9th March 2009.
When I arrived in Kathmandu from Pokhara, I was a little bit busy meeting people and going from place to place. Most of the time, I couldn't do many things as there was no electricity. I was invited by a few people for a meal and I feel comfortable being with them because they are truly my friends as well as my disciples.
First family visit was on the 6th March. I visited a Gurung family for lunch and I had a long talk with this family. I also shared a little bit of Dharma knowledge with them. They liked that very much as they are very devoted to the Buddhism. They wanted to clarify regarding taking of refuge and the vows involved, so I explained that taking refuge is the first step and that they only need to observe three vows. These are:
1) By taking refuge in the Buddha, one should not seek refuge in gods and other worldly
beings who cannot lead us to liberation from suffering; as they are themselves affected by
the Law of Karma and cycling in Samsara, experiencing suffering.
2) By taking refuge in the Dharma, one should not harm others or take others’ life.
3) By taking refuge in the Sangha, one should not follow people who have the wrong views
towards Buddha and Dharma.
The next step for anyone who wants to be serious in their practice would be taking five precepts.
The five precepts are:
1) To avoid killing, 2) To avoid stealing, 3) To avoid adultery, 4) To avoid lying and 5) To avoid taking of intoxicants.
Refuge is the gateway to the Buddhist path that leads to Enlightenment but some people fear that once they have taken refuge, they may break their vow of not telling lies as they might do this intentionally or unintentionally when doing business. I told them that they can take the refuge vow first and gradually train towards taking the second step of taking the five precepts and then the third step of taking the Bodhisattva vows.
Second family visit was on the same day to the house of Umesh, who produced the Vision Journey videos for my projects. They were holding a special ceremony for his son who has attained adulthood (Vartaman) and they invited many of their relatives.
Another day, I visited KIBS Kirtipur and I had tea together with the students in the garden. The new students were introduced to me. I had a very pleasant time with them and we talked about many subjects. I also recalled and described my visit to the centres in Europe a long time ago etc…
After lunch there were two new students who came to see me as they wished to take refuge. I then gave some explanation on the taking of refuge and they also asked some practical questions.
The first question is: There may be the scenario where one has taken refuge and later due to unavoidable work commitment, one is involved in act of killing animals without one's own choice. So should one take refuge at all?
My answer was: The general guideline in taking refuge is to avoid killing no matter what situation arises. But if one refrains from taking refuge due to being afraid of committing the act of killing under some unforeseen circumstances, it is such a pity. When we take refuge and make the commitment to avoid killing, sometimes we break our commitment due to unavoidable circumstances. For example, we fear being bitten by mosquitoes as we might contract some types of diseases and use mosquito coils or ointments which cause mosquitoes to eventually die. Many households use insecticides which are poisonous etc.
If I say that Buddhists cannot take the life of others intentionally or unintentionally, then Buddhist people can hardly do anything in their lives. Even something as common as walking cannot be done as every step we take kills many small insects under our feet. Moving and breathing also kills many tiny beings as Buddha has mentioned. That doesn't mean we should stop moving and breathing so as to avoid killing. So long as we have this body, which developed from Karma, functioning in this world, we tend to be involved in many negative actions which are unavoidable.
What I think we should do is to try our best to avoid negative thoughts. Positive actions are the natural results of our development. So long as our intention is not negative and we try to develop positive thoughts every moment, the interest in and habitual craving for negative actions will gradually diminish and we will become perfect at the end. So we should develop our intentions or thoughts as the first priority and not let them follow the direction of habitually established defilements. Buddha also said, "All phenomena are the nature of the mind (manifested by mind), therefore thought is the initiator of everything and supreme amongst all. If thoughts are pure or clear, then no matter what one says or does, one will gain peace and happiness, just like the tree’s shadow which brings coolness will never move away from the tree."
Another question asked: If circumstances are unfavorable, how can we develop compassion to others?
My answer was: The compassionate attitude must come from oneself through the knowledge of the truth of self and phenomena. We should know that we are being obstructed by ignorance and continuously misinterpret our own true nature as truly existent; thereby developing emotions and defilements that cause endless suffering.
This truth not only applies to oneself but to all sentient beings who are also suffering endlessly. In fact, the gratitude we owe to these sentient beings should be no different to us than that we owe to our present mother. Samsara has no beginning; we have gone through countless rebirths under the care of mothers. Each sentient being has been our mother in one lifetime or another. Due to our mothers’ love and care, we grow to become fully capable. In this way, we view each and every sentient being as our mother and recall the kindness of our mother. Eventually this will lead to the arising of the loving attitude towards sentient beings and with that we also see their suffering and cause of suffering. We feel that their sufferings should be eradicated and make the aspiration to liberate them from it. That thought will lead us to the attitude of developing Bodhichitta and attainment of Enlightenment.
Through contemplation and meditation, if one can invoke this kind of thought constantly, then being compassionate towards any person in any situation will not be difficult. Everyone becomes very important and one’s sole purpose and intention is to make them feel comfortable and lead them towards enlightenment ultimately.
Swoyambu Stupa at night. Photo taken from the roof of my disciple's house. On the 7th, I visited the house of one of my disciples for dinner and from the roof I managed to take a beautiful photo of Swoyambu Stupa at night.
My disciples offer tea to my portrait in their shrine room.
This family has a very nice shrine hall which has a small throne where my portrait is placed. They offer to my portrait tea every morning and during New Year they offered many cookies and fruits. I cannot taste the tea offered by them every morning, but they feel that it is good to do that as this act develops generosity as well as allow them to accumulate some merits. It is a gesture of their constant devotion towards their guru as well.
Well that’s all for now and tomorrow is the 10th of March (Chotrul Duchen), which is a very important day as every accumulation of merit or negative karma will multiply by tens of millions. I will be going to Kirtipur to do some special Puja and dedicate the merits to everyone. We are going to raise new prayer flags and do a smoke offering there.
I wish everyone happiness, good health and success in following the path towards enlightenment.
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