Introduction

The book was compiled from a series of teachings given by His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa in February 2007 at Tilokpur Nunnery in India, and it represents one of his first major teachings after reaching twenty-one, the age of majority, only a few months earlier. His commentary includes reflections on his role as a spiritual leader, as well as stories of his own childhood and early training.

The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva is a classic of Tibetan literature, written in the fourteenth century by the great teacher, Ngülchu Thogme Zangmo. It is a short but complete guide to practicing the Dharma. Each verse presents a concise instruction in a fundamental Mahayana practice. They include meditation instructions, choosing a teacher, taking refuge, karma, bodhichitta, tonglen, taming the mind, the six paramitas, and moral conduct. The verses are explained one by one in the commentary, and the entire work is reproduced in the back of the book.

Before his passing in 1981, His Holiness the 16th Karmapa left a letter with one of his closest students indicating the time, place, and circumstances of his next birth. On the basis of this letter, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the Seventeenth Karmapa, was found in Tibet, where he had been born in 1985. The authenticity of this recognition was confirmed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who revealed that he had a corroborating vision of the Karmapa just before Ogyen Trinley’s discovery. The young Karmapa was invited to Tsurphu Monastery, the seat of all the Karmapas in Tibet. There he was enthroned and completed the basic studies of the sutras and tantras of Shakyamuni Buddha. In December 1999, His Holiness went to India, where he continued his studies. He has been living temporarily at Gyuto Ramoche Tantric University near Dharamsala. He offers public and private audiences and on occasion bestows a public empowerment. His Holiness will visit KTD in May 2008.

From the chapter entitled “Taking Refuge,” which explains stanza 7 of The Thirty-Seven Practices

Captive themselves in the prison of samsara,
Whom could worldly gods protect?
To the unfailing Three Jewels is the practice of a bodhisattva.

In some countries there are ancient ways that are not necessarily part of an established philosophical tradition, but belong to a kind of animism. If we see an impressive rock, we think there is something special there. If we see a tree that is a few hundred years old and outstanding, we think there is something there. In this kind of worship, we depend on the power of gods, nagas, great spirits, and so forth. Not taking responsibility for our own future, we make prayers to those spirits or beings and put our life in their hands.

These kinds of practices are sometimes useful. In Tibet people point not only to trees or rocks, but also to a whole mountain and say, “This mountain is such-and-such a god.” The benefit of this is that it helps to protect the environment. If the mountain is sacred, we cannot destroy it or do anything to it. Not only is the environment protected, but many animals on the mountain are saved. With this way of thinking, we do not harm anything on the mountain, so there are some benefits to these beliefs and practices.

For people who are interested in protecting the environment in Tibet, I think it is better not to talk to people from a scientific point of view because they might not understand. Even if they understood they might say, “What is he talking about? Utter nonsense.” It might be more effective just to say, “That mountain has a certain mountain god or spirit. If you go near or damage it, it will get angry and problems will come.” When I was young, we were told that there were deities and so forth in the mountains. As small children, when we went near these places, we had the feeling that we could not make too much noise and should behave. There was a certain kind of law, or rule, which was useful.

If we look into the works of the many great lamas of Tibet, we will find numerous writings on fire offerings (sang) and offerings to the protecting deities (solkha). When I was as a child I wondered if there were really so many local deities. However, the people asked the lamas to write those kinds of ceremonies so they did, thinking that it would be useful to protect the land.

Although these concepts have benefits, generally they belong to the category of blind faith, and some problems can come from them. For instance, although they are Buddhists, some people offer money and ask the lamas to do special practices of deities and protectors. They say, “I am involved in a big business deal. Please do whatever practices and prayers you can so that it goes well.” For their part, the lamas do what they can: They join their palms and do the prayers that they have to do. But the results that are requested cannot really be accomplished by the deities or by the lamas, because it depends on the many causes and conditions of dependent arising. If everything goes well, the person will come back and make prostrations to the lama and give more offerings. But if the business does not succeed, there is the danger that the person might come back and demand, “Where is my money?” We must understand very clearly that success depends on a multitude of causes and conditions. Therefore, to follow in blind faith does not really work. Instead, we need to see clearly the meaning of events — the dependent arising of their causes and conditions — and act accordingly.

Now we come down to the real meaning, the whole point, of what I am saying here. It is that I am my own refuge, I am my own protector. Nobody can actually give me protection. I must help myself by clearly understanding what I have to take up and what I have to get rid of. This I have to find out myself and then do it, and that the true practice of Dharma. It is through the practice of Dharma that I create the causes and conditions for my own happiness and for achieving wisdom, compassion, and the ability to help others.

I have to find and widen my own understanding, and aspiration. I have to cultivate compassion and wisdom within myself. Using method and wisdom together, I will try to achieve the power to work for the benefit of myself and others. Doing that I will be able to protect myself, and I will transcend suffering through my own efforts. In order to do this, I have to depend on this path — the Dharma. I have to depend on the Buddha — the teacher. I have to depend on the other beings who are experienced — the Sangha.

Ultimately, it depends on myself, because I am the primary one who is responsible. Everything has to happen based on that — that I am responsible for myself and for my future — and in order to work on this I have to depend on buddhadharma and sangha. This understanding is the root, the essence, of refuge.

Guru Yoga

It is said that guru yoga is the heart and life of Dharma practice. Whatever practices we do, they are done within the spirit of guru yoga practice. This means that however you visualize or feel the presence of your lama, whether on the crown of your head or in your heart, whether in the form of Vajradhara or in ordinary human form, you feel that presence to be inseparably there. All other practices happen within that feeling of inseparability; it is the most important thing in guru yoga.

In order to awaken the feeling, we look to the qualities of the lama. In Vajrayana teachings, much is said about these qualities, such as, “You are the lama. You are the Buddha. You are the Dharma. You are the yidam.” When you can visualize your lama like this, the blessings will come to you, and that is why it is so important to see these qualities. And to see the lama as the Buddha takes a long time. First, we must see the lama as a human being with the good qualities of a human being and not too burdened with faults and problems. Even this is not very easy.

A great Buddhist master once said, “When we consider the depth of our obscurations and delusion and our negative karma, I feel that it’s remarkable if we can just see the lama as a human being and not as a donkey or a dog. We need to generate pure vision and devotion from the heart.” To see the lama simply as a good human being is the first step. When we say that we are lucky if we do not see our teachers as dogs and donkeys, it does not mean that we actually visualize them in the form of a donkey or a dog or a cow. It’s just that often we do not look for positive qualities in the lama, and if we do not see good qualities, it is not possible for us to receive any.

If we want to see these qualities, there are ways of looking for them. For example, if I happen to find myself alone in a dangerous situation and there is no one else to protect or help me, I have to look to myself and bring my body, speech, and mind together in the best way possible to save myself and leave these problems behind. If I concentrate on myself, I might find that I have some qualities or talents, some things that I can do with my body, speech, and mind. When I take responsibility for what I do, I concentrate on myself and look for abilities within. Looking at your lama in this way, you are not comparing him or her with others but looking at the lama himself or herself, and you are looking from many different angles to see the special qualities this person has.

Sometimes we do not see those qualities because we do not look in the right way. If we do not look directly at a person, we will not see that person’s qualities. When we actually seek a lama’s qualities, we will find them, and sometimes those qualities become very clear and strong and quite special. For instance, Situ Rinpoche is my lama, and sometimes I think, “Well, he’s more or less the same as me — nothing very special.” But then sometimes I look in a deeper, more direct way and I can see that he has many special qualities. He knows so many different things that I sometimes feel that he must be the all-knowing one like the Buddha. In that way, if we focus on the lama’s qualities, we will see them, and then we can receive these qualities ourselves.

It’s not very easy to find all the qualities in your lama. But you should not force yourself to see, because if you do, it will be false. If you force yourself, sometimes you see some good qualities, but then you also see negative ones. So it is not good to force yourself; this seeing has to happen naturally and be genuine, not something that you make up or that you force yourself to see. Sometimes I find it useful to find somebody who actually knows the qualities of this lama and can tell you truthfully about them. When you hear about them from somebody else, you are reminded to actually see them. This can help.

In any case, it is not necessary to force anything. You do have to begin step-by-step. First see your lama as a human being, a good human being who has compassion and maybe some wisdom. When someone has wisdom and compassion, that person has buddha qualities. We do not know enough to see all of the buddha qualities in someone, but compassion and wisdom are the cause of buddhahood, and when somebody has the causes, the result can eventually happen. When you go step-by-step, it becomes possible that you start by seeing that your lama is not totally devoid of buddha qualities, and then slowly you are able to see these qualities.

For the time being, these are some short instructions on guru yoga. I wish and pray and make strong aspirations that you see your lama first as a great human being and then slowly as the Buddha and then as the embodiment of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas.

How to View the Dharma

The Dharma is not something that affects you immediately. When you get hungry, you can eat food and be satisfied; once you build a house, it is finished. But the Dharma is not like that. The Dharma is not completed as soon as you do it, and the teachings do not produce a result as soon as you receive them. It’s not as easy as that. The Dharma has to be cultivated. You need to become used to it so that it becomes a habit, and slowly you begin to really understand. Nevertheless, it is possible that when we receive the teachings and our mind is turned towards Dharma, our way of thinking will change a little bit. When our thinking changes, so does our life; it may become good for ourselves and useful to others.

In the world today, technology is changing very fast and a variety of machines are invented or made. A machine itself is neither good nor bad. Whether it becomes useful or harmful does not depend on the machine. The machine does not decide how it will be used. That depends on the people who make or use it. What are their motivations, and what will they use the machine for? It depends on the people.

When we talk about people who have good intentions and who aspire to be useful and helpful to other beings, we do not mean only certain kinds of people. It does not matter whether you are elderly or young, and you do not have to be famous or special. We are referring to everyone. In olden times, certain people protected the peace and security, and those who fought for freedom or guarded the peace of the world were regarded as heroes. It was as if some people were a special kind of person. Now things have changed and everyone has to be involved. In this modern age of communication, everyone has a responsibility. Everyone can become a hero. If the question is “Who is the hero?” the answer is “He is, she is, you are — everyone is.”

These days progress is being made through material, industrial, and technical advances. This is very good and there’s nothing wrong with it. We could not stop it even if we wanted to, and it would be wrong to try. We have to make progress. But along with progress, we need to take some responsibility. Responsibility is important because problems come along with progress and we need to face them. If we are not prepared to do that, progress will become unrestrained, and there will be no way to meet the challenges it presents. Then progress takes on a negative cast. Not only that, but the problems that go along with progress could become so great that they threaten the earth. As that possibility approaches, it will seem as if the end of the world is coming. Whether or not this happens does not depend on one or two people or even a few. It depends on everyone. Together we have to take responsibility for looking at what is happening, and all of us have the responsibility to see whether our good wishes or intentions are realized or not.

We may be in a remote corner of this world, but what we are doing is for the whole world. We take to heart love and compassion for all sentient beings, and with that we intend to do something that will be beneficial to all. Therefore, to start with we have to purify ourselves just as gold is refined. When a piece of gold ore is first dug from the earth, it does not look like a precious metal. It has to be purified, and only then it does it become real gold. In the same way, within our mind we have what is beneficial and also what is harmful. Whether we become of use to the world depends on whether we can find out what within us is valuable and helpful, and what is not. We need to refine this and develop what is beneficial.

Whether we can help the world depends on how much we can purify ourselves, and this is why we practice Dharma. Dharma provides the instructions for practice and training through which we can improve ourselves. We seek to discard what is false and negative within ourselves and, thereby, bring out something beneficial to give the world. Through this we can improve our environment and we can help sentient beings. When we purify our intentions we are improving our actions, which are inspired by our intentions. This is the why purification is so important.