My Root Guru

Venerable Khenchen Sonam Tashi conferred full ordination vows (དགེ་སློང་) upon 18 senior monks and novice vows (དགེ་ཚུལ་) upon 30 young monks at Chokyi Gyatso Institute.
The management, on behalf of the Rinpoches, rejoices in this auspicious occasion and extends heartfelt congratulations to all the newly ordained monks.
May this noble act bring benefit to all sentient beings.

🔥 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬: 𝐀 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡? 🔥

In our everyday lives, we have this 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡. We’ve become 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐲. We comfort ourselves by “𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭” and repeating 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

🎂 We celebrate our birthdays by 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬, ignoring the fact that these 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡.

🎉 We celebrate the New Year with firecrackers and champagne, distracting ourselves from the reality that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 and 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 — 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧.

When that “𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠” displeases us, we 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, much like a mother distracting a child with rattles and toys.

~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche - What Makes You Not a Buddhist - Shambhala Publications, Inc.

🙏🙏🙏

So many buddhas have come and gone, yet you have neither met them, nor have they talked to you, or at least, you have not understood.

But this guru - this buddha - has talked to you, upset you, disappointed you, hurt your pride, and all. And since that is what you need, there you have it.

Theorically, this is why the guru is so important.

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse - Longchen Nyingtik Practice Manual - Khyentse Foundation