We need to listen to and read Dharma instructions many times. Our listening and reading are not complete until we have gained all the realizations of the stages of the path to enlightenment.
developing respect for dharma and its teacher
In Sutra on the Essence of Grounds Buddha says:
You should listen to Dharma with exceptional faith and respect, not seeing the Teacher as faulty or being displeased with him. When you listen to Dharma you should view the Teacher as Buddha.
In Five Sets on the Spiritual Grounds Arya Asanga advises us to practise five inattentivenesses whenever we listen to Dharma:
(1) If our Teacher has broken his or her moral discipline we should not pay attention to the fault or judge that his moral discipline is weak. There is no benefit to be derived from paying attention to such a fault. On the contrary, it would be to our own disadvantage, for if we become preoccupied with our Teacher’s apparent failure we will not be able to appreciate his or her instructions and advice. Instead of taking them to heart we will spend our whole time accumulating negative karma.
(2) If our Teacher is from a lower social class we should not pay attention to this or consider it an inferiority. Otherwise we will spend all our time cultivating pride and we will not be able to listen properly.
(3) If our Teacher is ugly or physically unattractive we should not consider his or her physical appearance. There is no value in contemplating our Teacher’s ugliness. If we do so we will only make it harder for ourself to develop faith. Our Teacher’s physical appearance is unimportant; what matters is the Dharma he or she teaches.
(4) If our Teacher’s manner of speech is displeasing, the language unrefined or the way of presenting the instructions rough and clumsy, we should not pay attention to the style. What matters are the meanings our Teacher conveys.
(5) If our Teacher says things that are unpleasant to hear, such as words of blame or criticism, we should not think that he or she is at fault. If we do so we will develop many misunderstandings and non-virtuous states of mind.
In addition to these five we should practise inattentiveness to any other fault we think we see in our Teacher. For example, if our Teacher is not famous and seems to be very ordinary we should disregard fame and ordinary appearance. It is enough for us that we receive correct instructions. What benefit would there be in our receiving Dharma from someone famous throughout the world if his or her instructions were incorrect? By paying attention to faults we think we see in our Teacher we lose all the benefits of listening to Dharma and we bring only disadvantages upon ourself.
Just as we need to increase respect for our Teacher, so we need to increase respect for the Dharma he or she teaches. If we regard our Teacher’s instructions as the actual Dharma Jewel, the supreme method for gaining temporary and ultimate happiness, we will naturally feel respect.
the actual way of listening to dharma
This has two parts:
1 Abandoning three faults
2 Cultivating six recognitions
abandoning three faults
Whenever we listen to or read Dharma we need to abandon three faults that prevent us from receiving the benefits of listening or reading:
1 The fault of being like a pot turned upside-down
2 The fault of being like a bad-smelling pot
3 The fault of being like a leaky pot
The first fault is to be like a pot turned upside-down. We are physically present at a discourse, or we have adopted the posture of reading a book, but we are so inattentive and distracted that no matter how many instructions are poured in through our ears or how many pages we manage to turn, no Dharma actually enters the vessel of our mind.
The second fault is to be like a bad-smelling pot. We listen or read attentively, without letting our mind wander, but our motivation is incorrect. Just as good food becomes contaminated when we put it into a bad-smelling pot, so Dharma is wasted on us when we listen with an incorrect motivation.
The third fault is to be like a leaky pot. We listen or read attentively and with a good motivation, but we quickly forget what we have been taught. If we cannot remember Dharma, how can we put it into practice?
There are two methods we can use to improve our ability to remember Dharma. The first is to make an effort to recall what we have heard or read soon after a discourse has finished or after we have finished reading a chapter of a Dharma book. We can do this several times at intervals. If we gain greater understanding or a new feeling from remembering and contemplating what we have learnt, we should deepen this experience by doing meditation. In this way our practice will become very powerful.
The second method is to discuss Dharma with our Dharma friends, asking them questions and explaining what we have understood. This is an excellent way to increase our understanding, remove doubts and place Dharma firmly within our minds.
cultivating six recognitions
Whenever we listen to or read Dharma we should cultivate six recognitions:
1 Regarding ourself as a sick person because we suffer from desirous attachment, hatred, ignorance and other diseases of the mind
2 Regarding Dharma as supreme medicine for our mental sickness
3 Regarding our Dharma Teacher as a supreme doctor
4 Regarding putting Dharma into practice as the way to become cured of our mental disease
5 Developing conviction in Buddha Shakyamuni as a holy being who is completely reliable
6 Developing a strong wish that Dharma will flourish and remain for a long time
If we have these six recognitions we will not waste a moment while we are listening to or reading the instructions, and our subsequent contemplations and meditations will become much more powerful. Our actions of listening and reading will accumulate great merit and become strong causes of our enlightenment.
how to teach dharma
This has four parts:
1 Considering the benefits of teaching Dharma
2 Increasing faith and respect for Dharma and its Teacher
3 The attitudes to cultivate and the way to conduct oneself while teaching Dharma
4 Recognizing who should be taught and who should not be taught
considering the benefits of teaching dharma
In Treasury of Abhidharma Vasubandhu says that when we give Dharma instructions our mind should not be polluted with delusions and we should teach Dharma in accordance with the instructions given by Buddha.
If we teach Dharma in order to receive gifts or veneration from our students, or to become well known for our grasp of Buddha’s teachings, we will be misusing the precious Dharma, treating it as a mere commodity. On the other hand, if we practise the generosity of giving Dharma with a good motivation the benefits are limitless. Twenty of these benefits are mentioned in Exhortation to Superior Intentions Sutra. We will attain:
(1) A special mindfulness that never forgets Dharma
(2) A special wisdom that comes from listening to Dharma
(3) A special wisdom that comes from contemplating Dharma
(4) A special wisdom that comes from meditating on Dharma
(5) A special wisdom on the paths of accumulation and preparation
(6) A special wisdom on the paths of seeing and meditation
(7) Freedom from attachment
(8) Freedom from hatred
(9)