In Buddhism it is
pointed out that our present state of mind is
conditioned by previous actions. This is always
true, regardless of which realm of existence one
is born into. Different kinds of existence come
about as a result of the infallible law of cause
and effect.
The mind is the
origin of all actions. The way individuals behave
is based on what they think and believe. Samsara,
which is a state of perpetual suffering, will
continue to manifest, as long as the mind is
conditioned by ignorance. This is the actual
state of affairs; it is not true just because the
Buddha, Shakyamuni, said so.
The Buddhist
teachings are methods that remove ignorance from
the mind. Since ignorance is merely a state of
mind, Buddhist practice is always a mental
process which attempts to bring about an
enlightened state. There are two stages: to study
and contemplate the way things truly are and to
cultivate the resulting understanding, so that
one's perception of reality becomes accurate.
The Tibetan name for
Buddha, 'Sang-gye',
illustrates this approach. 'Sang' means to
awaken, that is, to awaken from the sleep of
ignorance. This awakening is like the sun
dispelling darkness. 'Gye' refers to the
enlightened qualities that are revealed and free
to manifest once ignorance is gone. This is like
when a flower blossoms displaying all its beauty.
The Buddha presented
three levels of teachings, which are called the
Three Vehicles or the Three Yanas. The
appropriate level for each individual depends
upon one's understanding. These three main
approaches have different goals and ways of
presenting reality.
In the first
approach, the Shravakayana, the two major schools
of thought are the Vaibashika and the Sautrantika
systems. The Vaibashika and the Sautrantika teach
that the cause of conditioned existence is the
ignorant belief that the individual is a
permanent, lasting entity.
In order to overcome
this mistaken notion, one studies the teachings
which explain that the 'self' is, in fact,
without essence, insubstantial, and unreal.
Having arrived at a definitive understanding, one
familiarizes oneself with this new way of
regarding reality to the point where it becomes
an integral part of one's being. This realization
is called the state of an Arhat of the
Shravakayana, and it is the highest point of this
approach.
The second approach,
the Pratyekabuddhayana, goes further. It points
out that all other phenomena also, just like the
individual, are not truly existent entities, that
all things are illusory like the images in a
dream. As in the Shravakayana, there are two
stages of development: intellectual analysis
which is followed by cultivating a new way of
perceiving reality, so that full realization of
this approach is achieved. Practitioners
contemplate the twelve phases of the process of
dependent occurrence in their order of arising,
that is, basic unawareness, actions and the karma
they accrue, habitual patterns that colour
consciousness, and so on. They also contemplate
these phases in the reversed succession, starting
with death, going on to aging, birth, and so on.
The goal of this approach is the state of an
Arhat of the Pratyekabuddhayana. This state
involves full realization of the emptiness of the
individual as well as a partial realization of
the emptiness of external phenomena.
The third approach,
the Mahayana, speaks of compassion for all living
beings and the emptiness of both the individual
and all other phenomena. It teaches that the
practice of the ten paramitas must be based on
awareness which fully perceives the
essencelessness of phenomena. The inseparability
of compassion and emptiness is a main teaching in
this tradition. The point is that compassion
compels one to work for the welfare of others and
that perception of emptiness allows one to do so
in an enlightened way. Such perception of
emptiness brings one to the realization of mind's
true nature which, according to the Mahayana, is
the union of awareness and emptiness free from
the limitations of conceptual mind.
In this approach, as
in the two previous approaches, practice begins
with a learning process, so that an accurate
understanding becomes the ground for one's
development. One makes effort to benefit others
with the understanding that whatever occurs is
empty of reality and thus illusory. When practice
is based on this understanding, the individual
will not have expectations or hopes of reward.
The knowledge of the Mahayana viewpoint in all
its aspects is the foundation for cultivating
states of mind that will gradually result in
attaining Buddha, the enlightened state, which is
insight into the way things truly are - the fact
that any phenomenon is empty of real essence or
substance. Such emptiness is not a mere
nothingness; it is what allows the enlightened
qualities of the three kayas to manifest.
This is a brief
overview of the Three Vehicles, which include all
the teachings of the Buddha. Anyone who wishes to
follow the Buddhist path needs to study the
teachings in detail and then put them into
practice. The Buddha said that he can show the
way, but it is through personal efforts alone
that enlightenment is attained.
Published
in Knowledge in Action, Volume 3, 1994.
(A journal of the Karmapa International Buddhist
Institute (KIBI) in New Delhi, India).
K u n z i g
. S h a m a r . R i n p o c h e