Vairocana starts by questioning whether there is evil in the world, and if so, is it rooted in greed, hatred and delusion as stated in the Buddhist tradition? He ponders on Siddhartha's experience of dissatisfaction which led him to give up his life of privilege and luxury.

He then goes on to explore how the ego-identity is reinforced by fear. He looks at how the Buddha overcame fear and gained Enlightenment and particularly how he conquered fear in the stories of the attack of Mara, the entreaty of Brahma Sahampati and the encounter with Mucalinda the Serpent King. He also brings in Chapter 4 of the Majjhima Nikaya, Fear and Dread or the Bhayabherava Sutta.

He then goes into craving, aversion and delusion and reads from Sangharakshita's Human Enlightenment, giving definitions of these three terms. To compliment his reflections on fear he enumerates some positive motivations for practice, namely devotion to the Three Jewels, appreciation of artistic culture and fear of evil as a positive force, sometimes experienced as vigilance or apramada. He also mentions tranquillity, metta and creativity or openmindedness as the opposites of craving, aversion and delusion.

In the section on Patience in the Bodhicaryavatara, verse 21, Shantidevi reflects that compassion arises upon seeing the suffering of the world and that this manifests in one loosening ones pride. This leads to a fear of the consequences of evil and a delight in Enlightenment itself, or as Shantideva puts it, delight in the Conquerors.

The first of a series on the parables of The White Lotus Sutra, this talk looks at the Sutra as a whole. Suriyavamsa explores the key themes as well as how best to approach a Mahayana Sutra.

Please note that there is some noise disturbance at the end of the talk due to a small and restless child!

The fourth and last in a series on the White Lotus Sutra. In this talk Vairocana takes the Parable of the Raincloud as a jumping off point for looking at receptivity. He goes into detail about the mental events of hrih and apatrpya - self respect and respect for wise opinion, as well as their opposites, ahrikya and anapatrapya.

A talk on real practice in the sometimes painfully real world...

N.B. This talk was re-recorded 'as live' because of poor quality on the original.

Tracks

Vasubandhu was a renowned Buddhist teacher and philosopher who lived in the Gandhara region of northern India in the 4th century CE. One of his works is a text called "Treatise on Generating the Bodhisattva Vow". Here Dhammadassin leads through a meditative reflection based on teachings from that text. These Four Factors are suggested by Vasubandhu as being of great help to Buddhist practitioners intent on generating Bodhi Resolve - the resolve to gain Enlightenment for the sake of all beings. More information about the four factors can be found in Sangharakshita's book "The Meaning of Conversion in Buddhism."

The reflection was given on "This Precious Human Life" a meditation retreat for women who have asked for ordination.

Taraloka, Feb 2008.