The Tibetan Book of the Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche

Author:Sogyal Rinpoche [Rinpoche, Sogyal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: aVe4EvA
Publisher: PerfectBound
Published: 2002-07-09T20:00:00+00:00

212 THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING

The one thing you should know for certain is that the only thing that Tonglen could harm is the one thing that has been harming you the most: your own ego, your self-grasping, self-cherishing mind, which is the root of suffering. For if you practice Tonglen as often as possible, this self-grasping mind will get weaker and weaker, and your true nature, compassion, will be given a chance to emerge more and more strongly. The stronger and greater your compassion, the stronger and greater your fearlessness and confidence. So compassion reveals itself yet again as your greatest resource and your greatest protection. As Shantideva says: Whoever wishes to quickly afford protection To both himself and others

Should practice that holy secret

The exchanging of self for others.9

This holy secret of the practice of Tonglen is one that the mystic masters and saints of every tradition know; and living it and embodying it, with the abandon and fervor of true wisdom and true compassion, is what fills their lives with joy.

One modern figure who dedicated her life to serving the sick and dying and who radiated this joy of giving and receiving was Mother Teresa. I know of no more inspiring statement of the spiritual essence of Tonglen than these words of hers: We all long for heaven where God is, but we have it in our power to be in heaven with Him at this very moment. But being happy with Him now means:

Loving as He loves,

Helping as He helps,

Giving as He gives,

Serving as He serves,

Rescuing as He rescues,

Being with Him twenty-four hours,

Touching Him in his distressing disguise.

A love as vast as this cured Geshe Chekhawa's lepers of their leprosy; it could also perhaps cure us of a disease even more dangerous: of that ignorance, which life after life has hindered us from realizing the nature of our mind, and so of attaining liberation.

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