..續本文上一頁”s guests for having come and for having accepted the offerings. Then one tells them that one wishes to speak about the source of happiness, since mundane happiness is only of short duration. One tells one”s guests that the causes of happiness need to be known - beneficial actions are the causes of happiness. The same for suffering - harmful actions cause suffering. One cannot overcome suffering without knowing and eliminating the causes, which are delusions, emotions and so forth. Knowing the relation between cause and effect supports a practitioner to refrain from doing slightest bad deeds. Therefore, the chod sadhana continues with the verse one reads to one”s guests: “All things, without exception, have a cause. This has been explained by the Tathagatas. Freedom from suffering depends upon knowing the cause, therefore hold the treasure teachings in your heart.”

　　The instructions on cause and effect are presented extensively in the Vinayapithaka, Sutras, and Prajnaparamita treatises and are summarized in the following verse of the sadhana: “Do not commit the slightest bad deed. Do good and control your mind.” Good deeds are performed by means of body, speech and mind. Beneficial activities are the source of happiness. Therefore the sadhana offers practitioners a summary that reads: “Perform good deeds and tame the mind.”

　　What are the actual instructions on abstaining from evil and on doing good

　　 Sometimes positive thoughts govern the mind, sometimes bad thoughts. Learning to control the mind is crucial in stopping the mind from alternating between bad and good actions. One needs to know that the mind is ruled by the belief in a self, the primary cause of bad deeds. And so the sadhana presents a summary that reads: “Do not do anything harmful. Do good and tame the mind.” The text addresses those who hurt others, not those who don”t.

　　Taking Dharma on the Path

　　The closing instructions on chod deal with taking Dharma onto the path. One imagines being Arya Chenresig, white in colour and with four arms. Why

　　 He embodies compassion of all buddhas. One wishes to help all guests one invited, therefore one imagines oneself as Chenresig. Light shines from one”s heart and transforms all male guests into Noble Chenresig and all female guests into Tara. Following, everyone sings the six-syllable mantra together.

　　One imagines that everyone is happy and returns home again.

　　6. Eliminating Doubts

　　If someone who seems to be obsessed or haunted by demons asks a practitioner to perform a chod ceremony for them, inviting such persons as guests during the practice is not in vain. Maybe we will be in a similar situation some day and need to ask a Lama or practitioner to please perform this practice for us. Westerners who travel to India meet persons who look like crazy yogis, playing a damaru and blowing a thighbone trumpet while wandering from one corner of the country to the next. Certainly, there are charlatans everywhere, even in India, but that is not the point. Since one cannot judge, one can simply be generous towards them or appreciate their generosity. The point is watching one”s own mind, taking advantage of the opportunity to rest in calm abiding and to practice equanimity, instead of being judgemental.

　　Sometimes one doesn”t want to go to the trouble of engaging in all the details of the practice, yet one wants to practice chod. There are simple practices, such as abiding in loving kindness and compassion, transferring one”s consciousness once in a while and abiding in loving kindness and compassion again afterwards. This is phowa with characteristics and without a reference, in which case consciousness, awareness and the vast expanse of space become one. Then one rests in loving kindness and compassion again. But some…

《Chod – The Introduction & A Few Practices》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…