Jamyang Rinpoche
After learning Dharma, there must be real changes in your conduct through body, speech and mind. When afflictions arise in the mind, we often blame others and become suspicious instead. In any Dharma center where students are practicing together, there are some who are weaker in listening, contemplation and meditation.
The reasons for poorer practice are because, firstly, the student dedicates less time to study and practice and, secondly, the obscurations and habitual tendencies from the past are heavier. For instance, the student cannot concentrate during teachings — looking at the handphone, looking out of the window, or glancing here and there at every little thing. This comes from a habit of being scattered and distracted.
If you apply this type of contaminated mind to listening to the Dharma, recitation of mantras and practice without making any corrections, as time goes on, the practitioner will fall behind in Dharma study and practice. The Dharma path will become very superficial for them.
The better students will listen to the Dharma in the correct manner as taught in the teachings. Their minds and ears are focused, their motivation is properly directed. They are focused on the contents of the teaching and using the teachings to habituate their minds. They are mindful in their conduct. By persisting in this training, their inner motivation and outer conduct slowly conforms to the Dharma teaching and becomes purified. Day by day, their practice makes progress.
Why is this happening? It is because they are making efforts to change themselves according to the Buddha’s and Guru’s teachings. They are following the instructions and so naturally improvements occur.
Students who stubbornly hold on to their old habits while engaging in listening, contemplation and practice of Dharma cannot make as quick progress as others are doing. They might then feel discontented and suspect that it is because other students enjoy a closer relationship to the Guru, or that it is because the Guru is favoring other students. They like to suspect that when the Guru praises a student, it is because the Guru likes that student and not him.
Such doubts and suspicions arise continually in the student’s mind. He does not try to examine himself to see if he is practicing correctly in the first place. All his attention is drawn towards the faults of the Guru or the faults of other students. Everyone else is the problem, except himself. Due to this, he thinks a lot and becomes paranoid.
If this continues, this student’s wisdom will never increase, there will be no progress on his Dharma path, and he creates all kinds of negative karma. It is hard to practice the Dharma this way. Even if Lord Buddha appeared and personally taught him, it would be hard for him to progress on his path.
This means that this student has no karmic link with Dharma in these circumstances and time, or that this student has himself cut off his connection with Dharma.
In particular, for the Vajrayana, there is no karmic link if the student has no faith in the Guru. Therefore, students must look at their own mistakes and faults, and be less calculating and touchy with your fellow Dharma students. This avoids all kinds of conflicts, quarrels and breakage of samaya vows. Otherwise, if you do not make any progress on your Dharma path at all, what is the point of it all?
It is quite meaningless to have practiced the Dharma for so many years and yet be so sensitive to a few disturbing words others say. What Dharma are you practicing then? What kind of patience are you practicing? The teachings state, “Crossing mountains of blades and oceans of lava, I will sacrifice my body to seek the genuine Dharma.” This is the kind of determination a Dharma practitioner should possess. Yet, we can’t even bear with a few unpleasant words said by others. It only goes to show that the Dharma you learn is going in the opposite direction from the Dharma you practice.
It is easy to learn Dharma and recite words like “crossing mountains of blades and oceans of lava”, but we can’t even take it when someone says a few words to us. What is the point of your Dharma practice then? This is just mouth-oriented Dharma.
