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Teachings
3.RENUNCIATION OR BECOMING WEARY OF SAMSARA
teachings by Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche
Although all of us certainly have a strong aspiration towards the
highest and essential teachings of Vajrayana, we must understand that we
first need to have a strong foundation before we can begin to practice
these teachings. We would not undertake to build a beautiful palace on a
fragile foundation. Likewise, we need to establish a firm foundation for
practice and this can be done by developing a deep feeling of
"renunciation" or a strong sense of weariness with the ordinary conditions
in samsara.
If our mind is free from wordily concerns and
preoccupations it will be very easy to progress through the various steps
of the path, either towards the self-liberation of the Hinayana, the
altruistic liberation of the Mahayana or the supreme accomplishment
offered by the Vajrayana. We might practise the Dharma simply for
achieving relative happiness and satisfaction, such as long life or good
health. We may also simply enjoy the highest states in samsara, but none
of this will give us freedom from samsara. Actually, we need to realize
that we will not find ultimate fulfilment in the whole of
samsara.
How does this urge to free ourselves from conditioned
existence take birth in our mind? It is by contemplating activities,
thoughts and concerns and checking if they are truly as meaningful as they
might appear to be, and if in fact they can give a meaning to our life. As
it is said in “The Way of the Bodhisattve” of Shantideva: “Most people
spend their lives trying to achieve things that cannot bring them lasting
happiness such as obtaining possessions, land, rank, money or power and
thinking that they will find fulfilment from this, which is just a mere
illusion." People might think that if they have limitless possessions they
will be happy. But in fact they will have to go through much effort and
worries just in order to gain those possessions and they will never be
satisfied.
Once they have them, they worry about how to keep them,
they become afraid to lose them, and eventually, when that happens, they
suffer from loosing what they took so much effort to get. The same is true
for power, rank or fame. What tremendous endeavor it takes for people to
achieve a high rank! Look at how they easily discard any concerns for the
welfare of others in order to achieve their own goals! And once they
succeed, look at all the tricks they have to use to keep them! And when
they eventually lose them, check how they completely fall into despair! It
is the same for those who chase after the illusion of celebrity and spend
their lives trying to become famous - something which is completely
meaningless and hollow.
Now, the point of this is not to disparage
all our activities, but simply to establish a correct hierarchy. We should
understand that possessions, rank and all these kinds of concerns are
meaningless aims and therefore there is no point in spending our lives
entangled in them. This understanding will give us a strong urge to get
out of the vicious circle of endless and meaningless activities and help
us so discover what is truly meaningful. Moreover, it is crucial to
realise that we do not have much time to accomplish it. Thus seeing that
our usual preoccupations are devoid of substance, and the truth of
impermanence and the eventuality of death, we should realize that it is
urgent to give true meaning to our life and that this meaning is really
what we should focus on. This strong urge is called renunciation and it is
the spur and the foundation of turning our mind to the Dharma.
In
the end, once our mind becomes truly suitable for inner transformation, we
don’t feel more interest for what allures ordinary beings—possessions,
fame, and so on—than a dog for grass. So, we should cultivate this feeling
of non-attachment until we loose complete interest for possessions,
wealth, fame, rank and all sort of endless projects. This does not mean we
aim, in our Western countries, to become a person like the great yogi
Milarepa who spent his life in very austere conditions in mountain caves
and so forth. It is simply that if our mind is attracted to those worldly
concerns it is difficult to go through an inner transformation. There are
other reflections that may help us to strengthen the wish to free
ourselves from the conditioned world.
First we should realise this
human life is not something ordinary, with no value, but that it is a
precious opportunity. We should therefore appreciate and try to give
meaning to it. Secondly, even though we have now a human life, it is so
fragile that at any moment some unpredictable circumstances might bring us
death. In that way, the thought of impermanence should be like a spur to
our diligence so that we never forget we may not have such an unique
opportunity for a very long time. The third reflection is that if we want
to proceed on this path of inner transformation there are suitable things
to accomplish that will help us to progress on the path, and there are
things we should be able to discard because they are going to hinder our
progress. That is the reflection on the law of cause and effect, or karma.
Throughout the history of Tibet there are many examples of great
sages who were able to completely disentangle themselves from worldly
concerns. Among those, there is a famous wondering sage of the 19th
century known as Patrul Rinpoche. Patrul Rinpoche mostly taught on
compassion. The text he would use again and again was the
Bodhicaryavattara, The way of the Bodhisattva. He would often teach in
open spaces like mountain meadows. In Tibet when a teacher gives a
teaching it is traditional to make offerings to him, but Patrul Rinpoche
would never accept any offering.
Once he gave teachings for a few
weeks, and instead of sitting on a throne he sat on an elevated mound of
earth with grass on the top in the middle of a meadow. Although the people
knew that he generally didn’t accept offerings, at the end of the
teachings some of them offered him a large piece of silver. Patrul
Rinpoche just left it there in the grass, without anyone noticing. After
the teaching Patrul Rinpoche left, as usual for no particular destination,
with just a small bag in hand.
That night, he slept under the
trees in the forest. A thief who knew that Patrul Rinpoche had been
offered the silver had been following him. While Patrul Rinpoche was
sleeping, he came and looked in the small bag but, since he could not find
any silver, he started to search Patrul Rinpoche’s clothes. Then,
Rinpoche woke up and said: “Why are you searching my clothes like that?”
The thief answered: “Well, I need the silver you were offered.” Rinpoche
replied, “Oh, why didn’t you say so before? I left it at the teaching
place, where I was sitting. Go and get it for yourself.”
The thief
didn’t really believe that, but since Patrul Rinpoche had no silver, he
thought he would better check for himself. He went back and found the big
piece of silver there. “What a special lama!”, he thought. So he rushed
again to Patrul Rinpoche. As he was coming, Rinpoche asked: “What are you
coming again for?" The thief did three prostrations and said: “Well, you
are a lama unlike any other, so I want to become your disciple." This
story shows that when we speak of renunciation, it is the same for us as
for those great teachers like Patrul Rinpoche: the point is not to deprive
oneself of something, but to simply to have no need for such things.
Actually, renunciation is a great freedom.
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