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The Six-Week Foundations of Chö Series
MATERIALS
Click the buttons below to download the study materials and texts that we may be using in class.
Stages of the Path (Lam Rim) - Comparision chart among Tsongkhapa, Gampopa, and Patrul Rinpoche's texts
Most concise Lam Rim composed by Lama Tsongkhapa.
The Three Principal Aspects (Renunciation, Bodhicitta, and Wisdom of Emptiness) of the Path composed by Lama Tsonkhapa.
The most abbreviated/shortest Cho text composed by Ritropa Kelsang Gyatso in the Ear-Whispered Lineage.
This compilation includes "Cho Preliminaries and Conclusion."
Most concise Lam Rim composed by Lama Tsongkhapa.
The Three Principal Aspects (Renunciation, Bodhicitta, and Wisdom of Emptiness) of the Path composed by Lama Tsonkhapa.
The most abbreviated/shortest Cho text composed by Ritropa Kelsang Gyatso in the Ear-Whispered Lineage.
This compilation includes "Cho Preliminaries and Conclusion."
SYLLABUS
May 13, 2018
Week 1 | BLUEPRINT OR TOPOGRAPHY OF THE PATH
- The Topography of the Path - Spiritual Landscape
- The Four Thoughts That Turn Your Mind (video)
- Intro to" Source of All My Good" by Lama Tsongkhapa
Session Video
3. Foundation Practice in the Text
5. Sharing
SOURCE OF ALL MY GOOD
by Lama Tsongkhapa, 1357-1419
HOW TO TAKE A LAMA
(1)
The source of all my good
Is my kind Lama, my Lord;
Bless me first to see
That taking myself to them
In the proper way
Is the very root of the path
Grant me then
To serve and follow them
With all my strength and reverence.
ADVICE TO TAKE THE ESSENCE OF LIFE
(2)
Bless me first to realize
That the excellent life
Of leisure I’ve found
Just this once
Is ever so hard to find
And ever so valuable;
Grant me then
To wish, and never stop to wish,
That I could take
Its essence night and day.
(3,4)
My body and the life in it
Are fleeting as the bubbles
In the sea froth of a wave.
Bless me first thus to recall
The death that will destroy me soon;
And help me find sure knowledge
That after I have died
The things I’ve done, the white or black,
And what these deeds will bring to me,
Follow always close behind,
As certain as my shadow.
Grant me then
Enter to be careful
To stop the slightest
Wrongs of many wrongs we do,
And try to carry out instead
Each and every good
Of the many that we may.
May 20, 2018
Week 2 | GROUNDWORK
- An Oral Transmission of "Source of All My Good"
- The Working Basis (the Primary Cause) - Buddha Nature
- Death and Impermanence
- Entering the Path: A Determination to be free - Renunciation (video)
-
Learning How to Want Freedom
-
Finding the Right Path to Freedom
- Taking Refuge
(- Meditative Discipline - Stability of Attention)
SESSION VIDEO
3. Sharing
LEARNING HOW TO WANT FREEDOM
(5)
Bless me to perceive
All that’s wrong
With the seemingly good thing
Of this life.
I can never get enough of them.
They cannot be trusted.
They are the door
To every pain I have.
Grant me then
To strive instead
For the happiness of freedom.
FINDING THE RIGHT PATH TO FREEDOM
(6)
Grant that these pure thoughts
May lead me to be watchful
And to recall
What I should be doing,
Grant me to give
The greatest care
To make the vows of morality
The essence of my practice;
They are the root of the Buddha’s teaching
May 27, 2018
Week 3 | WALL
- Cultivation of the Heart
- Altruistic Intent: The Mind of Awakening - Bodhicitta
-
Developing the Wish for Awakening
-
Training in Bodhisattva Activities
- Tonglen
SESSION VIDEO
2. Bodhicitta - One Single Thought
5. Transmissions - Tonglen & Source of All My Good
DEVELOPING THE WISH FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
(7)
I have slipped and fallen
Into the sea
Of this suffering life;
Bless me to see
That every living being,
Every one my own mother,
Has fallen in too.
Grant me then
To practice this highest
Wish for enlightenment,
To take on myself
The task of freeing them all.
GENERATING TRAINING IN BODHISATTVA ACTIVITIES
(8)
Bless me to see clearly
That the Wish itself
Is not enough,
For if I’m not well trained
In the three moralities,
I cannot become a Buddha.
Grant me then
A fierce resolve
To master the vows
For children of the Victors.
June 03, 2018
Week 4 | ROOF
- Wisdom - Emptiness
- Looking into the Nature of Mind/Reality
- Shamatha and Vipashyana
SESSION VIDEO
2. Meditation on the Unborn Nature of Mind (audio only)
TRAINING IN THE FINAL TWO PERFECTIONS
(9)
Grant that I may quickly gain
The path where quietude
And insight join together;
One which quiets
My mind from being
Distracted to wrong objects,
The other which analyzes
The perfect meaning
In the correct way.
June 10, 2018
Week 5 | GOLDEN ROOF
- "Teacher in My Heart" Yoga - Guru Yoga
- Vajrayana
-
Entering the Vajra Vehicle
-
Keeping Vows and Pledges pure
-
Meditating on the Two Secret Stages - Creation and Completion
SESSION VIDEO
2. Why Do You Practice Vajrayana?
3. Sharing
ENTERING THE VAJRA WAY
(10)
Grant that once I’ve practiced well
The paths shared and become
A vessel that is worthy,
I enter with perfect ease
The Vajra Way,
Highest of all ways,
Holiest door to come inside
For the fortunate and the good.
KEEPING VOWS AND PLEDGES PURE
(11)
Bless me to know
With genuine certainty
That when I’ve entered thus,
The cause that gives me
Both the attainments
Is keeping my pledges
And vows most pure.
Grant me then
To always keep them
Even if it costs my life.
MEDITATING ON THE TWO SECRET STAGES
(12)
Bless me next
To realize precisely
The crucial points’
Of both the stages,
The essence of
The secret ways.
Gran me then to practice
As the Holy One has spoken,
Putting all my effort in
And never leaving off
The practice of the Four Times,
Highest that there is.
June 17, 2018
Week 6 | CROWN JEWEL
- An Oral transmission of “PÉ DÜNMA: the Seven ‘PÉ’s"
Extremely Abbreviated Instructions on the Chö of the Ear-Whispered Lineage
- Cutting Through - Chö
- Union of Emptiness, Luminosity, and Awareness - Mahamudra
- Coming Back Home
SESSION VIDEO
1. Nine Rounds of Cleansing Breath
2. Opening Meditation - Pointing Out
A REQUEST FOR GOOD CIRCUMSTANCES
(13)
Bless me, grant me that
The Spiritual Guide
Who show me this good road,
And all my true
Companions in this quest
Live long and fruitful lives.
Bless and gran me that
The rain of obstacles,
Things within me
Of outside me
That could stop me now,
Stop and end forever.
(14)
In all my lives
May I never live
Apart from my perfect Teachers,
May I bask in the glory of the dharma!
May I fulfill perfectly
Every good quality
Of every level and path,
And reach then quickly
The place where I
Become myself Vajradhara
- The keeper of the Vajra!
THE WORDS OF MY PERFECT TEACHER (excerpt)
by Patrul Rinpoche, 1808-1887
1. The Difficulty of Finding the Freedoms and Advantages
Although I have won these freedoms,
I am poor in Dharma, which is their essence.
Although I have entered the Dharma,
I waste time doing other things.
Bless me and foolish beings like me
That we may attain the very essence
of the freedoms and advantages.
2. The impermanence of life
Seeing this threefold world as a fleeting illusion,
You have left this life’s concerns behind like spittle in the dust.
Accepting all hardships,
you have followed in the footsteps of the masters of old.
Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow.
Impermanence is everywhere,
yet I still think things will last.
I have reached the gates of old age,
yet I still pretend I am young.
Bless me and misguided beings like me,
That we may truly understand impermanence.
3. The Defects of Samsara
Understanding that samsaric activities are empty of meaning,
With great compassion, you strive only for the benefit of others.
Without attachment to samsara or nirvana,
you act according to the Great Vehicle.
Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow.
I see that samsara is suffering, but crave it still.
I fear the abyss of the lower realms but continue to do wrong.
Bless me and those who have gone astray like me
That we may sincerely renounce the things of this life.
4. Actions: the Principle of Cause and Effect
You renounce evil and take up good,
as in the teachings on cause and effect.
Your action follows the progression of the Vehicles.
Through your perfect view, you are free from all clinging.
Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow.
I know all the details of karma,
but I do not really believe in it.
I have heard a lot of Dharma,
but never put it into practice.
Bless me and evil-doers like me
That our minds may mingle with the Dharma.
5. The Benefits of Liberation
Following many learned and accomplished sublime beings,
You have practiced and experienced
the instructions of your teachers.
You point out the sublime path unerringly to others.
Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow.
6. How to Follow a Spiritual Friend
I have met a sublime teacher,
but was fooled by his modest behavior.
I have found the best path,
but I wander on precipitous byways.
Bless me and all those of bad character like me
That our minds may be tamed by the Dharma.
7. Taking Refuge, the Foundation Stone of All Paths
Crowned with the Three Jewels of the outer refuge,
You have truly realized the Three Roots, the inner refuge;
You have made manifest the three kayas, the ultimate refuge.
Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow.
I have taken the threefold refuge
but have little heartfelt faith,
I follow the threefold training,
but have let my commitments slip.
Bless me and all those who are faint-hearted like me
That our faith may be firm and irreversible.
8. Arousing Bodhicitta, the Root of the Great Vehicle
Through your great wisdom,
you have realized nirvana,
Through your great compassion,
you willingly embrace samsara.
Through your skill in methods,
you have realized that they are no different.
Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow.
I claim to be arousing bodhicitta,
but still do not have it.
I have trained in the path of the six perfections,
but have remained selfish.
Bless me and small-minded beings like me,
That we may train in the sublime bodhicitta.
9. Meditating on Teacher as Vajrasattva to Cleanse All Obscurations
Beyond the two obscurations,
you pretend to purify them still.
At the end of the sublime path,
you profess still to be learning.
Beyond the extremes of samsara and nirvana,
you manifest still in samsara.
Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow.
I have heard the beneficial instructions,
but have left them as words.
I have practiced them a little,
but have been fooled by distraction.
Bless me and all phantom beings like me
That we may extract the essence of
the generation and perfection phases.
10. Offering the Mandala, to Accumulate Merit and Wisdom
You know the relative to be a lie,
yet still you practice the two accumulations.
You realize that in the absolute
there is nothing to be meditated on,
yet still you practice meditation.
You see relative and absolute as one,
yet still you diligently practice.
Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow.
11. The Kusali’s Accumulation, Destroying the Four Demons at a Single Stroke
I understand that there is no self,
but still have gross concepts of “I.”
I have decided to renounce duality,
but am beset by hopes and fears.
Bless me and all those like me who believe in a self
That we may realize the natural state, the absence of self.
13. Transference of Consciousness, the Instructions for the Dying: Buddhahood without Meditation
Supreme is your compassion for confused beings.
Supreme is the way you embrace great evil-doers
as your disciples. Supreme are your skilful methods with the hard to tame. Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow.
Unable to take care of myself,
I mutter incoherently over the dead.
Without practicing
I spread the canopy of my interminable teachings.
Bless me and other frauds like me
That we may be able to practice with perseverance,
