Strengthening the Motivation for Vajrayana Practice

In talking about this blog, I was asked why am I doing it. What is my motivation?

My answer is that I want to progress my practice and help spread understanding of the dharma of Buddhism for the benefit of other sentient beings. This then lead to the question of how do we maintain motivation to undertake and continue our practices.

I have been taught that before commencing any practice, we should remind ourselves of what is the benefit of practice and what is the danger of not practice.

The underlying belief that must exist is that we are in a never-ending cycle of reincarnations, samsara, and that we wish to escape by helping all sentient beings to escape. That is the premise of Mahayana Buddhism.

Before starting any practice it is beneficial to recall what the Sakya tradition calls the four common foundations to help turn the mind towards Dharma.

1. Recall the suffering nature of samsaric existence. By understanding suffering and its causes, we become very clear on the unsatisfactoriness of samsaric existence and create the strong desire to escape by achieving enlightenment.
   
2. Recognise the preciousness in obtaining human rebirth. Of all the possibilities, this is one that gives us the opportunity to encounter the teachers and the dharma and move along the path. Just think how fortunate we are to have access to so many wonderful teachers and to have the opportunity to learn and study.
   
3. Renew the awareness of the impermanence of all phenomena, particularly that the time and place of our own death is unknown yet inevitable.
   
4. Re-emphasise the understanding of the infallibility of the cause and effect of karma. Outcomes follow from creating the right causes and conditions in this life.
   

In the Kagyu and Nyigma traditions, these are commonly referred to as the traditional framework of the Four Reminders - the preciousness of human rebirth, the truth of impermanence, the reality of suffering, and the inescapability of karma. These traditions have a different definition of the Four Foundations, related to meditation practice.

Reflecting on these four common foundations, just for a few minutes, instils in us clarity of why we wish to continue to follow the path. It should also instil a sense of urgency – we could be dead tomorrow. It should raise awareness in our day to day life – is what I am currently doing generating merit and virtue or negativity, or is it, like more than 90% of our daily effort, just a filler or waste of time? It doesn't matter whether these reflections raise fear or hope. All that matters is that there is a call to action.

These reflections will stir our motivation to escape samsara and make the most of this precious opportunity to practice. Then the practice we do will be for the right motivation and of so much greater benefit.

Thus ends this post. May whatever virtue or merit that derives from this posting be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Yours until next time, Vajramate.