Travel Day 1066-74 – Kopan Monastery, NEPAL
Besides our discussions about emptiness, we had also received the Eight Verses of Thought Transformation, by Kadampa Geshe Langri Tangpa, this obviously became another main part of our course…
Eight Verses of Thought Transformation
This short little pamphlet was about the Everflowing Nectar of Bodhichitta, Annihilating the Demon of the Self-Cherishing Mind, translated and practice composed also by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. It included the essence of thought transformation, composed in 8 quite radical verses, in order to help us change our attitude towards difficult people in our every day life. Since the wisdom of the Bodhichitta was divided into eight parts, we decided to take on one verse per day and discuss it in-depth, in the class as well as in the discussion groups…
Verse 1:
“Determined to obtain the greatest possible benefit from all sentient beings, who are more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel, I shall hold them most dear at all times.” – This appeared to be the most general of the verses and in another translation it talked about the greatest benefit FOR all sentient beings. The underline of the this verse was that we must value all sentient being even more than a jewel that could make all our wishes come true…
Verse 2:
“When in company of others, I shall always consider myself the lowest of all, and from the depth of my heart hold others dear and supreme.” – This verse was already a little bit trickier to tackle as it tried to teach us to have Humility and not Low Self-Esteem. Humility in this case is an act of confidence, while letting go of the ego and considering myself as low…
Verse 3:
“Vigilant, the moment a delusion appears in my mind, endangering myself and others, I shall confront and avert it without delay.” – This verse basically went back to the topic of Ego and Attachment. While letting go of the ego and acting out of the self and sort of delusion that could influence our thoughts and actions could be avoided…
Verse 4:
“Whenever I see beings who are wicked in nature and overwhelmed by violent negative actions and suffering, I shall hold such rare ones dear, as if I had found a precious treasure.” – This verse was probably the most controversial one, because it teaches us to treasure even the most wicked people. Since this would include even a Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong or Pol Pot, this seemed to be quite a radical approach, but the underline of the verse was rather to have compassion with everybody, even the absolute insanely crazy people. This does obviously not mean that one would approve of their actions in any sort of way…
Verse 5:
“When, out of envy, others mistreat me with abuse, insults, or the like, I shall accept defeat and offer the victory to others.” – In this verse the thought is carried through that I should consider myself low and not fight or strive for victory over others. Only out of ego would one desire to be victorious…
Verse 6:
“When someone whom I have benefited and in whom I have great hopes gives me terrible harm, I shall regard that person as my holy Guru.” – In line with the previous verses and what we had learned before about the Angry Person in our life. We should see those people as a blessing, because they are giving us the chance to practice the dharma and with that, they are automatically becoming our holy teacher…
Verse 7:
“In short, both directly and indirectly, do I offer every happiness and benefit to all my mothers. I shall secretly take upon myself all their harmful actions and suffering.” – In this verse we are again asked to give everything to others and to be more concerned about others than with our self. Especially taking on other’s harmful actions and suffering is something that our ego normally likes to reject…
Verse 8:
“Undefiled by the stains of the superstitions of the eight worldly concerns, may I, by perceiving all phenomena as illusory, be released from the bondage of attachment. “ – To avoid the eight worldly concerns which consist of attachments and aversions, we would need to realize the ultimate truth, emptiness. Only once we realized emptiness, we could fully rid ourselves of the ego and attend to the highest goal, enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings…
Find all Kopan Monastery 2013 Photos here.
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