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Teachings with Kyabje Pema Kalsang Rinpoche
In summer 2009, one of our founder members travelled to Dzogchen Pema Tung and had the good fortune to attend Bardo teachings specially requested from Kyabje Pema Kalsang Rinpoche. Kyabje Rinpoche’s teachings are a perfect summary of the benefits of Buddhism, giving us supreme guidance on the best way in which to live our lives and to prepare ourselves for the terrifying experience of dying.
Pema Kalsang Rinpoche began his teachings on the Bardo by leading us in reciting the Vajrasattva purification mantra. Kyabje Rinpoche taught that the literal meaning of the Tibetan word Bardo is “a period of time between two events”. He said that before he taught us about dying, he would give teachings on how we should live.
Teaching on the Bardo of this life, Kyabje Rinpoche explained that the essential point of Buddhist teachings is that they teach us how to be happy. It is the same with most religions and, although some religions may instruct us to kill others, most focus on attaining happiness. In order to be happy we must perform many positive actions and this enables us to gain a lot of merit. Rinpoche pointed out that, as we could see, he had ordered Dzogchen Pema Tung temple roof to be gilded, but he did this not in order to gain merit for himself, but to gain merit in order to dedicate it for the benefit of all sentient beings. We too must act in this way. Kyabje Rinpoche then taught that it is also important to refrain from negative actions of body, speech and mind.
To illustrate the karmic consequences of good and bad actions of body, speech and mind, Kyabje Rinpoche told the story of the Buddha Sakyamuni’s rebirth in a hell realm:
“Long ago, our teacher Sakyamuni had the name Bakheda, and took rebirth in a hell realm, where he was forced to labour pulling a heavy cart. His companion, Garmarerba, was too weak to pull the cart and the guardians of hell grew angry with him. They beat Garmarerba on the head with iron hammers. Boundless compassion for his companion’s suffering welled up in Bakheda’s heart and he begged the guardians, ‘Tie his cart harness round my neck…’ offering to take on his companion’s suffering on himself. But the hell guardians forbade that, saying, ‘What do you think you’re doing? Sentient beings must undergo their own individual karma!’ They hit Bakheda over the head with an iron hammer, killing him instantly, and he was reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty-three. As a consequence of his great compassion he escaped the suffering of hell.”
Continuing his instruction on how we should conduct ourselves in this life, Kyabje Rinpoche told us that we should not waste our lives pursuing the acquisition of wealth and possessions as some people do. Wealth just causes us worry, and possessions fall apart. We should give away our possessions, so that when we come to die we possess nothing which may cause us to be attached to this life. It is the same with people; we should give up attachment to friends and relatives. It is best to die alone without mourners to distract us from meditation during the death process. Living in a quiet secluded place is always best.
Kyabje Rinpoche went on to teach on the importance of meditation:
When we die, the body and speech die, but mind does not die. Therefore, training the mind in meditation is very important. We should develop good habits of meditation, because the experience we gain in meditation of rigpa, the mind of lucidity, is the same experience which we have a very brief opportunity to recognise during the death process. We should practise both samatha (calm abiding) and vipasyana (insight) meditation.
Hinayana practitioners meditate in order to get rid of all thought; but we should not try to get rid of our thoughts. It is said that if we build ourselves an iron fortress, we end up imprisoned in it with no door, no way to get out. The Mahayana offers us nine yanas (paths for practice). Mahayana practitioners remain undistracted by thoughts. We remain aware of our surroundings and our thoughts, but both surroundings and thoughts are realised as a pure realm, and we ourselves become able to recognise and liberate our own Buddha natures. Liberating our own Buddha natures occurs with the union of wisdom realising emptiness and bodhicitta. We realise there is nothing which possesses solid independent existence; all things come into being through a combination of causes and conditions. Everything, including ourselves, is inter-dependent and impermanent.
Rinpoche was asked how we can gain stability in our meditation practice and replied with one word: “Posture.” Rinpoche described the seven-point posture of Vairochana: legs crossed in the vajra posture, hands in the gesture of equanimity, the spine straight like a stack of coins, shoulders stretched apart and relaxed, the neck slightly bent, tongue touching the palate and the eyes gazing in the direction of the tip of the nose. Kyabje Rinpoche advised keeping our eyes partly open “to let in the light.”
After this Kyabje Rinpoche went on to teach on the Two Truths, the Bardo of Becoming and the Painful Bardo of Dying. All those present at these teachings felt truly inspired and were full of gratitude.
Read the Biography of Kyabje Dzogchen Pema Kalsang Rinpoche
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