Audio Teachings by Lama Dondrup Dorje Rinpoche
How to practice the Buddhadharma
In the Audio Teaching 'How to practice the Buddhadharma', Lama Dondrup Dorje Rinpoche reminds us what we should focus on in the year ahead. Reminding students that the greatest of all acts of virtue is to care for our parents, Lama Dondrup Dorje Rinpoche explained that when we have the strong motivation to care for those who genuinely care for us, then both heaven and earth will support us. We should give our parents no causes for concern, and should maintain our own health so we are able to care for them.
If we ignore the consequence of our actions, then we will act in ways which cause us future suffering, so we need to act in a sincere and genuine way, with a foundation of humility. The only reason Buddha came to the world was to show us how to be liberated from the repeated conditions of birth and death; liberating ourself and performing the greatest act of filial piety, which is to liberate our parents from the condition of birth and death. To do so, we follow the guidance of Buddha, which is not a conceptual process, it is a practice that has clear guidelines.
To benefit from the teachings and from the presence of the lama, our motivation is the key; if you are sincere, your mind is at peace. In a sincere mind there is no non-essential activity. To have non-essential thoughts in your mind when you attend the teaching, you will only hear a small bit of the teaching. The rest of what you believed you have heard will be made up of your own interpretation according to what you believe. Only through a quiet and sincere mind will you be able to hear the teaching in its entirety without being distracted by non-essential activities of a busy mind which will only give rise to the arising conceptual opinions and associated emotions.
Why is it so important to have a mind free from non-essential thoughts? Because once you have non-essential thoughts in your mind the next thing is curiosity, and where there is curiosity you will get distracted. The only curiosity you should have in your mind is how to improve yourself - and that comes from the teaching of Buddha.
In all the practices of the teaching of Buddha, it’s not about looking for anything from outside, it’s about discovering your true nature. It’s not about convincing people of what you are doing, it's about the actual practice itself.
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