THREE PRINCIPAL ASPECTS OF THE PATH

Monday, October 22, 2018, 6:30 PM

Tuesday, October 23, 2018, 6:30 PM

tsongkhapa_with_his_chief_disciples_gyaltsab_je_to02

In Tibetan, Lam-tso nam-sum, translated in English as the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, arose from a direct, visual communication with Lord Manjushri, which Lama Je Tsongkhapa gave to his disciples. While it is a small text that provides a very simple practice, it contains the essence of Lord Buddha’s entire teachings and is a universal teaching that everyone can understand. In the text, Lama Je Tsongkhapa highlights the importance of renunciation, bodhichitta, and the correct view (emptiness), which he recognized as the three pathways essential for attaining enlightenment. Renunciation is based on the attitude that turns  our minds completely away from all samsaric wishes and seek liberation. Bodhichitta is the wish to attain enlightenment to benefit all sentient beings, and since it is the complete opposite of our self-cherishing attitude, it is an extremely high realization, one where we completely give ourselves to the service of others. The correct view is the realization of the actual abiding nature of reality. By understanding the non-inherent existence of the phenomenal world, we eliminate the mental factors that keep us bound in samsara, and when our understanding of voidness is held with bodhichitta, we eliminate the obscurations regarding omniscience. Removing the obscurations to liberation and omniscience lead to the attainment of enlightenment. Thus, the three principal aspects of the path are the basis of the entire sutra and tantra paths.

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