Rainbow Prophets: Dharma



		THE BUDDHA TAUGHT THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS that have to do with understanding that what we take to be real manifests as suffering, but that there is a path that we can follow that leads from this suffering to the experience of ultimate happiness. Within the Tibetan tradition, four thoughts on reality help us to internalize our understanding of the Four Noble Truths. These four thoughts that turn the mind to Dharma also help us to overcome our habitual inertia, and provide the impetus and motivation for our Buddhist practice. The four thoughts that turn the mind to Dharma are taken as a profound contemplation leading us to a direct confrontation with our own personal reality: the preciousness of our human birth and the opportunity that it affords us to practice, the transitoriness of all phenomena including the very temporary and short-lived nature of our opportunity to practice, the importance of taking karma into account and recognizing that what we do with this opportunity does make an enormous difference; and the unsatisfactoriness of samsara and the appreciation that there is really no good or useful alternative to applying ourself to the study and practice of the Dharma. Teachings on turning the mind to Dharma have been given by many distinguished Kagyu masters. Excerpts from some of these teachings follow.
A Song		H.H. Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje His Holiness writes: "In general, real conviction in the view and meditation of the Kagyupas is scarcely to be found. Those who show the outward form of Dharma but do not practice the actions of Dharma cause me to feel sad." This is his song of inspiration.
The Four Thoughts that Turning the Mind to Dharma		Lama Ganga Lama Ganga presents the four ordinary foundations with a special emphasis on the need for self-examination on the path to overcoming our fundamental ignorance. He places special emphasis on the defects of our attachment to Samsara and finishes the discussion with a brief description of the Vajrayana path and the need to develop loving-kindness and compassion.
The Four Ordinary Foundations		Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche provides a detailed explanation of the meaning and importance of contemplations on: the preciousness of human birth, the reality of impermanence and death, the truth of karma, and the unsatisfactoriness of samsara. Taking these contemplations to heart one realizes the futility of relying on mundane sources of refuge such as money, friends, family, etc., and turns one's thoughts to practice.
Q and A		Questions and answers about Turning the Mind toward the Dharma.
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