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Developing Wisdom Through Listening
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
Excerpted From the transcript of "Listening,
Contemplation and Meditation: the Three Prajnas" (Karme Choling, VT, 1996).
Originally published in
Bodhi Issue 2
2 of 4 | 1, 2,
3, 4 If we look briefly at this three-stage process and at the prajnas connected to each of them, the first
stage is the "stage of listening or studying" the dharma, which is totally dependent on conceptual mind, on communication, language and form. In this stage of hearing, listening or studying, we are developing the
prajna of understanding. This is the primary prajna required for us to go further into the path. Sometimes when we say "study," we connect ourselves with the notion of a regular study environment such as college,
university, or other schools. Many of these have been painful experiences. As a result, when we come to a spiritual path we often say, "I've had enough of that stuff," of studying. Now we want to just simply
sit and be there on the spot, in meditation, whatever that means. There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding of this process of hearing or studying or listening, because studying, we feel, is not practice, right?
Studying is not dharma practice. So we say, "Yes, I've had enough studies. Now I want to practice. I don't want to study anymore." We are separating the notion of study from practice. We are connecting the notion
of practice with meditation, and study with something else. This is a misunderstanding as far as Buddhism is concerned, as far as this spiritual journey is concerned. In the spiritual path of Buddhism, and especially in
the Mahayana path, studying or hearing is practice, studying is meditation, and studying is path. Through study, we also involve ourselves in the first stage of the path, which is known as the Path of
Accumulation. Both the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom
are connected with study. Without study or hearing, there's no way we can accumulate these two, and without these accumulations, we are not entering any path. So, studying is a great practice in Buddhism. Studying is a meditation, and hearing and studying are the most profound ways of accumulating merit according to Buddha Shakyamuni. You can question his thoughts; there's no problem, but as far as Buddha is concerned, the most profound and effective way of accumulating merit is through studies. That is why, in the Mahayana sutras, Buddha said that in the practice of Buddhism, if one studies one stanza of dharma, if one learns one verse of wisdom and if one shares this with others, then the merit you accumulate through this practice is immeasurable. Whereas if you practice such compassionate activities as generosity or charity, if you feed all the poor, or offer something very precious to all the Buddhas in the ten directions, if your generosity fills the universe with precious stones, the Buddha said the merit of that is limited. The merit of that is measurable. Whereas the merit of sharing one verse of dharma, or learning one verse of dharma, is immeasurable.
So we can see how studying or how learning becomes the path, and how learning becomes practice. It's not just simply listening or simply talking. It's not simply chatting. It's supposed to be much more precise than
chatting. Much more sharp. Sharply concentrated. And so this aspect of practice, which is the first process known as the prajna of hearing, listening or studying, is the process of learning our journey, learning our
path of meditation, learning our path of wisdom. Through study we also accumulate wisdom. There is no way we can really accumulate wisdom without engaging in genuine studies or genuine listening or hearing. This
stage of learning is like learning a cookbook. We're suffering from hunger. We have the basic suffering of hunger in samsara. We would like to have a remedy for this hunger. At this point, we realize that cooking and
eating food would be the best remedy to overcome our pain of hunger. The first step that we have to take is to learn cooking. We have to learn cooking in the most basic sense. First we pick up a cookbook.
By the way, this is not a cookbook. (Rinpoche picks up his book. Students laugh.) This is a Bible. (laughter) And so we have to pick up a cookbook and learn the basic skill of cooking, the basic skill of being healthy,
the basic skill of solving our temporary and ultimate pain, ultimate hunger. In that process, we first have to pick up the cookbook and read through it, learning each word and line. That process is the process of
learning, the process of hearing and studying. Going through that process, we still have a great separation between ourselves as students and the wisdom of the book, or the teacher. We have a separation and
a strong sense of duality at this stage. There's a strong sense of conceptualization. You read the name of one vegetable and you conceptualize that vegetable and where you might find that vegetable. You read
about one spice and imagine what that spice would smell like, and wonder how, not only your mouth, but your stomach would like that spice. Therefore, you have to go through the whole process of conceptualization through
reading, through learning, and through hearing. Through that hearing, we develop the wisdom of understanding, understanding how to be healthy, understanding how to heal our suffering of hunger, and pain of hunger. In
that process we are developing the first prajna, which is known as the prajna of learning. Have you all heard of Tibet's greatest yogi, Milarepa? That strange yogi, Milarepa, said in one of his
songs that understanding is like a patch, like putting a patch on your clothes. Understanding is like a patch that could fall off anytime. This prajna is most important at the beginning. But at the same time, we can't
just live with this prajna with satisfaction. We can't just simply say, "I have great knowledge. I have great wisdom, great intellect. I have studied all the dharma. I know all the dharma." It's not enough yet,
because that simple understanding is a dry understanding. That understanding is a very conceptual understanding, which is like knowing the cookbook very well. You've learned the cookbook very well at this point. That
doesn't mean you're free from hunger. That means you have a great knowledge about cooking. 2 of 4 | 1, 2,
3, 4 | Talk Index |
