The Eight Stanzas of Mind-Training (修心八颂)

The Eight Stanzas of Mind-Training is crucial. The most fundamental practice in Vajrayana is actually The Eight Stanzas of Mind-Training. If you cannot perfect the practice of the The Eight Stanzas of Mind-Training, you will not succeed in the highest practices like the Great Perfection (Dzogchen), Kalacakra etc. The Eight Stanzas of Mind-Training is the core of spiritual practice.

The Eight Stanzas of Mind-Training is a common practice in all the Vajrayana schools. To me, the 1st level, 2nd level, 3rd level, 4th level and Dzogchen empowerments, and all other Zen parables can be put aside. Zen parables only talk about emptiness, which cannot lead one to the ultimate enlightenment. Only when one has perfected his mind-training can he achieve the ultimate enlightenment. So, I feel that The Eight Stanzas of Mind-Training is the basis for all spiritual practices.


The Eight Stanzas of
Mind-Training

By Langri Thangpa

1st Stanza
I shall view all sentient beings as more superior than the Wish-fulfilling Gems. I shall help them and cherish them always.

2nd Stanza
Regardless of my companionship, I shall always consider myself being lower than others. I shall aspire to benefit others from the depth of my heart, and forever revere others as being more superior than me.

3rd Stanza
I shall be mindful of my own mental activities and actions, and nip my negative thought in the bud at the very moment it appears in my mind, to avoid harming others and myself.

4th Stanza
Sentient beings who are ill-natured are, in fact, suffering in great pains. I shall view them as the Precious Gems, and cherish them always.

5th Stanza
When one scolds and humiliates me out of his jealousy, I will accept all the failures and losses, and let him have the victory.

6th Stanza
Although I helped someone in the past and wished him the best, he hurt me in return. Nevertheless, I shall still view him as a good spiritual guide.

7th Stanza
I wish to benefit all mother-like sentient beings directly or in-directly, and I wish to quietly take over their sufferings.

8th Stanza
I wish that all my actions will not be tainted by the Eight Worldly Concerns. I shall discern the illusory nature of all phenomena through great wisdom, and be liberated from all attachments.

Let Go of Ego Grasping (放下我执)

Dharma Sister Hua remembered the fine details of her dream. Her dream is a reflection of her strong ego grasping, and her clinging to her husband. So, as she was so concerned about her husband, she kept searching for him in her dreams. Let me tell you this, I had never thought about my wife and son in my dreams. We will have to cultivate till we break free from our sense of ego, even in our dreams, that there is nothing related to “me”, there is no wife of “mine”, child of “mine”, parents of "mine" and relatives of "mine" etc. When you have reached that level of attainment, you will stand a chance to succeed in your cultivation. If you continue to search for your spouses in your dreams, I think you are still very weak in your cultivation. You have to let go of all these relationships, otherwise they will continue to appear in your dreams frequently.

If your ego grasping is still very strong, you will still be very concerned about your name, your existence, your feelings and how others treat you. If you still insist that others must treat you in a certain way or you will feel offended, and end up harboring all the ill thoughts and succumbing to your negative emotions, then I think it will be very difficult for you to reach enlightenment in this lifetime.

Letting go of ego grasping is very crucial. The first lesson of cultivation is to let go of our ego grasping. I hope that you will learn to let go of your ego grasping, letting go of all things related to “I” and “mine”, only then you will stand a chance of setting yourself free from the cyclic existence. Let go of all things that are related to “I” and “mine”, including my body, my feelings, my possessions – let them go! Only then the seed of bodhicitta will grow in you.

I feel that we should, after so many years of cultivation, let go of our ego grasping. Otherwise, we will not be able to culminate the seed of bodhicitta in us. If bodhicitta does not grow within you, you will continue to be perturbed by all things related to “I” and “mine”; your cultivation will be fruitless. Despite your diligence in practicing the recitations, chanting, meditations, they are just useless activities. I hope all of you will take this seriously and learn to let go of ego grasping. First, let go of ego grasping, let go of the so-called pride, let go of all things related to “I” and “mine”, then you will get closer to enlightenment.

The Purity of Mind (清净)

We must be very careful with our mental activities. The mental strength of a Vajrayana practitioner can be enormous; it could affect the beings living in both the spiritual world and the human world, as both worlds actually co-exist within the same realm. A practitioner must constantly purify his own mind, speech and action, or he will get himself into trouble. Our thoughts can bring the spiritual beings to us: the Buddhas will come when you think of the Buddhas; the gods will come when you think of the gods; and the dark forces will come when you think of the dark forces. Their response is swift.

The Vajrayana trainings can produce strong mental power, especially when you chant the mantras and exert your mental strength, you can invoke the party that you are thinking of, especially the spiritual beings. So, we must be very careful with our mental activities.

Each time when I said I would go somewhere, the spiritual beings in that place would immediately come to me. For instance, when I was about to go somewhere to perform “soul deliverance”, the spiritual beings would know of my intent almost immediately. An advanced cultivator should be even more cautious about his thoughts. Be cautious of your mental activities and make sure that they are pure at all times.
When your mind is defiled, you will fall into the Three Lower Realms. So, the purity of your mind, speech and action is very crucial. Ultimately, you should be able to give up your own life and all your possessions, yet you will continue to maintain the purity of your mind, speech and action. Never harbor negative thoughts, no matter how ill others treat you, maintain the purity of your mind at all times. When your mind is defiled, your thoughts will be defiled, and you will fall. Do not end up in the Three Lower Realms when others end up being a Buddha.

Why did some followers of Sakyamuni Buddha become the Bodhisattvas and Arahats? For they had succeeded in purifying their own minds. If you choose to cover up your impurities with all sorts of reason and accuse others for being in the wrong, you are actually the one who is wrong. You should only accuse yourself for being wrong but never point your finger at others.

Let me repeat this, maintaining the purity of one’s mind, speech and action is very crucial in the spiritual cultivation. A practitioner must purify his mind, speech and action everyday, at all times. One must quickly realize the impurity of his mental activities and repent immediately - this is the only way to free oneself from the cyclic existence.

Impermanence (人生无常)

Dharma Sister Bing dreamt of my passing away. She felt sad and regret of losing a spiritual guide. She repented and regretted for not cherishing the presence of a spiritual guide. This dream tells us that life is impermanent. I have been stressing that 50 year-old is considered long life to a Tibetan. Tibetans’ lives are shorter due to the harsh living condition at high altitude. Master Tzonkapa nearly passed away when he was 58 year-old. His life was extended after the numerous longevity rites being performed for him. He passed away when he was 64 year-old. The 16th Karmapa passed away when he was 58 year-old. There were simply too many people passing away around 50 year-old. To me, 56 year-old is longevity. I cherish every single day, and I don’t think about tomorrow.

My attitude towards life is to cherish every single day and live in spiritual bliss. I will just accept what the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas give me each day, and I cherish the opportunity to live yet one more day, practice one more day, help one more sentient being and bring more happiness to others. I dedicate all my merits to the sentient beings. I do not worry about whether I will get up tomorrow morning. If my life ends now, I will be born again to help the sentient beings in future.

So, we should live in spiritual bliss everyday and transform all negative emotions into positive ones. Do not be perturbed by our negative emotions. Be prepared for the last moment. I hope that you will take this away and learn to cultivate your right thought every single moment. Cultivate your bodhicitta and contemplate the true meaning of emptiness. Do not think negatively. We should think about the impermanence of life everyday; there is not enough time, do not waste our time. Om Mani Padme Hum.

Signs of Spiritual Advancement (修行进步的现象)

We live in a troubled era created by a very huge collective karma of sentient beings. The sufferings of the sentient beings in this era are tremendous and they will trigger our inner sense of compassion. But most of the time, such compassion is lacking of wisdom. Compassion which is lacking of wisdom is not the true compassion. The compassion of the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas is beyond our comprehension. Most of the time, we end up with our own misinterpretations of what compassion is, when it is not.

I feel that the most crucial point about spiritual cultivation is the cleansing of our lust, hatred and ignorance. Cultivation is about self reflection. Ask ourselves, “What did I do when such thing happened in the past?” “How has my attitude changed over the years?” If we mellow into a more tolerant attitude towards a similar event over the years, and could finally laugh it off completely, we know that we have improved in our spiritual cultivation. Those are the signs of diminishing lust, hatred and ignorance in us.

Before you became a cultivator, you might be easily agitated by a very trivial matter. After you cultivated for a period, you might realize that suddenly you don’t seem to feel perturbed by the same matter anymore, although you might still feel a little agitation, you could finally just drop the matter. When you drop the matter, you have in fact improved in your cultivation. Next, when the same matter happens again, you will just not be bothered and don’t feel like commenting anymore as it seems too trivial to you now. When you are emotionally not affected at all, you have made further advancement in your cultivation. Finally, all things will appear trivial to you that you are no longer affected by them in anyway. These are the signs of spiritual advancement. When you are finally ready, you can then help the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in carrying out the enlightened activities of helping other sentient beings. Om Mani Padme Hum.