Joyful Path of Good Fortune. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
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as a Geshe he returned home to Kham in eastern Tibet. There he received instructions from Jamyang Shaypa and came to know the entire Lamrim. He then realized that all Buddha’s teachings are to be taken as reliable personal advice and put into practice. He saw that all his philosophical studies were part of Lamrim, not separate from it. He thought ‘When I was a student in central Tibet I was actually studying Lamrim, but I had not received complete instructions and so I could not see how to put all my studies into practice. However, now I can put them to good use by integrating them into my practice of Lamrim.’
Kadam Lamrimpas of the present day study texts such as Je Tsongkhapa’s Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path and Middling Exposition of the Stages of the Path. Kadam Menngagpas of the present day study a few short texts such as the first Panchen Lama’s Blissful Path and the second Panchen Lama’s Quick Path. Although these texts are brief they include all the practices of Lamrim.
All three lineages passed from Je Tsongkhapa until our present Spiritual Guide. After writing The Three Principal Aspects of the Path, which he received together with its title directly from Wisdom Buddha Manjushri, Je Tsongkhapa went into intensive retreat on Lamrim at Reting Monastery. While he was there he wrote a praise to all the Lamrim lineage Gurus called Opening the Door to the Supreme Path. At this monastery there was a very precious statue of Atisha. In front of this statue Je Tsongkhapa made requests and offered praises to Buddha Shakyamuni and all the Lamrim lineage Gurus, and received visions of Atisha, Dromtonpa, Geshe Potowa and Geshe Sharawa. They remained with him for one month and talked to him as one person to another. After one month Dromtonpa, Geshe Potowa and Geshe Sharawa absorbed into Atisha, who then touched Je Tsongkhapa’s crown with his right hand and said ‘You must work for the sake of Buddhadharma and I will help you.’ Je Tsongkhapa then wrote his Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path, the king of all Lamrim texts. Later he wrote his Middling Exposition of the Stages of the Path, and finally he wrote his Condensed Exposition of the Stages of the Path for those who are unable to study the longer texts.
The Qualities of the Teaching
explanation of the pre-eminent qualities of lamrim to inspire faith and respect for the lamrim instructions
This has two divisions:
1 The pre-eminent characteristics of Lamrim
2 The pre-eminent attributes of Lamrim
the pre-eminent characteristics of lamrim
Lamrim possesses three pre-eminent characteristics that are not possessed by other texts. These are:
1 The Lamrim teaching is the condensation of all Buddhadharma
2 The instructions of Lamrim are easy to put into practice
3 The presentation of the instructions of Lamrim is superior to other traditions
These three characteristics are exclusive to Lamrim. They are not possessed even by the king of Tantras, the Guhyasamaja Tantra, or the king of Sutras, the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras. Other texts do not include all the subjects and practices of all other scriptures, and they cannot be practised easily and by everyone. For example, if we receive empowerments and instructions on Guhyasamaja Tantra and make this our daily practice, but do not combine it with Lamrim, we will not be able to include every other practice within it. Furthermore, the instructions themselves are not easy to understand. Similarly, Maitreya’s Ornament for Clear Realization is difficult to understand, even if we receive commentaries on it; and when we have understood the commentaries it remains hard to understand how all other Dharma practices are included within it. Unless we receive complete teachings on Lamrim it is difficult to put such advanced teachings into practice. We may become learned, but we will not know how to control our disturbed states of mind. Desirous attachment, anger, jealousy and other delusions will remain as strong as ever. With such turbulent states of mind we cannot find stable, pure happiness for ourself, let alone for others; and the studies we engage in, no matter how advanced, will not bring real benefit.
All other Buddhist scriptures are either a part or a preliminary of Lamrim. For example, the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras are part of Lamrim. They are the source of the main Lamrim instructions, the Sutra instructions. Explicitly, the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras teach the stage of superior seeing according to Sutra, at which stage our object of meditation is emptiness. All the stages of the path that have emptiness as their object of meditation are the stages of the profound path. Therefore, explicitly, the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras teach the stages of the profound path according to Sutra. Implicitly, they teach the stages of the vast path according to Sutra.
All the stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra are divided into the stages of the profound path and the stages of the vast path. All Buddha’s scriptures, and all the philosophical texts composed after his time, such as Nagarjuna’s Six Collections of Reasonings and Asanga’s Five Sets on the Spiritual Grounds, are included within either the stages of the profound path or the stages of the vast path. Maitreya’s Ornament for Clear Realization is included within the vast path, and Chandrakirti’s Guide to the Middle Way is included within the profound path. Atisha’s Teacher Vidyakokila was very skilful in teaching the stages of the profound path, and Atisha’s Teacher Serlingpa was very skilful in teaching the stages of the vast path. Lamrim combines these two Lamas’ instructions in a way that enables us more easily to understand and practise them, and is therefore superior to other traditions.
When we begin to study philosophical texts such as those mentioned above we may at first think that we are studying different scriptures not to be found in Lamrim, and we may even think that because they are more difficult to understand they are intended for more intelligent students. In fact, all these philosophical texts are to be studied only as part of our main practice, the practice of Lamrim. If we were to try engaging in philosophy and logic on their own, without integrating them into our practice of Lamrim, we would lose their main point; for without continuous practice of Lamrim we will not gain control over our mind and we will not be able to help others overcome their problems.
If we have not studied the complete Lamrim these three pre-eminent characteristics will not be obvious; but if we meet someone actually putting the whole Lamrim into practice we may understand its supreme characteristics from this person’s example alone, without having to study all the instructions for ourself. Unfortunately, such a person is extremely rare. Even studying the whole Lamrim will not bring a full appreciation of all its qualities. Just as we need to savour a cup of tea to gain a full appreciation of its good qualities, which cannot be gained merely by reading the advertisements, so we need to put the complete Lamrim into practice to gain a full appreciation of its excellence.
the pre-eminent attributes of lamrim
Through gaining experience of Lamrim:
1 We will understand that none of Buddha’s teachings are contradictory
2 We will take all Buddha’s teachings as personal advice and put them into practice
3 We will easily realize Buddha’s ultimate intention
4 We will naturally become free from the great fault and from all other faults
WE will understand that none of buddha’s teachings are contradictory
By studying and practising the complete Lamrim we will see that there are no contradictions between Hinayana and Mahayana scriptures, between Sutra and Tantra, or between root texts and their commentaries. From a superficial reading of the scriptures it may appear that there are contradictions. For instance, some Hinayana scriptures emphasize meditation on the uncleanliness and repulsiveness of the body and on the impurities of the environment, whereas Tantric scriptures teach us to regard our body as the body of a Deity and our environment as pure. Hinayana scriptures teach us how to attain liberation for ourself alone, whereas Mahayana scriptures teach us how to attain full enlightenment for the benefit of others. Some scriptures advise against eating meat, whereas others encourage us to practise the yoga of eating whereby even the action of eating meat is transformed into a pure action. By studying the entire stages of the path we will see how such differences are reconciled because we will understand that each instruction is a method for solving a specific problem and is