Study Programs of Kadampa Buddhism
Index
Further Reading
Illustrations
The illustrations depict the lineage Gurus
of the stages of the path to enlightenment
Vajradhara
Naropa
Atisha
Dromtonpa
Geshe Potowa
Je Tsongkhapa
Jampel Gyatso
Vajradhara Trijang Rinpoche
Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche (included at the request of faithful disciples)
Acknowledgements
This book, The New Eight Steps to Happiness, gives a detailed and practical commentary to the revered Mahayana Buddhist poem Eight Verses of Training the Mind, written by Bodhisattva Langri Tangpa (AD 1054–1123). The poem expresses the essential methods for developing universal love and compassion, and does so in a way that has inspired generations of practitioners for almost a thousand years.
The book is based upon transcripts of two courses of oral teachings given by the author at Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Center. The transcripts were carefully checked and substantially augmented by the author during intensive editing retreats in 1998 and 1999.
We are deeply grateful to Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche for his great kindness in preparing a commentary that brings alive the full meaning of this celebrated text for the benefit of all worldwide. The power and lucidity of the commentary show clearly that the author writes with full personal realization of the subject matter.
We would also like to thank all those dedicated senior Dharma students who assisted the author with the editing and who prepared the final manuscript for publication.
Roy Tyson,
Administrative Director,
Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Center,
August 1999
Buddha Shakyamuni
Introduction
Everyone, whether religious or non-religious, is looking for happiness all the time and wants to be free from problems and suffering permanently. We can fulfill these wishes through understanding and practicing the instructions given in this book.
This book is based on the widely renowned Eight Verses of Training the Mind (Lojong Tsig Gyema in Tibetan), which was composed by Bodhisattva Langri Tangpa, an eleventh-century Buddhist Master from Tibet. Though comprising only eight four-line verses, this remarkable text reveals the essence of the Buddhist path to enlightenment, showing how we can transform our mind from its present confused and self-centered state into the perfect wisdom and compassion of an enlightened Buddha.
Every living being has the potential to become a Buddha, someone who has completely purified his or her mind of all faults and limitations and has brought all good qualities to perfection. Our mind is like a cloudy sky, in essence clear and pure but overcast by the clouds of delusions. Just as the thickest clouds eventually disperse, so too even the heaviest delusions can be removed from our mind. Delusions such as hatred, greed and ignorance are not an intrinsic part of the mind. If we apply the appropriate methods they can be completely eliminated, and we will experience the supreme happiness of full enlightenment.
Everyone wants to be happy and no one wants to suffer, but very few people understand what is the real cause of happiness and what is the real cause of suffering. We tend to look for happiness outside ourself, thinking that if we had the right house, the right car, the right job and the right friends that we like, we would be truly happy. We spend almost all our time adjusting the external world, trying to make it conform to our wishes. All our life we have tried to surround ourself with people and things that make us feel comfortable, secure or stimulated, yet still we have not found pure and lasting happiness. Even when we succeed in fulfilling our desires, it is not long before our desires change and we want something else. We may find the house of our dreams, but a few months later we feel that we need a bigger kitchen, an extra bedroom or a larger yard, and we begin to think of moving. Or perhaps we meet the “perfect” partner, fall in love and move in together. At the beginning our partner seems to be the most wonderful person in the world, but before long we begin to see faults in him or her. We discover that we are no longer in love, and soon we are looking for someone else to fulfill our desires.
Throughout history human beings have sought to improve their external situation, yet despite all our efforts we are no happier. It is true that from the point of view of material development many countries are making progress. Technology is becoming more and more sophisticated, and worldly knowledge has increased dramatically. We know so many things we did not know before and can do things we never even dreamed of. Superficially it looks as if our world is improving, but if we look a little more deeply we will see that there are now many problems that never existed before. Terrifying weapons have been invented, our environment is being poisoned and new diseases are appearing. Even simple pleasures like eating or lying in the sun are becoming more dangerous.
The result of an unbridled pursuit of happiness from external sources is that our planet is being destroyed and our lives are becoming more complicated and dissatisfying. It is time we sought happiness from a different source. Happiness is a part of the mind that experiences inner peace, or peace of mind, so the real source of happiness must lie within the mind, not in external conditions. If our mind is pure and peaceful we will be happy, regardless of our external circumstances, but if it is impure and unpeaceful we will never be happy, no matter how hard we try to change our external conditions. We could change our home or our partner countless times, but until we change our restless, discontented