The Path of Compassion: A Biography of Hor shul Khenpo Gelek Palsang Rinpoche — Teachings — Chapter Three: Questions and Answers

Question: In the present degenerate age, practicing the Buddha’s Dharma is difficult and few people attain accomplishment. Why is this?

Guru: Venerable Atiśa once said, “You Tibetans regard your gurus as exactly the same as ordinary people. We Indians regard our gurus as buddhas, so many people attain accomplishment.” This is the reason. If you think, “My guru should be a little better than an ordinary person,” you can receive only an ordinary person’s blessing. Even if the guru is a genuine buddha, you will not receive the Buddha’s blessing. On the other hand, even if the guru is an ordinary person, if you think, “My guru must be a bodhisattva,” you can receive a bodhisattva’s blessing. If you regard the guru as a genuine buddha and possess that faith, you can receive the Buddha’s blessing. Both Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna place great emphasis on blessing. Tibetan Buddhism is exceptional because the lineage and blessing from the Buddha down to one’s guru have never been interrupted.

The better your study of bodhicitta, faith, and the wisdom of emptiness becomes, the greater your faith in your guru will be. If your faith in the guru grows smaller and smaller, then your study is certainly poor. The three greatest standards are faith in the guru, compassion for beings, and the wisdom of emptiness. This is so in Mahāyāna, in Vajrayāna, and in Dzogchen; this is the standard. If someone departs from these three essential points, that person’s view has certainly reached that of non-Buddhists.

Question: Sometimes I have especially many conceptual thoughts and cannot control them. What should I do? Sometimes there are so many that I even lose confidence in myself.

Guru: When there are too many conceptual thoughts, do not concern yourself with them. Sometimes leaving them alone is better, and they will naturally subside. For example, when arrogance arises, you must recognize it and ask, “Why am I so arrogant? I may study well, but many people are far more capable than I am. Why should I be arrogant?” It will immediately improve.

Question: When I encounter an object or situation, my conceptual mind will not obey me at all. There are especially many thoughts, and I cannot control them in any way. What should I do then?

Guru: At such a time, confess and purify extensively. It is best if you possess a view, such as the view of emptiness or the Madhyamaka view, and can apply it. If you have genuine faith in your guru, then visualize the guru at that moment, and you will not dare indulge so many afflictions. Visualize the guru in your heart. If you were truly in the guru’s presence, you would certainly feel ashamed and would never do anything contrary to Dharma.

We should visualize the guru often and continuously: on our shoulder while walking and at our heart when sleeping at night. If we genuinely do this, we will not have so many afflictions. The moment the guru comes to mind, the affliction disappears. We do not know where this affliction came from or where it went when it vanished; suddenly it is gone. Does the affliction truly exist? If it truly existed, it could not behave like this. An illusory thing disappears at once. Illusory afflictions are all afraid; like birds outside, they fly away as soon as you look at them. When an affliction comes, think, “I must look: How did this affliction arise? Where is it now? Where will it go afterward?” It is better to investigate in this way.

Afflictions disappear as soon as they are recognized. If you never recognize them, you will be carried along by them and continually obey them. Let us now recognize where afflictions come from. Are they real or illusory? Once recognized, no one knows where they go. They are like a thief, who becomes afraid the moment someone sees him, runs off somewhere, and disappears. Afflictions are the same. They secretly come looking for us, but once we pay attention, they cannot approach and become afraid. It is like dealing with a thief: if we are vigilant, lock the door, and guard the house properly, the thief certainly cannot come and will be afraid. If we leave the door open and do not guard the house, he will sneak in.

Sometimes, when an affliction is intense, do not think, “This is wrong; this is very troublesome.” Relax instead and simply recognize the affliction. What is it? Which one is the affliction? It is an illusory thing, and then it too becomes embarrassed. (The disciples laugh.)

Afflictions are all false things. We have always believed them, yet they continually deceive us. It has always been this way. Now that I know, they will never deceive me again.

Normally, one must confess and purify extensively and pray often to one’s guru. Buddhism contains many skillful means and pith instructions. Sometimes one prostrates; sometimes one recites the Hundred-Syllable Mantra; sometimes one gathers merit; sometimes one prays to the guru. Sometimes, if you cannot arouse bodhicitta, you can arouse renunciation. If you cannot arouse renunciation, then cultivate faith. If you cannot cultivate faith, then arouse compassion. If you cannot arouse compassion, then reflect in your heart on how much beings suffer, thinking it through little by little. There are many skillful methods. The question is still whether you yourself can make the effort.

Sometimes being too anxious will not work either. “I have studied for a month. I have studied for a year, yet I still have no experience. Why?” This is not so simple. You think that after studying for a few years, you will suddenly become a buddha; you urgently want to become a buddha. How could that be possible? Even a merchant must conduct business for several decades before becoming a great proprietor, isn’t that so? But if you are too lazy and never study, thinking, “I will study slowly; there is no need to hurry,” that is also wrong. Nor will it work to be too anxious, thinking, “I have studied for so many years but still have not become a buddha and still have so many afflictions.” You must master a gradual method.

Question: Guru, I am always lazy and constantly want to sleep. What should I do?

Guru: There is a visualization that makes sleep itself a virtuous action. During the day, we offer lamps, attend teachings, and perform many virtuous deeds, accumulating much merit. Sleep can likewise become meritorious. How do we do this? It is explained very clearly in the Shakyamuni Buddha ritual in the Larung Chanting Collection. Night is completely dark, but if you visualize the light of Shakyamuni Buddha all around you, even your dreams will be meritorious. There is another exceptional pith instruction: visualize your heart as a lotus with your guru seated upon it, and then visualize the guru’s mind and your own mind as inseparable. Sleeping in this way also creates great merit. In the guru yoga taught in the Dzogchen Preliminary Practices, visualize the guru constantly on your right shoulder while walking; in this way, every step continually circumambulates the guru. While eating, visualize the guru at the tip of your throat, so that everything you eat is offered to the guru. While sitting, visualize the guru abiding one cubit above your head. If you continually remember the guru in this way, afflictions will not arise and many karmic obscurations will be cleared away—tens of millions in a single day. In the past, a practitioner placed a white stone in a jar whenever he performed a virtuous action or aroused a virtuous intention, and a black stone whenever he had a negative intention. At first there were many black stones and very few white ones. Gradually, the black and white stones became roughly equal. Later, there were many white stones and very few black ones. This is how it works.

Question: Guru, is it good not to dream?

Guru: Not necessarily. Before one’s practice has begun to progress, dreams are not worth examining and do not mean much. The dreams of ordinary people are not worth examining and have little significance. The dreams of a genuine practitioner, however, can be a very good sign.

Question: Guru, is the merit of taking the Eight Mahāyāna Precepts great?

Guru: The merit is very great. Shakyamuni Buddha taught the eight precepts specifically for laypeople. There are originally eight vows in the observance, and the merit of keeping even one vow purely is immense. Jamgön Kongtrul Rinpoche composed a great treatise that explains much about this; I do not know whether it has been translated. The Tibetan Buddhist canon also discusses it extensively. It is exceptional and has eight great benefits.

Question: Are the Eight Mahāyāna Precepts we keep the vows of the Lesser Vehicle?

Guru: They are Mahāyāna vows. One must certainly arouse bodhicitta, and they begin with refuge and bodhicitta. The eight precepts of the Lesser Vehicle are also excellent, but the vows we confer are all Mahāyāna vows. I have transmitted them before. Many people in Yantai now observe the eight precepts; disciples in Yantai and Chongqing were the earliest to uphold them. This is exceptional. Keeping the eight precepts for even one day is extraordinary. Patrul Rinpoche said, “If you do not want to enter the realm of hungry ghosts, you must keep the eight precepts—go hungry for one day!”

Question: Guru, if we aspire to be reborn in Sukhavati, how soon can we return after being born there?

Guru: Amitabha Buddha will arrange this according to your own intention. If you do not wish to return for the time being and want to seek teachings from other buddhas, you may. You may also immediately descend to liberate beings. All of this is very flexible.

Fundamentally, our journey to Sukhavati is not our own affair; it is an affair of beings, isn’t that right? Many people have a problem here. They think, “Rebirth there should be easy,” and therefore practice nothing else, cultivating only the Amitabha pure-land Dharma because they assume it should be easy to see Amitabha Buddha. They are very afraid of the six realms of saṃsāra and of going to hell, so they strongly wish to go to Sukhavati without caring about beings. In this way, they cannot go. Bodhicitta is essential. Rebirth requires the four causes: vividly visualizing the field of merit, gathering merit and purifying obscurations, arousing bodhicitta, and making pure aspirations and dedications. Therefore, one must train in the four causes of rebirth every day until they become completely familiar.

The scriptures say that once one truly reaches Amitabha Buddha, one can attain buddhahood in seven human days. This is due to Amitabha Buddha’s aspiration, so we must aspire accordingly; I too very much wish to go. Moreover, reaching Amitabha Buddha is relatively easy and the requirements are not high. Other destinations, such as Vajrasattva’s buddhafield or the buddhafield of Uḍḍiyāna, require pure discipline; some require the first bodhisattva bhūmi, others the eighth bhūmi, and so forth. Their requirements are too high. Only two things prevent birth with Amitabha Buddha: committing the five deeds of immediate retribution and slandering the Dharma. Apart from these, if one visualizes Amitabha Buddha every day, makes excellent aspirations, and recites scriptures, there will certainly be no problem. If beings could not go there, Amitabha Buddha himself could not have become a buddha. Amitabha Buddha’s original aspirations have already been fulfilled. It is like a highway that has now been completed; we may set out on it at any time.

Question: Encountering the Vajrayāna in this life shows that we accumulated much merit in previous lives. But if we accumulated so much merit before, why were we unable to attain rebirth then?

Guru: This is a matter of aspiration: our aspirations and study were insufficient. If you make no effort now and think there will still be another life, that is difficult to predict. Many people have already gone to Amitabha Buddha; people go every day, and the population there is continually growing. We had a connection with the Dharma and Vajrayāna in previous lives, but our practice and study were still insufficient. Do you understand?

Question: Can we continue the practice of previous lives in this life?

Guru: Certainly. Many people may study the same thing at the same time, yet each learns something different because their wisdom and faculties differ. If one did not study it in a previous life, learning it now is difficult. For example, if you are presently on the path of accumulation, then when you practice again on the path of accumulation in your next life, entering it will be easy. If you practice well in this life, then in the next life you need only begin studying a little and will understand it immediately.

Question: Is it possible that because of the obscuration of the womb, practice from a previous life will be gone in the next life? Can this happen?

Guru: It can have some effect. The karmic obscuration of being in one’s mother’s womb is a distinct obscuration. We therefore need to aspire, “In life after life, may I never be separated from the guru,” and aspire to meet the guru while still young. In the practices of Mahāyoga, there is a specific practice for clearing away this obscuration. King Gesar has a song of realization that says we all practiced together in previous lives; sometimes we know a little of this in dreams at night, and sometimes we know a little while meditating, but because of the obscuration of the womb, our memory is hazy.

In any case, extensive confession and purification will suffice. Confession must possess four conditions. Although the obscuration is not present in one hundred percent of people, most people have it. We do not know and have forgotten the events of previous lives, but if we meet the karmically connected guru from before, we can reconnect with our former practice now. Without aspiration, even if you practice very well in this life, it will be very troublesome if you cannot encounter the guru and Dharma in the next, and you do not know where you will be reborn. Ideally, if your practice reaches twenty percent in this life, it should begin from twenty-one percent in the next, so that the connection continues. We must now make the effort to aspire: “In life after life, may I never be separated from bodhicitta. In life after life, may I never be separated from the guru. In life after life, may I never be separated from the Dharma.” Make these aspirations every day. Aspiration is very important, and one should make aspirations before the guru and certainly before exceptional Buddha images, relics, and stūpas. If you do not aspire in this way, the Dharma practice of this life will not be wasted, but you may not reconnect with it in the next life. That would be troublesome, because you would forget it. If you still fail to reconnect in the following life, the problem becomes even greater and you forget still more. We are all like this: human memory grows poorer year by year. The older we become, the more troublesome it is, isn’t that right?

For excellent practitioners, as many great accomplished masters have said, passing from one life to the next is like sleeping briefly and waking again. They say, “I slept for a while and forgot nothing; everything remained perfectly clear.” If we study well, it will certainly be the same for us. Effort is important. Our afflictions continually cause us to do negative things. From the time we are very small, no one needs to teach them to us; they arise naturally. Jealousy and anger require no teacher—everyone knows them, isn’t that so? This is because we have spent so long with these afflictions and made them habitual. The same principle applies to virtuous actions: we must make an effort. If we work at them in this life and form a habit, they will arise naturally in the next, so that even when very young, we will possess compassion and faith. When I was a child, I had great compassion and faith. At that time, I had genuine faith in Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche, while the Buddha felt like someone I did not know and I had little faith in him. I received many teachings from Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche and then went to the pasture. Every night when I was alone, I would think of Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche and cry until I could no longer open my eyes. During the day I was playful and forgot, but every night I placed a black-and-white photograph of Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche on my head and thought of the guru in my heart. Sometimes I could not sleep all night. I truly had immense faith.

When I was young, religious policy had not yet opened. Many monastics did not dare to wear robes, and everyone dressed like laypeople. One day, I saw a Dharma companion who is now a Khenpo. There was a little yellow and red on the back of his clothing, although the front was entirely black. I saw him from far away and felt deeply moved and full of faith. I thought, “He is so joyful, so exceptional, and so fortunate. I silently pray that in the future I will have the chance to wear such fine clothing.” I was very young then, probably only seven or eight, and had not yet learned Tibetan. I wanted to see him every day but rarely could. Thinking of it now, the event remains perfectly clear, as if it happened yesterday. Today there are so many monastics and so many people wearing robes, yet I feel little. This is because my study is poor. That I had such joy in childhood probably came from some virtuous root and karmic connection in a previous life. I think previous lives certainly exist, because I was so young, had learned nothing, and no one had taught me.

Hor shul Khenpo Gelek Palsang Rinpoche said: “When I meet new disciples in Han Chinese regions, it is so that they may benefit from the Dharma. It is certainly good if disciples can perform meritorious deeds, but what I hope still more is that they will benefit greatly from the Dharma. Some disciples with relatively good financial circumstances have great faith in the guru and provide substantial material help. It is a great pity, however, that they have no time to study and practice properly. I find this deeply regrettable.”