四百供法會開示 2020
Gyabshi (400 Offerings) Puja Teaching 2020

Gosok Rinpoche Teaching – Gyabshi (400 Offerings)

Jangchub Choeling 2020

First, I wish everyone auspiciousness and well-being. Today, all of you have gathered here to attend this Dharma event, and you hope that I will say a few words. Therefore, I will speak briefly.

Precious Human Life

In this world, there are many human beings, as well as countless sentient beings in the animal realm and other realms. Among all these sentient beings, it is very special that we have been born as humans. Generally speaking, humans possess extraordinary intelligence compared to animals. Moreover, if one is not only born as a human but also becomes a Buddhist practitioner, it is even more rare and significant.

Since we are so special, what should we do? Let me give an analogy: A physician with great knowledge and excellent medical skills should make special contributions to society. If he does not, and merely possesses these abilities without fulfilling his mission to help others, then living without meaning and wasting this precious human life would be extremely regrettable.

Renunciation, Bodhicitta, and Correct View of Emptiness

We have attained this human body endowed with the eight kinds of leisure (Astaksana) and ten kinds of endowment (Dasa Sampadah). We have faith in the teachings of the World-Honored One (the Buddha) and some understanding of the Four Noble Truths. Given such a rare and precious opportunity, what appropriate actions should we take?

We should not act like animals or ordinary people who only seek to remove temporary suffering and pursue fleeting happiness. Instead, we must explore how to uproot the causes of suffering, completely transcend pain, attain liberation, and achieve the state of Buddhahood, thereby accomplishing eternal bliss.

In fact, such aspirations are achievable for us. But how can we accomplish them? As long as our minds can generate realizations of the path — renunciation, bodhicitta, and the correct view of emptiness — we can cease suffering and its causes, and attain eternal happiness. Therefore, we should strive to cultivate these realizations within our minds and repeatedly familiarize ourselves with them, just as a physician continuously studies various aspects of medicine until they become proficient in prescribing remedies and diagnosing illnesses. Thus, we should continually reflect on and practice these aspects of the path within our minds.

Accumulating Merit and Purifying Negativities

However, is it sufficient to merely repeatedly practice these teachings? In fact, it is not. We also need to accumulate merit and purify negativities. The cultivation of renunciation, bodhicitta, and the correct view of emptiness must go hand in hand with the practices of accumulating merit and purifying negativities. Only by practicing both can realizations of the path arise within our minds. This is analogous to planting a seed in fertile soil: when conditions such as watering and fertilizing are met, the seed will grow and bear fruit. Therefore, we must engage in the practices of accumulating merit and purifying negativities.

What is the field of merit for accumulating virtue? As the verse states:

“In front of the supreme field of merit, the venerable guru, I sincerely offer prayers with devotion; the root of all goodness is the guru, the protector. With joy, I request blessings.”

The supreme field of merit is the guru. Whether we rely on the Buddha, bodhisattvas, or yidam deities in our practice, their essence is ultimately inseparable from the guru. Although they may appear as buddhas or bodhisattvas, their essence is the guru. It is crucial to develop unwavering faith in this understanding.

Guru Yoga

Similarly, purification of negativities must also be based on guru yoga. For example, when practicing purification through Vajrasattva recitation, one should visualize Vajrasattva as inseparable from the guru. One should contemplate that Vajrasattva arises from the guru’s mind-stream of non-dual bliss and emptiness wisdom. This understanding makes Vajrasattva the most supreme field of merit for purification. As the saying goes, “Guru yoga is the life-force of the path.” Whether accumulating merit or purifying negativities—such as through the practice of Vajrasattva or the recitation of the Confession to the Thirty-Five Buddhas  — one must view the buddhas as inseparable from the guru’s essence. Thus, guru yoga should be integrated into the practices of accumulating merit and purifying negativities, and its significance must be understood.

Regarding the tantric practices, the foundation of the generation stage (related to the “three kayas as the path”) is also guru yoga. In fact, the heart essence of these practices is guru yoga. Just as a seed contains the potential to sprout, guru yoga serves as this generative power. In all the preliminary practices of the generation stage, we find specific guru yoga practices. Therefore, the essence of the generation stage or the “three kayas as the path” lies primarily in guru yoga.

In general, as Atisa stated in the Lamrim: “Whether great or small, all Mahayana virtues depend on the guru to arise.” This is absolutely true. Without relying on the guru, no Mahayana virtues, whether great or small, can manifest.

Furthermore, the ultimate key in tantra lies in the “innate primordial luminosity.” Practicing with the innate primordial luminosity as the path represents the highest level of the Vajrayana. For instance, the “Mahamudra” teachings of the Kagyu tradition emphasize luminosity as the path, just as the “Dzogchen” teachings of the Nyingma tradition focus on luminosity. Similarly, the Sakya tradition’s teachings on “non-duality of samsara and nirvana” and “union of clarity and emptiness” point to the same essence, while the Gelug tradition’s “primordial union of bliss and emptiness wisdom” should also be understood as luminosity as the path.

What conditions are necessary to realize the “innate primordial luminosity”? It must arise through the power of devotion and faith in the guru, leading to the direct realization of emptiness through primordial luminosity. This principle is consistent across all four classes of tantra. Additionally, whether reading the biographies of the great Indian mahasiddhas or the founding masters of the Tibetan traditions—Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug—we see that their ability to realize innate primordial luminosity in their mind-streams depended on their unwavering and intense devotion to the guru. Through devotion, the coarse, deluded, and conceptual mind is subdued, allowing the subtle essence of the original mind to become clear. Gradually, through the clarity of the original mind, they ultimately realized the “innate primordial luminosity,” as evidenced by historical accounts.

Thus, the unique practice of the Anuttarayoga Tantra relies on powerfully manifesting primordial luminosity. How is this achieved? It is through devotion to the guru. We often speak of guru yoga, indicating its great importance. Therefore, we must rely on devotion to the guru to bring the realization of luminosity onto the path and into our minds.

Take the well-known example of Milarepa. Despite enduring numerous hardships imposed by his guru Marpa, he eventually attained full enlightenment in one lifetime through his unwavering devotion to his guru. The fundamental reason for Milarepa’s success was his profound and intense devotion to Marpa, which gave rise to his spiritual realizations.

Similarly, consider the process of learning martial arts. A master subjects disciples to various rigorous challenges, but because the disciples have strong determination and belief in their training, they endure all difficulties willingly. This requires absolute trust in the master, enabling them to learn whole heartedly and achieve success.

Similarly, in the section on relying on the spiritual teacher in the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Lamrim), it explains how to view the guru as a buddha and why this is important. Why is this emphasized? The Lamrim teachings aim to guide practitioners toward higher stages of the path, with the ultimate goal of attaining the perfect enlightenment of a buddha. Therefore, from the very beginning, when discussing reliance on the spiritual teacher, guru yoga is introduced. This is done to guide practitioners into the Vajrayana path, where they can swiftly achieve the unified state of enlightenment in one lifetime. Hence, the practice of guru yoga is explained even in the context of relying on the spiritual teacher.

Otherwise, if the goal were merely to guide practitioners into the lower or intermediate paths, there would be no need to include the practice of viewing the guru as inseparable from the Buddha in guru yoga. This is the key distinction. Practicing guru yoga is extremely important. If one aspires to generate the realization of the “innate primordial luminosity” in their mind-stream, devotion to the guru becomes especially critical.

Transforming the yoga of generating “innate primordial luminosity” into the essence of the path means truly realizing the Vajrayana path in one’s mind-stream. This enables swift attainment of the unified state of enlightenment in this very life. Therefore, practitioners should regard guru yoga as the life-force of the path and prioritize its practice—it is of utmost importance.

Self-Clinging and Self-Grasping

Generally speaking, practicing with the body includes prostrations or circumambulating stupas, practicing with speech involves recitation or mantra chanting, and practicing with the mind entails contemplating and meditating on renunciation, bodhicitta, the correct view of emptiness, and luminosity. These practices of body, speech, and mind should be integrated, with the most important aspect being the mental contemplation and meditation. In summary, one should first generate renunciation by abandoning attachment to samsara and contemplating impermanence, thereby cultivating either an artificial or genuine sense of renunciation in the mind-stream. Then, using this renunciation—whether artificial or genuine—one generates compassion and bodhicitta, wishing for all sentient beings to be free from suffering and attain happiness, before entering the practice of luminous emptiness (the union of emptiness and great compassion).

But why must we cultivate compassion, bodhicitta, and luminous emptiness? The primary reason is that we ourselves wish to escape suffering and seek happiness, even desiring to swiftly eliminate suffering and its causes, and quickly attain eternal bliss, liberation, and Buddhahood. Therefore, guru yoga must be practiced as the life-force of the path, using renunciation to give rise to bodhicitta and the contemplation of luminous emptiness. Additionally, one must endure hardships through physical and verbal practices while diligently accumulating merit and purifying negativities.

The reason such practices are necessary is that “self-cherishing” and “self-grasping” are the root causes of our endless wandering in samsara since beginningless time. Therefore, to eliminate “self-cherishing”, we cultivate compassion and bodhicitta, and to eradicate “self-grasping”, we practice luminous emptiness. Combining bodhicitta with luminous emptiness in a unified practice, we hold bodhicitta while entering into emptiness. This is akin to the section in the liturgy after taking refuge and generating bodhicitta, where one recites:

Everyone Should Truly Strive to Practice Diligently

Practitioners of the Vajrayana must cultivate renunciation, bodhicitta, and the correct view of emptiness. They must also practice guru yoga as the life-force of the path. Compassion, bodhicitta, and the correct view of emptiness are antidotes to “self-cherishing” and “self-grasping,” which have harmed us within samsara since beginningless time and caused us to suffer. The purpose of practicing the Dharma is to subdue these great enemies.

Therefore, we should strive to generate compassion and bodhicitta if they have not yet arisen in our mind-streams, and make efforts through skillful means such as accumulating merit, purifying negativities, reciting prayers, and performing virtuous actions. We should also aim to realize emptiness if it has not yet been realized, and deepen our understanding if it has already been realized. To achieve these goals, we must engage in activities like accumulating merit, purifying negativities, reciting prayers, and performing virtuous deeds. Everyone should do their best. Today, you have come to participate in the Four Hundred Offerings Puja, and it is important to understand that its purpose is to remove obstacles. If obstacles are not removed, we will waste the precious human life we have obtained with great difficulty. It would be deeply regrettable if this precious human life were squandered due to obstacles. Thus, we should aspire to be free from obstacles so that our practice is not interrupted, allowing us to live well and practice diligently. This is why we attend pujas and perform rituals.

I hope everyone will take to heart what has been shared today. Whether engaging in daily practices, recitations, or various virtuous activities, do not merely go through the motions superficially. I often hope that all of you will genuinely put effort into your practice. Thank you, and I hope to see you again soon.