Teachings - Karma Choeling Buddhist Monastery

The Four Foundations
A teaching given at Taupo,   11 October 2007 by
Ven Lama Pasang

The Four Foundations are profound and deep.  The deep meaning can’t be explained – we can only discuss the meaning of the words.  If it weren’t profound and deep then you couldn’t do further practice such as Mahamudra on the basis of it.  It is a foundation.  A good understanding of it is required to practice the Dharma.
Usually the mind is out of control with attachments etc.  So action is needed to turn the mind to the practice of dharma.  How is this done?

1 The Precious Human Body
All human birth is not precious.  Human birth is a consequence of much good karma.  You can be human and still have disabilities.  We don’t have these things so our lives are precious.  Also it is easy to destroy the body and we can’t say when life will end.  There are many beings in the human realm, but only some are truly positive and productive.  We are very fortunate – we are connected to Buddha dharma, which is compassionate and not violent.  We have teachings, and lamas – the result of positive karma.  If you don’t have the karmic connections, you may want to practice, Buddhism, but can't have the opportunity.  So  the point of this foundation is that you are strong and capable and can do anything you want.

2 Impermanence
But life is fragile like a bubble, nothing lasts forever.   Change and death are an integral part of life.  There is nothing in the material world we can count on indefinitely.   Realizing this decreases attachment and anger and gives us a very strong motivation for practice.

3 Karma
This teaching is complicated.  If you have good karma it is the result of your effort.  No one else can give it to you.  The Sun and moon can fall down but karma is unchangeable.  Sooner or later karma will ripen.  So if you want to practice you must create karma for this and future lives.  If your life is good it show the actions of previous lives, if not – same thing.  So if we want better than this life you need to create good karma, not just in the temple but every where.  You can practice in your job – think about compassion and love.  These are things you can practice in daily life not just in the temple.  If you believe in Buddha, God etc or not it doesn’t matter, but you must develop love: this has consequences for you.

4 Samsara -- The ocean of suffering.
We are in Samsara which includes lots of suffering  -- the result of former karma.  So make a commitment to accept suffering on behalf of others who have such problems.  It will not make things worse for you, but will increase your compassion.  If you want everlasting happiness then you must liberate yourself from samsara; you have to practice.  No one can give you liberation.  So you have to develop compassion through practice.  The source of Buddha is bodhicitta; without bodhicitta there is no Buddha.  Bodhicitta comes from compassion and love.  


So understanding the four foundations means think about them: everything is impermanent, the human realm is full of suffering.  The mind’s desires can be insatiable, there is no limit to them, but if we understand and practice, we can make some limits.  People are working too hard to get some joy and wealth.  They think: 'if I work hard and get lots of money then I will enjoy it'.  But lots of money equals lots of problems.  If you understand and practice then you can achieve something of lasting value.  If you don’t understand the four foundations then you can practice, but it will be unstable, always changing.  Buddhadharma is not for external development, it is for the inside, for our heart.

The four foundations are like a house in which the roof is the Buddha dharma.  These are the four foundations of buddhadharma, not just in our school, our lineage, but in of all Buddhist practice.  The four ordinary or common foundations are the foundation for all practitioners, to turn our minds to dharma practice. This is why Buddhadharma is not just like an ordinary job or professional training.  Faith, and devotion are necessary to develop our practice.  The Master says: The guru is like a snowy mountain.  Devotion is like the shining sun. When sun shines on snow it melts and produces water.  If there is no devotion then no snow melts, there are no teachings, no blessings.  This is especially true in the Mahamudra lineage.  

From the four foundations, if you have commitment and devotion to the lineage, then you can get something: success in practice.  Practice can be just doing 100,000 prostrations or Vajrasattva, but it needs to be based on some kind of meaning,  such as the four foundations.  It can be hard to imitate Milarepa or Siddhartha but you can still do the four foundations and become enlightened.  Any one of the Ngöndro practices can lead to enlightenment.  We put them together as a package because people are lazy, and gurus are not always there.  

The Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra
Composed byThe Lord Protector Rangjung Dorje, The Third Gyalwa Karmapa

Namoguru, Gurus and yidams, deities of the mandala, Buddhas of the three times in the ten directions and your sons and daughters, Please consider us with kindness and understanding, and Grant your blessing that these aspirations may be accomplished exactly as we ask.

Sprung from the snow mountain of pure intentions and actions Of myself and all sentient beings without limit, May the river of accumulated virtue of the threefold purity Flow into the ocean of the four bodies of the Victorious Ones.

So long as this is not accomplished, Through all my lifetimes, birth upon birth, May not even the words "evil deeds" and "suffering" be heard And may we enjoy the splendour and goodness of oceans of happiness and virtue.

Having obtained the supreme freedoms and conjunctions of the precious human existence, endowed with faith, energy, and intelligence, Having attended on a worthy spiritual friend and received the pith of the holy instructions, May we practice these properly, just as we have received them,without obstacle or interruption.  In all our lives, may we practice and enjoy the holy dharma.

Hearing and studying the scriptures and reasonings free us from the obscuration of not knowing, Contemplating the oral instructions disperses the darkness of doubt. In the light born of meditation what is shines forth just as it is. May the brightness of the three prajnas grow in power.

By understanding the meaning of the ground, which is the two truths free from the extremes of eternalism and nihilismAnd by practising the supreme path of the two accumulations, free from the extremes of exaggeration and denial, Is attained the fruit of well-being for oneself and others, free from the extremes of samsara and nirvana. May all beings meet the dharma which neither errs nor misleads.

The ground of purification is the mind itself, indivisible cognitive clarity and emptiness. That which purifies is the great vajra yoga of mahamudra. What is to be purified are the adventitious, temporary contaminations of confusion, May the fruit of purification, the stainless dharmakaya, be manifest.

Resolving doubts about the ground brings conviction in the view. Then keeping one's awareness unwavering in accordance with the view, is the subtle pith of meditation. Putting all aspects of meditation into practice is the supreme action. The view, the meditation, the action--may there be confidence in these.

All phenomena are illusory displays of mind. Mind is no mind--the mind's nature is empty of any entity that is mindBeing empty, it is unceasing and unimpeded, manifesting as everything whatsoever.  Examining well, may all doubts about the ground be discerned and cut.

Naturally manifesting appearances, that never truly exist, are confused into objects. Spontaneous intelligence, under the power of ignorance, is confused into a self. By the power of this dualistic fixation, beings wander in the realms of samsaric existence. May ignorance, the root of confusion, be discovered and cut.

It is not existent--even the Victorious Ones do not see it. It is not nonexistent--it is the basis of all samsara and nirvana. This is not a contradiction, but the middle path of unity. May the ultimate nature of phenomena, limitless mind beyond extremes, he realised.

If one says, "This is it," there is nothing to show. If one says, "This is not it," there is nothing to deny. The true nature of phenomena, which transcends conceptual understanding, is unconditioned. May conviction be gained in the ultimate, perfect truth.

Not realising it, one circles in the ocean of samsara.If it is realised, buddha is not anything other. It is completely devoid of any "This is it," or "This is not it." May this simple secret, this ultimate essence of phenomena,which is the basis of everything, be realised.

Appearance is mind and emptiness is mind. Realisation is mind and confusion is mind. Arising is mind and cessation is mind. May all doubts about mind be resolved.

Not adulterating meditation with conceptual striving or mentally created meditation, Unmoved by the winds of everyday busyness, Knowing how to rest in the uncontrived, natural spontaneous flow, May the practice of resting in mind's true nature be skilfully sustained.

The waves of subtle and coarse thoughts calm down by themselves in their own place, And the unmoving waters of mind rest naturally. Free from dullness, torpor, and, murkiness, May the ocean of shamatha be unmoving and stable.

Looking again and again at the mind which cannot be looked at, The meaning which cannot be seen is vividly seen, just as it is. Thus cutting doubts about how it is or is not, May the unconfused genuine self-nature be known by self-nature itself.

Looking at objects, the mind devoid of objects is seen; Looking at mind, its empty nature devoid of mind is seen; Looking at both of these, dualistic clinging is self-liberated. May the nature of mind, the clear light nature of what is, be realised.

Free from mental fabrication, it is the great seal, mahamudra. Free from extremes, it is the great middle way, madhyamika. The consummation of everything, it is also called the great perfection, dzogchen. May there be confidence that by understanding one,the essential meaning of all is realised.

Great bliss free from attachment is unceasing. Luminosity free from fixation on characteristics is unobscured.Nonthought transcending conceptual mind is spontaneous presence. May the effortless enjoyment of these experiences be continuous.

Longing for good and clinging to experiences are self-liberated. Negative thoughts and confusion purify naturally in ultimate space. In ordinary mind there is no rejecting and accepting, loss and gain. May simplicity, the truth of the ultimate essence of everything, be realised.

The true nature of beings is always buddha. Not realising that, they wander in endless samsara. For the boundless suffering of sentient beings May unbearable compassion be conceived in our being.

When the energy of unbearable compassion is unceasing, In expressions of loving kindness, the truth of its essential emptiness is nakedly clear. This unity is the supreme unerring path. Inseparable from it, may we meditate day and night.

By the power of meditation arise the eyes and supernormal perceptions, Sentient beings are ripened and buddha fields are perfectly purified, The aspirations that accomplish the qualities of a buddha are fulfilled. By bringing these three to utmost fruition-fulfilling,ripening and purifying-may utmost buddhahood be manifest.

By the power of the compassion of the Victorious Ones of the ten directionsand their sons and daughters, And by the power of all the pure virtue that exists, May the pure aspirations of myself and all sentient beings Be accomplished exactly as we wish.