Title of the paper:-

An understanding of Bodhichitta in context of the four rivers as given in Lam

Rim teaching with special reference to Dhammapada
Abstract

A big question of today is how to achieve peace in society. Everybody is indulged in the search of
peace. All political and religious leadership claimed that they have found the way of peace, yet peace
is away from us. We searched the peace in the teachings of previous times and found yet peace in not
in our life although the most desirable item. The few people in past have achieved peace and we
desperately tried to imitate them in order to gain a peace. In fact we searched peace at social level and
not at individual level. At the individual level we are competitive and tried our best to compete with
other, rather destroy other and gain victory. Here lies the contradiction. The way to peace is simple,
when one tried to be peaceful from within at personal level, he will be in favour of peace at societal
level. The teaching for the development of Bodhichitta can tell us how to achieve peace and in fact the
development of Bodhichitta itself is a ladder to attain peace and tranquillity in society along with
calmness inside a being. And as we know and is also evident from our own experience that the inner
peace is a prerequisite for outer peace and calmness. The development of Bodhichitta helps us to have
tranquil social life and guide us toward higher spiritual attainment needed for enlightenment. In 20 th
century Gandhi realised the need of inner peace and through this personal effort achievement of peace
at bigger level, societal and national and international etc. The Buddha started with the inner peace
and rested there. It is so because the Buddha very much encountered the reality of the need of peace, it
is needed only to personal level and then no further formal training is required. If a person is calm
within, his all activities will be running towards calmness without any formal training. The training,
teachings, practices are for persons.

It is said there is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed. What it means is
that this world has enough for every person’s need but not enough for even one person’s greed. If we
can infer from this quotation rightly, it is that, the greed is the father of all sin. An ounce of practice is
worth more than tons of preaching. This is the key to achieve peace under any circumstances without
any pre conditions.

The Buddha was totally in the favour of purification of mind as he preached. In Dhammapada, it is
said, Abstinence from all evil, fulfilment of all good, purification of one’s mind,. This is the law of
Buddha. Here law means teachings. As per the Buddha if you can purify your mind, that’s all you
needed and the method for purification is given in this very verse. No need to search for further
instructions. One more quote from the Dhammapada, “I was wandered in many past lives in the
search of the house builder. But after continuous running in search, only suffering was the yield. Now
I have seen the house builder and the components of house building were torn and destroyed from
root. The house builder will not be able to build house now.” The Buddha has no problem of
immediate attention and he indulged in the broad goal of self purification by taking its own time as it
was evident to him that this self purification can lead to the path where no problem or conflicts can
exist. The goal was to resolve all conflicts or to reach the state where no conflict exists and the
method was self purification with the help of the realisation and of truth and also following the path of
truth.

Lam Rim teachings are very much popular in Tibetan Buddhism. Tson khapa wrote the book Lam
Rim Chen Mo and there is reference of the currents of four rivers those act as a hindrances that led all
sentient beings into the direction of triple coil of defilement. Those currents led all beings with them
and not let anybody do the penances or works the act of renunciation i.e. first of the three steps
leading to THE PATH.

My present paper will be an attempt to present a comprehensive view of the teaching related to
Bodhichitta for the way to achieve peace through their application in modern times.
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Dr. V. K. Singh
Professor in Tibetan and Buddhist Studies
And Ex-Chairperson
Department of Chinese and Tibetan Languages
Panjab University
Chandigarh-160014
Ph: +91-9417151411
Mail: namgyal@pu.ac.in