Principle Path to Enlightenment; 07-July-2007 (Day 1 of 7; Part 2/2) - Dalai Lama Audio Teachings on Tibetan Buddhism Podcast

During the last seven monsoon seasons, His Holiness has been conducting teachings for a large group of Taiwanese devotees. Every session begins with prayers sung in Chinese. To inaugurate this year’s teachings, His Holiness concisely presented a comprehensive overview of Buddhist wisdom and practice based upon one of those prayers and upon the dharani-mantra of the Heart Sutra. The Chinese prayer has been translated:May the three types of afflictive emotions be dispelled. May genuine wisdom be born in us. May all negative karma and obscurations be eliminated. May we always be able to engage in the Bodhisattva’s altruistic deeds. His Holiness then turned to Lama Tsongkhapa’s commentary on the Ethics chapter of Arya Asanga’s Bodhisattva Grounds. The two aspects (wisdom and method) of Shakyamuni Buddha�s supreme teaching the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras were expounded upon by Nagarjuna and Asanga respectively. Traditionally in Tibet and East Asia, some Mahayana practitioners have fallen into error by exclusively focusing on one portion of Buddha’s teachings while neglecting equally important practices (e.g., meditation and study). Tsongkhapa was inspired to compose this text on Bodhisattva Ethics in part by the mistaken view of some Tibetans that purely following the Bodhisattva vowed ethics is not essential in Tantrayana. His Holiness advises that those who claim to be Buddhists need to develop three qualities equally: 21st century Buddhists must be learned in Buddhist teachings, ethically pure, and warm-hearted.