b. Meditating on Impermanence

There are many circumstances that cause death. It is possible to die from an attack of epilepsy, after becoming bed-ridden with a chronic terminal disease, from food poisoning, from falling from a precipice, or from being attacked with weapons. It is uncertain when death will come. Life is as precarious as a candle fluttering in the wind, or a tiny bird perched on the branch of a tree. There is no telling if, having gone to sleep at night, you will wake up the following morning. You are alive now, yet it is uncertain whether or not you will still be alive in a year’s time. Having left this life behind, you will have to go on to yet another realm of existence. So pray: “O Guru Rinpoche, from this day forward, turn my mind towards the practice—care for me! And see that my practice does not stray onto the wrong paths, such as practising merely to avert sicknesses and demons in this life or to gain food and clothing! Keep me from falling into the inferior attitude of seeking liberation from samsara for myself alone, leaving all my past mothers behind! Omniscient Master of Dharma Longchen Rabjam, you know me! Compassionate root lama, you who are one with the Precious Master Guru Rinpoche, Longchen Rabjam, and Rigdzin Jikmé Lingpa—care for me!”

If you do not seize the opportunity to practise the Dharma offered by this present situation, having obtained all the freedoms and advantages, then in future lives you will not find such a perfect physical basis for attaining liberation from samsara. That you have gained this happy existence now is a result of the slight merit you have accumulated in past lifetimes. If you do not practise virtue in your present situation, and instead accumulate only harmful actions, then once the merit from past lives that provided this physical basis is spent, after death you will wander as a being in the lower realms. Once you are born in such an unhappy state, you will not know good from bad, and you will never even hear the sound of Dharma. You will not meet a spiritual friend. You will be just like a blind person left alone in the middle of a vast desert. What a terrible disaster! What a tragedy! Sentient beings in the hell realms are as numerous as atoms in the earth. Hungry ghosts are as numerous as grains of sand on a riverbank. Animals are as numerous as grains in a barrel of chang. If you think of the numbers and kinds of beings in the lower realms, you will realize just how slim is the chance of gaining a human body. In comparison to other beings, humans are as numerous as the particles of dust on your fingernail. And even among human beings, those people whose behaviour is harmful and contrary to the Dharma are like stars in the night sky, whereas those who really act according to the Dharma are as rare as stars in broad daylight. Reflecting on this, pray: “O Guru Rinpoche, turn my mind towards the practice—care for me! Omniscient masters Longchenpa and Jikmé Lingpa, keep me from straying onto the wrong paths! Compassionate lama, you who are one with them, care for me!”

Since practitioners of virtue are so scarce, to obtain a human body is like arriving at an island of jewels. To attain such a promising basis as this, complete with all the freedoms and endowments, and then use it only to amass negative deeds would be like a merchant landing on an island of precious jewels and then returning empty-handed. With such a fickle and impetuous mind you will not have any foundation for attaining liberation from samsara, and your body will only help you to create further suffering.

It is especially important not to fall prey to the eight incidental circumstances that make Dharma impossible or the eight impossible states where mind cuts us off from the Dharma. Firstly, to be misled by corrupting influences, which means meeting teachers who do not act according to the Dharma. Then, despite your occasional desire to practise Dharma, you may be prevented from doing so by your conflicting emotions, when the five poisons are raging inside your mind, and you are swept away by their strength. Or whilst practising, negative karma may overtake you and ripen as negative circumstances. If you don’t know how to integrate these into the path, then they will become obstacles. You may wish to put the teachings into practice, but if you lack diligence, you will be distracted by laziness. In some cases, you may have an interest in the teachings, whilst being a slave under someone else’s control. There are also those who merely appear to be engaged in the path and just pretend to practise for the sake of gaining food and clothing, or as a cure for illness or harmful spirits, or out of fear of punishment. This is like putting donkey meat into a container and passing it off as quality venison or camel meat. Although your attitude conflicts with the teachings, you act like a practitioner in the company of others in the hope of gaining some respect or reward. Being chronically senseless and stupid means not feeling any enthusiasm when learning of the qualities and benefits of positive actions and not fearing the consequences of negative actions, having been influenced by negative friends. These are 'the eight incidental circumstances that make Dharma impossible'.

Then there is the second set of eight. The first of these occurs when, even though you see and hear about the sufferings of samsara, such as those in the three lower realms, you do not fear them, and therefore feel only slight disenchantment and little renunciation. It is said that faith (or devotion) is like a precious wheel, which rolls along the path of virtue day and night. And faith is the most important among the seven noble riches. Yet there is a state in which you lack the jewel of devotion for the teachings and for the master. There is also a state in which you are caught in the bonds of worldly ties and cravings for wealth, possessions and friends. In another state, you might have a negative character just like black coal that cannot be made clean, and engage constantly in crude, degenerate behaviour, incurable like a poisonous snake. Having never pacified your body, speech and mind, you may never hold back from negative, harmful actions that conflict with the teachings. Or owing to your lack of even the slightest real interest, you may not have even a hint of a virtuous mind, just like an animal gazing at a temple. You might be left with your pratimoksha and bodhisattva vows all broken, or your samaya commitments of the secret mantrayana torn to shreds through having disparaged the master and so on. These are 'the eight impossible states where mind cuts us off from the Dharma'.

Pray as follows: “When these sixteen impossible states come upon me, menacing my Dharma practice, O Guru Rinpoche, turn my mind towards the practice—care for me! Omniscient masters, Longchenpa and Jikmé Lingpa, keep me from straying onto the wrong paths! Compassionate lama, you who are one with them—care for me!”

You must rid yourself of such adverse circumstances because once you have fallen into any of these impossible states, you will not have the chance to practise Dharma purely and authentically.

At this present moment, your body is not ravaged by sickness, and your mind is free from pain, nor are you like a slave under someone else’s control. So now that you have this perfect, auspicious quality of total independence, if you waste the freedom and advantages of this human life through your own indolence or laziness and distraction, then there is no need to mention that you will be separated from your companions, possessions, relatives and loved ones when you die! Even this body you hold so dear, which is like the house of consciousness, will be carried out alone from its bed and taken to some desolate spot to be torn to pieces by foxes, vultures, dogs and so on. When that happens, your consciousness will be swept through the bardo realm like a feather blown about in the wind and there will be nothing but terror in store for you. So you should pray, “In order to protect me from these fears, from this day on, O Guru Rinpoche, turn my mind towards the Dharma—care for me! Omniscient masters, Longchenpa and Jikmé Lingpa, keep me from straying onto the wrong paths! Compassionate lama, you who are on with them—care for me!”

In the sutras it is said:

Those who are lazy and lack diligence,

May live for a hundred years.

But it would be just as well to live for a few days,

Having constant diligence.

And in The Precious Treasury of Essential Instructions (Mengak Rinpoche’i Dzö) it says:

Don’t give away this human body with its freedoms and endowments to the enemy of food and clothing,

Don’t give away this altruistic mind of bodhichitta to the enemy of lesser vehicles,

Don’t give away the jewel-like nature of mind to the enemy of delusion,

Don’t give away the two wish-fulfilling accumulations to the enemy of this present life,

Don’t give away the practice of compassion to the enemy of laziness,

And don’t give away the mind of fervent devotion to the enemy of wrong views!

This is exactly how you should practice.