Chogye Trichen Rinpoche

Chogye Trichen Rinpoche

Chogye Trichen Rinpoche (1920–2007) was the head of the Tsharpa school of the Sakya tradition and a primary teacher of the Dalai Lama, Sakya Trizin, and other great lamas

Chogye Trichen Rinpoche

Chogye Trichen Rinpoche (1920–2007) was the head of the Tsharpa school of the Sakya tradition and a primary teacher of the Dalai Lama, Sakya Trizin, and other great lamas

1 Item

Set Ascending Direction
per page

1 Item

Set Ascending Direction
per page

SNOW LION NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

Parting From the Four Attachments

The following article is from the Summer, 2003 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

images

The following excerpts are taken from Parting from the Four Attachments, by Chogye Trichen Rinpoche.

The teaching on the Four Attachments is universally regarded as one of the jewels of Tibetan Buddhism. This detailed and lucid commentary explores the nature of mind, points out inevitable pitfalls in spiritual practice and shows how they can be avoided. Chogye Trichen Rinpoche is a primary teacher of H.H. the Dalai Lama, H.H. Sakya Trizin and many other great lamas.

Those who wish to engage in the authentic Dharma have a great need to hear and understand the instructions on parting from, or freeing oneself from, the four attachments indicated by Manjushri himself. The sincere practitioner may follow these instructions, which will help them to proceed along the path. Remaining true to the spirit of the Dharma means to be neither tarnished nor corrupted by any of the four traps, or four kinds of attachment, revealed by Manjushri. Those who wish to avoid many potential pitfalls need to listen to and be heedful of the meaning of 'Parting from the Four Attachments.'

* * *

This work of Drakpa Gyaltsen is eminently practical, since it actually has the power to instill realizations in the minds of practitioners. It is capable of evoking realization as it is spoken, listened to, and learned. It is for this reason that we will use his precious words to understand the meaning of Manjushri's four-line teaching.

* * *

If you are attached to this life, you are not a person of Dharma.

For those who study with proper intentions, anything they may learn will serve to dispel the darkness of ignorance and confusion they may be experiencing in their own lives. This is because whatever they study, they will apply it to themselves, and this will alleviate the sufferings that afflict them. Anything such people may study will further serve to humble and ennoble them, increasing their clarity and brilliance, their knowledge and wisdom. Genuine study is the basis for attaining enlightenment, a cause for oneself to finally attain the state of dharmakaya, the wisdom body of truth or reality.

* * *

It is said that one who has studied with the mistaken attachment to their welfare in this life alone will look down on those who have not studied as much as they have, rejecting the other persons, ignoring them, even behaving hurtfully toward them. Their knowledge has given them license to belittle others, to find fault with others but never with themselves. These kinds of attitudes are simply due to the person's own sense of insecurity and inferiority, which causes them to disparage others, whether their knowledge may be greater or less than their own. Someone like this will sow seeds of discord and feel that they must try to get people to side with them, fearful that others will not support their opinions.

* * *

Meditation practice not only enables us to remedy the defilements that haunt our minds; it also imparts intelligence and wisdom to our daily activities. Wherever we are, whatever we may do, the strength of mindfulness and watchful alertness that we have developed through meditation creates a beneficial habitual tendency for us. This habituation to mindfulness and watchful noticing gained through meditation is what allows us to transcend all other contrary, conflicting habitual patterns.

Mindfulness and watchfulness awaken intelligence (prajna). With this foundation, we develop the intelligence that is, among other things, able to eliminate the negative side effects we may have accumulated through artificial practice. The development of intelligence gives our minds enough clarity to distinguish what is genuine about our practice and what is not. This intelligence is what re-invigorates our practice, giving us renewed energy and a freshened perspective. With this new perspective, we find ourselves able to perceive many qualities of the Dharma where before we saw only negativity.

* * *

If you meditate while motivated by worldly aims, your mind will do more than just continue to wander about, running here and there whenever you find yourself alone. The minute you again meet other people, you may suddenly discover that you have so much to say, so many things to share, that you are desperate to catch up on anything you might have missed while you were meditating. You will rush into irrelevant conversations with great zeal, just to make up for the deprivation you have suffered through remaining in isolation. You will roam about, in search of conversation.

When you are alone, you will find yourself planning your future dialogues. You will ponder well and choose with great care just those words that give weight to your realization and express its profundity. You will plan methodically how best to entertain and enlighten others with the fruits of your isolation. If you find yourself acting like this, you can be sure that you have remained consistently without any sort of stable mental focus. Regardless of what you may be doing physically, your mind has become more agitated, with more stress and tension than you had before.

* * *

If you are attached to the world of existence you do not have renunciation.

There was a great master, Langtangpa, who was known as the dark-faced one because he never smiled, overwhelmed as he was by the knowledge of the intensity of the suffering of suffering. He wept continuously because not only could he see the suffering of beings, but he could feel it for himself. Through this kind of vivid entry into the suffering of the lower realms, imagining ourselves born in those conditions, we will be able to gain some experience of the suffering of suffering and develop real empathy for the ill-fated ones who find themselves in these realms.

The possibility that we could be there in actuality, physically experiencing such a life, should indeed cause our flesh to tremble in apprehension and fear. If we can give rise to these waves of shock and horror, this is very valuable to the practice of Dharma, as it will engender in us a powerful sense of renunciation. If you truly contemplate the sufferings of worldly existence, there is no time for anything other than tears.

* * *

If you are attached to your own purpose, you do not have Bodhicitta.

While practicing thus, the great exponents of altruism, those who follow the teachings and try to emulate the deeds of the Bodhisattvas, have made prayers and aspirations in accord with these principles. Most essentially, they have prayed:

May the sufferings of all living beings

Of the three realms of existence ripen upon me.

May the merit and virtue that I have earned

Be taken from me and given to other sentient beings.

You must first of all generate this aspiration, making strong wishes and prayers, before you can become capable of actually bringing this about in practice. In order to be able to train yourself through these prayers, you must have the courage to change the quality of your heart, to be truly different, even to be able to recite such prayers. This is because you must be willing to accept your fate, if your prayers actually come true! This is the measure of your practice.

* * *

Not only this, but you must aspire to gather an abundance of merit and happiness, vast enough to actually have something to give to all sentient beings. Then you can wish that all the meritorious deeds you have already accumulated may be taken away and enjoyed by all sentient beings. This aspiration must first be developed through training yourself in prayer. Then, later, if it actually happens that someone takes something of value from you, you will never experience any suffering as a result, since this is exactly what you have prayed for.

* * *

In the present context, we can say that those who have not learned to recognize the true nature of mind, ultimate bodhicitta, are only able to exchange themselves for other beings and to try to eliminate the suffering of others through prayer, visualization, and empathizing with others. However, if one knows how to recognize the true nature of mind, and mixes or merges the exchange of self and others with the recognition of mind nature, this is the best possible way to practice this exchange.

The ultimate awakening of bodhicitta includes the realization that the true nature of all living beings is utterly free from all the varieties of temporary, conceptual confusion that normally deludes them. In fact, all beings share the true nature of phenomena (dharmata), which is emptiness. All beings have awareness-wisdom (rigpa'i yeshe), the luminous clear light of the nature of reality. The true nature of all living beings is the expanse of primordial purity (kadag ying). This essence is present in all living beings, and it never leaves them, but they fail to recognize it. Recognizing it is the ultimate awakening of bodhicitta.

* * *

If grasping arises, you do not have the view.

One who discovers the key point that mind is the cause of all problems and all solutions learns to unlock, to disentangle, all things associated with the mind. In the end, one finds no other culprit. Mind is the perpetrator of everything that happens, the projector of everything that manifests. Pleasant or unpleasant, whether we go up into higher rebirth of down to the lower realms, whatever we experience is the result of our own mental state. Realizing this, we should no longer grasp at any perception or conception that might arise toward seemingly real phenomena.

The phrase "the unity of clarity and emptiness" (sal long zungjug) is a special term for the view favored by the Sakya tradition. If you care to observe your perceptions, you will find that whatever you perceive and whatever you experience is the reflection of these three: clarity, emptiness, and their unity. This is what is meant by the unity of clarity and emptiness, and this is what you must realize. To realize this is to realize the true nature (dhamiata) of the Buddhas.

There are many similar terms, such as "the unity of appearances and emptiness" (nang long zung jug). Things do appear, but when you examine them in meditation, you discover that they are empty of any inherent existence. Also, we may speak of the unity of sound and emptiness or "audible" emptiness (drak long zung jug). Everything that we hear, if examined, is found to be empty. In this case, emptiness is discovered and established through hearing sounds, which are not inherently present by themselves.

* * *

As we have said, when the last thought has ceased, and the next thought has not yet arisen, there is a gap. In this gap your mind is not like a blank space, as there is some experiencing or knowing present. When recognized, this is luminosity (osal); it is also known as self-knowing primordial wisdom, or simply as awareness(rigpa). This awareness is a non-dual continuity.

Whether one speaks of dzogpa chenpo, mahamudra, or khorde yerme, there is nothing beyond just this; there is nothing more to be discovered. Now, once you have recognized awareness (rigpa) it is necessary to remain in that state. It is not enough simply to recognize, you must continue on in the recognition. In order to be able to do so, you must receive the transmission and guidance of a genuine master and the blessings of an authentic lineage. This continuity in the recognition of awareness is the real meaning of the inseparability of samsara and nirvana; it is the great seal (mahamudra); it is the great perfection (dzogchen).

...
Continue Reading >>

Parting From the Four Attachments: Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen's Song of Experience on Mind Training and the View

The following article is from the Spring, 2003 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

images

The following excerpts are taken from the new Snow Lion title Parting from the Four Attachments: Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen's Song of Experience on Mind Training and the View by Chogye Trichen Rinpoche. The first piece is part of an introductory biography that precedes the text.

Another incident in Chogye Rinpoche's life that might also be mentioned in regard to the meditation deity (yidam), concerns Rinpoche's trip to Kuching, Malaysia in 1989. Rinpoche was invited to give the great initiation of Kalachakra according to the Jonangpa tradition, as well as the complete instructions on the six-branch yoga (sadan- gayoga) of the Kalachakra of the Jonangpas, according to the practice manual of Jonang Taranatha.

It is customary that in preparation for an initiation, the chopon or ritual attendent must set out and array the physical representation of the mandala for consecration in the ritual. Generally, Chogye Rinpoche would allow the chopon to simply follow the textual instructions and prepare the mandala as he has been taught, without adding many instructions. However, on this occasion, Rinpoche instructed the chopon, his attendant named Guru, to make the mandala very properly. Rinpoche sat with him and guided him in detail how to prepare it. A metal plate was brought and coated with a thin layer of butter to make it slightly "sticky," and on it were arrayed pieces of corn to represent all the deities of the mandala. Then, as Rinpoche was doing his preparations for the initiation, his appearance became quite powerful.

During the initiation of Kalachakra, at the time of the consecration of the physical representation of the mandala by the deities of the wisdom mandala, Rinpoche explained that the deities of .the mandala of Kalachakra were now actually present above the physical mandala on the shrine. One of those present remarked that when Rinpoche said this, his words had unusual weight, as though he were clearly seeing this for himself.

Following the initiation, as the chopon was clearing the shrine, he noticed clear markings on the mandala plate. The markings were not below the film of butter nor were they on top of it, but they appeared within the film of butter. There were eight clear flower shapes at eight points around the edge of the plate, and two in the center of the plate making a total of ten flower patterns or "lotuses." This was seen by everyone, and was photographed.

In the mandala of Kalachakra, there are the two central deities of Buddha Kalachakra and his consort Vishvamata, surrounded by the eight dakinis, or "shaktis" as they are called in Kalachakra, just as one finds in the mandalas of other tantric Buddhas such as Hevajra or Chakrasamvara. Thus the flower markings are understood as signs of the actual presence of the deities. In the biographies of the lineage masters, one of the signs of accomplishment is "flowers" in the mandala. These are described in the texts in two ways, either as naturally appearing on or within the mandala, as was the case in this instance, or else as descending or falling onto the mandala.

*  *  *

From the text:

How does impure morality function in the experience of a practitioner?

There are many excellent examples that help us to recognize these kinds of problems. One example would be that a person might maintain a set of vows but at the same time make disparaging remarks such as, "Oh, those people have taken vows but they don't, keep their vows carefully. They certainly have let themselves down. However, my own conduct is really exemplary." Faulting the behavior of others through demeaning comments, while at the same time finding ways to praise one's own behavior, is one fine example that indicates the defiled or insincere practice of ethics.

Another variation on how this impure form of morality reveals itself is that not only will one tend to look down on "transgressors" who are deemed inferior to oneself, but one may also regard those who keep superior discipline with a jealous attitude. One will be unable to restrain oneself from making comments such as, "Well, I suppose he keeps his vows intact, but he hasn't really studied or meditated."

In more extreme cases, practitioners of artificial morality may actually become very jealous of others who are known to keep strict moral discipline. They may say, "Oh, he or she seems to be very true to the precepts, but...," and then go on to list their supposed defects, such as greed and so on, proceeding to slander the person. Although the discipline of the one they are criticizing may be very admirable, the superficial practitioner may find himself unable to tolerate that worthy person, and feel compelled to look for faults in the other person's affairs.

A further degeneration of this type of attitude is that one may notice someone who makes small errors in the observance of their vows, and will try to pinpoint the person's faults, even speaking of him or her sarcastically in the presence of others. One may try to place doubts in the minds of people who would otherwise respect the person due to his or her faithful adherence to the precepts. One whose morality is artificial is always looking for an excuse to put someone down. They will always find something to criticize. Such a person will be much more concerned with judging the conduct of others than they will be with guarding and protecting their own. People like this will never find anyone to inspire their pursuit of virtue, but will at the same time never fail to find someone to disparage. These are the sorts of results that come from the insincere practice of ethics, and we would do well to avoid them.

These kinds of attitudes we have mentioned so far all arise toward those who actually observe precepts. hi addition, it is clear that one whose discipline is artificial, due to attachment to this life alone, would be very critical of others who do not observe any discipline. Such persons may be very judgemental and condescending toward those who make even small mistakes in their behavior. They will tend to chastise others for the terrible weight of their sins. They will be neither understanding nor forgiving toward the accused transgressors, since in reality their own moral conduct is practiced in order to attract respect, gain, and happiness for themselves in this life alone. All of these are examples of the sort of attitudes that may arise in relation to others when discipline lacks pure motivation and intent.

*  *  *

Endorsements:

Another great benefit of knowledge, acquired through proper study that is pursued with sincere intentions, is that one becomes able to allay fears and anxieties in oneself and others. With proper motivation, the more knowledge one acquires, the more fear and insecurity one will be able to eliminate. The more fear you are able to dispel, the more you are able to increase the happiness of others as well as your own sense of well being. Learning is not just a chore undertaken to acquire knowledge, it is in itself something enjoyable, something that brings satisfaction to oneself and can benefit others.

In short, if one acquires knowledge for the selfish goals of this life, it will lead to adopting a condescending attitude toward the unlearned and jealousy toward the more erudite. Study and the acquisition of knowledge will then serve to inflate the ego, which will simply increase our own suffering through binding us to worldly phenomena. Erroneous study, like artificial morality, engenders arrogance that may even lead to one becoming abusive toward others.

"Quintessential teachings on how to genuinely enter into the practice of Dharma and get to the very core of the path, by one of the last Tibetan masters of the old generation, commenting on classic verses of the Sakya tradition."—VEN. MATTHIEU RICARD, author of The Monk and the Philosopher

The teaching on Parting from the Four Attachments is universally regarded as one of the jewels of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche leads the reader through a detailed and lucid exploration of the nature of mind, pointing out inevitable pitfalls in spiritual practice and showing how they can be avoided.

Chogye Trichen Rinpoche is a primary teacher of the Dalai Lama, Sakya Trizin, and other great lamas.

...
Continue Reading >>

Sakya Trizin

The following article is from the Spring, 1989 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

New York, Jetsun Sakya Center

April 19, 20

Teachings on the Vajra-Bhairava practice (open only to initiates of 9-Deity Vajra-Bhairava given by H.E. Chogye Trichen in November)

April 21, 22

Two talks at Columbia University Ethics and Wisdom and Sakya Social Dharma

April 24-6

Hevajra Empowerment and instruction according to Vajramala Tradition

April 21, 28

Hajrakila Empowerment and Instruction

 

          

The 42nd Sakya Trizin,                                The 41st Sakya Trizin,
Ratna Vajra Rinpoche                                  longest reigning Sakya Trizin

...
Continue Reading >>

His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche

The following article is from the Spring, 1988 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

 

The Venerable Chogye Trichen Rinpoche is the senior meditation master of the Sakya Order and the Teacher of His Holiness Sakya Trizen. Rinpoche will be giving Dharma talks, seminars, meditation instructions, and consecrations (including the Consecrations of Kalachakra). We look forward with great anticipation to Rinpoche's first visit to America.

Sakya Chokhor Yangtse, P.O. Box 606, Cambridge, MA 02140.

Related Book

...
Continue Reading >>