Good Question
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
Another interesting and heartfelt question from my blog on the public question board I thought I’d share:
Dear rinpoche, if i persevere diligently in my practices to purify negative karma and accumulate merit and yet i cannot eliminate one bit of suffering in this life what quantum leap of faith must i then muster to believe that i can save myself in future lives through continuing the same practices?if one cannot eliminate pain and suffering from illnesses poverty emotional trauma etc in this life how can one still cling to any hope in the dharma for the unknown unseen untold number of future lives ( posted by Irene)
Dear Irene, I understand your questions and thank you for it. Your fundamental perception of the purpose of practice must change. The more you practice, the more you should develop the mind to take on the sufferings of all sentient beings and not just yourself. The results of practice is not running away from sufferings or avoidance of it, but the acceptance of it and for the sake of all others. If you use practice or religion to gain happiness, or material gains or personal peace, then the fundamental motivation would be wrong and hence would not produce the desired results quickly. Read the Lam Rim… important.
- The more you practice purification and the more problems arise or the same problems arise IS A VERY GOOD SIGN..AN EXECELLENT SIGN INDEED. Why? Because the karma is coming out and you are experiencing it now. I give you an example. If you have to lose a handphone, is it better to lose it in the middle of the city during daylight or to lose it at midnight in a dark and lonely forest when you are alone? Losing the phone is the same, but the environmental situation can dramatically alter the situation and how much more sufferings it entails. It is much better to ‘suffer’ out the karma HERE AND NOW. Be grateful for that. The environment now is better to experience the karma. As Trijang Rinpoche says, we suffer nothing that the cause was not created by ourselves…
- Along with your practice is to read, watch teachings and learn up more on the very purpose of Buddhistic practice. Learn up more on dharma is very important…very important for you and everyone. Suffering is ever present in every sector of samsara and as long as you are here without control you have to expect it..feel lucky you can recognize it and have an opportunity to do something about it with perseverance patiently. The karmas can take more than one lifetime to purify because we’ve had thousands of hundreds of thousands of lifetimes for sure.
- Once you reach certain stages in meditation you can perceive former lives and what you did and the karma that was accummulated for what you are experiencing now.. Until then, the Buddha would never lie or be mistaken. The mountains may be destroyed, great trees die and the oceans may dry up, but the perfect Tathagata can never be wrong. All causes for His lack of perfect perception has been eliminated. So trust the Buddha and take refuge in Him by relying on the path He took.
- Meditate on the problems of ppl in poverty stricken countries or with horrible incurable diseases, or ppl who are born to be hurt, beaten, killed. Meditate on others’ problems and how immense it is and ask their problems come to you and you may suffer it for them. Develop that type of mind..that type of mind would be powerful to purify karma faster. The mind that practices for others is the correct mind of practice THAT WOULD GAIN RESULTS. Please read Milarepa’s biography.
- Whatever methods you have engaged in before dharma didn’t work, so if you do dharma and long term it will work.. Add Setrap to your practice. You will be fine in the end…you’ll see..I wish you well sincerely from my heart, from my soul, from my being…may your sufferings and wrong perceptions come to me please…may it be so.
I wish you well and continue without expectation of material or personal results, practice with results that you can do more for others. All sufferings of this life is just to be continued into future lives as they were carried to the present from the past if left UNPURIFIED AND UNCHECKED.
Tsem Rinpoche
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Praying or meditate with the right motivation, sincerely and practice consistently. Our karma can be purified through confession if the thoughts become positive when our mind is transform. Virtuous actions are based on good intentions and non-virtuous actions are based on negative intentions. We need to understand how to practice virtue and eliminate or non-virtue. Reading this article had me understand better. It is a really clear and systematic explanation that is practical as well, so skilfully written. Good enough to motivate me and added to my knowledge.
Thank you Rinpoche for this profound teachings
It’s like aspiring to become a Buddha and then everything else will be taken care of.
Ultimately, the thought of others must precede our own sufferings. That’s why Bodhisattvas will never give up the path of Buddhahood, even for the sake of one sentient being. Or else, what’s the reason for existing at all?
Thank you Rinpoche for this advice.
Dear Rinpoche
Before I learn dharma from Rinpoche, I have the same thought as Irene. But, after these years in dharma, in Kechara, by listening to Rinpoche’s teachings, it make me realize I have use religion to escape from my own responsibility that I suppose to take. I hopes Buddha will settle everything for me, helps me to be success in this worldly events. But, I forget that Buddha come to this world to taught us to released ourselves from samsara, from the karma we been trapped ourselves. By having dharma knowledge, slowly I contemplate and realize more about karma. I have learned to accept and thus learn to take responsible, let go of many of my inner anger, jealousy and depression. To me, this is a great blessing for me to be able to see my weakness and still have chances to correct
Thank you Rinpoche for teaching us
May Rinpoche continue to turn the dharma wheel, may more people able to learn and practice Lama Tsongkhapa lineage.
With Folded hand
Freon
Praying for worldly things and getting bad dreams and not having wishes fulfilled seems such a put off. But, the dharma is for higher things and not worldly matters. The Protector will create conditions to expedite our dharma practice. If it is not needed, then it will not be. If a condition that we wish for is needed to help us in dharma, then it will happen, otherwise it will not.
If we pray with the right motivation, good things will happen even though we did not specifically ask for it. As Rinpoche, mentioned, if it is for the benefit of others, then the motivation correct and if we keep at it, then, there will be results.
Thank you Rinpcohe for your teaching on the topic of karma purification. This is a good explaination as most of us cannot run away from our karma from the past. We have doubt from time to time especially when we dont see the ‘results’ that we expected.
Karma follows us like our shadow. We need to purify them so that they dont follow us again in our next lives.
I have learnt to recognise the power of karma and to put full faith in Lord Setrap, for I believe he will lead me to the best path that I myself cannot see.
Fully agree with Master, I was one of the most complaining student of all time. And for years the practice I “do” didn’t work, I really doubt the teaching, I even leave buddhism and the masters who initiated me. But it is funny even how stubborn I was, the truth always bring me back to the path. I can be sure that, good things will certainly come, but every beginning is tough, for great things like dhamma, every evil and God will come to test you…If you really work on it. Finally they will give up then one day you will see… from that day on, there will be no returning.
Most of us seek religion for an answer to our worldly problems. There are many more people worse off than us but yet we don’t see. Only our problems remain real, only we are suffering. So we do spiritual practice to solve our own woes. Assuming we get what we want, the little happiness we get seems elusive as it soons heralds another problem, then another. We don’t realise we’ve just been going around the mulberry bush which itself is suffering. But the Buddha taught that we could end this scenario for good. Through Rinpoche we learn methods that would help us to that eventuality, provided we apply. So if we focus on the ultimate goal, freedom from all suffering not just for ourselves, and apply what our kind Gurus teach us, then it is possible to reach that goal at which point even all our current minor sufferings will be eradicated. Even if we don’t know if the Buddha is lying about this, and therefore not take this seriously or do anything about it, what if per chance he is right? We would have lost our chance and gambled our lives away. It’s our choice eventually.
We should not blame any religion for creating sufferings, it is us, the individuals who have the misunderstandings, mistaken conceptions, and wrong views on the projected phenomena. Spiritual teachers are bound to have their duties and responsibilities to bring people together and out of their sufferings, based on love, compassion, caring respect and understanding. Each religion has its own unique qualities for the people they are serving, suited to their culture and traditon. They are all great, and our Buddhism practice is said to be a way of life, meant for the individual to improve oneself, and is not a mystery. Whatever, and whenever we have problems, on all aspects of life, from Karma to careers, and dating to death, we seek our Guru’s advice and diagnosis, and he would provide us his teachings of the dharma to cure us. It will be our Guru who help us when we are feeling lost – and when we walk alone and find difficulty to move in the right direction, our guru provides us his guiding light to show us the Way. Many heartfelt thanks to our Rinpoche for being our Icon of light, giving, sharing and loving…….A MODERN LIVING BUDDHA OF COMPASSION IN TODAY’S ERA.
Dear Rinpoche,
You said “If you use practice or religion to gain happiness, or material gains or personal peace, then the fundamental motivation would be wrong and hence would not produce the desired results quickly.”
Still, Buddha defined nirvana as the the highest happiness; he also described it as a noble goal that is worth pursuing. And it appears that, in order to reach it, you must follow the Noble Path. So, what am I missing?
lets get down bro
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for answering Irene’s question so clearly as it is a question that many newbies like me have.
More importantly, Thank you for laying out the steps we need to take, making it so simple and do-able.
Peserverance patiently is how I should approach my practice and to continue to help others & alleviate their sufferings.
Rinpoche, thank you for this precious teaching, for its clarity and the vast vision it offers to my mind.
With the motivation of helping others, problems are just rebus looking for a solution. They are approached with a relative peace of mind, yet still with focus, concern and a sense of emergency.
With a selfish mind, problems are yet another trap for my EGO to be falling deeper into self-centered view creating low-confidence, “poor me” mindset, depression, paranoia etcetera…
It seems as if my EGO craves for attention, and if it cannot be fueled with fame and money, it can still be fueled with oblivion, problems and misery, the effect seems to be the same, taking me deeper in a self-centered spiral down.
To have problems or not to have problems, this is not the question.
To achieve a state of happiness regardless of me having problems or not, this is the question. And to take on problems for others helps me to get closer to that happiness, because it is not “hurting me”, it is “helping others”.
Then everything changes, yet nothing changes.
I believe that what you percieve and think is all from the mind. And what comes out from your mind is whether you have faith in whatever you believe in. Do not have negative thoughts. And when you don’t indulge in negative thoughts you will feel more happier and lighter. Have positive thoughts all the time discard negative thoughts. Learn to meditate, listen to Dharma talks. Think of people who are worse off and sufferings compared to you. Then your perception in your life will be changed. If you have a Guru have faith and trust in him. Practice Guru devotion, for your Guru is Buddha and Buddha cannot go wrong.
dear rinpoche i am deeply touched by your kindness in answering all my questions. yes , i must try harder to change .
since i am already suffering , might i as well embrace my pain as if i were taking on the pain and suffering of other sentient beings and dedicate the merit in my practices to the well being of all these beings ??!! so then pain is good because it provides me with a ready act of taking and giving … how devious but a skilful method no less ??!!
and yet … how i do need to measure progress by the alleviation of my own pain … its still about me is it not ? i must be free … i must find my peace.
would one be inspired by milerapa’s story or be filled with horror and despair ?
Ha good answer, what is the use of a few of “us” working like hell to save “other” while the speed of “bad” karma “they” do is more then “we” can bear ? why not pain and suffering befall “them” so “they” can learn. Well since buddha already predicted the end of time and nothing is permanent, the world bound to rise is bound to fall. Why should we even try to “fix” it ? is it compassion ? or is it mere attachment to ideal which is impossible to achieve ?
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing with us the clear and detailed explanation.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing your answer to Irene’s question here with us.I find it very profound and tremendously meaningful. I quote Rinpoche’s words that have moved me in particular:
“Meditate on others’ problems and how immense it is and ask that their problems come to you and you may suffer it for them. Develop that type of mind would be powerful to purify negative karma faster”.
May I be able to develop this type of mind quickly, and spontaneously take on the suffering of all mother beings in this precious lifetime when I have my precious and compassionate Lama and Spiritual Guide here with me.How powerful the results would be in purifying the countless negative karma I have accumulated over innumerable past lives. How great a way to repay the kindness of all beings who have been my mothers in past lives and this life.
Thank you once again Rinpoche, from the depths of my heart.
Thank you so much for this precious response!
Thank you immensely again, Rinpochela! Your advice comes like a light in my moment of darkness.
Same goes here , my perception of practicing is wrong as well. Now i know ! Thank you Rinpoche for teaching and shall practice it in the righteous way.