THE SNOW LION NEWSLETTER

The following is an excerpt from Opening the Door to Bön

Pure Attitude of the Enlightened Ones
Both teacher and student need to have the pure attitude of the enlightened ones. It is important to look within and consider whether one wishes to receive the teachings in order to achieve worldly fame and reputation, gain higher rebirth in the god realms due to fear of suffering in the three lower realms, or liberate oneself only from this cyclic existence of suffering. Wishing to liberate only oneself (thegmen gyi kunlong) is considered to be the lowest level of these incorrect attitudes.

If you have any of these wrong or negative attitudes, you must transform and correct them first by thinking, for instance, that "in the short period of this lifetime, it is not worth benefiting only myself. It is essential for me to overcome the suffering of this cyclic world in order to attain enlightenment for the benefit all sentient beings."

It is important to understand that from the very beginning of one's past lives until today, all sentient beings have somehow been connected to you as your father or mother. When they were your parents, they took kind and loving care of you—offering you the most delicious food, covering you with the softest clothes—just as your present parents likely do. Because you have been a child of all of these sentient beings, it is important to realize that you have a responsibility to lead and liberate them from the suffering of this existing world. All sentient beings dislike suffering, but each negative action of their body, mind, and speech cultivates more causes of suffering. Without realizing it, they follow the wrong path and thus experience endless suffering. They do not have the knowledge they need to practice the teachings, so they cannot be liberated from this condition without help.

Therefore, it is essential to generate positive thoughts toward all sentient beings by thinking that they must be liberated and freed from all their negative karmas. To do this, one needs to receive the teachings and commit to one's practice with the goal of achieving enlightenment. We call this "embodying the attitude of enlightenment."

The teacher needs to have a positive motivation for giving the teachings. He should teach in order to benefit his students and all sentient beings. The teachings will not be effective if the teacher does not have this attitude. A quotation from Drime Zijid, one of the largest biographies of Tönpa Shenrab, says "Without compassion and the right attitude to giving the teachings in order to benefit the disciples and all sentient beings, it is rather like a donkey wearing a tiger skin to look like a tiger."

The three essential qualities of a teacher include having trust and devotion toward his own teacher and past lineage masters, having compassion for all sentient beings, and having perfect knowledge of Bön. Without trust and devotion to the lineage masters and his root teacher, he will not be blessed by his teachers and past lamas. With these qualities, he will have the blessing and power to help his students detach themselves from the suffering of samsara.

It is also important that the teacher have compassion and a good attitude toward the teachings. For example, the great hermit Gongzod Ritöd Chenpo always did prayers and requested blessings by first repeating the name of his teacher, such as "Jetsun Trotsang La" and "Jetsun Jangpa La." Only then did he start the teachings.

If a teacher lacks compassion for sentient beings, he will not have the ability to generate the good will necessary to benefit students and others by his teachings. If he is seeking only fame and reputation, he will be unable to guide his students on the pathway to enlightenment.

Without perfect knowledge of Bön in general, and of his special topic of expertise in particular, the teacher may not be able to properly interpret the meaning of the teachings. If students do not receive the teachings with the correct attitude and understanding that are essential for developing their practice, then they will not achieve realization.

The Tantric Way of Purifying One's Views
The second important attitude is the Tantric way of purifying one's views, which means to transform one's ordinary and dualistic views and conceptions into a higher spiritual vision.

For instance, you transform the place where teachings are received from an ordinary classroom into a complete and perfected mandala of the deities. You view the teacher as a pure form of Shen Lha Ökar, the Buddha of Compassion, by mentally transforming him from an ordinary person into an enlightened one who has manifested in a human body to guide all sentient beings. You transform your companions and classmates from ordinary beings into deities and goddesses, and believe that they all have love, compassion, and care for all sentient beings.

The purpose of transforming your views into pure visions toward these objects is to realize the extraordinary nature of this experience. This gives you a special reason to receive blessings and powers from the teacher (lama), the enlightened ones (Sangye), the deities (yidam), and the female manifestations of the enlightened ones (khadro), in order to develop your wisdom and stability. This is the essence of the practice of purifying one's view according to the Tantric ways.

To achieve maximum benefit, the practitioner must generate both the motivation of the enlightened one and the motivation of the secret Sang Ngag. Before receiving teachings, doing practices, and receiving empowerment or oral transmission, the student should start his practice each time with these motivations, so that the benefits of the practice will be multiplied.

Pure motivation provides the student with good conditions for the teachings to take root and blossom into enlightenment. If you lack pure motivation, then impure and deluded thoughts may destroy any good results of your practice. It is important to correct and purify any improper attitudes and motives.