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modern day yogi

Student: One of the only hopes that I find are prophecies by Guru Rinpoche who says that in this degenerated times when the disturbing emotions are so strong that the Vajrayana will flourish and that we somehow will be able to sort of deal with it.



Yes.

Student: I don’t see it happening, is it happening?

Oh this is very relative actually. For instance the Tibetan situation, the Tibetan dharma. In one way, the Tibetan dharma, practice and study, in one way it may have gone like astray and degenerated. In one way. But if you look at some of the Tibetan history and actual accounts from the mouth of, you know, from another point of view it has improved. It has improved. Because there is much more study, there is much more analysis going on. Certain way of doing things has to change, and this is for instance, okay, if you read for example Milarepa’s advice. All these great lamas of the past, when you read them, they always tell you, okay go to the cave, go to the mountains, be a wanderer. There are teachings like you are not supposed to stay in one place more than three nights. You are not supposed, you know there are actual a practice, I think it is from the, if you are familiar with the collection of advices by many other masters but it was collected by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, there are practices such as. You know we have something called three years retreat. There is similar, which is also three years, but within this three years you are supposed to wander. You are supposed to go around. And as soon as you feel even a slight comfort, slight familiarity with a place, such as, I don’t know, the road sign, or somebody begins to know you, you have to take off. You basically have to go through the strange land and strange place all the time. You cannot abide in one place. Things like that. There are many like that.

By the nature of how the world is manifesting, it maybe not possible, because wherever you go you need IDs. Maybe not in Nepal or places like Bhutan or Nepal or India yet, but places like in America, if you do such thing, you can be person of suspicious case. You may end up in a mental asylum. That kind of culturally and because of the time, that kind of support is changing. We will have to, what you call it, we will have to alter, not really alter, alter is not the right way – okay this is one of my, what you call it, personal, I should call it my, not really project, but it is kind of my pet vision. Pet project, you know pet vision. The role model, of course generally the role model is the Buddha. Bare feet, begging bowl, begging alms, all of this. Right? And then we have other role models like Milarepa, I don’t know, all of these cave dwellers, nettle soup eaters and all of that. And then of course the Tibetan lamas also portray this role model. What we are forgetting is there are other role models. Not everybody has to do that. Manjushri is wearing the most expensive ear ring. Avalokiteshvara has sambhogakaya outfit dotti really made in Kanchipuram. It is really really special. And then as you go, Ashoka. Some of us we should take them as role model, because as much as we should give credit to panditas and scholars and the saints of the past for the teaching, we must give credit to Ashoka. We must give, Tibetans must give credit to people like Trisong Detsen, without Trisong Detsen there is no buddha dharma. And Trisong Detsen was not a simple monk or something. He was a ?? we call it, kind of a ruthless guy. He also sometimes wage war and did things that is not necessarily goody goody. Our role model has to change. So there is a lot of hope, actually more hope. So much hope.

Look this, it is coming from somewhere else is it, the teaching, the question. Is it?

From the internet.

Because the teaching that is happening right now sounds like it is being listening by the world. And the questions are coming from all sorts of places like Croatia, Azerbaijan, all kinds of places, so that is good. Because this kind of access they don’t have. Now we should not say: well but don’t we have to go through penance. You know in the past, the great masters of the past they have walked all over from Tibet to Nepal to receive the Vajrayogini teachings, don’t we have to do that. I think that is just because you are afraid of the technology. I think modern day yogi or practitioner must really go through the pain or penance of saving the money and buying something like this, and then go through the internet and really, that involves penance. Because there is lot of hardship there to buy something like this. I am not really joking here.

Parting from the four attachments, Nepal June 2009

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