Sakya Trichen - Freeing the Heart and Mind: Part Three: Teachings of the Sakya Path

IN THIS WORLD, there are many different places, cultures, philosophies, religions, and traditions. But one thing common to all of them is that everybody wants to be free from suffering. In other words, everybody wishes to have happiness. Every individual is making efforts in their community and every country is making efforts in the world toward this goal.

But it is very clear that until we have made spiritual progress, we cannot actually gain the happiness we are seeking, no matter how much external effort we put forth or how much progress we make. Although the fundamental goal is to achieve happiness, every external goal, unless it is linked to inner mental development, will in fact bring more misery and suffering instead of bringing more happiness. Therefore, everyones goal of true happiness has to come through inner spiritual development. It is only through spiritual practices that we can achieve happiness.

There are many great masters who came into this world and gave many different types of teachings. Each teaching has its own beauty, its own ways to solve problems, and its own path to find inner peace and happiness. But what I will discuss is the path according to the Lord Buddha kyamuni.

For three countless eons, the Buddha worked to accumulate tremendous amounts of merit and wisdom for the benefit of sentient beings. Through that accumulation of merit and wisdom, he eventually overcame all obscurations and defilements. Everything that needed to be parted from was parted from and every possible good quality that needed to be gained was gained.

The Buddha is fully awakened, fully enlightened, and has the power to help sentient beings free themselves from suffering. Even one ray of light from his body or one line of his teaching can help countless sentient beings in a single moment. Directly or indirectly, any contact with the Buddha will help to release one from suffering and gain happiness.

From the beginning, the Buddhas whole purpose was to help all sentient beings without any exception. Every activity that he performed was for the benefit of sentient beings. He performed many great physical activities, verbal activities, and mental activities. But among these, the most important were his verbal activities: the teachings he gave about what he had realized. This is called turning the wheel of Dharma. Through these teachings, the Buddha helps sentient beings. Those who are not ripe are ripened, those who are not on the path are placed on the path, those who are not making progress become able to make progress, and those who are already making progress are helped to gain higher realization.

Sentient beings have no limit they are countless, just as space is limitless. These limitless sentient beings are all different their mentalities, their defilements, their mental conditions, their propensities are all different. Therefore, one type of teaching cannot help all sentient beings. Just as there are different types of medicines and treatments in order to cure different types of diseases, the Buddha gave an enormous number of teachings in order to suit every type of sentient being. So the teachings of the Buddha have many different levels, according to the followers mental states and conditions, situations, environments, and so forth.

In this chapter we are going to focus on what is known as the first turning of the wheel of Dharma. This teaching occurred after the Buddha attained enlightenment at Sarnath (Deer Park). The subject of that first teaching is the four noble truths. The four noble truths include both the cause and result of sasra, and the cause and result of nirva. The four noble truths are (1) the truth of suffering, (2) the truth of the cause of suffering, (3) the truth of cessation, and (4) the truth of the path. One must know the truth of suffering, abstain from the cause of suffering, realize the truth of cessation, and practice the truth of the path.

First, one should know the truth of suffering. If we are sick with a specific disease, the first thing we must do is to learn the exact nature of the sickness. Otherwise, we cannot determine any treatments. Similarly, to have an effective treatment for suffering, one must know the exact nature of suffering. In order to give rise to genuine renunciation thought, which is the sincere wish to practice and enter the path in order to gain liberation, we must know the truth of suffering, what suffering is, and the exact nature of suffering.