Maryland, 1992 

Before we actually start studying how to practice refuge, it is very necessary to understand the Four Foundations. Without them being well-established in the mind, it is difficult for us to cultivate pure motivation, to have a sincere sense of taking refuge in the Triple Gem and to continue to study and practice the Dharma towards enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. This is because without them, we are still attached to samsara.

In the Jewel Ornament of Liberation, Gampopa mentions that since we have been in samsara from beginningless time, we must have been born as a human being on some occasion. We must have met some spiritual teachings and studied them during that time. So why are we still in samsara? Why couldn’t we free ourselves from this state of suffering? Because of the four basic obstacles, we continue to wander in the samsara.

The four obstacles are first: Attachment to this life.

Most of us are attached to this life. We always put our time, energy and everything for the success in this life. We may talk about spiritual matters, or meditate or recite mantras, but very few actually work towards enlightenment. People talk about dream yoga and spiritual healing power, but what are they talking about? They are thinking of how to gain more comfort in this life. All these different things we use are solely for this life’s benefit. So investigate carefully and see for yourself, no matter whether it is material or spiritual activity. That way of thinking is called "attached to this life," and it is an obstacle to freedom from samsara.

Second, Attachment to the next life.

Some people look farther ahead and are attached to the next life. They think this life is okay, but they want to be more successful in their next life. They want to be born in some better place or situation, so it’s still an attachment to samsara. Of course, that causes them not to be free from samsara.

Third, Sravakas and Prakyekabuddhas.

Then there are those who only have self-cherishing and work for self-liberation. They are satisfied with less than full enlightenment and do not become completely liberated.

Fourth, Not knowing how to achieve enlightenment.

We frequently talk about spiritual matters, but to carefully investigate what samsara is and what enlightenment is – and how to free ourselves from samsara is very difficult.

These are the four basic obstacles that cause us to wander in the samsara from beginningless lifetimes until now. This is a very important subject to understand, investigate, and put into practice. The four antidotes to these are to be contemplated:

First, the antidote to attachment to this life is the contemplation of impermanence. Second, the antidote to ill-directed activities and to laziness is the contemplation on the rarity of attaining leisure and fortune. Third, the antidote to attachment to the pleasure of existence is the contemplation of the faults of cyclic existence. Fourth, to attain a meaningful life, contemplate on the benefits of attaining liberation.

Impermanence is one of the best subjects to be mindful of. It is a very profound teaching. Some people think this is elementary and that only the higher teachings like mahamudra, dzogchen, and high tantra are profound. But impermanence is much more profound and important than any other teaching.

When you really have a sense of impermanence and when somebody causes you a problem, you will say this in your mind, "Oh, it is momentary. It will change. Why should I be upset?" When we are attached to some object or good things and when we have impermanence in the mind, we will see them as temporary, momentary like a rainbow. So, these teachings make the mind more stable.

You can look at impermanence from inside and outside. From outside, see how many great spiritual teachers and political leaders have lived; read the history of each country and see. Now, no one, nothing exists. All are gone. Even Buddha, who achieved the highest enlightenment, who had the complete form of wisdom and compassion, also passed. We can see it here and now also. Usually our mind is not staying with us; usually it is somewhere else, always projecting here and there. That makes it difficult to be aware. If the mind stays where the body is, then maybe it is a little easier to be aware of these things.

In the Madhyamika text, there is an analysis of coming and going. Basically, this goes to the idea of impermanence. What is really coming or going? Can there really be any coming or going? It is because what is gone, is gone; it does not exist here and now. How can we say that it exists? The future is coming, but it has not come yet; it is not here and now. So, how can we say it exists? So then, how can we say that there is coming and going? It is like a beautiful "sky flower". It sounds so good but it does not exist.

This analysis makes a very subtle mind. Like when you move rosary beads on a mala, that which is already moved, is moved; that which has not moved is not yet moved. There is no in between. If you analyze carefully, that is impermanence. In the mind, a thought is a thought; once it is gone, it is gone. When you think again, it is not just the previous thought, it is a new one. What was thought is gone; a new thought has not come yet. So in between, there is nothing. This is the teaching of mahamudra. Impermanence is a very profound teaching. We should meditate on this very subtle state.

When we keep the sense of real impermanence in the mind, it helps to free us from ignorance. It helps to free ourselves from aversion, anger, hatred and resentment as well as attachment, desire, pride, and jealousy. It helps to center the mind at one place. Eventually, when one is aware of it more and more, one eventually have the ability to realize the mahamudra teachings. Impermanence allows us to realize that everything is of a temporary state, ever changing; momentary and nothing is substantial, solid or concrete. That is the start of mahamudra and a very profound teaching.

Buddha-nature pervades all beings. Through investigation of phenomena, we can see that all things and phenomena are interdependent and their nature is emptiness. Therefore, Budddha-nature pervaded to all sentient beings. The suchness of that nature, the way that it is, or the mode of abiding, is the same. This means that no one is better than another – all are the same. Whether in a Buddha state or state of sentient beings, they are no different. For these reasons, Buddha-nature – the essence of enlightenment – is understood to be pervaded to all the sentient beings. The fact that Buddha-nature is pervaded to all sentient beings, is not enough to achieve enough to bring us to enlightenment. We have to have a special gift of intelligence to understand this reality. For that reason, the precious human body becomes most important.

Take the hell beings as an example. Even though they have some awareness, they are so tortured, so overpowered by all their suffering, that they have no opportunity to study or practice. We can see this in ourselves. When our minds are overpowered by suffering, there is no place to meditate. Animal realms have no special gift of intelligence or mental power. If you put gold in front of a dog, and say, "this is precious and you should keep it, " he will just smell it and run away. He has no sense that one thing is more precious than others, no matter how smart a dog is. Animal realms do not have the special awareness as human beings have. If our special qualities are utilized in the best way, we can free ourselves from the entire samsara. Therefore, human life is precious.

Now, if we use it in a wrong way, maybe, we may do worse than an animal. Human beings can destroy the whole world, which animals cannot do. We have such power that one can either benefit countless sentient beings or make countless sufferings for beings. This kind of Dharma study then becomes very important, crucial for all human beings to understand.

Compare the number of human beings to the hell realms or hungry ghosts. Even though we do not see them, they are much more numerous than the animal realm. Compared to the animal realm, human beings are so few. See for yourself. Go outside and take a handful of earth and see how many bugs there are. So many, we cannot count them. We can count approximately how many human beings are on this whole Earth, but we cannot count the number of animals. Now, just see how can these smaller animals like ants become human beings? To be reborn as a human being does not just happen without cause or for the wrong cause. It has to be from a complete cause. So how can animals get the opportunity to do precious, virtuous deeds? Very rare, very few. Therefore, we have to investigate and be aware, then we can appreciate our precious human life. So it is very important to be aware of the precious human life that we have and see how precious it is. Precious means that from this opportunity, we can free from samsara and can benefit limitless sentient beings. This is called precious.

We have a tendency to create negative causes and conditions without much effort – it is very easy to go that direction. Now we have to make a lot of effort to do some good things. Even to recite one mantra, you have to be a very strong person. So it is much easier to be born in the lower realms than to be born in human realm.

There are three conditions of human life: luxurious, precious, and poor. Some people are born in a very good condition and they live in that good condition, and have no sense of Dharma study. If you explain about Dharma, they will say, "Oh, that is good, but I am not the kind of person to do these things." So they have no chance. Another kind is that they are born in difficult conditions and continue to live in that and die in that. In that case, even when you talk about Dharma study, they are not interested at all. So that is why even though they are human beings but their lives are not necessarily precious.

Now let us look at those who have a specially gifted mind (it does not matter if they are born in a good condition or not). When they see the Dharma, and understand the Dharma, they feel that Dharma is the most important thing to do. They are fully interested and want to put their time and energy in that, that is called precious human life.

That is very rare. Even though some may have interest in Dharma and want to study, practice, they have no opportunity because of circumstances. That is an obstacle for Dharma study. For these reasons, having a precious human life and the opportunity to study the precious Dharma is very rare. We cannot buy that from anywhere. It has to come from our own effort. It is most important to be aware of that we have such an opportunity. We should rejoice that. This does not means a sense of pride, rather just think how wonderful it is, what a great opportunity we have. We cannot buy from any other place. This is the inner strength that we have developed from many other lifetimes. We must utilize it fully.

Once you are aware of this, there is no chance to be lazy. Laziness is very powerful. So because of that, it is necessary to be aware of impermanence. Now I have such a precious human life, such a great opportunity, but it is not permanent. No one can stay here forever, so I should not waste this precious human life.