Fundamentals of Buddhist View - DJKR Moscow teaching from 14 July

Rinpoche gave a public teaching on The Fundamentals of the Buddhist View in Moscow on 14 July. A recording of the teaching may be downloaded here. (Thanks Linda and Patricia)

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 18 (Bodhicitta III) - includes DJKR Moscow teaching on Bodhicitta from 17 July

On 25 July, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro,The Words of My Perfect Teacher, continuing with Chapter Two, "Arousing Bodhicitta: The Root of the Great Vehicle" (continuing with section III.2, "Training in the bodhicitta of application: the six transcendent perfections", starting at "Transcendent concentration", p.248 in the First Edition).

We started by listening to and discussing Rinpoche's teaching on bodhicitta given in Moscow on 17 July, which was part of his ngöndro teaching on The Excellent Path to Enlightenment (Rinpoche's teaching is included as part of the recording of today's conversation).

The topics we talked about included:

• The importance of aspiration bodhicitta and not being too hard (or too loose) with oneself
• Reducing the distinctions among the Eight Worldly Dharmas during the journey towards realising ultimate bodhicitta
• The importance of giving up distractions and creating a protected space (or retreat boundary) in order to support one's practice (see section III.2.5.1 "Giving up distractions" in The Words of My Perfect Teacher)
• How any action includes all six paramitas, and how we can use this as a checklist to check our own practice of application bodhicitta (see section III.2.6.3 "Wisdom through meditation" in The Words of My Perfect Teacher)
• Atisha's teaching that "The best diligence is to give up activities"
• Jigme Lingpa's teaching that "Transcendent generosity is found in contentment; its essence is simply letting go"

A recording of our conversation is available here.

Iron Tiger Year

Happy Losar

Happy Losar (Tibetan New Year) to everyone! Rinpoche's Losar message is available here. He reflects that although being dharma practitioners will not make us less vulnerable to the kinds of crisis and turbulence we have seen over the past year, it nevertheless brings us something very important:

There is a big difference between ordinary people, those who have no connection to the dharma, and us. Of course, there’s no difference between them and us as far as being victims of cause and condition and karma, but there’s a valuable and important difference. That is, we have a path. We have Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. We have our masters and we have our path. And that will make the difference.

If we lose this aspect of Dharma, then really our life is meaningless. It’s just like a plant. Some plants grow in the morning, and they will die towards the afternoon and then that’s it. That’s the end. If we lose values such as morality, ethics, love and compassion, values such as bodhicitta, then our life really has no meaning.

So for my New Year’s message, I ask you to remember that we have something. We have a path. We have Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and that makes our life so special. And this is something to remember.

Rinpoche on student/teacher relationship

Here's a lovely video of Rinpoche being interview about the student/teacher relationship. Enjoy!

Tibetan Buddhism in the West

This week, our topic was "Tibetan Buddhism in the West", drawing on a series of three articles. The first is by Alan Wallace; there was a reply/response by Tara Carreon, and Rinpoche then wrote his own reply to both these articles. Here are the links:

a) Alan Wallace "Tibetan Buddhism in the West: is it working here?" (Tricycle, Summer 2001)

b) Tara Carreon "Another view on whether Tibetan Buddhism is working in the West" (Summer 2001)

c) Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche "East-West, West-East" (Winter 2001)

The recording of our conversation is available here.

Advice to Teenagers

From Rinpoche's teaching in Halifax on 29 November 2008. Excerpts from the audio file at Chronicles of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

On growing up too fast

So, today I have something to tell you, that is especially for the teenagers, especially. I don't know whether you realize this, this is really important. It's ... important is not the right word. I don't know what to say. I'm trying to fish for a word.

There is something so incredible about being young. I made a mistake by trying to grow up fast, and I'm sure there are a lot of other people who have made the same mistake. Please for your own sake, do not grow up fast, because you can never rewind and play back. Once you play, that's it!

But this is easier said than done, no? ... a whole society, books, television, movies ... all trying to make you grow up. And you yourself, as a human being ... human nature is competing: "Who will grow up fastest?" I'm sure you even tell yourselves sometimes, "Grow up! C'mon!" ... not the right thing to do.

On discipline and depression

OK. One last word. Now, I hate to use the word discipline. The trouble is this is the one thing that you don't want to hear, discipline ... But even to make a cappuccino, you need a discipline ... you need a discipline, of course. Skateboarding, all these things, they all need discipline. In our modern society, one of the biggest problems is depression, really really feeling down and depressed, and people turning to drugs and alcohol and all of that. If you really look into the root of the depression, it is because of lack of discipline.

Discipline is so important ... And when I say discipline I'm talking about something so simple, huh? I'm not talking about like getting up in the morning, 5 o'clock ... you know, like things like that ... You make your own discipline, such as, I don't know ... something like, "I will not go to Starbucks on Wednesdays." Really, if you took that kind of vow, something as simple as this, in the future, the ratio of visits to your shrink will be definitely reduced. Even as simple as not going to Starbucks on Wednesday. I'm serious. I'm serious ... If you can manage ... if you do that one year, good! Very good. You have learned the art of controlling yourself.

If you want to be brave (you know, maybe you think, not going to Starbucks on Wednesdays would be too simple for you) then take a vow: Next six months, whoever it is, you will not yell at them. That's a difficult one, huh? That's a difficult one ... But it will give you amazing, amazing power. Because ... you all want to be indestructible, don't you? Well, if you want to be indestructible, why volunteer yourself, to become an easy target? So, you can become very brave and take that kind of vow also.

On failure

Question: If we were take a vow, for six months never to yell at somebody, how would you be ... you know, sort of approach a possible inevitable failure, or how should you approach this ...

Khyentse Rinpoche: Ah, failure is good. Failure is good. You have to fail many times. Take a vow again. Take a vow again ... To shape the human character a lot of things have to go wrong, you know. You shouldn't be afraid [of failure].

[Thanks to Erik Pema Kunsang and the Blazing Splendor blog]

Rinpoche on YouTube

Several videos of Rinpoche's teachings can now be found on YouTube, including this video on "The attitude of a Dzogchen practitioner" (play): "the easiest way to get to Dzogchen is to take things easy. We have this saying, but we don't actually practice that. A Dzogchen practitioner can't be bothered by any circumstances, whether good or bad"

Rinpoche's Teachings on "Parting from the Four Attachments"

Rinpoche is teaching "Parting from the Four Attachments" this week in Kathmandu. Daily MP3 recordings can be downloaded here.

From the Siddhartha's Intent website: The teaching on Parting from the Four Attachments is universally regarded as one of the jewels of Tibetan Buddhism. A supremely important mind training from the Sakyapa tradition, it was transmitted by Manjushri to the first of its Five Founding Fathers - Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158). In four lines of profound instruction it challenges the assumptions and belief systems that destroy the very happiness and freedom to which all beings aspire. It introduces the heart of wisdom, the key points of the Buddhist path, and particularly how to proceed on the path without being sidetracked by pitfalls. This work is eminently practical, and is said to have the power to instil realization in the minds of practitioners as it is spoken, listened to, and understood.

A short message from Rinpoche

In a short note from his retreat, Rinpoche reminds us of the importance of renunciation and the appropriate motivation for practice:

we should say prayers and do practice in the hope that one day we will be free from the agony of time, and from the agony of the separation of all the transitory elements that, in our deluded minds, we have pieced together so convincingly. Most of us are so lost in our delusions that we actually believe them to be permanent, and when the illusion we've created reveals itself in its true colours, we suffer the most unbearable agonies. And it is from this kind of delusion that, ultimately, we need to free ourselves

How should we relate to a spiritual teacher?

What does it mean to follow a teacher in the Buddhist path? The Buddha taught that each person is his or her own master, and no higher being or power sits in judgment over our destiny. He said  “One is one’s own refuge, who else could be the refuge?” and “You should do your work, for the Tathāgatas only teach the way”. But many of us struggle to reconcile this individual responsibility with the notion of following a spiritual teacher and the Vajrayāna practice of guru devotion. It's all too easy for our practice to fall into the eternalist extreme of blind faith and total submission towards our teacher as a saviour-like figure. Or we might see this danger but then completely reject faith and discipline (and even the very idea of having a teacher), which might lead us to a nihilist extreme (as in Sam Harris' "The End of Faith"). In neither case can we progress along the spiritual path. So what's the answer? How should we relate to the teacher or guru?

To help us reflect on this question, here's an edited extract from one of Rinpoche's teachings on ngöndro (given in Silz, Germany in 2001):

In his Guru Yoga, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö said: “If you treat the guru as an ordinary person, and then pray to him, you will have a corresponding result.” So if you think of the guru as a good guy, a compassionate and well-informed man, then that is as much blessing as you’ll get. If you think the guru is a great Bodhisattva on the first bhūmi or tenth bhūmi, then that is the kind of blessing you will receive. And if you think the guru is the Buddha, then you will receive enormous blessings. It all depends on your own attitude. It is all your own perception. You should really try to understand this, because there have been so many misunderstandings about the guru, about guru devotion and about the guru-disciple relationship. 

Nowadays, many people in the West think that the whole guru system is a bit like a dictatorship. And in the East, many societies have a very Confucian way of thinking. People believe the leader is always right, even if the leader says, “this wall is black” when it is actually white. Then everyone has to say, “Yes, it’s black.” If you look at China, things still go on like that. Whatever the leaders say goes with many millions of Chinese. At least in the West, with someone like President Bush, he can say something and the whole of America just laughs at him. But in China, whatever the boss says is right and that is it, finished.

But the guru concept is totally different from this kind of idea. It is beyond dictatorship, or the Confucian way of understanding your elders, or the notion that the leader is always right. Why? There’s a very important reason, which you should highlight and keep constantly in your head: Never, ever in the Vajrayāna practice will you see a Guru Yoga practice without the guru dissolving into you. Never. If you find one, it is wrong. I can confidently say that it is either a wrong or mistaken text or that it is being taught by a phoney teacher. 

What does this tell you? That the guru is beyond the concept of dictatorship and the Confucian idea of worshipping the leader. When you worship a leader, the leader is always the leader. They are always the good guy or the big guy while you are always secondary. But in the Vajrayāna, the whole purpose of guru yoga and the practice of guru devotion is to recognise that your mind is the Buddha. It is to realise that your mind is the ultimate guru. And to do that, the practice has this dissolution, the merging of your mind and the guru’s mind. There is no ultimate dictator up there, called guru, who directs your everyday life. That is absolutely not the right way to understand this.

As part of the path to recognise that your mind is the Buddha, we then have the outer guru, which manifests as a reflection of your devotion. The outer guru is unquestionably important. I have never denied that. Paying homage and paying respect to whatever your qualified master has said is very crucial. But please don’t forget that the final and most quintessential thing to know is that your mind is the Buddha. 

© Siddhartha’s Intent 2001

Week 1 teaching - Rinpoche's "new ngöndro" - 11 January 2009

Thanks everyone for coming today!  We managed to set up a successful live web link with the sangha in Victoria, and even joined them in meditation across the internet.  We went through the first part of Rinpoche's new student manual to accompany the ngöndro (if anyone doesn't have this manual, please contact me: alex at khyentsefoundation dot org), and also the commentary on the manual that he taught in Rio de Janeiro, December 2008.

The first part of the ngöndro has three components:

(1) study and contemplation (based on the reading list below)

(2) meditation of "just sitting" for a total of 50 hours, at least 5 minutes a day

(3) post-meditation, where we start to integrate our practice into our daily lives.  Rinpoche suggests we should start to do things that would be good for ourselves and others, that we start to buy "useless things" like Buddha statues rather than "useful things" like iPods, and that we make some kind of vow or commitment to give up something small in samsara as a way of cultivating discipline.

Rinpoche's recommended reading list includes 5 books:

(a) Books on the nature of faith and devotion

- "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris

- "Feet of Clay" by Anthony Storr

(b) Introductions to Buddhism

- "What the Buddha Taught" by Walpola Rahula

- "Old Path, White Clouds" by Thich Nhat Hanh

(c) Something to help us to "get accustomed to a different logic"

- "Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tzu

We're going to start with "What the Buddha Taught" as our first text, and we'll go through as many of these texts as time allows.  The purpose of this period of study and contemplation is to "test the gold" of the Buddha and his teachings, not just accept them on blind faith. As Buddha himself said:

"As the wise test gold by burning, cutting and rubbing it,  So, bhikshus, should you accept my words - after testing them, and not merely out of respect." 

Homework:

• Contemplate why you are interested in following the spiritual path, and what you expect as a result of following this path
  
• Contemplate what does Rinpoche mean by "useless things"
• Daily practice of "just sitting"
• Buy "What the Buddha Taught"

See you next week

Alex