A Gift of Dharma for 10.26.09
Today’s quote comes to us from one of my spiritual friends: Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche (pictured to the left in a photograph taken by yours truly).
Rinpoche is the abbot of Ka Nying Shedrup Ling Monastery and the founder of Rangjung Yeshe Institute. A master of both Dzogchen and Mahamudra practice, he is also a holder of the Barum Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. Educated at Rumtek Monastery in Gangtok, Sikkim, under the guidance of His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, his books include The Union of Dzogchen and Mahamudra, Indisputable Truth and Present Fresh Wakefulness.
Since 1984, Rinpoche has taught meditation to students on the Antioch College Buddhist Studies Program in Bodh Gaya, India, where I first got to know him as a faculty member on the program in 2006. I was very fortunate indeed to be able to renew my refuge and bodhisattva vows with him under the Bodhi tree during that time (as seen in the photo to the right, which was taken by my friend Tara N. Doyle), and was given the new dharma name Jangchup Dorje (“Indestructible Awakening”).
In 2007, I was fortunate to be able to help with Rinpoche’s visit to the Yellow Springs Dharma Center in Yellow Springs, OH. (I wrote extensively about that visit in this post, which featured the picture to the left–taken by my friend Kerry Lucinda Brown) I consider Rinpoche one of my teachers, and feel much affection and respect for him. He’s a wonderful, funny, kind, compassionate, brilliant being.
Here’s the quote–from his book Present Fresh Wakefulness (Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2002), pg. 75:
In Shantideva’s The Way of the Bodhisattva, there is an instruction: “When you look upon another being, do so gently, with loving eyes and a smiling face.” Appreciate other beings with this attitude: “With the help of these beings, I can develop the precious enlightened attitude, bodhichitta. With the help of these beings, I can progress towards Buddhahood. The fact that it is possible for me to train in the six paramitas, in the four means of magnetizing and so forth, and in the vast activities of a bodhisattva, is only possible because of other beings–so, thank you very much!” The teaching of The Way of the Bodhisattva continues, “Speak gently; speak softly; speak meaningfully. In your heart be free of conceit and hypocrisy, be free of rivalry and aggression. Always keep a sincere and compassionate frame of mind.”
When we study the words of the Buddha and understand their meaning, something should change in us. A person who learns and reflects about Buddhism should simultaneously diminish his or her involvement in selfish emotions. Compassion and understanding should grow further and further. If that is the case, you can say that learning and understanding are progressing correctly.
