In Bristol last Saturday people gathered from around the UK and beyond to receive part 5 of Sakya Pandita’s master work, ‘Discriminating the Three Vows’ and in the afternoon the vajrayana initiation of Mahachakra Vajrapani.
This section of the text describes how to clarify misunderstandings about the vow of the bodhisattva, the gateway to the mahayana path. This aspiration arises through the recognition of our profound connection with others through our endless cycle of lives in samsara, and our common wish to avoid suffering and to experience happiness. Sakya Pandita covers such topics as the different lineages of the vow, so we know how to take and maintain them properly, and the various aspects of the vow, including how to guard and it keep it alive.
Introducing the morning’s teachings, Lama Jampa commented on the value of this text for Buddhists in the West, who as beginners in the dharma may not yet be able to understand all of it, but having received it then it will be there for us when we need it. Hence, it is important to be flexible in receiving teachings, taking what we can from them now, and then coming back to them as we progress along the path.
In the afternoon, Lama Jampa gave the initiation of Mahachakra Vajrapani, from the uncommon mahayana or vajrayana. This buddha, the most powerful of all the forms of Vajrapani, is the embodiment of the wisdom of all the buddhas and all magical power is concentrated in him.
Lama Jampa will return to Bristol in January 2024.
