in this world.

                 HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
This book presents many profound methods of spiritual
training, all of which are practical ways to purify and
control our mind. If we put these methods into practice we
will definitely gain a special experience of mental peace. By
continuing to improve this experience, deluded states of
mind will gradually diminish and our inner peace will grow.
Eventually, by abandoning delusions altogether, we will
attain the supreme permanent inner peace of nirvana. Having
overcome our own delusions, such as anger, attachment and
ignorance, and developed profound spiritual realizations of
universal love, compassion, concentration and wisdom, our
ability to help others will be far greater. In this way we can
help others solve their problems not just for a few days or a
few years, but for ever. We can help them discover an inner
peace and joy that nothing, not even death, can destroy. How
wonderful!
​
                      How to Develop and Maintain
a Peaceful Mind
We can develop and maintain a peaceful mind by transforming
our mind from negative states into positive states
through engaging in the pure spiritual practices that are
presented in this book. Through this we can transform our
life from a miserable state into a state of pure and everlasting
happiness.
Happiness and suffering are parts of the mind; the former
is a joyful feeling and the latter an unpleasant feeling.
Since happiness and suffering are parts of the mind, if we
want to avoid suffering and find true happiness we need to
understand the nature and functions of the mind. At first,
this might seem to be quite straightforward since we all have
minds, and we all know what state our mind is in – whether
it is happy or sad, clear or confused, and so forth. However,
if someone were to ask us what the nature of our mind is
and how it functions, we would probably not be able to give
a precise answer. This indicates that we do not have a clear
understanding of the mind.
Some people think that the mind is the brain or some other
part or function of the body, but this is incorrect. The brain is
a physical object that can be seen with the eyes and that can
be photographed or operated on in surgery. The mind, on the
other hand, is not a physical object. It cannot be seen with the
​
                   HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
            eyes, nor can it be photographed or repaired by surgery. The
brain, therefore, is not the mind but simply part of the body.
There is nothing within the body that can be identified
as being our mind because our body and mind are different
entities. For example, sometimes when our body is relaxed
and immobile, our mind can be very busy, darting from one
object to another. This indicates that our body and mind
are not the same entity. In Buddhist scriptures, our body is
compared to a guest house and our mind to a guest dwelling
within it. When we die our mind leaves our body and goes
to the next life, like a guest leaving a guesthouse and going
somewhere else.
If the mind is not the brain, nor any other part of the
body, what is it? It is a formless continuum that functions
to perceive and understand objects. Because the mind is
formless, or non-physical, by nature, it is not obstructed by
physical objects. Thus, it is impossible for our body to go to
the moon without travelling in a spaceship, but our mind
can reach the moon in an instant just by thinking about it.
Knowing and perceiving objects is a function that is unique
to the mind. Although we say, ‘I know such and such’, in
reality it is our mind that knows. We know things only by
using our mind.
It is very important to be able to distinguish disturbed
states of mind from peaceful states. As explained in the
previous chapter, states of mind that disturb our inner
peace, such as anger, jealousy and desirous attachment, are
called ‘delusions’, and these are the principal causes of all
our suffering. We may think that our suffering is caused by
other people, by poor material conditions or by society, but
in reality it all comes from our own deluded states of mind.
The essence of spiritual practice is to reduce and eventually

              HOW TO DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A PEACEFUL MIND
          completely eradicate our delusions, and replace them with
permanent inner peace. This is the real meaning of our
human life.
Normally we seek happiness outside ourself. We try to
obtain better material conditions, a better job, higher social
status and so forth; but no matter how successful we are in
improving our external situation, we still experience many
problems and much dissatisfaction. We never experience
pure, lasting happiness. This shows us that we should not
seek happiness outside ourself, but instead establish it within
by purifying and controlling our mind through sincere
spiritual practice. If we train in this way we can ensure that
our mind remains calm and happy all the time. Then, no
matter how difficult our external circumstances may be, we
will always be happy and peaceful.
In our ordinary life, even though we work very hard to
find happiness it remains elusive for us, whereas suffering
and problems seem to come naturally, without any effort.
Why is this? It is because the cause of happiness within our
mind – inner peace – is very weak and can give rise to its
effect only if we apply great effort, whereas the internal
causes of suffering and problems – the delusions – are very
strong and can give rise to their effects with no effort on our
part. This is the real reason why problems come naturally
while happiness is so difficult to find.
From this we can see that the principal causes of both
happiness and problems are in the mind, not in the external
world. If we were able to maintain a calm and peaceful mind
all day long we would never experience any problems or
mental suffering. For example, if our mind remains peaceful
all the time, then even if we are insulted, criticized or blamed,
or if we lose our job or our friends, we will not become

                              HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
             unhappy. No matter how difficult our external circumstances
may become, for as long as we maintain a calm and peaceful
mind they will not be a problem for us. Therefore, if we
wish to be free from problems there is only one thing to do
– learn to maintain a peaceful state of mind by following the
spiritual path.
The essential point of understanding the mind is that
liberation from suffering cannot be found outside the mind.
Permanent liberation can be found only by purifying the
mind. Therefore, if we want to become free from problems
and attain lasting peace and happiness we need to increase
our knowledge and understanding of how our mind
develops.
There are three different levels of mind: gross, subtle
and very subtle. During our dreams, we have dream
awareness through which the various kinds of dream things
appear to us; this awareness is a subtle mind because it is
difficult to recognize. During deep sleep we have only one
mental awareness, which perceives emptiness alone. This
awareness is called the ‘clear light of sleep’, and is a very
subtle mind because it is extremely difficult to recognize.
During the waking day we have waking awareness
through which various kinds of waking things appear to us.
This awareness is a gross mind because it is not difficult to
recognize. When we fall asleep our gross mind, or waking
awareness, dissolves into our subtle mind of sleep. At the
same time, all our appearances of the waking world become
non-existent; and when we experience deep sleep, our
subtle mind of sleep dissolves into our very subtle mind
of sleep, the clear light of sleep. At this stage, we have
become like a person who has died. Then, because of our
maintaining a karmic connection with this life, from our

                      HOW TO DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A PEACEFUL MIND
            clear light of sleep our gross mind, or waking awareness,
will arise again and various kinds of waking things appear
to us again.
The process of sleeping is very similar to the process of
dying. The difference between these two is that when we
are dying our gross and subtle minds will dissolve into
our very subtle mind of death, known as the ‘clear light of
death’. Then, because of our karmic connection with this
life ceasing, our very subtle mind leaves this body, goes to
the next life and enters a new body, and then all the various
kinds of things of the next life will appear to us. Everything
will be completely new.
Living beings experience countless thoughts or minds,
all of which are included within two: primary minds and
mental factors. A detailed explanation of these can be found
in the book How to Understand the Mind.
If we understand clearly the nature of our mind, we will
definitely realize that the continuum of our mind does not
cease when we die, and there will be no basis for doubting
the existence of our future lives. If we realize the existence
of our future lives, we will naturally be concerned for our
welfare and happiness in those lives, and we will use this
present life to make the appropriate preparations. This
will prevent us from wasting our precious human life on
the preoccupations of this life alone. Therefore, a correct
understanding of the mind is absolutely essential.
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Cuase of Suffrings

             Evidently the world is full of various kinds sufferings such as death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair etc. The Buddha pointed out that birth (Jati) brings forth sufferings. If there is not birth, there is not scope for sufferings. 

Universal Laws

        The Buddha was the teacher who discovered the real nature of the universal cosmic law and who advised people to live in accordance with the law. He mentioned that those who violate this law, such as going against nature, and lead an immoral life, must be ready to face the consequences.

ព្រះគាថានៃព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធ

        

 សុនក្ខត្តំ សុមង្គលំ សុបភាតំ សុហុដ្ឋិតំ សុខិណោ សុមុហុត្តោ ច សុយិដ្ឋំ ព្រហ្មចារីសុ

  

 ពេលណាដែលសត្វទាំងឡាយ ប្រព្រឹត្តល្អដោយកាយ វាចា ចិត្ត ពេលនោះ ឈ្មោះថានក្ខត្តរក្សល្អ ជាពេលភ្លឺស្វាងល្អ ជាលនៃអរុណរះល្អ ជាខណះល្អ ជាយាមល្អ ទានដែលបុគ្គលបានបូជាហើយ ដលព្រហ្មចារីបុគ្គលទាំងឡាយ ក្នុងពេលនោះ ឈ្មោះថាជាគ្រឿងបូជាល្អ។

ចូលអ្នកធ្វើបុណ្យទាំងឡាយ ពិចារណាមើល ព្រះពុទ្ធឱវាទខាងក្រោមនេះ៖

មាវមញ្ញេថ បុញ្ញស្ស ន មត្តំ អាគមស្សតិ ឧទបិន្ទុនិបាតេន ឧទកុម្ភោបិ បូរតិ បូរតិ ធិរោ បុញ្ញស្ស ថោតំ ថោកំបិ អាចិនំ ។

          ប្រែថា៖ បុគ្គលមិនគួរមើលងាយថាបុណ្យថា បុណ្យមានប្រមាណតិច នឹងមិនឱ្យផលឡើយ
សូម្បីក្អមទឹកដែលគេបើកគម្របចំហបាន យ៉ាងណាមិញ ជនអ្នកមានប្រាជ្ញា គេសន្សំបុណ្យ ម្ដងបន្តិចៗ យូរទៅគង់តែពេញហប្ញទ័យដោយបុណ្យបាន ក៏យ៉ាងនោះដែរ។
 

What Exactly is Vipassana Meditation?

 Vipassana or insight meditation is a clear awareness of exactly what is happening as it happens.

 

The distinction between Vipassana meditation and other styles of meditation is crucial and needs to be fully understood. Buddhism addresses two major types of meditation. They are different mental skills, modes of functioning or qualities of consciousness. In Pali, the original language of Theravada literature, they are called Vipassana and Samatha.
Vipassana can be translated as “Insight,” a clear awareness of exactly what is happening as it happens. Samatha can be translated as “concentration” or “tranquility.” It is a state in which the mind is brought to rest, focused only on one item and not allowed to wander. When this is done, a deep calm pervades body and mind, a state of tranquility which must be experienced to be understood.
Most systems of meditation emphasize the Samatha component. The meditator focuses his mind upon some items, such as prayer, a certain type of box, a chant, a candle flame, a religious image or whatever, and excludes all other thoughts and perceptions from his consciousness. The result is a state of rapture which lasts until the meditator ends the session of sitting. It is beautiful, delightful, meaningful and alluring, but only temporary. Vipassana meditation addresses the other component, insight.
In Vipassana mediation, the meditator uses his concentration as a tool by which his awareness can chip away at the wall of illusion that cuts him off from the living light of reality. It is a gradual process of ever-increasing awareness into the inner workings of reality itself. It takes years, but one day the meditator chisels through that wall and tumbles into the presence of light. The transformation is complete. It’s called Liberation, and it’s permanent. Liberation is the goal of all Buddhist systems of practice. But the routes to the attainment of that end are quite diverse.

The Oldest Buddhist Meditation Practice

Vipassana is the oldest of Buddhist meditation practices. The method comes directly from the Satipatthana Sutta [Foundations of Mindfulness], a discourse attributed to the Buddha himself. Vipassana is a direct and gradual cultivation of mindfulness or awareness. It proceeds piece by piece over a period of years. The student’s attention is carefully directed to an intense examination of certain aspects of his own existence. The meditator is trained to notice more and more of his own flowing life experience.
Vipassana is a gentle technique. But it also is very, very thorough. It is an ancient and codified system of training your mind, a set of exercises dedicated to becoming more and more aware of your own life experience. It is attentive listening, mindful seeing and careful testing.
We learn to smell acutely, to touch fully, and to really pay attention to the changes taking place in all these experiences. We learn to listen to our own thoughts without being caught up in them. The object of Vipassana meditation practice is to learn to see the truth of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selflessness of phenomena.
We think we are doing this already, but that is an illusion. It comes from the fact that we are paying so little attention to the ongoing surge of our own life experience that we might just as well be asleep. We are simply not paying enough attention to notice that we are not paying attention. It is another Catch-22.

Becoming a Buddha

  The three secrets to liberation in Japanese esoteric Buddhism

         When I first visited Japan as a college student many years ago, I came for the explicit purpose of studying Buddhism. Like many of my fellow travelers, I was introduced to Japanese Buddhism through the writing of mid-century American poets such as Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and Jack Kerouac. I chose a study abroad program that allowed foreign students to study at Buddhist temples, because I wanted to experience the spiritual adventures described in English-language literature on Buddhism. I expected to find austere mountain retreats filled with meditating monks who only paused from their pursuits toward enlightenment to craft elegant flower arrangements or compose enigmatic haiku. What I found was anything but the romanticized tales of American literature.
At a temple near the foothills of Mount Hiei, just to the northeast of Kyoto, we awoke at sunrise to join a dozen or so monks dressed in multicolored robes and reciting a series of chants that turned out to be scriptures. We then moved on to stay at another temple on Mount Koya to the south, where we participated in elaborate rituals featuring wrathful deities, fire, and rhythmic incantations. What were we chanting? I was curious to know what this all meant.
As I later discovered, both mountains are home to schools of esoteric Buddhism. These mountaintop monasteries were established in the early 9th century CE as training centers where clergy throughout Japan could study newly imported texts and their ritual applications. It is unclear what exactly this training consisted of during the early centuries, but learning the proper recitation of incantations called dharanis and mantras was certainly its primary objective. However, what exactly made these practices “esoteric” and how they were thought to differ from traditional Mahayana Buddhism are difficult questions to answer.
Like tantra and vajrayana in the Buddhist traditions of Central Asia, esoteric Buddhism in Japan is sometimes called the completion or fulfillment of the Buddha’s teachings. A millennium of wrangling among Buddhist scholastics and modern scholars has concluded that the esoteric teachings were not preached by the historical Shakyamuni Buddha during his 80 years of life in this world. Among their adherents, however, they are seen to be the timeless and ultimate truth of the dharma that caused Shakyamuni’s awakening to buddhahood in the first place. Therefore, those who cultivate these esoteric teachings have direct access to the very source of the Buddha’s enlightenment. If we put aside the particulars of such sectarian polemics, however, and explore how esoteric Buddhism has been discussed over the centuries, we discover a much more multivalent meaning to this arcane, although influential, tradition within Japanese Buddhism.
The English word esoteric originates from Greek, meaning “internal” or “inner.” The Sino-Japanese ideograph commonly translated as “esoteric Buddhism,” literally means “secret teachings.” We can generally define this form of Buddhism as a teaching of the Buddha that is either a secret to be discovered in the mind of the practitioner or knowledge limited to an elite group of practitioners. The basic etymological definition of the word, however, sheds very little light on the actual content and details of these so-called secret teachings, especially if we take into consideration the fact that the term “esoteric Buddhism” has come to denote several overlapping traditions, practices, and doctrines in Japanese Buddhism.
Similar to classification systems of tantra in the Indo-Tibetan tradition, esoteric Buddhism in Japan denotes a class of scripture. Although the term tantra rarely appears in East Asian sources, many of the texts utilized in Japan are Chinese translations of early tantras. For instance, the Sarva-tathagata-tattva-samgraha, the primary source for the ritual system in Japanese esoteric Buddhism, was a seminal yoga tantra that still plays an important role in Nepali Buddhism. But this is where the similarities between Central and East Asian Buddhism end, and one must take caution not to assume a historical continuity between these traditions. While the early tantras gave way to the more systematic and detailed rites of the Guhyasamaja Tantra and Hevajra Tantra in India and Tibet, these textual and ritual traditions made no impact on East Asian Buddhism. Rather than devising a system of tantra distinct from the Mahayana sutras, esoteric Buddhist scholastics were mostly concerned with how newly translated texts such as the Sarva-tathagata-tattva-samgraha, Mahavairocana Sutra, Susiddhikara Sutra, and their respective ritual manuals compared with the teachings of older sutras, particularly the Lotus and the Mahaparinirvana.
Esoteric Buddhism can also be identified by a specific set of rituals that evolved out of these scriptures. The fourfold initiation rite (shido kegyo), for instance, is a series of incantation practices and rites involving mandalas, culminating in a fire ritual (goma, from Sanskrit homa); there are also other rites to produce worldly benefits such as rainmaking or healing. (By the late 12th century, such rites had become pervasive among clergy in Japan, whose livelihoods often relied on their perform-ance of these rituals.) Another kind of rite—the consecration rites called abhisheka—is also a staple of esoteric Buddhism. The imperial court even took part in special consecration rites that employed esoteric imagery, such as mandalas, and the recitation of mantras, and monastic centers and their clergy competed for imperial favor by providing such ritual services.
The ritual lineage was an important component of medieval esoteric Buddhism, perhaps more important than the rituals themselves. Ritual training systems varied according to lineage, and the affiliation of a monk with a particular temple and master was essential to the preservation of a given style of rite. The transmission of ritual protocols for mantras, the hand gestures known as mudras, and the procedures of a rite were transmitted secretly from master to disciple, which kept the correct performance of a rite secret as well. However, lineage and secrecy have long been important issues in East Asian Buddhism. The rites in esoteric Buddhism may have added new components based on recently translated sources, but the emphasis on orthodox lineage was nothing new or particularly esoteric.
Rhetoric should also be considered a part of any definition of esoteric Buddhism. Calling one’s own tradition “esoteric” and its central teachings “secret” is, of course, a polemical assertion. The term “secret teachings” implies a superior and elite knowledge. This knowledge is contrasted with a lesser “exoteric” form of the teaching, which is simpler and adapted for less advanced practitioners. The phrase “exo-esoteric Buddhism” is a case in point. By the 11th century, some esoteric schools began distinguishing themselves from others by declaring that only they had received transmission into the truly secret teachings of the Buddha. The other schools, it was claimed, also expounded the secret teachings, but still relied on an exoteric interpretation to explain them. The use of the pejorative “exo-esoteric Buddhism” was intended to elevate one’s own school over the other forms of esoteric Buddhism. In other words, to claim that one’s own tradition is esoteric is to assert authority over a superior lineage and knowledge of the teachings that is not necessarily accessible to the average practitioner.
Despite its polemical overtones, there is still a doctrinal basis to the notion of a secret teaching. The defining element of esoteric Buddhism in Japan is the claim that an initiate into the tradition can achieve liberation as a Buddha in this world and in his or her current physical body by realizing the secret teachings of the Buddha. The method for accomplishing this feat is called the cultivation of the three secret activities (sanmitsu gyo).
It is a common misconception that this doctrine originated with the esoteric sutras and was primarily a Japanese innovation. Actually, it can be found in Chinese Buddhism as early as the 3rd century, and by the time these texts were translated in the late 7th and 8th centuries, the doctrine of the three secret activities was already a topic frequently discussed among Chinese Buddhist intellectuals.
The concept of the three secret activities was based on a correlation between the three sources of karmic production in sentient beings—namely body, speech, and mind—and those same functions in the Buddha. Regulating these karmic actions has always been central to codes of conduct for monastics and lay practitioners alike. For example, the purpose of the ten lay precepts in Mahayana Buddhism is to instruct members of the Buddhist community in proper conduct regarding the karmic effects of their bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Prohibitions against killing, stealing, and engaging in sexual misconduct govern bodily actions that inevitably have negative karmic consequences. Restrictions on lying, slander, divisive language, and flattery allow the practitioner to cultivate wholesome speech. Ethical guidelines for eradicating greed, anger, and false views purify one’s mental state and eventually lead to liberation from such negative karmic results. Once the Mahayana practitioner ceases to commit these negative actions and instead cultivates wholesome bodily, linguistic, and mental activities, he or she will achieve a favorable rebirth and advance on the path toward buddhahood.
From early on in East Asian Buddhism, it was assumed that the Buddha must also possess these three activities. After all, if the Buddha spoke the sermons recorded in the sutras, he must have had the ability to speak. He also had a physical form, which is represented in numerous statues, drawings, and literary accounts detailing the distinctive marks of a buddha, so he clearly had bodily actions. And according to scriptures such as the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha teaches in response to the needs of sentient beings, so he must have some kind of mental activity in order to perceive these needs. However, a buddha, by definition, has extinguished all negative karmic output and therefore has purified the three activities. Because these pure activities are inconceivable to non-buddhas, they are called “secret.”
The claim that the Buddha possesses three karmic activities in a similar fashion to sentient beings was pervasive throughout Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. But the esoteric tradition differs from the mainstream Mahayana interpretation in its procedure for realizing these activities. To the question “How exactly can unenlightened sentient beings comprehend the rarified actions of the Buddha?” the obvious answer is that only someone who has experienced awakening knows what it is like to become a buddha. In the Mahayana schools, this process is explained in abstract terms such as “realizing the characteristics of thusness,” the “perfect interfusion of all existence,” or simply as “inconceivable.” The expedited path to liberation in esoteric Buddhism, however, is premised on the possibility of cultivating the three secret activities through a ritualized union with the Buddha, achieved by mimicking the body, speech, and mind of the Buddha.
By assuming the posture of a buddha and emulating its mudras, the esoteric practitioner embodies the characteristics of the Buddha. The correct recitation of a buddha’s mantra identifies the reciter with the speech of the Buddha. Mantras are the language of enlightened beings, and mastering this secret language opens a channel of communication with the Buddha. Finally, to see things as they truly are is to know the mind of the Buddha. In esoteric Buddhism, this abstraction is represented by the iconography of the mandala. Mandalas are the cosmos seen from the perspective of a fully awakened being. By generating the buddhas, bodhisattvas, deities, and alternative realms depicted in the mandala in one’s own mind, the adept unites his or her mental actions with the secret activity of the Buddha.
In essence, the practice of cultivating the three secret activities is a theory of ritual. Whether singing hymns, undertaking austerities, or focusing on calming the mind, the practitioner must follow an established set of protocols in order to achieve the desired spiritual aims. By mimicking the three activities of the Buddha, the esoteric Buddhist acolyte sets forth on a path toward purifying the body, speech, and mind, ultimately leading to the attainment of buddhahood. The methods for achieving such a lofty goal are accessible to the modern practitioner only because the necessary ritual protocols have been tested, refined, and transmitted by past masters.
The soteriological process of the three secret activities is contingent on the inherent capacity for all beings to become a buddha, not only in the distant future after numerous rebirths but in one’s current body. If the esoteric practitioner correctly emulates the activities of a buddha, then he or she can see the body of the buddha, hear its voice, and comprehend its thoughts. Thus, the three secret activities of the Buddha coexist with the three activities of sentient beings. By unifying one’s three activities with the activities of a buddha, the practitioner will see his or her own body as the Buddha, hear his own voice as the voice of the Buddha, and realize that his own thoughts are the mind of the Buddha. As a style of deity yoga, this practice aims to guide the initiate toward the ultimate realization that the secret activities of the Buddha and the actions of the practitioner are essentially nondual and indistinguishable. In other words, if you look like a buddha, talk like a buddha, and think like a buddha, then you must be a buddha.
The cultivation of the three secret activities is fundamental to both the Mount Hiei (Tendai) and Mount Koya (Shingon) traditions of esoteric Buddhism. Although the notion that the Buddha possesses such actions was commonplace in East Asia well before the translation of esoteric texts, the proposition that it is possible for sentient beings to realize such secrets is definitive of esoteric Buddhism. Therefore, in addition to the historical and liturgical features of the esoteric schools of Japanese Buddhism, the doctrine of the three secret activities distinguishes them from other Mahayana traditions.
Finally, we might say that the secret teachings of the Buddha are internal to our own bodily, verbal, and mental actions and accessible to us thanks to the transmission of practices that have been passed down by elite groups of ritual masters. However, reflecting on this doctrine of mimetic buddhahood, I can’t help but wonder if it was intended to be taken literally—or are the three secrets of the Buddha a metaphor for the path to becoming a buddha? If the secret activities of the Buddha mirror the actions of sentient beings, and it is possible for sentient beings to realize these secrets, then isn’t the cultivation of these perfected activities just a metaphor for our own liberation from negative karmic output?
Since I was first introduced to Japanese esoteric Buddhism many years ago, I have often pondered this question and have come to think that yes, this doctrine is a metaphor. But that does not diminish its salvific value. Navigating the fuzzy line between metaphor and reality is an essential component of religious thought and practice. Crossing the sea of samsara, for example, is a metaphor for passing from our world, with all its familiar experiences of suffering, into an uncertain existence (or nonexistence, as the case may be) in which all such suffering has been extinguished. Metaphors allow us to express the ineffable and explain the incomprehensible. Esoteric Buddhism seizes on such metaphors not merely as abstract concepts but as methods for crossing from the known to the unknown and, ultimately, for becoming a buddha.

មនុស្សធម៌ ឬសប្បុរសធម៌

មនុស្សធម៌ឬសប្បុរសមធ៌ត្រូវប្រកាន់ខ្ជាប់នៅគោលការណ៍៥យ៉ាងដូចខាងក្រោម៖

១.បាណាតិបាត​ មិនបៀតបៀនជីវិតអ្នកដ៏ទៃ ឬសត្វឡើយ។

២.អទិន្នាទាន មិនរំពៃលួចទ្រព្យអ្នកដ៏ទៃ ដែលមានម្ចាស់ហូងហែងថែរក្សា។

៣.កាមេសុ មិច្ឆាចារ មិនប្រព្រឹត្តខុសក្នុងកាមទាំងឡាយ។

៤.មុសាវាទ មិនពោលពាក្យកុហក បោកប្រាស់។

៥.សុរាមេរយ មិនសេពនូវគ្រឿងស្រវឹងទាំឡាយ ។ល។

បុត្របីយ៉ាងដែលព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់ត្រាស់សម្ដែង

ព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធទ្រង់ត្រាស់សម្ដែងអំពីបុត្រទាំងបីយ៉ាងដូចខាងក្រោម៖

១.អវជាតបុត្ត បុត្រដែលអន់ថយជាងមាតាបិតា

២.អនុជាតបុត្ត បុត្រដែលស្មើគ្នានិងមាតាបិតា

៣.អតិជាតបុត្ត បុត្រដែលថ្លៃថ្លាជាងមាតាបិតា ។

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