We begin the year teaching a short Lamrim (stages of the path) composed by a famous Tibetan Master, Dhakpo Kalsang Khedup Rinpoche. This Lamrim is based on the teachings of Je Tsongkhapa and his two formost desciples, Gyaltsab Dharma Rinchen and Khedup Gelek Palsang. Je Tsongkhapa and his two desciples are known as Je Yabse sum. Literally meaning, the Father and the sons. The sons are of course, Dharma Sons, who became holy Lamas through the teachings of Je Tsongkhapa. It’s like Tsongkhapa giving birth to their knowledge.
While there are many Lamrim texts written by many Lamas, this has the unique feature of comprising the essence of other welknown Lamrim teachings such as “The Blissful Path, The Swift Path and Great Fifth Dalai Lama’s “The intimate words of Manjushri”. It brings the very essence of all the three famous Lmrims for the practitioner to reflect on all of them availing oneself the sharpest words of the masters during ones meditation. This is in the true tradition of the great masters as it was practiced in Tibet. Just as how strong a tree is going to be depends on the root of the tree, likewise, how deep and resilient ones practice is going to be depends on ones devotion to the teacher. After all, all knowledge comes from the teacher and how they are implanted within oneself depends on ones devotion. Devotion is regarded as a life line of genuine practice. Without such devotion, it is like a sapling planted in the ground without water. However, Tibetans are born Buddhists and they have such devotion while people in the west doesn’t have such tradition. So, people can choose to believe or choose not to believe. However, in order to achieve spiritual advancement, it’s indispensable. Therefore, it boils down to whether one wants to achieve something or just float through as a pleasant experience in coming to Buddhism. It’s a personal choice. Since, we have been doing teaching for many years, it’s now time to get down to the nitty gritty business of how to achieve spiritual realisation by going through this Lamrim. Everyone must remember that opportunities come and go. We must cease it when we have it.
We are re-starring the teachings after the lock down owing to corona virus for more than six weeks on this day 20th May 2020