Cetana Sutta: An Act of Will

“For a person endowed with virtue, consummate in virtue, there is no need for an act of will, ‘May freedom from remorse arise in me.’ It is in the nature of things that freedom from remorse arises in a person endowed with virtue, consummate in virtue.

“For a person free from remorse, there is no need for an act of will, ‘May joy arise in me.’ It is in the nature of things that joy arises in a person free from remorse.

“For a joyful person, there is no need for an act of will, ‘May rapture arise in me.’ It is in the nature of things that rapture arises in a joyful person.

“For a rapturous person, there is no need for an act of will, ‘May my body be serene.’ It is in the nature of things that a rapturous person grows serene in body.

“For a person serene in body, there is no need for an act of will, ‘May I experience pleasure.’ It is in the nature of things that a person serene in body experiences pleasure.

“For a person experiencing pleasure, there is no need for an act of will, ‘May my mind grow concentrated.’ It is in the nature of things that the mind of a person experiencing pleasure grows concentrated.

“For a person whose mind is concentrated, there is no need for an act of will, ‘May I know & see things as they actually are.’ It is in the nature of things that a person whose mind is concentrated knows & sees things as they actually are.

“For a person who knows & sees things as they actually are, there is no need for an act of will, ‘May I feel disenchantment.’ It is in the nature of things that a person who knows & sees things as they actually are feels disenchantment.

“For a person who feels disenchantment, there is no need for an act of will, ‘May I grow dispassionate.’ It is in the nature of things that a person who feels disenchantment grows dispassionate.

“For a dispassionate person, there is no need for an act of will, ‘May I realize the knowledge & vision of release.’ It is in the nature of things that a dispassionate person realizes the knowledge & vision of release.

“In this way, mental qualities lead on to mental qualities, mental qualities bring mental qualities to their consummation, for the sake of going from the near to the Further Shore.”

“Cetana Sutta: An Act of Will” (AN 11.2), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 4 July 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an11/an11.002.than.html .

An ocean of tears

“Ambrosia for the MInd”

Part Three, Good in the End
1. Dedication
Through the merit of this heartfelt aspiration
To practise the seven points of mind training,
The heart-essence of the incomparable Jowo Atiśa and his heirs,
May all beings attain the level of perfect awakening.

2. The colophon
This one-pointed prayer was made before the precious statue of the glorious Atiśa at Kyishö Nyethang by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, a carefree yogin who wanders throughout the land and is extremely devoted to the precious Kadampa tradition. May it be accomplished!

The section headings were added by Mangala (Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche).

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/jamyang-khyentse-wangpo/ambrosia | Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2007. Revised 2012. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Comment: There’s a lot here. This is a prayer based on The Seven Point Mind Training brought to Tibet by the great Indian master, Atisha (The Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse, Volume One. SHAMBHALA*Boulder*2010, pg 105). I highly recommend reading The Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse, and similar texts to better understand these teachings. If you can, find a teacher with an authentic lineage. Dedicated to your happiness – Mark

“Ambrosia for the Mind” – Continued

Part Two – Continued, Good in the Middle: the Main Subject of the Text, which has seven subdivisions

6. The Commitments of Mind Training
May the precious masters grant their blessings,
So that I may keep my promises without hypocrisy,
And always remain impartial, and free of ostentation,
Guarding the lojong commitments as I do my very life.

7. The Precepts for Mind Training
In short, may the precious masters grant their blessings,
So that I may genuinely follow all the precepts
For increasing the two aspects of bodhichitta,
And within this lifetime gain the realization of the supreme vehicle.

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/jamyang-khyentse-wangpo/ambrosia | Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2007. Revised 2012. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Comment: There’s a lot here. This is a prayer based on The Seven Point Mind Training brought to Tibet by the great Indian master, Atisha (The Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse, Volume One. SHAMBHALA*Boulder*2010, pg 105). I highly recommend reading The Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse, and similar texts to better understand these teachings. If you can, find a teacher with an authentic lineage. Dedicated to your happiness – Mark

“Ambrosia for the Mind” – Continued

Part Two – Continued, Good in the Middle: the Main Subject of the Text, which has seven subdivisions

3. Transforming Adversity into the Path to Awakening
May the precious masters grant their blessings,
So that whatever adversity and sufferings may arise
I see them as the wiles of this demon, ego-clinging,
And transform them into the path towards awakening.

4. Applying the Practice Throughout One’s Life
May the precious masters grant their blessings,
So that I may focus upon the essence of the practice throughout my life,
And always apply the five strengths of pure thought and pure deed,
Gathering merit, purifying obscurations and making prayers of aspiration.

5. The Measure of Mind Training
May the precious masters grant their blessings,
So that with joyful self-assurance and freedom of mind,
I may bring all adverse circumstances onto the path,
And everything may become a remedy to ego-clinging.

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/jamyang-khyentse-wangpo/ambrosia | Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2007. Revised 2012. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Comment: There’s a lot here. This is a prayer based on The Seven Point Mind Training brought to Tibet by the great Indian master, Atisha (The Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse, Volume One. SHAMBHALA*Boulder*2010, pg 105). What are the freedoms and advantages referenced in the prayer? What are the preliminaries? What is bodhicitta? What are the two aspects of bodhicitta? I highly recommend reading The Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse, and similar texts to better understand these teachings. If you can, find a teacher with an authentic lineage. Dedicated to your happiness – Mark

“Ambrosia for the Mind” – Continued

Part Two, Good in the Middle: the Main Subject of the Text, which has seven subdivisions

1. The Preliminaries, the Basis for Practice**
May the precious masters grant their blessings so that I may train thoroughly in the preliminaries,
Recognizing how hard it is to gain the freedoms and advantages and how easily they are lost,
So that I strive always to act in accordance with the laws of karma, adopting wholesome deeds and avoiding what is harmful,
And develop genuine renunciation for samsara.

2. The Main Part, Training in Bodhicitta
May the precious masters grant their blessings,
So that I may always cultivate the two aspects of bodhicitta,
Purifying my dualistic perceptions, which have no basis in reality, into all-pervading space,
And practising the profound exchange of my own happiness for others’ suffering.

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/jamyang-khyentse-wangpo/ambrosia | Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2007. Revised 2012. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Comment: There’s a lot here. This is a prayer based on The Seven Point Mind Training brought to Tibet by the great Indian master, Atisha (The Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse, Volume One. SHAMBHALA*Boulder*2010, pg 105). What are the freedoms and advantages referenced in the prayer? What are the preliminaries? What is bodhicitta? What are the two aspects of bodhicitta? I highly recommend reading The Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse, and similar texts to better understand these teachings. If you can, find a teacher with an authentic lineage. Dedicated to your happiness – Mark.

1. The Title of the Prayer
“Ambrosia for the Mind, A Prayer of the Seven Points of Mind Training.”

2. Homage
I bow down before the spiritual guides of the supreme vehicle,
The source of all that is positive in saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.
May the precious masters grant their blessings
So that my mind is purified through the three kinds of faith.

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/jamyang-khyentse-wangpo/ambrosia | Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2007. Revised 2012. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Next – Part Two, Good in the Middle

Dutiyajjhana – Unification of Mind w/o Sustained or Applied Thought

With the subsiding of applied thought and sustained thought he enters and dwells in the second jhana, which has internal confidence and unification of mind, is without applied thought and sustained thought, and is filled with rapture and happiness born of concentration (M.i,181; Vbh. 245)

The second jhana, like the first, is attained by eliminating the factors to be abandoned and by developing the factors of possession. In this case however, the factors to be abandoned are the two initial factors of the first jhana itself, applied thought and sustained thought; the factors of possession are the three remaining jhana factors, rapture, happiness and one-pointedness. Hence the formula begins “with the subsiding of applied thought and sustained thought,” and then mentions the jhana’s positive endowments.

After achieving the five kinds of mastery over the first jhana, a meditator who wishes to reach the second jhana should enter the first jhana and contemplate its defects. These are twofold: one, which might be called the defect of proximate corruption, is the nearness of the five hindrances, against which the first jhana provides only a relatively mild safeguard; the other defect, inherent to the first jhana, is its inclusion of applied and sustained thought, which now appear as gross, even as impediments needing to be eliminated to attain the more peaceful and subtle second jhana.

By reflecting upon the second jhana as more tranquil and sublime than the first, the meditator ends his attachment to the first jhana and engages in renewed striving with the aim of reaching the higher stage. He directs his mind to his meditation subject — which must be one capable of inducing the higher jhanas such as a kasina or the breath — and resolves to overcome applied and sustained thought. When his practice comes to maturity the two kinds of thought subside and the second jhana arises. In the second jhana only three of the original five jhana factors remain — rapture, happiness, and one-pointedness. Moreover, with the elimination of the two grosser factors these have acquired a subtler and more peaceful tone.[17]

From: “The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation”, by Henepola Gunaratana. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html

Pathamajjhana …. Concentration

Quite secluded from sense pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states of mind, he enters and dwells in the first jhana, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. (M.i,1818; Vbh.245)

From: “The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation”, by Henepola Gunaratana. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html .

The Path – Day 8

 
VIII. Samma samadhi …. Right concentration

pathamajjhana …. the first jhana
dutiyajjhana …. the second jhana
tatiyajjhana …. the third jhana
catutthajjhana …. the fourth jhana

More on jhanas tomorrow.