Buddhism Path: Right Aspiration

Buddhism Path: Right Aspiration
Guru Sergey Bugaev | Question Two
Translated by Anrew Turivnuj

Question: How can one cultivate such aspiration and who will tell if this is the right aspiration?

As for the question who will define whether the aspiration is right or not – why do you need it? If the man himself defines it then it’ll mean that he doubts about his aspiration. But then how much cost his aspiration if he doubts it? If the man has doubts whether he wants something or not then he doesn’t want it. If a man has an aspiration then he doesn’t need to define whether it’s right or not – he just aspires, that’s all.

What can form the right aspiration in man, exactly the right aspiration and not some delusion? There are Three Pillars* of the practice that help to cultivate the right aspiration. The First Pillar is the Teaching. It forms the aspiration in the right way. While reading the Texts of the authentic tradition, a man can cultivate his aspiration in the right way because the Texts direct the man exactly the way he should be directed in order to succeed in the given kind of practice. All the Doctrines of the Teaching also develop the man in the right way. Here everything depends on how far the man will expend the boundaries of his perception, how much he’ll want to take in the things offered to him. But he also can say ‘stop’ to himself. If he doesn’t put any limits and barriers, he’ll be able to apprehend the highest meaning of any Text, of any phrase of a Text at once. But if he has doubts and starts to suspect the Teaching or the Teacher then most probably he’ll extract some material aspect and nothing more. For instance, a man attached to the money could see the thirst of enrichment, greed and avarice in the Teacher – the qualities he has himself. That’s why the people, who limit their own perception, even if they stay near the Teacher and the Teaching, see only the material aspect and don’t notice the spiritual one. But if the man opens to the inner aspect of the spiritual Teachings then he can look into their deeps. And once again, the man decides for himself not the Teacher or Teaching. It will depend on the man what he’ll see what he’ll perceive and how he’ll be able to use it. The Three Pillars of the practice help the man to cultivate the right aspiration. When the man has confidence-in-himself then he doesn’t let somebody’s opinion interfere with him and he’s guided only by his own opinion. It means that nobody can motivate his actions and run his life. Such person already has a chance to form his aspiration in the right way.

Only a Teacher can certify how much the aspiration is formed correctly. And why is it? Having a certain state inside him, He can compare whether a disciple moves towards it or not. That’s why it doesn’t matter what the disciple would tell, it doesn’t matter whether they communicated for many years or they saw each other just now because the Teacher can instantly feel whether the disciple moves towards the state He has or he moves towards something else. Therefore the Teacher can pinpoint whether a man has the right aspiration or not, whether he moves in the right direction or not. And this is the unmistakable knowledge that doesn’t depend on any outer actions because the physical can’t interfere in the inner state, can’t disturb it in any way, and can’t change anything in it. That’s why the Teacher always has a template, which is absolutely precise. Having this state He always can certify quite accurately whether other people have it or not, whether they move towards this state or not. Consequently, He can point out the shortest way and tell the disciples what methods they should use and what the hindrances in their practice they have. The Teacher sees what prevent them from achieving the whole that He has.

So being guided by the Three Pillars, the disciple will form his aspiration in a right way and then having the right aspiration and using the methods of the practice, he’ll inevitably achieve the result. It will be just a matter of time. But the time won’t have any importance yet because if the disciple aspires to something, he will inevitably achieve it.

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The Right Aspiration

Question to Guru Sergey Bugaev: What does it mean, the right aspiration?
A Talk with Guru Sergey Bugaev translated by Anrew Turivnuj

The right aspiration is an aspiration towards the spiritual practice. If a man has the right aspiration, he’ll succeed in practice. In reality, so few have the aspiration towards the spiritual practice and usually people aspire towards something outer. For instance, an aspiration to pass the term exams well can seize a student at some moment so badly that he can’t think of anything else. An aspiration where to live, what to eat or how to earn money can seize people so badly that they don’t think of anything else at all.

Sometimes people can have an aspiration towards the spiritual practice, but their aspiration also can be different. Mostly it depends on which level of the practice a man stands. If the man stands on the level of concentration, it’ll be the right aspiration for him to aspire towards the state of meditation. And if he aspires towards the state of meditation, he’ll achieve it because he’ll only aspire towards this state in any circumstances. Then this inner aspiration leaves its imprint on everything outer – on the body, on feelings and on thoughts. If the man stands on the level of concentration and aspires to achieve full state of meditation as soon as possible then on bodily level he’ll feel it as a tendency to avoid all the things that will prevent him from accumulating the energy which he needs for entering into the state of meditation. For instance, he’ll prefer only certain sorts of food, certain daily routine and he’ll prefer to communicate with certain people. As soon as the man feels that something prevents him from accumulating the energy, he’ll avoid it. He will feel it on bodily level. And as for the feelings, he’ll start to feel too that some emotions hamper his practice. He’ll feel that if he gets very irritable or upset, it drains his energy and he’ll avoid it. He’ll feel constantly that such things are unnecessary. And on mental level it’ll be the same – the man will feel that the thoughts of some outer activity lead him astray from the practice and because of it these thoughts just won’t occur. But if such thoughts come to him from outside, he’ll feel them as the alien thoughts, as an intrusion and he won’t even have a desire to spare them any attention or time. It goes this way when a man has the right aspiration. And then whatever outer circumstances the man finds himself in, he’ll choose the right way in his practice and nothing will hamper him. So it means that the man has the right aspiration towards the state of meditation.


A practitioner can aspire towards any goal. He won’t limit himself in anything: whatever a goal he would set for himself – he will definitely achieve it. He can aspire towards the highest goals from the beginning. He can even set as a goal to attain the state of Wisdom and he can aspire towards it from the start. Then he’ll choose the shortest and the straightest ways for attaining this state. Such practitioner will leave aside all abundant intermediate methods, additional and auxiliary practices; he’ll choose such methods that will lead him to the Wisdom in the fastest way. There will be the hardest methods but they will lead him to the goal faster than the rest. And at that moment, all the rest methods of the spiritual practice will just cease to interest him. He will be offered a lot of methods and practices but he’ll choose unmistakably the right one. He’ll feel that this exactly method will lead him to the state of Wisdom in the fastest way. If the practitioner sets some other goal, he’ll feel that another methods and practices will be needed. He’ll feel it without any tips. He’ll unmistakably find the right way for his development among all possibilities and won’t need any adviser. He will be just using others for his practice at the time. The same way he’ll use a teacher, a place where he lives, the time and the country – he’ll use everything for his practice. So, this way a man, being on his level of practice, can learn in any circumstances wherever he would find himself.  And it’ll be the real practice.

The man will continue to practice until he has such aspiration. As soon as it vanishes, any outer circumstances will turn immediately into a hindrance. But as soon as the inner aspiration restores, the hindrances disappear again. That’s why the aspiration is the foundation of the practice: if a man doesn’t have the inner aspiration, he won’t be even able to practice on a daily basis. So when people say, “Some circumstances have appeared”, “The circumstances made me go that way, the life forced me”, “Something hampers me, for some reason I’ve lost my practice” – it’s just the effect. When the people say that some noise or some person, or some event in their life hampered them – it’s just the effect. The man has lost his inner aspiration that is the cause. It can often happen that different people when being in the same circumstances achieve quite different results. The tough situation can break some people but the others move forward more successfully when the life hits them on the head. It means that different people can have different mood in the same circumstances. Consequently, if a man is disposed in the right way then nothing can hamper his practice. Here everything depends on either the man would aspire to go by the fastest and therefore the hardest way or to move gradually. And again, the man himself by his inner aspiration will define the degree of how slowly he’ll move along the way.

Therefore, the aspiration is a foundation. In general, if one has the aspiration then the main thing has already done. The practice of concentration in itself is just a technical process. It can be compared with a work of some device: you push a button and you have a consequent result. That’s why when a man has the right aspiration and gets a technique of concentration, he will definitely achieve the result. The more rightly the aspiration is formed, the faster he’ll get the result he needs.

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