Even though we may understand the need to practise Dharma and may feel capable of doing so, we may still delay, thinking that we will practise in some future life. To overcome this laziness of procrastination we need to remember that since it will be very difficult for us to gain another precious human life we must practise in this very lifetime.
Even though we may see that we must practise in this very lifetime, we may still feel that our practice can be postponed until our retirement. To overcome our complacency we need to remember that the time of death is most uncertain and so the only time to practise is right now.
In this way we arrive at four strong resolutions:
I will practise Dharma.
I can practise Dharma.
I will practise Dharma in this very lifetime.
I will practise Dharma right now.
These four resolutions are invaluable because they make us generate naturally a spontaneous and continuous wish to take full advantage of our precious human life. This wish is our best Spiritual Guide because it leads us along correct spiritual paths. Without it, no amount of advice or encouragement from others will lead us to practise Dharma.
On one occasion Aryadeva and Ashvaghosa were about to have a debate. Ashvaghosa was standing on the threshold of a room with one foot inside and one foot outside. To test Aryadeva’s wisdom he said ‘Am I going out or coming in?’ Aryadeva replied ‘That depends upon your intention. If you want to go out, you will go out. If you want to come in, you will come in.’ Ashvaghosa could think of nothing to say to this because what Aryadeva had said was perfectly correct.
If we desire good things we will perform virtuous actions and if we desire harmful things we will perform non-virtuous actions. Since our desire is so powerful it is extremely important to abandon non-virtuous desires. If someone uses his mouth to give advice to others but in his heart cherishes the desire to steal someone else’s possessions, then eventually, through the force of his desire, he will accomplish his aim. What is it that commits such a person to prison? Nothing but his own non-virtuous desire. He loses his reputation and falls in everyone’s esteem, all through his own wish. On the other hand, if there is an ordinary person who is not highly regarded but who has a sincere and continuous wish to gain bodhichitta, then eventually, through the force of his or her desire, this person will attain spiritual grounds and paths and experience the fruits of practice.
The great Tibetan meditator Gungtang Jampelyang once asked ‘What is the difference between a wise man and a fool?’ The difference lies in their intention. A wise person is someone who has a good intention, not someone who merely possesses knowledge. Devadatta studied as many texts as an elephant can carry on its back, and yet he cherished a perverse desire to harm Buddha and so he took rebirth in hell where all his scholarship was useless. Amongst the most valuable advice we can receive is to develop a good intention and to maintain it at all times. We need to know our own minds and to exchange our harmful desires for ones that are beneficial. Buddha Shakyamuni said that a correct intention is the root of all Dharma realizations.
training the mind in the actual methods for taking the essence of our precious human life
From meditating on the great value and rarity of this precious human life we firmly decide to use it meaningfully, to take its essence. To take the essence of this precious human life means to engage in methods that will bring benefit in our future lives and to stop investing all our energy and concern in activities that are aimed at attaining only temporary benefit in this present life. To take the least essence of this precious human life is to protect ourself from the danger of lower rebirth and to ensure that in our next life we obtain a special human rebirth endowed with the seven attributes of higher lineage by gaining all the realizations of the stages of the path of a person of initial scope. To take the intermediate essence of this precious human life is to protect ourself from uncontrolled rebirth and to attain liberation from samsara by gaining all the realizations of the stages of the path of a person of intermediate scope. To take the great essence of this precious human life is to protect ourself from the danger of self-cherishing and to attain full enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings by gaining all the realizations of the stages of the path of a person of great scope.
All the stages of the path that follow are the actual methods for taking the essence of this precious human life. They are explained in three parts:
1 Training the mind in the stages of the path of a person of initial scope
2 Training the mind in the stages of the path of a person of intermediate scope
3 Training the mind in the stages of the path of a person of great scope
What are the stages of the path of a person of initial scope? They are meditation on the great value and rarity of this precious human life, meditation on death and impermanence, meditation on the sufferings of the three lower realms, the pure practice of going for refuge and the practice of avoiding negative actions and engaging in virtuous actions. By practising these stages of the path we avoid birth in the lower realms and protect ourself from their sufferings.
How does the practice of a small being protect us from the sufferings of the lower realms? If we meditate on the great value and rarity of this precious human life, and on death and impermanence, we will practise Dharma purely and go for refuge purely. If we go for refuge purely we will keep the commitment to avoid negative actions and perform only virtuous actions. If we do this we will avoid creating the cause of rebirth in the lower realms and create only causes of higher rebirth. Therefore, the realizations of a small being protect us from suffering. They are objects of refuge and are to be regarded as Dharma Jewels because they resemble the actual Dharma Jewels of Superior beings.
What are the stages of the path of a person of intermediate scope? They are the practices of generating renunciation in dependence upon meditation on the dangers of samsara and, motivated by renunciation, the practices of the three higher trainings. By gaining the realizations of a middle being we attain liberation and protect ourself from all the fears and sorrows of samsara.
What are the stages of the path of a person of great scope? They are the minds of great compassion and bodhichitta and, motivated by bodhichitta, the practice of the six perfections – in short, all the paths of Bodhisattvas. By gaining the realizations of a great being we attain full enlightenment – the complete abandonment of all faults and the perfect accomplishment of all good qualities – enabling us to offer protection to all other living beings.
In Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment Atisha says:
There are three types of being that should be known;
They are small, middle and supreme.
In this context a ‘small’ being means a person of initial scope, a ‘middle’ being means a person of intermediate scope and a ‘supreme’ being means a person of great scope. Our scope for spiritual development is determined by our aspiration. As our aspiration becomes more far-reaching, our capacity for spiritual development increases. In terms of their aspiration all living beings are included within the three types, small being, middle being and great being.
There are two types of small being, ordinary small beings and special small beings. An ordinary small being is someone whose aspiration does not extend beyond the limited goal of finding worldly happiness in this life alone. Such a person sets his or her sights on obtaining the changeable happiness of this life. He therefore seeks the guidance of ordinary specialists such as business administrators, careers advisors, marriage guidance counsellors and travel agents. If an ordinary small being also practises Lamrim he will not only become much more successful in all his worldly pursuits, but he will also increase his merit, purify negative karma, and gradually extend his aspiration so that it becomes the aspiration of a special small being.
A special small being is someone who has ceased to be interested in obtaining only the happiness of this life, and who aspires to the happiness of higher states of existence in future lives. Although the aspiration of a special small being extends beyond the welfare of this life, it does not reach further than the limited goal of obtaining the worldly