Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Fast Track to Enlightenment
Joy has been a student of His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche for over 15 years. Through the years, Joy has witnessed Rinpoche’s compassion and the unconventional methods he uses to benefit others. Some of the short stories she shares will tell interesting miraculous events that Rinpoche will not mention due to his humility. She hopes these stories will serve as an inspiration in your own spiritual journey.
Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Fast Track to Enlightenment
Back in the days when a group of us ‘writers’ were working from ‘The Haven’, Rinpoche’s temporary Ladrang (residence) before moving to Kechara Forest Retreat, we received many private teachings and engaged in debate sessions with Rinpoche. One night we were all summoned up to Rinpoche’s room as Rinpoche wanted to share a particularly complex Dharma teaching with us.
After Rinpoche gave us the teaching, Rinpoche asked each and every one of us in the room to explain back to him what we understood from the teaching. None of us could explain it well and get it right. Then Rinpoche turned around to ask one of our Dharma brothers to explain the whole teaching and he could do it. He was the only one who could really explain it well and it came out very smoothly. Rinpoche then pointed out to us how he had been serving Rinpoche consistently for the past few days, so this had allowed him to collect a tremendous amount of merit. Hence, when Rinpoche explained to him the complex Dharma subject, he could easily absorb and understand it.
This student had been given a few assignments from Rinpoche and had been working hard, even staying back to assist Rinpoche for a few nights in a row. Before that, Rinpoche had to clear some of his obstacles and purify his karma by rejecting some of his work. The Dharma brother did not resist the purification process. He did not get angry and instead, he humbled himself, accepted and tried harder, which created the causes for him to receive more blessings from the Guru.
Rinpoche went on to explain that the best and the fastest way to purify one’s negative karma and to gain tremendous merits is by serving the Guru wholeheartedly. The merits accumulated allow us to absorb Dharma teachings easily and gain realisations. So, even though this student was not the academic type, not a scholar, not interested in reading much, because he had been working hard serving Rinpoche for the past few days and nights, he collected a lot of merits. This allowed him to easily understand the complex Dharma subject Rinpoche expounded.
In other words, serving the Guru directly is a fast track to purifying one’s karma, gaining attainments and eventually enlightenment! No doubt we have to put in the extra effort and hours because we are being trained directly by the Guru. It is like going to the gym and having a personal trainer that will push your limits and get you out of your comfort zone. Yes, it is a lot of hard work but in the end, you look great and feel good. Training directly with the Guru is similar but instead of training your body, you are training your mind.
While serving the Guru directly, no doubt the Guru will guide and teach as much as the Guru can. If we accept the training then we can progress in leaps and bounds and our awareness will be sharpened. In the case of the Dharma brother, over the course of the preceding few days, he let go of his attachments, surrendered and just went with the flow. He trusted and accepted Rinpoche’s training, and that is how he was able to receive the blessings that allowed him to grasp the complex Dharma subject.
Therefore, when we do get the opportunity to serve the Guru, we should see it as a great privilege because for us the Guru is a living Buddha. And as mentioned in the scriptures, it is the same as serving the Buddha. Not everyone gets the chance to serve the Guru directly, so when we do get the chance, we should rejoice from our heart and go all the way by surrendering to the Guru.
Surrendering to the Guru means trusting the Guru’s training and co-operating with the Guru who is skilfully trying to help us to purify our karma and collect merits in the quickest and most effective ways. Merits are the key to many things we wish to achieve in life and our spiritual practice. In a nutshell, serving the Guru is a fast track to our enlightenment.
For more interesting information:
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- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Taboo Words
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Cooking For Rinpoche
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Vajra Yogini or Anger?
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – The Assignment
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Change Karma
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Creating The Causes
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Buddha Images and Imprints
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Food and Dharma
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Spreading Dharma in Jonker Street
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – What’s the New News?
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Mission Impossible
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What a beautifully written piece! Your vivid and heartfelt portrayal of Rinpoche’s teachings and the transformative impact they have had on your life is truly inspiring. It’s wonderful to see how his wisdom and compassion have guided you on your spiritual journey. Thank you for sharing this intimate and powerful story—it’s a reminder of the profound effect a dedicated teacher can have on one’s path to enlightenment.
Regards,
Antique Buddhas
http://www.antique-buddhas.com
Not everyone gets the chance to serve our Guru directly, so given a chance we should be happy and rejoice going all the way to serve from our heart. Serving our Guru directly is a fast track to purifying one’s karma and gaining attainments. One will collect tremendously amount of merits through serving our Guru. Merits are the key to many things we wish to achieve in life and our spiritual practice. In a way it helps us to clear any obstacles and purify our karma or misfortune we are suffering. Serving with a good motivation and good action helps us to collect merits.
Thank you Joy for this sharing through those moment with Rinpoche.
Fantastic read 🙏💫🌟