David Tuffley - The 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva

TokmeZangpo

Retold by DavidTuffley

But if you donot find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved persongoing the same way as yourself, then go on your way alone, like aking abandoning a conquered kingdom, or like a great elephant inthe deep forest The Buddha.

Published byDavid Tuffley at Smashwords

Copyright 2011David Tuffley

SmashwordsEdition, License Notes

This eBook islicensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not bere-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to sharethis book with another person, please purchase an additional copyfor each recipient. If youre reading this book and did notpurchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then pleasereturn to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you forrespecting the work of this author.

Acknowledgementto Tokme Zangpo, Santideva, the Sugatas, the Buddha and all theBodhisattvas who have gone before to show the Way toenlightenment.

Thirty-sevenPractices of a Bodhisattva is an ancient text written in the 14thCentury BCE by Tokme Zangpo, a Buddhist monk and scholar who wasborn in Puljung, south west of the Sakya Monastery in Tibet.

Thirty-sevenPractices seeks to make clear the day-to-day behavior of aBodhisattva (an enlightened being on their way to attaining fullBuddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings). It serves as apractical guide for those people seeking to travel the path ofenlightenment. Though short in length, a person could spend alifetime perfecting the practices.

The work can beseen as a companion to Santidevas classic work theBodhicaryavatara.

While there areEnglish translations of this text, they are a little difficult tounderstand for many readers living in the 21st Century. The mode ofexpression and the figures of speech are the product of thatfar-off time. This book faithfully re-expresses in modern daylanguage the underlying message of the original text. Every efforthas been made to preserve the underlying spirit of the message.

While I respectthe beauty of the original text, my greatest wish is to bring theeven greater beauty of the underlying message to a whole newaudience in the modern world who might otherwise find the originaltext less than easy to fully understand.

David Tuffley,Redland Bay, Australia.

This text isdedicated to:

The BodhisattvaLokesvara whose compassion extends to all sentient beings and whoseexample inspires me*.

Those whoperceive that the physical world is but an illusion and haveentered the path to enlightenment for the benefit of all sentientbeings.

All thevenerable mentors who have shown me the path to enlightenment.

All therealised Buddhas.

To achieve thefullest realisation of the Dharma, one must live in full awarenessof the correct practices that lead to such realisation. This texthumbly attempts to explain what any Bodhisattva has done, and anywould-be Bodhisattva must do in order to achieve enlightenment.

* Throughoutthis book, the first person I me and my refers to the authorTokme Zangpo.

Practice 1

Being inpossession of a more-or-less healthy human body is a greatprivilege not to be underestimated.

Being equippedwith such a body and having enough time to pursue spiritualenlightenment is an even greater blessing.

Having such anadmirable vehicle, let us waste no time. Let us work tirelesslynight and day to free ourselves and all sentient beings from thecycle of suffering. My body is like a great ship that can cross thestorm-tossed ocean of Samsara.

One must listencarefully to ones teachers, consider carefully what has been said,then meditate on this for a long time.

This is the wayof the Bodhisattva.

Commentary: Itis easy to take your body and your health for granted. But asnormal as it might see, a healthy body is actually a thing ofenormous value in your quest for enlightenment. Even a body with ahandicap is a valuable possession.

No-one, noteven someone with an apparently perfect body is actually perfect.We are all born with a handicap of one kind or another;intellectual, emotional and/or physical. It is simply a question ofdegree. Whatever the degree, be grateful for the gift of abody.

Since none ofus truly know how much longer we have to live, we must waste notime in making progress towards our goal.

Practice 2

When we stayfor a long time in one place we become attached to the people andthings and practices that are there. In particular, we becomeattached to our loved ones. Our attachment is cause for bothpleasure and pain which makes for a turbulent life.

Sometimes weget angry at those around us, and the anger consumes any merit thatwe might have accumulated through virtuous living.

The darknessand fog created by closed-minded thought obscures our ability tohave insight into what is right and wrong.

Living in themidst of unenlightened people will always cause these problems.Therefore we must leave the society of people and go forth to aplace of peace and seclusion where one can meditate.

This is the wayof the Bodhisattva.

Commentary:Interacting with the world and living with people inevitably leadsto forming attachments which keeps you bound to the cycle ofsuffering. You swing like a pendulum back and forth from pleasureto pain in an endless cycle of drama. Anger is a particularlydestructive emotion. It can burn away in a few moments the virtuethat has taken years to build-up.

It is true thatwe become like the people we associate with. Living withclosed-minded people makes us likewise closed-minded. Our insightinto the nature of right and wrong is obscured by the ignorancethat goes with closed-mindedness.

Practice 3

After we havewithdrawn from society and the things that excite us, our mentaldisturbances slowly decline, much like the ocean waves after astorm.

And refrainingfrom the aimless gratification of sensory pleasures, our attentionto the accumulation of virtue will naturally increase.

As time goes byand our wisdom increases, our perspective on the world becomesclear and objective. Our certainty in the rightness of the Dharmagrows.

This can onlybe done in seclusion from the world. One should find a peacefulplace far from the madding crowd in which to meditate.

This is the wayof the Bodhisattva.

Commentary: Asdifficult as it might seem to bring calmness and stability to oneslife, once you have removed yourself from interaction with peopleand society generally, calmness will naturally increase.

Your focus onvirtue will also increase when you are away from the temptations ofthe flesh in all of its forms; sex, drugs, rock and roll, fancyfood and drink, exciting pass-times of all kinds.

As hard as itmight be to remove yourself from the people and things and placesthat you love, it is necessary for the one who seeks enlightenmentto do this, since enlightenment can only be achieved when you letgo of all of your attachments.

Practice 4

No livingarrangement lasts forever. Even people who have lived together fordecades must some day part company.

The wealth thatwe work so hard to acquire over the course of a lifetime must alsoone day be left behind when we die.

Even our mindis but a temporary driver in the earthly vehicle that is our body.The driver must eventually exit the vehicle.

Therefore leavebehind like unwanted baggage all thought of worldly matters.

This is the wayof the Bodhisattva.

Commentary: Itcan be disturbing to think of parting company with people you havelived with for a long time; ones parents, ones children, onespartner or anyone else. It is like a small death to be separatedfrom them.

It can also bethreatening to think that all of the wealth and possessions thatyou have acquired during your life will someday belong to some elsewhether you like it or not. It feels like your precious things arebeing stolen.