Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
There are people who can speak eloquently about the Dharma without having had any true, personal experience of it. But even as their fine words overflow, the fire of the five poisons is all the time burning inside them. Anyone who is going to truly teach others must first have a thorough grounding in the teachings.
The steady flame of a stout wick can light a hundred butter lamps, but the tenuous flame of a wick that is too thin cannot even keep itself alight. You may have received numerous instructions and know, in theory, how to progress and avoid obstacles. Nevertheless, if you do not apply these instructions to yourself, your knowledge will remain sterile, like the wealth of a rich miser who deprives himself of food and starves to death.
If you sincerely want to progress, open your eyes to your own defects. It is your own mind that you must examine, as if in a mirror.
To maintain a conceited opinion of yourself, seeing defects only in others and regarding your own flaws as good qualities, will certainly prevent you from making any progress. According to the Kadampa masters, the best teachings expose our hidden faults. To unmask a hitherto unsuspected thief effectively puts an end to his doings.
Know how to recognize your predominant defects—desire, anger, jealousy, pride and stupidity. Remain aware of them and be ready to neutralize them whenever they appear. Keep track of your emotions, like a king who fears his enemies and surrounds himself day and night with vigilant guards. The Kadampa masters used to say:
“I hold the sword of vigilance at the gate of my mind. When the emotions threaten, I threaten them back. Only when they relax their grip, do I relax mine.”
To thus maintain constant vigilance, even when under the sway of your emotions, is essential. If you are not even aware of your own emotions, it will be all too easy to miss the point while deluding yourself into thinking that you are really following the Dharma. This kind of mistaken practice can lead to the lower realms.
Just looking at a beautiful fresco depicting all the details of the celestial realms is not the same as actually reaching them. Just reading the doctor's prescription will not make you well. Just imitating the behavior of a Dharma practitioner will not lead you to liberation.
To dye a piece of cloth carelessly is a waste of time—the dye will not remain, and nothing will have been accomplished. It is just as pointless to practice the Dharma without it penetrating your being. You will only be squandering your potential. No one can travel the path for you. You must do it yourself. Of course you will not be able to eliminate all your faults at once. Only a Buddha is perfect. But you can purify yourself little by little, like the moon emerging resplendent from a sea of clouds.
No crime is so grave that it cannot be repaired. The serial killer Angulimala committed nine hundred and ninety-nine murders, but he became an arhat after meeting the Buddha and purifying his misdeeds through the strength of his faith. Any quality can be developed with enough effort. But without having faith or making an effort, you will never perfect yourself, not even if the Buddha himself were to appear to you in person.
