Buddha Activities

The previous chapter described what Buddhahood is. This final chapter asks the question that matters most: What does Buddhahood do? If a Buddha has transcended conceptual thought and self-centered effort, has gone beyond the drives and motivations that move ordinary beings to act — then how does a Buddha benefit anyone? How does compassion function without someone deciding to be compassionate?

This is the question that opens the last door of the Jewel Ornament of Liberation.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "This chapter is more or less a shortened version of the chapter on Buddha activities in the Uttaratantra Shastra, the Supreme Continuity revealed by Maitreya to Asanga. It is significant that the Jewel Ornament is topped and tailed by teachings based on the Supreme Continuity—this gives the text its special character and makes it distinct from other lam-rim teachings."

First, cultivating the mind of enlightenment, then, in the middle, practicing the teachings and the path, and eventually, at the end, attaining the result of Buddhahood—all these are done for the sole purpose of dispelling suffering and establishing the happiness of all sentient beings.

This reminds us of the purpose of everything we have studied: the bodhisattva vow at the beginning, accumulating merit and wisdom on the path, and achieving Buddhahood—all done for the benefit of beings.

The Nature of Buddha Activity

When one attains Buddhahood, there are no conceptual thoughts or efforts. Therefore, can Buddhas manifest any benefit for sentient beings?

This question naturally arises. If a Buddha is free from conceptual thought and self-centered effort, how can beneficial activity occur?

Without conceptual thoughts or efforts, Buddhas manifest benefit for sentient beings spontaneously and unceasingly.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "Our activity is neurotic, based upon grasping at self and cherishing this self. The Buddhas are completely unrestricted, unbound by self-centered emotions. Actually, that gives them the capacity to act utterly spontaneously without any restrictions and unceasingly. With our activity, there are always boundaries—when it doesn't please us anymore, we give up. When we become tired, we give up. It is always 'I, I, I' making us respond in that way. But Buddhas do not have any 'I' to be worried about."

Gampopa presents this through the activities of body, speech, and mind:

The body benefits sentient beings without conceptual thoughts, Likewise the speech and mind also benefit sentient beings without conceptual thoughts. These three comprise the activities of a Buddha.

The Nine Analogies

The Uttaratantra provides nine analogies to illuminate how Buddha activity functions:

Like Indra, the drum, clouds, Brahma, The sun, a wish-fulfilling gem, space, And earth is the Tathagata.

These nine analogies help us understand how benefit occurs without conceptualization, intention, or deliberate effort.

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I. Activities of the Body: "Appearing as Indra"

This analogy shows how the Buddha's body benefits beings without conceptual thought.

The Analogy

For example, Indra, king of the gods, abides in a victorious palace with a retinue of goddesses. That palace has the nature of clear and clean lapis lazuli and, because of that, Indra's image is reflected outside the palace.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "Indra for us is the chief god of the six realms of desire realm gods. He is cognate with the Greek god Zeus—they have a common Indo-European ancestry. But Indra is better behaved than Zeus; he just stays in his palace."

From the earth, men and women see the reflections of Indra with all his enjoyments. They say aspiration prayers that they may also be born there, and make effort to develop virtue for that purpose. By that, they are born there after death.

The key point: the appearance of that reflection has no conceptual thought or movement. Indra is not thinking, "I am going to send out emanations to inspire these people on earth to do prayers and practice virtue." None of that occurs. The reflection happens purely spontaneously.

The Application

Likewise, those who enter into the great purpose—meditating and so forth—would see the body of the perfect Buddha, which is marked by major and minor signs, manifest various activities: walking, standing, sitting, sleeping, giving Dharma teachings, being absorbed in meditation, and so forth.

By seeing these activities, people develop devotion and motivation. They engage in the cause of Buddhahood—cultivating bodhicitta—and eventually achieve it.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "The nirmanakaya manifests out of the dharmakaya for the needs of sentient beings without conceptualization or movement. Movement means intentionality—having to make a decision. It is not like the dharmakaya is headquarters and then the phone call comes in: 'Manifestation needed in sector five.' It is not like that."

The Uttaratantra says:

Just as the reflection of the form of the king of gods Appears in the clear lapis lazuli ground, So also does the reflection of the king of mighty sages' form Appear in the clear ground which is beings' minds.

This is the body benefiting sentient beings without conceptual thought.

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II. Activities of Speech: "Like the Drum of the Gods"

This analogy shows how the Buddha's speech benefits beings without conceptual thought.

The Analogy

For example, above the palace of the victorious gods, the drum of the gods, which is called "Holding the Power of Dharma," is established through the power of the gods' previous virtuous actions.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "In order to prevent the gods from remaining sunk in the pleasures that resulted from their previous practices of virtue, they need to be reminded of impermanence. Above Indra's palace, there is a magical drum and as it is beaten, it makes the sound of impermanence. Nobody is drumming it. The drum is not making any decision; it is just its natural function."

Without conceptual thought, that drum reminds the heedless gods by sounding the dharma of the four seals:

• All composite phenomena are impermanent
• All phenomena are without self
• All afflicted states are of the nature of suffering
• All cessation is peace

The Uttaratantra says:

Through the power of the gods' former goodness, The dharma drum in the divine realms, Without effort, location, mental form, or concept, Exhorts all the uncaring gods over and over again with its throbs Of "impermanence," "suffering," "no-self," and "peace."

The Application

Likewise, even though there is no effort or conceptual thought, the speech of the Buddha manifests the teachings depending on the dispositions of the fortunate ones.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "Once you have achieved Buddhahood, whatever you utter is the dharma that is absolutely appropriate to those sentient beings to be trained. It is not that the Buddha has to think, 'today I am going to meet a hundred of this type, three hundred of that type, and I must prepare a suitable teaching for each of them.' Because that would be 'I', self-clinging and artificial."

The Lankavatara Sutra says: "One pleasing vajra word divides according to the needs of his disciples."

The Uttaratantra says:

Like this, the all-pervading [Dharmakaya] is without effort and so on, Yet his Buddha-speech permeates all beings without exception, Teaching the noble doctrine to those of good fortune.

This is speech benefiting sentient beings without conceptual thought.

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III. Activities of Mind: "Like a Cloud"

This analogy shows how the wisdom mind benefits beings without conceptual thought.

The Analogy

For example, in the summer, clouds gather in the sky without effort, causing crops and so forth to grow perfectly through the rain falling on the ground without conceptual thought.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "The clouds just happen naturally; no one causes them. The gathering of the clouds and the rain coming from the clouds is a beautiful analogy for natural process without any conceptualization or deliberation."

The Uttaratantra says:

The rainy season's clouds continually and effortlessly Downpour vast amounts of water onto the earth And are the cause for good and bountiful crops.

The Application

Likewise, the activities of the wisdom mind ripen the trainees' crop of virtue through the rainfall of Dharma without conceptual thought.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "This is the natural outpouring of the enlightened qualities of the Buddha's mind benefiting sentient beings. There is no selfishness, no defensiveness, no structure or plan to get a particular result. Just as rain falls on different landscapes producing particular results, but the rain just happens naturally from the gathering of clouds."

The Uttaratantra says:

Likewise clouds of compassion, without any conceptualization, Rain down the waters of the Victor's noble teaching And cause the harvests of virtue for sentient beings.

This is the wisdom mind benefiting sentient beings without conceptual thought.

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IV. "Like Brahma"

For example, without moving from the Brahma-palace, Brahma, king of the gods, can be seen in all the god realms.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "If Indra is the chief of the desire realm gods, Brahma is king of the form realm gods. He never moves from his palace, but he is perceptible everywhere, perceived by all the other gods."

Likewise, Buddha, while not moving from the Dharmakaya, benefits all trainees by manifesting the twelve deeds and so forth.

The Uttaratantra says:

Without effort and without leaving the Brahma-heaven, Brahma in any divine abode can manifest his presence. Similarly, without ever departing from the Dharmakaya, the great Victor Effortlessly manifests his emanations in any sphere, to the fortunate.

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V. "Like the Sun"

This analogy has two aspects:

First Aspect: Opening What Is Closed

For example, the radiant light of the sun opens lotuses and so forth—an infinite diversity of flowers—at one time without conceptual thought.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "As soon as the sun is in the sky, all different types of flowers are ripened. Sunflowers turn to the sun, other flowers open their buds. But it is not because the sun has to think, 'I need to do this X for that sunflower, this Z for that tulip.' There is no planning, no deliberation; it just naturally happens as the sun's rays pour forth."

Likewise, the radiant light of the Dharma opens the virtuous lotus of the mind of infinite families and the dispositions of trainees while without conceptual thought and without effort.

The Uttaratantra says:

The sun, without ideation, by its own light's radiation, Simultaneously makes lotuses bloom and other things ripen. Similarly, without ideation, the Tathagata sun pours forth his rays Of noble Dharma onto those "lotuses" who are beings to be trained.

Second Aspect: Simultaneous Reflection

Or, in other words, the image of the sun is simultaneously reflected in all the clear water-vessels at one time. Likewise, the Buddha is simultaneously reflected in all the pure-visioned trainees.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "Why do shravakas see one version of the Buddha, solitary realisers another, bodhisattvas another? Does that mean the Buddha is different? No, the Buddha's dharmakaya is one nature, but just as in a paint pot the sun's reflection is that small, in an ocean it is that big—how it appears differs according to the trainees. It is not because Buddha says, 'I must send out a small shravaka-sized version of myself for the Hinayanists and a big bountiful bodhisattva version for the Mahayanists.'"

The Uttaratantra says:

Due to this, The infinite reflection of the sun of the Sugata Appears in all the "water vessels" Of pure trainees simultaneously.

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VI. "Like the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel"

For example, even though the wish-fulfilling jewel has no conceptual thought, it manifests whatever one needs if one prays to it.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "In mythology, this gem—if you purify it, put it on top of a victory banner, and pray to it—can fulfill any wishes. There is no calculation in the wish-fulfilling gem, no little computer whirring away with 'this is needed, that is needed.' There is no program, no planning, no deliberate activity. Whatever is needed is manifested according to the wishes of different sentient beings."

Likewise, depending on the Buddha accomplishes all the purposes associated with the various wishes of Hearers and so forth.

The Uttaratantra says:

A wish-fulfilling gem, though thought-free, fulfils simultaneously All the wishes of those within its sphere of activity. Likewise, though those of varying aspiration hear various teachings When relying on the wish-fulfilling Buddha, he does not so conceive.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "That is why there are 84,000 different teachings. Not because Buddha said, 'It is Tuesday, time for teaching number 37,326.' The three vehicles—shravaka, solitary realiser, bodhisattva—the Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana—all manifest out of the Buddha's teachings but not as some kind of structured plan. We have the structure ourselves just as a useful way of approaching it."

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VII–IX. "Like Echo, Space, and Earth"

Gampopa mentions three additional analogies more briefly:

Like Echo

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "An echo is the sound you hear, but the sound of the echo has no deliberate thought. It is produced by causes and conditions but there is nothing solid to it, nothing deliberated."

Like Space

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "Space is all-encompassing; it can be seen in a variety of ways. One can think the sky is this color or that color, but that is just because of conditions. The sky itself has no color. The Buddha's appearance is beyond appearance, but it can appear in any form necessary according to the perspective of sentient beings to be trained."

Like Earth

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "The earth can be relied upon by all beings; it bears all beings. As Nagarjuna says, it is the basis of both the moving and unmoving, patiently bearing everything, supporting everything. But it does not do this through conceptualization or effort. It is just the outpouring of the nature of the earth to be a support. Likewise, the outpouring of the nature of enlightenment is to be the support for sentient beings through non-conceptual and unceasing activities."

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The Difference Between Our Activity and Buddha Activity

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "Our activity is not only always motivated by what is beneficial for us rather than others, but it has a restriction on it because we become tired or discouraged—we are only approaching it from a selfish point of view. Our activity is both very conceptual and very impermanent, very capable of ceasing. But because the Buddha has removed those mechanisms of self-centeredness entirely, his nature is unrestricted, his activity is unrestricted."

Through these nine analogies, we understand how a Buddha, without conceptualization and without deliberate activity, benefits sentient beings for as long as there are sentient beings to be benefited.

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Colophon

The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, the Wish-fulfilling Gem of the Noble Teachings, an explanation of the stages of the path of the Mahayana vehicle, was composed by the physician Sonam Rinchen at the request of Bhante Dharmakyab. Dharmakyab acted as scribe.

The wish-fulfilling jewel of the precious Dharma manifests for the benefit of all sentient beings without conceptual thought. By the merit of your transcription, may all sentient beings achieve the supreme enlightenment.

Lama Jampa Thaye's note: "If you know the Jewel Ornament, you really have the great foundation for the Kagyu teachings. All the higher teachings of Mahamudra and Vajrayana are not much use without such a foundation of understanding the path and how it works. The Jewel Ornament is one of those teachings that has no bottom—its depths are infinite. Finally, it is reflecting back to us our Buddha nature, which is of course infinite. Please, never dispense with the Jewel Ornament. In one way it is the foundation of your practice and your path, but it should also be your constant companion on the path."