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Furthermore, Kyabje
Chadral Rinpoche had also explained to us : "There are three
kinds of Dharma practitioners : firstly, there are those who
look like practitioners outwardly, but inwardly they are not real practitioners;
secondly, there are those who talk very high but there is no realization
at all for them; thirdly, there are those who do not look like practitioners
outwardly, but who are in fact genuine practitioners inside." These
words of wisdom have given us a yardstick
to measure all Dharma practitioners in this Degenerate Age!
Because of the attractiveness
of materialistic hedonism in this world, many people have the kind of
utilitarian mentality looking for "short cuts" and thus they
are easily led astray by all kinds of "fast food" systems of
the so-called Dharma teachings. In trying to convince them of the urgency
of liberation from the cyclic existence of Samsara is not an easy matter,
even though the skillful means of Vajrayana teachings are already short
cuts among short cuts! Those "who want to reap the rewards but would
not want to pay for the price" would hope to find a realized Master
in order that they can receive his blessings, by making offerings to him,
even though they would pay lip service by saying that they are helping
to spread the Holy Dharma for others' sake. In fact, they hope to be blessed
so that he and his whole family can have a prosperous living, that his
children and grandchildren are flourishing and well, that they are all
cured of any illnesses and be dispelled of all disasters, to be healthy
and long-lived, and that they will be blessed and saved when they were
dead, and to have a good future life! If according to the Law of causes
and effects, all such kind of hopes will not be effective solely by relying
on blessings, unless one can diligently practice the Holy Dharma. Yet
only a very few people understand this idea! Because
there is a huge "demand" for blessings, and that is why there
are so many "supply" of "false teachers"nowadays!
In a nutshell, if one
meets a truly great realized and accomplished Master, yet if one does
not ask for his teachings and then diligently practice his Holy Dharma,
but only ask for his blessings in this life and at the moment of death,
the best that one will have is to be reborn in the three upper realms.
Then, one will have to flow with one's own karma in the cyclic existence,
and may again end up in the lower realms. Hence,
if one does not practice the Holy Dharma but only want to receive blessings,
the chance of hoping to get liberated from this cyclic existence of Samsara
is indeed very slim, almost impossible! Even though the skillful
means of Vajrayana teachings are short cuts for liberation, it will take
years and decades of practice and training in order to have any results.
As it is a rarity for
us to have this precious human body, if we do not take advantage of this
by finding the means for liberation, then very soon we will be on our
death beds. There is a Dharma practitioner who had sighed and said to
us before : "For me, just to be able to find the correct Path of
Liberation has already taken me many years; by the time that I am certain
that the Vajrayana teachings are the most supreme, it then took me more
than a decade in order to find a genuine guru; after I had practiced the
Holy Dharma, it will again take many years of training and practice before
I will get some results. By that time, I think I am very near to my death!'
Hence, we should try to practice as soon as possible, or else we might
feel regret in the future. Kyabje Chadral Rinpoche is such an excellent
example for us nowadays, in order that we can follow his footsteps to
benefit oneself and others. It is well said in a Chinese poem which says
: "Without a strong and severe winter, the chill of which penetrates
into the bones, one cannot smell the fragrance of the blossoming plumrose
flowers in spring time."
Patrul Rinpoche in
The Way of Great Perfection mentions the following advice : "No
sutra, tantra, or sastra speaks of any being ever attaining perfect Buddhahood
without having followed a Spiritual Teacher. We can see for ourselves
that nobody has ever developed all the accomplishments of the stages and
paths by relying on their own efforts and abilities alone... First you followed
a supreme Master and obeyed him; then you practiced, undertaking great
hardships; finally, your mind and your Teacher's
became one, and you inherited the lineage. Peerless Teacher, at
your feet I bow!"Even for the Lord Buddha himself, he also had had many
teachers before. The searching for a -- CONTINUE
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