Number two is acceptance of the impermanence, and that’s that, number two. These are the most important two steps.
And then, when you have the sense of acceptance of impermanence, and then naturally, the negativity or accumulation of bad karma dissolves gradually. Whether it is lifetime after lifetime, or whether it is singular lifetime. Doesn’t matter. So, and then genuine compassion to all the sentient beings, or at least to few people, and then inspiration, inspired by the Lord Buddha’s teaching genuinely from the heart. So all these can develop based on the understanding of the impermanence.
If you don’t have acceptance of impermanence, then you will harm other people with the word of Dharma. Because Dharma can be studied. If you don’t have the acceptance of impermanence, Dharma can be studied just like the legal structure. When you have the legal institution, the legal lawyers, even you…even the other person done the most terrible thing you can imagine, and then there is people who work for money. The whole thing about the legal purpose becomes manipulative.
So ourselves as a practitioner, we have to remind ourselves with the meaning of impermanence again and again. And then see that impermanence, and acceptance of the impermanence. And then inspiration to the Lord Buddha’s teaching, and then wanting to be honest to yourself, wanting to be honest to other people, naturally comes. You don’t have to say “Oh I want to be honest, but don’t know whether I should be honest or not.” You don’t have to question that. You don’t have to say “Oh I want to be compassionate to all the sentient beings, but it’s not really working, and I have a family, I have this, I have that.” All the excuses will disappear by itself and you will find the most beautiful way to practice without any excuse. And yet, life continues and then you will have a genuine renunciation one step after another.
You know many people when they talk about renunciation they have this imagination that “Oh, shave your head, change the clothes, go somewhere else! Renunciation, great!” They think that is the renunciation. The renunciation is about acceptance of the impermanence of life, acceptance of the impermanence of the reality. And when you have that, and when you truly have that from the heart, that is the true renunciation.
Tell me something that is not linked with impermanence. Every form of life, every existence is impermanence. And when you ignore the meaning of impermanence and yet talking about renunciation, that is a little bit like doing a make-up over here on this side and not doing a make-up on the other side of the face. I mean it’s something, but definitely it’s not reaching where you want to reach. So it becomes a problem. That’s why many religions in the world have the problem. Simply because of ignoring the impermanence. And simply because of the denial of impermanence. And yet our arrogance and our knowledge take over, and then the sense of manipulation begins.
Kalu Rinpoche
FB Livestream 10 August 2020
To be continued…
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