Sunday, December 28, 2014

Droplets from the Heart

Spoken by Garchen Rinpoche, a great Tibetan lama who was imprisoned by the Chinese for 20 years:

"In prison Khenpo Münsel Rinpoche taught me this. The extent of your realization will be known when you encounter difficult circumstances. You will not know the extent of your realization when things go well. 

When you find yourself in a troublesome situation, when you are in great pain, when an intense emotion arises, only then will you know where you are at with practice.

Adverse circumstances will reveal your hidden faults. If you are able to hold awareness unwaveringly during such a time, and thus if you are not carried away by the force of the emotion, it is a sign that you have gained experience in practice.

If you were to practice mindful awareness with great diligence for just a month, if you were to recognize even the slightest thought and not allow your mind to wander off into delusion for that time, even in such a short time you would witness great changes. 

Fierce afflictions would not faze you so much any more, because you would have gained personal experience in observing the illusory play. There is in fact just one remedy necessary--mindful awareness. It is the single sufficient remedy that transforms difficulties inside and out."

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