WORDS OF WISDOM AUTHOR: KHENPO TSULTRIM LODRO

Many scientists had no religious training in their youth or simply rejected it; nonetheless they slowly warm up to religion as they get older, even becoming very devoted believers. This is because the older one gets, the closer to death and the more lost one is, and the more urgent the need to rely on something to overcome fear of death and find a home for the mind. However, it is not easy to come upon a religion other than Buddhism that can truly explain death.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On Death And Rebirth-Understanding Death

There are also those who ignore these basics but tirelessly run back and forth between China and Tibet to receive empowerments without knowing their respective meanings, conditions and requirements beforehand, which in the end have very little effect on their quest for liberation. So, I hope you will all make generation of renunciation and bodhicitta your aim and strictly refrain yourselves from undertaking any Vajrayana practice until your aim has been achieved. Only then can you consider the advanced, more profound practices like the Great Madhyamaka, Kalachakra, Mahamudra, the Great Perfection and so forth. The Vajrayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism offers rich pickings of sublime practices, described by some as being plentiful as the yak’s hair. But no one would be qualified to practice any without first developing renunciation and bodhicitta as the base, which ought to be the single most important practice for us now.

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Three Supreme Methods—the ultimate methods of cultivating virtue and training the mind

The happy life we are having now is not permanent. There is bound to be suffering in the future. Some people do not see the point of preparing for future lives because they are not feeling any obvious distress right now. Yet worrying about the well-being in their old age, they will do all they can to make money even without concerns for karma and retributions sometimes. This is very foolish. It has never occurred to them that they have already been born human and that no matter how hard this life is, it is nowhere close to the severe suffering born by those in the three lower realms. Where will we be reborn next time? Will we have another human birth like this one? No one knows. So, to be well prepared for the next life should be the rational thing to do. What does it take to be well prepared? It certainly is not wealth or fame we need but spiritual practice. Although Hinayana practice can solve our own problems, it does not help others. Consequently, we must strive to arouse bodhicitta as it is the only means to help both ourselves and other beings to liberation.

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Three Supreme Methods—the ultimate methods of cultivating virtue and training the mind

All the schools of Tibetan Buddhism offer chöd (cutting though the ego) practice. Chöd is a very special practice that has many versions. There is an initial chöd practice in the preliminary practice of Dzogchen, called kusali chöd. In this practice, one visualizes offering one’s own body to the guru and the Three Jewels as well as to the ghosts and non-humans. The real chöd practice is, by applying a rather uncommon method, to cut through attachment and defilement with realization of emptiness. The premise of undertaking this practice is to attain realization of emptiness and to grow and strengthen the power of this realization. When one has reached a more mature state in the practice, one then meditates in places where mundane spirits inhabit. There one is likely to encounter real ghosts, hear unusual sounds, or witness some strange phenomena. Most people will get nervous in this situation and have a heightened sense of self. If one concentrates on the void nature of phenomena at that time, self-grasping can be eliminated successfully along with other negative emotions such as fear and anxiety.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On The Three Poisons - How to Confront Anger

It is unfortunate that we do not have the merit to see in person the nirmanakaya and sambhogakaya of, say, Amitabha, Vajrasattva, or other buddhas and bodhisattvas, but we can meet dharmakaya, the true Self of the Buddha.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On The Three Poisons - How to Confront Anger

In observing the movement of electrons from the standpoint of physics, we mistakenly believe that if an electron starts out in the east, moves south, west, north in that order, and then back to its starting point, it is the same electron; hence we call this “motion.” However, in observing the movement of electrons from the standpoint of Buddhism, we discover that when an electron appears to be revolving around the nucleus of an atom, the electron occupying the first degree of the orbit is already destroyed in its place; occupying the second degree up to three hundred sixty degrees of the orbit are countless electrons, all newly arisen and instantly destroyed in their place; these different electrons form the illusion of an orbit.

In the same way, the world we see actually exists only in an infinitesimal fraction of a second (one out of ten thousand parts of a second, possibly less). The world in the instant before has already disappeared; the world in the future has yet to come. Nonetheless, we believe the world exists in a continuum, permanently without change. This conclusion is the result of our deluded mind.

~ Depicted from ARE U READY FOR HAPPINESS : The Significance of Buddhist Philosophy Today

We should never rely too much on our senses because they are imperfect. The eye can only see the most superficial layer of the earth; we see light, but only a minute part of the spectrum. We hear sounds, but only ordinary sounds; we cannot distinguish between sound waves of higher or lower frequencies. Hence, we cannot conclude our sensory perceptions are absolutely real.

~ Depicted from ARE U READY FOR HAPPINESS : The Significance of Buddhist Philosophy Today

II. Practitioners’ attitude toward death

There are three kinds of attitude:

Superior practitioners welcome death. As Milarepa sang, “Death is not death; yogi becomes a junior Buddha.” To such practitioners, death does not signify despair or termination of existence, which is the perception of ordinary people. As they go through death each time, they may not be able to attain Buddhahood right away, but they can gain higher realization every time. Accomplishment like this is akin to that of a junior Buddha.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On Death And Rebirth-Understanding Death

Based on these misconceptions on life and death, people are easily led astray by the two extreme views.

The first is fear of death, having only total despair but doing nothing about it beforehand, just waiting for it to come. At the same time, there is always great fear so much so that one does not want to hear or talk about it at all; even hearing the word “death” causes consternation.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On Death And Rebirth-Understanding Death