Dhammapada and the Jataka Tales; 24-February-2008 (Day 3 of 7; Morning) - Dalai Lama Audio Teachings on Tibetan Buddhism Podcast

His Holiness begins by reminding his listeners that having achieved such a precious opportunity to practise the Buddhadharma, as is presented by our present lives as human beings, we need not only to make the best use of it, but also to ensure that we will be able to continue to practise in the future. We need to find a guide who possesses both scholarly knowledge and actual experience. The purpose is to ensure that all our activities of body, speech and mind are conducive to virtue. The text His Holiness is reading the Udanavarga or Dhammapada is a straightforward and readable source of advice and inspiration. He is passing on the oral transmission of the text itself, although he doesn’t have transmission of a commentary to it. By employing discriminating wisdom on his progress to enlightenment, the Buddha was able to judge what to cultivate and what to give up in terms of thought, speech and conduct. Most important was generating concern for others, which overcomes self-centredness. Arya Nagarjuna summarised the path of a bodhisattva as consisting of great compassion, wisdom understanding emptiness and the awakening mind. The Jataka Tales, compiled in Sanskrit by the renowned poet Aryasura, contain accounts of what prompted Buddha Shakyamuni in various previous existences to enter into the bodhisattva’s way of life.