FIRST REFLECTIONS
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experienced in the realms of samsara. If one does not have the understanding of mind's true nature, then this truth is really difficult to grasp or understand, and one continues to suffer from this delusion of conceptual reality. All sentient beings have body, speech, and mind, foolishly clinging to these three facets as being the illusory self. If one practices negative actions, then the fruition of these actions takes place in one of the lower realms through the gates of body, speech, and mind. If one practices virtuous action, or positive karmic trends, then it is these same gates that experience the result as rebirth in the superior states of the three higher realms. Also, it is practicing the path of Buddhadharma with body, speech, and mind that allows one to recognize the enlightened nature of body, speech, and mind, for it is these same three gates that are bound in samsara and that are also liberated through enlightenment. In recognizing that the development and experience of all sentient beings are not concurrent or universal, nor even necessarily similar, the Lord Buddha taught broad overviews, termed the triyanas, to help open these three gates to liberation. If one wishes to construct a three-story building, then one must start with the ground floor, continue by adding the next story, then the third, until one has completed the building. If one wishes to practice and understand the full meaning of the Buddhadharma, one can utilize the three yanas - the hinayana, the mahayana, and the vajrayana. By practicing the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, one can utilize these three vehicles in unison. One of these three yanas, namely the hinayana, deals with controlling personal behavior and emotionality through the rejection, abandonment, and avoidance of erroneous and mistaken behavior. Erroneous behavior of the body is killing, stealing, or harming others, specifically through sexual misconduct; mistaken behavior of the speech is lying, causing disharmony and/ or discord; and so on. One must completely spurn and abandon such behavior. Refusal to practice any form of harmful behavior towards others helps one to maintain the discipline of meditative absorption while employing the practices we term in Tibetan zhinay (Skt.: shamatha), which stills the mind, and lhatong (Skt.: vipashyana), which observes the mind's nature. Thus, the whole