Superiority, Excellence, and the Virtues of the Sacred Dharma

The Ten Types of Superiority

In a world that measures value by quantity — more followers, more money, more possessions — Gampopa offers a radically different calculus. Each of these ten comparisons demonstrates that quality surpasses quantity, depth surpasses breadth, and the unconditioned surpasses the conditioned. One moment of genuine realization, he will say, outweighs eons of conceptual meditation. One act of unconditional compassion outshines a lifetime of calculated generosity.

1. One human body endowed with the freedoms and riches is far superior to any number of the six classes of sentient beings.

2. One spiritual person is far superior to any number of irreligious lay people.

3. This vehicle of essential meaning is far superior to any number of path-oriented vehicles.

4. One instant of knowledge resulting from meditation training is far superior to any amount of knowledge resulting from learning and reflection.

5. A single moment of nonmaterialistic virtue is far superior to any amount of materialistic virtue.

6. One second of samadhi free from focus is far superior to any amount of training in samadhi with focus.

7. One moment of unconditioned virtue is far superior to any amount of conditioned virtue.

8. A single instant of realization within your stream of being is far superior to any number of temporary meditation experiences.

9. One moment of spontaneous action is far superior to any amount of deliberately intended positive deeds.

10. Not to hold on to anything is far superior to any amount of material giving.

The Logic of Quality Over Quantity

This list operates on a single principle: in spiritual life, a moment of genuine depth outweighs an eternity of superficial breadth. One precious human birth surpasses countless births in other realms. One instant of meditative wisdom surpasses lifetimes of intellectual study. One second of focusless samadhi surpasses years of focused concentration.

The third point introduces a crucial Kagyu distinction: the "vehicle of essential meaning" versus "path-oriented vehicles." The vehicle of essential meaning is the fruition approach of Vajrayana and Mahamudra — the recognition that the result is already present and need only be uncovered. Path-oriented vehicles emphasize a gradual journey from impure to pure, from ignorant to wise. Gampopa, as a master of both approaches, is not dismissing the path-oriented vehicles but placing them in perspective: the direct recognition of what already is surpasses any amount of progressive cultivation.

The seventh point — unconditioned virtue surpasses conditioned virtue — is especially important. Conditioned virtue is any positive action performed with dualistic fixation: "I" am doing something good for "you," and "this" is the merit I accumulate. Unconditioned virtue arises when action flows from the recognition of the nature of mind, free from the three fixations of agent, object, and action. Even a brief moment of such action is more powerful than vast quantities of conditioned good deeds.

The tenth and final point is the perfection of generosity taken to its ultimate expression: not holding on to anything at all is superior to any amount of giving. This is the generosity of emptiness — the recognition that there is no giver, no gift, and no recipient. It is not a replacement for conventional generosity but its fulfillment.

The Ten Qualities That Make Whatever You Do Excellent

This category describes the state of a practitioner whose realization is so stable that it permeates every activity, transforming all circumstances into the path. Each point holds a pair of opposites in perfect equanimity.

1. For someone who has cut through misconceptions in his mind, it is excellent if he meditates but also if he doesn't.

2. For someone who has cut through attachment to sense pleasures, it is excellent if he acts detached but also if he doesn't.

3. For someone who has realized the innate nature in actuality, it is excellent if he lives in an empty cave but also if he acts as a leader for many people.

4. For someone who has recognized that appearances are a magical illusion, it is excellent if he lives alone in retreat, but also if he aimlessly roams the land.

5. For someone who has gained mastery over his mind, it is excellent if he gives up sense pleasures but also if he puts them to use.

6. For someone who possesses the awakened mind of bodhicitta, it is excellent if he practices in seclusion but also if he acts for the welfare of others in society.

7. For someone whose devotion is constant, it is excellent if he remains at the feet of his master but also if he doesn't.

8. For someone who is learned and understands the meaning, it is excellent if he has success but also if he has obstacles.

9. For the yogi who has attained supreme realization, it is excellent if he possesses the common signs of accomplishment but also if he doesn't.

The Freedom of Non-Preference

This is the portrait of spiritual freedom. When realization is genuine, circumstances lose their power to determine the quality of the practitioner's experience. Solitude or society, pleasure or pain, success or obstacles — all are equally excellent because the practitioner's relationship to them is free from fixation.

The third point is particularly relevant: the person who has realized the innate nature can live in a cave or lead a nation, and both are excellent. This liberates the practitioner from the spiritual materialism of thinking that only one form of life is legitimate. The cave-dwelling hermit and the compassionate leader are equally valid expressions of realization — provided the realization is genuine.

The ninth point adds a fascinating caveat: the yogi with supreme realization may or may not possess the "common signs of accomplishment" — the miraculous powers (siddhi) that are traditionally expected of realized masters. Gampopa is saying that even the presence or absence of miracles is irrelevant to the quality of realization itself. This protects the tradition from the dangerous assumption that spiritual power equals spiritual depth.

The Ten Qualities That Summarize the Virtues of the Sacred Dharma

In the penultimate category, Gampopa steps back from instruction and offers an extraordinary hymn of praise to the Dharma itself — not as an abstract philosophy but as the living force that generates all good in the universe.

1. The ten virtuous deeds, the six paramitas, all aspects of emptiness, the virtues of the factors of enlightenment, the four truths, the four meditation states, the four formless states, the ripening and liberation of Mantrayana — all these appear in this world by virtue of the sacred Dharma.

2. Among human beings, the important castes, the six classes of gods in the Desire Realms, the seventeen classes of gods in the Form Realms, and the four classes of gods in the Formless Realms — all these appear by virtue of the sacred Dharma.

3. The stream-enterers, once-returners, nonreturners, arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and the omniscient buddhas — all these appear by virtue of the sacred Dharma.

4. The two form-kayas, manifesting through compassion by the power of bodhicitta, that spontaneously accomplish the welfare of beings for as long as samsara has not been emptied — all these appear by virtue of the sacred Dharma.

5. When an abundance of necessities for sentient beings appears through the power of the aspirations of the bodhisattvas — this is by virtue of the sacred Dharma.

6. When even in the lower realms there is some slight temporary happiness, created through the merit of wholesome deeds — this is by virtue of the sacred Dharma.

7. When even evil beings turn their minds towards the sublime teachings, remain in the family of noble beings, and become objects of respect — this is by virtue of the sacred Dharma.

8. When someone who formerly engaged in evil misdeeds turns their mind towards the teachings and connects with the happiness of the higher realms and liberation — this is by virtue of the sacred Dharma.

9. When someone merely gains trust in, interest in, or delights in the teachings, and is respected — this is by virtue of the sacred Dharma.

10. When someone gives up all possessions, becomes a homeless monastic in remote retreats, and still receives abundant sustenance — this is by virtue of the sacred Dharma.

The Dharma as Universal Source of Good

This list is remarkable in its comprehensiveness. Gampopa attributes to the sacred Dharma not just the explicitly spiritual goods — realization, liberation, the qualities of the buddhas — but everything good that appears anywhere in existence. Even the temporary happiness of beings in the lower realms, even the slight turning of an evil person's mind toward goodness, even the basic respect accorded to someone who simply has interest in the teachings — all of these arise by virtue of the Dharma.

This is not metaphorical. In Buddhist cosmology, the Dharma is the truth of how things are — the law of interdependent origination, the nature of mind, the possibility of transformation. Every being who has ever moved from suffering toward happiness, in any realm, at any time, has done so by coming into alignment, however briefly, with this truth.

The fourth point is especially significant: the two form-kayas (sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya) that spontaneously accomplish the welfare of beings until samsara is empty appear by virtue of the Dharma. This is the Mahayana vision at its most expansive: the awakened activity of all buddhas, continuing ceaselessly until every last being is free, is itself an expression of the sacred Dharma.