Bodhisattva Instructions

I have had what would be considered by the world to be a very difficult situation with some family problems. As I have practiced Buddhism, the challenges in life have become more and more - stronger and stranger. This time, however, I had the bodhisattva teachings and the vows just after the challenges appeared.

I asked Rinpoche for his advice about these matters and he responded simply, “Don’t make a big deal out of it.” This had a very strong impression - because the challenges that I was facing were the kinds of things that are considered generally to be a very big deal. He was asking me to take a very unconventional approach. So I worked with that - with not making a big deal as an intention. Like this: The things that are happening in life are happening on their own, spontaneously - they are very set up - cause and effect is there. Making a big deal is like yelling at the ocean to stop its tides from moving.

Rinpoche then offered teachings on the Bodhisattva understanding from the Lam Rim Chen Mo, written by Je Rinpoche (Lama Tsong Khapa). I was so happy to be able to sit in this center and learn again the meaning of bodhicitta. Aspiring to it, engaging with it, loving all beings equally and working tirelessly for their benefit. Rinpoche is kind enough to teach us the concepts over and over - and every time I hear the teachings, something new is there. I suspect this is because everything is always changing and, indeed, I bring a new person in myself to the teachings every time. So some new attitudes were there for me.

Look:

Rinpoche told us that thinking one is a Bodhisattva is a sign that one is not a Bodhisattva - this is true, he said, about being a “Buddhists” too. Indeed, we are not here to join a group of super-beings, to be super men and super women, higher than everyone else. I took this again to mean, “don’t make a big deal out of bodhisattvas”. I thought, “Don’t make a big deal out of the ‘bad’ things that are happening in your life, and now, even, do not make a big deal out of the ‘good’ things that are happening - that I am with Dharma brothers and sisters learning the profound meaning of the Bodhisattva path”. Yes, I felt relief - a permission - first from Rinpoche, and then from my deep heart - permission to be present. I could let it go. I am in fact, not obligated by anyone to feel a certain way or to take on some attitude or opinion. Everything is set up already - and I can open to that completely.

Please forgive me for being vague about the details of this family problem - I think it is important to understand that you can fill in the blanks with your own life - any sort of hard situation you might find yourself in, you can insert that challenge into this story and see the potential of opening up, of not making a big deal out of it. I have experienced that as I open up like this - becoming more independent and open, that there is truly already love there. Love is there waiting for the room to be expressed. People seemed to be able to see this working in me - for the first time in many months people were saying, “Hi Chris, you look good”.

Imagine that!

Of course, then, I felt moments of pride - but any time my mind started to chatter on about it, like: “I am doing so well, I am so peaceful”, I could see this as another attempt to make a big deal out of it. So, I remembered that permission to let my thoughts go. And so this Bodhisattva intention, the intention to become the most helpful type of person for everyone, it reminds me to open up and to let things flow. ‘Whatever happens, may it happen’. Have you heard of this Tantric vow? This is something that I have always appreciated.

The scriptures say that the different teachings are there for different potentials. In the past, I have thought, “Well, I must be of this highest potential! I am, after all, very special! These bodhisattva things are simple, and mundane. I’m going to get straight into emptiness and practice the subtle energy work of tantra because, of course, I can tell that I am that type of practitioner”. But, after my enthusiasm for being the highest wore off, I became like a piece of wood, an old log that could no longer offer any support. What I had learned had no resonance anymore, it had no life. But luckily the Universe is set up in a way to test us all from every angle and it seems that life is becoming, suddenly, very difficult, very emotional - it is suddenly very real and my intellectual understanding and pride is of no help.

I see now that these teachings about a practitioner’s potential and different levels are only ways of expressing the moment to moment situation of all beings. We will be challenged in so many ways and so the teachings are as vast as our lives. Reconnecting the bodhisattva intention - has, for now, brought a new sense of freshness and openness that allows me to coexist with this struggling life. I don’t need to remove myself from Samsara.

Whatever comes, I intend, I am decided to not make a big deal out of it. In the end, I will die! So what problem currently can compare to that? We will all face death some day - and so I am very lucky to be experiencing many difficulties now, because without them, death will still come and I will have had no preparation. After all, death is what is called the biggest deal of them all.

May we all be at peace through all of our situations - may we all enjoy completely the ever-changing and evolving situation and see the freedom in entanglement. Finally, may I never consider myself as part of a group - low, middle, or high. To do so is to forget everything - to lose myself into my mind-made-world.

Thank you, Rinpoche, for your patience, kindness and strength. May we all become beneficial to everyone, everywhere!

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