Q: Rinpoche, what is the best prayer or sadhana to overcome the obstacles, with very fact of practicing?
A: Well, anything that gives you some form of clarity in mind, is the best practice.
So there is no such as a supreme practice or great practice. All practice are equal. It is equal. It is vast in terms of meaning, and beneficial under any circumstance, in terms of being a practitioner I mean. So that’s the important matter you need to understand. What you practice is important, but how you prepare to be a practitioner, that’s another most important matter.
You have to prepare yourself as a practitioner. Such as being in the nature, or being in front of the shrine, and then reminding yourself to the meaning of impermanence, that everything that we are witnessing in this very moment, has already passed. Everything that is experiencing in this very moment is already past. And then past, present is in a constant movement. Future is also constant at the same time. The past and present is also constant at the same time, at the same time realizing this is impermanence, this is the life as we call it. Everything is in a constant transaction, movement, continuity of some form of movement all the time. Nothing is very absolutely still. And then understanding that and seeing that as it is, and saying “Oh this is impermanence. It is my ego that is telling me that everything should be same”. That’s the most important preparation.
You see all this movement, in this very particular moment, all the birds, trees, leaves, small insect, people walking around with their bicycles, with their children, with a great joy, and some people being sad and disappointed, and all the protest and all the public transportation moving here and there, and people discovering that “Oh, it’s late, or it’s early, or it’s too early”, with their own imagination. All of that, that is constantly happening now, not just in hundreds, in millions and billions of moments, that is already past. It is your ego that is saying, “everything is same and I want to have more”. That is your illusion. That is your ego. That is your ignorance. Not witnessing the reality as it is. Because our ignorance is not permitting us to see the reality as it is.
So that’s the most important matter we have to understand. Then based on that, and then when you say “okay, everything is impermanence. I take refuge to the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and then I make my prayer, I do my dedication and then I continue with awareness in the mind, during the session of the practice”. That kind of simplicity mindset is a very important matter in the beginning.
So that is best practice. The best preparation is the best practice. With no preparation, whatever the highest Tantric, not very helpful. I guarantee you. The most important is preparation, and some form of solid foundation, some form of clear understanding in your mind. And then whether it is the Tantric practice, whether it’s some chanting, or reciting or visualization, everything become meaningful. Without that, nothing becomes meaningful. So that’s that.
Kalu Rinpoche
FB Livestream – 11 October 2020
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