WORDS OF WISDOM AUTHOR: KHENPO TSULTRIM LODRO

Some people become very pessimistic when they hear these teachings on impermanence: I used to be very proud of my status and possessions, but all that is meaningless now. Even my own life cannot be guaranteed. What is the point of this life?

Is this outcome good or bad? It is good because an understanding of impermanence allows us to forgo our attachment to worldly things. When we encounter death in the family, bankruptcy, or other tragedies, we will not be overwhelmed by suffering but realize such is the nature of all things and that we are now a witness to it. If our practice of impermanence is successful, we will then turn our attention to matters of liberation.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "The Practice of Impermanence"

As mentioned earlier, the Buddha said an instant denotes the time it takes a needle tip to pass through a very thin flower petal, but this instant can be divided into still smaller parts. If an instant can be separated into hundred thousands of time segments, we can imagine how short any one time segment is. Yet, even in this fraction of an instant, everything is in a state of flux. The Buddhist term for this is arising and ceasing, the modern term is motion.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "The Practice of Impermanence"

The so-called “aggregate of consciousness” refers to our consciousness , that which constantly does the thinking. This aggregate is the most important, since a lot of people believe although the body is not self, consciousness ought to be the self; they therefore form an attachment to it.

From a macro perspective or prior to investigation, consciousness exists; it can cognize and distinguish various things. But like a rainbow which appears from afar to be truly existent, its essence can never be found if one chases after it. Similarly, if we try to look into what consciousness is, the so- called consciousness cannot be found either.

How do we establish consciousness is non-existent? Firstly, consciousness is a composite term that can be separated into many kinds and called by different names – good mental states, bad mental states, eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, etc.; among these, eye consciousness can be divided further into different colors like red, white, green, and so forth. Each kind of consciousness can also be broken down by time and into successively smaller time units until consciousness disappears altogether; there is no real entity to be found.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "The Practice of Realizing Emptiness"

In The Words of My Perfect Teacher, the discussion on precious human birth, impermanence, etc. is followed immediately by an elaboration on the merit and the benefits of liberation. Why is it necessary to talk about the benefits of liberation? When we do not understand the benefits of liberation, we lose hope because we think there is no purpose in life if everything is impermanent; when we understand the benefits and know liberation represents eternal happiness, rather than being pessimistic, we feel optimistic and happy. Because we finally see the reason for living and will then direct all our effort at attaining liberation. At that point, true renunciation can be cultivated. The ultimate goal of practicing impermanence is none other than realizing this outcome.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "The Practice of Impermanence"

The so-called “aggregate of perception” refers not only to the activity of the sixth consciousness but also to the thoughts produced by the other five types of consciousness. For instance, when our eyes perceive a flower, each color on the flower – white, red, green, etc. – constitutes a different perception.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "The Practice of Realizing Emptiness"

When the mind is quiet, we will discover the empty space in front and our own mind are the exact same thing.

Sakyamuni Buddha said that at that point our self-attachment should be bigger than Mount Meru — I want to attain Buddhahood, I want to free all sentient beings from suffering, I want to undertake actions that are beneficial to others, etc. This kind of self-attachment is indispensable at the beginning; with practice, one gradually dispels the wrong kind of self- attachment, creates the conditions for realizing emptiness and compassion, and ultimately eradicates all forms of attachment. Thus, the delineation between attachment and non-attachment must be very clear.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "The Practice of No-Self"

In fact, not much needs to be said in the practice of emptiness, nor can realization of emptiness really be described. For example, Ch’an Buddhism does not advocate the use of words. The Ch’an masters do not like to say much, since they feel there is nothing to be said or can be conveyed through words. One cannot say things are empty, or things are not empty. Neither assertion is correct, the reason being these are ideas of ordinary people, whereas the state of emptiness goes beyond the limits of expression and what ordinary people can conceptualize.

Although emptiness cannot be described with words, it is not a senseless state like in deep sleep or when one is unconscious. At that moment, we have a profound kind of feeling – that of seeing everything clearly as empty, just as we now clearly see the wall in front is white without having to think “this wall ought to be white.” This sense of seeing is not through the eyes but the mind, and comes from deep within.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "The Practice of Realizing Emptiness"

From a macro perspective, a person who is sitting on a bed to meditate ought to be able to distinguish between the abider, the abiding place, the state of abidance, and so forth. Where is the abiding place? On the bed. Who is abiding? The mind. What is the state in which the mind is abiding? A state of emptiness. Actually, however, there is no person or place in the so-called abiding. The mind and the state of emptiness are not two different things but one and the same.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "The Practice of Realizing Emptiness"