Rinpoche's SMS quotes

[Joey]

Please post any SMS by Rinpoche here (not any ladrang SMS because they could be about anything) just only those about dharma by Rinpoche. I'll start the ball rolling:

Not wanting to make effort towards others because of dissappointment or disillusionment dosent make real sense. that mode of thinking ultimately wouldbe our own fault, not others. Therefore must have compassion for others by expressing it by tirelessly sharing Dharma to them followed by spontaneous positive actions born from Dharmic habituations...at first it's forced then it's easy finally it's natural. that natural state is an attainment that is the source of happiness for this and future lives. Tsem Tulku of Malaysia.

*note: please keep this thread clean from non-quotes. thank you.*

[Joey]

"The hardest obstacle to teach dharma is letting people know wha causes their problems...that I dont have to face the hard psychological wall of people's habitautions, I hate making enemies and challenging people, what a difficult to near impossible job to face daily..so hard to try to change EVERY person I meet as it's my duty and when they dont change I have to push...my greates dream is that people face themselvesthen overcome and not cover when the cover is so transparent...from Tsem Tulku"

[Ninje]

"Happiness causes suffering because when the happiness fades, attachment and craving arise; when craving is unfulfilled, suffering ensues. The fear of Losing Happiness is already suffering, as long as that happiness exists, the fear also exists."

(SMS by H.E. Tsem Rinpoche forwarded to me by JT on 19 August 2007)

 

[Ninje]

"Arising from karma: due to our self-cherishing, we create negative karma that results in epidemics, malices and bad dreams, evil omens, inauspicious events, ill-favoured years, months , days and minutes, bad harvest, droughts, earthquakes and frost, the malice of our enemies mobilised against us, power-hunters, misleading joys, causes of untimely death, obstacles to our source of livelihood and all inauspicious conditions.

To enlightened beings, they cannot be affected. For us, it can affect very much as our karma ripens. So entering refuge is only the first step. Our vows, practice, rituals, meditations, dharma work and pujas serve as POWERFUL BASIS to purify the current problems and future ones. So therefore even having taken refuge, we do not follow superstition but negativities can harm us during our practice. So we shouldn sit idle and just say I have taken refuge?quot;

(SMS Teaching on 12 February 2007)

[Ninje]

?Having family is suffering. Having no family is suffering?the state of renunciation is supreme. Having good family is suffering. Coming from bad family one suffers. Our mind creates it all from attachment and false beliefs that ANYTHING in samsara can be happy. Avoiding or staying with family isn the answer but our mind is.?nbsp; Tsem Rinpoche

(SMS teachings on 16/8/07)

[Ninje]

"Dear all, contemplate this:

How your attitude is at 15, is around the same at 25. At 25 it would be around the same at 35, 45, 55 etc. We are talking about attitude. It is a continuation. One mind-stream. Not different. How we play out that attitude with age and time is different. But the essential attitude remains the same. That is why we cannot let our ego mind off easy! If you were irresponsible 5 years ago, that is the cause for it now. And now IS the cause for it 5 years from now and so on! So taking our sweet time is the talk of fools who fool themselves and damage those around them.

THINK!! Think honest and hard and point blank. And as usual, do not stop at just thinking! So whatever your faults that you may know or others brought to your attention, TRANSFORM THEM NOW, or they will continue again and again and again. Frightening! In the end we are left just to ourselves."

         Tsem Tulku, 22 January 2007

 

[Ninje]

Reasons for offering:

At the heart of the Enlightened mind is infinitely compassionate and utterly pure, all the Buddhas whether they be incarnate Buddhas such as Shakyamuni, or accomplished past masters of the lineage or other manifestation of awakening, such as yidams, manifest this compassion and purity of perception to our senses.

To make offerings to the Buddhas and yidams and to enact prayers to them is to arouse their awakened qualities in the stream of your thought. It is an expression of nearness to the seed of one own illumined nature.

The Buddhas and yidams are expressions of pure awareness, free from attachments, aversion and all misapprehension of the nature of actual reality. The awakened ones abide in a blissful, direct awareness of the ultimate nature of mind and this purity perception, utterly suffused by compassion, manifests in many forms. Some of the forms of the meditational deities are wrathful, representing a dynamic, fierce transformation of a dissonant mental state. And some of the forms peaceful, representing a quiescent transformation of dissonant mental states. To contemplate the nature of the deity is to dissolve its appearance into light, and to absorb its mode of being into your heart. Thus, your mind becomes inseparable from the mind of the deity?br />
Extracted from the Trilogy of Tibet by Tsem Tulku Rinpoche for our benefit and contemplation.
12 February 2007

 

[wmw111]

Date 11/03/2006

GOLDEN LIFE RULES THAT CHANGE U, AND PPL WILL BECOME POSITIVE TOWARDS U IN TIME-1. Info u give must be accurate based on checking thoroughly. If u dnt know,dnt brush it off w 'i dnt know.' Got to know,always find out. 2. Whatever u promise EASY or Difficult,u MUST COMPLETE TIMELY N WITHOUT BEING PUSHED. Dont let other ppl push or chase u. If they do, ur going wrong direction. 3. Keep updating ppl. Update clear then ppl remain calm n know progress. 4. When u want something,etc talk polite BUT STRAIGHTFORWARD. Dnt go round n round because alot Of MISUNDERSTANDING CREATED THAT CAN MAKE PPL LOSE CONFIDENCE N RESPECT 4U OVER TIME. Push urself to talk straight because save,time, energy, respect n trust. If u do mantras,then extension of that is talking straight,clear, concentrated n enough to give CONCISE UNDERSTANDING. 5. When things get hard,dnt run,avoid, or keep quiet n hope it blows over. It will not blow over becoz everyone got memory. Ppl being quiet doesnt mean its forgotten,it can mean, they're are starting to forget u. U should solve the problem ASAP.6. When it comes to money matters ALWAYS BE STRAIGHT. Pay what u owe n promise W/O EVER being reminded. Be forthright. Money is sensitive in any culture to anyone, so when u create distrust w money matters,then chances are ppl will start trusting u less in other matters as money n how we handle it speaks VOLUMES about us. ESPECIALLY IN DHARMA PRACTICE N WORKING FOR/IN DHARMA V IMPORTANT. Follow these, then things change. Tsem T.

[wmw111]

Date 11/04/2006

The root text of guyasamaja tantra (sangdu tsagyud) states: "If sentient beings commits an action as grave as the heinous crimes, he still can attain the superior vajra vehicle,but who from within disregards his master, shall never attain,even if exerted."  Then in tantra of vajrapani (chanadorje sangkur chagyud) it says "If we, tantric practioners, do not think on the immensely grave demerits of disregarding one's master, who would?" by tsem tulku

[wmw111]

Dear all, why teach dharma to ppl who say their students,but when i give instructions to them even difficult to follow they dnt follow. Obviously they dnt have enuf faith n confidence n real guru devotion. So they ask WHY n get angry n voice alot of unhappiness. If the guru ask them to do something,why? Think? And how to teach them more dharma if they fight the guru always n resist? Then they dnt need a guru since they know more.

[wmw111]

Before we eat or drink a beverage,we recite Om AH Hum 3x, then recite: Ganshee yeela drenpa tsamgyijang, paru bumjum drakyee tzachopey, dupey donam yigshen drupzeypey, tensung setrap chenla chopapul-that is setrap's special offering. Great way to collect merits prior to each meal n make affinity w setrap. Memorize n do! Tsem Tulku

[wmw111]

Dear all,i was contemplating how ppl scrutinize the guru. And how MANY ppl scrutinize. And how much expectations n demands are made of the guru. And how the guru suppose to be bright,compassionate n give give n give. How about students offering up what they themselves demand of the guru? Isnt there such thing as offering the very qualities we demand n that by offering we recognize those qualities n recieve? Consistently over a period of time. Patiently understand what we dnt currently understand by effort n time? Isnt there such thing as students being compassionate to the gurus n not always the reverse? Have we let go of holding onto nothing n checking what the guru REALLY 'wants?' How to escape n then still cultivate spiritual qualities. Escape frm what?? . Just thoughts of a bewildered tibetan lama..tsem t

[Scott Hutton]

(Violating the request of the thread starter:)

Good heavens, Tulku-La, I could hardly believe my eyes!  A post signed by you!   I first thought to answer you  on the "alternate" thread but that seemed rude.

Let me share what has been on my mind all day:

I think there is now, and you're included in it, a wonderful new generation of tulkus who distinguish themselves not only by their Dharma accomplishments (after all, one expects that) but by their ability to admit something very profound:

They are human beings.

I started reading THE JOY OF LIVING by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche today and thought of you during every sentence.

Unlike you, he was reborn into a milieu full of supportive family and lamas, and was at once recognized as being a very high tulku indeed.

That didn't prevent his entire childhood being marred by hideous anxiety attacks.  Hideous.  It didn't matter one whit that there was no observable cause for these attacks.

I thought of your childhood, so full of abuse and mis-direction, and thought, "Rinpoche so far as I remember never speaks of anxiety attacks.  I bet they were there.  Well, it's none of my business."

Yongey Mingyur Rimpoche excites me sublimely for his "disability" and karma led him through two three-year retreats whilst still a teen into a profound study of the inter-action between Dharma and contemporary physics (which since my teens I have thought of as Dharma expressed via mathematics and mind experiments) as well as neural science.

Like you, he is a ground breaker.  The previous generation were ground guarders.

The intimate point is:  you and this Rinpoche share one quality - you are not ashamed to admit you are human beings, and you admit to your own inner confusions and doubts.

Without naming names, I knew a few of the high rinpoches of the generation right before yours.  They held the lineage; they held the power - alas, no one allowed them to admit to their humanity and, frankly, while you and Mingyur Rimpoche, to me have the strength of wildflowers, these earlier Rinpoches were like hot house flowers, forced to bloom in conditions really unsuitable.  And they were not really happy.

One of them drove a very fancy automobile off an Indian cliff to his death - not on purpose, I'm sure - more likely flushed with a flash of freedom previously unknown.  That was a great Rimpoche indeed; thankfully, he's returned in a newer (and, one hopes, less pretentiously brought up) body.

Thesis subject to inspection:  your generation of tulkus will make Dharma history simply by admitting to their humanity, and acknowledging their need for compassion too.

If it's a help,  I think of you every day - not only as an inspiration but (one hopes one is not crossing a line) as a well loved great-nephew for whom one can only wish all that is good.

As soon as certain obstacles disappear from this list, I plan on writing much about compassion towards the Guru.

Please, Sir, forgive any breaches of etiquette here (and, to Joey:  ok, I'm sorry; I busted the rule but I HAD to say something - I love this man and his post tugged at my heart.)

Scott

[Joey]

Dear All ,
Rinpoche advises us to recite this everyday.
Best Wishes
Wai Meng
Tsem Articles Admin



Advice from Atisha Heart
When Venerable Atisha came to Tibet, he first went to Ngari, where he remained for two years giving many teachings to the disciples of Jangchub ?. After two years had passed, he decided to return to India, and Jangchub ? requested him to give one last teaching before he left. Atisha replied that he had already given them all the advice they needed, but Jangchub ? persisted in his request and so Atisha accepted and gave the following advice.
 
How wonderful!

Friends, since you already have great knowledge and clear understanding, whereas I am of no importance and have little wisdom, it is not suitable for you to request advice from me. However, because you dear friends, whom I cherish from my heart, have requested me, I shall give you this essential advice from my inferior and childish mind.

Friends, until you attain enlightenment the Spiritual Teacher is indispensable, therefore rely upon the holy Spiritual Guide.

Until you realize ultimate truth, listening is indispensable, therefore listen to the instructions of the Spiritual Guide.

Since you cannot become a Buddha merely by understanding Dharma, practice earnestly with understanding.

Avoid places that disturb your mind, and always remain where your virtues increase.

Until you attain stable realizations, worldly amusements are harmful, therefore abide in a place where there are no such distractions.

Avoid friends who cause you to increase delusions, and rely upon those who increase your virtue. This you should take to heart.

Since there is never a time when worldly activities come to an end, limit your activities.

Dedicate your virtues throughout the day and the night, and always watch your mind.

Because you have received advice, whenever you are not meditating always practice in accordance with what your Spiritual Guide says.

If you practice with great devotion, results will arise immediately, without your having to wait for a long time.

If from your heart you practice in accordance with Dharma, both food and resources will come naturally to hand.

Friends, the things you desire give no more satisfaction than drinking sea water, therefore practice contentment.

Avoid all haughty, conceited, proud, and arrogant minds, and remain peaceful and subdued.

Avoid activities that are said to be meritorious, but which in fact are obstacles to Dharma.

Profit and respect are nooses of the maras, so brush them aside like stones on the path.

Words of praise and fame serve only to beguile us, therefore blow them away as you would blow your nose.

Since the happiness, pleasure, and friends you gather in this life last only for a moment, put them all behind you.

Since future lives last for a very long time, gather up riches to provide for the future.

You will have to depart leaving everything behind, so do not be attached to anything.

Generate compassion for lowly beings, and especially avoid despising or humiliating them.

Have no hatred for enemies, and no attachment for friends.

Do not be jealous of others' good qualities, but out of admiration adopt them yourself.

Do not look for faults in others, but look for faults in yourself, and purge them like bad blood.

Do not contemplate your own good qualities, but contemplate the good qualities of others, and respect everyone as a servant would.

See all living beings as your father or mother, and love them as if you were their child.

Always keep a smiling face and a loving mind, and speak truthfully without malice.

If you talk too much with little meaning you will make mistakes, therefore speak in moderation, only when necessary.

If you engage in many meaningless activities your virtuous activities will degenerate, therefore stop activities that are not spiritual.

It is completely meaningless to put effort into activities that have no essence.

If the things you desire do not come it is due to karma created long ago, therefore keep a happy and relaxed mind.

Beware, offending a holy being is worse than dying, therefore be honest and straightforward.

Since all the happiness and suffering of this life arise from previous actions, do not blame others.

All happiness comes from the blessings of your Spiritual Guide, therefore always repay his kindness.

Since you cannot tame the minds of others until you have tamed your own, begin by taming your own mind.

Since you will definitely have to depart without the wealth you have accumulated, do not accumulate negativity for the sake of wealth.

Distracting enjoyments have no essence, therefore sincerely practice giving.

Always keep pure moral discipline for it leads to beauty in this life and happiness hereafter.

Since hatred is rife in these impure times, don the armour of patience, free from anger.

You remain in samsara through the power of laziness, therefore ignite the fire of the effort of application.

Since this human life is wasted by indulging in distractions, now is the time to practice concentration.

Being under the influence of wrong views you do not realize the ultimate nature of things, therefore investigate correct meanings.

Friends, there is no happiness in this swamp of samsara, so move to the firm ground of liberation.

Meditate according to the advice of your Spiritual Guide and dry up the river of samsaric suffering.

You should consider this well because it is not just words from the mouth, but sincere advice from the heart.

If you practice like this you will delight me, and you will bring happiness to yourself and others.

I who am ignorant request you to take this advice to heart.
 
 
 
 
This is the advice that the holy being Venerable Atisha gave to Venerable Jangchub ?.

[Joey]

Failure is easier if we dont care about others, have gratitude or are selfish.
If we have dont have care,gratitude, and concern for others how do we expect success and good results?? Success and positive changes are easier if we have genuine concern,care and gratitude. Qualities that magnetizes success,security and respect frm others. Depression is a sorry excuse when our selfish endeavours go unsuccessful. And running away is the FINAL ULTIMATE STATEMENT for selfishness unfulfilled and it invites a lifetime of pain,regrets and waste. Tsem Tulku