Saturday, May 31, 2008 reported by kagyuoffice.org

His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Drodul Trinley Dorje, today gave two public teachings on “Building a Strong Foundation for Spiritual Practice” to an audience of approximately 3,000 at Seattle’s famous Paramount Theater. The topic of the teachings was the preliminary practices of Tibetan Buddhism. His Holiness taught on the four preliminary practices of refuge and bodhichitta, Vajrasattva, mandala offerings, and guru yoga. In the evening, His Holiness granted an audience to a large group of representatives and members of the organizing sanghas whose volunteer efforts helped to make his first visit to the United States possible.

Karmapa on Building a Strong Foundation for Spiritual Practice

建立穩固的修行基礎

时间：2008年5月31日 reported by karmapavisit.blogspot.com

His Holiness the 17th Karmapa gave his first public teachings on the West coast of the United States, to a crowd of nearly 2,800 at Seattle's beautiful Paramount Theatre. His Holiness taught on a special text he had composed on the preliminary practices (ngondro), which help lay the foundation for a strong spiritual practice by turning the mind towards the Dharma.
法王噶瑪巴今天給予兩場公開的佛法開示，主題為：『建立穩固的修行基礎』，大約有3,000人齊聚於西雅圖著名的劇院 Paramount Theater，聆聽法王的開示。課程教授內容為藏傳佛教的四加行，法王以他於2006所編著的《四不共加行合集課誦略儀》為本，教授「皈依發心」、「金剛薩埵」、「獻曼達」和「上師相應法」，來幫助初學者轉心向法以建立穩固的修行基礎。

His Holiness also spoke of how the world we live in is getting smaller and smaller due to technology and globalization, and people's individual actions therefore have a much greater effect on the global village and the whole of humanity. This era, His Holiness said, is no longer one in which people can afford to cling to their particular views or self-centric identities -- not even the limited notion of "being a Buddhist." We need to think in larger terms.
法王談到，因科技和全球化的趨式已使我們所居住的世界越來越小，而人類個人的行為對地球村和整體的人類而言，也將有更大的影響。法王說，這個世代已不再是一個以自我為中心的世代，甚至不能只以一個佛教徒的狹礙想法，我們必須有更寬廣的思考。

Karmapa spoke of the preliminary practices as being akin to learning the alphabet and reading/writing -- common forms of learning that lay the foundation for more uncommon or advanced forms of learning that come later in one's educational process. Without the basic knowledge established by the common forms of learning, one could not cultivate a genuine knowledge of a higher order. Continuing this parallel between our spiritual education and our secular education, His Holiness said that we should, in the beginning, approach our spiritual education in the same manner: as a straightforward, simple process of education in which we engage so that we can gradually develop greater knowledge and confidence.
法王說四加行的修持如同我們學習語言，開始時我們先學習字母，然後讀、寫等，我們以學習「共加行」來成為「不共加行」或更高級修行的基礎。沒有建立「共加行」的基本知識，便沒有辦法培養更高層次的修行真知。如同世間的教育方法，透過簡單的教育過程，我們可以逐漸地發展更好的知識與自信。

In the evening, His Holiness Karmapa gave a teaching to an assembled audience of members of the sanghas who organized his first visit to the West coast of America. His Holiness answered four questions that had been preselected. One question concerned which Dharma practices and study topics are most important in this age. His Holiness said that due to technology and external advancements, we have obtained the power to cause a lot of changes in the world, but for a long time we were not mindful about how we used this power. Now people are becoming more mindful, but so much damage has already been done, and we are on the verge of destroying our planet and our own ability to live here. In this day and age, His Holiness said, the practitioner's motivation to attain one's own personal liberation is "no longer sufficient whatsoever" -- instead, we need practitioners who can benefit the whole world while also engaging in their own personal practice. The old model of a yogi going off into isolation for many years and then working in a limited way with only a handful of students is no longer particularly practical or helpful -- rather, we need practitioners who are out in the world working for the benefit of the world.
晚上，法王噶瑪巴接見此次安排他訪問美西的僧團成員和代表們，並給予開示。法王回答了事先所抽出的四個問題。其中一個問題談到，在這個時代法的修持和學習是最重要的。法王說，由於科技與外在的進步，我們已獲得可以改變世界的能力，然而，在很長的一段時間裡，人類並沒有小心謹慎地來使用這個能力。現在，人們雖已開始意識到所產生的問題並更加地小心，然而許多的傷害卻已經造成，我們正處於地球毀滅的邊緣。法王也說到，只成就個人解脫的修行者，已不再滿足於現今的世界。眾生所需的是既能從事於個己修行，也能利益世界的修行者。像古代的瑜伽士遠離人群好幾年，然後帶著少數學生修練的修行模式，已不再是實際有用的修行方式，相反的，我們需要更多的世出世間的修行者來利益這個世界。

Another question concerned how Western students, with limited time and resources to practice, might establish the genuine Buddhist lineage in our home lands. His Holiness spoke about the need for continuity of practice, which requires firm resolve. We need to remind ourselves again and again of what it is that we wish to accomplish through our practice and refresh that resolve every day to keep the momentum of our practice going. This resolve, the Karmapa said, cannot be a mere thought in our heads, but must be a strong building up of energy and intention within ourselves. His Holiness suggested that we could work with setting one clear goal and working with that goal for an entire month, reminding ourselves of it each day.
另一個問題問到，有關西方學生如何利用有限的時間和資源來修行，以建立真正的佛教傳承在西方的土地上。法王談到，要能持續修行必需擁有堅定的決心。我們需要不斷地提醒自己什麼是我們所希望成就的，透過我們的修持和每天醒覺我們的決心來保持修行的動力。『決心』，法王噶瑪巴說，不能僅僅是我們心裡的想法，而必需是建立堅強的力量和意向。法王建議我們可以先設定一個清楚目標，然後在一月內，每天提醒自己要確實地做到我們所設定的目標。

Most of us, His Holiness said, are not lacking in pith instructions from our gurus and teachers -- the problem, rather, is that we lack pith instructions from ourselves. We need to learn how to look within, listen to ourselves, and seek out instructions from our own minds.
法王說，大部份的人並不缺少上師們所教給我們的修行要點，問題是，我們缺少來自於內心的修行指引。我們須要學習如何地反觀自我，反聞自性，以獲得來自於內心的修行引導。

POSTED BY DENNIS HUNTER AT 5:48 AM