A Dharma Teaching by His Holiness Rimay Gyalten Sogdzin Rinpoche

 

Section 16

 

Overcoming Differences In Everyday Life.

Introductory Teaching by H.H. Rimay Gyalten Sogdzin Rinpoche.

 

Of course, I will try my best to present or give you this teaching as clearly as I can. And please accept and enjoy this teaching as openly as possible.

So, as you know, we are going to discuss about Overcoming Differences. Maybe you have heard this kind of teaching before but I hope that all of us will learn something new today. Actually this is a quite common subject and it is one of my favorite subjects, so I hope you will like it.

So as you know “overcoming” means rising above or becoming free from something and, of course, “differences” are differences!

You know we have this wonderful human wisdom, or human intelligence, and it is that very fact which creates a lot of different ideas and different activities. It is not only wonderful, but it also creates differences and disagreements, conflicts and contradictions. At the same time, it is the human intelligence or human wisdom that overcomes all these differences or conflicts. So, you see human intelligence has a very important role because it has the ability to create both problems and to solve problems as well.

In general, all human beings, regardless of what culture, what race, what their position is in their society; whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, healthy or unhealthy, beautiful or not beautiful, man or woman, black or white, from the top of the community, either a King or Queen, President or Prime Minister, to the one who remains homeless in the street, basically we are all the same. We all share the same hearts and the same spirit.

Everyone has the right to be a happy person and everyone has the right to have a successful life, nobody should take that away from us. Each human being has the right to survive, to live happily and freely. The basis of survival, the very basis of human existence or human life, I believe, is human affection, or human compassion, or human kindness.

My basic belief is that the very purpose of our human life is joy and happiness. You see, without joy and happiness there is no purpose for our lives. The reason is quite simple; our day-to-day life is very much based on hope. Why is it based on hope? For us, hope means something good and nice. If someone has lost hope then his or her life is shortened. In the very worst case or scenario they commit suicide or cause damage. Otherwise, their life may be shortened by illness. You have heard that unhappy people cannot resist illness very well. So remember that is not good, however, sometimes these things happen. So, therefore, I believe that the very purpose of life is joy and happiness, or what I call satisfaction. You see if we are good human beings, with a good heart, that gives us a brighter or happy future. That gives us energy, wisdom, peace, tranquility, and also that gives us inner strength, value and confidence.

Another important thing I always believe is that our basic human nature is gentleness, a positive and compassionate nature.

One 7th Century Buddhist Master said, “All the joy the world contains has come through wishing happiness for others. All the misery in the world contains has come from wanting pleasure for oneself.”

Often when people see or hear about negative human activities such as murder, war, or similar negative things, these things are very striking in our mind because they are so unusual and so unnecessary. As a result, the media usually picks up these negative events and they become headline news. I believe that this very fact shows that some negative things happened, some bloodshed happened and because that event does not fit in our basic human nature, it has become news, something surprising or something very shocking. On the other hand, if there is a positive event such as young children helping others or the positive affection of the people who care for sick or old people, nobody looks seriously at the caring and compassion of these people because that is something normal. So I think this indicates or confirms that our basic human nature is being more gently, more compassionate, and more affectionate than perhaps we notice.

It is really important to know what compassion is. You see compassion is not just merely a sort of sympathy or some kind of pity.

Compassion, in the Tibetan Buddhist point of view, is the sense of responsibility and wanting to do something and wanting to share our happiness, our prosperity, our energy and time with others. As you can see that is the real compassion.

Within one’s own mind, if the person’s mental state is calm and remains calm and at peace, it creates a positive effect on the body element. If the person is constantly irritated, angry or full of hatred, then these things have negative effect or negative consequences on their health. This shows that our own body is much more suited to the calmness or peace of mind, or healthy positive mind. Ultimately, these are the main reasons to conclude that basic human nature is gentle, compassionate and affectionate.

This is the source of our hope, the source of our confidence. If human nature is negative or if human nature is destructive, then things can really become difficult. So I believe, with confidence, that our basic human nature is positive and based on gentleness and friendliness. The negative human emotions such as fear, hatred, anger, jealousy, and too much pride are a part of our own mind. However, these are not the determining forces of our mind because the dominant force of our mind is human affection. Each person, every single one of us, has the potential to change and to promote this positive side which is our basic human nature, that I guarantee!

Now, let’s talk about overcoming differences. Differences are bound to happen and, in fact, without differences, there is no progress. Without conflict, without contradiction, there is simply no progress. You know, even within spiritual practice, through conflict, our Spiritual practice can develop. I think that is a law of nature. Yes, I believe that.

It can be physical also. Through the more work or rigorous and diligent training that this body does, it becomes healthier and stronger. In our short life, if we are too soft and do too little training then eventually we spoil our health. That you see, actually, we need to go to the gym or exercise more often. You agree?

Similarly, the contradictions themselves are not necessarily the source of something bad. Unfortunately, in certain circumstances, I think, that due to lack of wisdom or intelligence, or lack of determination, sometimes differences or disagreements can create problems and negative Karma.

What we must remember is that when we find conflicts or differences, there is always some other factor or similarity that unites us.

As far as differences are concerned, even within one person, we will always find conflict or differences. When you look at the ideas that occurred in your mind in the morning, the ones that occurred at midday, and then the ones that occurred that same evening, you may find a lot of conflict and a lot of different ideas. Sometimes a person will have contradictory ideas or feelings at the very same instant. And due to that, some people can get frustrated even with one’s self, especially in this modern world.

You see, these things happen, but usually since these ideas are all within one self, in spite of different ideas or different thoughts, they still belong to one person so there is no problem from that point of view. You see, that is because in that situation it is easier to find the Middle Way!

Similarly, in the family, different ideas cause different disagreements, but if you look from a wisdom perspective, you find some common things and then, because of the common connections or bonds, you live together more easily. Since a loving environment in our home is the foundation of our life, we should remember that in disagreements with loved ones; we must only deal with the current situation or obstacle. I hope this is good and practical advice for you.

Politically, in a democratic system, democracy means the welcoming or bringing forward of all different ideas and different opinions. I think that this is the strength of democracy. So, you see, when we look from a wisdom perspective at the whole community (and even from nation to nation), we will always find some common interest. In fact, I think that is the strength of the modern economy. So I believe that.

In order to overcome these differences or different opinions or different conflicts, it is very useful to look at them from a distance, from a wider perspective, or from the wisdom perspective.

I believe, in the sense of group responsibility, we have to treat humanity as one entity, one group, one planet. This is not a question of spirituality. Also, it is not a question of morality. As you know, sometimes even moral may appear to be a luxury, if you have it that will be very good, but without it we still can manage. This is not the situation. We, as human, first because of our population, and second because of our human ability with technology and science, unless we have a clear vision or clear awareness of the dangers of our human activities in respect to the environment and to humanity as a whole, these dangers or destruction will cause more conflict and more obstacles in the future. Our future is very much related; therefore the sense of global responsibility is something very relevant. Nevertheless, if there is a division between these two, as long as this division remains it is bound to create some problems.

Furthermore, if something happens to one side, ultimately it will affect the other side also. That means, in reality, the whole world community, humanity as a whole, is interdependent and interconnected. This interconnectedness principle is the basis of Buddha-Dharma or spirituality.

Sometimes in our scientific progress, our concepts or our minds seem to be left behind.  Therefore, due to our lack of perception, I think unnecessary problems seem to happen. So we really need to have the sense of global responsibility, because it can be very useful and very helpful in solving and overcoming differences on an individual level, a family level, community level and global level.

Sometimes, due to different religions, there is more division that divides humanity. I am a Buddhist, so, of course I have some involvement regarding religion. Now even within one family or within one community, due to different religions or different believes, can divide them and start a conflict. This is very unfortunate. If all the different major religions, individually, are by nature, troublemakers, then we have some reason to abandon those faiths or those religions.

Obviously, if there is not much relevance or not much benefit, and it only creates problems, then we have the right to abandon religion. But that is not the case. All major religions, in the past, today, and in the future also, in spite of some unhealthy or unfortunate events which happen in the name of different religions, I think as a whole, all major religions provide humanity, immense mental peace and emotional comfort. And I believe they do have a deeper value or deeper meaning. Actually, remember that here, today, we are not really talking about religion, we are simply talking about spirituality and an ethical life.

In fact, we should look at the positive influence of various different religions rather than their differences in philosophy. If we do this, then I think we can see the common value of ethical or moral and compassionate responsibility for one another that brings all religions together. I think it is the way, because on some level we all feel we share a common human nature. So you see, if we only look at the philosophy then there are big differences, but if we look at the result side, I have found many very sensitive and very warm-hearted people regardless of which religion they choose to practice.

So if we human beings think properly about what the reality of our human community or our human society is, we realize that we all live together. We have to live together because we depend so much on one another. Always remember that we are all one big human family, we are all brothers and sisters and I can prove it to you – 1) we all live under the same sky and 2) our hearts and minds want to achieve happiness and remove suffering. Usually the problem is that we don’t realize or recognize how much we do depend on each other. That is why we all need to be warm-hearted and compassionate people. No matter how independent we are (or try to be), we all rely upon one another to some degree.

The one thing that we really need is this warmth of heart. Every religion has the potential to develop that. So whenever I go to different places and meet different people, I’m not talking about just Buddhism, I’m simply talking about this warmth of heart. Ultimately, this is what we need - warmth of heart. Warmth of heart or good heart means: be kind, be compassionate, be happy, be reasonable, be gentle, be open, be special, be spacious, be forgiving and have a big heart and a big mind, etc.

There has been so much development and scientific progress that now a lot of material comfort has been achieved, but we still need spiritual blessings and we need inner peace and happiness. I don’t think anyone could argue with that, because it is those things that make our life special and give us a greater sense of peaceful space and safety in relationship to our environment. Human beings are not machine products, we do not produce by machine, we are created in a different way, and we have feelings, so logically, the requirements of a human being cannot be fulfilled entirely by material things, money, or machines.

Anyway, I think that for the time being, no matter how sophisticated technology is, we still need something else. I believe that all the different religions have a profound role in that aspect. In order to make our external facility work properly, or in the right way, spirituality is necessary and helpful. Someone who has a compassionate mind, contentment and self-discipline, is utilizing these material facilities in a proper way, and that means this person receives genuine satisfaction.

When someone does not have that kind of inner, diverse spiritual experience, they are discontented, always wanting something more and have no self-discipline. This person who is, mentally, a poor person, very hungry and never satisfied, because of a lack of discipline, tends to be involved in more scandals or cause more trouble. It is very sad. As a result, they ruin their own name and spoil their own fortunes. This self-disgrace and self-destruction happen not because of money alone, but because of lack of spirituality, discipline, or lack of sense of responsibility toward others, or Buddha-Dharma.

Basically, spirituality, or Dharma, means having awareness, mindfulness, discipline, responsibility, morality, loving kindness, wisdom, compassion, gentleness, tolerance, friendly energy, determination, strength, and so on, and this is valid for any positive religious tradition. Am I clear here?

The value of a spiritual practice is limitless if we utilize it in the right way, or in right direction. In order to utilize and satisfy our human brain, or our human wisdom, in a constructive way, we must have a good heart. It is very essential because there is no guarantee with our human intelligence of whether it will be constructive or destructive, we are never very sure.

My Supreme Guru or Teacher says that a good heart is everything. For example if you want to remove obstacles or obscurations, it is essential to have a good heart. If you want to receive blessings from Buddha or your Spiritual Master or God, or just your religion in general you must have a good heart. If you want to help other sentient beings, of course, you have to have a good heart. So you see, having a good heart is extremely important for our selves and for others as well. With a good heart we create an environment of harmony around us. This harmony brings peace and happiness to everyone we encounter.

Actually that is the true meaning of the Dharma and when we see someone who genuinely has a good heart, we can say they really are a true Dharma practitioner and religious practitioner.

How do we do that? Follow these three things: (1) Stop doing negative actions. (2) Learn to do good thing. (3) Train the mind to perfection. In the mean time, remember that if we do not organize our life, our life will not organize itself. So we need to decide what our priorities are going to be .

In one way, human intelligence can be very destructive. For example, there are the brilliant scientists who invented nuclear weapons. Purely from the viewpoint of scientific achievement, these are incredible and very impressive, but because these things bring us fear and immense suffering and damage, these things are negative. Nobody wants these things, in spite of the great scientific and technological achievement. But, too much ignorance or ignorant willingness is very destructive too. That is the problem. If a person is unwilling or unable to understand other people’s views, opinions or values, then we will always have conflicts, disagreements, and contradictions. So, ultimately, with human intelligence alone, there is no guarantee, and in society, with consumerism alone, I think that is not the right way of life either. But again, to abandon that way of life is also very difficult, so we have to find some middle way. That is right, Middle-Way. Middle-Way is the best!

So you see, basically, the human intelligence itself, whether it creates a positive result or a negative result, we are not very sure. Therefore, in addition to human affection, or our good hearts, we still need Buddha-Dharma.

Now in all major religions, in spite of the different philosophies or different traditions, they all have the potential to help humanity, there is no doubt about that. Therefore, under such circumstances, it is very important to have a closer relations in overcoming differences based on religion. Some differences are fundamental, but all major religions have one common thing or one common message, loving kindness and compassion. That is why we must work together, so that we can live together, and not only live together but also to learn from each other.

When we are learning from each other, we are making a common effort for humanity and for the world!  That is so important and crucial. That is also why my Teacher or Guru says we came to this Earth for three reasons. The first reason is to learn, the second reason is to serve and or help each other or respect each other, and the third reason is to do the proper preparations for the next life. I’m sure we all know that we are just visitors on this planet. We are here for 90 or 100 years at the very most. Therefore, during this lifetime, we should try to do something good and meaningful. As well, we should try to do something useful and valuable with our lives. In this way, we accomplish our wishes and responsibilities, and at the same time we can bring lots of benefit for others.

Perhaps we understand the meaning of the words “loving kindness and compassion” quite well. So now we have to look at the true meaning of loving kindness and compassion and the use of it. Then, ultimately, we will get benefit from it. Of course, by now you all know that Loving kindness and compassion means a sense of comfort, happiness, as well as caring for and helping others. The most important thing is, these will never cause us to harm others and will only bring us benefit. That is the true meaning of loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

We can see a lot of differences and there is the potential to create conflict, however, if we look from a wider or wisdom perspective we can always find a common thing that will unites us. So in order to live in a harmonious society, we must make a joint effort, and that depends on our human determination and will power. When we see differences, if we lack patience, then sometimes those differences may eventually develop into a serious conflict. At the same time, we take very small things very seriously, that creates so many problems. You see if we have self-confidence and determination to face that different opinion, and accept the value of different opinions, we can discuss them and share. That way we will always find a meaningful result.

Now, how do we develop self-confidence? I believe that human compassion has a very important role. You know, altruistic motivation, or compassion, automatically opens a kind of inner door, and through that door we can communicate with fellow human beings without fear, without hesitation, without suspicion, and without doubt. If our own mind is open, there is hardly anything to hide. There is no need for doubt, everything is clear and it is easy to communicate. That is the way it should be, we should always smile, be happy, be frank and be gentle with everyone around us. On the other hand, if we lack human affection or human compassion, then, automatically, we have closed our inner door. As a result, with that feeling, when we meet someone, we eventually develop some fear and some hesitation and it becomes very difficult for us to communicate heart-to-heart on the basic human level.

In general, I think young children are so innocent that they can communicate with one another on a human level. They do not consider the different cultures, different families or different religions to be of much importance, so they simply communicate on the basic level of humanity. They play together, they help each other, they laugh together and they eat together without many problems. However, as we get older we create a lot of the artificial differences. We put more emphasis on these differences and as a result, our lives become more difficult. So here again, the human good heart, the human compassionate attitude is an extremely important and crucial factor. The more open we are with other people, the less we fear. And I believe we will have more trust, more love, and more laughter.

You see, the more we fear, the more frustration, the more hesitation, we experience—even within ourselves. This often leads to anger and hatred. If we are more peaceful and more open, the less fear we experience and this results in more self-confidence and happiness. That is for sure.

So therefore, fear is one of our enemies, which disturbs or destroys our peace of mind. How do we get rid of fear? I think one of the most important steps is to make our hearts and minds more open. The more we make our minds more open, or bigger, the less we experience fear. The more isolated or more closed our minds are, the more we experience fear, which can become hatred.

I consider the real or the ultimate troublemaker in our human community; and even within an individual and our family, the worst enemy is hatred. It has no value whatsoever. You see, with anger, or hatred, or ill feeling, we can find no use for this, and it doesn’t help us resolve the basis of our discontent, it simply won’t help. In any case, it won’t help our future in any positive way, that’s for sure!

As some very important Buddhist texts mentioned, the ill feeling, or anger, or hatred is almost like self-destruction. So now, for example, let’s say in my case, if I develop some irritation or some anger, or some hatred, the result is that I lost my appetite or I lost my sleep. And eventually, I believe that my health will deteriorate or weaken, and I will suffer negative consequences.

However, sometimes anger may be positive. It may help because some anger may develop on the basis of compassion. Anger at some injustice or some mismanagement that causes people to be injured or hurt, that anger can be positive and constructive. How? This anger may give us determination to speak out or protest or protect, do whatever is most skilful to provide a remedy to the wrong action done. But hatred is never, ever, based on compassion and it is always negative. So there is no value whatsoever in hatred. Is that clear?

Ultimately, hatred brings us isolation or loneliness, and hatred destroys our health. Furthermore, hatred destroys our peace of mind. With hatred we are always agitated, restless and unhappy all the time, which is not good. Therefore there is great reason to remove or overcome hatred and anger.

If the definition of enemy means a human face, human nose and human eyes, then we, our-selves, are enemies. Our enemy is not really just another human being. You see an enemy is something or someone, who is trying to or is destroying our fortune and ultimately our future, and our happiness. So, our real enemies are the powerful neurotic emotions that keep us unhappy and ineffective.

Emotions like jealousy, hatred, pride, desire or attachment, and ignorance. In the Buddhist point of view, we consider these to be the Five Poisons and we have to remove them one-by-one. I wish that we could just click one button and these things would be put into the garbage. And then you click another button to delete the garbage. That sounds perfect, doesn’t it?

External enemies can destroy our possessions, our money, our house and even our relatives and friends. Of course, sometimes our enemy can even destroy our life, yes, and that is very serious.

When dealing with our external enemies, however, there is one important Buddhist practice we use, in order to develop compassion. It is a technique of giving and taking called “Tong Len.” In this practice, we visualize our enemy in front of us, we then meditate and analyze that we are the victim, and they are the people who are causing others to suffer.

Next we analyze from the Buddhist point of view that we are getting through the ripening of the fruit or the result of our previous karma, and then once we finished with this experience, that chapter of our previous karma is also finished. When we look at the aggressor in this situation, we will see that they have just started the negative karma that they will have to face in the long run. So there is more reason to be concerned for them than our selves.

Now, after we have developed this concern for the aggressor or enemy, we begin the meditation of giving and taking. We visualize that we take all their negative emotions and all their negative energy into ourselves and neutralize it, and we give them all of our compassion, happiness, forgiveness and patience. It might be helpful to point out that we don’t keep the negative; we transform it into positive as we repeat the process. I practice this daily and have found it very helpful. Sometimes it may not be as helpful as I would like, but in general it is very helpful and quite useful.

The ultimate source of our happiness, our inner happiness, is the peace of mind. Our peace of mind is something our external enemy cannot destroy, that is for sure. Peace of mind is here in our heart. Even if a person is surrounded by a hostile or dangerous enemy, that person’s peace of mind cannot be destroyed. However, hatred, our internal enemy, can immediately destroy our peace of mind. So from that we can analyze, that the real enemy is here in our heart, not outside.

An outside enemy may be an enemy today, but due to certain circumstances, eventually that enemy could become our good friend. The potential of a friend is always there, but with our inner enemy, hatred, there is no such potential. It will always remain our enemy. So it is possible that our best friend will become our worst enemy and sometimes our worst enemy will become our best friend. That is possible! Absolutely! Of course, if we have a hundred friends, that is not too many, but if we have one enemy, that is too much!  What do you think?

Hatred is a very negative aspect of our emotions, and since our basic nature is gentleness, we can overcome this. How can we overcome hatred? First we need clear realization. Within our mind or within our thoughts, some are positive and useful, but some are not, some are even harmful, so we must analyze them clearly, and practice that all the time.

For example, as I mentioned earlier, we have to make a distinction between anger and hatred, in addition we must distinguish between attachment and desire. With desire, some are positive and some are negative. Let’s say, to have attachment and desire to help others and have a useful and meaningful life, then that is good desire and good attachment. That desire and attachment is positive and constructive.

Also, with self-confidence, some people are over self-confident. That means they have too much pride. That is negative and that is dangerous. Self-confidence with reason is positive. It is very essential to have a strong sense of self in order to develop will and determination. We may call that positive ego. The strong feeling of the sense of self which creates disregard for other’s rights, with no hesitation to harm others, that kind of ego is negative.

So you see, within our own mind or our own thoughts, there are so many different varieties, we must clarify these differences and try to reduce the negative emotions and try to increase or cultivate our positive thoughts. That is the proper way.

Even for a non-believer without any religion, this is still perfect. It is each individual’s right to remain a non-believer, but as long as we are human beings, as long as we are members of this human family, we need to do these things.

There is no point for neglecting our human affection. It is important to clarify that compassion, love, and forgiveness are often found in all major religious traditions; however, these things alone are not necessarily religious teachings.

Without religion, these things can develop and should develop. I believe these are the foundations for one’s own happier future. Even if it is just one happier day, these are the foundation that made it a happier day. So you see, what I usually call loving kindness, compassion and gentleness the “Universal Religion,” without any other complicated religious system, simply being a good person who has a good heart, does good things and speaks with kind words. That is the real Dharma or the real Spirituality. So, remember, even the smallest loving kindness, compassion and gentleness to oneself, can completely transform ones world view.

It is wrong to expect complete satisfaction or happiness to come from outside or from materials. The potential of these things: love, compassion and forgiveness are within our-selves. We must properly and effectively utilize them, within our own potential, for a happy life. That is important. That is also the ultimate source of overcoming differences.

Sometimes people ask me, how can you keep your sense of humor and always have a positive state of mind. I find one Buddhist explanation to be very useful in our daily life, and that is the idea of “everything is relative”. You see everything has different aspects. For example, one tragedy is generally considered to be something very negative. However, if you look from a different aspect, or a different angle, then maybe you will find some good aspects. It is very possible. Now, remember, say to your self, although it is difficult to practice this, I am determined to practice this kind of thing, so that gives us hope and gives us inner satisfaction. Sometimes people think that, it is easier to see the results of anger than it is to see the results of compassion, but I don’t think so. They just have to look within themselves to see the difference, the great peace of mind that comes from compassionate action. You see, with compassion, equally energetic or powerful actions will come automatically. Just let it be.

For me, as a Buddhist practitioner, I believe that the main purpose of life is serving, or helping, or at least contributing some happiness to others, including animals and insects. Then, automatically, we get some satisfaction, inner satisfaction or inner peace.

So now I would like to summarize overcoming differences in every day life. Basically, overcoming differences in every day life means that, we use every opportunity to work together and cooperate with every person in a respectful, compassionate, tolerant and equal relationship. No matter what situation we experience, we can build our wisdom, compassion, and generosity and have our hearts and minds grow bigger and bigger. We always need to maintain our positive outlook and altruistic motivation, always wishing the best for all sentient beings. This is especially important when dealing with someone we don’t like too much.

 

• Overcoming differences means to look upon the world with an equanimity eye.
• Overcoming differences means to listen to others with an open, non-judgmental ear.
• Overcoming differences means to help people with an open and gentle hand.
• Overcoming differences means to speak with kind and supportive speech.
• Overcoming differences means to walk a straight line of virtue and good will.
• Overcoming differences means to see the positive in a person rather than the negative.
• Overcoming differences means having the confidence to do what is right rather than what is popular.
• Overcoming differences means that we judge people on what’s in their heart rather than the color of their skin, their intelligence, or their physical appearance or abilities.
• Overcoming differences means minding our own business.
• Overcoming differences means continuously keeping bodhicitta or kindness in our mind, our actions, and our words.
• Overcoming differences means to have patience with ourselves and with others.
• Overcoming differences means to be generous even when it is difficult.

 

Although it appears that differences exist on the outside, if we look closely we can see that most differences appear within ourselves, we make the differences and therefore we can overcome them.

 

• Overcoming differences means to have Discriminating Wisdom, or the power to perceive right from wrong in our daily actions.
• Overcoming differences means allowing others the same rights and privileges as we ourselves expect.
• Overcoming differences does not happen overnight but begins right now.
• Overcoming differences means to treat others as we would like to be treated.
• Overcoming differences means overcoming differences--just do it and be better now!

 

My Supreme Guru says if we find in life that we have no choice, then we should be happy because our decision has already been made for us and we can get to work. Also, if we find in life that we have a choice we should be happy, because we can enjoy the freedom of picking and choosing. So you see, either way will be fine.

If we have a choice to make, we should not ask for what is best for ourselves alone, but what is best for all sentient beings or humanity as a whole. In this way, our choices, like waves in water, spread out and have a loving, positive, and helpful influence across the entire Universe. And in time, our choices will always come back to us--this is karma. So anyway, if there is no choice then might as well just enjoy. 

Finally, something that we must always remember is that, our body is a shrine of the Buddha. You see, when we think this way we will have more respect for ourselves and respect for others, because we know how to show respect for the holy shrine. Buddha exists in each and every one of us.

My supreme and precious Guru, His Holiness, Drubgen Yizhin Norbu, always told me, which I always remember very clearly, and in fact, I always keep this in my mind and be mindful of it all the time, he said, “When you teach the Buddha-Dharma to other people, make sure you let them know that we, each of us, our self, are shrine of the Buddha, Buddha always exists within us. That is very important to remember because, although we see the Buddha outside, it is actually the faith, the devotion, and the confidence that is inside of us, they are the essence of the Buddha.”

“Every sentient being is ready to be Enlightened at every moment.

The only hindrance is not recognizing the purity and limitlessness of Buddha-Nature”.

So furthermore, I truly believe that everyone has the responsibility to shape the future of humanity. So let us try to contribute as much as we can. As we all know, the path to a world of peace must travel through the hearts of each and every one of us!

I hope that this teaching was simple and profound enough and is of benefit for you, and for all beings. I believe that within this teaching, there are many valuable and useful pieces of advice that are effective for our daily living.