May/June Heart of Glastonbury - Magazine - Page 23
A Letter to Disciples of Past, Present, and Future
My fellow disciples, who are busy with their own lives, how are you?
The world is rapidly changing, so is everyone's life. There's a saying, 'Fingers are too wide,
while time is too thin.' So as long as we are not in the state of 'Rigpa', and don't settle in the
nature of the mind, the illusion known as time would fly forward continuously.
On one hand, our mind never dies; it only manifests in various forms. On the other hand, possessing
this opportunity to be born as a human, encounter the Dharma, encounter the Vajrayana teachings,
and receive guidance from a Guru is incredibly precious and rare. This opportunity surpasses the
value of a thousand tons of diamonds, even billions and trillions times more. You have temporarily
obtained it, and right now, it is in your hands. So you can thoroughly reflect, what is the value of
this life and what is it meant for?
The so-called 'samsara' is not a place on the map, not the Milky Way or the Earth, nor is it merely
a certain emotion or thought. It refers to the state where the mind is controlled by ignorance,
afflictions, karmic obstacles, and habitual tendencies, a state of being controlled and driven by
them totally, numb and bewildered. What benefits can you obtain from such a samsara? How can it
truly be what you like and desire?
Although 'Rigpa' is beyond wisdom and ignorance, cause and effect, purity and impurity, and so
on, but most of us, most of the time, are still trapped in the cages created by our own minds. At
this very present moment, what kind of karma are you accumulating? Which direction are you
running towards?
When people recite the sutras, they all recite 'I wish to become a Buddha to benefit all sentient
beings'. However, they don’t even have the foundation of the 'Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind
to the Dharma'. You haven't taken even the first step, then how to take the second and third, and
so on. Therefore, I think that no matter how talented you are or what merits you have, it will
never be wrong to study and practise the 'Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to the Dharma'.
In addition, it is crucial to regard your Guru as the Buddha. Although I have no merits or abilities
myself, the transmission of the Dharma lineage is pure and authentic, and my root gurus are all
great accomplished masters who have achieved rainbow body. The Samaya between me and them is
pure, as confirmed by the 'Speaking Padmasambhava Statue' of ZheRan Monastery. Therefore, just
as the story of 'a dog's tooth becoming a relic' tells, there is no doubt that you can receive the
blessings from Samantabhadra and Guru Padmasambhava if you have faith and pray.
How you perceive and dedicate, determines what you see and gain.
So what do you want? Have you made a decision?
Rigpa: Rigpa (རིག་པ) is a Tibetan word, which in general means 'awareness'. In Dzogchen (Great Perfection), the highest teachings in the
Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, rigpa has a deeper connotation, 'the innermost nature of the mind'. The whole of the teaching of
Buddha is directed towards realizing this, our ultimate nature, the state of enlightenment—a truth beyond all limits, and beyond even
religion itself.
Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to the Dharma: The 'Four Thoughts that turn the Mind to the Dharma' is the preliminary practice in
Tibetan Buddhism aimed at cultivating renunciation. They are a series of contemplations on the preciousness of our human life,
impermanence and death, the principle of cause and effect, and the defects of samsara.