Today is the 15th
day of the 1st lunar month of 2017, which is also known as “A Joyful Day of
the Buddhas”. Dundo Rinpoche and Renqin Lama from Taiwan joined us for our
group prayer tonight. After the prayer, Acho Rinpoche introduced Dondo Rinpoche
to the group as the author of a book entitled “The Golden Garuda”, who is also
known as a reincarnated Bodhisattva of the 10th Level. The first
Dondo Rinpoche was the teacher of the 5th Dalai Lama in the past.
Dondo Rinpoche shared with
us on the history of Tibetan Buddhism which is a very complete set of teachings
passed down from Sakyamni Buddha without a break in the lineage transmission
over more than a thousand years. He also explained the “secrecy” of the
Vajrayana which originated from an era in India when the Vajrayana practice was
very much confined within the royal circle by royal decree; it was not allowed to be practised by
the commoners. At the time, only Sutrayana teachings were allowed to be
transmitted in the public and were being taught free at the Nalanda University.
Acho Rinpoche reminded us
that the internalization of the teachings is more important than mere teachings
in a theoretical form. A practitioner should truly attain the state of
emptiness before he could actually embark on a true path of practice which
leads to the ultimate state of enlightenment. The teachings in a theoretical form could
only provide us with a sense of direction and an idea of the ultimate objective
to guide us in our practice. A practitioner must internalize the teachings through
practice in order to accomplish the ultimate state of enlightenment.
Acho Rinpoche also shared
with us a story about Nagajurna. Nagajurna said, “When I finally realized my innate
pristine awareness, the rest of the things in life became meaningless.” Since his
enlightenment, he walked around naked for alms. One day, a queen offered to swop
his ordinary bowl with one studded with expensive jewels. Nagajurna simply
accepted the queen’s offer without discrimination and brought the food back to
his place. A thief noticed the jewel studded bowl and planned to steal it from
Nagajurna. So, he followed the latter home and waited for his chance. When
Nagajurna finished his meal, he just threw the bowl out of the window. The
thief immediately took it away but turned back to Nagajurna after a while, in
order to find out the reason why the latter behaved so strangely. Nagajurna told him, “When I finally realized my
innate pristine awareness, the rest of the things in life became meaningless. You
may continue to do what you want but remember to remain in a state of mindfulness
at all times.
The thief left Nagajurna but returned to him again
later. The thief told Nagajurna that he could no longer steal under a state of
mindfulness. However, he noticed a sense of joy and contentment in him that he
had never experienced in the past until now, while dwelling in a state of
mindfulness. So, he decided to take Nagajurna as his teacher.
Acho Rinpoche advised us
that we should strive to keep our state of mindfulness at all times, during our
daily activities. Such practice could help us break free of the state of
sufferings eventually and attain the ultimate state of liberation.
Reported by Sun Moon KFS on 26 Feb 2017.
