Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Reading (the mind-training text) “Opening the Door of Dharma”, I could see very
clearly that in all my years as a monk I had never had any real understanding
of what Dharma was. More than that, I could see that there was nothing I’d done
before that wasn’t a worldly dharma. It was a huge shock.
Just reading that text made an enormous difference. The next time I did a
retreat there was a big difference in my mind. I felt much quieter, much
calmer, more peaceful and had no expectations—just by understanding what Dharma
was. In that way my retreat became a perfect retreat. Because I understood from
this text how to practice Dharma, even the very first day of retreat was
unbelievably peaceful and joyful.
Because of a slight weakening of the eight worldly dharmas, there were fewer
obstacles in my mind, like having fewer rocks blocking a road, which meant less
interference to my practice. This is what makes a retreat successful. I hadn’t
studied the commentaries of the tantric practice I was doing, but somehow,
because there were fewer problems in my mind, I was able to receive the
blessings of the deity…
In retreat after reading “Opening the Door of Dharma” I saw that, like molding
dough in our hands, we can definitely turn our mind whichever way we want; we
can train it to turn this way or that. By habituating our mind to the Dharma we
can definitely gain realizations. Even the immediate small change of mind that
happened during my retreat was logical proof that it’s possible to achieve
enlightenment.
As Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, holder of the entire holy Buddhadharma, said, the
Kangyur, the teachings of the Buddha, and the Tengyur, the commentaries by the
Indian pandits, are solely to subdue the mind. The evil thought of the eight
worldly dharmas, the desire clinging to this life, is what interferes with our
practice of listening to teachings, reflecting on their meaning and meditating
on the path they reveal. This evil thought is what makes our Dharma practice so
ineffectual. The purpose of Opening the Door of Dharma and other texts like it
is to completely reverse that way of thinking. These texts are therefore
considered thought transformation, or mind training, texts.
In fact, the whole lamrim, the graduated path to enlightenment, is thought
transformation. Its main purpose is to subdue the mind. This is why, when other
teachings have little effect, hearing or reading the lamrim can subdue our
mind.
What prevents us from generating the graduated path to enlightenment in our
mind? What keeps us from having realizations? From morning to night, what stops
our actions from becoming holy Dharma? It’s the thought of the eight worldly
dharmas, the desire that clings to the happiness of this life alone. This is
what stops us from achieving lamrim realizations, from the fundamental
realizations of guru devotion and the perfect human rebirth up to
enlightenment.
We need to train our mind by reflecting on the shortcomings of worldly concern
and the infinite benefits of renouncing it. In particular, we need to train our
mind by meditating on impermanence and death. If we do this initial thought
training we’ll open the door of Dharma. Then, without difficulty, we’ll be able
to practice Dharma and succeed at whatever we wish, whether it’s a retreat or
any other Dharma practice. All our actions will become Dharma.
