WORDS OF WISDOM AUTHOR: KHENPO TSULTRIM LODRO

The teachings I have given so far all deal with renunciation and bodhicitta. Sure, I can also teach the Five Treatises or some advanced Vajrayana practices, but they will not be helpful to most of you here, at least not for the time being. It is like a cook should only make as much food as the guests can consume. To make more than the guests can stomach would be pointless. And this is the very reason why I hesitated to give advanced teachings all along.

Although it is easy to discuss and accept the concept of “no- self,” this understanding is only of limited use to us at present.

Being “mindful” means that not only the body does virtuous action but the mind also engenders proper aspiration, visualizes carefully and dedicates the merit.

Since beginingless time, all sentient beings have known to cherish themselves above others. Everything that one does is to take care of one’s own interest, seldom others’, and never serves others’needs unconditionally. Therefore, it is usually not very difficult for someone to achieve worldly success, but quite a different matter when it comes to arouse genuine bodhicitta. When basic quality such as bodhicitta is absent, all practices will fail in reaching their objectives. Therefore, we must strive to succeed in generating bodhicitta, no matter how difficult it is. The challenge is with our own self, with that selfish mind. It is a constant battle we must face with endurance. If we work hard at it, we will triumph in the end.

Liberation is not a myth, but an objective and realistic goal to elevate the discriminating mind of ordinary people to the wisdom mind of the buddhas. To accomplish this grand aspiration, practitioners can forgo worldly pursuits such as fame and wealth; they are far-sighted and pro-active. Ordinary people are just the opposite; they lack vision, cannot see beyond this lifetime, and hence do their utmost to get ahead in this life only.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "All Contaminated Things are Unsatisfactory"

Thus, we need to remain highly mindful and keep our conduct disciplined when undertaking any kind of practice. Often enough, upon closer examination, we may find that what appears to be altruistic actually only benefits ourselves. This is true in the case of the five preliminary practices as well as mantra chanting, animal liberation, prostration, etc. In short, if the purpose is to attain liberation just for oneself, no matter how sublime a practice is, it can only be deemed a Theravada practice.

So keep in mind of the preciousness of this human birth. Don’t waste this life in neglect and ignorance, and miss the one chance for seeking freedom from samsara. In order to succeed, we must first begin by cultivating renunciation. Failing that, neither meditation nor mantra chanting can ever be deemed supramundane practice through which ultimate liberation can be attained. This is extremely important!

Renunciation is the prerequisite to bodhicitta. Without complete renunciation, genuine bodhicitta can never be aroused.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Three Differences"

The underlying concept is firstly, when facing suffering, look for the source of suffering. There are objective factors but they are not the main reason, just auxiliary conditions. The fundamental reason is the negative karma we have created. All ordinary people have greed; when this converges with causes created in the past, karma comes to fruition. Greed is the attachment to self-love; like fertilizer to crops, it feeds karma and brings it to maturity. Highly accomplished masters like the arhats also have karmic seeds which have not been completely purified, but because they have cut through greed, their karma does not bind them to samsara.

- Quote from Are You Ready For Happiness? Don't Let the Paper Tiger Scare You Off, "How to Face Suffering"

The so-called “aggregate of volition” includes the internal motions of the body, such as swinging the arm, walking, and so forth; external phenomena such as time, space, direction, speed, and sequence of things; and all kinds of mental states or thoughts which are stages in the activities of consciousness, even though these mental states and consciousness are inseparable, all part of one thing, just as the motions of the hand and the hand itself are inseparable. There are no activities associated with consciousness that are outside of consciousness; similarly, there are no motions associated with the body that are apart from the body. However, there is a difference; consciousness is a totality and thoughts are aspects of consciousness. For instance, consciousness is likened to a flower, while thoughts are like the petal, the pistil or the corolla of the flower.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "The Practice of Realizing Emptiness"