01. Introduction

2024 Southern Dharma Celebration

01. Introduction

19.04.2024

We have a spiritual weekend. We want this weekend to be meaningful, to get understanding that we haven’t before. Sometimes we forget to prepare the mind for this. This depends on a virtuous mind of faith. This is our spiritual life. Maybe to begin with we didn’t even realise we were developing it. This mind helps us to listen in a way that helps us to go deeper. It is part of every other virtuous mind.

Geshe-la says that faith is the root of the path. If it’s our spiritual life, do we give it enough attention? Do we feed it like we feed ourselves? As spiritual practitioners we have to give our faith some attention. Otherwise it won’t naturally grow. Geshe-la once said, “Please do not just enjoy Dharma”. We can enjoy it, but that’s not enough. We want Dharma to really change us, to transform us.

Quote from p72 on the section of faith in HTTYL, Geshe-la says:

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Faith is essential. If we have no faith, even if we master profound teachings and become capable of skilful analysis, our mind will remain untamed because we will not be putting these teachings into practice. No matter how well we understand spiritual teachings on an intellectual level, if we have no faith this will never help us to reduce our problems of anger and other delusions. We may even become proud of our knowledge, thereby actually increasing our delusions. Spiritual knowledge without faith will not help us purify our negativity. We may even create heavy negative karma by using our spiritual position for money, reputation, power or political authority.

We’re a bit addicted to knowledge and intellectual activity. But it’s not enough. We need to ask, “Am I developing?”

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Faith should therefore be cherished as extremely precious. Just as space pervades all places, so faith pervades all virtuous states of mind. With faith in enlightenment we will develop the intention to attain it, with this intention we will develop effort, and with effort we will accomplish it.

Its a danger to think, “I know”. If we really knew, we’d love it.

How to protect the mind from apathy or doubt that creeps in? The mind that resists spiritual practice? In HTTYL: We need to develop and maintain 3 types of faith - admiring faith, believing faith, and wishing faith.

Admiring faith is the nature of rejoicing. Deeply rejoicing in the qualities of Buddha and his teachings. Important to respect Buddha for his uniqueness. His teachings aren’t just about being happy now. His teachings are taking us to complete liberation. Let your mind be blown by this again and again and again. See how skilful Buddha is at getting us to see what we have never seen. Don’t miss the real meaning of the teachings.

Geshe-la said that we need to know that we need to gain permanent liberation from suffering. We need to know this. Those who sincerely practice Dharma can accomplish this. Buddha appeared in the world for this purpose. Dharma’s function is only for this. We need to really want this. Buddha is liberating us but we have to be hungry for it.

Believing faith is the nature of correct belief, believing that actual enlightened beings are present in front of us. This is the empowerment. In ESTH, Geshe-la says, Buddhas mind pervades all phenomena, and because his body is the same nature as his mind, from this we can understand that Buddhas pervade everywhere.

In dependence on admiring and believing faith, naturally the wish of bodhichitta will arise. We will want to transform into a pure being because we don’t want to suffer and we don’t want others to suffer.

02. The Four Noble Truths - Teaching 1