The Path of Compassion: A Biography of Hor shul Khenpo Gelek Palsang Rinpoche — Practice — Chapter Three: The Importance and Function of the Five Preliminaries (Khenpo Tsultrim Lodrö)

I. The Importance of the Five Preliminaries

Why do we need to practice the Five Preliminaries? Could we dispense with them? How will practicing them help us, and what will we gain when we practice them well? Once these questions have been clarified, we will understand the importance of practicing the Five Preliminaries.

At present we are all ordinary beings. What is an ordinary being? An ordinary being is someone who, since beginningless time, has continually wandered in saṃsāra without attaining any accomplishment. As ordinary beings, we have remained in saṃsāra since beginningless time. If we do not practice now, we will continue in the same way. Saṃsāra can never cease without causes and conditions, nor can we be liberated from it without causes and conditions; that is impossible. If we wish to attain liberation, we must master a particular method. Without mastering this method, there is no way to attain liberation.

Beings naturally have different capacities. Some aspire to liberation, while others have no such idea. This is because the causes and conditions of their past lives, their present environments, and many other factors differ, so their thoughts, aspirations, and wishes also differ. Yet they share one thing: no living being wishes to experience suffering, and every living being wishes to find happiness. Everyone is alike in this respect. But to find happiness and leave suffering behind, we need a method. Without a method, merely wanting happiness or liberation cannot make it happen; nor can merely not wanting to encounter suffering prevent it. A method is therefore necessary.

First: Determine the distinctive capacity unique to human beings.

From the Buddhist perspective, human beings differ in many ways from the other forms of life within the six realms of saṃsāra. The most important difference, however, is that humans can choose their future course—that is, they have the capacity to seek liberation. Other beings, including devas, asuras, and so forth, lack the capacity to choose the path of liberation, whereas humans possess this faculty of reflection. This is the principal difference between humans and other beings. Some people believe that what elevates humans above other forms of life is human intelligence. If humans are intelligent, what is the result of that intelligence? It allows them to create many material conditions for living and then survive within that environment. Yet some animals can likewise create conditions for their survival in places where human beings could not live, so this cannot be the distinctive human capacity. The human distinction should be the ability to reflect on the past and the future and then choose a correct path. This is what distinguishes human beings from animals.

We can now consider how we differ from other forms of life, such as animals. As just mentioned, it is true that humans can create many material conditions for living, but what is the final result? Merely that we can satisfy the demands of our five senses. For example, people work to become wealthy and enjoy themselves, but what does enjoyment actually mean? It means satisfying certain demands of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and other senses. Animals can do this too, so it is not the distinctive human capacity.

What, then, is the human distinction? We can examine the future and the past and thereby choose a correct path—in other words, find a way out of saṃsāra. This is the distinctive capacity of human beings.

In the past, authentic eminent masters and accomplished practitioners such as Guru Padmasambhava, Milarepa, and Je Tsongkhapa instructed us first to distinguish the most important difference between humans and animals. Once we recognize it, what should we do? We should exercise our capacity to choose the correct path—that is, seek liberation.

Second: Use this advantage to seek a path out of saṃsāra.

We now understand the difference between humans and animals: human beings possess this distinctive capacity. We must therefore make use of it. If we do not, we will be like ordinary people who toil throughout an entire lifetime, achieving so-called wealth and enjoyment, yet in the end everyone must depart. What can they take with them when they go? Only the karma they created during that life accompanies them. Children, grandchildren, wealth, and everything else cannot go with them. Our next task, therefore, is to find a way out of saṃsāra—a comparatively safe way out. How can we find it? There is no other means: we ourselves must practice.

Third: Recognize the root of saṃsāra—self-grasping.

We do not wander in saṃsāra without causes or conditions, nor is it arranged by a creator or an almighty god. What is it, then? It is a matter of causes and conditions. Causes and conditions can be divided into internal and external ones.

What are external causes and conditions? If, for example, we plant a flower, we need soil, moisture, temperature, the flower’s seed, and so forth. Once all these conditions are present, the flower will grow whether we want it to or not. These are external causes and conditions.

What, then, are internal causes and conditions? Why do human beings come into saṃsāra? Is it active or passive? Did we come voluntarily, or was it arranged by a creator? There must certainly be a cause. We can be human, but why can other beings not be human? They are animals; why are we not animals? We are alive, experience suffering and happiness, and undergo saṃsāra, but why do vases, tables, and the like have none of these experiences? Why do they not undergo saṃsāra? What are the causes and conditions involved? These are called internal causes and conditions, and they too have a root. For a flower to grow, soil, moisture, and temperature are supporting conditions, but the seed is primary. In the same way, the saṃsāra of human beings and all other forms of life has causes and conditions, among which there is one principal cause. The principal cause of wandering through the six realms is ignorance. What is ignorance? Ignorance is self-grasping.

For example, a person possesses self-grasping from the moment of birth. It was not taught by a teacher or by the parents; it is innate. A newborn cries because it experiences suffering. Although unable to express this in words, the child inwardly does not wish to accept the suffering and can only cry. Yet this is not a question of whether the child can use language. Why does the child reject suffering and desire happiness? Because of self-grasping. The wish to find happiness and leave suffering behind—all of it is rooted in self-grasping. Self-grasping is therefore like the seed of a flower: it is the seed and root of saṃsāra. If we now want to find a way out of saṃsāra, we must first know why we undergo saṃsāra and where its root lies. Just as a physician treating an illness must first know why the patient became ill and where the cause of the illness lies, and only after identifying the cause can prescribe the right remedy and cure the disease, so we must first understand ourselves correctly. Buddhism also examines the entire external universe, but its principal concern is to know oneself inwardly. We must ask: Where did we come from? Why do we undergo saṃsāra? Now that our wandering has reached this point, how do we retrace our steps? Is there a method? Only Buddhism provides genuine answers to these questions.

Fourth: Determine which Dharma can overturn self-grasping and cut through saṃsāra.

As explained above, the six realms of saṃsāra do not exist without causes and conditions. They are neither a chance occurrence nor the arrangement of a creator, but the result of causes and conditions coming together. The most crucial of these is self-grasping. Now that we have recognized the root of saṃsāra, is there a way to overturn and eliminate this self-grasping? If there is, we have hope of finding a way out of saṃsāra. If there is not, we cannot attain liberation within saṃsāra.

There is a way to overturn self-grasping, the root of saṃsāra. What kind of method is it? External things cannot overturn it, because self-grasping is an internal conception. To overturn it, we must find a new, rational understanding with which to overturn the old conception. Only this can work.

No external material thing can change it. The better one’s external material life becomes, the more craving and self-grasping increase. Material improvement thus not only fails to overturn self-grasping but actually helps it grow and develop, so we cannot seek the answer outside. But can a mere dogma overturn it? It cannot. What, then, do we need? We must have a powerful inner wisdom grounded in reason with which to overturn it.

What happens after it has been overturned? If we destroy a flower’s seed before the flower grows, it has no way to sprout or take root. Likewise, if you do not wish to undergo saṃsāra, you must destroy the seed and root of saṃsāra; otherwise there is no way to attain liberation.

Fifth: Determine the specific method for overturning self-grasping and thereby understand the importance of practicing the Five Preliminaries.

We should now consider what conflicts with the inner causality of saṃsāra and what does not. When we ordinarily recite the Buddha’s name, burn incense, and make prostrations, do these conflict with it? They do not. Even without damaging self-grasping, we can still burn incense, pay homage to the Buddha, and recite the Buddha’s name. Therefore, burning incense, paying homage, and reciting alone cannot overturn self-grasping.

What, then, do we need? Only a wisdom that is completely opposed to self-grasping and more powerful than it can overturn it. All viewpoints in the world work this way. People can form many different viewpoints. These are not innate; many arise through a teacher’s education or through family influences. If such new concepts and viewpoints possess genuine, powerful evidence, they can overturn old ideas. Old viewpoints can likewise overturn new ones. Which overturns which depends on which is supported by reason and evidence and which accords with fact. A viewpoint that does not accord with fact cannot overturn one that does. How do many lay Buddhists practice today? Although they believe in the Buddha and the Three Jewels and accept cause and effect, they are not seeking this way out. Their aim in studying Buddhism is merely to live a little better without damaging self-grasping or the seed of saṃsāra. Can they attain this aim? They can. But what happens after they do? They remain in saṃsāra. Their life within saṃsāra may be somewhat better, which is of course far better than not believing in the Buddha. If they neither believe in the Buddha nor accept cause and effect, they will create karma, certainly fall, and not enjoy what is called happiness within saṃsāra. Yet even when they accept cause and effect and properly adopt virtue and avoid wrongdoing, thereby enjoying some relative happiness and less suffering within saṃsāra, they still cannot resolve the root problem. Suppose, for instance, they practice generosity, offer meals, and so forth in order to obtain a human or celestial result in the next life. They may achieve that aim in the next life, but what about the life after that? Can the merit accumulated in this life let them enjoy happiness and remain free from suffering lifetime after lifetime? It cannot. Those are contaminated roots of virtue, whose results are necessarily finite, not inexhaustible. They may avoid falling for a very long time and escape some suffering in the celestial or human realms, but this remains only a means of escape, adopted because they dare not face selflessness. Many lay Buddhists practice in this way. If this small result is all they require, they need not consider anything more; but it can solve only temporary problems, not the crucial one.

To resolve saṃsāra completely, we need a rational and highly logical view—the Buddhist view of selflessness—with which to overturn self-grasping. Once it has been overturned, without self-grasping there are no afflictions, and without afflictions no karma is created. In this way, the causes and conditions of saṃsāra are eliminated one after another from the beginning, and saṃsāra cannot continue. Can a train run without its locomotive? In the same way, once ignorance has been eliminated, the other causes and conditions of saṃsāra that follow it cannot arise. After self-grasping has been removed, we can benefit beings without selfishness. This is the final purpose of practicing the preliminaries.

Should the first step, then, be to study selflessness? Not yet. A process is required: first practice the Five Preliminaries, and then practice the other methods for realizing selflessness. Only in this way can we leave saṃsāra safely and, after leaving it, return to liberate beings. This is the complete method by which an ordinary person seeks a way out.

This method is found only in Buddhism, because the Buddha understood with perfect clarity the root of our saṃsāra and found the method for overturning it. If we wish to proceed toward liberation, we must follow the Buddha’s instructions: do first what must be done first, and later what must be done later. The final aim is of course to master selflessness and attain the wisdom realizing selflessness. But it is impossible for us to gain such wisdom all at once. We must proceed step by step, and the first step must be the Five Preliminaries. Practicing the Five Preliminaries is therefore very important.

The process described above can also be summarized in three stages:

First, we must relinquish attachment to saṃsāra. Second, we must relinquish selfishness.

Third, we must relinquish self-grasping.

To study Buddhism is to eliminate craving, selfishness, and self-grasping.

First: Eliminate craving.

The wish to avoid the suffering of saṃsāra is why we eliminate craving, and this much is shared with worldly people. Worldly people are distressed when they encounter suffering, yet they can never let go of saṃsāra. They consider the five sensory pleasures of saṃsāra—wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—and worldly perfections such as health and longevity to be good, and therefore do not wish to relinquish them. Although they do not want to fall into hell or become animals or hungry ghosts, they do want to be reborn as humans or devas. If asked to give up these worldly perfections, they refuse; this is contrary to renunciation. Our first step is therefore to establish renunciation. Once renunciation has been properly cultivated, we can rely on it to overturn or eliminate the craving that clings to the world. This is the first point.

Why must we have renunciation? Without it, we can never escape from saṃsāra. Moreover, without renunciation as their basis, every spiritual practice we do—whether reciting the Buddha’s name or performing any other meritorious act—becomes a worldly dharma. Because our motivation is not to attain liberation but to obtain worldly perfections, nothing we do on that basis can possibly bring liberation. The first thing we must do, therefore, is establish renunciation.

Renunciation is also a motivation for Dharma practice and the driving force of our practice. Without renunciation there is no driving force; we are not practicing for liberation, and such practice is passive rather than active. Passive practice, without active engagement, cannot bring liberation. Renunciation must therefore come first; it is very important. An analogy may make this clearer. One person considers a place very pleasant and does not wish to leave, so he tries every possible way to stay there. Another finds the environment extremely unpleasant and unsuitable, does not wish to remain, and tries every possible way to get out. In the same way, if someone feels that although saṃsāra has bad aspects, it also has some good ones, he will hope to avoid its sufferings lifetime after lifetime and continually encounter its pleasures. Such a person has no renunciation and does not wish to leave saṃsāra. Whether he practices or performs any other virtuous act, his motivation is not liberation from saṃsāra but enjoyment within it. With such a motivation, the result cannot be liberation; he will continue circling within saṃsāra.

Our first step, then, is to cultivate renunciation. At the same time, we must relinquish the craving that clings to the world. Renunciation and craving are contradictory in nature. If you have not relinquished craving, you cannot establish renunciation; without renunciation, you cannot attain liberation. Craving must therefore be relinquished.

Renunciation is an inner understanding. How is such renunciation established? We must use rational, logical reflection to examine the entire course of saṃsāra. For example, if someone wants to know whether a place is good or bad, he must see it for himself and determine the matter only after seeing it clearly. Likewise, we must look at the six realms of saṃsāra with the wisdom eye of Buddhism. Through the four outer preliminaries—the difficulty of finding a precious human life, death and impermanence, the sufferings of saṃsāra, and the infallibility of cause and effect—we can see the entire course of saṃsāra with perfect clarity, from the celestial realms to the hells and from the past, the source of our wandering, into the future. We can then see clearly what saṃsāra is actually like. Our physical eyes can see only the narrow, nearby area before us; they cannot see far away. But when we look through the wisdom eye of the Dharma, we can recognize saṃsāra very clearly. We have traveled through saṃsāra since beginningless time and may continue forward. What lies ahead of us? Through these practices we can see that nowhere in saṃsāra is there happiness that remains forever unchanged. This life may be good, but the next may not be; the first half of a life may be good, but the second may not be; this year may be good, but the next may not be, and so forth. Examined in this way, no good place can ever be found within saṃsāra. At that point, if there is a method for gaining liberation from saṃsāra, a person will be willing to accept it, and renunciation will arise. Establishing such renunciation requires practicing the four outer preliminaries. If these four outer preliminaries are practiced genuinely and well, renunciation will certainly arise; once it has arisen, one has an excellent foundation.

Two conditions are required for renunciation to arise: 1. We must know that saṃsāra, from the celestial realms to the hells, is filled with suffering and consequently develop intense disenchantment with it. This is the first condition. 2. We must possess the thought and resolve to escape from saṃsāra. Possessing both conditions is called renunciation.

Second, once we have renunciation, we must possess the bodhicitta of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Without bodhicitta, all practice becomes the Dharma of the Lesser Vehicle. Śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and arhats of the Lesser Vehicle see the suffering of saṃsāra and therefore do not wish to continue wandering within it. They seek only their own liberation and do not consider the liberation of other beings. Mahāyāna Dharma is not like this. It tells us that just as you do not wish to accept suffering, neither do other living beings; just as you wish to experience happiness, so do all other beings. You should not think only of yourself or practice solely for your own liberation. You should think of all beings and practice for the liberation of them all. This is bodhicitta.

The practice for establishing bodhicitta is the bodhicitta practice among the Five Preliminaries. It can help us cultivate bodhicitta because it is specifically devoted to that purpose. Bodhicitta is the second aim of practice.

The third stage is to realize emptiness and the selflessness of persons. Why must we realize the selflessness of persons? Even if we wish to be liberated from saṃsāra not for ourselves alone but for the liberation of all beings, without the wisdom of selflessness we lack a concrete, practical method. Without such a method, the aspiration is only a dream and cannot bring liberation. We must therefore practice selflessness.

II. The Function of the Five Preliminaries

How does practicing the Five Preliminaries assist the realization of emptiness described above? Taking refuge brings us through the gate of Buddhism, and arousing bodhicitta brings us onto the Mahāyāna bodhisattva path. On the basis of refuge and bodhicitta, we then practice Vajrasattva. While wandering in saṃsāra since beginningless time, we have committed many nonvirtuous actions, including killing and stealing. Unless these misdeeds are purified, we cannot realize selflessness. We must therefore practice Vajrasattva, and practicing Vajrasattva well can purify these misdeeds.

We must also perfect the accumulations, for without them liberation is impossible. If a person wants to board an airplane, for example, he must buy a ticket, and buying a ticket requires money. Likewise, attaining liberation requires perfecting the accumulations, so we must practice the maṇḍala offering. Once these conditions have been fulfilled, the blessing of the vajra guru is also very important for realizing emptiness within Vajrayāna, so we must practice guru yoga. Thus there are exactly five preliminaries to practice—neither more nor fewer. There cannot be fewer than five, and there is no need for more than five.

Whether or not to practice is your own affair; you may practice or choose not to, and this is also what the Buddha told us. After the Buddha had turned the Dharma wheel four times, he also told us: “In any case, I have already shown you the path. What happens next is your own affair. Whether to follow it is for you to decide; you may follow it or not.” Beings have different capacities: some are willing to follow the path, and some are not. What is the consequence of refusing? To wander in saṃsāra life after life. Those willing to follow can find their way out, because we now understand the method very clearly. The method is already present. If you do not practice according to it, accomplishment is impossible. Whether or not you attain accomplishment is entirely in your own hands; the Buddha never forced anyone.