HH GYALWANG DRUKPA

ADVICE FROM HIS HOLINESS, THE TWELFTH GYALWANG DRUKPA

Ego is the creator of the world in which we are suffering. For example, when we take rebirth, we do so without any understanding or knowledge; without freedom. Also, after being born, when we are in the process of growth, we do not have any freedom.

KARMA IS THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT

Those people who are crippled, blind, sick or suffering very much do not have any freedom or choice about their situation, even though they may not like that kind of life. But they have to go through it because their “karma” has pushed them into that situation. I hope you understand what karma means; it is the law of cause and effect. It is the result of the seed that you have previously sown, but this kind of seed can be destroyed before it cones to fruition. This is possible. One should not think that “karma is karma”, and that you have to experience it as such. It is not like this. You do not have to suffer if your wisdom works well and correctly.

There are many ways of reducing or destroying karma before its result ripens. It may be a bit late if you are already born with the karma of past lives, but you can still do something. There are still solutions to get rid of these sufferings, even if it is a bit late. It is very important to know this. However, like a disease, it should not be too late to deal with. I guess that many of you are doctors and so you know this very well. If you can detect a disease in its early stages, it can then be cured very easily. But when you detect it at the terminal stage you say, “Now it is too late. It is hopeless. “ Karma is something very similar to this. Therefore, we have to work with our karma from today onwards. This is the reason why we should start taking care of ourselves from today, and act from today instead of waiting for tomorrow. We say this because life is impermanent and no one knows what is going to happen tomorrow. We should work immediately to destroy any negative karma.

Unfortunately, out of ignorance we are planting a lot of negative seeds. One may have to face the negative consequences because many such seeds have been sown. Then one has to work to deal with these consequences and neutralize them. This is the way that one destroys the negative karma.

THERE ARE SO MANY SOLUTIONS TO GET RID OF NEGATIVE KARMA

You should not wait for the negative karma to come into effect. You do not have to suffer because there are so many solutions to get rid of negative karma. Therefore, we need teachings and guidance, and this is why spirituality is very important. Spirituality does not help in any other way. We are, in a sense, quite well-off in this world; we have food to eat, clothes to wear, house to live in, etc and so we do not really need anything worldly from spirituality. The main idea of spirituality is to get rid of the negative seeds that you have planted. This is the main focus of the spiritual path because we do not want to suffer. If any of us need suffering, then we do not need to work for spiritual development. We can just sit tight and do nothing. Then we will definitely suffer. However, since we do not want to suffer we have to work to demolish all these negative accumulations. In order to demolish them, we need to develop wisdom.

YOUR MIND HOLDS THE ENTIRE WISDOM OF THE UNIVERSAL TRUTH

Where does karma come from? How does it exist? What is the make-up of karma? These are the things that you should understand with genuine wisdom, which by itself will demolish all the negative karma. So all you need is to develop wisdom. Wisdom is not something that you do not know and that I can show you. Wisdom is something that you can find within yourself. However, I can tell you where to look for it; it is in your mind. Wisdom is not something that you can buy or steal; it can only be found within yourself, within your mind; within your heart. Your mind holds the entire wisdom of the universal truth. When you realize this wisdom, you will then know everything.

Creation is an aspect of the mind, ego is an aspect of the mind and wisdom is also an aspect of the mind. Therefore, the mind holds everything, including wisdom and ignorance. We live in confusion because we do not recognize anything spiritually; spiritually we are very ignorant. Because we are ignorant and confused, the mind has two faces: the face of wisdom and the face of ignorance. The real nature if our mind is pure wisdom; there is no ignorance in this, but as long as we are not realized the mind holds two faces.

Since beginningless time until today, you have been doing everything with your ego. Si what is ego? It is actually your confused mind. This confused mind brings about the desire, which can give rise to all kinds of emotions, which in turn can influence your body and speech.

WISDOM IS YOUR INNER GURU

Wisdom is actually your “inner” guru, which indicates what your confused mind is doing. The “external” guru is the one who teaches you this and initiates you on the path of spirituality. But it is your own wisdom, as the inner guru, that reveals the functions of the ego to you. By knowing how your ego functions, you will definitely understand the teachings about cutting this ego a hundred times more effectively than just through the teachings of the external guru.

Therefore, we say that there is the “inner” master,”outer” master and “secret” master. A person who finds all the right circumstances correctly will find his or her own mind full of wisdom. Then suffering will come to an end. There will be no mistakes and no influence from the ego or from desire. One will be free from everything. Whatever you do after that, you will do knowingly and freely. Maybe you do not like to live, so then I would say that your death would be a “free death”. If you want to be reborn, your rebirth would be a “free rebirth”. You will have achieved the great freedom, the so-called enlightenment. That freedom is the so-called Great Bliss or Buddhahood.

THE MIND IS THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING

However, people do not understand this because of their ignorance. When they hear terms like “God”, “Buddha” or “Khodah”, they think that they exist somewhere “out there”. There is the notion of looking outside for everything, and so you are left with no direction. If you think that the Buddhas and Gods are outside, you are left somewhere else without any help. You will expect that a messiah will come to liberate you, but then nobody comes. So, you find yourself in a hopeless situation and by the time you realize this it will be too late. You will be too old or dying soon. Hence this is not the right approach to spirituality. The right way is to understand that everything is within yourself, if you understand that the mind is the creator of everything, then even if you are not free right now you will psychologically feel that everything is in your hands. This means that some kind of atmosphere of freedom is already there. Even though you are not accomplished in respect of practice and so forth- you can still feel a kind of freedom. This is my experience. I hope you understand.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Question:

How can one be sure that it is really the inner guru that one experiences and not just a projection of one’s mind?

Answer:

Of course, it is a projection of our mind. We will be having projections until enlightenment, but the inner guru is a different kind of projection. For example, experientially speaking, you will have a thorough understanding of how the world came about; you will know that first. Of course, you have to go through things according to your external guru’s instructions. But if an instruction that you are getting from your own wisdom is the opposite from the instruction that you get from the external guru, then this is something doubtful. So you have to be careful. But if the wisdom tells you everything exactly the same as the external guru, it means that you are getting on the right track.

Question:

If one is not right, then there is a conflict between the inner master and the ego. If the ego has the tendency to say that there is something I have to do, but the inner master says, “No, don’t do that “, it seems that part of the mind transcends both the inner master and the ego. Am I understanding this correctly?

Answer:

I think this is the right understanding; at least it’s is not totally wrong.  But it is not relevant to what I said, though it is okey. It sounds quite right. Anyway, you have to go further with things through practice. This is the reason why we meditate and go to isolated places to do retreat. We want to think about this over and over again, and contemplate. Contemplation is very important to generate that kind of wisdom. For example, since we have been talking about this subject, maybe we have found some kind of intellectual understanding, but maybe not. That experienced. But you can’t push it down into your heart with your hand; you have to push it into your heart through practice. This is the way to develop yourself.

Question:

Is there no relationship between your past life and this birth?

Answer:

No, you can’t say that there is no relationship between whoever I was then and whoever I am right now. The relationship is very much there because you are you; it is exactly the same being. The only difference is that the form has changed. It is like a drama. You just change your dress and put on one mask. Then you change your dress and put on another mask- something like that.

In your previous life maybe you were a dog or a bird, but now your form has changed and you have become a human being. Obviously, you can’t remember because of the distance of time, the influence of ignorance and all these things. But those people who are very aware of themselves and have great wisdom remember many things. There are lots of people, even though they are common beings and not really respected reincarnations or holy beings, who remember their past lives very clearly. There are a few people who can recall things about their previous lives which can be proved by other people. So, this is just a question of remembering or not.

For example, like myself, I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast this morning, so because I am ignorant how can I remember my previous life? If I had enough wisdom, then I should at least remember what I ate for breakfast! There are many people who say similar things but more crudely. They say, “So what! May be I will suffer in the next life, but it doesn’t matter. I will not remember, I won’t feel sorry and I am enjoying things right now. “But that is not the right attitude because when the suffering comes, it will be too late. People who are crippled and blind are suffering now. Its too late for them to do anything because they are suffering now. They can’t say, “So what!” when they are suffering. It is you that is suffering. It is the continuation of the same mind.

‘Refuge’ and ‘Bodhicitta’ are terms special to Buddhism. The special Buddhist practices of refuge and Bodhicitta are a kind of starting point of the spiritual path. Bodhicitta is like a stimulant for your path.

To start with we should have the attitude of refuge. In order to have refuge one has to have some kind of renunciation or sense of understanding. The understanding of samsara, of suffering, of happiness and of day-to-day life is very important. If you do not know anything about these things, then even if you take refuge vows or call yourself a spiritual practitioner, mediator or Buddhist, it will not make any sense because you do not anything, understanding is very important for everything, but it is especially important if you want to adopt the spiritual path, as one has to thoroughly understand what is happening in one’s life. If you understand you life, then you will automatically have some leaning towards the spiritual path. No matter whether or not you know anything about different religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, etc. you will sense some inner feeling or inner change in your mind. If you already know something about a certain spiritual path, then of course you will feel a special kind of attraction towards that particular path. Even if you do not have any idea of the spiritual path, you will have special feeling inside. We can call this feeling ‘renunciation’. This is the inner renunciation. You are starting to renounce and that is what is needed to being with. It is this feeling that we are missing right now.

THE FEELING OF RENUNCIATION WILL FORCE YOU TAKE REFUGE

In short, understanding the entire situation of life will germinate some special feeling within you. This is renunciation. The next step is taking refuge. The certain feeling of renunciation will force you take refuge under a divine or enlightened being. This will happen naturally because you will sense that your life and the world have no reliability. Therefore, you will feel that you need a refuge, something to hold on to, something that you can rely on. This is the next step or drive or feeling that comes in your mind.

If you do not know what is happening in your life, then the whole atmosphere or day-to-day existence will keep fooling you and you will be kept entertained by this. Then you will drown in that samsaric ocean, going deeper and deeper, day-by-day, without knowing it. This is the characteristic of suffering. So when you know this, it is the moment that will propel you to get out of the samsaric ocean of suffering. You will search for refuge under something that you can rely on. You may not know anything about different kinds of spiritual paths or different schools of religion, but you will definitely know that you have to search for something reliable. That is the genuine feeling of renunciation.

RENUNCIATION DOESN’T MEAN RUNNING AWAY FROM FAMILY OR SOCIETY

Renunciation is a very popular term used in all religions. All the saints went through renunciation and that is why they achieved enlightenment. They realized their life thoroughly and felt that there was no reliability in their samsaric life. So then they searched for a spiritual path, that ‘something’ that they could rely on. This is the process that we call renunciation. Holy yogis, masters, saints and priests became enlightened after renunciation. However, renunciation doesn’t mean running away from family or society, for if that were renunciation then all of us could do it; all of us would be enlightened and nobody would be left in samsara.

Enlightenment is the only thing that we can rely on. You can always further investigate whether this is true or not, whether there is anything more reliable than enlightenment. We have the freedom to investigate what we hear further. Right now, we think that friends are reliable or that parents are reliable. Parents may think that their children are reliable or one may think that, “At least I my self am reliable.”  But, when we think deeper and investigate, in my experience, we can’t find anything or anybody fully reliable in this world. You can’t even rely on yourself these days. For example, this morning I said that I would leave for Zurich by eight o’clock tomorrow morning, but now I’m thinking that may be I should leave at about ten o’clock. So, now I can’t rely on my own decision. This decision is supposed to be something that I could rely on, but I can’t do this any more.

Whatever you have in your mind, such as affection, love, devotion, determination, etc., is very unreliable. These are the characteristics of our lives. For instance, this morning I may have been very happy, but right now I may not be happy. What does this mean? It means that the happiness of this morning is totally unreliable. I may think that I am happy, but this feeling of happiness will not remain forever; I may be in a miserable condition a few hours later. Therefore, nothing is reliable in this world. This is the true nature or characteristic of suffering. However, this is nothing to be worried about. If you start to worry about this, it will then add further suffering. Instead of worrying you have to find a solution to get rid of it. That solution, to my feeling and also according to the texts and doctrines of holy beings, lies in enlightenment.

ENLIGHTENMENT IS IN YOUR MIND AND THIS PROCESS IS THE SO-CALLED REFUGE

Enlightenment is something that you can attain because it is your nature. Enlightenment is your own supreme natural beauty and it is reliable. But right now, we are fabricating a lot. Because of too much fabrication, our nature no longer emerges naturally. Therefore, we are not calm and peaceful. The beauty of your own nature is not there; it is buried under layer and layers of fabrication. However, fabrication should not be there. After demolishing or purging your fabrication you will find enlightenment within your mind. Enlightenment is in your mind and this process is the so-called refuge. We Buddhists call this ‘refuge’: refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha (the Three Jewels). But actually it means seeking refuge in enlightenment because you are looking for something reliable….and that is enlightenment.

When you understand that enlightenment is the only reliable thing and you keenly look forward to attaining it, you will have a picture of so-called enlightenment. This is the moment when you have to be careful. Some people may think that enlightenment is like a crystal or a big light that can illuminate the whole world. This is wrong. Some people, especially Buddhists, sometimes have a picture of the Buddha when they think about enlightenment. Some of them may have a picture of a person with a beard and long hair who is sitting still. People have different kinds of pictures and they are attached to them. However, this is not the right approach. When you reach that level, you have to be really careful because it is a very crucial stage. When you reach that state, you are getting to the point at which you can get into the path of enlightenment. But, if you then somehow have a wrong picture of enlightenment, you can get misled. So, one should really see enlightenment as a great understanding. Enlightenment does not have a form, a light, a smell, or a color. It dos not have anything Cognition itself is enlightenment.

WHEN YOU TAKE REFUGE IN THE BUDDHA, YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THE BUDDHA AS ENLIGHTENMENT

In Buddhist terminology, we talk about taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Buddha is the first refuge object. We take refuge in the Buddha. When you take that vow, you should understand that Buddha as enlightenment. When you say Buddha, most people have a great misunderstanding. They think that Buddha refers to Buddha Shakyamuni who taught Buddhist philosophy in India. However, this is not what you are taking refuge in. you are actually taking refuge in enlightenment, which is the essence of the Buddhas of the ten directions, the essence of the saints, the essence of nature and the essence of yourself. We call it the Buddha and this is Buddhist terminology. The entire teaching was given by the Buddha, the person who attained enlightenment about 2,500 years ago. So, the name of the Buddha is very special in our terminology and is the reason why we use it.

THE ACTUAL DHARMA IS THE PROCESS OF UNDERSTANDING ENLIGHTENMENT.

When we talk about taking refuge in the Dharma, you should not think about doctrines or books or teachings. When people heart the term ‘Dharma’, they always have a picture of chanting or some form of sitting in front of a shrine with closed eyes. This is the only picture that they have so for them this is Dharma. But this is not the only thing, although maybe it can be a part of the Dharma. When I was small, whenever I said the word, “Dharma”, I always had the picture of a book in my mind. But later, when I realized the true meaning, I laughed at my self. Picturing the Dharma as a book does not make any sense. Of course, reading scriptures can give you some kind of understanding, so in this respect we have to appreciate the scriptures and books. But then, every book is made up of paper and ink, so it can’t help or protect you. This is not the object in which we are taking refuge. The actual Dharma is the process of understanding enlightenment. We are taking refuge in that process or path.

YOU BEING SANGHA MEANS THAT YOUR MIND IS CONCENTRATING FULLY ON THE SPIRITUAL PATH

Then, the last object of refuge is Sangha. When our mind is filled with a fervent wish to practice the spiritual path and to realize our own nature    (which is enlightenment), that wish is the Sangha. So, in other words, at that moment you can say that you yourself are the Sangha. You being Sangha means that your mind is concentrating fully on the spiritual path. Then, you are the Sangha no matter that form of practice you are following.

So, to start with it is very important to understand these three objects of refuge in Buddhist teaching. I always say that these three forms and names are very Buddhist, but their message can also be practiced and understood by those people who are not Buddhists. This is because the basic message is that of enlightenment: the inner light which has to be found within yourself. This is the thing that everybody should appreciate because it is the universal nature. It is something that everybody has. Everybody, even a mosquito, has it. This is the reason why I am saying that it is a universal truth, no matter if you are a believer or not. Most of us are missing enlightenment because due to our ignorance we do not feel or understand it. Of course, the mosquitoes are totally ignorant, but we (as very clever and smart human beings) are also very ignorant in this regard. Even if you do not believe in anything, it is a law of nature that is has to be this way. There is no other way to evade it. It does not mean that we have to force those who do not believe in this to do so. No, I am not saying that. We can’t force anyone.

TAKING REFUGE IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS ENLIGHTENMENT

For example, let’s say that something is wrong with my brain and I can’t differentiate whether we are outdoors or indoors, although we are actually inside. But somehow I may feel that we are outside. Then I will insist that we are outside. You may be very kind and not argue with me. You may say, “Okey, he says that we are outside, but it doesn’t matter so leave him alone.” We are actually inside, but my perception says that we are outside. So, even if I argue that we are outside, the fact is that I am in the house. This is just an example. As long as you are in this universe, the universal truth is spread like space and you can’t reject it. It is there. That is what I mean to say. So, taking refuge is the first step towards enlightenment.

The above is an extract from a public teaching given by His Holiness in August 1994 in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Teaching by His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa

There are many different kinds of emotions and these are actually projections of our mind.  Emotions are not something separate from our own mind but, of course, we see them as being very different and separate because we do not really recognize the mind right now.  Sometimes we get angry and jealous or feel very happy and excited- all kinds of ups and downs. Actually, we do not understand what we are going through, who we are, who is really angry or happy, who is feeling down or excited: what is really happening.  In fact, we do not have an idea of ‘ourselves’ even thought we say ‘we’ or ‘I’ and use these different labels. I think that even up to right now we don’t really know ourselves well. So we now want to know ourselves, which is quite funny.

Buddha himself said, “Samsara has no beginning”, so from beginningless samsara until today, we have been living with and yet do not recognize ourselves. Isn’t this funny? It is also quite an interesting topic to talk about: how this came about and what has to be done from this point forwards.

Everything depends mainly on the mind

The Buddha said that our common mind is very wild, which refers to the present situation we are in.  Right now, our mind cannot be controlled and this makes the entire situation very wild. The activities of good and bad are actually projections of our mind. The key message of the Theravadan school of Buddhism is ‘avoid harmful activities’ and ‘benefit all beings’ is the main one of the Mahayana school. Both schools bear the same message: everything depends mainly on the mind because the mind is the only force that creates all positive and negative actions. Although the body performs the act it is only a tool: the mind is the main controller. If the mind does not want to do a certain thing in a certain way, then the body or the speech will not be able to do it. Even if the body or speech tries to do it, it won’t work because the mind is not really willing.  Many of the other non-Buddhist beliefs also very strongly emphasize the message of ‘non-violence’. The only difference between these beliefs and Buddhism is that the Buddhist motivation is a little bit more extended. This is very tiny difference.  All spiritual beliefs equally say that one should not harm and they encourage people to do good and not bad things to others. However, none of us, including many spiritual practitioners, can implement or really practice this because we do not recognize or realize our mind. Realization of the mind is what we are lacking so far.

So now followers of Buddhism, or even non – Buddhists, have an enormous responsibility to think about how to deal with the mind, which is bothering everyone from beginningles time until today. Many of us have been doing all sorts of things to put our mind into shape, but we have not been able to manage this successfully.  Although there are many ways of training the mind, the mind has to be trained only by itself. It cannot be trained any other way. Sometimes, we try to understand our mind, sometimes we want to block our mind. I don’t think our mind appreciates either of these treatments. If the mind does not appreciate the method you are using, whatever this might be, then this is considered to be unskillful.

Most of the skills of our mind training cannot successfully be implemented because our mind is as complex as ourselves. If distributed, our mind can lead us to samsara and, if happy, it can lead us to nirvana. Therefore, our mind is very powerful and tricky thing. This is why the Buddha said that our mind has to be tamed.

The mind needs to be paid attention to consistently

Bodhicitta practice is the most practical way of training and expanding the mind. Right now, our mind is so narrow that it has no room for anyone else or room for any exceptions. We are only able to think about ourselves and about others who are attached to us, such as our family, children and friends. But this is also for a limited time and with a lot of conditions. I often think that we don’t want people to follow us and expect us to do things the way they want us to; we want somehow to be loved and paid attention to and yet, at the same time, we want people to leave us alone, don’t we? If these demands are met, we feel somewhat relaxed. Well, it’s true for me at least! Don’t you feel the same way? Maybe none of you have thought about this yet. The mind woks exactly the same way. I don’t think the mind likes to be controlled and forced to be the way we want it to be. But the mind needs to be paid attention to consistently and it would like us to leave it alone without even the slightest fabrication! Only then will the mind lead you in its own natural way (nirvana) because it feels relaxed and has more room to stretch.

I think I have spoken a lot about what mind prefers us to be doing. In addition to this, we literally have no room in our mind. So we are obliged to develop the so-called Bodhicitta or ‘Mind of Enlightenment’. By practicing loving – kindness and compassion, and not hatred, jealousy or anger, you will be able to extend your own mind. There should also be some logic behind the method and reason of Bodhicitta practice. You must have heard many times form teachers and masters that we are all brothers and sisters; there is logic behind why we really have to take care of each other. It is because all of us are suffering equally due to the lack of realization of ourselves. We are all crazy, all equally mad, so why not serve and help other beings who are also suffering very badly? This is a kind of theoretical or external logic that we can think of and is one of the main types of logic that we all can commonly consider.

Everything is illusion

The uncommon logic or internal logic that is linked with the philosophical view is that everything does not exist as it appears to be: everything is illusion. The illusory world is very solid to us and yet it does not really exist. But still we are very attracted by the world and, somehow, we are really driven to madness by it. So we are almost crazy due to the attractions that provoke us continuously and yet nothing at the end is a fruit of this world because nothing exists. We are simply running after things which are actually like a rainbow. Naturally, we ought to be exhausted by now. You could say that this is one of the essential sufferings that we are going through.

This is the reason why we should be compassionate to all sentient beings, because now we are some of the people in this world who at least realize or know this intellectual. There are millions of beings or people who do not know anything about this, not even slightly. So we are among the very few people who are lucky enough to be closer to the reality state of the world. Therefore, it is right to help all sentient beings. This is also a kind of deeper logic. This also can be a very good reason for you to practice because there are millions of beings who are trapped by and attached to the illusory world and yet have no idea of impermanence being the cause of suffering. So you are someone who has the rare opportunity to do something about this. This should encourage you to practice and think , “I must practice sincerely without wasting any time in this life in order to save those beings who are really suffering unconsciously.” This kind of motivation should always be present. This is the so- called altruistic motivation or the ‘Mind of Enlightenment’.

Any kind of worldly activities we are involved in are always linked with our own strong attachment

As long as we are attached to this world, we cannot liberate ourselves. We are attached to a beautiful thing, an ugly thing, our enemy, our friends. Any kind of worldly activities we are involved in are always liked with our own strong attachment. We say.” This is it. That has to be this way and this has to be that way.” You are making all these demands according to your own attachment. This is really the starting point of the mistake and from there onwards we go through a lot of things which are full of suffering.

For example, you project someone as an enemy and you stick with that perception, and then you feel very uncomfortable and unhappy to see that person or even to hear his name or voice. This is as I have mentioned earlier the actual non-existence of the things that we run after. sometimes you make a friend and you confirm this and say.” This is a wonderful friend”, and then you want that person to be our friend selfishly – this friend is just yours forever and nobody else can even touch or smile at him or her. This is the typical kind of language of your attachment that you have been following. Later, when you find out your friend has been touched and ‘enjoyed’ by others, just imagine how painful this will be for you. This is pain of your own creation. So, this kind of attachment brings you lots of pain. This kind of pain is created by yourself, by your attachment, and not by anybody else. We do not want this kind of pain at all. Therefore, attachment has to be minimized and, in order to do this, one has to know or realize the reality of things. Likes and dislikes do not exist by themselves: they are creations or projections of your own mind, meaning that the world is created by our mind and it is illusory.

For example, your friend may be very attractive to you, but this may not be true to another person, so this attraction is just an illusion. The attraction does not exist by itself. You have not realized that it is illusory or that it is your projection and so you go crazy about your friend. Then, when you begin to feel something wrong and that meeting this friend was actually a mistake, usually you will have lots of things to scream about and of course the blame always goes to that friend who gave you the ‘bad’ taste.  But who agreed to the ‘good’ taste in the first place? It was your attachment that gave you the confirmation of this taste being so sweet and made you feel so sure about it. So part of the blame should always go to your attachment.

For the time being, the illusion and attachment get along very well seem to work together very creatively. But, in reality, it is not quite so. So, through your understanding of Madhyamika or Mahamudra, or from a little bit of instruction on the two truths- relative and ultimate- you will know the illusory nature of the world and you will be able to minimize the pain created by attachment.

You have to practice loving-kindness and compassion

In brief, I would say that one should not cling to one’s thoughts, whether negative or positive. You should not cling to these emotions. The clinging thought or attitude is actually the attachment. I am not saying that we should not love that we should not love each other or be compassionate and that instead we should be like a piece or rock without feeling. So please don’t misunderstand when I say, “Don’t cling to your emotions.” Manny people may ask, “How can I love somebody without attachment?”  The point is that love with attachment simply means love full of misunderstanding and love without attachment means love with wisdom. As I said at the beginning, you have to practice loving-kindness and compassion.  Loving – kindness is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings, as well as of other religions. There is nothing wrong with love and compassion, caring and affection. But the fact is that authentic love can only be practiced when we have no more misunderstanding, meaning no more clinging attitude (attachment). How can one follow the supreme path of great Bodhicitta if one is full of misunderstanding about the world one lives in?

The thing we should avoid is attachment or a clinging attitude. Take friendship as an example. Too much clinging thought towards your friend will cause you pain afterwards. I guess we all have had a good deal of experience of this and I do not need to speak very much about it. So, when you are attached, you will end up in a fight with your friend instead of having fun. Perhaps sometimes the fight is also a fun but most of the time it is painful and it is this pain that we do not want. This kind of clinging attitude makes your heart ache, brings you heart problems and makes you feel broken-hearted. If you do not have the initial clinging attitude when facing family and all other problems, you will have plenty of solutions to solve these issues; you will be able to avoid painful experiences as a Dharma practitioner and easily take way you improve your mind.

Some changes should visibly take place after years of practicing if we are able to approach the mind-training path correctly and genuinely.

If we cannot improve our own mind, we cannot improve our lifestyle. There are many people who say,” I like to mediate. I meditate for so many hours, so many months and so many years.” But still they cannot improve their own lifestyle. They continue to argue constantly with their boyfriend or girlfriend, fighting with each other, screaming at each other, because they do not know the reality- what is happening in life and what should be accepted. Despite doing practice and meditation for so many years, somehow they are not able to change their lifestyle, make progress and bring some peace into their lives. This means that they are not really working with their own mind and are not able to approach the path that would enable them to improve their mind. Some changes should visibly take place after years of practicing if we are able to approach the mind- training path correctly and genuinely.

Inner change will bring out outer change. We should be able to see from the outside when transformation has occurred. We should look for visible indications of change that show a person is really improving. Then even neighbors, friends and everyone else will notice and say,” He has been doing practice. Before doing spiritual practice he was a terrible person but now her is really peaceful and never argues with anybody. He is really kind and understanding. He has become a very gentle and good person through practicing.” people will understand that. We are not practicing for the purpose of propaganda but still that kind of external indication should be there eventually.   

In the Sutra, it is said that the Bodhisattvas have characteristic signs through which we can recognize them. Similarly, it can be judged by indicative changes that can be seen externally as to whether we are practitioners or not.

My sincere hope and prayer is that all sentient beings, and especially those who are connected with me and my lineage, will be able to bring some positive change into their lives, live harmoniously with others and be happy forever.

Dakini

Dakini is the wisdom or emptiness aspect of enlightenment. It does not refer only to the feminine forms. It is the wisdom that eliminates he five poisons caused by the ego, such as desires, anger, ignorance, pride and doubt. Everyone, male and female has this aspect of enlightenment. The skilful method is represented by the male energy, which is the other aspect of enlightenment. Wisdom or emptiness and compassion or skilful methods are the two aspects of enlightenment.

Rather than looking at the enlightened female practitioners as female in forms, we need to appreciate them in the more profound sense. They represent the fully developed state of wisdom.

From the cultural or traditional point of view, in the past and today in remote parts of the world the external conditions have been very difficult for female practitioners to practice and to attain enlightenment. Therefore, it is very important to highlight the importance of female through the spiritual expression.

None the less, it should never be misunderstood that Dakini only refers to female population and completely excludes the male population. The principle of Dakini cannot be fully developed with the support of Daka or Yidam, sometimes understood as masculine energy. Similarly the masculine energy or the Daka, cannot be fully activated without the support of Dakini or feminine energy.

In conclusion, it is a great mistake to treat Dakini as a female in human form, as Dakini truly refers to the wisdom or emptiness aspect of enlightenment. Therefore in instances where the female population is not or less respected, the principle of Dakini needs to be highlighted, otherwise one is advised not to fanatically differentiate the male and female energies, as both are needed badly to be developed in order to attain perfect enlightenment.

Vajrayana

Vajra means “indestructible ” and yana means  “vehicle” or “path”. It is an indestructible path to attain enlightenment and it is the quickest and most dangerous path. Vajrayana cannot be treated independently from Hinayana and Mahayana, which are the foundations for practicing Vajrayana. The Hinayana emphasizes on terminating samsaric rebirths by cutting all the negative and afflictive emotions caused by the ego, therefore, achieving self enlightenment. Mahayana emphasizes on attaining enlightenment for the sake of all beings, which is the great motivation known as Bodhicitta. Vajrayana develops great and quick methods to attain enlightenment based on Bodhicitta.

In Buddhist teaching, we always emphasize on “refuge”, such as taking refuge in the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) or the Three Roots (Guru, Yidam and Dakini). If we carefully examine these two levels of three refuge objects, the actually refer to the path of Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana.

By taking refuge in the Dakini, the representation of primordial wisdom or great emptiness, we are practicing the wisdom which acts like a fire that burn away all our afflictive emotions. In this sense, this is similar to the Hinayana practice. By taking refuge in the Yidam or the Daka, the representation of skilful methods or great compassion, we are actually practicing Bodhicitta and undertaking the Bodhisattva path, which is the Mahayana practice. By taking refuge in the Guru is the union of the great emptiness and great compassion.

Taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha means that we are deciding a destination and the direction of our wishes. It means that we wish to become a Buddha or become enlightened. Without taking refuge, we will not be able to practice Bodhicitta or help all sentient beings in an effective manner. Without knowing our destination, all our beneficial activities would become very tiring and exhausting because we wouldn’t know what we are aiming for. Therefore taking refuge is the foundation.

In the Mahayana practice, it may take a few hundred lifetimes to attain Buddhahood and along the way, one may give up and abandon the path all together, the Buddha was very kind to provide the Vajrayana option to qualified practitioners. Being “qualified” means that one has to master the skills of refuge and the Bodhicitta motivation, without  both, Vajrayana cannot be practiced and even in practice one will end up in a dangerous state that will take him or her directly to hell.

In Vajrayana, all the practices are about the great union of all the phenomena and the methods to directly point at the ultimate nature or our mind. Therefore, it is the quickest and most dangerous path. Without the foundation of refuge or Hinayana and Bodhicitta or Mahayana, we will not be able successful take the Vajrayana path.

Vajrayana practices is not only about visualization, about Mahamudra meditation or about colorful ways of performing ceremonies, it is about directly realizing one’s afflictive emotions and immediately transforming them into wisdom or realizing them as wisdom.

Restoring Yogini Traditations

The Yogini tradition was practiced since the time of Guru Padmasambhava and even before his time, not necessarily based on Niguma nor Naropa being practiced traditionally by the female practitioners of the Drukpa Order.

It is very difficult to explain because such kinds of practices are only revealed to qualified practitioners and it is practiced to strengthen the conviction of being enlightened without one lifetime. If man can do it, so can woman.

While the six Yogas of Naropa have been taught widely in monasteries to monks, it has rarely been taught to female practitioners as there have not been many qualified yogi or Yogini teachers being able to contribute in that sense. In eastern Tibet, the Drukpa Lineage used to have 3,000 nuns who were Yoginis, under the guidance of the previous reincarnations of Kyabje Khamtrul Rinpoche.

With the threat of modernization, such kind of Yogini practices has become very rare. There is a need to promote and restore this tradition, so that qualified female practitioners will also get the opportunity to be enlightened within one lifetime.