The Easy Path Illuminating the First Panchen Lama's Secret Instructions

by Jampa, Gyumed Khensur Lobsang; Ladner, Lorne

• ISBN13: 9780861716784
• ISBN10: 0861716787
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-07-16
• Publisher: Wisdom Publications

Summary

For those wanting to practice the path to enlightenment, the First Panchen Lama’s Easy Path is like a chest of jewel treasures which has, up until now, been locked for English speakers. The translation of the root text here presents that treasure chest, and Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche’s commentary unlocks it, holding each jewel up to the sunlight to reveal its many facets, beauty and great value. To gain the greatest benefit from this book, it may be useful to imagine each contemplation and meditation discussed as a precious jewel being given to you personally. You may then want to pause, holding each up to the light so slowly and happily examine each facet. I suggest this particularly because Khensur Rinpoche was extremely generous in his teaching this text—carefully and precisely revealing many points from the unique, oral tradition that has come down from Lama Tsongkhapa through Gyalwa Ensapa and the First Panchen Lama as well. If you’ve read or studied some in the past on the stages of the path to enlightenment, then it may be easy to assume that you already know some of the points that will be explained here. But, if you go slowly and read carefully, you may discover facets here that you have not quite seen before. There is one point in Easy Path when you pray, “I must at all costs, quickly, quickly attain the precious state of completely perfect buddhahood for the sake of all mother sentient beings.” Khensur Rinpoche explains that one way of interpreting the phrase “quickly, quickly” is that the first quickly refers to practicing the three lower classes of tantra and the second quickly refers to practicing highest yoga tantra. Of course, that is a very profound point. And then Rinpoche shares another interpretation that is unique to the oral tradition coming down through Gyalwa Ensapa. In that interpretation, the first quickly refers to practicing the stages of the path to enlightenment which is a faster way of attaining full enlightenment than the three lower classes of tantra and the second “quickly” refers to taking guru yoga as the very life of your practice. By reading this book as you might slowly explore jewel gifts, you can understand how to go about taking guru yoga not just as the heart of your practice but as its life. You can also gain a practical understanding of how to integrate visualizations from highest yoga tantra, guru yoga, and the instructions of the oral tradition with your contemplations and meditations on every single step of the stages of the path. In that way, the Panchen Lama’s phrase, “quickly, quickly” may come to refer not just to practitioners of the past but to you as well!

Author Biography

A student of the Dalai Lama, Gyumed Khensur Lobsang Jampa was born in Tibet in 1939. A geshe from Sera Monastery and former abbot (khensur) of Gyumed tantric college, both in South India, he now spends most of his time in the United States, with active centers in Washington DC, New York City, and Connecticut. He also teaches annually in the Silicon Valley. His center in Redding CT, where he lives, will be hosting a visit from the Dalai Lama in Fall 2012. This is his first book. Lorne Ladner, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Dr. Ladner also provides workshops and trainings on the psychology of positive emotions, the integration of meditation and psychotherapy, and on Buddhist psychology. Dr. Ladner has served as an adjunct faculty member in the counseling program at the American School of Professional Psychology, where he taught graduate-level courses in Developmental Psychology, Personality Theories, and Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy.

Table of Contents

Editor’s Preface
Introduction
1. The Preliminaries
2. Relying on a Spiritual Teacher
3. Precious Human Rebirth
4. Small-Scope Mind-Training Practices
5. Medium-Scope Mind-Training Practices
6. The Seven-Point Cause-and-Effect Method for Generating Bodhichitta
7. Unique Instructions for Realizing Bodhichitta
8. The Bodhisattva Vow
9. Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds
10. Calm Abiding
11. Special Insight—The Perfection of Wisdom
Appendix: An Extremely Brief Preliminary Practice to Meditation

Excerpts

From the Introduction
What to Do Between Meditation Sessions

Our last general point is what to do between meditation sessions. This is a very important topic because “between meditation sessions” includes most of your life. This includes your time spent eating, sleeping, walking, driving, working and so forth. Of course, usually we don’t meditate much and so most of our time is spent between sessions. Therefore, post meditation time is more important for your spiritual practice than the actual meditation sessions are! Also, how you handle your life between sessions determines your success in meditation itself. So, I want to explain in some detail how to keep your mind positive between sessions, to illustrate how to make your meditation support your daily life and how to make your daily life support your meditation.

In one sense, meditation is like studying in a class and mindfulness between sessions is like doing your homework. You must work at both to succeed. Of course, if you’re with your guru, then you can offer service to him or her between sessions. And, it’s also very good to engage in extensive preliminary practices such as making offerings between sessions. When you’re focusing in your meditation practice on a particular topic from the stages of the path, it’s good between sessions to read books related to that topic.

But, many people are quite busy and so don’t usually spend most of their time meditating or reading. Therefore, I’d like to share some very profound advice for busy people! During the Buddha’s time, King Prasenajit was extremely busy working for his kingdom, so he went to the Buddha to ask for advice regarding how to practice Dharma in that context. The Buddha gave him three instructions: generate bodhichitta, rejoice, and dedicate. This instruction from the Buddha is also very excellent for your practice during daily life!

It’s a mistake to think that generating bodhichitta is only for formal meditation sessions. While it’s difficult to gain the uncontrived realization of bodhichitta, it’s quite easy to generate bodhichitta motivation any place and any time. Doing so doesn’t require entering a retreat or gaining single-pointed concentration. All you have to do is develop a clear intention to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. Practitioners of the past would set this sort of motivation when they went out from home in the morning, thinking that all their activities outside that day were motivated toward attaining enlightenment for all sentient beings. Then when they came home they’d generate that same intention. And, when walking or eating again you can think that you’re doing that for the benefit of all sentient beings. Even in the restroom you can generate that kind of intention! Generating bodhichitta is very powerful; it makes whatever you’re doing into a Dharma practice and a cause of your enlightenment. So, this is an excellent and easy practice that you can totally integrate into your daily life. Particularly when we’re interacting with others, it’s easy to make mistakes, harming others or engaging in negative actions. So, again at those times generating bodhichitta is an excellent protection.

The second practice advised by the Buddha for busy people is rejoicing. Rejoicing is also a very important practice that you can do any time, anywhere. Gungtang Rinpoche said that rejoicing is a method for accumulating great merits even while you’re lying down to rest. Ordinarily when lying around, you may find yourself worrying about work or craving for objects of your attachment. This is of no spiritual benefit and even on a worldly level, not getting what you want causes you suffering and even getting what you want may not bring happiness to your life! So, it’s much more beneficial to stop thinking such thoughts and to turn your mind to rejoicing. Rejoicing makes you happy while you’re practicing it and also generates a great deal of good karma which will follow you into your future lives. Also, rejoicing in other’s good actions and their results is a powerful antidote to jealousy, which otherwise can cause much suffering. And, there’s so much that you can rejoice in! You can think joyfully about the marvelous deeds of the buddhas that led them to enlightenment and also their constantly helping other beings as buddhas. Then you can joyfully think of bodhisattvas who are practicing the six perfections. And you can similarly think of the actions of hearers and solitary realizers. Sometimes, Mahayana practitioners think of them as lower beings, but actually their activities are similar to those of the buddhas. Their equanimity is so profound that if someone applied scented water to one part of their body and someone else chopped off another part of their body they wouldn’t discriminate preferring the one being over the other. Their qualities are inconceivable like a golden mountain. And then you can think of your own good actions and of those of other ordinary persons. You can think joyfully of everything from great deeds of compassion down to giving a bit of food to others. Really, there’s no end to things worthy of rejoicing. So, having thought extensively of how amazing and wonderful others’ good actions are, you can then pray: may I be able to do as they have done! Finally, having generated bodhichitta and having rejoiced, you’ll have created lots of good karma. So, then you must engage in the third practice advised by the Buddha, dedicating that merit for great purposes. We’ll look at some other advice on how to train between meditation sessions when we come to the instructions on this subject inEasy Path.