[From the Seven-Line Supplication to Guru Rinpoche, Instructions, Part 2 of 2 by Bardor Tulku Rinpoche. Translated by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso.]
Training in dharma consists of hearing, thinking, and meditating. We start with hearing, and sometimes unfortunately we stop there. When we hear teachings from a lama, we may be very inspired. We may think, “This lama is a great siddha. This dharma is very profound; I’m very fortunate to receive it. This is fantastic.” And then we might just go to sleep and forget about the whole thing.
If we leave the process at only hearing, then it serves no real use whatsoever. So having learned one or another aspect of dharma, we have to go on to really think about it, to really analyze its meaning. And we have to think about it repeatedly until we gain certainty. By certainty I mean the certainty that is knowing, beyond any kind of doubt or any need to ask anyone, what dharma really is and what it’s all about. This king of certainty is exemplified by the great, early Kadampa masters, such as Geshe Langri Tangpa, who said, “Of all the dharma I have studied, I have resolved that there is nothing more profound than the instruction: give all victory and joy to others and accept all defeat and suffering for one self. Other than this, I’ve seen nothing that needs to be understood or practiced.” We need that kind of resolution, that king of certainty, because only from that kind of certainty will come the commitment which will enable us to engage in effort. As long as we lack certainty about the meaning of dharma and how to put it all together, our practice will be like shooting an arrow in the darkness. You might know there’s a target out there somewhere, but you can’t see it. No matter how much effort you put into shooting the arrow, you have no idea if you’re shooting it in the right direction. You might kill one of your friends! So just as you’re going to practice archery you need to do so where there’s light, if you’re going to practice dharma you need to do so on the basis of the certainty that comes from assiduous and careful thought. And then we actually practice.
Practice has to bring us to a state of resolution, which is even more than certainty. It is the resolution where you trust in your own experience; you trust yourself and your own practice. This resolution is exemplified by the statement of Jetsun Milarepa, “From today onward, even if I have the opportunity to meet with one hundred great gurus, I will have nothing to ask them.” Now that type of resolution can only come from the practice of dharma that is free from personal, worldly ambition. If we allow our practice to be diverted or corrupted by the eight worldy dharmas, so that our practice is really devoted to ambition — ambition for fame, for wealth, for position, or simply for the successful competition with others — then our practice will be like the consumption of food mixed with poison. You might be nourished by the part that is food, but at the same time you will be poisoning yourself.
We have to remember: we practice because we want to free our mind from kleshas. We practice because we do not want this beginningless series of rebirths to continue. If we do not achieve liberation, it will continue, and we have no way of knowing whether we’re going to be born in a higher state or a lower state. Therefore, we have to practice with effort and with courage.
