Jamyang Rinpoche
When we say “Dharma training”, many practitioners think of training their
external conduct. Here we are talking
about “training the mind”. No matter how
you train your behavior externally, there will never come a day when things
become perfect.
Take, for instance, a Bhikshu (fully ordained monk) who upholds the 253
precepts perfectly. Can this person
attain Buddhahood? It is not certain. If we look at the stories of Buddha’s life,
we see the Bhikshu Sunaksatra who upheld all the 253 precepts purely. But he
has never addressed his own mind. He only cultivated an external appearance of
pure conduct. Therefore, he could not progress.
Or take another more mundane example: if we
keep trimming the leaves of a tree, there will never come a time when the work
is finished. The leaves will keep
growing because the tree remains alive.
However, should you destroy the root of the tree, the leaves will not
grow anymore. Then the whole problem is solved.
In the same way, trying to manage our discriminating thoughts and afflictions
in an external manner is an endless task.
For example, when you get angry, there is an object of your anger. You feel aversion and dislike towards the
object. You judge the object, thinking
“This is good, that is bad. This is beautiful, that is ugly. This is delicious,
that is not. This is a good person, that
is not,” and so on.
You try to deal with the object you dislike.
But such efforts are never-ending. It would be more effective to address
the inner emotion of anger that you have. Solve the problem of anger and all
external objects will not pose a problem to you.
Solving the problem of anger does not require you to snatch anything from
others, scold others or get into a fight.
All you need is sit down quietly and observe your own mind. Nothing else is needed.
When you succeed in cultivating your own mind, all else is perfect.
