Circuses and Clowns
Glad I ran away from the circus years ago.~Tsem Rinpoche
Glad I ran to the circus years ago.~Tsem Rinpoche
The circus was not fun, the clowns were not funny.~Tsem Rinpoche
The circus is some place we are told is fun, but after a while, it’s not.~Tsem Rinpoche
Run away from the circus to another circus, samsara is all the same.~Tsem Rinpoche
Show me a place in samsara that’s not a circus?~Tsem Rinpoche
Whatever circus we try to have fun in, the clowns are just an act.~Tsem Rinpoche
All circus clowns are illusionary, they are just as unhappy and stuck in the circus as we are.~Tsem Rinpoche
How can people stuck in samsara’s circus, release other people or make them happy? ~Tsem Rinpoche
The show at the circus never ends till we ‘unclown’ ourselves.~Tsem Rinpoche
It’s all been a show and we are all clowns trying to make others happy when we are not.~Tsem Rinpoche
How can anyone be happy being in the circus their whole lives? ~Tsem Rinpoche
Samsara is one big circus and if we look at it carefully, it’s not fun.~Tsem Rinpoche
Send in the clowns but make sure they are funny and keep me entertained so I don’t see reality for now.~Tsem Rinpoche
Do the clowns have to go? I don’t want to face reality.~Tsem Rinpoche
The only place the circus and unfunny clowns don’t distort me any further is in nirvana. ~Tsem Rinpoche
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We have been working hard in our entire lives trying to make things better. We create our comfort zone and hope that it will last forever. We thought we are safe but things always turn the other way round whether we like it or not. This is the nature of samsara. We will continue with endless sufferings because we seek happiness in all the wrong places.
Thank you Rinpoche for reminding us that how our life is so attached to samsara. Our life is just like a clown living in a circus, always trying hard to make fun and act happy but deep inside is just another person who may have a different feeling altogether.
Isn’t this sad, always trying to be somebody to fit in the society and keep ourselves busy attaching to things everyone deem is important and necessary.
May we all break free this attachment.
It’s sad that many of us still don’t realize we are clowns in one big circus in samsara. It’s definitely not fun as everything is illusionary and impermanent and the fun will end soon. Thank you for reminding us, so we can unclown ourselves, Rinpoche.
With folded hands.
Susan Liew
We are the clowns trying to make the suffering of Samsara bearable by being in the circus of fun and laughter. After a while, even the clowns are not funny anymore and laughter turns to tears of pain.
To eradicate suffering is to find the cause not just avoid it on temporary basis and then back into the circus of clowning.
Very deep and profound teaching by H E the 25th Tsem Rinpoche. Let us stop being the clowns and take our precious human lives seriously with our Guru’s guidance and Dharma teachings.
People wonder why Rinpoche teases us about being clowns but like everything Rinpoche does, there’s a deeper meaning and in this case, I think the analogy definitely runs a lot more deeply than just a simple tease. So I may get it totally wrong but this is my take on it:
Clowns are make-up. They are bad jokes, they are comedic, they are tragic. They are tragic. They are a painted caricature of life, prone to exaggeration and they are the ultimate symbol of falsity – no matter how sad a clown is, a clown has to pretend to be happy. The clown can never acknowledge his or her emotions; a clown has to join the circus performance regardless of how he or she feels. The clown can never break from character and reveal who he or she truly is under all of that make-up.
During the performance, we the audience remain transfixed on the show. We forget what is happening outside of the Big Top and for the time we are there, what is happening before our eyes (even though it is clearly made up) commands our total and absolute focus.
It is just like samsara. So blind we are to see that everything is just made up and designed to be entertaining, we forget that one day we have to leave the circus behind and enter the real world. The sad thing is, the clown has to do the same too. Both audience and clown participate in the creation of the circus; we are all just actors in samsara, perpetuating it for one another by creating karma.
Perhaps when we realize that we are just clown in a circus can we begin to make the first move to becoming less of clown.
When I first read this article I didn’t fully understand it but now I do. This article is quite hard to understand and it can also be easily understood if we actually focus and read it properly.
This is my opinion or view about this article:
when we are first born into this world, we would think that life is full of joy and happiness but later in life when we grow older we realize that life is not fun at all and sometimes we might feel or think that life must have meant more than just making money and having a happy family.
And yes, life is not just about just about that, life is about being kind and caring to others while we learn the Dharma. What is the point of being religious when you treat others badly? I am not saying that being religious is bad but there is literally no point of being religious when you treat others badly because most religions teaches us to be compassionate, kind and caring to others.
Thank you for the Dharma through this creative teaching. This clown is leaving the circus for good. 🙂
Yes, we are all the clowns in the circus. The clowns have too many delusions and obcurations and the need a spiritual guide like Rinpoche to give them wisdom and compassion so that they can leave the circus and be happy.
Thank you for the beautiful post.
With folded hands
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing the wisdom quotes which are simple, understandable and logic that explains much about samsara. Thank you for enlighten us that as long we live and not renounce from samsara, we are still a clown in ourselves.
We are all members of this big circus known as Samsara , just playing different roles again and again . One needs Wisdom to realise & compassion to get out
This is so true. We are all clowns in the circus (a.k.a. samsara). Being a clown in the circus means we have to pretend to be happy and put on a face to entertain other people even when we are actually sad, for the show must go on, some said. But at what cost? Is it worth to stay a clown life after life just because we are lazy now to take the first step forward? If not now, when?
There is so much connotation to just the clown in the circus in this message. And I really appreciate Rinpoche’s blogpost for invoking some thoughts in my mind, to strengthen my faith.
Thank you so much, Rinpoche.
With folded palms, humbly,
Stella
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for this post and its little messages. I liked how as we went down the list, the sayings got more and more meaningful and deep. The fact that clowns and circuses were related to samsara was a nice touch on seeing things in a different perspective. I did not really get it at first, but as I read it again once or twice, the teachings behind the sayings became clearer tome. 🙂
I will ‘unclown’ and improve my body, speech and mind as everyday goes by. _/|\_
Your humble student,
Keng Hwa.
Thank you Rinpoche for this short and meaningful message , we are in this circus show that never end if we do not change our mind or tame our ego mind is so deluded a lot of us do not even realise it and keep go round and round about this samsaric life I’m glad we have a guru who constantly remind us about the true suffering of samsara .
Thank you Rinpoche for always reminding us the true nature of samsara. From my understanding, the circus that we have put up is merely our self-created delusions and ignorance. We have to be awaken and face the reality by not letting the circus show to cheat and delude us with our self grasping and self cherishing mind
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for such simple, yet powerful message of “unclowning” ourselves. We are stuck in this circus of samsara, yet many of us do not see that clearly.
Thank you for always waking us up to reality.
The circus is not fun and clowns are not funny. We need to realize this and let go of our silly attachments. At the end everything will be over and where will we be?
Just like Pastor Moh Mei commented before, Rinpoche works tirelessly to benefit us in every possible way. We need to realize that life is short and we need to do something immediately so that we will not be drawn down.
When if not Now?
We think we are in control, we have a job, a house, a car, family … . But in the end, all this will not safe us.
Thank You, Rinpoche for taking care of us clowns!
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for showing us the method of unclowning and getting of the circus as fast as possible, so many things needed in a short time for dharma. Changing habit is not easy but need to keep trying until we succeed.
Dear Rinpoche,
These quotes are so meaningful as it really strikes at the core of our soul. Some of us realize we are in samsara, but choose to become clowns still and run around with an illusory mind that we are still “happy”.
Your compassion is really 24/7 and we “clowns” are still running around in a circus sometimes ignoring your teachings like a true clown.
Thank you Rinpoche for this wake up call, again.
_/\_
16 phrases as mentioned are short but precise. Especially the phrase “Samsara is one big circus and if we look at it carefully, it’s not fun ” reminds me that I am still in SAMSARA to endure all the sufferings.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing. I am grateful that I having the opportunity to learn dharma from Rinpoche as well as the pastors. It is really helps me to improve and increase my ‘mind’s eyes’ to ‘see’ the things clearly.
That was really good… Thank you so much Tsem Rinpoche. Everything you write is moving and everything you write is worth reading carefully and repeatedly. Clowns. Wonderful imagery. Not holding back…
As long as I’ve known Rinpoche, Rinpoche has always tried to find various ways to get dharma across to different crowds/minds. This “creativity” is driven by compassion. Compassion to relieve all beings from suffering. Compassion to bring dharma in various forms and with various methods to as many as possible. When we truly care about something or someone, we never give up, we constantly think about a way to get through, better ways. And that my witness account of the daily life of my Guru Tsem Rinpoche.
Dear Pastor Moh Mei,
Beautiful description of what our Precious Guru does all the time 24/7. His universal love for all sentient beings is both awesome and in a way sad. Sad is because Rinpoche is so dedicated to elevate us out of suffering and like clowns we hang on to samsara. What a circus is Samsara.
Thank you PMM for highlighting our Guru’s dedication and in appreciation may we all dedicate our lives to being helped by our Guru to benefit self and others.
Panchen Sonam Dragpa was unique in having served as abbot of the three main Gelug monasteries – Ganden, Sera and Drepung. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchen_Sonam_Dragpa 500years ago