His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa bestowed upon the public in Nyoma the Shithro or Hundred-Deity Initiation today (23rd July 2011) and tomorrow. Today he started with the preparatory prayers so that the recipients would be purified before receiving the actual initiation tomorrow. If a vessel that will be used to contain the Dharma nectar is not clean, the nectar will be contaminated, therefore it is important to have the preparatory prayers before the actual initiation.
As usual, His Holiness gave a short teaching in between prayers so that we could understand the meaning of Dharma and that we could prepare our mind for receiving the initiation. Below is a brief translation of His Holiness's teaching that he gave in pure Ladakhi:
"Buddha" is not a statue. "Buddha" means "enlightenment". Buddha and Bodhisattvas can come in male and female forms and has peaceful and wrathful emanations. Normally the images of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come in peaceful form and very rarely, we come across wrathful Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. But peaceful and wrathful forms are equally enlightened.
These peaceful and wrathful Buddhas are not out there away from us, while we are sitting here. All these peaceful and wwrathful Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are within yourself. Most of the time we are looking outside for Buddha and enlightenment, in fact we should look for them within ourselves.
As soon as the 3 or 5 poisons (attachment, anger, ignorance, pride and jealousy) are purified and their nature is recognized, they are actually the qualities of enlightenment. There is a small difference between enlightenment and samsara, like 2 sides of a coin. If you recognize or realize the 5 poisons, you'd become enlightened. If not, for example, if you take anger, etc. seriously, then you will remain in samsara.
There are many different texts, different teachings and different expressions by different masters, some are short and some are long, but finally Shithro is the same. They are within yourself.
Whether Buddha or enlightenment is near or far away from you, it all depends on you. If you do not recognize, then Buddhahood is very far, if you recognize, it is very near.
Today we start with the initiation of Shithro. "Initiation" or wang in Tibetan means the permission to practice. So as soon as you receive the permission, you should immediately engage in Dharma practice. Sometimes, even when you understand that wang is the permission to practice, months or years after receiving an initiation, you don't practice. You feel that you can wait until you are older to do the practice. This is how you plan it. That means that you are confident that you will live that long. In actual fact, you may only have 1 to 2 days of life. Therefore, the minute after you receive the initiation, you should practice immediately. If you practice when you are old, there is no chance for you to change and improve.
After listening to the Dharma, some people keep thinking that "I will try to practice". They think for 20 years without doing anything, and then another 20 years, again without doing anything. Finally at the end of another 20 years, that is 60 years of waiting altogether, they are already too old to practice. Therefore you should not even wait for one second when it comes to spiritual practice or Dharma practice.
We think that we can see our future: In 5 years, I will be this, my children will grow up, and then I will have the time to practice. This is our plan. But most of the time, our plan never happens to our wishes. It's better not to believe in your planning, because most part of our life never happens according to our plans.
When you are 60, 70 or 80 years old, then it's too late for you to realize that you need to practice. Even if you try, you cannot do it. You can only regret that you did not take the chance when you had it. Then with regret, whether you like it or not, you have to die. At the time of death, all the wealth, fame, possessions, family, relatives and beloved ones will come flashing in your memory, but they are not useful, the only useful thing that you can bring with you to the next life is the Dharma. You cannot even take your beloved ones with you, even though they may be crying at your death bed. The only thing that you can take with you is the Dharma, which you didn't practice while you were alive. So you will leave this life empty handed.
That's why Dharma practice is needed. The minute you get some understanding, you should jump into it. It doesn't matter if the understanding in based on Tantrayana or Sutrayana, the most important thing is to put your understanding of Dharma into practice. The main practice in the Dharma is to change and subdue your wild and restless mind. All the different teachings in Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana teach the different methods to develop, change and improve your mind.
In our language, Dharma is known as Chos. It means "repair". In old Tibetan language, people refer Chos as "repair" even for mundane things. Chos is now a common name for "Dharma", which means to repair or work on your mind.
For example, if you have a car or a house that looks very nice and new in the beginning when you bought it, but if you continue to use it without maintenance, its conditions will deteriorate day by day. You need to check the brake, the oil, and the engine from time to time. This is the same as our mind. We have to check our mind from time to time, every day.
Normally, we put a lot of attention on our physical body. We offer different clothes for day, night and different occasions. But we don't care about our mind.
You must have heard of "workshop". Most of you are car owners. You definitely know where your mechanic shops are, because when your car breaks down, you need to know where to take it for repair and for maintenance. To repair or perform maintenance on your mind, you have to keep practicing Dharma. If you don't put an effort to maintain your car, even if externally it looks very nice and expensive, it will not work. This is the same as our mind. If we don't repair and watch our mind constantly, it would become worse and worse by the day, until it becomes uncontrollable.
Dharma practice is like a workshop, helping us not to be dragged down by the 3 or 5 poisons. Dharma practice is not only about going to the monasteries and chanting. That is only a part of Dharma practice.
Generally, when we pray, we take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and wish not to have suffering. We also go to the different monasteries to join in the different pujas. But the main thing is to watch our mind.
The Buddha said, "Not to commit negative actions and try to engage in the positive actions." These 2 will help you control your mind. Gradually, you will find your mind improving. This means that the Dharma practice is working.
The Shithro initiation is a kind of Mahayana practice. There are many different yanas, such as Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana, but more commonly we classify them as 2 main yanas, i.e. Mahayana and Vajrayana. We call it thedpa, which means vehicle or carriage. Some vehicles are big and some are small. It is not about their physical size, it's about how big is the mind. Some people can include all the sentient beings in the entire universe in their practice, so they are practicing Mahayana, Maha means "big" and yana means "vehicle". Some people can only practice for themselves, so they are practicing Theravada or lesser vehicle.
For example, there is a very rich person but he is very stingy. He only wants to have 2 meals in a day, it's not that he is following the Buddha's teaching by not having any meal after noon time, he is just being stingy and calculative. In his house, he has gold plate, gold decoration, everything is in gold, but his fridge is empty. If your fridge is empty, what is the use of being wealthy. Wealth has to be used for doing good things and performing positive deeds.
Today is the preparation for tomorrow. After the purification practice today, you will be ready to receive the teaching and initiation tomorrow.
His Holiness giving initiation in Nyoma.OM MANI PADME HUM.( 3 TIMES ).GESHE TASHI TSERING.16/3/2012
As usual, His Holiness gave a short teaching in between prayers so that we could understand the meaning of Dharma and that we could prepare our mind for receiving the initiation. Below is a brief translation of His Holiness's teaching that he gave in pure Ladakhi:
"Buddha" is not a statue. "Buddha" means "enlightenment". Buddha and Bodhisattvas can come in male and female forms and has peaceful and wrathful emanations. Normally the images of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come in peaceful form and very rarely, we come across wrathful Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. But peaceful and wrathful forms are equally enlightened.
These peaceful and wrathful Buddhas are not out there away from us, while we are sitting here. All these peaceful and wwrathful Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are within yourself. Most of the time we are looking outside for Buddha and enlightenment, in fact we should look for them within ourselves.
As soon as the 3 or 5 poisons (attachment, anger, ignorance, pride and jealousy) are purified and their nature is recognized, they are actually the qualities of enlightenment. There is a small difference between enlightenment and samsara, like 2 sides of a coin. If you recognize or realize the 5 poisons, you'd become enlightened. If not, for example, if you take anger, etc. seriously, then you will remain in samsara.
There are many different texts, different teachings and different expressions by different masters, some are short and some are long, but finally Shithro is the same. They are within yourself.
Whether Buddha or enlightenment is near or far away from you, it all depends on you. If you do not recognize, then Buddhahood is very far, if you recognize, it is very near.
Today we start with the initiation of Shithro. "Initiation" or wang in Tibetan means the permission to practice. So as soon as you receive the permission, you should immediately engage in Dharma practice. Sometimes, even when you understand that wang is the permission to practice, months or years after receiving an initiation, you don't practice. You feel that you can wait until you are older to do the practice. This is how you plan it. That means that you are confident that you will live that long. In actual fact, you may only have 1 to 2 days of life. Therefore, the minute after you receive the initiation, you should practice immediately. If you practice when you are old, there is no chance for you to change and improve.
After listening to the Dharma, some people keep thinking that "I will try to practice". They think for 20 years without doing anything, and then another 20 years, again without doing anything. Finally at the end of another 20 years, that is 60 years of waiting altogether, they are already too old to practice. Therefore you should not even wait for one second when it comes to spiritual practice or Dharma practice.
We think that we can see our future: In 5 years, I will be this, my children will grow up, and then I will have the time to practice. This is our plan. But most of the time, our plan never happens to our wishes. It's better not to believe in your planning, because most part of our life never happens according to our plans.
When you are 60, 70 or 80 years old, then it's too late for you to realize that you need to practice. Even if you try, you cannot do it. You can only regret that you did not take the chance when you had it. Then with regret, whether you like it or not, you have to die. At the time of death, all the wealth, fame, possessions, family, relatives and beloved ones will come flashing in your memory, but they are not useful, the only useful thing that you can bring with you to the next life is the Dharma. You cannot even take your beloved ones with you, even though they may be crying at your death bed. The only thing that you can take with you is the Dharma, which you didn't practice while you were alive. So you will leave this life empty handed.
That's why Dharma practice is needed. The minute you get some understanding, you should jump into it. It doesn't matter if the understanding in based on Tantrayana or Sutrayana, the most important thing is to put your understanding of Dharma into practice. The main practice in the Dharma is to change and subdue your wild and restless mind. All the different teachings in Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana teach the different methods to develop, change and improve your mind.
In our language, Dharma is known as Chos. It means "repair". In old Tibetan language, people refer Chos as "repair" even for mundane things. Chos is now a common name for "Dharma", which means to repair or work on your mind.
For example, if you have a car or a house that looks very nice and new in the beginning when you bought it, but if you continue to use it without maintenance, its conditions will deteriorate day by day. You need to check the brake, the oil, and the engine from time to time. This is the same as our mind. We have to check our mind from time to time, every day.
Normally, we put a lot of attention on our physical body. We offer different clothes for day, night and different occasions. But we don't care about our mind.
You must have heard of "workshop". Most of you are car owners. You definitely know where your mechanic shops are, because when your car breaks down, you need to know where to take it for repair and for maintenance. To repair or perform maintenance on your mind, you have to keep practicing Dharma. If you don't put an effort to maintain your car, even if externally it looks very nice and expensive, it will not work. This is the same as our mind. If we don't repair and watch our mind constantly, it would become worse and worse by the day, until it becomes uncontrollable.
Dharma practice is like a workshop, helping us not to be dragged down by the 3 or 5 poisons. Dharma practice is not only about going to the monasteries and chanting. That is only a part of Dharma practice.
Generally, when we pray, we take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and wish not to have suffering. We also go to the different monasteries to join in the different pujas. But the main thing is to watch our mind.
The Buddha said, "Not to commit negative actions and try to engage in the positive actions." These 2 will help you control your mind. Gradually, you will find your mind improving. This means that the Dharma practice is working.
The Shithro initiation is a kind of Mahayana practice. There are many different yanas, such as Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana, but more commonly we classify them as 2 main yanas, i.e. Mahayana and Vajrayana. We call it thedpa, which means vehicle or carriage. Some vehicles are big and some are small. It is not about their physical size, it's about how big is the mind. Some people can include all the sentient beings in the entire universe in their practice, so they are practicing Mahayana, Maha means "big" and yana means "vehicle". Some people can only practice for themselves, so they are practicing Theravada or lesser vehicle.
For example, there is a very rich person but he is very stingy. He only wants to have 2 meals in a day, it's not that he is following the Buddha's teaching by not having any meal after noon time, he is just being stingy and calculative. In his house, he has gold plate, gold decoration, everything is in gold, but his fridge is empty. If your fridge is empty, what is the use of being wealthy. Wealth has to be used for doing good things and performing positive deeds.
Today is the preparation for tomorrow. After the purification practice today, you will be ready to receive the teaching and initiation tomorrow.
His Holiness giving initiation in Nyoma.OM MANI PADME HUM.( 3 TIMES ).GESHE TASHI TSERING.16/3/2012
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