Now, we can start with the question. Okay. You can ask your question right now.
Q1: How old are these teachings?
A1: These teachings it’s a few centuries ago. Taranatha is from the 13th -14th century. But at the same time, all the teachings that he is giving is not invented by him. It is based on the teachings of the Buddha. So that’s something we have to understand.
Q2: When one has a weakness that need to be renounced, but it is strong and continuous, and very stubbornly, how it can be addressed?
A2: The best way to make a renunciation is to be patient. You are not in a school. You are not in competition here with anybody. So, take your time. Practice. Do a little bit of retreat here and there. Retreat, it doesn’t mean months and months. It can be like one session, two session per week, dedicating fully through yourself. Then the renunciation can come over the time.
Because many people when they make a mistake, about the misconception of the renunciation is, they think that renunciation is out there to catch and grab and take it and remove it. And that’s how they perceive it. And they are not looking on the other side.
Because renunciation is not something that you do that it matters. Renunciation is that you practice it that matters. And that reality changes for you. You don’t have to make the renunciation. The moment we push ourselves to make renunciation, the moment we say, ‘ I renounced this, and I renounced that‘ , that is a very clear indication that you are not in the state of renouncing this and that.
If you have to make an address, like an announcement, is that ‘ I from today, I renounced this, I renounced that. ‘ And that is a clear indication that you are not ready to renounce these things yet.
Because you have this tendency that you need to speak out. You have this tendency that needs to be recognized, you know. The more you have these things, and the less renounced you are. The more you practice, with a genuine intention, all these obstacles of the renunciation will disintegrate by itself. It’s a little bit like you hold a piece of sand with water and without water. When you have a piece of sand, in the water, and without the water, and then it dries, it goes by itself. Right? And when you have water, it stays in some sort of shape. When it has water, and it has heat, and when the water dries up, and then it dissolves by itself, isn’t it?
So you don’t have to make an announcement that I renounced this and I renounced that. Because the moment you are announcing, you are subconsciously saying that ‘ I want you to recognize my new behavior, I want you to recognize my new change, my new steps, my important steps. ‘ You are subconsciously doing that. You’re basically saying, in the back of your mind, saying that, ‘ Look at me and my renunciation! ‘ Right? So therefore, you’re pointing at the direction of your ego, your self-clinging. So, the more recognition you seek, like, ‘ Ah, look at me! ‘ , you know, the moment you have that kind of perception, then again, it’s like, you know, staying in the hamster cycle. So, therefore, any sort of renunciation should not look for any recognition. Should not make any announcement to oneself or to others. It should come by itself. And that is the renunciation.
Like Buddha Shakyamuni. When he removed his hair, nobody was there around him. He did by himself. He had this subconsciously, in his deeper mind, he made his decision. In his deeper mind, he made his determination. So, that is not the capacity that we have. But that is the method that we need to use when we say renunciation.
So, the more we practice genuinely, the renunciation will come. Then when I say practicing genuinely, that means practicing with a pure intention. Not pretending to be a pure intent practitioner, but rather pure practitioner, pure intent practitioner. Not pretending to be a good practitioner. So that’s it.
Q3: Is it possible to ask how to balance renouncement and the reality of life?
A3: Like I said to you just now, practice genuinely with a pure intention, and then the impact of the renunciation will come by itself. Because renunciation is not a person that is existed. It’s not a being that is existed. It’s not an energy that existed. Renunciation is your realization.
The more you seek for recognition, the less renounced you are. The less recognition you seek, the more renounced you are, you know, for your progress. Because renunciation is linked with your self-clinging. There is no such renunciation without your self-clinging. Everything, every renunciation is to do with your self-clinging. There is no such renunciation that existed on its own without the self-fixation. The reality, the energy, the resources of the renunciation, comes from, minimizing the self-clinging. So, that’s it.
So, for this time, I want to say, thank you to all our participant for being here. And if you need this translation in your own language, then you can ask your own Dharma instructor, you know, to help you, to explain to you. So, I want to say again, thank you so much to our translator here. Yeah, Tashi and Kathy and Nick, and to all the other online organizer, Jasper, and all the participants, thank you so much for your dedication of your time, and being here and spending time with me. And the next time, we will continue the same again and again. Okay. And so, everybody, please be safe, and practice good. And my prayers are always with you with the blessings of the Six-armed Mahakala. Okay, thank you very much, everybody. Thank you so much for your dedication.
Kalu Rinpoche
Teaching on Stages in the Path of Illusion，Lesson 2，Part 4
26th Sep. 2021
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