Question asked by Larkin
I am a young person with elderly parents as they had me late in life, and thay are aging and will not be able to work much longer, but they dont have a retirment plan. I myself am not finacially established yet but will soon have to take care of them. My question is, what focus shuld I have in finding ways to provide for them? Shuld I do protector practise to find was of provision, or wealth practices, like gyenze or dzambala to find finacail means of taking care of them, or wisdom practices, so that I will be wise enought to become wealthy enought to care for them? Or is thier a completely different and better way to think of this? Thank you for your time!
Dear Larkin,
Thank you for your wonderful and sincere question. The fact that you’re already thinking ahead about how to care for your parents says something beautiful about your character. Sadly, such care is becoming rare these days.
The answer isn’t really “either/or”. It’s more of a both together approach, but with the right foundation. Tsem Rinpoche taught that the greatest spiritual practice at this stage isn’t choosing between Dzambala, Gyenze, or wisdom practices in isolation. It’s taking care of your parents, full stop.
I recall in Rinpoche’s book Peace, Rinpoche says that the greatest mantra is asking “How are you Mummy? How are you Daddy? What can I do for you?” And also that the greatest yidam practice is getting behind a steering wheel and taking your mother or father out to eat. That’s not just poetry. He means it literally.
Your first priority should be practical. Work hard, develop your skills, build your career, be reliable, be someone that others want to hire and promote. Rinpoche always stressed that Dharma is not a substitute for effort. We don’t sit on a cushion and wait for wealth to arrive. We work with integrity and diligence, and then our spiritual practice supports and accelerates what our effort has set in motion.
This teaching on karma and practical effort is beautifully laid out in Rinpoche’s teaching Discovering Yourself: A Teaching on Karma & Mindstream (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/discovering-yourself-a-teaching-on-karma-mindstream.html), where he explains that wisdom comes from study, study leads to practice, practice becomes habituation, and habituation becomes the wisdom that naturally leads to right action and positive results.
That said, wealth practices are absolutely appropriate and powerful as a complement to your practical efforts, but not as a replacement for them. Gyenze practice is specifically designed to help increase resources, lifespan, and conducive conditions for Dharma practitioners, and Rinpoche has written extensively about how Gyenze helps arrange the material necessities we need so we can fulfill our responsibilities and practice Dharma with fewer obstacles (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/dorje-shugden-gyenze-to-increase-life-merits-and-wealth.html).
Similarly, Dzambala practice purifies the inner causes of poverty (miserliness and selfishness) while attracting outer resources, and Rinpoche has explained this in depth as well (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/one-minute-story/bestower-of-wealth-dzambala).
So the ideal approach is this: work hard in the world with integrity, develop yourself professionally, and simultaneously maintain a consistent daily practice. This can be Lama Tsongkhapa’s Guru Yoga as a foundation (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/me/tsongkapas-daily-practice-video-commentary.html) combined with Gyenze or Dzambala prayers and mantras for supporting wealth.
Your motivation to provide for your aging parents is itself a profound form of compassion in action, and that pure motivation will make every practice you do far more powerful. Rinpoche often told people not to overthink which practice is “the right one.” Start where you are, be consistent, work hard, take care of your parents with a joyful heart, and the merit from that sincere care will open doors you cannot yet imagine.
I hope this helps, and you have our prayers for yourself and your parents.