WORDS OF WISDOM AUTHOR: KHENPO TSULTRIM LODRO

How can a person who has practiced virtue the entire life be reborn in the lower realms? Well, although the person may have been virtuous throughout this life, we do not know anything about this person’s previous lives. Maybe the person has been virtuous in this as well as the last two lifetimes, but it may not be so anymore if we could go back even further. Some negative karma might have been committed many lifetimes ago. From the perspective of the three types of immutable karma, virtuous karma that the person has committed in this life happens to ripen not in the current or the next life, but in the yet known future lives. That is, it may not come to fruition until perhaps hundreds or even thousands of years later.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1

Actually, sharing is the greatest source of happiness.  If we know how to share, no matter how little the trifle is, we feel joy and happiness in the act of sharing. In this way, relationships between people become more intimate. If everyone throughout society had learned to share, most of the tragedies in human history could have been averted. Unfortunately, we believe that all good things should only be ours alone and should not belong to others.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series  8

Usually, we are beholden to the concept that things emerge from non-existence to existence. When planting flowers, for instance, there are certainly no flowers on the seed and that is why planting is needed. If there were flowers there already, then there would be no need to plant the seed. This is how we view reality. If there is no analysis, there is no problem with such a view at all, and this has been true from the beginning of time till now. Even after another 10,000 or 100,000 years of evolution of humankind, still there would be no problem. However, if we take another step in our analysis, we will discover another world altogether. 

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 10

The Buddha said that the nature of samsara is suffering, but he did not repudiate totally the idea that there is relative happiness in samsara either. The Buddha often said that one can enjoy the karmic reward of celestial beings and humans if one refrains from killing, stealing, cheating, etc. and engages in virtuous actions as much as possible. The blessed reward of celestial beings and humans signify relative happiness, not suffering, in samsara. However, such happiness is only on the surface, temporary and relative; it’s neither lasting nor ultimate happiness. This is why the Buddha exhorted us on many occasions to be mentally prepared so that we can garner enough courage to face every phase of life.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On The Three Poisons - How to Handle Desire"

Everyone wishes to have a happy life, including animals. But many are unhappy, and their unhappiness comes mainly from a causal relation of the mind. When we wish to own more material things, such desire will drive us to give more time and energy to fulfill that wish, resulting in bigger pressure, busier pace, less free time in life and eventually depriving us of any sense of happiness. Although the original intention of desire is to gain happiness for ourselves, it ends up destroying our happiness. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to properly manage our desire.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On The Three Poisons - How to Handle Desire"

There are many kinds of desire – money, fame, love, etc. When desire is not under control and allowed to grow freely, it becomes insatiable, making us all slaves to its command. This short lifetime will then be spent in pursuit of illusive targets and wasted in striving to satisfy desires. Looking back when life nears its end, one painfully discovers that happiness is a real scarcity with unhappy moments scattered throughout one’s lifetime. Uncontrolled desire can destroy not only this life but also next life, not only oneself but also other beings. Robbery, for example, is basically caused by desire—desire to take what one lacks and others have; in so doing, one not only destroys this and future life but also disrupts the life of others.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On The Three Poisons - How to Handle Desire"

When H. H. Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche gave the teaching of the Great Perfection, he requested that all participants must complete the five preliminary practices beforehand or no attendance would be allowed. That certainly gave pressure to many who subsequently scrambled to complete in time. Of course, if completion means only meeting the requirement of finishing 100000 mantra recitations without generating the corresponding aspiration or actions, it will do nothing for the inner self but a show of formality. Hence, it is most important to take a systematic approach to dharma practice and be mindful at all times of pure motivation.

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Three Supreme Methods—the ultimate methods of cultivating virtue and training the mind

I met some lay practitioners who still had not yet completed the very basic practices long after taking refuge This is terrible and very disappointing. The reason for that is primarily a lack of motivation, which leads to practice at a snail’s pace or sometimes even withdrawal to a complete stop.   

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Three Supreme Methods—the ultimate methods of cultivating virtue and training the mind

Let us ask ourselves: “Which level do I belong? Did I or can I improve over last year?” If the answer is no, then we do not belong to any one of the three levels of practitioners. Since there is no fourth level, it just goes to show that we are practitioners in name only. And even that could be an overstatement.

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Three Supreme Methods—the ultimate methods of cultivating virtue and training the mind