The Greatest Merit and the Gravest Misdeed (Part I)

Companions in practice must remain united. Unity is fundamental. When resentment arises over a small matter, even a brief refusal to speak can seriously harm the pure relationship among the teacher and companions on the path.

For this reason, small matters should not become causes of hostility. Practitioners should support one another. If we cannot handle our relationships with companions and family, even a large amount of formal practice will not truly help.

When discord arises among vajra companions, it should not be left unattended for long. One should apologize and confess with sincerity. Practice asks us to become accommodating and inclusive. When we can harmonize with circumstances, Dharma has entered life; when we can make room for others, practice has begun.

The faults we see in others are also appearances within our own mind. Many teachers have said that, from a less strict perspective, merely clinging to things as real is not immediately treated as a broken commitment. But if one develops severe conflict with a vajra teacher and never repents, or treats a vajra companion as an irreconcilable enemy, that is a breach of commitment.

This point requires care. Vajrayana commitments are numerous, yet Kyabje Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche repeatedly emphasized that when vajra companions quarrel or stop speaking, they should confess before the night passes. If such conflict remains unconfessed, one should not enter the tantric mandala or receive Vajrayana teachings together.

Vajra companions meet across lives, so they should support one another. Senior practitioners should help newer practitioners. When a community can remain united and harmonious, it has strength. That strength is blessing: when strength is together, blessing is together.

If we are not united and our hearts are not aligned, strength cannot gather, and the blessing and merit of collective practice fade. Within the same mandala, when teachers, students, and companions live without conflict and can relate harmoniously, that itself is a form of strength. With such strength, many obstacles cannot easily interfere.

The strength of many people is not the same as the strength of one person. The strength of many is like a flame; the strength of one is like a spark. A flame can easily kindle something, while a single spark struggles. Therefore we must steadily adjust our own mind.

The heart of Dharma is study, reflection, and practice. The teacher repeatedly emphasized studying texts and video teachings such as The Two Systems, Letter to a Friend, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, The Way of the Bodhisattva, Liberating Light, and The Great Compassion Dharma Collection again and again.

In practice, one should keep up the preliminary practices, the Avalokiteshvara mantra, and the Confession to the Thirty-Five Buddhas every day. The preliminary practices, or ngondro, especially need to be practiced repeatedly.

If these practices of study, reflection, and meditation continue over the long term, faith, renunciation, and compassion will gradually increase, and many aspects of life will become steadier. Therefore the key points of practice must be held clearly.