Tales With My Lama: Rinpoche on a ‘Holiday’
Pastor David has been a student of His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche for over 15 years and within the ‘Tales With My Lama’ series of articles, he explores his spiritual relationship with Rinpoche, sharing anecdotes, stories, observations and little Dharma nuggets. It is all told to inspire others for their own spiritual relationship with their teachers.
Tales with My Lama: Rinpoche on a ‘Holiday’
Rinpoche was generally a workaholic, slept very little and went to bed in the wee hours of the morning. This often led to many students and friends expressing their concern and asking Rinpoche to rest more, or to take a break and go for a holiday. Needless to say, it was just not Rinpoche’s thing to take a break and go for a holiday, unless it would be of benefit to others.
Rinpoche explained that he did not subscribe to the idea that a holiday would really help us unwind, relax and ‘get away’ from stress, work and everyday life. Rinpoche felt holidays are a distraction and just a form of escapism that keep us from facing reality. Over time, we avoid dealing with deeper issues and even procrastinate at taking responsibility for our lives. Travelling and going on a holiday is clearly not the main issue here, but excessive travelling or planning and yearning to travel becomes a distraction. It fosters our attachments and we tend to dwell in avoidance of the aforementioned issues because our minds are preoccupied with wanting to ‘take a break’. So the seemingly innocent, anticipatory excitement over a holiday may not necessarily be a good thing for us.
For those who travel obsessively, there is an underlying reason, that they are deeply unhappy with themselves or something that they do not wish to address and hence, their minds perpetually wish to get away. As Rinpoche explained, after we spend all that money and effort to travel, we may have enjoyed ourselves but we will eventually have to return home and still have to face our problems and issues that hopefully have not grown more severe whilst we were avoiding them. We think these issues are an external thing but they actually arise from within – our attachments, undue expectations, materialistic views and so forth. There’s no escape from these internal issues unless we apply the Dharma.
This does not mean Rinpoche did not need to relax and unwind, or that Rinpoche advocated working ourselves to the bone. However, Rinpoche advocated not relaxing until a particular project or task is completed. It is a sense of responsibility and discipline towards an endeavour that would not benefit someone until it is completed. Rinpoche’s work was always aimed towards bringing some sort of benefit, be it through teaching, assisting students and friends, engaging in projects that benefit the organisation or a particular individual. Rinpoche was always effervescent, full of spontaneous ideas, and had boundless energy and determination with this sort of work.
When the work was done, Rinpoche would sometimes take the team of writers out to have a meal or watch a movie as a treat. Sometimes, Rinpoche would just arrange for his students to have a well-deserved break while Rinpoche himself remained at home. Even when Rinpoche was at rest, he often thought of others and it was never about himself. Rinpoche once joked that if it was just about himself, he felt lazy and unmotivated, and would rather stay in bed. Rinpoche had his own ways to unwind, such as by watching horror movies on his computer in the background, as he did his mantras and prayers. Rinpoche was essentially a hermit and preferred to remain at home for weeks at a time, only meeting people outside of his Ladrang (household) team if it was absolutely necessary.
So Rinpoche very rarely travelled and one of the few reasons that would prompt Rinpoche to travel is when it was necessary to bring people on pilgrimage to sacred Buddhist sites in Nepal and India. Rinpoche spoke about it on many occasions and encouraged his students and friends to go at least once in our lifetime to sacred Buddhist sites, especially the four sites associated with the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, teaching and passing into parinirvana. Travelling to these places for extended periods of devotion was what Rinpoche preferred, instead of travelling to popular holiday destinations around the world. On top of that, it had always been Rinpoche’s dream to bring his own mother on pilgrimage but sadly that never came to pass.
Although Rinpoche did not go on holidays, he understood that his hardworking students did need a break and often sent them on pilgrimages and holidays with their family. Rinpoche encouraged his students to include mostly spiritual locations in their travel destinations. However, Rinpoche also asked his students and friends not to be too attached to holidays, travelling and such leisure. All holidays and travelling will have to come to an end and we still have to return home to our responsibilities.
For more interesting information:
- Tales With My Lama: Dorje Shugden on The Head
- Tales With My Lama: What is the New News?
- Tales With My Lama: Rinpoche Felt He Was More Indian
- Tales With My Lama: What Does Rinpoche Like About Liz Taylor?
- Tales With My Lama: Daily Practice
- Tales With My Lama: Laugh Away Your Ego
- Tales With My Lama: Why Rinpoche Has To Suffer
- Tales With My Lama: Larger Than Life
- Tales With My Lama: Manjushri
- Tales With My Lama: Audience With Tsem Rinpoche
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Great sharing ….thank you Pastor David. Reading this beautiful post tells us more of Rinpoche which many do not know. Yes its true many of us loves to travel. As encourage by Rinpoche its good in our lifetime to sacred Buddhist sites such as the four sites related to the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, teaching and passing into parinirvana. I am glad I have the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage to those sites as Rinpoche had mentioned. All whatever things and activities Rinpoche did were always for the benefits of others nor matter who. For those closed students of Rinpoche deserved those breaks, they have worked tirelessly for others.