Finally
I have the right to express my thinking. My thinking has always applied to myself and hence I write about it. My right to express does not intend to hurt anyone of course.
I do not need the approval of anyone unless I know I am not giving my best, so the approval helps me to cover.
I am labelled a teacher although I do not see myself as one. Teachers are percieved as perfect. Students are not. But the teachings are for both…but there still needs to be teacher and student…not to say anything more than sharing knowledge.
I am a Tibetan but it does not make me any better in my practice.
Whatever I think and express will have those for and against..it doesn’t matter if I died today. So I let it go.
I’ve never been thought of as fitting the mold of a traditional Tibetan lama, that is because I choose to be myself. Myself does not always find acceptance, but it’s ok I’ve learned. Because I accept myself finally.. I’ve learned to not look for others to judge me right or wrong, I just do it.
Everyone has their own karma to work through….I accept that better now. Hence their judgement can be right or wrong too. I can be right or wrong…so the whole point is to just do it and don’t be afraid of others anymore…
Tsem Rinpoche
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Everyone of us have a different thoughts and view things differently. When we express things yet many might not agree with . But what is important is being true to ourselves matter most. Being true to ourselves is accepting who we are nor matter what others says. Being true to ourselves is perhaps the greatest gift we can give to the world. It can sometimes be difficult to even know who we are if we have been putting up a false front for long enough.
Reading this post help us better understand what we want from our life and be ourselves at the same time.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Being entirely honest with oneself, learn to enjoy every minute of our life. Believe in ourselves and always be ourselves , express ourselves, have faith in ourselves for who we are. As long as we stay true to ourselves, yet always be open to learn and infuse our life with action. Everyone has their own thoughts , way , style or whatever so as long as we respect each other, not to utter words, but to live by them. We can be whoever we want to be, it’s our choice.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Dear Rinpoche, from what I now know/see/observe, to be a Guru is as hard as get enlightenment!
People usually has the highest expectation to a Guru and forget that who is the one should bear the expectation. In fact, we as a student should bear the expectation from the people outside, we should protect the Guru, as the Guru is the one who convey the Dharma and gives direction for life. If we behave well, then no matter how the Guru acts (especially the acts that ‘contradict’ people’s expectation), the outcome of the Guru (his/her students)is still good, the works of the Guru is still good with zero negative intentions, then it will be definitely OK.
So who we are to judge any Gurus? From the vows they hold, they are better person than us anyway.
It is much easier to please yourself than pleasing others which can mean the whole world. Because yourself is just you. And whatever good or bad comments will be just one comment. But in the world with many people you get thousands of different comments and views. In the end you find yourself confused and not being able to get an answer.I like the story which Christoph has narrated about Mullah Nasrudin, his son and the donkey. He listens to people without Wisdom. In the end he gets foolish and had everybody laugh at him. I would think relying on Dharma and your own judgement would finally be the best. Just do it whether right or wrong and you learn from your mistakes finally.
Rinpoche, society has a way of bending and shaping everyone to its “rules” and within society’s matrix, we live virtually all our lives in conformity of society’s perception of “right” or “wrong”. A lot of us end up bitter and twisted because we feel towards the end like we have not really lived our OWN lives. When we seek approval from others,we are in fact seeking an alibi, just in case we fail and then we have someone/something to blame.
I gather from this post, that we are all responsible for ourselves and so long as we know our motivation to be correct, we should not be afraid to be ourselves. And if it turns out that we are wrong, accept it.
I also like how Rinpoche writes how we have our own karma to “work” through rather than just live through aimlessly without doing anything about it.
Thank you Rinpoche.
Due to our own grasping to our own projections towards Rinpoche that stems from delusions that everything is permanent, we have misconceptions about Rinpoche. Rinpoche has no flaws. It is us who have flaws. It is us who need H.E. guidance t…o liberate ourselves from samsara. Rinpoche doesn’t need us. Actually Rinpoche has the option to stay in Kechara heaven or Tushita heaven, but instead Rinpoche has chosen to be reborn into samsara and endure all the hardships with the sole objective to teach us, to guide us, and to help us to liberate sentient beings like us from suffering. Hence, please, please do appreciate the presence of Rinpoche in our lives. We would not be creating the karma to meet Rinpoche again in future lives should we continue to have misconceptions towards Rinpoche.
I love this particular blog post because the words just resonate with me deeply.
As someone who has been, for the most part of her adult life, a self-serving spoilt brat – the idea of exchanging oneself for others was never appealing to me. It seemed downright absurd to me then.
But Rinpoche taught me all to go beyond my own fears, insecurities and even desires in order to become better people. In fact, the whole process liberates me in a way that I did not think was possible. I do not think that a traditional Tibetan Lama would have been able to handle me or would even want to, for that matter. But I for one am very grateful that I found Rinpoche.
Rinpoche never said that Rinpoche is great or good, but Rinpoche always made me believe that we all can be great, if not better than we are now. And Rinpoche always shows us the way.
Sometimes the journey is scary and very challenging, and still is – but what Rinpoche said is absolutely true – as long as we do not stop and keep trying, we are moving forward and progressing. If we stop, then nothing will change or happen.
I no longer allow my fears to stop me these days. And yes, I really like exchanging myself for others. Though I do not always do it well, but I know I am getting there. I will get there in time, because I am not stopping.
If there are always going to be one less selfish person in the world, or one less sad person in the world because of Tsem Tulku Rinpoche – then Tsem Tulku Rinpoche has done something more than wonderful by making people more wonderful beings wherever they may be.
For this and much more, I fold my hands in deep gratitude to my dearest Guru for making me believe I can and will. THANK YOU.
Dear Tsem Tulku Rinpoche !!!
Mullah Nasrudin was returning from the market with his son and donkey. They had sold all the goods they had taken to the bazaar and now the Mullah was riding the donkey and his son was on foot when a passing man said, “Aren’t you ashamed old man that you ride the donkey and your young son walks.”
So Nasrudin came off the donkey and let his son ride. Soon another man came and said, “Shame, shame, shame… Young man, how dare you ride the donkey when your fragile old man has to walk?”
Actually Nasrudin was very fit for his age and both of them had walked from their village to the market earlier when the donkey was loaded with their fruits to sell. Anyway, Nasrudin did not wish people to look down on his son and so he joined his son on the donkey. No sooner had he done this than he heard someone else scream, “You are cruel. You are hurting that donkey. Get off it at once.”
So the Mullah and his son both got off the donkey and started carrying the ‘poor donkey’ on their shoulders. This was uncomfortable for the donkey as well as themselves. The donkey was kicking and braying when they heard the sound of laughter, “What absolute idiots. You are supposed to ride the donkey not the donkey riding you.”
At this the frustrated Nasrudin got back on the donkey with his son following and muttered under his breath, “No matter what you do, some people will disapprove so you might as well do what you want.”
Good Nasrudin inspirations and good energies to you and to your dharma work !!!
Christoph
Dear Rinpoche, Yes, everyone has their own karma to walk through. What is the recitation recommended to do purification?
35 Confessional Buddhas is excellent…
If you do not “see” yourself as a teacher, then you are simply not looking. As a purely factual matter–for better or worse–teaching is one of your major activities. It does no one any good for you to deny this out of “humility.”
Furthermore, you stand at the head of an organization which exists mainly to promote your views and projects. Imagine the discomfort of followers who discover that by participating in Kechara, they are giving moral (and perhaps financial or voluntary) support to causes which they in fact oppose. It does no good to say that such-and-such is your private opinion, because again, the nature of Kechara is designed to promote your opinions over everyone else’s.
Scholars distinguish between religious groups with charismatic leaders (that’s you), and those which are more institutionalized, with established structure and principles. Typically, institutionalization only really takes off after the leader dies. Until then, participants can always be surprised.
Other religious groups, and other forms of Buddhism, are more mature than Kechara in this respect–which means that they tend to be fairer and more equal, but find it harder to attract believers and motivate participants. For example, most converts to Kechara seem to come from the popular Chinese religion, which offers a way of being Buddhist without any need for monks or lamas. Perhaps you should send them back!
Strong words…and strong thoughts. I thank you all the same for sharing them.
As for not seeing myself as a teacher and having to be a teacher is two different things. I am not being humble. I am being truthful when I say I do not see myself as a teacher.