Dear friends near and far,

As always, I hope this message finds you well, healthy and happy. On today’s Guru Rinpoche day, I would like to share with you all a few passages from one of my favorite sutras, the Samadhi Raja Sutra: The King of Meditation.

The first important passage I would like to share is in chapter 1, where the Buddha tells Youthful Moon:

Youth, bodhisattva mahasattvas who master this one dharma will acquire all good qualities and will swiftly awaken to perfect and complete enlightenment. Which dharma is that? Youth, bodhisattva mahasattvas are equal-minded toward all beings. Their minds are intent upon benefitting, and devoid of anger and discrimination.
Moreover, youth, bodhisattva mahasattvas who are equal-minded toward all beings, and whose minds are intent upon benefitting, and devoid of anger and discrimination, will achieve the samadhi that is called “the radiating equality of the nature of all phenomena.

Regarding this passage, I would like to say that most meditators nowadays think it’s enough to just sit and meditate in order to attain awakening, or achieve samadhi. However, we also need to apply some teachings. In particular, we need to become equal-minded. The vast majority of us are not equal-minded, but instead have preferences and biases. Therefore, we really need to cultivate a mind that is even, and devoid of anger and discrimination. These are in fact indispensable qualities. Otherwise, whatever we perceive or observe will really just be a projection of our own minds, and we won’t be able to tell the difference.

The second passage I would like to share with you is in chapter 3, and it enumerates the Buddha’s qualities:

The Bhagavān is thus: a tathāgata, an arhat, a fully enlightened buddha, one with perfect wisdom and conduct, a sugata, one who knows the world’s beings, an unsurpassable guide who tames beings, a teacher of god and humans, a buddha, a bhagavān.
The Tathāgata is the natural result of merit. He is the inevitable result of roots of merit. He is adorned by patience. He is the manifestation of a treasure of merit. He is beautified by the excellent primary signs of a great being. He has the blossomed flowers of the secondary signs of a great being. He is exemplary in his conduct. His appearance is never disagreeable. He brings joy to those motivated by faith. He is invincible in his wisdom. He has the invulnerability of the strengths. He is the teacher of all beings. He is the father of all bodhisattvas. He is the king of all noble individuals. He is the caravan leader for those beginning on their journey. He is immeasurable in his wisdom. He is inconceivable in his eloquence. He is pure in his voice. He is delightful in his speech. He is lovely in his physical form. He is unequaled in body. He is unstained by the desire realm. He is unsullied by the form realm. He is unadulterated by the formless realm. He is free from suffering. He is liberated from the aggregates. He is separated from the elements. He has restrained the sense sources. He has cut through the knots. He is free from torment. He is released from craving. He has crossed over the great river. He is complete in his wisdom. He is established in the wisdom of the buddha bhagavans of the past, future, and present. He does not remain in nirvana. He resides at the summit of existence. He is on the level of seeing all beings. Young man, those are the buddha qualities of a tathāgata.*

Please read these qualities aloud at least once. It is important for us to know them, because the Buddha’s qualities are also the qualities of our nature. If we cannot conceive of the Buddha’s qualities, then we cannot conceive of our own nature’s qualities: Buddha is identical to our nature. Therefore, each time you recite these qualities, you will accumulate merit, remember the qualities of the Buddha, generate faith in the Buddha, and come to know your own potential.

With all my love and prayers, Sarva Mangalam.

Phakchok Rinpoche

*Translation based on the 84000 translation.

Translations

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