Khenpo Sherab Sangpo
If our motivation is only concerned with attaining happiness or wealth or fame or being able to avoid suffering for ourselves, just only ourselves, then no matter how profound the practice may be, it will be a selfish practice.
It is possible that practicing in this way brings worldly benefit, but there will be no other good result. For example, if we practice Dzogchen with this type of motivation, your Dzogchen practice would become a worldly practice. This is what Paltrul Rinpoche calls it.
Dzogchen itself is not a mundane practice, it is the highest practice in Buddhism, right? But when Dzogchen practice is motivated by worldly pursuits, that turns it into a selfish and mundane practice.
Paltrul Rinpoche always says that without genuine Renunciation and Bodhicitta, if someone goes on a 9-year retreat and gives up all associations with others and practices Dzogchen full time, even with all that, this person would not even plant the smallest seed of liberation.
Can you believe that? 9-year retreat and give up everything and practice Dzogchen day and night, yet this person has no chance to reach enlightenment. Because your motivation is totally wrong.
So, how terrible it is not to give rise to Bodhicitta. That's why I always say this. I always focus on this because you want to practice. But you need to practice properly, correctly.
Otherwise, you feel like, oh, I practice many, many, many, many hours a day, but if your motivation is wrong, there's no benefit, you know? For this reason, every time we do something good, we should always check our motivation first.
We should ask ourselves — why we want to do this? Why do I want to teach? Why do you want to listen to the teachings? Why do we do all these things? If motivation is wrong, it must be corrected as quickly as possible. We must stop doing it with a wrong motivation because there is no benefit.
Many practitioners recite prayers, make offerings and do prostrations and so forth. But ask yourselves honestly, why do you do these things? If the motivation is not right, everything will go wrong. It will not lead you to enlightenment.
Buddhist practitioners should have a pure motivation when they practice. Liberation from samsara should be the ultimate goal. Everything you do is based on your motivation. Do you see how important it is?
Many people have heard the teachings of the Three Supreme Methods, right? They have heard it many times but that is not enough. Just to understand the Three Supreme Methods is just intellectual understanding, it's not enough. If teachings cannot be put into practice, then what is the point?
It is not that easy to be a genuine Buddhist and especially a Mahayana Buddhist. If we don't have a good motivation, if we don't have the courage to help sentient beings to be free from suffering, and if we are unwilling to generate Bodhicitta, then certainly we are not Mahayana practitioners.
The good thing is Bodhicitta is something even ordinary people like us are capable of generating if we really want to. You can see the benefit like almost immediately. Giving rise to Bodhichitta brings tremendous happiness into your mind. You're thinking of others, but it actually brings happiness to yourself.
That's why we say Bodhisattvas are so skilful. If you want to be a selfish person, you want to bring lots of happiness into your life, then practice Bodhicitta.
In order to constantly remember Bodhicitta motivation, we need mindfulness. That's why these two things are so important. Without the necessary foundation, it is not very meaningful or beneficial to rush into receiving other teachings like Dzogchen.
Note: Three Supreme Methods and their purposes
(Source: Phurpa Tashi Rinpoche)
1. Preparation: Bodhichitta motivation, making merits become infinite
2. Main practice free of concepts/distractions, preventing merits from being destroyed by outer conditions
3. Conclusion: Dedication, making merits multiply continuously (instead of being exhausted once it has ripened)
