I
dreamt of my root Guru Sangye Tenzin Rinpoche whose kindness to me could never
be repaid. His short, thin body and smiling face were filled with light. He
wore the orange Dharma robes and a Dagpo meditation hat. It was in my homeland
of Nangchen, Kham, in the middle of the Dokham region, filled with varicolored
flowers of summer. I dreamt of him with an entourage of hundreds. As soon as I
saw him I felt unfathomable joy. Rinpoche was holding a vajra and bell,
blessing the place and doing some recitation. As soon as it was over the
disciples lined up in a long line in front of him. Rinpoche blessed each person
as he placed the vajra on their crown. I also lined up and bowed my head before
him. Folding my palms together at my heart, I requested his blessing. He looked
straight into my eyes, placed the vajra on my head and said,
Be
diligent in Dharma and patient with your circle of disciples! Subdue and train
your own mind; this is the essence of practice. You don’t need to adopt or reject,
practice or abandon, anything! Become a complete master with undistracted
mindfulness! There is no other meditation superior to this.
Waking up about five o’clock, my mind was filled
with a special bliss.
Of
course, there are hundreds of Lamas on this earth who are fully enlightened who
have consciously chosen to return in the form of human beings to place sentient
beings on the staircase to liberation with their hands of compassion. As the Tibetan
saying goes, however, ‘There
are hundreds of Lamas in the land, but only one Lama for your mind.’ Even though I am separated
from the Guru’s Form
Body for the time being, here is proof that I am never let go from the hook of
his loving kindness! What a wonder to meet him repeatedly, not like in a dream,
but just like two people actually seeing each other!
When
I think about last night’s
dream, for three days this year I taught Dharma to the public, commenting on
Dza Patrul Rinpoche’s
Self-Liberating Meditation. As usual whenever I teach Dharma, at the beginning
of the session I first make prayers to my root Gurus and mix my mind
inseparably with theirs. What I teach, then, is not something I’ve proudly made up by myself,
but what I know through my own experience, taught with single-pointed focus. To
see the root Guru again this time I think is a sign that he was with us as a ‘wisdom being’ during our retreat watching
over us with eyes of wisdom, and that he was delighted with our four days of
retreat teachings and practice. Even though we don’t see him with our physical
eyes he is watching over us like a sighted person taking care of the blind! I
don’t have
the slightest doubt about this.
Whenever
I do important work, or work that is very difficult to decide about, when I go
to sleep I pray to the Lama, and that very night wondrous dreams like this will
occur. I believe them and decide accordingly. There is a saying: ‘Don’t ask just anyone; pray to
the Lama!’ It is
like that. I always entrust my mind to the Guru and make single-pointed
prayers. That is the reason I often see him in dreams. Some people might say,
dreams are just dreams. If they wonder why I would believe them, maybe they are
right. Dreams are one of the eight examples of the unreal, illusory nature of
things.
There
are different kinds of dreams, however. Some dreams are definitely special
blessings of the Guru’s
compassion or signs of accomplishing the Yidam Deity. Most dreams are imprints
amidst feelings we have during our life which appear to us in dreams at night;
those are deceptive and we label them as such. In general, however, there are
many instances when Kagyu Lamas such as Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa found
their Lamas and developed qualities of realization during their dreams.
In
any case, in Tantric scriptures it is said that if there is faith and unbroken
commitment between Guru and disciple, and the disciple has heart-felt gratitude
and aspiration towards the Guru, no other virtuous quality is necessary. I
think this is a real sign of the results of not just verbal but sincere
requests that I make to the Guru whose kindness is impossible to repay.
These
days some Dharma practitioners first sit before the Guru and receive profound
initiations of the nectar of the Guru’s wisdom, the life of the Yidam, the heart-blood of
the Dakinis, and attend teachings on Mahamudra or Dzogchen for many months and
years. Then, if the Guru says something that they don’t quite like, they suddenly
start disparaging them and develop distorted views. In these degenerate times,
to not have to act like that is a priceless quality; I think I am so fortunate.
Anyway,
for me, in this life there is nothing greater than entrusting my mind to the
Guru, being befriended and supported by the Dakini, and entering the path of
Dharma. This is the unmistaken choice I have made. For as long as I live, it is
my unchanging, indestructible commitment to follow in your footsteps, O Father
Lama, and to become just like you.
Conclusion:
It is your kindness that my mind
has turned towards Dharma.
It is your kindness that Dharma
has become the path.
I promise to clear deception from
the path
And pray that deception may arise
as innate wisdom.
If we are not distracted from the
meaning, and know how to settle
By dropping into this timeless
wisdom, the mind’s
primordial true nature,
That will carry us to Buddhahood,
(the Seventh Karmapa) taught.
This teaching of Tantra will not
deceive or fail us.
Father Lama, for the moment you
have left for the sake of others.
Your son calls to you from afar,
from the ends of the earth.
If you see me with your eyes of
wisdom
Don’t forget your son, O Protector of Beings!
Taking this body was not mistaken;
I rely on pure conduct (brahmacarya.)
To whom I pray is not mistaken:
the excellent Lama.
The path I’ve taken is not mistaken: the
holy Dharma.
Now I am blissfully happy; what a
marvelous wonder!
When I think again of you
appearing in direct perception,
Visions, or dreams to your
disciple with stable faith,
Accompanying me like my shadow, O
Father Lama,
This child of yours is very
fortunate.
Having
had the opportunity for four days of February 13-16, 2020, together with Dharma
brothers and sisters, to listen, contemplate, and meditate on Dza Patrul
Rinpoche’s
Dzogchen Self-Liberating Meditation, Accomplishment of Sukhavati, the Heart
Sutra, and Venerable Tara practice, when the retreat was over, on the night of
the sixteenth, I was tired from teaching and reciting so I went to bed early.
In the course of the night, about five o’clock in the morning, awakened by the dream recounted
above, my mind was filled with joy, and I wept uncontrollably with strong
memories of my Lama. Afraid I would forget it, and in order to remind myself of
it, this least of the Lord’s disciples who sits at the end of the line of all his
disciples, who only bears the title of Khenpo Karten, immediately wrote it down
in my daily blog. May beginners on the path like myself quickly receive the
blessings of the glorious Lama, and may all beings be pervaded by the light of
perfect happiness!
Sarva Mangalam
Tashi Deleks!
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