Dear Friends Near and Far,
On this Guru Rinpoche Day that marks the anniversary of Guru Rinpoche’s birth, I would like to share some lines from The King of Samādhi Sūtra.
The King of Samādhi Sūtra was taught directly by Buddha Śākyamuni and is the root text of all Sūtra Mahamudra teachings. It explains samādhi in great detail.
In the first chapter that, Buddha explains:
“Youth, if they are endowed with this one dharma, bodhisattva mahāsattvas will obtain these qualities and will swiftly, perfectly realize unsurpassable, authentic, and complete awakening. What is this one dharma? Youth, bodhisattva mahāsattvas are even-minded towards all beings. Their mind is beneficent and without anger or partiality.
“Youth, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who are even-minded, whose minds are beneficent, without anger, and without partiality, they will obtain the “samādhi that fully reveals the equal nature of all things.” Youth, what is the “samādhi that fully reveals the equal nature of all things”?
“It is the wisdom path of the buddhas; the seal of all phenomena; the accomplishment of omniscient wisdom.“It does not give rise to attachment and is free of anger; it is not the basis of delusion but the source of wisdom; it is the birth of knowledge and the abandonment of ignorance; it is the satisfaction of those who practice the essence of liberation….It is the blessings of the buddhas.”
Being even-minded, or equanimous is an indispensible quality. If we look at our minds honestly, most of us will see that we have a lot of like and dislike, discrimination, and judgement towards others. But with this discriminating, biased state of mind, genuine samādhi will never arise within us. For when our motivation, or basic mind set is tainted with like and dislike, this creates many obstacles for the birth of samādhi. Therefore, if we wish to generate samādhi we should train in viewing all sentient beings as equal and reducing our discrimination.
In addition, as Buddha explains, we need to be ‘beneficient’, meaning to have the wish to help and benefit others; for others to have physical, mental, and emotional well-being and bliss, based on the equanimity that sees all sentient beings as equal.
If we can cultivate this state of mind—beneficent and without anger or partiality—then we, bodhisattvas in training, will give birth to all of the buddha’s qualities and will swiftly reach enlightenment. Essentially, Buddha is referring to bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment, which should be our fundamental motivation and outlook. As it is explained here in The King of Samādhi Sūtra, if we lack this motivation then samādhi will not dawn in our minds.
Please reflect on the meaning of this passage and try to take it to heart.
With aspirations for you all,
Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche
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