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Lama Zopa Rinpoche giving a video teaching at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, September 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues his video teachings on thought transformation from Kopan Monastery in Nepal. Here is a summary of the most recent teaching:
Rinpoche continues discussing refuge in this new video. Rinpoche begins by reminding us that we must be careful about the objects in which we take refuge—for example, people take refuge in animals, nature, or spirits.
To make the point of why it is best to go for refuge to Buddha, Rinpoche again discusses the four qualities of a Buddha and shares stories and commentary after each.
- Buddha is free from suffering and the cause of suffering
- Buddha is expert in the methods to free others from suffering
- Buddha has no discriminating thought and has equal compassion and care for all
- Buddha works to benefit every sentient being whether they benefit him or not
Worldly gods and spirits don’t have the four qualities of the Buddha.
Before you take refuge in things like food, drink, medicine, and clothes, you always check up on the quality. For example, you don’t buy food that has gone bad; you check it first before buying. Like this, you also have to check the quality of the one in whom you are going to take ultimate refuge. When you are dying, in order to not be born in the lower realms, to purify negative karma, to obtain a higher rebirth, Rinpoche says emphatically, “Rely on Buddha!” To free you from samsara, to achieve nirvana, ultimate happiness forever—”Rely on Buddha!” Buddha has all the power and qualities to guide you. If you take refuge in worldly beings, samsaric beings who have discriminating thoughts, no compassion for sentient beings, attachment, anger, ignorance, self-cherishing—how can they help you?
Rinpoche then shares several stories about the dangers of trusting worldly spirits, particularly in relation to the spirit Dolgyal (Shugden).
Things appear to us according to our karma. You see things as pure or impure based on how pure or impure your own mind is. For example, one container filled with liquid appears to a preta as pus, to a human as water, and to worldly gods, suras, and asuras as nectar. To Buddha’s attendant, who served him for twenty-two years, Buddha appeared to be a liar; he didn’t see Buddha as Buddha. Rinpoche explains that was due to his karma. Likewise, some lamas have showed the aspect of practicing Dolgyal, but didn’t actually do the practice. There are many examples of enlightened beings who showed the aspect of being ordinary. What we see in others is due to our own karma.
Rinpoche shares a verse from the Fifth Dalai Lama:
In the view of your own perverted mind,
Your own mistakes appear in the guru’s actions.
Your heart is totally rotten from the depths.
Recognizing that it is your own mistake, abandon it like poison.
Rinpoche advises that this is very, very powerful, and it is so important to do mindfulness practice in relation to guru yoga. Then you never give rise to heresy and anger. If you see any mistake in the guru, it is a reflection of your ordinary mind’s mistake. Don’t think that taking refuge is something easy. Monks and nuns study refuge and the qualities of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha their whole lives so they can learn the meaning of the words and actualize them to achieve enlightenment by completing the qualities of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. This is not easy! You take refuge to be free from samsara. In order to do that, you have to know what samsara is.
We invite you to go deeper into the topics presented here, plus many others, by watching Rinpoche’s video and reading the full transcript of Rinpoche’s teaching.
Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teaching “Don’t Think Taking Refuge Is Something Easy”:
- Read the transcript of Rinpoche’s teaching
- Find Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation translated into Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, and Russian
- The Foundation Store offers many resources for your practice of refuge.
- Dedication verses
Watch more from the video series Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation and find links to videos in transcripts, MP3s, additional practice advice, and more:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche-for-coronavirus/
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.