Is there a difference between mind and Dharma?

[hope rainbow]

I came across this teaching recently:

"do not let you mind and the Dharma be two different things, they must be the same, or else the Dharma is of no use whatsoever".

[iloveds]

Sounds like a doctor who learns up and doesn't practice what is learnt

[Manjushri]

I like your analogy, iloveds.

Anyways,... is there a difference between mind and Dharma?

Personally, I feel that the Dharma is learnt to tame the ever wild mind of ours, and therefore, if we just learn Dharma as an intellectual subject and not put it into practise through our minds, then it is of no use at all. If we learn something and not put into practise what we learn, then what is the point of learning it in the first place? It is like separating education and knowledge from application. Then everybody doesn't need to go to school/university, no?  If what we learn, we cannot or do not apply, does it not show that ultimately it does not work? It further increases ignorance, because you act and live as if you would know everything.

So then, if the mind and the Dharma is separate, then what we end up doing is directly going against the Dharma, because we let our minds attach further into the complexities and attachments of life. The Dharma is learnt to be applied, for us to cut ourselves from further diving deeper into samsara, for us to develop the qualities to bring us a step closer to enlightenment, and for us to relieve ourselves from suffering. If you know what you are doing is wrong through understanding/learning the Dharma, then not mentally applying, which is reflected through your actions and speech, contradicts your knowledge. The actions of the body, speech and mind are all inter-connected, and that comes from the application of knowledge and wisdom.

Dharma and your mind has to be one, because you are a reflection of yourself - your mind, your knowledge, your understanding. Everything comes from the mind.

[KhedrubGyatso]

According to the Cittamatrin School , everything comes from mind. What it means is that things exist in dependence upon mind.  Our individual mental projections make all phenomena subjective truths. Dharma is a term that can have many meanings. Whetherit means Truth, or things that appears to us, or understood  simply as the  Buddha's teachings, it is in the category of phenomena. Hence Dharma is not apart from mind. This is the philosophical understanding based on above tenet.
On the practical level, there is a tendency for us to learn Dharma (  teachings ) and treat it as an intellectual pursuit or as mere knowledge. Without integrating them into our daily life  to turn them into experiences we can feel, it will not lead to a change in our attitudes or improve our intentions. We will not be able to apply the knowledge to deal with life's problems. In this respect , Dharma knowledge becomes  an external object like a book we don't carry along  which we can use readily at any time and spontaneously.

[diamond girl]

I came across this teaching recently:

"do not let you mind and the Dharma be two different things, they must be the same, or else the Dharma is of no use whatsoever".

Therefore, can we thus say that from this quote it means:
1) Dharma is not theology nor rhetoric
2) Dharma is not a concept we can throw jargon around and sound intellectual
3) Dharma is to be learnt and embraced into our lives in practise, we cannot be all goodie in place of worship and then become some horrible evil creature when we step out.
4) Dharma is knowledge to be put into practise; we must walk the talk not just talk

Dharma is Life, a Better Life.
Life without Dharma is Life with No Purpose.
Dharma is a Life Practice.

Learn Dharma, Embrace Dharma, Live Life with Dharma. Dharma is Life.

[Tenzin K]

Learn Dharma, Embrace Dharma, Live Life with Dharma. Dharma is Life.

Agree with it.
What we learn should be practice in order to experience the outcome.

For Dharma it should be practice for the experience of the benefit to the individual and eventually extended to others. Practically we should be convince before we  share with others. If we don't know what we are talking about how we expect people to understand?

Dharma is a very practical lesson. If you don't apply it no matter what you say and how much you can say the end result is people still watch your action. 

If your words contradict your action…..that's no "Dharma" and just "Drama"

Enlightenment is from our mind transformation. Mind transformation is from the consistent act from the lesson that we learn from dharma teaching.

Dharma & action is one and the only way to understand the truth of live. 

[vajrastorm]

Mind should be totally mixed with Dharma. Mind and Dharma should not go their separate ways as they are wont to do in the 23 hours between our prayer and meditation sessions, or immediately after we've listened to a Dharma talk or a teaching. Dharma is the medicine that we need to cure us of our sufferings that stem from the three poisons - attachment, ignorance and craving. If we do not integrate the Dharma with our minds, then we are like patients who have been prescribed the correct medicine, but refuse to take it.

Here, I would like to take a leaf from the Lamrim as an illustration. The Dharma for ordinary/worldly minds like mine is the Law of Cause and Effect. To mix mind completely with this Dharma is to develop strong conviction in Karma and take refuge in it. If I do so, I will be effectively abandoning the ten-nonvirtuous actions because I know with certainty  that all my never-ending suffering has come from my perpetually engaging in these actions of body, speech and mind.

Thus if I can totally abandon these ten nonvirtuous actions, I will have effectively taken the medicine of Dharma to cure me of the three poisons from which these actions stem. In abandoning the ten nonvirtuous actions, my mind would become virtuous and free of the causes of suffering.

Going a step further, if we can mix love and compassion totally with our minds, we would have developed minds of peace and happiness

Thus,  we must strive to effectively reach a stage of practice where mind and Dharma are one.   

[shugdentruth]

When I read that statement, it reminded me of Jackie Chan saying to Aidan Smith when he almost gave up hanging up his jacket, 'Kung Fu is in everything'. Then Jackie Chan threw a few punches and Aidan Smith blocked with the motions of hanging up his jacket. I believe that dharma is in everything within our daily lives, we just have to adjust our minds to see it in that way.

[pgdharma]

"Learn Dharma, Embrace Dharma, Live Life with Dharma. Dharma is Life."

Whatever, we learn about the Dharma we should integrate and apply into our lives and minds.

[dondrup]

I came across this teaching recently:

"do not let you mind and the Dharma be two different things, they must be the same, or else the Dharma is of no use whatsoever".

Thanks to KhedrubGyatso for a good explanation about the Mind, Dharma and dharma.

This teaching brings out the importance of acquainting the Mind with its object of meditation i.e. Dharma. We may understand a topic of Dharma intellectually.  But intellectual understanding does not bring about complete transformation of our mind.  What we wish to accomplish as a meditator is to gain complete realisation of the meditation object.  For example, if we realise the true meaning of death and impermanence, we will be seriously and sincerely engaging in Dharma practice and not waste our precious human lives. 

When Dharma and our mind become inseparable, we remember Dharma every moment. We will then put Dharma into practice in our daily lives spontaneously.  This will eventually lead us to gain liberation and enlightenment.

[hope rainbow]

According to the Cittamatrin School , everything comes from mind. What it means is that things exist in dependence upon mind. 
Our individual mental projections make all phenomena subjective truths.
Dharma is a term that can have many meanings.
Whether it means Truth, or things that appears to us, or understood  simply as the  Buddha's teachings, it is in the category of phenomena.
Hence Dharma is not apart from mind.
This is the philosophical understanding based on above tenet.

On the practical level, there is a tendency for us to learn Dharma (  teachings ) and treat it as an intellectual pursuit or as mere knowledge.
Without integrating them into our daily life  to turn them into experiences we can feel, it will not lead to a change in our attitudes or improve our intentions.
We will not be able to apply the knowledge to deal with life's problems.
In this respect , Dharma knowledge becomes  an external object like a book we don't carry along  which we can use readily at any time and spontaneously.

Thank you Khedrup Gyatso, I like your post very much.

I'd like to add my own experience:

(a)
At first my mind and the Dharma were two separate things, and I would be studying Dharma just as I would be studying lythography or the quatrocento. One could say as an intellectually entertaining activity.

(b)
Eventually my mind and the Dharma grew closer and closer.
What made this happen is what is interesting. For the first reason for my mind to get closer to Dharma is: FAITH.

(c)
Faith in: the Dharma I studied as being more than an object of interest, but a reliable refuge.

(d)
A faith strengthened every time my "god's like life" shows that it is potentially a "Hell's like life."
This last aspect brings about a second reason: FEAR.

(e)
To study the Dharma, free of FEAR and FAITH and not put any Dharma knowledge into practice is like studying a foreign language without ever speaking it. We can call this USELESS.
This makes "suffering" a very good tool for us to use not as a medium to spiral down but as a platform to get up.

(f)
Now, if my mind and Dharma were really one, I would have achieved Buddhahood already.
So the key, I guess, is to keep a good check on reality especially at times when I feel the Dharma is leaking out of my mind, I do this with 2 tools:

FEAR:
I recall that my existence is potentially "Hell's like" (even right in this moment, life and body).

FAITH:
I recall that this situation is reversible, and that Dharma is the best method to achieve that.

[diamond girl]

....
If your words contradict your action…..that's no "Dharma" and just "Drama"

Enlightenment is from our mind transformation. Mind transformation is from the consistent act from the lesson that we learn from dharma teaching.

....

This Dharma vs Drama statement made me think... Why does Drama capture so much attention? Drama sells, don't we agree? People love the emotions and chaos in drama. Hey, all this drama takes up time too. What if all this energy and time is spent on learning Dharma? Drama is suffering and unnecessarily many times. Of course, I agree a bit of drama can be entertaining in the mundane cycles of life BUT we must not be attached to it and be clear that it is only drama and man-made and self-indulging... not to be taken seriously.

Learning the Dharma to attain mind transformation is when the traumas of drama can be removed...

Just a thought to share with the Drama thing... Being dramatic here...

There must be some way to make Drama Dharma to capture the shallow minds of many so that we can plant the imprints of dharma in their minds, even if through some pre-meditated drama 
 

[Klein]

....
If your words contradict your action…..that's no "Dharma" and just "Drama"

Enlightenment is from our mind transformation. Mind transformation is from the consistent act from the lesson that we learn from dharma teaching.

....

This Dharma vs Drama statement made me think... Why does Drama capture so much attention? Drama sells, don't we agree? People love the emotions and chaos in drama. Hey, all this drama takes up time too. What if all this energy and time is spent on learning Dharma? Drama is suffering and unnecessarily many times. Of course, I agree a bit of drama can be entertaining in the mundane cycles of life BUT we must not be attached to it and be clear that it is only drama and man-made and self-indulging... not to be taken seriously.

Learning the Dharma to attain mind transformation is when the traumas of drama can be removed...

Just a thought to share with the Drama thing... Being dramatic here...

There must be some way to make Drama Dharma to capture the shallow minds of many so that we can plant the imprints of dharma in their minds, even if through some pre-meditated drama 

The DRAMA bit is so hilarious and bitchy, but true. There's so much drama in our lives when we don't practise dharma. The unfortunate thing is that we don't even realise that something CAN be done. hehe. So we create more and more dramas until the time we die. And that can also be another drama!

[hope rainbow]

I've thought of this a bit further, and this is what I'd like to share here:

What is needed for Dharma and mind to be together?
In other words, what is needed for the Dharma to become more than an intellectual research just as useful (or useless) as the study of classical japanese flute or the study of egyptology?
Or again, what do I need for the Dharma to become beneficial (useful)?

I conclude that I need one of these two things:

Either: (1) RENUNCIATION

Or: (2) RENUNCIATION and BODHICHITTA

And if I have neither, then the study of Dharma may just build up more samsara for me, bad news!
I may be studying the Dharma and yet turn it into a cause for more samsara because I lack the basic: RENUNCIATION.

Is this correct?

[Klein]

I came across this teaching recently:

"do not let you mind and the Dharma be two different things, they must be the same, or else the Dharma is of no use whatsoever".

I agree with the teaching. I believe what it's trying to say is not to treat the dharma as a theory or a topic for intellectual conversation but a practical guide and method to change our perspectives for the better. The main objective that Shakyamuni Buddha taught the dharma was to liberate beings from suffering/samsara. The only way this can be achieved is when we practise what is being taught.

Therefore, when our mind operates the same as the dharma teachings, not only will we be happier  and have less sufferings, people around us will learn to be happier and have less sufferings as well. The benefit of infusing the dharma in to our mind is tremendous.