[Excerpt from a teaching at the Columbus Tibetan Buddhist Center in December 2011 by Bardor Tulku Rinpoche. Translator Lama Yeshe Gyamtso.]
Most of you who are here today have, in one way or another, formed a connection with the Karma Kagyu tradition. Some of you have actually met the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa when he visited this city or in other places. But in any case, you’ve all somehow formed a connection with this tradition. I therefore regard all of you as disciples of the same guru as myself and as possessors of the same samaya as myself.
About me, I do not regard myself as anything special. I think that as far as what I possess, I possess every imaginable fault. But through the blessings of my root guru, at least I’m able to recognize my faults and also to maintain the basic motivation of bodhichitta. As for the Dharma, it is not only profound, it’s also extremely vast. There are so many instructions, so many practices; it seems it would be impossible for anyone to practice them all. This can be bewildering and even off putting. But if you look closely at the meaning of dharma and at the function of all of its many profound instructions, you’ll observe that all of these systems, all of these teachings, all of these instructions have one single purpose: the purpose is to point out the mind’s nature and enable disciples to work with that once it has been recognized. Therefore in spite of the vastness of the teachings, if an authentic guru and a qualified disciple can meet one another and communicate, then tremendous things are possible as we see in the life and example of Jetsun Milarepa who achieved the state of Vajradhara, the state of great unity, in one life and one body.
My root guru’s intention has always been to bring beings to liberation. The motivation behind all of his activity has always been bodhichitta. I therefore think it’s important that we try to conduct ourselves in line with this, implement this, and practice this. About our training we have a saying, “The sign of having heard the dharma is to be gentle and subdued; a sign of having meditated is to have few or no kleshas.”
This means that even through hearing the teachings, we should start to calm down. If the more we learn about dharma, the more we hear, the more we read, we become more and more arrogant, more and more rigid, our kleshas grow, our desire grows, then something’s gone wrong. The more we listen to the teachings, the more dharma books we read or study, the more gentle we should become: gentle in our minds, gentle in our speech, and gentle in our physical conduct. And this means that we are studying properly and getting closer and closer to buddhahood. Therefore this is my prayer, my aspiration, and my hope. Otherwise, if with every step we take on the path our kleshas become more and more coarse, our behavior becomes worse and worse, then we are walking backwards on the path.
It’s also said that the sign of having meditated is to have few kleshas. This means that what we are dealing with in working with our minds and meditation practice is the problem that our minds have become overpowered by ignorance. That ignorance is the source and origin of all of our kleshas. And as time goes on ignorance reinforces itself, entrenches itself ever deeper. So there’s a danger that unless we remedy ignorance, our behavior will also get worse and worse. As we receive instruction and practice, our kleshas should become fewer and fewer if meditation practice is working properly. Therefore if this happens, if your kleshas diminish as you continue to practice, that is excellent. And this is my hope for all of you.
