Essential Thoughts
Essential Thoughts
When we surrender what we fear,
Then the light shines through.
When we dissolve our past,
We can look into the future.
The future will become the past,
So make now count for the future.
When we think of ourselves as priority,
Then we can never find peace.
When we think of others spontaneously,
Then we find freedom now and here.
When we find pleasure in materialism,
Then our pleasure will end in pain.
When we find truth in pain,
Then we realize it was in our mind.
We are insecure because of our past,
Make amends and we can be secure because of the present.
When we enjoy nothing made into something,
Then something that is worthy becomes nothing.
Contemplate the lack of real control in our lives,
that is the truth of our situations to embrace.
Surrendering nothing for something,
Don’t grasp at nothing thinking it’s something.
Buddhas have shared thus,
It’s up to us to capture our life’s essence as shared.
Tsem Rinpoche
Kuala Lumpur
July 14, 2013
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Inspiring poems ……which paints a thousand words to ponder . Meaningful and profound thoughts for us to keep moving and never look back. What is over is the past , it time to let go move on to a new chapter. Watched the video and it’s a wake up call and a great teachings and clear explanations., which i do enjoyed reading it and understand it .
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing .
Thank you Rinpoche for this beautiful poem and so meaningful. We are always thinking about ourselves and become so unhappy when things don’t get in our ways. We should not have all this expectation, as we are the one who created it. We are the creation of our unhappiness. We should train our mind to let go and accept the situation. Only by acceptance, we can move on and train ourselves to be better.
Meaningful video. I like Rinpoche ‘s video as it is very easy to understand and I like his fluent English.
I tried donating using a card (not using PayPal account). Was rejected twice. Can someone help?
Hi Siak,
Yes Rinpoche’s teachings are accessible, logical and easy to understand. Did you know Rinpoche has a YouTube channel with hundreds of video teachings? http://www.youtube.com/tsemtulku
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I am sorry to hear there are issues with the process. Can you please try the following steps below? It’ll help me diagnose exactly where the issue is.
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Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this beautiful poem with us.
This poem teaches us to transform our minds, re-evaluate ourselves and think about what really matters.
What stuck out to me the most was:
“When we enjoy nothing made into something,
Then something that is worthy becomes nothing.”
We live in a world where most people judge other people by their Facebook profiles. If we post pictures of ourselves having fun at the beach or vacationing someplace exotic, it makes people think we have an “awesome and wild lifestyle” and of course, we will only attract people who enjoy “Livin’ la Vida Loca”
But when the party ends and it’s time to go home. What do we do? Plan for the next party or vacation? That’s it? We spend all our energies and effort on having fun that we lose what really brings us benefit in the long term. Dharma.
Sure, it’s okay to have fun once in a while, but we need to understand that it’s not the only goal in life. Nothing is permanent. When we lose the things that makes us happy, we suffer a lot. Dharma can lead us to the path to gain permanent and eternal happiness.
Thank you Rinpoche!
It is always said when one is realised one can compose poems to show the understanding of the dharma. These are the modern songs of realisations 🙂
Peotic wisdom insights made easier for understanding….pray we practice them for our own benefit and others. Thank you Rinpoche.
this is so inspiring and true, it is all in your head and you can surrender your fear to live in peace. look forward and not live in the past is also very true and inspirational. thank you Rinpoche for sharing this.
Thank you for sharing this with us Rinpoche. I really enjoyed listening to Rinpoche’s teachings. And it is such a lovely peom. My favourite part was “We are insecure because of our past, Make amends and we can be secure because of the present.” I found that the message in that was very strong and very good advice to give people.
This is such an inspiring poem which speaks so much truth, straight to the point and easy to read. There is true deep meaning behind every word spoken and a real lesson to be learnt. I really like,
“When we think of ourselves as priority,
Then we an never find peace”
And
“When we find pleasure in materialism,
Then our pleasure will end in pain”
This beautiful poem to me is such a profound dharma teachings that i will try to remember every verse and put them into practice. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing your Essential Thoughts.
There are so many gems of wisdom in this teaching. Thank you Rinpoche. i will focus on a few.
(1)”When we surrender what we fear
Then the light shrines through.
(2)The future will become the past
So make the now count for the future
(3)When we think of ourselves as priority
Then we can never find peace.
(4)When we think of others spontaneously
Then we find freedom now and here.
(5)When we find pleasure in materialism
Then our pleasure will end in pain”.
(1)Our fears are born of our self-centered minds, our self-absorption.When we can surrender our ego and our self-cherishing, we will be able see the light of wisdom and truth.
(2)Time just rolls away, and when we keep focusing on securing the future for ourselves, we lose track of the fact that the future is determined by the present. What we create in the present are causes that determine how our future will shape out. So we should focus right now on creating causes for a more peaceful future and a reduction of suffering.
(3 & 4)The next two verse above are about self-cherishing versus other-cherishing. Where self-cherishing leads to no peace for ourselves, spontaneous cherishing of others leads not only to greater peace of the mind ,but also freedom of the mind from the control of negative delusions of anger, hate, and jealousy that make us suffer while we are under their grip, and that come from self-centredness.
(5)Everything that is materialistic only satisfies the cravings of the senses. These may bring short-lived pleasure that in itself has the seed of suffering, because these things are impermanent and they never fully satisfy our perpetual grasping and self-grasping.
I love this poem very much! It’s quite straight forward and simple, and every words makes sense. My favourite line is” When we enjoy nothing made into something, then something that is worthy becomes nothing”. I will always keep that in my mind.
Thank You for writing and sharing this poem Rinpoche.
Thank you for sharing such inspiring thoughts. I really like listening to Rinpoche’s teachings and I have since I first met Rinpoche. When we stop looking behind us and go for the future is what I like best about the poem. We cannot change the past so we must ensure a better future by living in the present.
“When we make something out of nothing” is really a reminder to us on a deeper level. We make so much fuss about “eventful happenings” in our lives that brought us swift happiness for that moment only and we glorify such acts without even thinking or question “what is actually the purpose of our life in this world?”
We rarely explore the question “is there more to life than just eat, sleep, make money and enjoy?”
Although this is a short Poem but its level is deep and profound. Embodies lots of spiritual knowledge and Buddha’s wisdom. Thank you, Rinpoche for giving this teaching and reminder.
With folded hands.
Dear Rinpoche, thank you so much for sharing Rinpoche’s poem with us.
When we enjoy nothing made into something,
Then something that is worthy becomes nothing.
Surrendering nothing for something,
Don’t grasp at nothing thinking it’s something.
I like the above so much. My life before I met Rinpoche… was really the type of enjoying nothing but thinking of it’s something big. I just can’t see the WORTHY. I can imagine the moment I was enjoying the NOTHING, WORTHY just slipped through my hands because I don’t see it as WORTHY.
Until lately I let go of my fear. I surrendered nothing for something bit by bit, not fully of course but at least by letting go some of the nothing I managed to catch more and more something now.. I feel that I live a life like a life now, not just eat, sleep, pay bills, have family etc.
Thank you Rinpoche for your endless guidance and teachings.
Due to laziness and negative actions, speech and thoughts that we had been created in the past lifetimes and the strong karmic imprints from the past lifetimes can affected us strongly. Like Rinpoche said: ” When we enjoy nothing made into something,Then something that is worthy becomes nothing.” Dharma is priceless and cannot to compared with all worldly activities and things in this Samsara world. But nowadays many of us due to arrogant,ignorance and the heaviest negative karmic imprints lead us away to the suffering path instead of the sacred gateway of Dharma. we can’t lived our whole life without the wisdom of Dharma. If you still extremely stubborn then you will finally lead yourself to the unhappy path and you will found that your inner will extremely empty and like a dry soil without the moisture of water.Nothings can grow inside. Your inner will filled with many rubbish of the five poisons. Even though you are the riches person in this world but you also will not happy. Dharma is all about training your own mind and help us to developed many positive qualities and finally we will found the precious basic goodness. I think that is what we called Buddha nature. After reading this article, I promised Rinpoche that I will put 99% effort in practicing Dharma by keeping precepts, studying and put it into practice.
What is the purpose of human existence? We have to begin by observing ourselves to find an answer to this question. From the moment we were born, to the time of our old age and death, several decades of our life would have been gone in a split second. We were busy from our very childhood-time to until we age and die. As the saying goes, “Life is like a honey-gathering bee, After collecting all the honey from myriad flowers, they age and their labour leaves them with nothing.” Certainly, some people do acquire grand official title, wealth, and high social position – but, what they have gained soon all will be gone! Everything seems a “farce” and an empty joy in life. We seem to accomplish nothing in reality. As Tsem Rinpoche has put it in his “Essential Thought” peom; “Don’t grasp at nothing thinking is something, Buddhas have share thus, Its up to us to capture our life’s essence as shared”. To do that, be with Kechara House!!! Om mani padme Hum.
Thank you for Rinpoche to compose the poem.It make me to think again, life is short, we should not spent the time on materialistic things, we should treasure the precious life to make use of benefit other sentient beings.
The word “nothing” in this poem has very profound meaning. Out of ignorance, we tend to grasp at things that are impermanent and essentially “empty”. Rinpoche also teaches the meaning of cherishing others spontaneously. For me this is bodhicitta. True freedom comes from this altruistic intention. First one must learn to surrender.
Rinpoche really bring in age old wisdom of the Buddha in modern day terms. The short video explanation helped me understand further what Rinpoche is saying in the poem. What stuck out most was the lines “When we enjoy nothing made into something,
Then something that is worthy becomes nothing.”
It made perfect sense for me where to put my energies and focus on because both secular and spiritual goals require about the same amount of energy and effort. But spiritual efforts leads us somewhere in life together with inspiring others.
UsMore Than Just Inpiring Thoughts! It Is The Enlightened Path To Happiness For This And Future Lives. We Shoul Read This Essential Thoughts And Watch The Video Explanation That Rinpoche Has Kindly Taught, Over And Over Again So That Out Becomes Second Nature To All Of Us. Practice Becomes Perfect.
Thank You Rinpoche!
This poem is so simple and honest. Yet, I am sure, like myself, it is not easy to comprehend completely. But I hv to start somewhere sometime. So I choose here and now to live my life for the better. Thank you Rinpoche.
Thank U most Kindly for your most wonderful Wisdom!
I really enjoyed this. It flows smoothly and easy to understand. Yet within, encompass all that we must strive for, letting go of worldly attachments (to see it in its true form, which is pain and suffering), to overcome our self set limitations (to achieve our full potential…which is limitless), in order to have the goal of our future (eternal peace of mind).
I have listened to Rinpoche’s explaination three times and is still amazed that Rinpoche had written this beautiful poem in 10 mins. His explaination had deepen my initial understanding of the poem. What Rinpoche said is so true..those of us constantly seeking for something by filling our lives with things we think we need (ie. relationship, shopping, travel, getting more wealth, etc.) but always ended up still empty, as what we really need is within us. When we surrender to that seed within us, then we will not even have time to seek self-fulfilment as we will be always filling our time helping others overcome their sufferings. That is where the real happiness and fulfilment comes from, when someone is able to understand and find their own happiness. Thanks Rinpoche. I am going to print out your poem tomorrow and put in on my office wall so others can enjoy and learn from it too!.
When we dissolve our past,
We can look into the future. this is true rinpoche i like this quote so much.
Shelly tai on 14 July2013 at 850pm
Is such a inspiring thoughts. I always like to read Rinpoche quote or thoughts because it so easy to understand yet it so profound . Thank you Rinpoche for writing this thoughts with us I will keep that in mind and pratices.