Padmakara Translation Group

the essence of the path

~ DudjomTersarNgondro
HH Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje

To my Lord of Dharma, peerless, kind,
My glorious Lama, homage!
His lotus feet I place Upon my chakra of great bliss.

Here is my advice, Some counsel useful for your mind.

Not to keep yourself from evil actions
Is to have no pratimoksha.
Not to work for others’ welfare
Is to have no bodhichitta.
Not to master pure perception
Is to have no Secret Mantra.
If illusions don’t collapse,
There is no realization.

If you opt for one side or the other,
That is not the View.
If you have a goal in mind,
That is not the Meditation.
If your conduct’s a contrivance,
That is not the Action.
If you hope and wish,
You’ll have no Fruit.

Those with faith will go for refuge;
Those who have compassion will have bodhichitta;
Those with wisdom will gain realization;
Those who have devotion harvest blessings.

Those who have a sense of shame are careful how they act;
Careful in their actions, they are self-possessed;
Self-possessed, they keep their vows and pledges;
Keeping vows and pledges, they will have accomplishment.

Peaceful self-control: the sign of one who’s heard the teachings!
Few defiled emotions are the mark of one who meditates.
Harmony with others is the sign of one who practices.
A blissful heart is witness to accomplishment.

The root of Dharma is your very mind.
Tame it and you’re practicing the Dharma.
To practice Dharma is to tame your mind—
And when you tame it, then you will be free!

Dudjom Rinpoche
Counsels from My Heart
Padmakara Translation Group

We cannot know who is a sublime being.

~ DudjomTersarNgondro
Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje giving teaching in Dordogne
on the field by Rinpoche’s house. This photo was selected to celebrate the return of Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche to Dordogne this August 2019.

Do not examine the faults of beings. Recognizing that they have been your mothers and thinking of their kindness, meditate on love and compassion. In particular, avoid looking for faults in those who have entered the gateway of the Dharma. Regard them as people in the same boat and reflect only on their good qualities, rejoicing at these and cultivating devotion. More especially, never look for defects in your teachers. Realizing that everything they do is full of excellent qualities, make an effort to train in devotion and pure vision.

A greater fault than stealing the possessions of all the beings in a billion worlds and destroying all the stupas there are is criticizing a single Bodhisattva. If one scorns and insults a Bodhisattva, whatever the circumstances, one will be reborn in the Screaming Hell with a body five hundred leagues in size, with five hundred heads, each with five hundred mouths, each containing five hundred tongues, and each tongue plowed by five hundred plows.

Take note of this passage from the Sublime Sutra of the Marks That Inspire the Development of Faith

In general, it is a boundless crime to criticize a sublime being.  In this respect, Bodhisattvas are particularly dangerous objects, and Secret Mantra Vehicle practitioners even more so. We cannot know who is a sublime being or whether someone is inwardly a genuine practitioner. It is said that only a fully enlightened Buddha can judge; no one else can do so. If we speak badly of anyone or criticize them, we are sweeping away our own qualities. It is in the nature of things that by finding faults in others, we ourselves are destroyed. Change your attitude, therefore, and examine only your own faults.

“For beginners, it is not the time to struggle with afflictive emotions, but time to run away from them.”

as said by the incomparable Dagpo Rinpoche

A Torch Lighting the way to Freedom
Dudjom Rinpoche Jugdral Yeshe Dorje
Padmakara Translation Group

When we put all our energies into a practice

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

When we put all our energies into a practice, it is quite common for bad deeds from the past to surface, so that all sorts of unwanted things happen to us:  we fall physically ill, feel mentally anguished, experience the manifestations of negative forces and obstacle makers, fall victim to hostile people, bandits, and thieves, find ourselves subject to people’s criticisms and false accusations, and so on. These are said to be signs that we are purifying ourselves, like the dirt that comes out when one washes a container. Therefore, when such things happen to you, don the great armor of diligence that renders the practice impervious to unpleasant circumstances.

Although it may happen that we get one or two good qualities here and there as signs of progress on the path, it can be hard to distinguish whether they are genuine signs or obstacles caused by demons. Even supposing they are genuine, the moment we attach any importance to them, they will turn into demonic obstacles, so get rid of all expectation, apprehension, and doubt, and do not be attached to good signs or frightened by bad ones.

It is said that while we are on the path, there are many mistakes we can make and ways in which we can go astray, but the principal errors are: to treat the teacher as an equal; to be lacking in pure perception with regard to one’s spiritual brothers and sisters; to criticize other philosophical systems while being proud of one’s own; to act hypocritically with regard to the commitments; to give the five poisons free rein; to have no respect for the law regarding actions and their effects; to air one’s views and indulge in big talk about emptiness and so forth; to tell all and sundry about one’s experiences; and to lie that one has sublime qualities that one does not have. To make these the basis of one’s practice is obviously the greatest error, yet even if the Buddha were to appear in person, it would seem difficult to block this perilous path onto which one can stray, for we ourselves are blessed by demons, and beings in the decadent age have but little good fortune, so that there is much running after purely meaningless talk without understanding the real point of the Dharma. Even though we follow a teacher, train in acquiring good qualities, practice in retreat, and read many profound texts, it does not do the slightest bit of good to our minds and our characters get worse and worse. We grow ever more proud, the eye of pure perception grows dim, and we pass the time only in examining others’ faults. People like us are impervious to the Dharma, we are breakers of the commitments, burdened with evil deeds from the past; we have truly been blessed by demons.

A Torch Lighting the way to Freedom
Dudjom Rinpoche Jugdral Yeshe Dorje
Padmakara Translation Group