Comments about vows and receiving the full benefit of empowerments

Kathok Rigzin Chenpo Rinpoche

Many Vajrayana samayas are kept through meditation. Without meditative skill, you cannot keep some of these commitments even if you wish to.  

There are basic requirements for each of the three levels of vows of the three vehicles. One has to train in abiding by the basic requirements (vows) first.  One may not be able to keep the branch vows right away, but you can aspire to keep them purely in future. 

When one receives the empowerment today, it does not mean that one is automatically able to keep all the samayas purely right away. One should have the wish to keep the samayas but the reality of the situation is that one is usually unable to keep all the vows perfectly right from the start. 

Similarly, can an ordained monastic keep all their vows perfectly from the first day of being ordained? That is not possible.  The usual procedure is to train while learning the precepts, accompanied by constant repenting and purifying of any transgression or mistake.  

If one is able to keep the Pratimoksha vows perfectly, one can reach the state of Arhathood very quickly but this is very difficult. Through pure vows or discipline, one also quickly achieves meditative concentration or skill in samadhi, but this is also hard to achieve.

The essence of the Pratimoksha vows is renunciation. One should often think about the sufferings of samsara and long for liberation. The main point of the Bodhisattva vows is Bodhichitta. One not only wishes for Buddhahood for oneself but also aspires to help other beings gain Buddhahood upon reaching the ability to do so. 

One should keep reminding oneself to generate this altruistic resolve to benefit others.  When you have this altruistic attitude, it encompasses the entire collection of Bodhisattva vows. Without this altruistic attitude, even if you appear to keep the Bodhisattva vows on the surface, you do not achieve the intent of the Bodhisattva vows.  

The main essence of the Vajrayana samayas is pure view. One has to believe that all sentient beings have Buddha-nature.  Buddha-nature is pure. When one has confidence in this understanding, you will naturally respect all sentient beings.  

We are now unable to develop respect for all beings because we do not understand this point deeply enough or lack sufficient certainty in it.  We may know this point intellectually but we do not possess sufficient faith and confidence in it.

One should develop one’s mind along these three points — Renunciation, Bodhichitta and Pure View.  The body, speech and mind becomes pure or the three vajras.  Upon such a foundation, we will receive wisdom, blessings and the full effectiveness of an empowerment.

Using your time meaningfully

Nowadays, anyone with even a bit of wisdom deliberately sets aside time to read, generate Bodhichitta, and discipline themselves to do meaningful things. This kind of self-discipline is entirely achievable. In fact, even the founder of Douyin (Chinese version of Tiktok), Zhang Yiming, doesn’t scroll Douyin himself. He once said, “I designed the algorithm to make people addicted, but my brain must remain clear.”

Indeed, for the sake of commercial profit, such platforms deliberately create addictive traps, drawing users into spending large amounts of time and money—forming a terrible “demonic net” in this degenerate age.

In reality, those at the top do not waste their time aimlessly. Bill Gates, for example, requires himself to read one book a week, finishing around 50 books a year. The investor Charlie Munger, who lived to 99, was famously a voracious reader—reportedly reading up to 20 books a week. They compel themselves to pursue higher value, unlike consumers and internet users with lower levels of awareness who easily fall into the traps set by various internet platforms, wasting both time and money.

Truth prevails over special powers

Khenpo Sodargye

In the Mahāyāna-Sūtrālamkāra-Kārikā, there is a case-study of a demon king who took the illusory appearance of a monk. While a Dharma master was expounding the Dharma to the monastic assembly, this monk stood up and declared that he had already attained the state of Arhat.

The Dharma master then posed certain questions to this monk to ascertain his claim—for example: How does one enter meditative concentration? How are afflictions eradicated? The monk’s answers were in contradiction to the genuine Dharma. The Dharma master therefore told his disciples that this person was not an Arhat. 

At that moment, the monk suddenly levitated in the air and displayed eighteen kinds of miracles. Seeing this, many disciples developed faith in him and began ridiculing the Dharma master, saying, “How can you fail to recognize such an extraordinary Arhat?”

Yet the master’s view and insight were extremely firm. No eloquence or miraculous powers displayed could shake his certainty, he continued to explain the authentic principles of the Buddha-Dharma.  Finally, the demon king himself was convinced by the truth and revealed his true form.

(Note: Past masters or practitioners have also used this method to test beings who claimed to be certain holy beings or Bodhisattvas etc, whether in person, visions, dreams or by possession (through an oracle/medium)-- that is, by checking their understanding of Dharma.

Mixing Dharma with worldly needs

Kathok Rigzin Chenpo Rinpoche

The rules established by the lineage masters and their habits in their daily lives are all very important. Through listening, contemplation, and practice, they discovered that certain ways of doing things are effective—beneficial to sentient beings, beneficial to the practitioners themselves and helpful for liberation.

Of course, within the rules of a monastery, there are also many superfluous things. Some arise from societal influence. For example, in Tibet, where religion and politics were combined, many traditions arose due to social needs rather than the needs of the monastery.  

The Guru did not wish to do things in a particular way (referring to mixing Dharma with worldly desires). Many masters did not actually want to engage in these but had not much choice because these were the prevailing customs in society. In such cases, they had to accord with the demands of sentient beings.

To accord with sentient beings is like adding water to milk. Although it is milk, sometimes we add more water, sometimes less. Yet as long as there is still the taste and color of milk, it can indirectly benefit sentient beings. 

Similarly, when we perform a virtuous action, how much of it truly contains the authentic Dharma? Sometimes only a portion, sometimes quite a lot—it varies in each case. As long as there is an element of genuine Dharma within it, it becomes an indirect method of liberation.

If we were to insist on completely pure Dharma, it is hard to benefit sentient beings.  This is because sentient beings seek worldly benefits. What we sentient beings like are teachings related to desire, aversion and ignorance… the five poisons or afflictions. Practices that separate us from the five poisons are generally less appealing to everyone.

Although Lama Atisha once said that the best Dharma is completely free of worldly concerns, this is very difficult to carry out in practice. What we are doing now are skilful means that both accord with the inclinations of sentient beings and benefit them. But the highest practice, as mentioned in the teachings of Atisha and Padmasambhava, is to be completely free of all worldly concerns; this means to be completely opposite of worldly people, to be entirely different from them. 

If you can accomplish that, you are a truly excellent practitioner. For example, if we look at Milarepa, he is a good example of a Dharma practitioner. From a worldly perspective however, he appeared to be a completely useless and unsuccessful person.

Remembering departed relatives

Lord Buddha

The Supreme Buddha gave this sermon to King Bimbisara after an alms offering to the Sangha.

After they have been born in the ghost world, departed relatives will come back to their own houses and stand by the doors. They also stand outside walls and at intersections.

Some people in the family will enjoy delicious food without remembering their departed relatives. Departed relatives are forgotten because of their own bad karma.

Some compassionate people offer delicious food and drink to virtuous people and share merits with their departed relatives saying, “Let this be for our relatives! May our relatives be happy!” Departed relatives gather to these places and highly appreciate the offering. They bless their relatives saying, “May our relatives who compassionately offered us these gifts have long, happy, and healthy lives.” The givers also gain good results.

Beings in the ghost world do not farm, herd cattle, trade, buy, sell, or use gold and money. They survive on merits shared by humans. As water that rains on a mountain-top flows down to the bottom, so will the merits shared from the human world reach the beings in the ghost world. Just as streams of water fill the ocean, so will the merits shared from the human world reach the beings in the ghost world. One should share merits with departed relatives recalling, “He gave to me, he worked for me, he was a relative, friend, and companion.”

Weeping, sorrow, and lamentation will not benefit departed relatives in any way. They will remain in the ghost world no matter how much we cry.

Great King, the merits shared from the donations given to the noble disciples of the Buddha will be received by the departed relatives right away. They will enjoy happiness for a long time. Sharing merits with departed relatives is a very good habit to develop. You have respected departed relatives and supported the monks. By doing this you have collected much merit which will result in extraordinary happiness for a long time, great King.

(From the Khuddaka Nikāya)

About HH Rigzin Chenmo of Dorje Drak

Kathok Rigzin Chenpo Rinpoche

Chusang Rinpoche grew up with HH Rigzin Chenmo of Dorje Drak.  Chusang Rinpoche regarded HH as the Buddha himself and had very strong faith in him.  Wherever he went, Chusang Rinpoche would bring HH’s photo and place it in the mandala or shrine.  This was a very old photo. Rinpoche would place HH’s photo there and make prostrations to it. 

Chusang Rinpoche said that the Dharma had truly entered HH Rigzin Chenmo’s mind through his practice.  The mind had merged with the Dharma and so HH's mind was gentle, pliant, and serene. Chusang Rinpoche praised HH as a master who has equalized the Eight Worldly Winds (or concerns).

How was HH unmoved by the Eight Worldly Winds? HH was born into a very large family in Tibet — an aristocratic lineage, one of the eight great noble families of Tibet and he was the eldest son. He had a very prestigious family background and yet when he entered the monastery many people felt that he did not seem aristocratic at all because from childhood he never possessed any pride or arrogance.

All his life until the time of his passing, HH constantly abided in a meditative state. Masters who are completely free from the stain of pride are extremely rare. HH was like that from childhood and has never changed.  He did not get changed because of his noble birth, or because of his power or status, or because his monastery was one of the most important in the Nyingma lineage. 

He remained continuously in the state of equality amid the Eight Worldly Dharmas— this is something ordinary people cannot achieve.

Many people who encountered him praised him in this way. Those who met him found that in his presence their own pride would naturally dissolve; after spending some time with him, many people’s altruistic mind will naturally arise, and they will dedicate themselves entirely to benefiting sentient beings.

HH never sought anything for himself, his monastery or his lineage. This was one of his greatest quality.  He always placed himself and those associated with him last. In all matters he was fair and impartial, always considering entirely for others.  He was a person who had a vast mind to benefit others and possessed vast Bodhicitta.

During the difficult period (of Chinese cultural revolution), HH swept the Barkhor Street. He personally cleaned every toilet. At that time, a highly respected Tulku from Tibet was working together with him. The space beneath the toilets was probably very small (note: these are toilet pits filled with faeces and urine as toilets in Tibet had no modern sewage disposal system), and each time the two of them would compete to go in to clear it first.

HH would say, “My body is bigger and my arms are longer, so it’s more convenient for me to go.” The other would reply, “I’m shorter, so it’s easier for me to get in — you shouldn’t move.” The two of them did the work joyfully. Even while cleaning toilets, they felt no suffering or dejection. They regarded cleaning toilets and sweeping the streets as acts of benefiting sentient beings and did not feel any sense of suffering or distress at all.

HH Rigzin Chenmo was a lay practitioner

Eight Worldly Dharmas

HH Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche

Some people think they are free from the eight worldly dharmas and are critical of others whom they think fall below such standards.  Actually, such a critical attitude is in itself the greatest worldly dharma.  This person is already entangled in the eight worldly dharma and is not any better than the person he is disapproving of.

For instance, when people make offerings to him, although he says that he doesn’t want it, he actually hopes for it in his heart.  This is a worldly dharma. 

Some monastics are particularly attached. They seem to decline anyone’s show of respect for them.  When others set up a throne or high seat for them, they are unwilling to sit on these seats. This is also a worldly dharma.

Also, some people make a show of being humble in front of others, trying to prove that they are free from worldly concerns, hoping that by doing so others will praise them.  This is still a worldly dharma.

(Eight worldly dharmas: wishing for gain, avoiding loss; wishing for a good reputation, avoiding disgrace; wishing for pleasure, avoiding pain; wishing for praise, avoiding criticism. Basically this refers to clinging to the present life with attachment and aversion. 

It is said that only a first bhumi Bodhisattva and above can truly be free from the eight worldly dharmas although a genuine practitioner should still try to reduce and renounce them.)

Best Preparation for Death

Khenpo Kathar Rinpoche

Responding to a question of a student who is unable to gain any meditative stability and is worried about how to handle the bardo transition:

There are definitely means and instructions that will enable you to develop the type of stability that is needed to successfully traverse the bardo. As you indicated in your question, we all want to achieve this kind of stability.

It is not necessarily achieved by practicing a large variety of techniques, but by properly implementing any one complete technique of practice.

Visualizing your body as the deity Chenrezi, repeating the mantra OM MANI PADME HUNG, and dissolving the appearance of the deity into emptiness at the conclusion of the session are the three techniques by which you can achieve the necessary stability for traversing the bardo.

The phase of the meditation where you withdraw or dissolve the appearance of the deity is how to cultivate familiarity with the clear light so that you can recognize the dharmakaya at death.

Meditating upon your body as the body of Chenrezi is how you can gain the ability to achieve liberation as the sambhogakaya in the second phase of the bardo.

Repetition of the mantra OM MANI PADME HUNG is how you can learn to view all sound, including the sounds that appear in the bardo, as mantra.

Furthermore, the motivation of great compassion with which you perform the whole practice is the basis for the altruistic aspiration to reborn as nirmanakaya for the benefit of others, which is the key to traversing the third phase of the bardo, and doing this one complete technique will achieve all that you need.

In contrast, knowledge of a large number of techniques without gaining stability in any one of them will not bring this.

~~

Responding to a student’s question on how to prepare for death with a good amount of confidence:

I am a lot older than you are and so I’ve got more to worry about. Therefore this is of great concern to me too, so I’ll tell you what I really think. The single best preparation that you can have for dying is to recite the mantra OM MANI PADME HUNG.

If you make the commitment to yourself, “I will recite 100 million OM MANI PADME HUNG,” whether or not you complete it in this life, from the day you make that commitment until the day you die, this will have a great effect on you, and you will have tremendous benefit.

As for what you meditate on, you should always visualize above your head either the Buddha Amitabha or the Bodhisattva Chenrezi, it does not matter which. Just think that the deity is the embodiment in one form of all sources of refuge and especially of all of your spiritual teachers. Continually visualize them there, above your head, day and night, and resolve that at death your consciousness will dissolve upward into them.

What you meditate on and visualize is your teacher in the form of Amitabha or Chenrezi above your head and what you recite is the mantra OM MANI PADME HUNG. That is the best preparation.

Pulse of a meditator

TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) Professor Liu Lihong recounted his first meeting with the Chan Master Nan Huai Jin

Time slipped by without our noticing, and nearly two hours had passed (in our discussion on Chinese Medicine)—it was almost time for dinner. Elder Nan (Nan Huai Jin) seemed to notice and smiled as he extended both hands to me. “Check my pulse for me.”

At that moment, I couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous, but seeing the warm smile on Elder Nan’s face, I gathered my courage.

Elder Nan’s pulse belonged to what is called the Six Yang Pulse. It not only ran through the three positions—cun, guan, and chi—but also traveled through the palm and reached both sides of the middle finger. As Elder Li (a famous TCM doctor, Dr Li Ke) once put it, this was the first time he had ever encountered such an extraordinary pulse in several decades.

Normally, a pulse of this kind appears only when a fetus is about to be born. Among folk practitioners skilled in pulse diagnosis, such a pulse can be used to determine the time of delivery. Seeing our puzzled expressions, Elder Nan joked, “This fetus of mine has been ready to be born for decades now, and it still hasn’t come out!”

This was probably what is called the “nurturing of the sacred embryo” in the language of inner alchemy (at this stage, the vital energies have fully gathered at the navel dan-tien region as in the process of pregnancy). At last, we had truly encountered a genuine practitioner.

Note: At the time of pulse taking, Master Nan was more than 85 years of age, he often taught that meditation will change both the body and mind.

 

Sharing merits and loving-kindness with other beings

Interesting sharing by a nun-practitioner:

Someone asked me to share my spiritual experiences and how I overcame suffering in my life. Since I was invited to speak on this topic, I will share my practice with you today.

When I was young, I liked to meditate and practice Buddhism.

However, it was not easy. My parents were not interested in meditation, hence it was quite a challenge for me.

When I was seven or eight years old, I often paid respects to the Buddha (Buddhanusati—recollection of Buddha).

I practiced by myself. No teacher taught me to sit in front of the Buddha. I didn’t know what to do. I just felt very happy sitting like this. I felt that the Buddha would protect me.

Later, someone told me that I could recite the with prayer beads, "itipi so bhagava...". I just recited like this for two hours per day.

This generated happiness, peacefulness, and calmness in me. I liked that feeling.

Then, one day I had a dream, a very clear dream. I saw that there were many sentient beings in a tower. I couldn't count how many sentient beings there were. All these sentient beings only revealed their faces.

Their heads were big but their bodies were small. I didn't know what kind of sentient beings they were.

I heard them wailing in my dream, "We are burning, we are burning, it's very hot and painful, please help us! " But in the dream I replied, "I really want to help you, but I don't know how! "

They replied, "You only need to continue your daily practice (Buddhanusati), and then spread metta (loving kindness) and share your merits with us", they taught me when I was dreaming.

I did this every day. I rushed to meditate after school. As I didn't want to keep all the merits to myself, I have been sharing all my merits with everyone all these years.

After two weeks of doing so, I dreamt that these sentient beings had been liberated from their suffering. Since then, it has generated much happiness in my heart.

They were now free from pain and suffering, and I knew how much pain they have endured in their lives. After I dreamt that they informed me they were free from suffering, I felt peacefulness arise in my heart, and since then I truly generated the wish to help others.

But as I didn't know how to help others, I just practiced every day like this, and continued to practice this way for 15 years.

I am just sharing my own experiences, you can also practice in this way.

Many sentient beings suffer a lot, but most people don’t want to interact with ghosts, however I feel very comfortable with them.

Every time I meditate, I share my merits with them.

Everywhere I go, I feel the sentient beings there. Oh! I am so happy that I can help them. Immediately, I spread loving kindness to them, hence I get along with them very well.

Sometimes during retreats, such as those conducted at some Chinese temples in Singapore, we can see ghosts interfering with meditators.

Immediately, the meditator's behavior and disposition changes, and we can see that their characteristics resemble that of ghosts.

Others are not sure what to do, hence they want to send these meditators to the hospital. I told them that they don’t need to be sent to the hospital. We know that beings are interfering with them.

What should we do? We don’t need to beat them or scold them. We just need to spread loving kindness: "Oh, please don’t interfere. Please listen to me. Please leave, you will get good merit", we will give them the merit.

They are very happy, and immediately they leave. So it is good if you can become friends with sentient beings who are ghosts, and slowly they will listen to you.

After changing their external appearances, these beings no longer look like human beings.

You know, because they are hungry ghosts and they want to eat, so they come over, and I ask my students to give them water from a cup.

They don’t want to drink from a human's cup. So I took the cup and asked them to drink, and they started to drink, like a dog, not like a person.

Having become ghosts and having changed their appearances, they licked the water with their tongues like dogs, this is what we can see. It is not imagination, this is what really happens in actuality in our society.

You can see how much sentient beings suffer, regardless of how much we try to help, although we are all working hard to help them.

I don’t just help the beings in lower realms, I also help the Devas. Since I was seven, I have also been dedicating my merits to the devas.

After I reached the age of ten, I couldn't sleep at midnight.

Every time I slept, someone would nudge me in the back, so I had to get up. As I stayed on the upper floor, I would have to go downstairs to the courtyard, where I would recite the Dhamma Chakrawattana Sutta every night, which was the first scripture taught in Varanasi. I didn't understand the meaning. Hence, I just opened the book and recited it while looking at the sky. I could see that many Devas were listening. I chanted it in Pali. I kept chanting, every night, for 15 years.

I have always liked being alone since young. I didn't have many friends. I only had very few friends, regardless of whether I was in high school or university. I liked to stay in the room with the Devas and with the ghosts too, but I was afraid of people. I did not know why.

After I ordained, I realised human beings were very important. It is easy for human beings to understand the Dharma. No matter how much I help, ghosts cannot become arahants or attain Sottapana because their wisdom is very low and they cannot understand the Dhamma.

Therefore, I feel it's a waste of time. It might be better if I share the Dhamma with human beings. After learning, human beings can gain concentration (samadhi) , develop insight knowledge (vipasanna), and possibly benefit the next generation.

From then on, my thinking has changed. I stopped being fixated on helping other beings. Now, I only devote my energy to teaching humans.

Afterwards, I tried slowly to teach more human beings the Dharma. Since then, over ten years have passed. I have traveled to many countries and interacted with many people. Although I am very young, I wish to go to more countries and meet various people of different religions.

It is very difficult for us females to spread the Dharma in general, let alone travel to spread the Dharma. I believe that there are many Devas who are protecting me. I don’t know what kind of karma has caused me to travel to so many different places.

Everywhere I go, people are very friendly.

They take care of me. I also spread loving kindness to everyone in every country equally. I regard them as my relatives, Dharma brothers and sisters, hence I do not have any animosity towards anyone at all.

I like to practice loving-kindness very much. I spread loving-kindness to many people every day, and I don’t like to think about the faults of others. I understand the nature of human beings.

Sometimes people do bad things and criticize me.

Sometimes in my own life, I have encountered many problems, but I try to overcome them and try to forgive others. If you regard such as human nature, then you can forgive.

I love everyone and every sentient being, so I am always at ease. I have never accused anyone of offending me. I see everyone as equally adorable and cute.

Sometimes some people want to criticize me, sometimes others want to voice their complains to me.

Regardless, from my perspective, they are all adorable and cute, in my heart I always treat them like children.

But my practice is not perfect yet. I try to do my best every day, so it is easy for me to get along with humans without causing any problems. It's the same for all of you.

One day, you will also be like mothers to the sentient beings of children, and you will also have many students in the future.

You will need to teach people from different countries. Hence, this requires you to have a pure mind. If you have a pure mind, anything you see will be beautiful, there will be no negative emotions.

If your mind is not pure, everything you see will be negative, this is the law of kamma at work. 

Buddhahood in 7 days

Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro

Many scriptures in Sutrayana mention that all Bodhisattvas in Sukhavati on the first bhumi (and above) can attain Buddhahood within 7 days if they so choose.  If they do not wish to attain Buddhahood so quickly but prefer to benefit beings in the form of a Bodhisattva, they can delay the attainment of Buddhahood by some hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of millions of great eons.  The 7 days mentioned here refer to the duration of 7 days in the human realm. 

(Note: A person who is reborn in Sukhavati through the Mahayana path attains first Bhumi immediately after the lotus opens and upon seeing Buddha Amitabha. This is due to the blessings of Amitabha.)

From this perspective, if a practitioner concentrates on reciting Amitabha from now till his passing, say, some decades later, and immediately takes rebirth in Sukhavati, it merely takes several decades to attain Buddhahood, even including the 7 days in Sukhavati. 

Although this is not (as fast as the Vajrayana method of) attaining Buddhahood in this very life, if we consider that one can attain Buddhahood so rapidly in Sukhavati, then it seems that there is not a great difference between (these two paths).  Therefore, the practice of Amitabha also brings accomplishment very swiftly (like Vajrayana).

In all the 84000 Dharma methods, apart from these two practices, is there any other practice that allows an ordinary person to attain Buddhahood within a few decades?  The answer is a definite no.  In short, one way is Vajrayana, the other way is Amitabha practice.  These two methods are the most crucial practices.  Tibet has many other Sutric and Tantric practices; Chinese Buddhism also has Chan and other methods, and although these practices each have their unique qualities, there is not one that can compare to Dzogchen and Amitabha practice.

Dzogchen can bring accomplishment very swiftly. However, Dzogchen has its requirements.  The main requirement is the capacity of the student.  Then, one has to find a realized teacher who can give the empowerments and confer the pith instructions.  Dzogchen can only be realized when all the various requirements are fully met.

Mind karmas are most consequential

Venerable Xuyun

(Patriarch of five lineages of Chinese Buddhism)

Of the three types of karma (of body, speech and mind), the mind-related karmas are extremely heavy and most consequential.  All virtues or non-virtues start from the mind.  If the thought is virtuous, then it becomes the ten virtues (of body, speech and mind). If the thought is non-virtuous then it becomes the ten non-virtues.

The Dharma path is training precisely this mind.  A Dharma practitioner practices this mind.  The Chan meditator investigates this mind.  The Amitabha pureland practitioner recites with this mind.  In all interactions with others, in all good or bad circumstances, subdue this mind.  

When mingling with people, have a gentle mind. When managing wealth, have a pure and honest mind. In handling matters, have a sincere and loyal mind.  When managing subordinates, have a magnanimous and open mind.  

Treat others with a fair mind. Distribute gifts with an equal mind.  At all places and times, cultivate, refine and control this mind so that it doesn’t become wild, undisciplined, extreme, egoistic or arrogant.  

Even the slightest impurity left untouched in the mind is a demonic obstacle that doesn’t benefit you—one should not practice the Dharma this way.

How to tell misfortune is coming

Kathok Rigzin Chenpo Rinpoche

Before any misfortune strikes, there is always a sign.  An omen will appear for sure. It is only that the person doesn’t notice it, but the sign of the impending misfortune will definitely arise beforehand. 

Where does the sign arise? In one’s own mind. What happens in the mind? The virtuous thoughts diminish. When kindness, compassion and purity of mind are fading away, this means that your misfortune is going to ripen soon.  The misfortune is not caused by others, it is caused by oneself.

We should not blame others.  We always ascribe the problem to others. But actually, it is one’s own problem.  If you did not already have the past negative karma as a cause and if you did not have your present non-virtuous frame of mind as a condition to trigger the cause, it would not be possible for the misfortune to ripen.

The teachings of past great masters often mention that when merit is about to be exhausted and misfortune is about to arrive, the first thing that happens is that a non-virtuous thought arises. This refers to a strong non-virtuous thought based on attachment, aversion or ignorance or the mental poisons.

This non-virtuous thought is like a spark that sets off the blazing fire of related past negative karma, then misfortune happens to you.    

All of us have encountered many problems and obstacles in our lives. If we observed ourselves carefully, in every single case, before the misfortune struck, there would surely be a negative thought or non-virtuous mentality preceding it.  

Our mind-state was most certainly in an unhealthy or unbalanced state. Maybe you had created a very heavy karma of anger or desire during that period, or maybe you have done non-virtue repeatedly, accumulating a snowball effect. You created these negative karmas eagerly. Thus, your enthusiasm for these negative acts quickly activates similar negative karma from past lives. 

If we are presently encountering many obstacles and difficulties, we should not heap non-virtue upon non-virtue. Instead, it is time for us to confess our negativities. If we make confessions and purify sincerely, the present sufferings can become a positive condition for bringing future happiness and good fortune. 

Sometimes, just before a great merit ripens, we may meet some misfortune too.  Whether this misfortune brings about future good fortune depends on how you react to the suffering.  

In your time of greatest pain and sorrow, if you are able to retain your faith in the Triple Gems, correct your mistakes of body, speech, mind and perform strong confession and purification instead, then this suffering becomes a good condition for future great fortune and happiness. 

If instead you blame others, complain a lot and indulge in your sorrows, then you accumulate a lot of non-virtues such as anger and dissatisfaction etc, due to this, the suffering could be extended indefinitely. 

In such a case, the misfortune will no longer be a herald of coming good fortune; it is not even a purification of your negative karma, because you are continuously creating further negative karma with your attitude and actions.

Bearing hardship for Dharma is completely meaningful

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

The hardships we experience in practicing Dharma are completely different from those generally experienced by people in the world. Look at them. Ordinary people experience hardships—difficulties of body, speech and mind—day and night, all the time. 

Why do they experience all these hardships day and night, working from one Sunday to the next? Check up. All the work they do and all the tiredness and other sufferings they experience are to obtain the temporary happiness of only this life. 

There is no thought of obtaining the happiness of future lives or the ultimate happiness of liberation or enlightenment. There’s not even a single thought of that. All they think about is the small, temporary happiness of only this life—of a few years, a few months, a few days. That’s all. You can see that their whole life from beginning to end is spent on that.

Even though they spend this life in that way, it would be different if they had some success and happiness, some peace in their mind. But, no, they don’t. 

In fact, they experience all these great hardships to continually circle in samsara, to accomplish works that will again cause them to be born in the lower realms and experience the resultant suffering. Again they will have to be reborn in their previous home, the lower realms, and experience suffering, the result of those negative karmas.

This doesn’t happen only in the West; it is also similar in the East. Even around Lawudo, the Sherpa people don’t have time to practice Dharma. When you think of this, it makes you cry. When you see how sentient beings are suffering in samsara, it really makes you generate compassion.

There is a big difference in the way we experience difficulties and suffering to practice Dharma and in our reasons for doing so. The advantages that we receive from this as a Dharma practitioner and the advantages that those who don’t practice Dharma receive are complete opposites. 

Worldly people experience difficulties for a completely useless purpose in the end. All their difficulties cause them to accumulate negative karma. There’s not a single result of happiness or peace from that, just misery. 

The hours of hardship that we experience practicing Dharma have so much advantage, granting us both temporary and ultimate results.

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Realizations come when we purify our defilements; otherwise, realizations don’t happen. The more we purify, the more realizations come. It’s like with a mirror: the more dirt you clean from the mirror, the more reflections come in it. Our mind is like a mirror. As we clean the mirror of our mind, it’s able to give more and clearer reflections. Like that, realizations, including enlightenment, come.

Order of karmic ripening

Khenpo Yeshe Phuntsok 

In the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya,  Bodhisattva Vasubandhu writes that many virtuous and non-virtuous karmas ripen at the moment of death.  What determines the order of ripening? 

The heavier karma will ripen first. If two karmas are equal in weight, then the karma that is triggered by the last thought at the moment of death will ripen first.

If two karmas are equally triggered at the moment of death, then the one that has a stronger power of habit will ripen first. 

If even their strength of habituation is equal, then the karma that is created earlier will ripen first.

Geshe Potowa illustrated this with an analogy of people competing to board a boat to cross a river.  The stronger person boards first. If their strength is equal, the one closer to the boat boards first. If both are equally close, the one more familiar with the boatman boards first. If both are equally familiar with the boatman, then the one who first makes the request to board will board first.

Therefore, the birth of sentient beings is not unrelated to their previous death. The continuity of karmic consciousness is like a rushing stream —one moment followed by the next unceasingly— flowing from one end to the other end. 

Each of us has our own character, behavior, speech mannerisms, looks, opinions and thinking. For ordinary beings, these are more or less set in a fixed pattern. It is not likely for a person to alter his habits drastically overnight. This demonstrates the effect of habitual conditioning.

A tree that has long leaned toward the west will ultimately fall toward the west, so too scenes that appear at the time of death are often the result of one’s habitual tendencies in life. 

Whatever wholesome or unwholesome habits we have deeply cultivated during our lifetime are likely to arise at the moment of death.