Jan 18

Kalu Rinpoche | Q&A Dharma Event – how to attain more of a mental and physical wellbeing in this current time

Farmer Sangay: You said you wanted to help others, especially in our country, you also mentioned about being able to guide them, or share with them, how to attain more of a mental and physical wellbeing in this current time. Would you like to share something on that as well?

Kalu Rinpoche: Yes yes. You know, like, I look after my own organisation and people have this imagination that, you know, if you are Rinpoche, if you, your own organisation, you’re always happy, you have nothing to worry about and you know, you are constantly sitting on the shrine and saying the “OM…” you know? Like everything is fine, and all.

In reality, that is not true, at least in my life, you know? There is a lot of financial debt you have to handle, lot of legal matter that you have to handle, lot of mismanagement that you handle. And then your own personal life that you have to handle as well. You know? So there’s no vacation, break time, or anything like that.

And, you know, so I think, most important that I found out, in my own experience, is through meditation. Not so much to do with the prayers and pujas, and pujas and prayers. I do a lot of pujas and prayers, you know? I love doing pujas and prayers. I memorise in a monastic way of learning, you know? I carry on that tradition, very much, hardcore, you know? Nationalist! Let’s put it like this, when it comes to the very traditional aspect.

But in order to help myself in the mental level, it’s very important to have analytical approach. You know? So if you don’t have analytical approach, and only blind faith, and saying that “I’m going to this temple, I’m going to offer a སྙན་དར། “nyen dar” [a piece of silk representing respect and adoration], you know? And དར། “dar”, you know, and, some, some offering, and then hopefully you will be fine”, and it does not. You know? That does have an effect, you know, in a certain level, but that, you should not fully rely on that, you know?

Because, like myself, I have my own spiritual protector, deities that I believe, that I worship, and so on. But in the reality level, you have to overcome your own lack of content. You have to overcome your anger, you have to understand, you know, the meaning of awareness of your mind, and the effect of the other people’s behaviour towards you, you know? You have to overcome that.

In order to have, in order to overcome that, you need to have element of the foundation, which is, you know, the breathing exercise, meditation, that is very important. Because the more clear mind that you have, the more clear teaching that you can understand, by itself, naturally. I can guarantee you. If you just try to listen to the teaching, it’s, you know, you cannot understand fully. But if you have a calm mind, and meditation little bit. Like an example, Shamatha practice, and Vipassana practice, and that is very very important that you should do.

And, my just personal opinion, is that you should not have this idea of that “I need to have a guru” you know? The guru is not going to come and fix your rent, you know? You have a job problem, your guru is not going to come and give you a salary, you know? He’s not going to give you the, the visa, you know, for the travelling purpose, you know? Guru has a limitation, you know, in your spiritual aspect. So you have to come to that conclusion, that there’s a certain things that you need to fix it by yourself. You know? And that is by doing a meditation, that is by doing, you know, by practicing by yourself. And having a sense of discipline, you know? That is very important, I find.

And then, over the time, you can overcome any sort of a mental, or external challenges, you know?

 

H.E. Kalu Rinpoche live with local youth and other individuals co-creating a public spiritual space.
H.E Kalu Rinpoche – Farmer Sangay Q&A Dharma Event (40’ 42”)