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I believe that all human beings are of the same nature. At the mental and emotional levels
we are the same. We all have the potential to become happy and nice people and we also
have the potential to become very bad and harmful people. The same potential for these
things is present within all of us; the important thing is to try to promote the positive and
useful sides and try to reduce the negative sides.
Inevitably, the negative side will bring miserable experience. In the short term you may
get some kind of satisfaction, but in the long run the negative will always bring some
unpleasant experience. On the other hand, positive things always bring us inner strength.
With inner strength, there is less fear and more self-confidence. With this inner strength, it
is much easier to extend our sense of caring to others without any barriers, whether
religious, cultural or so on. Therefore, it is very important to realize this potential for good
and bad and to analyze it carefully.
This is what I call the promotion of deeper human value. This deeper human value is
compassiona sense of caring and commitment to others. These basic human good
qualities are essential, and without them you can't be a happy person. This is something
very important, whether you are a believer or nonbeliever in any religious faith.
Among humanity there are some who have a mental disposition that suits religious faith,
and utilizing religious faith to promote these basic human values is something very
positive. The different major world religions basically have the same message, the
message of love, compassion and forgiveness. The methods to promote these things can
be different, but as these traditions more or less aim at the same goalwhich is a happier
life, becoming a more compassionate person and a more compassionate humanitythe
different methods do not present a problem. The ultimate achievement is what is
important.
As you might be aware, the core teachings of the Buddha are grounded in the
understanding of the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths are the foundation of the
Buddhist teaching. These are the truths of suffering, its origin, the possibility of cessation
of suffering, and the path leading to the cessation of suffering.
The teachings on the Four Noble Truths are grounded in our human experience. Underlying
our existence as human beings is the basic aspiration to seek happiness and to avoid
suffering. The happiness that we desire and the suffering that we shun come about as a
result of causes and conditions. Understanding this causal mechanism of suffering and
happiness is what the Four Noble Truths are about.
To understand this mechanism, Buddhism analyzes the various possibilities of causation.
For example, one could argue that our experiences of suffering and happiness occur for no
reason, without a cause. That is one possibility that has been rejected in the Buddhist
teachings. There is also the possibility that our experiences are created or caused by some
transcendent being. This possibility is also rejected in Buddhism. There is also the
possibility of postulating some kind of primal substance that could be the root of all
origination of things and events. This has also been rejected in Buddhism.
Having rejected all these metaphysical possibilities, Buddhist teaching presents an
understanding of the causal process in terms of interdependent origination. That is to say,
our experiences of suffering and happiness do not come about by themselves or by some
other independently existing cause, nor by some combination of these. The Buddhist
standpoint is that all things and events, including our experience of suffering and
happiness, come about as a result of a process of interdependent originationthe coming
together of a multiplicity of causes and conditions.
are also talking about various levels of mind, various levels of realizations. So in order to
understand the Four Noble Truths, one has to understand the primary role that mind, or
consciousness, plays in determining our experience of suffering and pain.
In summary, the essential point in the teachings of the Buddha is on the one hand,
equating an undisciplined state of mind with suffering and unenlightened existence, and on
the other hand, a disciplined state of mind with happiness, enlightenment or spiritual
freedom. This is the essential point.
The Eight Verses of Training the Mind summarize the key teachings on both wisdom and
skillful means. The central focus is the antidotes that enable the practitioner to counter
two principal factors.
The first factor is our self-cherishing thoughts and the sense of selfishness that they are
grounded in. The antidotes for this principally involve cultivating altruism, compassion
andbodhicittathe altruistic aspiration to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient
beings. These antidotes are directly aimed at counteracting this self-centeredness and selfcherishing thought.
The second factor is grasping at some kind of enduring, permanently existing self. The
antidote to this is contained in the wisdom teachings in these Eight Verses of Training the
Mind. Therefore, it could be said that these Eight Verses of Training the Mind contain
within them the entire essence of the Buddha's teachings in a distinct form.
Emptiness
The last two lines of the Eight Verses of Training the Mind state, "Aware that all things are
illusory,/ May they, ungrasping, be free from bondage." These lines present the need to
encompass one's practice within an understanding of emptiness. They speak about the
need to engage in one's training of the mind with the full understanding of the ultimate
truth, emptiness. This means that one should develop the awareness that all things are
illusory and, without grasping, one should free oneself from bondage.
What is required before one can cultivate the understanding of everything in terms of
illusion-like nature is to negate the substantial reality of everything, including one's own
"self." Without negating that substantial reality of existence, there is no possibility of
developing the perception of the illusory nature of everything.
How do we develop this understanding of the non-substantiality or emptiness of
everything? It is not enough just to imagine that everything is empty and devoid of
substantial existence. It is not enough to simply keep repeating this verse in one's mind,
almost like a formula; that is also not adequate. What is required is to develop a genuine
insight into emptiness through a rational process of analysis and through a process of
reflection.
One of the most effective ways to understand everything as empty of substantial reality is
to understand the interdependent nature of reality. What is unique about dependent
origination is that within this understanding there is a possibility to find a middle way
between total nothingness on the one hand, and substantial or independent existence on
the other. So by finding that true middle way, one can arrive at a genuine understanding
and insight into emptiness.
Once this kind of insight into emptiness is found in one's meditation through a rational
process and deep contemplation, then there is a kind of new-quality when you interact
with the world and the objects around you. There is a new quality to your engagement
with the world because there is this awareness of the illusion-like nature of reality. The
text suggests that practitioners should engage in mind training with this awareness of the
illusory nature of reality.
Concluding Remarks
Although even now that I'm getting older, it seems my physical well-being is quite okay.
Therefore, as long as this body can manage, my whole life I dedicate to others. Even with
small contributions, I'm always ready to serve you as much as I can. Thank you.
This teaching was sponsored by the Conservancy for Tibetan Art and Culture, a non-profit
organization committed to preserving Tibet's unique cultural heritage. To obtain a
complete transcript of these teachings, contact CTAC or Wisdom Publications
(www.wisdompubs.org). An audiotape of this teaching is available from Snow Lion
(www.snowlionpub.com).
Basically Good, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Shambhala Sun, May 1999.