quintessence of compassion

7/27/2019 Quintessence of Compassion

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Quintessence of

Compassion

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The first lineage of tantric Buddhism established in Tibet is known as the Nyingmatradition, the "School of the Ancients." Since its founding by Padmasambhava in theeighth century, teachers of this tradition have taught the profound view of mind called Dzogchen.

From her book Sacred Voices, Sandra Scales offers a selection of portraits and teachings by some of the great Nyingma masters of our time, whose presence "isnothing other than the quintessence of compassion."

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Mindroling Trichen Rinpoche

The essence of dharma lies in being true to oneself (one's innate nature) and inexerting great effort to be courageous. Whentruth and the courage to walk on the path of truth

are joined with mindfulness, a practitioner trulybegins to practice the dharma. Until thesequalities of truth and courage are generated, wewill be vulnerable to our own pretenses andfabrications.

The arising of truth and courage allows us torealize the core essence of dharma. Notunderstanding this leads us into the trap of endless cyclic existence. A lack of courage keeps

us from being true to our buddhanature.

Both virtuous and nonvirtuous actions are formedin the mind. Actions – though more apparent –are secondary to our motivation. Even an

apparently virtuous action is of little benefit if the root of our motivation is selfishness. Any action performed with wisdom and selfless motivation is an expression of our own buddhanature.

Mindroling Trichen Rinpoche oversees Mindroling monastery, near Dehradun, India. In 2001, at therequest of Penor Rinpoche, he became head of the Nyingma lineage.

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Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

The obscuring emotions of anger, jealousy, pride, ignorance and desire are nothingbut thoughts. But what are thoughts? When you watch a thought, look to see if it hasany substance or solidity. Does it have a color or shape?

Can you find the place where the thought has arisen? Can you find a place where itdwells? Can you find where it has gone when it disappears from your mind?

When a negative thought like anger arises, lookto see whether the thought itself and the groundfrom which it arises are the same or different.Generally speaking, when you have manythoughts running through your mind, this is called"movement." It is the moving aspect of the mind.

Occasionally, there are fewer thoughts and themind is quieter. This is called "quiescence," thestill aspect of the mind. When you are consciousof having either many thoughts or few thoughts,this is called "awareness." You should try topractice always being cognizant of whether your

thoughts are moving or still, and so on. Try to observe your mind in this way. Thencontinuing with the investigation, look to see whether the known and the knower - theobject of this investigation and that which is investigating it'are two distinct things or

the same. Meditate on the nature of your mind.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who died in 1991, was regarded as one of the greatest Dzogchen masters of the twentieth century. He was a guide and mentor to many other important Tibetan Buddhist teachers.

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Khandro Rinpoche

Compassion is not about kindness.Compassion is about awareness.

Compassion in the general sense of kindness would be an expression of awareness,but one that might not necessarily be free from the stain of ego-grasping.

Genuine compassion is egoless. It is the inherent essenceexpressed, inseparable from awareness. This naturalessence, which is genuine compassion, does not need tobe formulated or even expressed as something like"compassion." We see this exemplified in our great

teachers. Their genuine compassion does not requirephrases and expressions or even actions.

Just their presence, who they are, is nothing other thanthe quintessence of compassion.

We, in contrast, have to invent and demonstratecompassion. Our contaminated compassion still requires

effort and deliberation. That is conventional or general compassion. The good thingabout the use of deliberate or conventional compassion is that it matures the mind sothat ego-grasping diminishes. It definitely has that effect and is therefore a skillfulmethod for developing awareness compassion.

Genuine compassion arises as the ability to go beyond self. This requiresthat we transcend our preoccupation with our own happiness and suffering. Asmeditators, one of the first things we can do is to look honestly at theworld from behind another's eyes. Experience that person's craving for

happiness and fear of suffering with the same immediacy that we would if hisheart and mind were ours. We may see that this individual's immense hope and fear are even greater than our own. See the similarities we all share. Wecannot even begin to commit ourselves to the path of selfless compassion if our mind is unable to sense the sameness of the ground we all stand upon.

Khandro Rinpoche, daughter of Mindroling Trichen Rinpoche, was recognized at the age of two s thereincarnation of the Great Dakini of Tsurphu, Khandro Ugyen Tsomo. She now heads Samten Tse Retreat Centre for Nuns in Mussoorie, India, and travels and teaches widely in North America, Europe and Asia.

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Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

All beings have buddhanature. Nothing can improve upon it; nothing can destabilizeit. Stainless from the beginning, its radiance cannot be corrupted. Though we all havethe essence of buddha, the wrapping of emotions, habitual patterns, inhibitions and

the like temporarily obscures it. To use ananalogy, think of soiled cloth: the dirt is notinherent in the cloth, but until we wash thefabric, its true nature is disguised.Everyone accepts that clothes are washable,that the dirt is impermanent. We know theclothes were clean when we bought them;the bill didn't say 'shirt $425, tax $5, dirt$10." The very reason we spend money onthings like soap and washing machines is

that we trust the dirt is temporary and can be washed away. And furthermore, wehave the motivation to put the clothes in the washing machine, add the soap, andwash them.

All the seeming negativity and troubles in your life are a result of cause and condition.They are not "God given"; they are not in your true nature. Nor do they occur bychance. It is not like you smell dog shit from across the street and out of the bluesome appears on your shoe. You have to really step in it. Do you understand what I'msaying? This is actually good news because it means you have the power to

manipulate the very causes and conditions that have created your problems. Whenyou eliminate negative causes and conditions, what is left behind is what we callbuddhanature.

The inhibitions that obscure our buddhanature develop because we use externalpoints of reference to define and confirm our own self-identity.The problem with this is that reference points continually change. As we try to keepup with these varying references, inhibitions build upon themselves and multiply. Our self-consciousness increases, and we experience fear and vulnerability. Reference

points are the cause of our hope, fear and inhibitions, and they take us farther andfarther from our buddhanature. So you might as well cut inhibitions and go back towhat is true - your own basic goodness, your buddhanature.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche supervises his traditional seat of Dzongsar monastery in Tibet, as well asSiddhartha's Intent, a network of communities and centers around the world. He is also the award-winning director of The Cup. His latest film is Travellers & Magicians.

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Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche

The first, most fortunate condition for progressing to enlightenment is being born intothis human existence or human body. Such existence does not just come about

spontaneously of its own accord. Lord Buddha says in the

scriptures that it comes from having observed a spiritualdiscipline in former lives. This existence we now have is areflection of our own exertion in past lives and is quite aunique opportunity for traveling the path all the way toenlightenment. We must appreciate its value and notsquander this remarkable opportunity by living only for survival's sake.

We can consider this human existence to be like a ship

that can sail to any destination. It can go to very beautifulplaces or to places of deep suffering. This dependsentirely upon us. We can use this human existence positively, gradually bringingourselves to liberation and enlightenment, or we can use it to accumulate greatnegativity, predisposing ourselves to a lower type of existence. People often ask me,"What is the meaning of my life?" or "What should I do with my life?" It seems to methe most fruitful thing we can do with our lives is to free ourselves from the sufferinginherent in samsara and embark on the path toward full enlightenment in order to freeother beings from suffering. That is definitely the best thing we can do.

Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche is the grandson and spiritual heir of the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Heholds responsibility for all of Khyentse Rinpoche's monasteries in Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan.

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Penor Rinpoche

Generally speaking, when we follow a spiritual path such as the path of Buddhism, it is essential to find a qualified teacher or master and rely upon that teacher's guidance. Anyone

who attains enlightenment does so by relying uponteachers as part of the process. Students receiveprofound instructions from a master, put them intopractice and thus gain the result. This doesn't comeabout automatically. This doesn't come abouthaphazardly. Nor it is something that people andecipher on their own. However, in relying upon amaster, you shouldn't be naïve, taking any teacher who comes along and accepting without questionwhatever is said. You must be discriminating: examine

whether, at the very least, the teacher hascompassion for the students.

Above and beyond that, you must verify the lineage.What is the origin of the teachings you are receiving?

This is very important. The teacher must be someone who is passing on a validtradition, someone who holds and transmits an authentic lineage. This lineage musthave been maintained by great spiritual beings generation after generation, withoutany interruption due to broken commitments, impaired vows or some other disruptive

factor. Such a lineage can be compared to a beautiful golden thread that has notbeen tarnished in any way and remains bright, immaculate and well-polished over succeeding generations. Reliance upon a compassionate teacher who holds this kindof lineage will truly benefit you as a practitioner.

There is a special relationship that develops between a spiritual master and astudent. From the master's perspective, facilitating the student's spiritual developmentis the primary responsibility. The master must clearly discern the student's strengthsand weaknesses to determine whether the student will be a suitable recipient of a

specific teaching. The teacher must assess how stable the student's mind is and howsharp his intellect. But it is not necessarily a question of the student's intelligence;faith and trust are also considerations. How much does the student trust the teacher?The teacher has to gauge this in order to work effectively with the student.

From the student's perspective, what is most important is a sense of trutht thatexpresses itself as faith and devotion. Ideally, you respond to your teacher as youwould if the Buddha had walked into the room and you were relating directly to him.You may feel this faith as a sense of awe, a sense of yearning, a sense of confidence

in the teacher's instructions and what he embodies. This is essential for therelationship to be a truly successful one, a truly effective one. The student's faith must

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become unshakable so that there is complete trust in the teacher's guidance.

There is a deep bond of love and affection between a teacher and student. Theteacher relates to the student as a mother would to her only child. In Buddhism weaspire to feel such loving-kindness toward all beings, whether we are teachers or students.

Penor Rinpoche is the current head of the Palyul Nyingma lineage. He established Namdroling monastery in southern India, now the largest Nyingma monastery in the world, and teaches frequently in North America.

From Sacred Voices of the Nyingma Masters.

Photographed and compiled by Sandra Scales and published by Padma Publishing.

© 2004 Sandra Scales.Quintessence of Compassion, Sandra Scales,

Shambhala Sun, March 2005.

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Compassion and Wisdom

by Venerable Khandro Rinpoche

"The human heart is basically very compassionate, but without wisdom,compassion will not work. Wisdom is the openness that lets us see what is essential and most effective."

As human beings, we all try our best to bring about a world based on kindness andcompassion. What seems to go wrong, however, is that what we want, what we personallywould like, becomes more important than the benefit of the whole community.

Whether we look at religion, philosophy, science, development or politics, wherever therehas been human society it has manifested wisdom and compassion. But because of our

tendency to be involved with our own selfishness, our own likes and dislikes, we developwalls and isolate ourselves from others.

We do not allow the openness that can be felt between human beings to express itself because of two fundamental things: hope and fear. All of us want some happiness and noone wants to suffer, so every action we take is motivated by the thought of how can we behappy, how can we avoid pain. In a world already divided in so many ways, we create aworld of our own. A very selfish attitude develops.

All philosophies and religions in the world aim to break through this wall of self-isolation, sothat we can work with one another with real care and compassion. From a Buddhist point of view, we examine ourselves carefully — not as a way of blaming ourselves for havingcreated this division, but as a way of working with the root cause of the problem.

The problem is not with the world, or with other people, but with ourselves . Wisdom is innatein us; it is not something that can be bought, heard or received from outside. But our involvement with the external environment and the distraction of our own emotions causes akind of layering or veiling that prevents us from observing ourselves carefully. We do not giveourselves enough time and space to use our innate wisdom to observe ourselves before weact.

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However, through meditation, to use an Eastern term, or examination or analysis, to usemore Western terms, there exists the possibility for wisdom to arise within every humanbeing. Meditation is the process of looking inward, of refraining from our dualistic tendency topay more attention to external issues than to the internal issues we don’t want to work on.

A society based upon peace, harmony, wisdom and compassion is not going to come about

unless each person begins with themselves. Through our ignorance, our failure to use our innate wisdom, we make many excuses for not starting with ourselves. The biggest excusewe use is that we require the other person to change before we do. So if I get up in themorning and things don’t happen the way that I want, everything gets blamed on my externalworld. On days when everything goes right, people look good to us and appear kinder.

If we reflect on it, we realize that our perception of the external world has much to do withour internal attitude. Our mind makes excuses based on external circumstances that reflectwhat we feel inside. When we see a person and he does something we like, then he is agood person. But if this same person does something we don’t like, then he is a bad person.So transforming the external environment must begin with transforming the inner self,because only when the self is tamed and a fair amount of awareness exists within us will wehave the strength to relate properly with others.

The human heart is basically very good, very generous, and very compassionate. But it maynot always work together with wisdom. The result is that we have many people ready to goout and change the world for the better, but who still view philosophy, religion, and politicsaccording to what they like, according to what they want.

Even in matters of spirituality — where we struggle to attain some selflessness and to let goof attachment, ignorance and selfishness — even there we assert that what we think iswisdom is correct. We assert that what we think is compassion is the correct compassion.Even at the very peak of meditation, we may still have these same opinions, but we use theexcuse that it’s for the benefit of all sentient beings. The endless struggle with the self creates this same problem over and over again.

Realizing the innate wisdom in every human being must begin with training the self. To breakthrough ignorance requires breaking through ignorance in all of its forms.

Ignorance is not something that comes from others. Ignorance is something that comes fromthe projection of the self. In Buddhist philosophy, we speak a lot about illusion, which refersto how human ignorance, or the human mind, creates a lot of external phenomena, and howonce that illusion is created, we see it as very solid and permanent.

In meditation, we break through that illusion of external phenomena by analyzing its dream-like nature. The first step is to understand how we create our own illusion — to see how thishuman mind works to create and solidify the world. If then we can let go of our attachment to

that illusion, we will be free from pain, free from our own expectations, and free from our ownhope and fear.

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Until that level of awareness is achieved, however, every moment of your life, everything youuse or consume, comes about from dependence on others. You sit on chairs which weremade by other people. You wear clothes which were made by other people. You eat foodcooked by other people, which in turn was grown by other people. As much as you would liketo believe that you are your own person and have achieved things through your own efforts,the truth is that you are linked with all other beings.

This awareness of our interdependence leads directly to a sense of responsibility, and lettinggo of our self-grasping. Until we have achieved true selflessness, completely free fromignorance, we can begin in a smaller way by giving back to others what we have received inorder to benefit others the best way we can.

Whether we call it compassion, love, caring or a Buddhist term such as bodhicitta, it meansthe same thing: that in your actions, speech and thought you put others before yourself.Some of us practice meditation to achieve this understanding; others are able to understandthis without formal meditation. But no matter how good compassion sounds when you talkabout it, it really comes down to practicing it. And no one understands you as well as you do.You need the wisdom to look inward to see what kind of a person you are.

Compassion means letting go of your self-identity, letting go of proving that identity all thetime. Compassion means you work in the way the wind works, the sun works, or the air works. Take, for example, how the air assumes the shape of the room. The air does not say,“I will give you this breathing space provided you breathe the way I want.” Everyone enjoysthe benefit of being able to breathe in the air. It is the same way with the sun: the sun doesnot stop shining when there are clouds in the sky.

In that same way, selflessness free from attachment, or compassion used with wisdom,means that one goes beyond the way you want to do things. If you can let go of makingyourself the most important person in the world, there will be more capacity andspaciousness within you to work with others. You will find more space, time and energywithin yourself.

For example, because of your good heart and kindness, you go to work in a hospital or ahospice. But you find that there are restrictions and you can’t do things the way you want to.

You find yourself fighting against the system, and you reach the point where you areexhausted by your efforts. You conclude that your compassion is not being used in the bestway.

What needs to be understood at this point, by applying wisdom to your compassion, is howmuch solidity you are bringing to the situation. Because you are holding on to how you thinkthings should be, your feelings of frustration have overshadowed the creativity you mightapply to the situation.

When we want to generate compassion, we ultimately end up working with our ownemotions. We discover that any situation which overwhelms us does so to the degree that

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we solidify it. So without wisdom, compassion will not work. Wisdom is what enables us to beunconditioned and unbiased in our actions. With wisdom, we are not limited to a singlecause or purpose; we do our best in a given situation, and then we move on.

Without wisdom, we too often become focused on one single problem or issue, which wethink is the most important thing. But we live in a world that is populated by human beings,

and as long as there are billions of human beings at work, there will not be a single thing thateveryone accepts. There will be many things that are not done or said exactly the way thatyou like. If you look at different philosophies — whether Christianity, Buddhism, Islam or Hinduism — all of them arise from compassion. But I believe this one is correct, you believethat one is correct, someone else believes another is correct. Even with such a universalconcept such as compassion, Buddhists feel it necessary to call it bodhicitta, Hindus feel itnecessary to call it karuna, Christians feel it necessary to call it love. We stick to our ownterms.

Wisdom teaches us that these differences should not cause us to pull back. They should notstop us from exercising our compassion with even greater strength and motivation. When theBuddha first gave teachings, how many people understood them? None. Because of that, herefused to give the teachings for a period of seven weeks, but then he began to teach again.

If the Buddha had refused to teach because no one listened to him, we would not have theBuddhist religion today. Similarly, if I insist that my words and my compassion have to beaccepted by everyone, that really would be decadent wisdom. That would be wisdom for meand no one else. But real wisdom is letting go of the fixation on what I think is right, in order to see more clearly what is really helpful. Wisdom is the openness that lets us see what is

essential and most effective, what truly needs to be practiced by all humanity. This is verynecessary. This is something that we need to practice.

Wisdom requires that we work with the inner self, in order to act in accordance with the basicgoodness we all have. And when we meet with obstacles or difficulties, we can use them todevelop more inspiration, for if we sincerely value kindness and caring, that belief will give usthe courage to overcome all obstacles. Wisdom is being able to use obstacles in this way.Otherwise, wisdom becomes some sort of museum piece, and we end up collectingphilosophies, logics and teachings just like people who collect old furniture.

The wisdom of all the world’s traditions needs to be nurtured and cared for, not collected.Our innate wisdom needs to be developed, understood and sharpened. Each person mustdevelop the quality of fearlessness so that wisdom can cut through their ignorance. The bestwisdom is that which you have the courage to apply to yourself. Only then can you reallyunderstand human beings as they are. Then you can give yourself and others the chance togrow individually, to think as they want. All of us need space to develop.

We can all learn together to some degree, but the transformation of the world must beginwithin ourselves. Compassion and wisdom need to function together, combined with

skillfulness, tolerance and patience. If we give ourselves the time and space to reallyobserve our own thoughts and actions, good can come about. We give ourselves and others

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a lot of space in which to function properly; rather than act selfishly, we act selflessly.

Much of this is easy to say. Practice definitely begins with ourselves. When we look into amirror, we usually know what we want to see, and so we see only what we want. To see whatis really in the mirror, good or bad, and to work with what we see, is very important and verynecessary. It takes some courage.

So think carefully, because times change. Every moment of life, we lose someone that weknow. Time does not wait for anyone, and because there is change in every moment,frivolousness harms only ourselves. But if, in our short lives as human beings, we are able tobe of some benefit to someone else, then that is the activity of an enlightened being.

The Ven. Khandro Rinpoche is one of the most prominent women teachers in TibetanBuddhism. She is a holder of the Kagyü and Nyingma lineages of vajrayana Buddhism; her root teachers are the late Sixteenth Karmapa, the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and her father, Mindrolling Tichen Rinpoche. Fluent in English, Khandro Rinpoche teaches regularlyin North America and Europe.

Compassion and Wisdom, Venerable Khandro Rinpoche, Shambhala Sun, July 2000.

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Living the Dharma

© by Khandro Rinpoche

Born in 1967 in the Tibetan refugee family of Mindroling Rinpoche, Khandro Rinpochereceived both a traditional Tibetan education and a modern Western one. At a young age shewas recognized as the incarnation of the Great Khandro of Tsurphu who was an emanation of Yeshe Tsogyal and the consort of the Fifteenth Karmapa. Her main spiritual teachers areMindroling Trichen Rinpoche, the Sixteenth Karmapa, and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. KhandroRinpoche is a lineage holder in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. She heads her father's monastery, Karma Chokhor Dechen Nunnery, and Samten Tse Retreat Center inMussoorie. She also teaches widely in the West.

We all are aware of the problems we face today, and we are also aware of the potentials andthe qualities present in the female sangha. When there is a talk about women andBuddhism, I have noticed that people often regard the topic as something new and different.They believe that women in Buddhism has become an important topic because we live inmodern times and so many women are practicing the Dharma now. However, this is not thecase. The female sangha has been here for centuries. We are not bringing something newinto a twenty-five hundred-year-old tradition. The roots are there, and we are simply re-energizing them.

When women join the sangha, sometimes one part of their minds thinks, "Maybe I won't be

treated equally because I am a woman." With that attitude, when we do a simple thing, suchas enter a shrine room, we immediately look for either the front seat or the back seat. Thosewho are more proud think, "I'm a woman," and rush for the front row. Those who are lessself-confident immediately head for the last row. We need to examine this kind of thinkingand behavior. The foundation and essence of the Dharma goes beyond this discrimination.

Sometimes you suffer from doubt and dissatisfied mind in your Dharma practice. When youdo a retreat, you wonder if bodhicitta would grow more easily from actually working withpeople who are suffering. You think, "What is the benefit of selfishly sitting in this room,working toward my own enlightenment?" Meanwhile, when you do work to help people, youthink, "I have no time to practice. Perhaps I should be in a retreat where I can realize theDharma." All of these doubts arise because of ego.

Dissatisfied mind arises toward the precepts as well. When you do not have precepts, youthink, "The monastics have dedicated their lives to Dharma and have so much time topractice. I want to be a monastic too." Then after you become a monastic, you are also busyand begin to think that being a monastic is not the real way to practice. You start to doubt,"Perhaps it would be more realistic to stay within the world. The monastic life may be tootraditional and alien for me." Such obstacles are simply manifestations of a dissatisfiedmind.

Whether you are a monastic or a lay practitioner, rejoice in your practice. Do not be rigid or worry unnecessarily about doing things wrong. Whatever you do-talking, sleeping, practicing-

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allow spontaneity to arise. From spontaneity comes courage. This courage enables you tomake an effort to learn each day, to remain within the arising moment, and then theconfidence of being a practitioner will emerge within you. That brings more happiness, whichwill enable you to live according to your precepts. Do not think that precepts tie you down.Rather, they enable you to be more flexible, open up, and look beyond yourself. They giveyou the space to practice the path of renunciation and bodhicitta. It must be understood thatby taking the precepts we are able to loosen our rigid individualism in many ways and thus

be more available to others.

Previously, many women lacked the confidence that they could achieve enlightenment, but Ithink that is not much of a problem now. Many women practitioners, lay women as well asnuns, have done incredible work. Different projects are underway and our externalcircumstances are improving. Nevertheless, some people ask, "How can we practice with theshortage of female role models to teach us?" I wonder: Does the teacher you dream of haveto be a woman? If so, will you want to spend as much time as possible with her? Our wantsand wishes never end.

I agree there is a great need for women teachers, and many young nuns are exceptional in

their education today. We should definitely request them to teach. Many nuns simply needthe confidence to teach and thus to help one another. To learn, you do not necessarily needa teacher who has studied thousands of texts. Someone who knows just one text well canshare it. We need people who will pass onto others what they know now.

But our ego blocks us from learning and benefiting from each other. Those who could teachoften doubt themselves thinking, "Who is going to listen?" And those who need to learn oftenlook for the "highest" teacher, not the teacher with knowledge. Looking for the "perfect"teacher is sometimes a hindrance. You think, "Why should I listen to this person? I havebeen a nun longer than she has. I have done a three-year retreat, but she hasn't." Watch outfor this type of attitude. Of course, a person who has all the qualities and can expound all theteachings properly is very important. But also realize that you are in a situation where anyknowledge is appreciated. Until you meet this "perfect" teacher, try to learn wherever andwhenever you can. If it is knowledge you are looking for, you will find it. People will beavailable to teach you, but you may lack the humility needed to be a perfect recipient.

I believe Buddhism will be Westernized. Some changes definitely need to come about, butthey need to be well thought out. It is not appropriate to change something simply becausewe have difficulty with it. Our ego finds difficulty with almost everything! We must examinewhat will enable people to be more flexible, to communicate better, and to extendthemselves to others, and then make changes for these reasons. Deciding what and how to

change is a delicate matter and can be very tricky. We must work carefully on this and besure to preserve the authenticity of the Dharma and keep true compassion at heart.

The Need for Community

We in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition often become absorbed in "my vows," "my community,""my sect," "my practice," and this keeps us from putting our practice into action. Aspractitioners, we should not become isolated from one another. Remember that we are notpracticing and are not ordained for our own convenience; we are following the path toward

enlightenment and working for the benefit of all sentient beings. Being a sangha member is ahard, yet valuable responsibility. For us to make progress and our aspirations to bear fruit,

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we must work together and appreciate one another honestly. Therefore, we need to knowone another, live together, and experience community life.

We need places where Western nuns can live and practice, just as in the East. If wesincerely want the female sangha to flourish and develop, some amount of hard work isnecessary. We cannot simply let it be and say it is difficult. If problems exist, we are, more or less, responsible for them. On the other hand, good results come from working together and

being unified. In Western society, you become independent at a very young age. You haveprivacy and can do whatever you like. Community life in the sangha immediately confrontsyou with living with different people who have varying opinions and views. Of courseproblems will arise. Instead of complaining or avoiding your responsibility when thishappens, you need to bring your practice to the situation.

Constructing a place for the sangha is not too difficult, but developing trust is. Whensomeone disciplines you, you should be able to accept it. If you want to move out themoment that you do not like something, your life as a nun will be difficult. If you think aboutgiving back your vows every time your teacher or someone in the monastery says somethingyou do not want to hear, how will you progress? The motivation begins with you. You must

begin with a solid, sincere motivation and want to follow a path of renunciation. When youhave that motivation, problems will not seem so big, and you will meet teachers and receiveteachings without much difficulty.

Simply waking up as a community, walking into the shrine room as a community, practicingas a community, eating as a community is wonderful. This must be learned and practiced.The experience of living together is very different from understanding a nun's life by readingbooks. A teacher can say, "Vinaya says to do this and not that," and people will take notesand review the teaching. But this is not the same as living the teachings together with other people. When we actually live it ourselves, a more natural way of learning occurs.

As a sangha, we need to work together. It is important for us to help each other and to helpthose in positions of responsibility in whatever way we can. We also need to respect thosewho teach us. When a nun is well trained, she can teach other nuns. The nuns who studywith her will respect her, saying, "She is my teacher." She is not necessarily their rootteacher, but she has good qualities and has given them knowledge, and that is reasonenough to respect her.

See that in your lifetime, you give whatever you know to at least ten people. Receivingcomplete teachings is difficult, so when you are fortunate enough to receive teachings, makesure to make it easier for others to get them. Help to improve the circumstances and to share

what you learn so that others do not have to struggle as much as you did. When manyinstructions and teachings are given, we will have educated nuns who are well versed, andthey will benefit many people.

The Importance of Motivation

Whether one is a nun, a Westerner, a Tibetan, a lay person, a meditator, or whatever,practice comes back to one thing: checking oneself. Time and time again, we need toobserve very carefully what we are doing. If we find ourselves simply seeing our Dharmapractice as an extracurricular activity, similar to a hobby, then we are off track.

Almost all human beings begin with good motivation. They do not begin to practice Dharmawith a lack of faith or a lack of compassion. As people continue to practice, some meet

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favorable conditions and increase their good qualities. They gain genuine experiencesthrough their meditation and grasp the real meaning of Dharma practice. But some whobegin with inspiration, faith, and strong motivation, find after many years that they have notchanged much. They have the same thoughts, difficulties, and problems as before. Theyappreciate and agree with the Dharma, but when it comes to practicing it and changingthemselves, they find difficulties. Their own ego, anger, laziness, and other negativeemotions become so important and necessary for them. Their minds make difficult

circumstances seem very real, and then they say they can't practice.

If this happens to us, we have to examine: How much do we really want enlightenment? Howmuch do we want to go beyond our negative emotions and wrong views? Looking carefullyinto ourselves, we may see that we want enlightenment, but we also want many other things.We want to enjoy pleasure, we want others to think that we are enlightened, we want them torecognize how kind and helpful we are. From morning to night we encounter samsara, withall its difficulties, at very close range. Yet how many of us actually want to go beyond this andleave samsara?

Genuine great compassion motivates us to attain enlightenment and benefit sentient beings.

Nevertheless, we tend to use compassion and bodhicitta as excuses to indulge in what welike. Sometimes we do what ego wants, saying, "I'm doing it for the sake of others." Other times we use the excuse that we have to do our Dharma practices in order to shirk our responsibilities. But Dharma practice is not about running away from responsibilities.Instead, we need to turn away from habitual negative patterns of thought and behavior, andto discover these patterns we need to look within ourselves. Until that is done, simplyspeaking about the Dharma, teaching, or memorizing texts does not bring much real benefit.

You talk about compassion and benefiting sentient beings, but it must begin this moment,with the person sitting next to you, with your community. If you cannot endure a person in theroom, what kind of practitioner does that make you? You should listen to teachings and putthem into practice so that you change.

Faith is an essential element on the path of renunciation, on the path to enlightenment. Our faith is still comparatively superficial and therefore shakable. Small situations make us doubtthe Dharma and the path, causing our determination to decline. If our motivation and faithare shakable, how can we talk about leaving behind all the karma and negative emotionsthat have been following us for lifetimes? Through study and practice we will begin todevelop real knowledge and understanding. We will see how true the Dharma is, and thenour faith will be unshakable.

In the West, people often want teachings that are enjoyable to listen to, ones which say whatthey want to hear. They want the teacher to be entertaining and tell amusing stories thatmake them laugh. Or Westerners want the highest teachings: Atiyoga, Dzogchen,Mahamudra, and Tantric initiations. People flood to these teachings. Of course, they areimportant, but if you do not have a strong foundation, you will not understand them, and thebenefit that they are supposed to bring will not be achieved. On the other hand, when thefoundation practices-refuge, karma, bodhicitta, and so forth-are taught, people often think,"I've heard that before so many times. Why don't these teachers say something new andinteresting?" Such an attitude is a hindrance to your practice. You have to focus on changingyour daily attitudes and behavior. If you cannot do basic practices, such as abandoning theten negative actions, and practice the ten virtuous ones, talking about Mahamudra will bring

little benefit.

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Three activities are necessary. Any particular time of your life can contain all three but interms of emphasis: first, listen to, study, and learn the teachings; second, think and reflectupon them; and third, meditate and put them into practice. Then, with a motivation to benefitothers, share the teachings to the best of your capability with those who are interested andwho can benefit from them.

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COVER PHOTO:

AvalokiteshvaraTibet 1900 - 1959Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton

Collection of Private

Avalokiteshvara, Resting in the Nature of Mind. From a set of cards depicting the RinjungLhantab of the Panchen Lama.

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quintessence of compassion

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