The Essence of the Vast and Profound

A Commentary on Je Tsongkhapa's Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment

Pabongkha Rinpoche, David Gonsalez

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781614295594
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Buddhism

A beloved teacher's explanation of the path to enlightenment in its first-ever English translation. Pabongkha Rinpoche is renowned as one of the greatest and most charismatic contemporary teachers of Tibetan Buddhism. Both Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, the junior and senior tutors of the 14th Dalai Lama, accounted him as their root guru. Giving explanations of the stages of the path to enlightenment ( lamrim ) was considered one of his greatest talents—often thousands of students would come to hear his teachings—and with The Essence of the Vast and Profound the English-speaking reader can experience this firsthand. Drawn from teachings given over the course of thirty-six days in 1934 in Tibet's capital city of Lhasa, The Essence of the Vast and Profound masterfully weaves together Tsongkhapa's Middle-Length Exposition on the Stage of the Path to Enlightenment, the Second Panchen Lama's Swift Path, and the Third Dalai Lama's Essence of Refined Gold. Rinpoche offers wise and compassionate guidance on such crucial subjects as how to rely on a spiritual teacher, how to develop certainty on the path, what it means to take refuge, how to understand karma, and the importance of compassion—explaining the entire spectrum of the Buddhist path, and also inspiring the reader to follow it. The Essence of the Vast and Profound will soon find its place as one of the greatest lamrim commentaries ever given.

A Few Scattered Notes Arranged from a Detailed Commentary Given by the Pervasive Lord Vajradhara Pabongkha Palsangpo, Combining Je [Tsongkhapa’s] Concise [Treatise on the] Stages of the Path [to Enlightenment] and the [Second Panchen Lama’s] Swift Path, Entitled The Essence of the Vast and Profound, [as Compiled and Edited by Trijang Rinpoche]

(Khyab bdag rdo rje ’chang pha bong kha pa dpal bzang pos rje’i lam rim chung ngu dang myur lam dmar khrid sbrags ma’i gsung bshad stsal skabs kyi zin bris mdo tsam du bkod pa zab rgyas snying po zhes bya ba bzhugs so)

Day One

He began bestowing the actual teaching on the first day in this way:

Oh, very well.

As it is said in the teachings of the king of the Dharma of the three realms, Tsongkhapa the Great, [entitled Songs of Spiritual Experience,]

This body of leisure surpasses even a wish-fulfilling jewel.

We will find a body like this only once,

Difficult to find and easily destroyed, like a flash of lightning in the sky.

Contemplate this, and you will come to realize

That all worldly actions are like a husk of grain

And that day and night you must extract its essence.

I, the yogi, practiced in this way;

You who seek liberation should do the same.

Thus, we will find only one time a human life of leisure and endowment such as this, which is difficult to obtain and, once obtained, has great meaning; therefore, at this juncture, while we have managed to obtain it, we absolutely must extract whatever pure essence from it we can. Although we have taken countless rebirths as Brahma, Indra, and so forth, we have not had the opportunity to practice the Mahayana Dharma until just recently. From time to time after taking rebirth as a hell being, hungry ghost, and so on, through the force of not obtaining a human form, not meeting the teachings, and not coming into contact with a guru, we did not have even the opportunity to experience the slightest benefit from the Dharma. Therefore, now that we have obtained such an excellent human form and have met the teachings and a guru, we must extract the unique essence provided at this time, which is complete with all the outer and inner favorable conditions to practice Dharma. Moreover, this human life of leisure and endowment that we have found at this moment is more valuable than even many hundreds of thousands of myriads of wish-fulfilling jewels. In dependence upon this life we can also accomplish the physical forms of Brahma, Indra, a chakravartin king, and so on. With this life we can even manage to accomplish the causes for rebirth in a buddha’s pure land. Not only that, but in dependence upon this life we can even attain liberation or the state of omniscience.

If we waste this human form it would be much more devastating than wasting even many hundreds of thousands of myriads of wish-fulfilling jewels, yet squandering this human life of leisure and endowment does not cause us even the least bit of regret. This fault stems from not considering the great value of this life of leisure and endowment and how difficult it is to obtain. At the moment, we don’t investigate the situation with critical examination and instead assume that we will obtain a human life of leisure and endowment in our future life out the kindness of the guru and the Three Precious Jewels, which is unimaginably foolish! This is similar to planting poisonous seeds in the spring and expecting an [edible] crop in the fall.

In general, it is mandatory for someone who is content with merely obtaining a human life of higher status to protect at least one form of moral discipline completely purely as its cause. In the Precious Garland¹³ Nagarjuna stated,

Enjoyments come from generosity, happiness from moral discipline . . .

The vast enjoyments of those in the lower realms with great wealth, such as nagas and so forth, come from their previous acts of generosity, yet their rebirth in the lower realms stems from not safeguarding their moral discipline. [Chandrakirti’s (600–ca. 650)] Guide to the Middle Way¹⁴ states,

If the enjoyments of generosity arise in a lower rebirth,

It is because of your defiled limbs of moral discipline.

We are extremely fortunate to have obtained our present human form, and if we don’t take the opportunity to extract some essence from it but instead squander it, it will be extremely rare to obtain such [a human life] again. The previous Kadampas¹⁵ would say that obtaining this life of leisure and endowment is like rolling a copper boulder halfway up a mountain. We strive for the means of this life’s happiness, such as amassing wealth, resources, and so on, which is not the meaning of extracting the essence of this life of leisure and endowment. Although we may have strength, power, and dominance, like a chakravartin king, this is also not its essence.

Query: Well then, how do I extract its essence?

Response: You must extract its essence by listening, contemplating, and meditating on the stages of the path to enlightenment. Once you train your mind in this, if you then develop the realizations of a being of small scope, you will have extracted its least essence. If you develop the realizations of a being of middle scope, you will have extracted its middling essence. If you develop the realizations of a being of great scope, you will have extracted its supreme essence.

Moreover, since the day of our death is soon approaching, if we don’t sincerely apply ourselves to the means of extracting its essence in this very moment, because this human body does not last long at all, we will lose our chance. Moreover, [death] is coming without warning. Presently, we will watch others die as though it is unrelated to us and will treat them as objects of our compassion; yet our turn to die will definitely come. The time is definitely coming when our body will be folded in thirds and bound by a rope, our family members and companions will shed their tears, and everyone will eventually become revolted by our corpse. Moreover, there is absolutely no way whatsoever that this is not currently on its way to greet us. Je Mila[repa (1052–1135)] stated,

The phrase “that terrifying thing called a corpse”

Will soon be used for the body of the yogi.

The term “corpse” will soon be used to address our own bodies as well; this is the real situation of this body.

With respect to the time of death, even if you are a great king governing a hundred thousand subjects, you cannot take even one servant with you. A beggar cannot even bring his walking staff and satchel. Although you may be a lama with a hundred thousand disciples, you cannot bring even one disciple with you. You must go on alone, like a hair being extracted from butter. The lineage of instruction of the previous holy beings also states,

A king must put aside his kingdom and depart;

A beggar must set aside his staff and depart.

If we could at least bring this body with us, it would uplift our minds a little, but even this must be set aside as we depart for our next life.

[The First Panchen Lama] Je [Losang] Chögyan¹⁶ proclaimed,

Our body that we have nurtured with care deceives in our time of need.

At that time [of death], nothing other than the holy Dharma will be of benefit. Je Gungtang Jampalyang [Rinpoche]¹⁷ stated [in his Advice for Meditating on Impermanence],¹⁸

Dharma is the guide when you don’t know your way on the path.

Dharma is the provisions on the long path.

Dharma is the captain guiding you along the difficult path;

From this moment on, practice the Dharma with your three doors.

When the time comes that we must set aside our cup and even our bodies, there is nothing whatsoever other than the holy Dharma that will be of any benefit. No matter how many great skills we may possess, such as settling disputes or having great power and courage, they will not be of benefit at that time. Kadam Kamapa said,

Right now we are fearless, but at

The time of death we dig our fingernails into our chest.

[In the Hundred Thousand Songs,]¹⁹ Je Milarepa proclaimed,

Repeatedly fearing only the time of my death,

I trained in the essence of the primordial deathless mind

And gained conviction in the clear light of emptiness;

Now I have no fear of either birth or death.

We should train in accordance with this. Currently, we aren’t mindful of death, and we may wonder if at the time of death we will be able to apply skillful activities, yet if we can’t apply such skillful activities the moment thunder crashes above our head, there is absolutely no chance of [applying them at the time of death]. My guru, my refuge and protector, said,

If I don’t die in a month or two,

I hope to accomplish the aims of my future life.

And if I don’t die in a year or two,

I hope to accomplish my lasting aspirations for all lives.

We should practice in accordance with this. Similar statements are also explained in the collected works of Ensapa [Losang Dondrop (1505–1566)].²⁰ We are like an overconfident man pretending to be brave, who made plans claiming that his death wasn’t coming yet didn’t make any plans whatsoever for the future life. From this point on, the longest we could hope to live is fifteen years; we certainly won’t be able to live more than sixteen more years. Moreover, those [years] are quickly used up, just as the words of a sutra eventually reach their end or the calculations of an accountant eventually reach their conclusion; such is the situation with death and impermanence. This is similar to the way the Teacher passed into nirvana once he reached the end of his numerous amazing deeds,...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Foreword by Gelek Rimpoche
• Publisher’s Note to the New Edition
• Translator’s Introduction
• The Essence of the Vast and Profound
• Outline of the Text
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright