It’s fine to talk, it’s fine. It’s also fine for you to talk. (They don’t like to hear me talk; they like to listen to You.) I’m not prepared to give a lecture here. Now there is no topic. Tong, do you have a topic? Just say anything. Ah! You must talk. Drag him into this. Right. He is always near me. How nice. Just say something. (Nothing. There is no sound.) There is, there are other mics. There will be sound. Your voice is loud enough that you don’t need a microphone. (My talks are often more serious, not fun.) It’s alright. Perhaps they like serious talks. You see, they all come here to become Buddhas. Who would come here for fun? Is that right? (Yes.) (No.) What? You come for fun. If I had known it earlier, I’d turn this place into a recreation area and sell tickets. Five dollars per person is enough.
(I’d talk a bit about, some of the pitfalls we might encounter, on the path of our spiritual practice.) Good, good, good. You listen carefully. This is definitely going to be deadly serious. Let’s have a laugh first, and then get mentally prepared, because it won’t be funny in a moment. OK. (In our spiritual practice, it’s almost inevitable that we’ll run into some traps. Most of the time, these traps we aren’t aware of. We can also call these traps “tests.” In our normal spiritual practice, many people initially come here with a very humble heart, or have very strong faith, to learn from Master, or study in this group. However, after a period of time, these people would certainly progress very fast, and thus have a lot of… for example, they will have lots of good experiences, or feel they have become more… have more wisdom or power than before. Then they will have great fluency of speech, or feel that they have become much better than before in many aspects. It is precisely at this stage that many dangerous situations often emerge. I’m speaking from my own experience, from myself, and also from observing many of our fellow initiates, both renunciates and lay practitioners, the same situations have happened to all of them. So, I am citing these examples for your reference.) I see. (When we are here…) We can’t criticize one’s personal experiences. We can’t doubt them.
(When we have some good experiences, or when people praise us, that’s usually the time when most of us let down our guard very easily. That’s the moment when we are less diligent, less diligent about spiritual practice, or less mindful, or more arrogant, that’s when it’s most likely to emerge. At that time, you don’t even realize it. It’s only after something goes wrong that you finally know. So sometimes I, after we encounter problems, we also have a lot of those kinds of feelings. That is to say, when we humans make a mistake, there are revelations to be found. I think these are also lessons granted to us by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. From what I feel, after we make a mistake, the first lesson we learn, that is to say, the realization given to us by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, is that there is nothing special about us. Don’t be arrogant, we need to remain humble. I think this is the very first lesson. Very often, at a certain stage in our learning process, arrogance will emerge. Or when we have good experiences, it seems inevitable. And that is precisely when we will encounter obstacles.
The second aspect is that only after we have made mistakes, do we begin to develop some sympathy. Before that happens, if we are not the ones who erred, we won’t be aware of those potential pitfalls. Without being tested ourselves, when we see other people making mistakes, we might find ourselves looking down upon them a little. We may not be able to understand their situation. Seeing them making mistakes, it’s as if they are all irrelevant to us. However, when we make a mistake, then we understand. The tests on our spiritual path are incredibly subtle; they could appear anytime, anywhere. Our first reaction should be to check ourselves immediately. Had it been me, would I have made the same mistake? Don’t just stand there laughing at people as an onlooker. Therefore, I feel that… Therefore, I feel that the second lesson is, when someone has made a mistake…) When it’s other people’s business, we always do that. That’s it, then that’s fun. The two of us act it out together, for fun. I can’t talk, but I can applause.
(Secondly, only when we have erred ourselves, do we realize that when karmic hindrance comes, or when we are ignorant, we become truly weak, we just don’t know how to defend against or resist it.) Wow! (So, after we have experienced it ourselves, next time when we see people making mistakes, we will have sympathy for them. Of course we are not supporting their actions, but when we see them making mistakes, we would take pity on them, and be more sympathetic.
And the third thing is, the third realization I’ve had, I have some feelings about is, that when someone errs, it also serves as a warning to those of us who haven’t. It also conveys a clear message. Sometimes, when we see others err, we don’t have to experience it ourselves. We don’t have to repeat the same mistake. By observing others, we become alert to our own actions, we begin to watch out for those behavior or situations in ourselves, and can refrain from repeating the mistakes of others. I think if we observe carefully, we can learn a lot of lessons.
Because I myself and many fellow initiates, often upon reaching a certain stage, if people praise us, then we will drop immediately. Such as the example cited by Master today. Originally, that fellow initiate, there was an initiate, an initiate who had been cooking for Master. When he first came, Master praised him for his humility. Until one day, when he came back after being “poisoned” [praised] by people, he became a totally different person. When he first came, he was really very humble. Therefore, he progressed very fast in every aspect. He really progressed very fast. When he reached this level, people gave him “poison” [praises] and he himself truly felt that power and wisdom emerging. He thought that he was great and his arrogance emerged. Then he started getting straightened out.) I’m not laughing at you. Have a laugh occasionally, or else everyone would be in tears. Including you. (OK then, let me tell a joke.) No need, no need. Continue with your serious talk, that is rare.
(Also, I remember when we were in Japan, Master said to me one day, “You seem to look better these few days.” I said, “Perhaps because I am more repentant these days.” Then Master said, “Is repentance really useful? Many people outside are repenting. They make pilgrimages to mountains and rivers. In Tibet, lots of people committed their whole life in their pilgrimage, as if they have no intention to come back alive. They undertake the pilgrimage just to repent. But have they been liberated?” When Master asked me this question, I was stunned. And then Master immediately continued, “If, while we are still living, we fail to find an enlightened Master, fail to receive the Master Power to communicate with Him, it’s useless no matter how hard we repent. If that is really of use, long ago the world would have been… Many people are worshipping the Buddha every day, doing a lot of repentance rituals every day. They should have been liberated and disappeared long ago. Why are there so many sentient beings staying behind in this world? It’s because they haven’t found that Power; therefore, it’s totally futile.” So Master taught me a lesson that day too.
Really, we are very lucky, to have an enlightened Master Who transmits the Method to us in this era, it’s very difficult. I have just finished reading Milarepa’s book several days ago. When I read it for the first time, I didn’t have much experience or realization. But reading it a second time, I had a much deeper… kind of feeling. In Milarepa’s era, during His quest for the Dharma, He went through many ordeals. About the different stages of His quest for the Dharma… I’ll briefly give a recap again. For instance, the most famous thing about Him is the process of building a house. When He went to pay His respects and seek initiation the first time, His Master…) That will also become famous in future. If Buddhahood can be attained through building houses, then he is number one.
(The first time He built it, when He was halfway through, His Master suddenly said to Him, “I’m sorry. I chose the wrong site. I didn’t look carefully enough when picking the site. So, carry these rocks back to the original place where they came from. Same with the soil, return them to where You dug them up.” That was the first time. The second time, He chose another site. Then Milarepa said to His Master, “Master, please choose the right place. Don’t let me redo it again.” His Master did choose the site, but again, He was told to demolish it halfway through and choose another site. This time Milarepa grumbled and said…) He was drunk. (He said, “Why did You choose the wrong site a second time? And make me rebuild it again?” His Master said that He had been drunk and was talking nonsense. Later, for the third time, the same happened after He was halfway done, He was told to demolish it again.) There are such kinds of Masters. Must be drunk.
(At the third time, His Master played dumb. He said, “When did I tell You to build a house here? You are talking nonsense. There is no witness. Do You have a witness?” Of course, Milarepa didn’t have any witness.) No witness. (So, the fourth time, Milarepa requested the presence of His Master’s wife.) (As the witness.) As the witness. (His Master’s wife was even more extreme. She said, “It is useless to have me here. Your Master is just not…) Not trustworthy. (…not trustworthy.”) He was untrustworthy. (Then Milarepa said, “Having a witness here is better than nothing.”He didn’t care that His Master’s wife was unwilling. He still said, “It’s still better to have a witness.”
Of course, when we read these stories, we find them very amusing. However, if we think more deeply, how profound was Milarepa’s faith in His Master, and to what extent? Should you encounter such kind of Master, I can tell you, by the second test, You all would have run off. Where would we find the faith to stay with a Master like that? One minute he says He’s drunk. The next He says…) His geography was poor. (He said there was no witness. He didn’t have a shred of, what we’d call practitioner’s integrity. All the so-called honor, dignity, in our secular world, He didn’t have any. One moment He could get drunk, and another He could deny what He said, and even His wife didn’t believe Him. How could we ever believe in such a Master? But then…) Wonderful, wonderful. It would be wonderful to have such a Master here.
(Besides, when They met for the first time, His Master even told Him to kill people with black magic, to kill many people in the nearby villages with hail. His behavior was fundamentally unacceptable to normal people. But Milarepa still accepted it. Of course, He had gone through lots of hardships, to build that house, He even had sores on His back. His Master’s wife saw it and shed tears. She went to talk with the Master, but exited with a hard scolding. Instead of comforting Him, His Master gave Him, as you know, a harness, telling him to do the horse[-people]’s work. He said all horse[-people] have that, an instrument to lay on His back, and told Him to return to work. Just imagine, if a Master tells you to wear that…)
Photo Caption: “God Gifts Even the Humble, Remote Mushroom Such Elegance!”
