Dharma Practise
by Zasep Tulku Rinpoche
So many people in this world don't know what they are missing
If you practise meditation everyday you will see the world better and save place to be
Dharma practise makes our life more meaningful and we appreciate life more
Dharma practise helps to transform all obstacles into blessings
Dharma practise is your best friend
Without Dharma practise, life is empty somehow
Your Dharma practise will always look after you in this life, the bardo and next life
You have nothing to lose if you practise Dharma except your delusions and suffering
Why not practise meditation as much as possible?
A Teaching on Retreats
by H. H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa
Q: How does meditating alone in an isolated retreat bring benefit to all living beings?
A: What some people call "engaging in practice" involves merely staying in a cave or restricting themselves to a single place while reciting mantras and prayers without truly understanding their meaning. This is not real practice. Benefiting all living beings is central to the Buddhist tradition. We stay in retreat so that we can do this through developing bodhichitta. We practice with our mind. It is said in The Guide to the Bodhisattva Path that all the karma and actions of living beings come principally from their mind. For example, if we need to move something, and the thought, "I will move it" does not arise in our mind, our hands will be helpless.
In the same way, it is the power of the thought "I want to engage in activity for the sake of all living beings" that should motivate us to stay in a cave or retreat house. We remain in retreat, distanced from the busyness of life, so that our bodhichitta will become stable. It is not so that we can feast during offerings and fall asleep during meditation sessions. Some go into retreat the same way that a person would check into a hotel or step into the bedroom to go to sleep. Their motivation is undermined by craving for comfort and wanting to be taken care of. This kind of retreat will not be successful...
In Tibet, the philosophical school of the Middle Way emphasizes that mind is primary and its nature is empty. Within retreat as well, the emphasis is on working with one's mind. Retreat makes it easier to be free of endless worldly distractions; it is a means to attain the path of awakening. Usually, it is said that to attain full awakening, we must accumulate merit for three immeasurable eons. This is not the case, however, in the Mantrayana [Vajrayana], where Milarepa's attainment through years of retreat serves as the classic example. So retreat allows us to deepen our practice and thereby to benefit others more skillfully and powerfully.
From Music in the Sky: The Life, Art & Teachings of the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, by Michele Martin, Snow Lion Publications, 2003, p. 155-156.
Used by permission.
Born June 26, 1985, the 17th Karmapa was enthroned in Tsurphu Monastery, Tibet in 1992, escaped from Tibet New Year's 2000, and now resides in India.
