Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Looking for That Switch!
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 – Looking for That Switch!
If you were ever called into Rinpoche’s room alone, you will be able to relate to this feeling. It is a feeling of excitement and also fear that you will make a stupid mistake in front of your Guru. It comes gushing over you as you try to stay calm while entering Rinpoche’s room. We all knew that whenever we were called into Rinpoche’s room, we would be tested and we needed to be on our toes because we never knew what instructions Rinpoche wanted to give.
Sometimes it was just very simple instructions like closing the curtains, switching on the lights, or making Rinpoche a drink. Whatever it was, there was always a lesson behind it and it was often about exercising care and awareness. Recently, a Dharma sister, Abby, shared a cute little story on her personal Facebook which I thought was a simple, short and sweet story about Rinpoche and the little things Rinpoche did, that made us better versions of ourselves.
This is what Abby wrote:
Looking at this photo reminds me of something. One day I went into Rinpoche’s room to do something (I forgot what), and Rinpoche wanted me to turn off some lights but I didn’t know where the switches were. So, I climbed up and down to look for them. Rinpoche didn’t tell me where to find, he just let me be (like a headless chicken of course). When I looked at the wrong place, he said, “Uh-uh, not there“. Then when I finally found the switches, Rinpoche said, “Good that you have found them.” Then I left Rinpoche’s room quietly, thinking to myself, “Phew, I am smart after all.“
Abby’s sharing really brought back a lot of memories and personal experiences I’ve had. I would say many of us in the Ladrang (lama’s residence) have had similar experiences with Rinpoche. Rinpoche loved testing us spontaneously in this way, to see what we were going to do, how aware we were, and how creative we were in solving problems. I sweated bullets when it came to things like this. Inside, to ourselves, we tend to panic because we do not want to look stupid or to show that we did not bother to pay attention. At the same time we had to maintain a sense of calm so we could think. It may have been a simple task, but this simple task told us a lot about ourselves and also showed us what we needed to improve in ourselves so that next time we would be able to assist Rinpoche better. It was fun, exciting and scary all at the same.
I cannot believe how one simple instruction from Rinpoche could send so many crazy emotions through our mind. One minute felt like an hour when we were in there alone, panicking inside, looking for that switch! And you know Rinpoche was looking at us all the while, seeing if we could figure it out. This was another one of Rinpoche’s skilful creative methods in teaching us to be on-the-spot problem solvers.
Now, when I look back, I realise the reason why Rinpoche did this was to train and teach us to be proactive. To always be ready to find a solution and to solve problems quickly and quietly. It also helped to sharpen our minds to be more alert and aware. When we are asked to spontaneously do things like this often enough, we tend to learn some kind of control over ourselves. We learn to be cool and calm amidst all the chaos that is happening in our heads, which would normally throw us off and make us start panicking. I suppose once we have had enough practice, it becomes a new habit that we can automatically apply when we face uncertainties and problems.
Every time we succeed, it gives us more confidence in ourselves, in trusting our own intuition. This gives us confidence in dealing with and facing the many challenges in our daily life. Hence, by giving us instructions and, at times, even throwing curveballs our way, that is what Rinpoche was training us to be prepared for. It was a way to help us learn to control our ‘monkey mind’ and to focus on getting the results we want. To be a problem solver instead of being a problem ourselves. It was in order to find solutions instead of limiting ourselves by saying we “cannot“, “we do not know” and all the negative, pessimistic things we say to ourselves that pull us down.
It was a good exercise; a simple yet very profound impactful exercise to help us grow internally. That is how much Rinpoche loved us and wanted to teach us to believe in ourselves and to become better versions of ourselves. All of this was learnt from one simple spontaneous exercise that could have happened at any time, whenever we least expected it. It makes me miss Rinpoche so much just thinking about these personal experiences.
For more interesting information:
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Dharma Houses
- Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Cleaning Houses
- 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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It sounded so easy, but I think one will be panicked to be there in person, just like how Ani Chokyi has mentioned. However, we definitely can see the result from this ‘game’ where many seniors in Kechara are very alert, helpful and knowledgeable.
Keanu Reeves quoted this once : “The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.”
Thank you Anila for sharing this.
Interesting read of Joy personal experiences with Rinpoche. Simple action and tasks asked by Rinpoche is a lesson to learn and training for the students to improve in themselves and able to assist Rinpoche better. Rinpoche had in-fact had sharpen student’s minds to be more alert and aware. Repetition builds perfection. Its very fortunate for students been able to assist Rinpoche in any way.
Thank you Joy for this sharing. Hopefully more to come for us to know and understand Rinpoche better . We learn at the same time.
It is always interesting to know how Rinpoche loves to play games to make us think. Thank you Rinpoche and Joy for another wonderful short sharing about Rinpoche.👍😍👏😘🙏