Important Quotes from Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche - Pt2

The right view is: anything you see / hear / smell / taste / touch etc., all seemingly appear and arise. Like that. There is no reason. Sometimes things just come and go. If we lack such knowledge, we will have problems.

 

So the right view is just being satisfied with the realization and understanding that things are seemingly there but not truly there. Without right view, we can’t develop our practice.

The many forms of Vajrayana activities such as empowerment and puja, are all based on right view.

Practice does not mean being inside a room, shutting the door. You say that you have no time. Of course you have no time for that, I can understand. I also have no time. ‘Time’ means you are not wasting. Each and every time, you are mindful. Make it meaningful. This is Dharma practice.

 

When you face any problem or intolerable pain and suffering, think of the right view. These problems do not truly exist, they are just reflections of negative thoughts. Because of ignorance, dualism, the dualistic point of view, we feel suffering.

Without this, as in Western countries, without support from the right view, they force themselves through their meditation. Sometimes they say that they are flying. That is wrong, that is an illusion. Too much makeup. Fake meditation. You feel that you are flying, then you stop, and bye-bye. Very dangerous. Therefore, to avoid such mistakes, be on the safe side. Go along with the right view, right instructions, and right meditation. Be on the safe side, and it will be perfect.

You will not engage in negativities because of correct view and correct meditation. With correct meditation, you are totally trained well. With the right view, your mind is very clear, very mindful. Because you are mindful, your physical movement will spontaneously or naturally transform into virtue. So these three––right view, meditation and conduct––are general practices for all Buddhist practitioners.

Treat all experiences equally: Everyday you go through different experiences. Most of the time it’s unhappy, while happy times are very little.

So you become Buddhist in order to get rid of this, not simply for blessing. It is not like the master gives you something, you eat, and then tomorrow you feel something. Or after drinking something, you immediately feel nauseous or sweaty. Then you think that the deity has come to you, and you become very powerful.

According to the instruction of Indian master Nagarjuna, he said that good practice means managing any circumstance that comes to you. Whatever it is good or bad, happy or unhappy, whatever circumstances arise, you equally accept them. This is proof of good practice. If you are happy when good circumstances come, and when bad things happen you go to the master and ask him to bless you, this is wrong practice. 

There is no need to prevent unexpected negative circumstances. 

If an individual introduces to you the ultimate truth or true nature of mind, and you yourself realises or experiences the true nature of mind, then effortlessly or spontaneously that person becomes your root guru.

There is no nomination, no voting; it is not like roaming in shopping centres, thinking: “Can I buy this?”

 

When an individual introduces to you the true nature of the mind, and you realize it, then even if you deny it, that person is spontaneously your root guru. You can’t deny.

 

It is only at the moment when you realise or recognise the true nature of mind, then at that moment, you call “root guru”. Until then, no matter what happens, you still call “guru”, not “root guru”. 

However, in order to prolong your life through the receiving of the Amitayus empowerment, you need to generate Bodhicitta to help many sentient beings. If you are simply reciting the Amitayus for your own enjoyment, there is no guarantee.
 

Do not think that Amitayus is simply a Buddha for long life. It goes along with reason, depending on conditions.

The continuity is very important. It is not just when you are sick you pray to the medicine Buddha. When you are unsuccessful, you practise a certain deity. That would be wrong practice, wrong view.

 

Sometimes you misunderstand what tsok means. You think that tsok means enjoying the fruit, biscuit and delicious food. Actually long time ago, tsok was when the great masters gathered in caves, together with dakas and dakinis, enjoying all kinds of food. Not only delicious food, but also dirty food, mixed together and ate them. Because of the power of their knowledge and realisation, they had to power to transform the impure into pure. We have dualism––the notion of good and bad, clean and dirty. We want the clean, but don’t want the dirty. That is dualism, which keeps us far from reality. To avoid such dualism, we practise tsok to transform the poison into medicine, transform the dirty into clean. I also do not have such power. We imitate.

Practice does not mean being alone in a jungle or remote area. Practice means having to deal with our everyday life, having to face difficult situations. It is important to practise the Dharma in our daily lives, it is much faster than practising alone in a cave. Inside the cave, how to know where your practice is going? Tell me. You can’t. You say that there is no anger so far, then when you meet with unpleasant people, your anger arises. Therefore, it is not practical. We need to use everyday circumstances. We need good and bad people, pleasant and unpleasant people.