Khenpo Sherab Sangpo
Most people think that the Dharma is a spiritual tradition of making offerings and saying prayers in monasteries, making requests and saying dedication prayers on behalf of the deceased, conferring empowerments, doing recitations, turning prayer wheels, and performing prostrations and circumambulations—this is mistaken. These are only facets of this spiritual path, performed for temporary purposes, not the actual essence of the Dharma.
As Jamgön Kongtrul says, “Building statues, offering butter lamps, prostration, circumambulation, and recitation of prayers: such compounded roots of virtue is the Dharma of worldly beings, the common Dharma. Although it is amazing and of fathomless benefit, this is not what is called the sacred Dharma. Striving to learn, contemplate, and meditate, and keeping the three vows without duplicity—striving in such uncompounded roots of virtue is the uncommon Dharma of those who have entered the practice of Buddha’s teachings.”
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Khenpo Sherab Sangpo
Faith based on investigation and understanding
Developing faith in Buddhism for no reason—having no idea of its essential meaning, direction, or path—or in dependence on mistaken or incorrect reasons is blind faith.
This was not recommended by the Buddha or other great spiritual masters—such as Longchenpa, Mipham Rinpoche, and Patrul Rinpoche—in our Nyingma tradition, the earliest tradition in Tibetan Buddhism.
Therefore, it is important to develop what is called confident faith by investigating the validity of the teachings with your own intelligence and wisdom. As the great yogin Milarepa says, “Insightful wisdom, compassion, and character—these three are continuous guides on the path.”
These days, some people would use Buddha Shakyamuni’s teachings as a tool to accomplish mundane purposes: to feed themselves, to build their wealth and reputation, or just for temporary good fortune.
Some claim to be able to accomplish worldly aims using the Buddha’s power; however, if these desired aims are not successfully accomplished, they may disparage and attack Dharma teachings, causing them to be avoided or denigrated. Quite a few people accumulate the karma of abandoning the Dharma by opposing it or by developing deeply distorted views about it.
The cause of this is following a spiritual path out of blind faith without first investigating its principles and coming to know the inner meaning of the Dharma.
Therefore, before embarking on the path, we must examine the Buddha and his teachings with the three pure analyses: direct perception, logical inference, and scriptural inference. Once we have attained faith through knowledge, we can practice the Dharma throughout our lives.
In the Shrimahabalatantrarajasutra, the Buddha advises, “Just as gold is tested by being burned, cut, and rubbed, the wise should accept my words only after examining them, not merely out of faith or other such reasons.”
The Buddha clearly advised his followers not to practice his teachings solely out of respect, for no particular reason, or because of their renown. The process of investigating the teachings has been the traditional way from ancient times to the present, and this is one characteristic that distinguishes the Buddha’s sublime teachings from other paths.
Therefore, we should not rely upon the personality of a teacher but upon the validity of the teachings. By examining the teachings repeatedly, a practitioner comes to understand what is to be practiced and what is to be abandoned, and he or she should practice accordingly. This is the unexcelled way of entering the Buddha’s sacred teachings.
The Buddha taught the four reliances shortly before his passing:
“Rely on the message of the teacher, not on his personality;rely on the meaning, not just on the words;rely on the real meaning, not on the provisional one;rely on your wisdom mind, not on your ordinary judgmental mind.”
In ancient India, for example, the scholar Udbhatasiddhasvamin was extremely learned in the Brahmanic scriptures. He analyzed and examined the Buddha’s teachings thoroughly, and once he understood the logic behind them, he developed faith based on reason. In the Vishesastava, the verses of praise to the Buddha at the beginning of the Kangyur, part of the Tibetan Buddhist canon, he states,
“I have no loyalty to the Buddha,nor do I have hatred for followers of Kapila.Whatever is based on logic—that is an authentic teacher and spiritual path.”
Only after we have examined the teachings objectively and understood them clearly should we enter the Buddhist spiritual path. Being forced to become a Buddhist—without being interested in or without prior knowledge of the teachings—is not an authentic way of entering the door of the Dharma.
