The Mirror of Dharma. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

the treasury of unobservable compassion,

      Manjushri, the supreme stainless wisdom,

      And Vajrapani, the destroyer of the hosts of maras.

      O Venerable Guru-Buddha, synthesis of all Three Jewels,

      With my body, speech and mind, respectfully I make requests:

      Please grant your blessings to ripen and liberate myself and others,

      And bestow the common and supreme attainments.

      This request prayer to Je Tsongkhapa proves that Je Tsongkhapa is the manifestation of Buddha Shakyamuni, Buddha Vajradhara, Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion, Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom, and Vajrapani, the Buddha of Power. This in turn proves that he is the manifestation of all the Buddhas. Thus, if we sincerely rely on Je Tsongkhapa and put his oral instructions into practice with strong faith, we will attain enlightenment very quickly. The great practitioner Gyalwa Ensapa and many of his followers attained enlightenment within three years through sincerely practising the oral instructions of Je Tsongkhapa. This is magical!

      Many scholars have said that the power of Je Tsongkhapa’s blessings and his skilful methods to lead practitioners to the state of enlightenment is unequalled among those of all other Buddhas. We should rejoice in having met the doctrine of Je Tsongkhapa, and in having the opportunity to listen to and practise the oral instructions of this precious Guru who is the synthesis of all Buddhas.

      THE ACTUAL EXPLANATION OF THE ESSENTIAL INSIGHTS INTO THE THREE PRINCIPAL ASPECTS OF THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT

      In the root text Je Tsongkhapa says:

      I will explain to the best of my ability

      The essential meaning of the teachings of all the Buddhas [renunciation],

      The main path of the Bodhisattvas, who have compassion for all living beings [bodhichitta],

      And the ultimate path of the fortunate ones who are seeking liberation [the correct view of emptiness].

      You should not be attached to worldly enjoyments,

      But strive to find the real meaning of human life

      By listening to and practising the instructions given here,

      Which all the previous Buddhas practised with delight.

      In this stage, through contemplating the meaning of these verses, we generate a feeling of happiness at receiving these precious instructions and advice from Je Tsongkhapa’s heart, and we make the strong determination to put these instructions into practice.

      We should know that in this impure world there is no real happiness at all. The happiness that comes from worldly enjoyments is not real happiness but only a reduction of our previous problems. Understanding this we should develop a sincere wish to attain the supreme happiness of enlightenment, which is the real meaning of human life. As human beings only we can achieve this. The moment we attain enlightenment we have the ability to benefit each and every living being every day through our blessings and our countless emanations. Enlightenment is the inner light of wisdom that is permanently free from all mistaken appearance and whose function is to bestow mental peace, the source of happiness, on each and every living being every day. The method for attaining enlightenment is renunciation, bodhichitta and the correct view of emptiness, which are the paths to enlightenment, known as the ‘three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment’.

      RENUNCIATION

      Renunciation does not mean that we abandon our family and friends, and become isolated from people. In Buddhism renunciation is a part of wisdom – a wisdom that gives us great encouragement to liberate ourself permanently from lower rebirth, from rebirth in the cycle of impure life, samsara, or from a rebirth in which we possess a self-cherishing mind. We need this wisdom, which leads us to the correct path to our finding the real meaning of human life.

      The second line of the first verse of the root text says that renunciation is ‘The essential meaning of the teachings of all the Buddhas.’ How can we understand this? In Expressing the Names of Manjushri Tantra Buddha said that although there are renunciations of the three paths the final result is only one. Renunciations of the three paths are renunciation that spontaneously wishes to liberate ourself permanently from lower rebirth, renunciation that spontaneously wishes to liberate ourself permanently from samsaric rebirth, and renunciation that spontaneously wishes to liberate ourself permanently from a rebirth in which we possess self-cherishing. The first renunciation is renunciation of the path of a person of initial scope, the second is renunciation of the path of a person of middling scope and the third is renunciation of the path of a person of great scope. This proves that renunciation is very important to begin, make progress on and complete the path to enlightenment, which in turn proves that renunciation is the essential meaning of the teachings of all the Buddhas. Although there are renunciations of the three paths the final result is only one, the attainment of enlightenment.

      HOW TO DEVELOP PURE RENUNCIATION

      The root text says:

      Attachment to the fulfilment of your own wishes, uncontrolled desire,

      Is the main cause of all your own problems and suffering,

      And there is no method to abandon it without first developing renunciation.

      Thus you should apply great effort to develop and maintain pure renunciation.

      When, through daily training, you develop the spontaneous thoughts:

      ‘I may die today’ and ‘A precious human life is so rare’,

      And you meditate on the truth of karma and the sufferings of the cycle of impure life, samsara,

      Your attachment to worldly enjoyments will cease.

      In this way, when uncontrolled desire for worldly enjoyments

      Does not arise even for a moment,

      But a mind longing for liberation, nirvana, arises throughout the day and the night,

      At that time pure renunciation is generated.

      The explanation in the root text on how to generate pure renunciation is the same as explained by Je Tsongkhapa in his Lamrim teachings, and I also explain this in detail in the book Modern Buddhism. Based on oral instructions we can also practise the following. We imagine and think:

      Today as a human being I enjoy human conditions and tonight I go to sleep as a human being, but during sleep due to karma and other circumstances my breathing stops completely. Then tomorrow, instead of waking up as a human being, I reach a place pervaded by fire, and my body becomes inseparable from fire. I am reborn in hell, where I will experience unbearable pain for millions of years.

      Contemplating this imagination, which comes from our wisdom, again and again, we will develop fear of samsaric rebirth in general and of lower rebirth in particular. This fear is renunciation, which comes from our wisdom. We meditate on this renunciation continually until we maintain this fear day and night without ever forgetting it. At this time we have developed pure renunciation, or renunciation of the path. Path in this context is a spiritual path or spiritual realization. The effectiveness of this meditation depends on our potential for spiritual realizations.

      BODHICHITTA

      ‘Bodhi’ means enlightenment and ‘chitta’ means mind. Bodhichitta is a mind that spontaneously wishes to attain enlightenment to benefit each and every living being every day. It is the gateway through which we enter the path to enlightenment, and the supreme good heart of the Sons and Daughters of the Conqueror Buddhas, who are also called ‘Bodhisattvas’. They will all soon become Buddhas, enlightened beings. We should follow their example. The moment we develop bodhichitta we will become a Son or Daughter of the Buddhas and we will soon become a Buddha. How wonderful!

      HOW TO GENERATE THE PRECIOUS MIND OF BODHICHITTA

      The root text says:

      However, if this renunciation is not maintained

      By