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Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khadro-la doing puja on Lhabab Duchen at Swayambunath, Nepal, October 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
In the following short video from the 2019 Vajaryogini retreat at Institute Vajra Yogini, Lama Zopa Rinpoche guides us through the reasoning why we should be very grateful to those who hate or abuse us:
When you understand that the person who you call “enemy” is an obscured, suffering sentient being, then you can generate compassion based on that understanding, Rinpoche explains. Generating compassion is the basis for all the buddhas and all our good karma and happiness, Rinpoche says, describing the process for this step by step.
“Present and future [happiness], up to and including enlightenment, everything came from your good karma, that which is the buddhas’ holy actions. So your past, present, and future, all three-time happiness, you receive from the buddhas,” Rinpoche explains. “So a buddha came from a bodhisattva, a bodhisattva came from bodhichitta, bodhichitta came from great compassion, great compassion is generated by depending on, by the kindness of, the person whom you call ‘enemy,’ who abuses you, who doesn’t love you, who is angry with you.”
The person you think of as “enemy” is also the object of your practice of patience. Instead of anger towards that person, you can develop your patience and complete the paramita of patience. “If you cherish that person, you achieve enlightenment from that person. That person gives you enlightenment,” Rinpoche says.
Rinpoche also emphasizes how important it is to have compassion for all beings. He then explains that to have an actual Dharma practice, one that isn’t just words, you must cherish those that you don’t like or who hurt you.
“If you don’t cherish that person whom you call enemy, there is no enlightenment at all. It is sooooo important to cherish that [person]. If you are able to cherish them, then there is enlightenment,” Rinpoche explains. “Those things are the most important practice in our daily life!”
Watch the video “It Is Only Due to the Kindness of Your Enemy That You Can Reach Enlightenment”:
Read the transcript of Rinpoche’s teaching.
The above video is extracted from a teaching given on May 16, 2019, during the Vajrayogini retreat at Institut Vajra Yogini in France. You can find more blogs with short video clips from Rinpoche’s teaching as well as the complete collection of these “Essential Extracts” videos on FPMT.org.
Watch videos from the series Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation and find links to transcripts, MP3s, additional practice advice, and more. Read an in-depth summary of Rinpoche’s thought transformation teachings given in 2020 in the Mandala 2021 article “The Time to Practice Is Now.”
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.