If you want the truth
A beautiful view of our Kechara Forest land
Everything is such an illusion. We sell it. We buy it. We live for it. And then we are broken up by it. Why live by illusions….’beauty’, youth, wealth, fashion, money, reputation, name, position, marriage, relationships all bring us even more illusions to live by which we label commitment aka imprisonment. While ‘imprisoned’, we create more illusions to continue the grasping further. It doesn’t end because we choose to be imprisoned. Illusions are the key to why we work so hard for nothing ending up with nothing even if we had ‘everything’.
~Tsem Rinpoche
Planting of greens in Kechara Forest Retreat
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This is a short but profound teaching. We always chase after material possessions thinking we will be happy if have this or that. It is true when our desires are fulfilled we are happy but this happiness does not last. So we keep chasing not realising it is actually a waste of time because material possessions don’t make us contented and happy. We have to realise our happiness comes from within. It is a state of mind. It is our perspective on things that makes us happy, sad or angry. If we can change our perspective, we can change how we feel.
“Illusions are the key to why we work so hard for nothing ending up with nothing even if we had ‘everything’”. We work so hard for these illusions – reputation, name, wealth, marriage, great relationships. Yet in the end, when we die, they will vanish as well.Yet, how is it we are so caught up in the pursuit of these illusions that chain us , as we cannot free ourselves from clinging on to them, that we become disillusioned with these illusions only in the end, which is too late?They have already betrayed us.
Thank you Rinpoche for this profound teaching on the truth ab out illusions.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing. Chasing for luxurious items will bring us to nowhere and end up we lost our direction. Many people grab for more’attachment’such as bigger house, fancy car, higher position when they feel meaningless in life, this is taught by the society since they were a small kid, but the truth is that it just brings them to even hopeless and stressful. Benefiting others is the way to help out people but also us, although I have not felt how good it is by helping others but I will not give up.
Once we acknowledge that we are thinking about having this and that, how our life should be, how can we life our life, if I got this thing I can do this thing or this thing will make me happy if I have it .etc When you see that the mind is not focused on the present or on the present breathing then we should always remind ourselves to focus on the breathing or the current moment or action. We have to always pull ourselves back from the illusion we are always creating and reinforcing it to be stronger. And when the illusion is not in align with the situation we are currently in we are frustrated and trapping ourselves in our mind prison and being lost in our mind jungle. To encounter this problem, listen and practice the Dharma. So that it helps us to understand ourselves better. In the basis of how does one operates in itself. When we find ourselves unhappy about things, think again what we have been thinking all this while? Life ain’t no fantasy. Train your mind as it is an untamed elephant. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this wise words.
We are always blinded by the things that we choose to believe that is true, little did we know, things that we choose to be true and ways that we want things to go according can also backfire and be something that would be harming us by the end of the day.
We should always be ready for changes and be willing to accept the changes that would be taking place. It would only let us see clearer that things can change, and they change due to our perception that would be different during different times.
Thank you Rinpoche for reminder us. Yes, totally agree, nothing is permanent ,we cannot bring anything when we are dead. We use money to buy the happiness, this happiness is for short term only and once we lost it, we will sad 🙁 Learning Dharma and practice daily can bring a happiness and peaceful for us.
At university, I wrote a 20,000-word dissertation about “modern / post-modern appearances” and the deceptive lure of magazines, as they were emerging in the modern era (turn of the 19th century). It was 20,000 words about the fallacies we pursue to find ‘happiness’ and how, sociologically, our lives are shaped by a “system of objects” (Baudrillard) where we are defined by the things we want and whether we can acquire them or not. And yet, 20,000 words later, I would still go into a shop and, lured by window displays, feel like I absolutely would not be able to live another day unless I bought that new make-up palette / bag / shoes / outfit. My life had, indeed, become shaped by a “system of objects”.
So this is how we all are, to some extent, lure by the window display of life. Samsara can be deceptively beautiful and fun, when really we know all the mechanics of how it makes us hurt in the end. Ultimately, we could have everything and end up still feeling empty. This reminded me of another post Rinpoche had put up, about a doctor who had everything he could have wanted in life, and everything that most of us would be envious of. Then he got cancer, and realised that nothing he had would be able to help him. He looked around at everything he had and realised he had ‘nothing’. Do read this, it is extremely powerful to hear what he realises about his life and what is really important http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/inspiration-worthy-words/this-will-change-your-life.html
There is this too: a teaching that Rinpoche once gave us about illusionary desires, and how we spend all our lives chasing after them; how, eventually, even the most beautiful things fade, even the most precious, important things become unimportant one day, even the most solid things come to be no more eventually (or WE come to be no more, and so become separated from the things we hold on to anyway). I’d written about it in a bid that it might help someone somehow, so here it is: “Desire: How too much of it gets us into trouble” http://www.jamiekhoo.com/2012/desire-how-too-much-of-it-gets-us-into-trouble/
Happy reading. There’s lots to digest today… which hopefully provides far more food for thought and realisation than just going shopping for the next newest gadget.
Due to our illusion, we are imprisoned. Even if some of us may have felt something wrong, most of us will still choose to be imprisoned by continue to hold on to our illusion. Reason is knowing the truth is ‘painful’, and fighting it is long tough journey, so we rather choose to believe that we can never do anything about it. Many people will just said “this is life”, and just stop here with no further action to change as people around them mostly will agree with what they said.
Beauty, youth, wealth, fashion, money, reputation, name, position, marriage, relationships etc although wouldn’t last, we still keep jumping from one to another, trying to comfort ourselves even though they can only bring us transient and false happiness.
Living in a modern world makes the situation even worse. With modern technologies and the flourishing of entertainment industries, we have so many choices for us to choose from, many types of prison so creatively made for us. Bored of one? Just choose another! So fast and easy. Just like the Actifast, kill the pain but can never cure the disease.
Do we want to forever relying on painkiller or treat the disease? It’s all depending on us. And, it is just a choice.
We think that beauty, youth,money, reputation, relationships, etc will bring us happiness. Look around us how many of these people with all of these so called “success” end up in miserable or tragic deaths. Some due to suicides, accidents, illness, etc. All these “illusions” do not bring everlasting happiness. Only spiritual practice will help and benefit us. Thank you Rinpoche for your kind and constant reminders as we tend to fall back on our weaknesses in this material and grasping world.
The happiness in samsara is only a mirage… we grow up thinking that the sum of being alive, being in this human form and being here on earth is getting a good education, a good career, wealth, fame, status, relationship, family, babies and the more we grasp at it the more each time it does not fit our projected concept we suffer in disappointment. Hence the rise in mental and emotional stress and problems in this 21st century compared to the past say when in Buddhas time or no need to go that far, when our grand mother’s time…
It’s really amazing to see as our world becomes more advance, people getting more and more sophisticated externally but more and more lost internally, disconnected from each other though technology suppose to bring us closer. We end up really more or less become more cold with each other and end up using the sophisticated tools to enhance even more negative habits instead of positive. While we become physically richer, our spirit becomes poorer. Even sometimes our values are lost. Hence why KFR is so beautiful and important as the picture is so apt with the above quote from Rinpoche.
KFR is a place where people can find themselves, to reconnect within themselves and externally… with nature, with awareness, with their spirituality and find peace of mind because at the end of all this chasing and grasping… really what we’re all looking for is happiness… it’s just no one knew where to find, no one told us a different way. That is why Rinpoche’s vision, KFR is something that will benefit so many in so many ways…
Illusion is what we are grasping and craving for so many things that they won’t last and won’t bring us any benefits to our next life, why not do something that’s more meaningful and truthful by practising dharma in our daily life!
yes everything is just an illusion when you think you have achieved so much its really nothing and it just makes us more in the illusions. i also want to state that i hope KFR grows well is is the perfect place.
I totally agreed with what Rinpoche said. We are trap in the rat race, always running in circle looking for “food” and getting no way. Whatever we crave and desire for will come to an end eventually.
Realizing the empty promises and the ultimate truth, the only way out is to practising dharma and let go of all our “diluted” attachment.
Follow the food steps of Buddha and actualized our actions thru Dharma
Thank you for this wisdom, Rinpoche. We find it so difficult to break the habits of lifetimes even though we intellectually know that everything we chase to make us happy are actually only illusions. We are brought up to think that money, fame, family, children will make us happy but actually they just tie us down and keep us from spiritual progress. Thank you for constantly reminding us what is real as opposed to illusion so that we can focus on what is really important to achieve permanent happiness.
the very wrong thought of we actually own something in life itself, leads us to great sufferings. but we keep grab more and more things in life to feel that we are filled with something great in life, and the fact is we actually own nothing. it is sad to say but this is the truth. thank you Rinpoche for Your kind teachings!
read this too! http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/inspiration-worthy-words/we-own-nothing.html
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing and remind us..
This is so meaningful, that we knows it that money is not so important, just we need to survive our life and get anything we want only. When we past away, we can’t take the money go together with us. This is the truly fact…
Dear Rinpoche, it is so true.
With this posting by Rinpoche, I remember Rinpoche’s teaching on our delusions and how we reinforce our delusions by creating illusions of which we think are real.
Then we grasp onto to these illusions, continue to create more illusions and get caught in this cycle of samsara.
It does not matter what we have acquired in this short life and when the end comes, we have nothing. There is nothing we can take with us except our Karma.
Having huge amount of ignorance, may I be blessed to learn and create merits to help me through all the negativities and be a better person and create more positivities.
Like that Rinpoche stated, illusions is never ending in samsara. We either make a choice to live the way we have always lived and continue to suffer pain or we choose to find another way to improve and put an end to our suffering for happiness.
At today’s age era, we actually dont need much introduction to the truth of life! Most are already experts in this field, yet many still feel threatened when they hear about sufferings, especially death! Like Rinpoche said, “While imprisoned, we create illusion to continue the grasping further.” In reality, wherever we go, whatever we do, as long as contaminants exist, we have sufferings all the time. It looks like as if, the truth of suffering is the reality of our life. We have mental suffering, physical suffering, with lots of emotional pains! Older people like myself, have our own emotional problems and worries centred around our physical phenomena, some of which seem terrible. “Illusions are the key to why we work so hard for nothing,ending up with nothing even if we had ‘everything'”. How true it really is! Thanks for the Teachings Rinpoche, our most noble and caring Guru.
You know, we often hear people talking about their commitments and responsibilities, that they cannot do this because they are responsible to do that. But what the funny thing is that in all our commitments and responsibilities, it has stemmed from our own choices. We burden ourselves with illusions, and label them commitment and responsibilities, because it was us who made our own choice to do what we want. In burdening ourselves with these commitment and responsibilities, we have to keep on going to maintain and sustain these responsibilities and therefore dig a deeper hole for ourselves. Illusions creates the cycle of our existence, because when something ends, we create something else to commit to until the day we pass on, we are still facing these illusions.
当你执著于这个不出水的地方打井的时候，却不知甘甜清冽的泉水就在你身后，有时为探寻真正的人生甘泉，我们需要时刻准备，勇敢地换个地方“打井”
世间一切有始就有终……所以何必抓住不放。所有一切存在的到了明天都会变成一个回忆。所做的所有活动到了隔天都成了回忆。所说的所有话和所做的所有行动，即使只是下个小时都会变成回忆……所以何不时时在别人心里留下自己美好的回忆？你自己最终无论如何也会变成纯粹的回忆。詹杜固仁波切
对所有事物或物质上的执著与眷恋都会化为回忆甚至成泡沫, 任何世俗的物质都会成为回忆，同时在死亡的那一刻也带不走，唯有佛法是我们在活着时应该抓住不放的，唯有佛法是可以帮助我们有好的转世。。。。
I have always thought life is a big joke. We work so hard for money, for recognition, for relationship but one day we will lose them. We live then we die. Then I found Dharma, I learnt we can get out of this, life is more than just live and die.
For whatever happens along the way til the day we die, “Never let go of what is important to you, ie Dharma”…..
Illusions are the key to why we work so hard for nothing ending up with nothing even if we had ‘everything’ – I love this sentence very much and very true. We don’t really own up ’beauty’, youth, wealth, fashion, money, reputation, name, position, marriage, relationships permanently because when dead come upon all these will just left behind and nothing we bring over accept for our karma and merits which will determine our next journey.
Our perception towards illusion as reality make us unhappy and believe in unrealistic environment because what we believe in samsaric happiness never bring us permanent happiness in fact it bring us deep down to unhappiness when we are too much attached to it.
Realize that where and how illusion will lead us to should be a wake up call for us to find the true reality of our live. Our action change accordingly with our thought for the permanent happiness and benefits for others and ourselves.
We came into the world with nothing and we will leave as such.. We were brought up in an enviroment which habituates us into thinking that money solves everything. But they only solve our problems temporarily.
I will read this again and again and contemplate on it in hopes of detaching myself from such thinking..
Thank you for sharing, Rinpoche!
due to ignorance, we choose to live in our illusion yet we don’t know all is not permanent.We need a kind Guru to guide us and lead us to come out from this illusion.Thank you Rinpoche with kindness keep reminding us and be the light in our life.
We came with nothing and we leave with nothing. Everything is just an illusion. The only thing we leave behind are memories of our good deeds. How many people we help and how happy we make others. Like Rinpoche said, if we do good, we will go to a good place…
一切如梦幻泡影。我们中华子弟从小都被灌输这样的文化。但是随着物质生活注重，广告的渲染，我们有了拥有＂这些那些＂我们就会快乐。我们需要快乐，可是我们找寻的方向不对，最后才了解我们到底做了些什么？挥一挥衣袖不带走一片云彩，死去带走的是我们的业。
Nothing in this world is real, when we though we have everything, it just disappeared in the blink of eye, nothing is permanent in this world, we are just a passer by here, and we will go anytime, so why spend so much time grabbing so much where we can spend the same amount of time to benefit others, help others to come out from this samsara, we also help ourselves to be out of the samsara.
be wise to do what we should and not putting our effort into building our attachment, because with all these attachment, we will end up dying with suffering, suffering of letting go what we have.
当很多人认为建起KFR或克切拉世界和平中心是妄想，但真正一直围绕我们在追求生活上的一切，不管是家庭，事业，感情，财富等等，其实才是真正的幻想！！谢谢仁波切这智言~~
这短短的几句话，却道出人生方向！！精彩！！
In the Wheel Of Sharp Weapons, the yogi Dharmarakshita akin all things to be like images in a mirror which we imagine to be very real, and that all things are like mist of a cloud which we imagine to be stable and firm.
Things like beauty, wealth, reputation and a happy marriage similarly are like that. It is not that they are mere figments of our imagination but the simple fact is that those things do not have solid constructs of their own which means that without us projecting our needs and values onto them, they are just things, and benign things at that.
I think, the problem is we look at everything in relation to ourselves and we have been doing that since young and by force of habit we develop a sense of Self, our ego identity. But that sense of Self alone is bare by society’s rules, and so, egged on by society’s rules and values that tells us to have, to own, to want, to desire, and to win, we learn to dress that nakedness by wanting. From that point on, we look at everything from the lens of our own desires and our wanting and needing. From that point we are already entrapped by the frustrating need to go after what we think we need, or the desperate need to cling on to what we think we already have – in both cases, so that the dressed-up identity of ourselves can survive.
And so we go on with this ceaseless coveting all throughout our lives, calling it by a lot of other names such as survival, commitments and responsibilities.
Everything but what it really is…self-grasping.
And all this time, we think that we have been doing is correct, normal and even noble. Not once in school, or college or university or in society have we been taught that the freedom we silently but frantically long for lies not in forever building up and clinging on to the Self that we have created but in totally letting go. Not until now.
Thank you very much for the Dharma Rinpoche.
We go round and round in circles chasing one illusion after another in search of happiness, which itself is illusory. We are trapped in this illusory web, which we mistake for ‘reality’ and keep grasping at it, not realizing that all is gossamer.
Thus with this great delusion, we live our lives in vain and ,at death, we lose all as everything becomes nothing.
Thank you Rinpoche for time and time again reminder of our temporal stay and why we should not waste our time on things ‘borrowed’ in this life but work hard towards our own enlightenment to benefit all. _/\_
克切拉村将是一个美丽的地方，一个梦想成真美丽的地方,或许有一些朋友没听过克切拉之村，只听过克切拉禅修林，不过没关系，因为克切拉之村，就在克切
拉禅修林的土地上。这座禅修林就坐落在山上，环境非常好
欢迎你来到宁静的新世界
we need to seize this life to learn and practice Buddhism. This life gain but once, it will be disintegrated like bubble in turbulent water
Long Life Rinpoche… Take care of your health… wish to hug you one day…
Thank you Rinpoche for the kind reminder.I know being materialistic is not good .But in order to pursuit dharma in this world of samsara,we need it to sustain our self and our family.In time to come I will have to practice contentment and use what I have to promote and spread dharma.
Thank you Rinpoche for the reminder. Everything is impermanent. Everything is such an illusion and just temporary. We think that chasing for our illusion dreams will bring us happiness but it is not. This bring us chasing even more illusions and cause of our suffering. We can have all these because it is a part of our life but not to be attached and hold upon it till we are imprisoned with it.
We say we want to hear the truth but do we really accept the truth as we see it. Many times the truth that we want is in our deluded minds and governs our actions. So called truthful actions are but a manifestation of these thoughts.
Money is not everything but without Money we cant get anything, but how much is enough?? If we not satisfied we will not get the answer… When u feel enough is that can bring to ur next life??
Thanks Rinpoche for always remind us, and always prepare the stages to let us collect merits for this and future life…
Chasing after our illusion dreams thinking that it will bring us happiness is the cause of our sufferings. Everything that we chased after and worked so hard to acquire will be left behind when we die. Yet why are we still chasing?
Thank you, Rinpoche, for your daily reminder not to chase after material dreams but the truth which is real spiritual practice.
We think that we’d be happy in what we have achieved but it will only pull us deeper as we will always hunger for more! And in the end, we have nothing that we thought is everything… How ironic…
将来的路都在自己的手里， 要看自己的造化。 将来是如何，怨天忧人？
我要美好将来，那我学佛。 我轻松地大步大步向前走。