A key feature of Buddhism is the way, throughout time and space, it fuses with its surroundings. For example, when Mahayana Buddhism reached Tibet, it fuzed with the Tantric, shamanic, and Bon traditions of the area. Bon is an ancient Tibetan religion. Through this intermingling, Tibetan Buddhism today stands as a spiritual discipline full of transformational practices, unique imagery, rich culture, and rich history.
On our special journey to Ladakh, we’ll be offered teachings and practice with a Tibetan Buddhist lineage from the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism: the Drukpa Lineage. It is because of this journey to Ladakh in 2021 that we now wish to expand on the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism at large and, in the meantime, study them in a way that’s applicable for anyone here who’s willing to read and learn. Thus we’ve created this list of 5 essential Tibetan Buddhist teachings and practices along with descriptions concerning how to best apply the teachings to one’s life.
1. The Idea of Bodhisattvas and Buddhahood in Tibetan Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism holds that Buddhahood is a state of being freed from all mental obscurations. The Mahayana tradition places special emphasis on attaining this special state of enlightenment with the intention of bodhicitta, or a mind of awakening. Further, Bodhicitta is the selfless intention to attain enlightenment not only for oneself but for others as well.
Can you read where this is going? The idea is to better oneself to be of benefit, rather than harm, to all others in our vicinities. When we work on ourselves, whether it be through meditation, chanting, fitness, visualization, or active listening, we’re watering our seeds of Buddhahood. These will eventually bear the fruit of enlightenment and help us be like Bodhisattvas, or someone who is dedicated and has even gone as far as vowing to dedicate their lives to the peace and enlightenment of all beings.
2. The Four Noble Truths in Tibetan Buddhism
The Four Noble Truths, a core concept of Buddhism in general, is upheld in Tibetan Buddhism. This teaching was revealed to followers by Siddhārtha Gautama himself, establishing it as a central teaching throughout most later-established secs of the religion. These Truths are as follows:
- dukkha – unsatisfiable suffering
- sumadaya – the origin of suffering (often desire and attachment)
- nirodha – letting go of desire and attachment to end dukkha.
- magga – the path (Noble Eightfold Path) leading to the end of dukkha.
To someone new to Buddhism, these truths may at first seem nihilistic. The first of The Four Noble Truths is that the universe is comprised of suffering. Does this seem pessimistic? To Buddhists, it is not. They hold that it is only through accepting this truth of the universe that a practitioner may proceed on the path to ending suffering. And remember, the Truths don’t only give us the truth of suffering. They also offer the origin of it, the possibility of ending it, and precisely how to go about ending it.
In terms of applicability, we can study The Four Noble Truths as a way to accept hard truths in order to better work with and transcend them. For example, accepting that suffering is a part of life is difficult, yes, but it’s the beginning of the path by which we achieve higher states of joy and overall being.
3. Lamrim
Lamrim translates to “stages of the path.” It presents the stages of spiritual practice leading to enlightenment and is highly regarded in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The teaching is rooted in A Lamp for the Path of Enlightenment, a Buddhist text composed in Sanskrit by 11th century by Atiśa Dīpankara Śrījñāna. Atiśa was a Bengali Buddhist religious teacher partly responsible for spreading Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism throughout Asia.
A key component of Lamrim is the 3 motivations, that is, motivations depending on an individual’s depth of motivation in search of enlightenment. For example, a modest seeker should set out to be as joyful as possible within samsara. Meanwhile, a more fervent seeker might aim to completely alleviate the suffering of not only him/herself, but of other beings as well.
Lamrim teaches us to be where we are on our paths and to set goals accordingly. If we have a sudden impulse to become yoga masters, as an example, we shouldn’t expect to be guiding the world to enlightenment in 1, 2, or even 3 years. Our focus should be on our own strength and happiness to start.
4. Chod
Chod comes from traditional Tibetan religious traditions. It’s a meditative practice whose aim is “cutting through the ego.” The practice utilizes visualizations, music, and prayer to ignite a full embodied, powerful experience toward cutting through hindrances and obscurations.
Jamgön Kongtrül, a Buddhist scholar and poet, said that Chöd involves “accepting willingly what is undesirable, throwing oneself defiantly into unpleasant circumstances, realizing that gods and demons are one’s own mind, and ruthlessly severing self-centered arrogance through an understanding of the sameness of self and others.”
Chod teaches us to dive head-first into facing our demons rather than allowing them to lurk inside of us indefinitely. As we face said demons, we clear out dullness, depression, anxiety, and other neuroses for love and peace to take their place.
We’ll be participating in a Chod practice among other spiritual teachings on our journey to Ladakh.
