An interview with His Holiness The Sakya Trizin
During his last teaching visit to New York City, His Holiness the Sakya Trizin agreed to be interviewed by Gerry Reilly, a member of the Palden Sakya Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies and Meditation. His Holiness is the forty-first in the line of throne holders of the Seat of Sakya and heads the worldwide Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1952, at the age of six, he was enthroned as the Sakya Trizin in a simple ceremony. Then, in 1959, his full enthronement took place in Sakya. Almost immediately afterwards, he fled to India and into exile. Since then, His Holiness has established Sakya colleges in India and Nepal, has re-established Sakya monasteries, and has traveled the world giving teachings.

Gerry Reilly: Your Holiness, I would like to begin by saying what a pleasure it is to have this chance to talk with you. Would you please give a general account of your life?
His Holiness the Sakya Trizin: I was born into the Khön lineage, which is a hereditary lineage from more than a thousand years ago. Members of this lineage are believed to be the direct descendants of celestial beings that were settled in Tibet then. After many generations, they started the Sakya monasteries. The family has a long history. I was born in the Sakya Dolma Phodrang in 1945.
When I was very young, I received teachings from my father, and then I received other teachings from many of my own gurus. In 1959 when I was still quite young, I went to India, and ever since then, I have been studying and giving teachings.
GR: Aren't hereditary lineages rare? Westerners are used to the notion of tulkus, individuals declared to be reincarnations. Are there other examples of families that have continued to have such famous teachers and accomplished masters?
HHST: Although the Khön lineage is hereditary, many of the famous teachers are emanations of Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, and Vajrapani, and some later ones were reincarnations of their forefathers, and so forth. Apart from the Khön lineage, we also have many great masters who are reincarnated lamas in the Sakya tradition.
GR: Would you talk about your own gurus-in particular, about their accomplishments or stories that might inspire your own students?
HHST: My first guru, of course, was my father, who gave me the Vajrakilaya empowerment. He was very great. One of the incidents from his secret life accounts, which I heard much later from Deshung Rinpoche, is that when he was meditating, there was a Manjushri image in his shrine room. This Manjushri image had belonged to Sakya Pandita. When Sakya Pandita debated Hari, the Hindu scholar, the image was with him. The name of this image was the victorious-debater Manjushri image because Sakya Pandita won that famous debate. So when my father was meditating, this Manjushri image came to life, stood up, and talked to him. My father rose up and did prostrations and offered confession prayers. Manjushri said to him that instead of reciting confession prayers, if one performs guru practice and then meditates on the ultimate reality, this is more effective in purifying negative deeds.
After my father, my most important guru, from whom I received the Lam Dre and all the other important teachings, was Ngawang Lodrö Shenpen Nyingpo, the abbot of the Ngor Monastery. He was a very great master and holder of all the teachings, and he performed many great miracles. One of the very important incidents in his life occurred when he was traveling in Eastern Tibet. At a place there, many people saw evil spirits in the form of a large camp with tents. Many people were captured by these evil spirits and died because of them. My guru performed a special Mahakala puja nearby and destroyed all of the evil spirits. Ever since then, the evil spirits have disappeared and people can travel safely.
My third teacher was another abbot in the Sakya monastery from whom I received Lam Dre teachings. This teacher was very humble and would never reveal any of his accomplishments. People believe that he must have had great experiences in meditation, because sometimes when he meditated, he used to wear his robe over his head and he used to cry a lot. That was believed to be the evidence that he experienced actual visions of hell. It is believed that when one meditates, one's air and elements go through the veins, and when they go through the hell-realm veins, then one experiences actual visions of hell, which means that such a person will never go through that experience again because the hell-realm veins inside the body are destroyed. So at that time, one feels as though one is in hell and sees the hell-realm beings, but it also means the destruction of the hell-realm syllables. This has happened to many other great yogis, such as the disciple of Lama Kunga, Lama Sakayapa.
GR: What was this teacher's name?
HHST: Abbot Jampal Sangpo. I had another abbot from Nalendra named Ngawang Lodrö Rinchen as a teacher. He was also a very great master in the sense that he could perform miracles. For example, he possessed the power of inner heat. Tibet is a very cold place, and during the winter, the water in all our rooms would be frozen, but in his room it was never frozen. Everything remained warm. He had inner heat. Altogether I had nine great masters from whom I received teachings.
GR: Could you talk a little bit about one of the first Sakya teachers to spread the dharma in the West, Deshung Rinpoche, who established many centers in the West and with whom many of your American students studied? Could you talk a little about your experiences with him and tell any stories about his accomplishments?
HHST: Deshung Rinpoche came to Sakya when I was very young. At that time, my father went to India on pilgrimage, and during that time, my father asked Deshung Rinpoche to take care of me-not physically but spiritually-to give the blessings every week and long-life initiations and bathing rituals. Deshung Rinpoche was very kind. The funny thing was that at the time his attendant was a Tibetan monk who was very tall and had a big nose, so his nickname was "the American." Deshung Rinpoche told me that he must have had some kind of karmic connection to America because his personal attendant was called "the American." Although that monk died and never left Tibet, Deshung Rinpoche managed to come here. He was one of the earliest Tibetan lamas to come to the U.S. When he was in Sakya, he never dreamed of coming to America.
Deshung Rinpoche's main deity was Avalokiteshvara. He was also very humble and never said that he was accomplished, but when I asked him to give the Avalokiteshvara initiation, he gave me a hint. He said that although he didn't think he had the ability to give major initiations, as far as Avalokiteshvara was concerned, since he had been practicing Avalokiteshvara all his life and had recited 100 million mantras while in the United States and since he had practiced Avalokiteshvara so much, he had the confidence to give the initiation. In other words, I'm sure he had a great realization through Avalokiteshvara.
GR: You mentioned that your father was one of your initial gurus, and you have two sons who also have studied with you. Could you talk a little bit about what it's like to have a father-son relationship as well as a guru-disciple relationship since you've been involved in both?
HHST: I have two sons. My elder son is Ratna Vajra. He's a very good student. Of course, in the beginning, he was a child just like any other child. As he grew older, he completed all his studies and training in all the rituals, and in 1990 he enrolled in Sakya College for advanced studies in philosophy. He's a very serious student. In fact, in his first year, he was the top student in his class. He never thought of me as his father; he always thinks of me as his real guru. My younger one is Gyana Vajra.
GR: In one of your earlier interviews, you mentioned that in order to achieve spiritual accomplishments, it is necessary to go on spiritual retreats. Earlier in your teaching, you told the story of Birwapa, who was teaching full time, but secretly he was practicing. I was inspired by that because I have to work.
HHST: Actually, Birwapa is rather special. As I've said many times, you can practice dharma in a busy, modern city like New York City. Dharma practice is not just sitting in a room and reciting mantras. Dharma practice can take place everywhere: while you're traveling, while you're in the subway, while you're in a car, while you're in the middle of the town. You can practice. You can practice your love and kindness. This is all dharma practice.
But as far as accomplishing specific deities is concerned, I think an intensive retreat at some point, not the whole time maybe, but at some point in a lifetime, is necessary.
GR: So even if one can't go into retreat for years, if one practices dharma diligently, one can make progress.
HHST: There are different retreats-a basic retreat, a major retreat. Even if one can make only basic retreats, this is necessary for everyone to do. On the basis of this, I think one can practice and gain accomplishments.
GR: Can you talk a little about your meditation?
HHST: The Sakyapas have a practice called the four special practices, which everyone who has received Lam Dre must do every day. Guru yoga, Birwapa, Hevajra, and Vajrayogini-these four are my main practice.
GR:Yesterday, you talked about suffering. In your life, you have endured much suffering. Your parents passed away when you were young, and you were forced to flee from Tibet. Could you share with us how you have used such events in your practice and what you've learned?
HHST: To experience suffering is a great lesson. The teaching tells you about impermanence and suffering, but knowing it intellectually and experiencing it in real life are different. Books can tell you many things, but experiencing what it is in real life helps you realize the practice. It makes the practice more meaningful, more profound, and more effective.
GR: How much intellectual comprehension is necessary for tantric practice, since the nature of the mind is not within the area of intellectual comprehension? Could you talk a little about this? The Sakyapas have a tradition of practice and scholarship. Could you talk about this, too?
HHST: I feel that those who are teachers should have a full understanding of tantric practice. However, the practitioner doesn't need to know all these detailed instructions, only the essence of the practice, which one has to study thoroughly.
GR: When a beginner starts to practice, he is taught the preliminary practices as well as a sadhana. How much time should one spend on preliminaries and how does this change over time?
HHST: This again depends on the individual. It is customary to do preliminary meditations with specific numbers, etc. But personally, I feel the number is not what's important. What's important is how one feels about one's practices. Some people could spend their whole life just doing preliminaries, and from this they could achieve realizations. Some people do the preliminaries and then devote most of their time to the main practice. Some people may not do many preliminaries and devote most of their time to main practices. It all depends on the individual's understanding and how he practices. For example, Ngwang Legpa, the guru of Deshung Rinpoche, according to his biography, spent most of his life doing preliminaries. He did millions of mandala offerings, prostrations, and recitations of prayers. It seemed that he achieved realization by doing preliminary practices. I think he was unique in doing so much preliminary practice. Most people do one hundred thousand and he did millions.
GR: The recitation of a mantra is only part of sadhana practice, but of itself, can it bring aspects of realization or accomplishment?
HHST: Again, it depends on the individual. Some people achieve realization by mantra or by meditation or by preliminary practices.
GR: Could you talk about the prerequisites for Vajrayana?
HHST: The very first thing is that someone needs a very sincere wish to obtain enlightenment for all other beings. The bodhisattva vow is absolutely essential because Vajrayana practices are the highest form of Buddha's teaching. One cannot practice it with impure motivation. One also needs unshakable faith in gurus and the teaching, and one needs to keep the samayas as well.
GR: Are there some individuals who should not take the bodhisattva vow even though they wish to?
HHST: Why?
GR: Karma? Are there instances where it might be better to avoid it rather than risk gathering karma of downfalls?
HHST: The Vajrayana is such a profound teaching that even a glimpse of it will be a great benefit. Therefore, even if one can't be a perfect practitioner, one reads the texts. It is better to enroll in it than to miss this kind of chance.
GR: Better to try and fail than not to try at all. Do you think the Vajrayana practice needs a monastic base for it to flourish?
HHST: Not necessarily.
GR: Could it occur in a context where monasticism is not as strong as in Tibet?
HHST: To bring the full Buddhist teaching to a country, to a new place, the monastic tradition is very important. In fact, it is essential. As for individual practitioners, I don't think the monastery system is absolutely essential. I mean, there were great yogis, such as Milarepa, who didn't have a monastery. He replied to the question of where his seat would be when he passed away by saying his seat would be in the snow mountains, in the forests, in the plains, and in other enormous places.
GR: One aspect of monasticism requires great centralization and one of the terrible historical occurrences was the end of Vajrayana Buddhism in India. Do you think there's a problem with such centralization? Is there a danger that it might not reach out to the general population?
HHST: The general public and the monastery have kept such close contact that it would reach the public rather than the other way around.
GR: What is the best way to serve one's guru?
HHST: It is said that there are three kinds of offerings, and the best offering is the offering of practice. So you must practice the teaching the guru gives, and that is the best offering you can make. I guess that must be the best way of serving, too.
GR: Could you talk about different ways of looking at the guru, for example, outer guru, inner guru?
HHST: In the tantra teachings, it says that one should look at the guru as one's father and mother, as one's teacher, and as the most precious thing in one's life. The outer guru is the combination of all the Buddhas. The inner guru is one's own mind, the basic clear light, Buddha's nature that all possess. And the guru of ultimate reality is devoid of self-nature and all phenomena and all descriptions. It's the ultimate primordial wisdom. The ultimate or secret guru.
All these gurus are different aspects, but are all in one.
GR: Does a Buddha see suffering?
HHST: A Buddha never sees impure visions-just as a man who is awakened from sleep can never see a dream.
GR: Does a Buddha's consciousness ever vary? For example, when he's meditating?
HHST: No, a Buddha's consciousness never varies. One unique thing that differentiates a Buddha from a bodhisattva is that a bodhisattva's consciousness does vary, but for a Buddha, there's no variation. He always remains in dharmadhatu, or ultimate reality. And without intention, without thought, a Buddha spontaneously turns the great wheel of activities constantly.
GR: So the Buddha wouldn't make a distinction between himself and his perceptions?
HHST: No, it's all pure matter and pure realms.
GR: Are there moments when an individual can recognize enlightenment for a few seconds at a time?
HHST: Not full enlightenment. To achieve full enlightenment, you have to go through the whole process. But a glimpse of clear light could arise, not accidentally, but at special times, such as when receiving an empowerment or when one is in the presence of gurus or great images.
GR: Could you talk a little about the distinction between dreamless sleep and an enlightened sleep? Not that they are alike, but in our experience, deep sleep might be the closest we come to the dharmakaya experience.
HHST: It is said in certain texts that the best opportunities to experience clear light are during dreams or at the time of death. At those times, one is in a state in which one can witness one's thoughts.
GR: What is it that remains the same in sentient beings at the time of death, and between the time of death and reincarnation?
HHST: Ordinary sentient beings go through the bardo state. Very good practitioners don't go to bardo, but go directly from this life to the pure realms or wherever they wish to go. Those who have a very heavy karma also don't go to bardo, but go directly to lower realms. Average people, the people in the middle, don't necessarily go straightaway after death, sometimes a few days later. It is said that there will be a sign that consciousness has left the body. As long as consciousness remains inside the body, even though one is dead and one is not conscious, one's body remains like a living person. As soon as it leaves, the body changes and deteriorates.
After that one goes into the bardo realms, where one forms a mental body, not a physical body but a mental body, that has five sense organs. Once one is there, one goes through great anxiety, great suffering. One experiences every week a death and new rebirth. Average people remain there for 49 days, seven weeks. After that, they will be born wherever their karma forces them to go, from heavenly realms to lower realms. There are exceptions. Some do remain for a very long period of time in the bardo state.
GR: What is it that reincarnates?
HHST: Consciousness. The stream of mind.
GR: Could you describe the nature of the stream of mind?
HHST: It's clear, void, and the combination. When we say mind, we can mean gross mind. The most important thing in this life is the mind. Without mind, we would not be working, would not be moving, would not be talking. But if we ask where the mind is, we cannot find it. Is it inside the body, outside the body, or in between? If there is a mind, where is it and what does it look like? Does it have color or shape? You can't find mind. It is devoid of self-nature. Therefore, it is void and empty. Yet there is continuity. Like the one who is searching, the one who is trying to find the mind, that is the mind, that is the clarity. So emptiness is one aspect and clarity is the other aspect, and the two are inseparable. Just like fire and the heat of the fire, you cannot separate the two. So the special characteristic of mind is clarity, the nature of mind is emptiness, and the essence of mind is the two combined. That is what continues. It continues right up to now. We grow bigger, we age, and the mind continues. From the time we are born, our bodies change-we grow and age, but the mind continues. It does not cease, but continues. And when we leave this body, this mind continues. The body will be cremated, but the mind must go on. One cannot burn the mind; one cannot bury the mind. The mind has to remain; therefore, the mind has to take another form.
GR: Were you in the company of any of your teachers or gurus when they died? Have you had the experience of witnessing that process?
HHST: Yes. Actually not right at the time of passing away, but close to it. I was with my main guru, Ngawang Lodrö Shenpen Nyingpo. And I was also present when my guru Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö passed away.
GR: Could you give us some advice that we as Buddhists might be able to offer non-Buddhists at the moment of their passing away?
HHST: At the time of death, your mental state is a very important factor. It will have significant effect. If at the time of death, you are angry or you have a strong attachment, then it causes you to be born in the lower realms. Therefore, at the time of death, it is important to be very calm. Any anxiety or fear will not help. There is no way to escape. All you have to do is to face death with a relaxed attitude and with love and kindness, compassion, a good heart benefiting other beings. This is the most helpful advice that one can give.
GR: How should we practice compassion?
HHST: Compassion is the cognizance that we wish those sentient beings who are suffering be free of suffering. First, we practice compassion with family members and intimates, for whom it is easy to arouse such thoughts. Then we gradually build up compassion for all sentient beings.
GR: You've been to the United States five times now. Do you have any impressions on this trip?
HHST: I think that dharma is not only growing but also the quality of the dharma is improving. The quality of questions that I have been asked shows that they're making great progress.
GR: Do you see any difficulty in introducing guru yoga to Westerners?
HHST: Teach that it is important. So far, nobody has questioned it or complained about it, yet.
GR: The reason I bring it up is because in the U.S., terms like self-reliance, independence, and self-initiative put enormous focus on the individual.
HHST: Well, the Buddha also says you are the savior of yourself. Only you can save yourself. In order to save yourself, you have to enter the path and have to learn the teachings. However, the actual help has to come from yourself. In order to cure yourself of a disease, you have to consult a doctor. But the patient has to take the medicine, to do the right things, avoid the wrong things. If you don't do this, even if you have the best doctor, you will not be cured. The main practice of the treatment has to be followed by the patient himself.
GR: Your Holiness, I would like to ask you about ways to practice. If you've received empowerment, there are many sadhanas to perform, many vows to keep. Is it advisable to concentrate on one-deity practice?
HHST: It is better, in fact. There is a saying: Indians practice one deity and accomplish a hundred deities. Tibetans practice many deities and accomplish none. One of the great Tibetan mahasiddhas mentioned that in order to gain enlightenment, it is very important to put all the deities into one, your karmic-link deity, and then practice that one exclusively.
GR: If one has received the Lam Dre transmission, is it acceptable if one practices a single practice to encompass the others?
HHST: The four unbreakable practices is kind of a special thing. Once you have taken Lam Dre, you have to maintain them. But you can do that as a side practice, and in the main practice, you can concentrate
on the main deity.
GR: Is there anything you'd like to say about your vision of the future of the Sakya order?
HHST: We have many scholars in India. What we are now emphasizing more is practice and meditation. Chogye Trichen Rinpoche has a meditation center in his monastery, and there is a three-year retreat program. The monks are doing individual retreats. The next step is that we should emphasize this.
Also at the moment, there is no organized nunnery. So these are the two areas we have to organize.
GR: What about the United States?
HHST: At the moment, we need to emphasize the studies.
GR: Your Holiness, thank you very much.

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An Interview with Khempo Troru Tsenam Rinpoche

Q .. Would you be kind enough to tell us how far back Tibetan medicine goes and where it originally came from?
A .. Tibetan Medical science has its main roots in the land of Tibet itself, in the age-old experience and ingenuity of the Tibetan people, who have always lived close to nature and had to rely on their own resources to survive. To this has been added, over the last two millenia, the medical wisdom of other lands and civilisations, integrated into the indigenous system either intentionally or by the natural cross-fertilisations of cultures which have taken place over the ages. All in all, we can identify three main streams which have contributed to make the waters of the healing lake which is Tibetan medicine. These three streams are depicted on the insignia of the Central Institute, the governing body of the Lhasa Astromedical Institute (Mintsikang). The longest stream in the insignia comes from the snow mountains, representing Tibet itself. This is joined by two other streams which represent Chinese medicine and Indian ayurvedic medicine.
The many facets of medical knowledge which together form the wealth of Tibetan medicine were all brought together in what is undoubtedly the best-known of all the Tibetan medical treatises - the rgyud.bzhi - the Fourfold Medical Treatise. Tibetan medicine itself has a recorded history of about 2000 years and the Fourfold Medical Treatise dates back about 1,000 years. Although there have been so many ups and downs in Tibetan society during that long period of our history, the Tibetan medical system was preserved throughout, without damage either to its integrity or to the living lineage of the transmission of knowledge from doctor to doctor. It is, without doubt, one of the greatest glories of the Tibetan people.
Q .. I think that the extent and influence of Tibetan Medicine is little known in the West, could you say something about this please ?
A .. This ancient tradition of medicine has helped maintain the health and longevity not only of the people of the five kingdoms known collectively over the centuries as "Tibet" but also of neighbouring countries, such as Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, Ladakh, Mongolia, Sinkiang etc., where its use was widespread. Moreover, Tibet has long been reputed as the land of medicines throughout Asia. Tibetan medicine is undoubtedly one of the oldest and most profound medical systems in the world and it has contributed a lot to humankind's understanding of health and sickness. It is not simply one simple localised national medical folklore among others. It has been a vast and complete science will fully-elaborated notions of the bases of health and sickness, a simple but exceptionally efficient system of diagnosis and a very full range of treatments, based on diet, lifestyle, medication and external treatments. In my opinion it is unexcelled.
This opinion is reinforced when I observe people from various countries, most benefitting from the finest of modern scientific development, nevertheless showing a lot a interest in, and doing research into, the Tibetan ways of diagnosis and treatment. For instance, in the East, in Japan, I found a very strong interest in Tibetan medicine. Also in the West, many people are keen to study Tibetan medicine. I visited Hungary in 1987 and there also I met many doctors who not only showed much interest in Tibetan medicine but also came to understand certain basic points of its practice and sincerely expressed a strong appreciation of it. For me, this is a small proof that the Tibetan medical system holds some profound understanding about the nature of the human body and mind and that this is intuitively recognised by people even though they come from very different cultural backgrounds than the Tibetans.
Q .. We are all aware of the tremendous social changes which have occured in Tibet over the past 35 years. Is Tibetan medicine in Tibet today the same as it was traditionally?
A .. Tibetan medicine as it is now being taught and practised these days in Tibet is much the same as it has always been. There has been little qualitative degradation. Quantitatively, it is hard to estimate. In earlier times hospitals or training centres were not established - as they have been in recent times - by the local governments of the five kingdoms. Medicine was principally studied in monasteries, with almost every monastery having some medical activity, and there were also doctors in private practice as well as clinics sponsored by local aristocracy. The transmission of medical knowledge was carried out through apprenticeship and through family tradition.
All in all, medicine was practised in a highly proficient way. To give you an idea of the wealth of Tibet's pharmacoepia, you must understand that the number of plants alone involved in medicine-making numbered more than 3,000. These were combined in all sorts of ways to produce medications containing sometimes 8 or 15 or 30 or up to 100 different ingredients. Then there are mineral and animal ingredients as well. Doctors obtained some of these raw material for their medicines locally, some from other parts of Tibet and yet other ingredients were imported through traders. Not only has it always been an efficient and excellent system in itself, but also something implemented in the highest way, inasmuch as medicine was a vocation based upon a very high moral code and altruistic approach.
Q .. Are you referring to the Buddhist ethics ?
A .. Yes. Throughout the centuries, the ethical code of the doctor was that of the bodhisattva, a person inspired by the buddhist motivation to free all beings from suffering. There is a wealth of teaching on this in mahayana Buddhism, explaining how to keep one's mind pure and in an altruistic frame and how to live in a way which aspires to perfection of action - perfect generosity, perfect self-control, perfect forbearance, perfect diligence, perfect meditation and perfect wisdom. It is with this in mind that one practised medicine. As long as there are beings with physical bodies which suffer, one of the noblest professions is to practise medicine, to alleviate that suffering.
So many Buddhist scriptures say that all the many qualities of the bodhisattva can be summed up by one word - compassion - and the role of compassion in the healing art is a vital one. Compassion, as it was traditionally understood in Tibet down the centuries, involves a very careful and skilful refinement of the human mind. In the case of medicine, compassion is not a fixed attitude of the doctor's mind, rooted subjectively in abstract notions of love, but is a clarity of awareness and a quality of openness and sensitivity on the part of the healing physician concerning what is objectively happening in the patient. This is why compassion is described as being, "inseparable from wisdom". It means being as fully aware as possible of what is taking place in the body and mind of the patient being treated, not just at present but over all sorts of timescales.
Q .. Could you speak some more about the doctor's wisdom and the Tibetan understanding of sickness and health ?
A .. One obvious aspect of the wisdom involved in the diagnostic phase is to be able to detect the imbalance of the humours which is the cause of the symptoms which the patient is presenting. You have probably heard of the three "humours." The word itself means ill - the three ills. They are three absolutely fundamental sets of systems within the body's functioning. When a person is healthy these three work together in harmony. But when one or more of the humours is deficient, over-active or upsetting the others, there is ill-health - hence the name nyes.pa, ill.
The humours themselves are manifestations of the interplay of the elements. To understand to flux of the elements in a patient's body at any given time, one needs to be aware of the nature of the elements where the patient lives and works, the play of the elements due to the changes of the seasons, the times of day and so forth and the power of the elements in the patient's diet. Everything is a manifestation of these prime elements, by which I mean earth, water, fire, wind and space. We can also describe the elements as wood, fire , earth, metal and water. To understand the meaning behind these simplistic names - earth, fire, water etc. - requires much study and experience.
Q .. Would you be kind enough to explain them simply for me?
A .. The elements exist on many different levels and their manifestations vary according to the level. Earth is the material quality of things - their matter, weight, hardness, resistance etc. - which means, in the case of the human body, the flesh and bones etc. Water is really the power of bonding between the various aspects of matter - between particles etc. - and also therefore the fluid, lubricating quality. In the body this is the fluids and the overall cohesion between the physical constituents. Fire is the development, the transmutation, the coming to maturity, of matter. In the body it is its physical heat, of digestion and so forth. Wind is the dynamic aspect - movement, flow - represented in the body by all the circulations of oxygen, the flow of blood in the veins and arteries, the impulses in the nervous system, the lymphatic system etc. Space is the dimensioning that allows the other elements to fulfil their functions - in the human body it is the hollow spaces and the orifices.
The elements within the body are in constant interplay with those outside it, as it relates to its environment. The body-environment dialogue occurs through the ingestion of nutrients, such as oxygen, food and drink, through the impulses received through the senses and through the way the person reacts in response to other people and the world around. Those nutrients are composed of the elements; the world, experienced by the senses, with its trees, rocks, sun, sky and so forth is composed of the elements and likewise other sentient beings are composed of the elements. The person himself or herself is composed of the elements.
To correct what goes wrong in the body-world dialogue, we compensate by administering medicines. Medicinal compounds are also concentrates of the elements. Not only the prescribing of medication but also advice on diet and behaviour is seen as a very important factor in bringing the patient back to good health. It is a question of using the resources at one's disposition - whatever they might be - to bring the imbalanced elements in the patient's body back into harmony . Deficiency in one or another of the elements can be compensated for by a diet or an environment rich in that element. Likewise, excess of one or another of the elements can be corrected by reducing the power of that element in the diet, environment or behaviour, and so on and so forth.
Q .. And is sickness simply an accidental elemental imbalance, then?
A .. Besides the shorter term elemental and humoural causes of the ailment - due to the diet, lifestyle and the specific behaviour of the person - there are also the psychosomatic triggers of illness which, according to the traditional teachings of medicine, exist on three levels, called remote cause, long-term cause and proximate cause. These are, respectively:
a. the degree of lack of contact between the person and the innate purity of their mind,
b. the powerful tendencies to strong emotions such as craving or anger in the more distant past, including past lives, and, finally,
c. more recent emotional patterning.
Of course, one could continue. Medicine is a complex subject. What I have just mentioned is just a glimpse of the complexity of the composite phenomenon which is a human being, from the Tibetan medical point of view. In actual medical practice, sometimes mind and body are quite distinct, the one from the other. Sometimes they are indistinguishable and very often they are powerfully interconnected.
Q .. We live here in a world very concerned with diet, foodstuffs, additives, vitamins, whether to eat fats or not etc. Is the quality of these sort of things considered important in Tibetan medicine?
A .. Besides the psychosomatic triggers of illness and short-term elemental factors, there are also longer-term physical considerations related to the proper functioning of the metabolism; particularly in terms of the intake of nutrients and the elimination of wastes.
Tibetan medicine discusses this health of the metabolism in terms of a sevenfold cycle. It is almost as though the prime nutrients, by which we mean the food we eat, the liquids we drink and the air we breathe, go through seven reincarnations within us to produce the very substance of life; the glow of health. These seven reincarnations are seven major steps of transformation, each of which produces by-products and wastes which need to be eliminated. All the major organs and systems of the body are involved in this complex and subtle process of refinement. When there is some malfunctioning in this constant process of refinement, there is a potential cause for illness; the longer and more serious the malfunctioning, the more serious the consequences can be. In fact, it is remarkable how many illnesses have their root in one of the major steps in the metabolic cycle, namely digestion and, indirectly therefore, diet. Digestion is one of the earlier stages in the sevenfold process and a lack of suitable nutrition at this stage will have its repercussions throughout all the later stages. Needless to say, Tibetan medicine aims to detect the long-term deficiencies or excesses in the overall metabolic picture and to correct them as much as is possible, given the circumstances of the patient.
Q .. So a tibetan doctor has to be aware of many things when making a diagnosis?
A .. Yes. Let us return to compassion. The compassionate task of the doctor is to arrive at an accurate appreciation of what is truly ailing the patient, by taking into account all of the aforementioned factors. Without compassion, which is the sensitivity the physician has for what is taking place in the patient, there will only be an awareness of the symptoms related to the immediate physical condition of the patient. Sometimes this is enough, when a patient is suffering merely from a cold, a minor food poisoning or the like. In such cases a straightforward diagnosis will lead to a simple treatment or sometimes no treatment at all and the patient recovers, But other than in these instances, the main task of Tibetan medicine is to bring the whole psycho-physical unity of the patient back into true health. Without the clear awareness of all the long-term and short-term factors involved and a truly compassionate motivation, what a doctor can achieve in this domain is relatively limited.
This is in fact a very important point, because the doctors are the main persons responsible for helping the patients -those who, by their very definition, are suffering. The role of the doctor in providing not just medicine but overall support for the patient has been stressed greatly in the traditional Tibetan medical texts and in earlier times this was given its due emphasis in daily medical practice. More recently, since doctors in Tibet did not receive a full bodhisattva training and saw medicine in a more materialistic light - as a job among others for which they received a salary from the government - this has fallen into the background. Fortunately it is now being restored, thanks to the relative liberty we enjoy to follow the bodhisattva training and due to the drive we are leading to restore traditional Tibetan medicine in all its fullness. As I mentioned before, the medical art was the great glory of Tibet and now it is vital that new doctors learn it as it was, in its entirety.
My own aim therefore is to be able to train all these doctors according to the traditional Tibetan system - with a high standard or ethics and altruism and also how to use all the aspects of traditional medicine, including the use of rarer mineral and precious substance medicines and the ancient operation skills using the spoons etc. That is our plan.
Q .. Is physical health connected with spiritual well-being, in your opinion ?
A .. The understanding of what true health really means, in the long term, is a very profound one. Since, as I mentioned above, it is the purity or impurity, the maturity or immaturity, of mind which is the main long term factor in determining the well-being, the health, of the person, it follows that it is only the enlightened who have true mental and physical felicity. This does not necessarily mean however that more highly-evolved beings have less physical sickness. It is a question of how "well" a human beings feel and how well they can cope with life situations, including physical health. This is quite a subtle point but one which also needs to be taken into consideration. One is not simply treating the body with its specific problem but the body as part of a body and mind combination which is suffering. Although in daily medical practice the physician is not assuming responsibility for the spiritual or psychological progress of the patient, some understanding of this longer term spiritual and emotional dimension is needed for there to be a wise analysis of an ailment, especially where hard-to-treat, deep-rooted or chronic ailments are concerned. Besides these considerations of mind's effect upon the body, there is also serious mental sickness itself - a whole branch of Tibetan medicine.
Q .. How does our mind influence our health ? I know this is a big question but perhaps you would care to mention some important points.
Q .. I would like to speak briefly about the commonplace and longer-term psychosomatic triggers of illness. In Tibetan medicine these are discussed under three groups -that of desire, covering all sorts of human feelings from those of greed through to sexual passion, that of anger, ranging from frustration to real hate, and that of ignorance, ranging from thick mental torpor through to ignorance of the innate purity of mind. These three areas are called the three poisons. They each have many subcategories and there are many states of mind which contains elements of two main groups or even all three - such complex things as jealousy, for instance.
In the long term a predominance of desire, attachments, frustrated longings etc. will create an imbalance in the physical system known as "wind (rlung) humour". Wind is the dynamic quality within the various physical systems. When the wind humour is in harmony, the digestion, the nervous system, the blood flow etc. are all working fluidly. A long-term predominance of anger will create imbalance in the "bile (mkhris.pa) humour". This does nor mean just the physical bile or the gall bladder. It refers to the production of heat and energy in the body, especially through the ingestion and transformation of nourishment. A long-term predominance of ignorance will create imbalance in the "phlegm (bad.kan) humour". This particularly concerns the fluid balances in the body and what we might describe generally as its coolness.
Q .. I know it is not easy for you to speak of what has happened to Tibet since 1960, but I would appreciate it if you could say how this affected Tibetan Medicine and you personally.
A .. The widespread application of this wonderful healing science by dedicated physicians was the status quo in Tibet for more than a thousand years but, during the cultural revolution, as in many other things all over China, the Tibetan medical system suffered very great damage and, with the exception of one or two, the great centres of medical learning were destroyed. Moreover, the medicine practised by individual doctors in rural areas almost came to an end too. One of the few things to survive partially was the Lhasa mintsikang - the Astro-Medical Institute. The indigenous Tibetan medical system suffered because it was viewed by the communist regime of the time as being solely based on superstition - an invention of the lamas - and not a real medical science. It was not until after the 3rd National Assembly that there was the beginning of a restoration of some Tibetan national cultural activities. Since then there has been a steady revival of Tibetan medicine, sometimes through the initiative of governmental bodies, sometimes through that of local authorities and sometimes, more recently, with the support of Rokpa, an international charity deeply committed to the restoration of Tibetan medicine in Tibet. Actually, it is not simply a question of restoring what was there previously but of reviving Tibetan medicine in a way which responds intelligently to the needs of today.
The revival has resulted in a significant and organised growth of medical schools. Some hosptals and medical centres have been established in places where there were none previously and certain institutions have been restored far beyond their previous capacity. The Lhasa Astromedical centre, for instance, has been significantly developed and its present form and capacity - in terms of number of dcotors, beds, machines, buildings and allocaton of funds - is much greater than it was formerly. The staff number almost 1,000, there are several hundred patient beds, a major medicine-producing factory and it is a teaching hospital with university status.
Large astromedical centres have also been founded in Shigatse, Chamdo, Nagchu, Soka, Nyitri, etc. These have provided hospitals, doctors and medicines where there were none before and made regional centres of health care. Other astromedical centres which have been restored in major towns are the likes of De-Ge, Pa-Yul, Dartse-Do and some in the Chinghai province. Thu s, in one way, at present Tibetan medical science and education is going through a period of great development. In all these centres, Tibetan medicine is taught according to the tradition and also they have started using modern scientific methods and machines and are trying to see how modern ways can be combined with ancient wisdom. This is of course an ambitious task and at the same time a very necessary one which has to be tackled one day or another. It is being approached in a pragmatic and open-minded way and should, if handled intelligently, move both medical systems further towards joint overall goal of eradicating and preventing all diseases, thereby rendering great service to all beings.
It is evident, for instance, that a Tibetan doctor who has successfully diagnosed a tumour in a certain location in a patient will be happy to have an x-ray or other information which shows the exact size of the tumour and its effect on the internal organs around it. In the past, the strength of Tibetan medicine came through it absorbing and integrating things from other medical systems which proved to be of real use - you will remember the analogy of the three rivers. There are many medical systems throughout the world and we are not averse to adopting what they might have to offer. In the other direction, it is now seeming more and more likely that in many cases traditional Tibetan herbal and mineral remedies will be able to provide more effective and less intrusive solutions than present-day surgery or modern chemical medicines can. For instance, our preparations for removing kidney stones and gallstones, some of which I have developed in recent years, have impressed modern Chinese scientists by their efficacity. Another area where there is great promise is that of Tibetan medicines based on detoxified mercury. From what I am seeing of illnesses in the West and the modern world, these medicines may bring great benefit to sufferers of some of the diseases prevalent these days.
In the traditional Tibetan society, these mercury-based compounds could not be manufactured by each doctor. The preparation of the detoxified mercury which is the basic ingredient requires a great deal of time, money and manpower. Hence it was only produced in the very large monasteries or at the request of exceedingly rich spnsors. The knowledge of how to produce this detoxified mercury is kept a secret. It is an oral tradition handed down from master-physician to master-physician. Although some of the technique has been committed to writing, certain key steps are purposefully omitted in order to keep this knowledge tightly controlled and free from abuse.
The knowledge of how to produce detoxified mercury was almost completely lost. The actual practise had not been carried out for a long time and the first revival was performed by myself and Dr Tenzin Chodrak, who later becamethe private physician of H H the Dalai Lama. After the initial revival it was manufactured by me in Pomi, before I went to take up my post at the Lhasa Astromedical Centre. Since then I have transmitted the know-how to many people - students and colleagues - and the continuity of this rare and important aspect of Tibetan medicine has been preserved for posterity. I have since manufactured this improtant medicine in Dege, Chinghai, Yushu, Chamdo and many other places. Having made the mercury, I then proceded to revive production of the various complex precious-substance medications based on mercury, gold, gemstones and other rare substances. This has proved very successful, to such an extent that now there are many doctors all over Tibet well trained in the production of these vital medicines. Now there is no longer fear of losing this knowledge forever.
The process for producing detoxified mercury in Tibetan medicine is not quite the same as that of Ayurveda. It comes not from the vedic tradition but from the revelation of Urgyenpa, the great siddha and Kagyu master. Besdies this, the Tibetans have always had a good deal of alchemical knowledge and understood how to transform one thing into another, when sucha transformatiobn is possible. The mercury process itself involves some 100 people, working constantly for about one month. Hundreds of grams of gold are needed. Through the transformations which it undergoes, mercury which is at first highly poisonous, shiny, highly mobile and like a liquid metal, becomes medicinal, matt black, immobile and solid. It becomes the king of antidotes for all types of poisoning.
The detoxified mercury is not just mercury alone - it is a complex compound the making of which involves mercury, gold, silver, copper, various sorts of iron, 8 types of mineral etc. During the preparation some astounding things happen. For instance, during its transformations and detoxification, the gold, which is a noble and immutable metal, becomes oxidisable i.e. it burns. This amazed Chinese scientists who witnessed each stage of the gold preparation, during which it was beaten and boiled in special ways and treated with various natural chemicals over a period of several days before being fired in an oven. In the old days it used to have to spend 45 hours in a charcoal oven, but with modern kilns the time necessary has been reduced to about 10 hours. The end product isa gold powder which can be burnt. There is an old Tibetan saying, "Don't worry if the gold falls in the fire - it can never burn but on the contrary will improve." However, the detoxified gold compound does burn and once burnt is of a black colour. When we have prepared gold in the Lhasa Astromedical Centre, we have at times burnt up to 3lbs of gold in these processes. As you will understand, since just the preparation of the gold catalyst in the mercury prepartion takes so many days and is quite complicated, when one takes into account the preparation of all the other metals and minerals and so forth then it is not surprising that the whole process takes 30 days of non-stop activity.
The preparation of detoooxified mercury to which I have alluded above, and which we currently use, is also slightly different from the process talked about in the Fourfold Tantra. The technique was given to Khedrup Orgyenpa, by Vajrayogini, in the land of Orgyen. He taught it to Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, who taught it to Sonam Zangpo, who was the grandfather of Sungkar Nyamme Dorje and it became the Tsurpu tradition. During the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama it was made by Dharam Nyammo. Later Situ Choji Jungnas made it in De-ge. Other famous lamas of more recent times, in the last century, such as Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Jamyang Chentse Wangpo, Mipham Rinpoche and so forth maintained the tradition, many of them having a strong link with Derge, my own region. As the mercury detoxification involves many people, much wealth and resources, its making was a rare event.
There are many secret techniques, preserved through an oral tradition, for making very powerful and special medicines such as these. They involve wonderful phenomena such as those mentioned above or such as the powdering of diamond, to make it blend with other substances in medicinal preparations.
Although now there are many people involved in the practice of Tibetan medicine in Tibet itself and there is much medical equipment and many medicines are available nowadays, there are still, in my opinion, many requirements to be fulfilled and much deeper study required, before we can consider the fullness of Tibetan medicine to be well established for centuries to come. Especially now, that the Tibetan Medicine Institute in Lhasa has been redeveloped, there is the scope for doing this. A lot of money was spent on it and a lot of foresight has gone into it - and it has been given the status of an indepenedent university. I myself hold the post of Directing Physician and Professor of Medicine and am responsible for assuring the preservation of Tibetan medical study for future generations - I try to do my best but you will appreciate that I am old and there is still a lot left to do. I am very concerned to transmit my own know-how in many specialised domains, while my health still permits. This will involve, among other things, gathering the necessary rare ingredients to make many traditional medicines which have not been prepared now for some decades and which present-day doctors do not know how to prepare. As with the mercury preparation, they will need to work alongside me as I prepare these compounds so that they understand clearly all the steps involved.
Much skill, knowledge and experience goes into the preparation of Tibetan medicines. I am told, although I have not been able to look into it myself, that the medicines prepared in Tibet itself are often more effective than the same remedies prepared in other Himalayan countries. If this is the case, one can imagine many reasons why it would be so. First there is the land itself: it is certain that its geography, climate and altitude are quite unique. A religious person might also say that the centuries of widespread and profound religious practice imbibed the hills and the valleys with something very special too. One must also take into account the location of specific plants and the manner in which they are collected.
Over the millenia, we have come to know the best places to collect each herb and it is very important that this knowledge be preserved and that the environment in which the herbs grow remain unpolluted. Each area, as well as a specific location within each area, has its floral speciality and the plants there have a particular potency. One needs to know exactly when to pick the plant - not only in terms of its life cycle but also in terms of astrology and the time of day etc. The traditional explanations even explain who should pick the plant and how it should be gathered. Following all these criteria properly produces a very different raw material than would just the gathering of plants bearing that name, anywhere and at any time, as I fear might happen elsewhere. Once one has the finest raw materials, gathered as mentioned, these need to be processed and combined to make the various medicines. Not only does this need to be done properly, from a technical point of view, but, according to the medical tradition, with prayer and in the proper state of compassionate mind
In the Lhasa Insititute we study the traditional Tibetan medical literature, the Tibetan astological literature, but also grammar, language and composition, Chinese language, English language, as well as politics and other related subjects. Since in the Tibetan medical literature and in the Tibetan medicine system, the purity of motivation and conduct of doctors has always been greatly emphasised, it is essential that there be enough training and instruction given on these topics. I am referring to the bodhisattva attitude mentioned previously. In the past this was nurtured by studying the classical Buddhist scriptures about the bodhisattva path - the ratnavali, the bodhicaryvatara etc. These traditional studies are gradually being reintroduced and I am very happy about this since the quality of the physician's mind is quite determinant in establishing the quality of the medical treatment itself. We also have plans to establish a research wing in this Institue where we would investigate the newly-discovered diseases now prevailing all over the world. There is tremendous scope here and an enormous amount of work to be done, and to be done in such a way as to satisfy not only our own doctors but the criteria of the present-day worldwide scientific community. Over a fairly long term and a significant number of patients, we would need to employ traditional treatments and also to produce new medicines adequate enough to tackle those diseases, from the Tibetan medicine point of view. Some people are very optimistic in this domain. Personally I feel that in some areas a lot can be done - either to cure or to attenuate serious illnesses - but there is no point in raising false hopes. Proper research must be carried out and we will see, as time goes by, what contribution Tibetan medicine might have to make to the healing arts of the coming century.
Besides the restoration of all the traditional medicines and traditional medical ethic, there is another area of restoration which interests us, namely that of techniques used in more ancient times. It would seem that in earlier times Tibetan medicine was studied in a very exceptional way. Later, it became, relatively speaking, a little degenerated. We have records and evidence of many things which were there before - such as operations on the human brain, use of long, spoon-like implements to perform operations on various organs etc. Unlike the type of operations one sees in the West, where the body is opened up on a large scale, the latter was a minimally-invasive form of surgery, mainly used to remove tumours, from all sorts of different organs and parts of the body, These were part of Tibetan medical practice at one point but seem to have been almost forgotten now. We hope to regain the know-how of these old wisdoms and to re-introduce any of those things which may be of use today. In brief, both in terms of quality and quantity, we hope to restore Tibetan medicine to its fullness.
Looking beyond Tibet, it is evident that there are many new diseases in the world, such as Aids, and new predominances of diseases causing death, such as cancer. There are also diseases new to Tibet itself, now that there is greater contact with the outside world. Through research and an enthusiastic re-establishment of Tibetan medicine, we hope to be able to contribute to the effort being put into combatting these maladies and bring some hope of partial or total cures for at least some of them. The healing art is a wonderful one - one of the finest sciences a human being can apply himself to - and I am convinced that the traditional wisdom and the exceptional possibilities offered by Tibetan medicine will have something to contribute to the medical understanding of the new millenium.

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An Interview with Ngak'chang Rinpoche


Q Ngöndro is the foundation practice for all Tibetan Buddhist Schools; can you say a little about these practices?
R Certainly, but I may have to be a little semantic. I need to start by clarifying something about the use of the word Ngöndro. Ngön means 'before', and dro means 'going' - it's the same syllable 'dro' as in the word Khandro (which together literally mean Sky-goer). So Ngöndro means 'before going or starting' or, perhaps, 'before setting out'. Before setting out on a journey, we have to know something about our intended destination and something about the route we propose to take. We have to look at the routes that are available to us, which means we have to make some inquiries. If we're beyond journeys, that is to say, if we have the realization that our destination is exactly where we are, then whether we journey or not is irrelevant. We could wander, or we could remain in one place, it wouldn't matter. Conversely, if we experience our world as decidedly unsatisfactory and if the quality of our experience still alternates energetically between happiness and sadness, the idea of taking the journey beyond dualistic fixations could be rather significant.
In Tantra, the idea of "Journey" is vital - Rig'dzin Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche described the practice of Tantra as a 'Journey Without Goal'. This would seem rather poignant in terms of the fact that we're not trying to get to any place other than where we are. There is, in fact, nowhere to be other than where we are. So, when we can learn to commit ourselves to the journey, rather than the destination, we may possibly discover that we arrive sooner than we might have imagined. (Laughter) Or that's the theory... We just have to set out and see where the journey goes. But if we harbor ambitions for a destination, it makes that destination impossible to reach. The journey has to be the destination, if you really want to be a Tantrika. When the journey becomes the destination you discover that you've always been there. Where we are is home. Until then, there are many wonderful journeys we can set out on and Ngöndro is one of them.

Q Does this mean that it is not really necessary to go through this quite demanding routine...?
R (Laughter) That's like asking whether you can dispense with the procedure of taking your clothes off before having a bath. If you have clothes on, then you need to take them off. But if you happen to be naked then the removing of clothes becomes somewhat irrelevant. But here, I should say something about the fact that there is not one solitary institution called Ngöndro. There are may kinds of Ngöndro. The kind of Ngöndro you are asking about is the Tantric Ngöndro. This is what is commonly called Ngöndro. But there are other kinds of Ngöndro. In fact there are Ngöndros for every level of practice. There is the Ngöndro of Dzogchen Sem-dé, which is known as the Four Naljors - the practices I will discuss in the book Roaring Silence. Maybe an alternative translation for Ngöndro could be preparation, or method of establishing the experiential ground for practice. I have come across people who regard Tantric Ngöndro as some sort of ordeal to get through before they get to the real practice. Alternatively, of course, there are people who imagine that by outwardly performing Ngöndro they'll change in some mysterious way. The point is that practicing Ngöndro might not change you at all. It is you who must change yourself through the practice of Ngöndro. Tantric Ngöndro is a prerequisite for certain Tantric practices but is not an essential preparation for all practices. Every practice has its unique function and purpose whether at the level of Sutra, Tantra or Dzogchen. These multifarious practices are each specifically tailored to practitioners of varying abilities. It would be sheer spiritual bureaucracy for anyone to insist that everybody had to follow precisely the same set of steps as everyone else, irrespective of their capacity. People are different and their practice requirements are different. If your Teacher tells you that you must practice Ngöndro, it means that your Teacher has recognized this practice is an appropriate one for you. The same Teacher may tell somebody else they are not ready for such a practice and tell another that there is no need to go through Tantric Ngöndro. These questions only really arise when you have a real relationship with a Teacher.
Many people talk about higher and lower practices as if only the 'highest' practices facilitated the discovery of enlightenment. But this is really like saying a chisel isn't as good as a shovel or that a drill is better than a saw. All Buddhist practices lead to enlightenment. In essence this means there are no higher or lower practices, only higher and lower practitioners. Each practice is perfect in its function. Each practice is perfect for the capacity or the level of practitioner to whom it is geared. The practice that is geared to your capacity is the highest possible practice. Tantric Ngöndro can be described as the gateway to Tantra, but it would be foolish to imagine that once we have 'got it out of the way' we'll be able to get on to more 'advanced practice' which will lead to enlightenment. Ngöndro, itself, will lead to realization of enlightenment - if you practice it properly.

Q Would you mind describing what exactly Tantric Ngöndro consists of?
R Essentially, Ngöndro consists of four sets of 100,000 repetitions of practice. Firstly, there are 100,000 prostrations performed. These are performed in the awareness of Refuge and whilst generating the wish to enable all beings to realize Enlightenment. There are 100,000 Kyil-khor practices of giving away the entire visualized universe. This kyil-khor offering is made in order to cultivate the capacity for unlimited generosity and to eradicate self-protective meanness. There are 100,000 recitations of the One Hundred Syllable Ngak (Awareness Spell - mantra) of Dorje Sempa (Indestructible Mind Warrior Vajrasattva) which is a practice of purification. Lastly, there are 100,000 practices of Lama'i Naljor (unification with the Mind of the Lama). In the Nyingma School the Lama is almost always visualized as Padmasambhava (Pema Jung-ne or Guru Rinpoche), because he represents the unity of all the Masters of all traditions. He is the Buddha of the six Tantric Vehicles. He is the one who brought the Tantras to Tibet, as prophesized by Shakyamuni Buddha. In this last practice (which in itself is the most important practice of Tantra) the Lama is visualized as dissolving into light and merging inseparably with your very Being. In that moment we recognize the nature of the Lama as being the naked awareness of Space.

Q The Tantric path is spoken of as being dangerous…
R Yes. Being alive is also dangerous... Being dead is dangerous…That is why the practice of some form of preparation is vital. The Tantric path is very swift and powerful like pure whitewater rapids. Unless you know how to ride these rapids, certainly you could be in danger of battering yourself to death on the sharp edges of your own arrogance. Lamas of all Lineages give grave warnings about the practice of Tantra and stress that we must be well equipped with the correct motivation. In order to practice Tantra, you need to be well equipped for your journey. You need a guide who knows the destination. You need maps, provisions and suitable clothing. You need the determination to follow through. If you don't have these things, your journey may lead you into danger! At the most benign or banal level your 'journey' might just lead you round in ever decreasing circles...

Q Could give us some picture or taste of what Tantra is like in terms of having established the ground through Ngöndro?
R Possibly... but we would still need to approach that from the perspective of preparation... Let's take the analogy of going to a party... If you are going to a party you need to prepare. Tantra is a great feast, so you shouldn't bloat yourself with junk food before you set out. It would be preferable to develop a keen and discriminating appetite. It would be preferable to have listened to the advice of the Lama, the Tantric gourmet who is well versed in feasting. You need to wash before you go. You need to put on some fresh, clean clothes that you reserve specially for festive occasions and, dare I say it (laughter), you need to look as sharp as hell! In short, you need to be in the right frame of mind. The Tantric feast is incredibly sharp and witty, so your communication must be impeccable. If you shovel food into your mouth and behave in a disgusting way, you insult your host and abuse the generous hospitality you've been offered. If you sit in the corner and do not communicate, if you refuse to let anyone know anything about you, you fail to enter into the spirit of the party and gain nothing from it. The chances are that this sort of behavior will result in you not being invited again.

Q What would you say was involved in entering into the spirit of the party?
R Damtsig (Samaya); that is to say, commitment. The wholehearted willingness to celebrate. This celebration, in Tantric terms, is complete commitment to the texture of existence and non-existence, through the relationship with the Teacher. The Tibetan word for this commitment is Damtsig or terminal connectedness… that's my word... The party of Tantra is not a rowdy, head-banging affair where you can slump senseless in the corner and where the loudness of mechanical fashion-music hides the sound of two-part monologues that are either vain, aggressive or trivial. This is not some sort of acrid smoke-filled escape into oblivion with people weeping in the bathroom or throwing up in the garden. Neither is it some sleazy gathering where people are out to polish their vanity at your expense. The Tantric party is a wonderfully organized, well-provided picnic, and the company are your Vajra sisters and Vajra brothers. The scenery is magnificent and inspiring. The communication is totally honest. It is the last moment before the end of the world, so there's no need for pretence. There is no need even for terror because acceptance of circumstances, exactly as they are, is the only possible option. There is an electric sense of hilarity!

Q So to get back to Ngöndro, I get the sense of Ngöndro being quite Tantric, in some respects, at the same time as preparing us for it.
R Yes. Ngöndro prepares us for Tantra, whilst actually being Tantra itself. So in a sense the preparation for the journey is in itself the first step. The Tantric Ngöndro comprises methods that work directly with the energy of the five elemental configurations of perception. The prostrations are a method that works with the air element in terms of exhausting the confusion caused by physical and intellectual hyperactivity.

Q Can you say something about the importance of 100,000 as the number required in these practices.
R It's a large number.

Q (Laughter) I mean...
R It's the take-off point. It's the speed that the plane has to hit on the runway before it leaves the ground. But there's nothing absolute about the number. It's a little bit like 40 days and 40 nights; it simply means "a lot". There's no guarantee whatsoever that 100,000 repetitions of any set of acts in themselves will bring about beneficial results. It simply represents a large number in Tibetan terms. It has also been found from the experience of practitioners that at a certain level of practice, 100,000 is the smallest number of times it takes for the repetition of a practice to have a worthwhile effect. This discovery is obviously a generalized one and cannot apply to all practitioners. We should look on each prostration as an opportunity to realize our Beginningless Enlightenment, so it could take as little as one, two or three prostrations to realize the fruit of practice, but it could take 100,000...or maybe more. If you're still proud and lacking humility, even if you've performed 300,000 prostrations, it is not enough. If you're still mean, then even though you've given away the visualized universe 300,000 times it is not enough. - If you're still full of negative emotions, hostility and resentment, even if you have recited 300,000 Ogyen Dorsem Awareness spells (mantras), it is not enough. If you lack respect for your Lama (criticize instructions you're given because you think you know better) then even if you've practiced Lama'i Naljor 100,000 times, it is not even a start!

Q So practice in that sense would just be a waste of time.
R Yes, exactly. Endless repetition of Ngöndro practice without kind hearted motivation would have little effect apart from seeding your consciousness with a link for some future time when your motivation might be more open and honest. If Ngöndro is practiced with spiritual ambition and spiritual pride, it becomes merely an exercise in spiritual materialism. This is incredibly harmful to spiritual progress and it would almost be better if you'd never engaged in practice at all. Spiritual materialism seeds negative causes which make it very difficult even to change and to start practicing properly. Basically, if you treat your Teacher with disrespect by pretending you're a sincere practitioner (whilst all along keeping the world of your real emotions private) then the practice of Ngöndro could become completely hollow. Without genuine openness, without real self-disclosure and the willingness to abandon masks, Ngöndro could become nonsense.
Unless you're prepared to be real, Ngöndro becomes 100,000 aerobic exercises; 100,000 sandcastles; 100,000 meaningless mumbles; and, 100,000 daydreams. You'd do better to engage in some activity that had some real benefit for others, such as voluntary work for the elderly, underprivileged, hungry, homeless or handicapped. But if you entered into voluntary work of ambition you'd just end up playing the same sad game. You'd have to rise in importance so that you could hob-nob with the higher echelons of the voluntary organization. If you want to practice Ngöndro, you must make sure that you have the right motivation. The only possible motivation is the strong and deep-rooted wish to liberate all beings of suffering. This motivation when galvanized by a good, true and open relationship with an authentic Teacher is the only possible combination of causes that opens the gateless gate of Tantric practice in all its multicolored vibrancy.
If you receive Ngöndro Teachings and decide to commit yourself to them, you shouldn't go to your Teacher and say: "I've finished prostrations and started Kyil-khor practice." If you were to do this, you may as well start your prostrations all over again. To act in this way shows no real respect for your Teacher. If it doesn't occur to you that you should seek permission from your Teacher to continue to the next practice, you have the wrong attitude. You should say you have completed the prostrations and ask whether your Teacher considers that you have benefited sufficiently from the practice to continue. If you complain that activities inaugurated by the Lama, whatever they may be, get in the way of practice, then you've not only failed miserably in your cultivation of generosity, but you have never really understood the value of anything your Teacher has ever taught you. This lack of gratitude and lack of generosity toward your Teacher damages your spiritual lifeline, the Damtsig or Tantric commitment that is the lifeblood of practice. If you erode this vital commitment you degenerate your practice into meaninglessness. Throughout Ngöndro, tremendous respect should arise for the Lama, along with the energy to follow through in terms of promises.

Q Does this mean that for practice to actually have any effect you must put your Lama before yourself. That you must place his or her interests before you own, or perhaps you must offer absolute obedience? Or is it something else you must generate or find within yourself toward your Lama that if you have to "think about what you should be doing" means you are not?
R It's confidence. Working with the Lama in the Tantric system is a very powerful and excruciatingly direct method. You must be very, very sure of your Teacher - because once you've established that confidence, once you have entered into that relationship, all doubt has to be treated as your confusion rather than the fault or unsuitability of the Teacher. Many people in the West are seduced by the prospect of such a fantastic relationship and attempt to establish it with the first Lama they meet. But this is wishful thinking of an outrageous order. It is quite understandable that people should be deeply moved by the stories of Marpa and Milarepa and I do not want to deflate such enthusiasm. But it is important to realize that this kind of relationship is only possible when you are willing to give up absolutely everything, completely, for ever. So you should be honest with yourself and with your Teacher. You should not whisper sweet nothings in the Lama's ear that you can't really fulfill. You shouldn't get too 'blissed out' and promise things that are unrealistic in terms of your everyday knowledge of yourself. You should avoid the temptation to 'say the right thing', or seek approval by offering more of yourself than you can possibly give.
Approaching a Teacher in the same way that you customarily approach a lover leads to all kinds of problems. You become carried away with some kind of inflated emotionality that poses as spiritual thirst. When this happens people tend to make all kinds of commitments which are in fact, on their part, often simply props for self-image. Some people just want the prestige, or emotional buzz of having such a relationship with a Teacher; so they can say: "He or She is MY Teacher!" But that creates all kinds of problems. As soon as there are aspects of the practice that you can't stomach too easily, the idea of divorce occurs. Then people say: "Oh such and such a Lama isn't my Teacher any more, I've gone over to Lama so and so whose Teachings are more suitable." You might even throw in a bit of scandal to add spice to your justification. And so, sadly, some people go on from one Lama to the next. Falling in love with Lamas is very easy. They are very lovable (Laughter). I'm not talking about myself you understand. So... you must learn to temper your own need for the 'love to end all loves' and think about the real function of such a relationship. If you ask a Lama to guide you in the practice of Tantra, you're making the ultimate commitment, so unless you're absolutely confident, you shouldn't take such a step. You shouldn't contemplate Vajra Commitment to the Vajra Master in Tantric practice until your relationship with him or her is unshakable. This should and must take exactly as long as it takes.

Q It could take a lifetime then?
R No, not that long (laughter) unless you don't intend to stick around that long! His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said on various occasions that you can take up to 13 years to be sure of your Tantric Teacher before making Vajra Commitment. He has also said that you should wait at least 5 years before entering Tantric relationship with the Vajra Master. You cannot rush such a relationship on the basis of desire or wishful thinking. Although I am saying this relationship cannot be hurried, if you practice Shi-né with regularity, determination and commitment, if you study the View with the motivation of completely internalizing it, then you should quickly arrive at a point where such a commitment is possible.

Q So then it's possible to move more quickly if you really have the determination and devotion?
R Yes, but people shouldn't be too greedy. Students must learn to work with the Lama first as the Spiritual Friend. You need to do this to open yourself. You shouldn't ask your Spiritual Friend to become your Lama, in the Tantric sense, unless you're absolutely certain. There is certainly no rush from the Lama's point of view. When you're ready, you're ready. Teachers are often so completely and utterly generous that they would rather let you move on too quickly - they'd often rather do that, than dampen your enthusiasm by telling you that you're not ready to make the commitments that you're offering to make. They have more trust in you than you have in yourself, because they see and trust your intrinsic enlightened nature. Lamas will often work with whatever you present them with. This obviously puts a high degree of responsibility on your shoulders. Being the disciple of a Lama is not like being a fan of a superstar. A relationship with a superstar is a relationship with which you may become disenchanted. The relationship with the Lama is one that lasts throughout your life and lives.

Q What does the word Lama mean?
R The word Lama means Teacher, but it doesn't just mean the external Teacher who manifestly Teaches you. It also refers to your own Beginningless Enlightened Nature. The frustration and sense of unsatisfactoriness you experience as you live your life is your own intrinsic Teacher telling you that you are struggling to maintain the illusion of duality. Your personal parallax of Enlightenment and dualism is Teaching you all the time, but you need the external Teacher to reflect that to you.

Q Thank you very much Rinpoche.

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An interview with the Dalai Lama
Interview conducted by Dawn Engle & Ivan Suvanjieff at the residence of His Holiness,
the 14th Dalai Lama, in Dharamsala, India, May 22, 1995

Q: Do you ever get mad? Do you ever get so frustrated that you feel like giving up?

Perhaps, at the emotional level, it may happen sometimes. But, I believe, as a human being, our emotions must go along with human intelligence. If you were without emotion, a person would become very dry, very cold, so emotion must be a part of our lives.

Emotions are a kind of blind, natural thing and so they can be either very helpful, or very harmful. So here, human wisdom and intelligence has the responsibility to check those negative emotions which have no basis in reason. Actually, some emotions such as compassion do have a basis in reason, and they can go along very well with human wisdom and intelligence.

This is my basic training, my basic belief. When frustration or feelings of hopelessness come, then intelligence comes to help out. Sometimes for no sound reason, you just have desperate feelings that come. But because we are human beings, we have ways and means to work on that. That's the gift of being a human being. For animals, there is emotion, but in a desperate situation, they have no reason to help them out of it.

In my own case, when emotion is about to come, wisdom helps me out, so it is not much of a problem.

Q: A young man from Chicago asks what to do about violence. He says that everyday he is surrounded by gangs and guns, on the streets and in his school. He wants to walk the path of nonviolence, but he is wondering how he can do this and still survive?

Hmm. For such a situation, the question that arises under these particular circumstances, the answer is very difficult. Under these circumstances, in such an exceptional case, you may need similar action to counter this violence, unfortunately. We cannot say that the similar action is right; this we cannot say. But the real answer is, we must make an effort to change that entire situation. This is our real task.

Over the last few decades, I think we neglected something. So now, today, a new situation has developed in society. The human way is to make an effort to change that entire atmosphere of hate and violence. If we take a similar action or counteraction to deal with the current situation, that may succeed or it may not, but it is only a temporary solution. It does not solve the problem. It is not the real answer.

When a desperate situation occurs, I focus more on how to prevent such things from happening in the future. The current situation is terrible, terrible, but there is not much we can do, just accept it. Like the current situation in Bosnia- sometimes people ask me what we can do and I say, there really is nothing. Sometimes human beings become almost mad with negative emotions. In such circumstances, only force can work. You cannot use human intelligence to counter the negative emotions in such extreme cases. It is too late, too late.

But we should not feel hopeless; that would be wrong. We must work to prevent such things in the long-term future-that is the human way and the best we can do. That is our task, even if it doesn't happen during our lifetime. We must do this for the future generation.

So that always gives me hope. Yes, the immediate situation is hopeless and nothing can be done. But that doesn't mean that it is hopeless for the future. Since there is determination to do something for the future, there is always long-term hope.

For this specific question, in this particular situation, I don't know. If it was me, with all of this pressure on me, including a gun pointed at me, I don't know what I would do. Maybe I would do this (laughing and hiding his head between his hands), or perhaps I would do this (throws an imaginary punch), which would be violent, too. (laughs long and hard) Really, I don't know what I would do!

Q: If you are young, no one listens to what you have to say. How do I get people to take me and my ideas more seriously?

(thinks, then laughs) I don't know. I feel sometimes, in my own experience, I have some idea and I never think that it is silly, but it really is a silly idea. But I think it is a great idea and I try to convince other people of how great it is. Then later on, you realize what a silly idea it was. At that moment, the response to your idea will not be positive; but you get so convinced that your own idea is so great.

Also, sometimes, older people, when they hear an idea from a young person, they think, "Oh, no experience," and they don't really listen. That kind of thing definitely happens. Then sometimes, human nature is such that we rely more on the person than on the substance of the message. If an idea comes from someone very gentle or great, without much thinking about the idea itself, one tends to be more accepting of the idea. I think that this is one of the important teachings of Buddhism. We must rely more on the substance of the idea, rather than on the authority of the person who it comes from.

So if the idea comes from a young person and it has real value, then we should accept it. If it is silly and it comes from the king or the Prime Minister of Sweden, then no. We need to focus on the message, not on the person who gives it. If we have adopted this attitude then even very young people, we can hear their good ideas and accept them.

I feel that sometimes, from young people, their minds are not biased and they can see things in a different way. They are more natural and spontaneous. Older people have more biases and tend to have been more influenced by society and the brain side of their nature. Young people are more innocent. The basic quality of human nature, the basic innate goodness in each of us, is more intact. Older people tend to be less spontaneous, more biased. (Laughs) But, I don't know.

Q: At school, we have been studying the importance of the rain forest and preserving the environment. How do you feel when you see the pollution, the garbage, the forests being cut down, the dirty air?

Now, this is a new problem, in part due to population, also, humans using natural resources too extensively. That also contributes to the problem. In my own case, when we were in Tibet, there was a large area and a small population, a cold, dry climate, so even though we didn't pay much attention, nature took care of things and we were in balance. Now, it has become very clear that the environment is so important and how much can be done by each person in your daily life to help.

When you leave your room, switch off the light, recycle garbage, this is easy, it becomes part of your daily life and each individual can help a lot. Similarly, if one, ten, one hundred, ten thousand people don't pay attention, the effects are very bad. Each individual must carry some of this discipline in daily life; together we can make a big impact on society. Education is very helpful, too, but the most important thing is that these simple practices become a part of your daily life.

Q: The entertainment media, TV and the movies portray and glorify violence. Do you think these are making our society more violent?

I think so, I think so, particularly to those people who don't do much reflecting inwardly, especially for these sorts of people the outward influences make a greater impact on their mind. If it is someone who meditates and reflects inwardly on a regular basis, then I think that the outside influences become less.

In society today, particularly toward younger people, the media has a great, great responsibility. I have always believed that on this planet, we are one human family and now because of many new factors today, the concepts of they and we should be gone. We have to think of the entire human race as "we." There is no more "my interest" or "your interest," all of our interests are related to the whole world, to all people-including the media. We are now one global family, so when there is a problem or a threat to one of us, all of us will suffer. There is no escape. We all have the responsibility to look after the world.

Now that the world has become a much smaller place, much depends on each one of us. In order to go forward positively, the main factor is human mind, human consciousness. So here, the sense of commitment toward a better future world, that sort of sense of responsibility, that is our real hope. All professions should play a role-educators, the media, scientists, religious leaders, economists, and of course politicians. They all have different activities, but they all must be for humanity, because now when we talk about humanity we cannot make a distinction between us versus them. So of course the media has a huge responsibility.

Basically, I believe that human nature is gentleness, that the basic human nature is compassionate. But then, the human brain, as I mentioned before, gets involved. And so, too, do the human emotions.

I have always believed that this human body we are in, our human body structure, if this human body is surrounded by an environment filled with affection it will be healthier and at peace and all the physical functions of the body will work properly. If this human body is in an atmosphere of tension and stress, the response from the body is very negative. So the very nature of this body is that it works best when surrounded by human affection; it needs human affection. If a person's mental state is more affectionate, more compassionate and less fearful, angry and stressful, the result is that the blood pressure goes down, etc. Fear, hatred, these are very bad for the body. Because of these reasons, I believe that the basic human nature is gentleness.

But then how, you would ask, is it that some people become so arrogant and aggressive? And basically, I believe that it is because of human intelligence. It gives us this option. Basic goodness becomes subdued and human intelligence gives fuel for negative emotions. So today, I believe that the destructive nature of society that now threatens the existence of the entire human world has much to do with human intelligence.

The way to overcome all human sufferingÑthat also is through human intelligence.

Generally, today, I think people are getting the impression that human nature is more negative. It is the negative stories that become news because they strike us and they strike our mind because they are something unnatural. When we hear that someone takes care of someone else, we think, oh, that is natural. So I think this shows that compassion and kindness, we take for granted. Murder and killing, this is something not natural for human beings, so this becomes news. Always the bad news is covered. So eventually we feel human nature is negative and it creates hatred toward ourselves.

Media has a real responsibility to create a truer picture of the real nature of human beings. And I feel that this is very, very important because it affects the human consciousness and our determination to create a better future. If we do not believe in ourselves and in our own essential goodness, how can we have the belief that we can create a better future? Self-confidence is very, very important. So if the media is always giving negative information, making things look hopeless, it will discourage our basic human qualities.

Q: If you could be invisible for a day, completely invisible for just one day, what would you do?

Well, actually, according to the Buddhist point of view, there are these sorts of times. So at such times, there are new responsibilities, new work to do.

But your basic nature is the same, and your goal is to be helping others. Whether in a visible body or in an invisible body, your basic work is still the same. You would have the same feelings, you would want the same happiness, you would not want pain. Whether your body is visible or invisible, it doesn't matter, it is still the same.

But I think if I was invisible, it would be much easier to spy on other people (laughs). It would be a new opportunity, a good opportunity (laughs long and hard).

Q: What about when the feelings of depression become overwhelming? Why continue to live when it all seems so futile, if there is so little hope?

I think that that kind of concept is wrong. Of course, always there are problems, but also, always there is hope, if you have this sort of determination and will power. Then always there is a good chance and hope is always there.

Q: You are a great man, and I am a very small person. How can I make any sort of difference in this world?

I do not consider I myself to be something special. I always consider all human beings to be special, whether they are educated or uneducated, they all have the human mind and the human spirit and that is what is important.

So now the question is whether you utilize that human potential with confidence. That is the question. Every human being has the same potential without losing confidence, with great determination. You need to try. Education is also important in realizing one's full potential. I believe that education is very, very important.

Q: How much time do we have left on planet earth, given the environmental destruction and all the damage we have done. Is there hope for survival on this planet?

In spite of many problems, much suffering, many tragic situations, I believe the human race has the ability to survive and not only to survive, but also I think because of our experiences over the last century we have learned so much. Perhaps as a result of our experiences in these complicated, difficult times, I think humanity in general is becoming more mature. So if we really put every effort, more concentrated effort, with more clear vision about the future, I think our next century will certainly be a much happier one.

The future is on our own shoulders. If we find failure-again make an effort. Failure-again make an effort. Failure-again make an effort. There is always the possibility to have a better future. If we give up hope and we give up the effort, then we will be asking for ruin and destruction.

Q: Are you ever embarrassed by all the attention you receive? I would like to be a leader, but I don't know how to put myself forward in that way and still retain any sort of humbleness at all.

Usually, my attitude is that I am just another human being, meeting other human beings. On that level, there is not much difference. Of course, on another level, there are different positions and stations and titles, etc. But these are secondary. If you take these things as being important, then really, they become an obstacle to communicating with the other person. If you stay on the basic human level, then there is no barrier.

That kind of attitude has been very helpful to me. That way, when I am meeting with a president or a beggar, to me, there is very little difference. As long as on the other side, there is a genuine smile, genuine sincerity, it is easy. That is the real human value, real human feeling and the willingness to share in another's suffering or in another's happiness as brothers and sisters.

Q: Is there hope for Tibet? What can the rest of us do to help the Tibetan people and their cause? Do you really think that the policy of nonviolence can work to save Tibet?

In spite of the very serious, harsh, repressive nature of what is happening in Tibet today, basically, I am very hopeful, because the overall situation in the world is that the totalitarian communist way of ruling does not work. And then in China, the democratic movement not only survived, but is now very active. Also, economic development, I think, has brought political liberalization.

At the same time the Tibetan spirit is very, very high, very strong, especially among the younger generation. Also awareness about Tibet is increasing around the world, year by year and as a result, the feeling of sympathy, the feeling of solidarity is increasing. So due to these factors, for the long-run, I am optimistic.

In the meantime, I earnestly request our brothers and sisters around the world to help us. In the past, Tibet was very remote and isolated. Now today, the world situation has changed very much and particularly in the case of Tibet, because of geographics.

If Tibet becomes a zone of peace, it would be a great contribution to the cause of peace in Asia, because India and China are the world's two most populous nations and it would be a great contribution to peace in the world. Then Tibetan culture and Buddhist culture, that way of life (and not just the Buddhist religion, because there are Tibetan Muslims, tooÑI am speaking more of a culture, a way of life) is today facing extinction. This culture also has great potential to make a tremendous contribution to peace of mind not only to the six million Tibetan people, but to people all over the world. And also of great help to millions of young Chinese.

Holding events to educate others about preserving and protecting Tibet and Tibetan culture would be of tremendous help and most welcome. I earnestly request this of our brothers and sisters, on this beautiful planet.

Q: If you had one thing to say to the young people of the world, what would it be?

Brothers and sisters, as human beings on this small planet, time is always changing, always moving. In a way, the way things always keep changing is good, because if they did not, all of these negative things would remain. Because things are always changing, there is always hope.

Now, what I want to share with you is that there is always the possibility for things to change and to change for the better. Changes full of human value. I think that is our goal. We have the opportunity-particularly you, the young people-you are the main people who are carrying the responsibility for a good future in the long-term.

You are the seed to develop a prosperous, friendly, harmonious, peaceful world. So much depends on you. Education is important, but education alone is not sufficient. Education of the brain and development of the good heart-these must go together.

Good heart gives you courage, gives you the confidence and the determination. These are the prime movers for a better future. And the brain, it is like an instrument, it can solve all our problems. So with a good instrument used by a good heart, then there is real hope, there is a real good future. So you see, much depends on our own shoulders, on our own hands. Let us try to achieve that kind of happy world. Yes-definitely-there is good hope, there is good potential. It is very important to have full confidence and determination to lead that kind of world.

With optimism, even difficult things can be realized. If you lose hope and remain pessimistic in attitude, then even the easy things to achieve, you will never achieve. So therefore, so much depends on our own mental attitude. That is what I really wanted to share with you.

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An Interview with Tsoknyi Rinpoche
(published in the Pundarika Foundation Newsletter)

Rinpoche, could you outline your future teaching plans in the United States and the Pundarika Foundations's role?
Presently I am organizing things so that I'll have two or three months, maybe more, to come to the United States each year. I've been teaching now about nine or ten years and I can see a lot of progress by my students since I began coming here. Somehow I have a very strong karmic connection with this country. In that I agree with the Buddhist view that it depends on karma - the students' karma and the teacher's karma. So somehow my karma is not finished in America, so that's why I like to come and teach. Maybe in the future I will see if I can do more solitary retreat. If I do more practice myself, then naturally it will help those who are receiving teachings from me because I will have something more to offer. It makes me happy to share my knowledge with my students.
For the time being, I want to put my energy more into actual teaching of students than in building a big center. It's not that I'm opposed to having a center - if karma indicated that I would be happy to do so. But I prefer to put my energy into teaching. And besides, there are already enough Dharma centers in America, too many centers I think, and I feel people have a greater need for teaching at this time. As for the Pundarika Foundation, its purpose is organizing my teaching, but I also have a karmic link to projects I maintain in Nepal and Tibet. So the foundation also helps in the maintenance and progress of these projects.
Rinpoche, why do you think the Dzogchen teachings are appropriate for westerners?
I think in general any Buddhist teaching is very suitable in the West. In the West, I think, the human mind is already too much "out", so there's little knowledge of one's own nature. The focus is on everything but your own nature. There is little in the way of traditions or practices or techniques in the West to see self nature because the mind is going out, looking at other things. There are few teachings on the mind here. But in general, the whole Buddhist teaching is for focusing on yourself fist, and then others. Especially in Dzogchen instructions it is made so clear that we need to know the mind and mind essence. There is a very long explanation introducing how to recognize your mind essence and this is something that I think people in the United States need. I believe that Dzogchen can make a major contribution to humanity by helping us see our own nature, then others.
In regard to that, there are those who say that Dzogchen cannot be or should not be attempted until one has done a lot of foundational practice. Is there a particular reason why westerners might be able to benefit from Dzogchen without having first done all that?
In my approach I am not so strict such that one must first have the foundational teachings before receiving Dzogchen instruction. I am not so strict, but I highly recommend that even if you have received the Dzogchen teachings and practice them, you should do ngondro [the traditional foundational practices of refuge and prostrations, mandala offering, guru yoga and Vajrasattva recitation]. Many of my students are doing ngondro. But I don't restrict them to first completing ngondro before receiving Dzogchen teachings. Traditionally it would be done that way, but in the West, doing ngondro alone at the beginning doesn't make any sense, in fact it can make one more neurotic and could prevent a true understanding of Dharma. Students should understand real Dharma as a wisdom path. Then they will naturally realize that wisdom and accumulation of merit are equally important. Many of my students, without my asking them to, have come to me for the ngondro transmission. They see the importance and interdependence of merit and wisdom. So without wisdom, without understanding of the nature of your mind, just doing ngondro alone doesn't make much sense in a western context.
In Tibet it is different. There you have natural faith in reality beyond concepts. But here that has to be shown and proven first. It's the influence of science. Without proof they will not do it. But with ngondro how can you prove it? It is very difficult. How can you prove peace in a place where so many things are happening? How can you prove relaxation? How can you prove non conceptual mind? But when you first realize something beyond conception mind, then the importance of ngondro is naturally understood.
Then you feel that practices such as ngondro, yidam practice, Madhyamaka study and shamatha practice are important complements or supports for Dzogchen?
O yeah. Very much so. If you do Dzogchen and then you study Madhyamaka, that makes a lot of sense. And if you do Dzogchen and then ngondro, then ngondro makes sense and it also helps your Dzogchen improve faster. The realization of mind's nature becomes more sustained and the confusion dissolves faster. Another interesting thing - for those who have practiced shamatha or vipassana for a long time, Dzogchen works very well. They have good sittings, they know what to practice and they know what meditation is, they know what conceptual cultivation is. So when I give a teaching to "let it go," they really know how to because there is something there to let go of. People new to meditation sometimes have difficulty, but sometimes it goes very well for them - it all depends. Sometimes new people do better than old practitioners. So wisdom and merit are equally important. Even if you realize mind nature you have to do ngondro, you have to do all the accumulations. They really help and support each other very nicely.
Rinpoche, do you have to make adaptations in your teaching style to enable westerners to understand the Dzogchen teachings?
I think the teaching itself is the same whether I teach Tibetans or westerners because the Dzogchen teachings are an approach to reality. Reality is reality. There is no separate reality for westerners and another for Tibetans. But the way I teach each is slightly different. Westerners don't have so much natural trust to "let it go" so I need to give them good reasons. All the reasons are there in Dzogchen actually. Dzogchen is vast. In some areas I don't need to explain so much to tibetans because the already understand. And in some areas I don't have to explain to westerners, because they already have it. But the principle is the same. Also I emphasize modern examples. Some of the older ones are 2,500 years old - too old - and they don't function now. So I use the same concepts, but bring them up-to-date.
Rinpoche, what cultural differences between Tibet and the West make it most difficult for the Tibetan Dharma to succeed in the West?
Tibetan Buddhism is very large, very complex, and you really need a lot of intelligence to understand the whole thing.
And in general Buddhism is not based on just belief. And it is not so simple that you can simply believe something and expect,
for example, to be reborn in a pure land in the next life. Buddhism is really very systematic, it's a science, sort of, with reason, positive motivation, an understanding of mind - a whole structure. And also there are no guaranties - especially in Tibetan Buddhism. There is no guaranty that if you do five years of retreat that you will have a very high degree of realization. If you do only four days you might have a very high degree. The state of mind is not really like some kind of physical structure. Buddhism is a wise teaching with many angles, many things to know, with great variety and richness.
All this richness cannot survive in a modern lifestyle, I think. That's because people are too busy. They want something compact, short, and easy - and with a guaranty. In this culture people want something easy, guaranteed, like, "You do ten days of retreat and we'll guaranty this and that. If you become a Buddhist, you will be reborn in a Buddha Realm." But it's not that simple. You could do the practice, but with wrong motivation - so there is no guaranty. That kind of expectation creates obstacles.
So you're saying westerners are less likely to be able to penetrate and be patient enough, because we want everything fast?
Fast, and in this lifetime. Buddhism is sometimes designed into many lifetimes, not only this one. A westerner may expect "everything within one or two years, and now I'm 40 and if nothing happens in five years I'm not going through with it." And also in modern culture you have to study, finish college and only then you might come to the Dharma. Then, after that you study it and it takes a long time. Few people here are born into the Dharma. And then you have to work and support yourself, live a fast-paced life and all this stuff. And that, I think, presents a general obstacle. So some people take one part of Buddhism and its experience and they just teach that.

And this wouldn't happen so much in Tibet?
No, not so much. You must know Buddhism in general, as a whole. Without general knowledge of Buddhism, it's very difficult. That is why most of my retreats are five to ten days, rather than only one or two days. I cannot give students very much knowledge otherwise.
This interview was conducted in July, 2000 at Santa Rosa, CA by Brian Hodel
published in the Pundarika Foundation Newsletter

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Beliefe & Practice:
Shambhala Meditation
April 30, 2004 Episode no. 735
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week735/belief.html

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Buddhist meditation techniques are widely popular, and one such method is called Shambhala meditation, a simplified version of Tibetan practice. Recently, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, author and meditation leader, told a group of beginners to relax, note their breathing, set aside their thoughts, and just be -- quietly -- who they are. The setting was All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, D.C.

SAKYONG MIPHAM RINPOCHE (Spiritual Leader, Shambhala Buddhist Movement): "Shambhala" is a word that really connotes how a human being can live in the world and practice spirituality and not renounce anything, in a sense. It's a notion that one can have a family, one could have a job, and one can still deepen and meditate and understand. And that life is a journey and that one does not have to become a renunciator or monastic in order to do that.

In Shambhala one needs to have what we call "windhorse" -- developing your life-force energy. People struggle in their life -- working, just getting through the day, trying so many things just so that they are able to survive. And they need energy, and they need strength. Discord and argument weaken our energy.

Meditation to me is strengthening the mind. In the Buddhist tradition, we say, in order just to feel a sense of joy -- the word is "dewa," bliss, happiness -- one needs sleep, one needs food, one needs meditation, and one needs well-beingness. What I find interesting about this particular list, as it were, is that meditation is thrown in there. Just like you take care of the body, just like you need to sleep, at some point one needs to meditate. And that means a period in the day when one can strengthen, calm, and then you're ready. Otherwise, life becomes overwhelming, and the level of agitation and stress begins to reduce our energy.

Meditation really doesn't have to take more than five or ten minutes. It's better to do ten minutes than not to really focus and drag on for an hour. If one wants to meditate longer, great. But really the notion is consistency -- just some time in the day when you reflect.

The word "meditation" in Tibetan is "gom," and it means "familiarity." So what do we become familiar with now? Our breathing. We'll just breathe. So, everybody can breathe?

Whatever our thoughts are, those little ones, those are okay. Thoughts that are engrossing about the future, going over stories of the past where it takes us away totally from this room, those we should recognize that we are drifting and come back to the breathing.

We're just trying to be at peace. Rest comfortably. And every time we rest, every time we follow the breathing, feel the breathing, our mind becomes stronger.

And, once we begin to strengthen, and our mind begins to settle down, then we're able to perceive things in a deeper way. We begin to look and say, "What about love, what about compassion, what about the notions of egolessness or selflessness?" Those insights don't come very often.

At a very basic level, every single sentient being is the Buddha. You discover the Buddha, as opposed to you become the Buddha.

Enlightenment is that rediscovery, you can say. And the process of meditation is sort of like cleaning a window -- you finally get to see through.

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BLACK BUDDHA: Bringing the Tradition Home
An interview with Choyin Rangdrol
By Rebecca Walker
© Turning Wheel Magazine, Summer 2003

Choyin Rangdrol is a Vajrayana teacher in the Nyingma tradition whom I had the good fortune to meet at the historic African-American Buddhist retreat held last summer at Spirit Rock in Woodacre, California. After listening to his nuanced teaching on the importance of both honoring cultural heritage and transcending it in order to achieve complete realization, I visited his website, www.rainbowdharma.com and requested a meeting. We have been in communication ever since.
What led to your decision to bring Dharma to African-Americans?
When I discovered that it was possible to avoid becoming ensnared in the mentality of an angry black man by applying Buddhism, I felt I had found a great treasure not just for me but also for my people. I could immediately see the potential for resonance in millions of black people's minds. I could see how this could reverberate down to the core of the hurt so many of us carry and that one could emerge from Buddhist study and practice healed.
The most profound injury that Buddhism can address in African-Americans is the fracture in our identity we continue to hold as a result of slavery. The nature of the injury is disconnection from our ancestral lineage and indigenous Divine. When we ask the question, "Who are we?" Buddhism offers us great clarity in realizing that being a human being is enough, and the rest is a footnote.
Do you think Dharma needs to change in order for it to speak more directly to the needs of people of African descent?
Dharma doesn't need to change, people need to change. They need to begin to understand the difference between inclusion and exclusion in terms of the environments they create, the books they write, the language they use, and presentation of the structure that houses dharma. At the centers, they need to look at who is in charge, who greets who at the door, what the Buddha statues look like, and what resources are offered for African-Americans to find their own inherent connectedness to Dharma. Finally, there needs to be an admission of the fact that African-Americans have not always been welcomed into the inner sanctum of Buddhist activity. There must be a heartfelt analysis of how past intentional and unintentional exclusion is reverberating in the identity of American Buddhism.
For instance, how can a dharma center be in existence for a decade or more and have no connection with the African-American community they see right outside their own window? How is it that American Buddhists can create something that is so alien and foreign to African-Americans that even though they stand and look at it they still don't know what it is? How does this happen?
Do you think this lack of connection with the African-American community is pervasive in the American Buddhist community, irrespective of tradition?
There have been Buddhist communities in America that have been more open, like Soka Gakkai International (SGI)-USA for example, but at the same time, this issue of Asian ethnocentrism is real. Buddhism that is encased in Tibetan, Japanese, or Chinese cultures can be very confusing because often people can't see where culture ends and Buddhism begins. With African-Americans, you're dealing with a people who have had to fight to maintain their culture through two hundred years of slavery and another hundred years of segregation. In order to practice Buddhism, they now have to figure out how to hold it as well as be the agent of the culture they find it in. It feels as though there is no such thing as practicing Buddhism without assimilating to Asian culture under the watchful eye of the dominant culture. To African-Americans this can appear to be a destructive cultural process that goes against the grain of their historicity, their heritage, and their legacy in America as survivors of cultricide.
There is also a sense of narrowness in the presentation of Buddhism from Asia. It does not seem inclusive of the black people in Asia. We know that there are hundreds of millions of black people throughout Asia. They were there before there was an Asia, and yet when we go to a dharma center where are they represented? Conversely, we find many European Americans in American Buddhism. Sometimes the statues of Buddha in the west even have a chiseled European nose. When one considers that Europeans en masse are not found in Asia's antiquity, but black people are, then the puzzlement and disinterest in African Americans minds is better understood.
Which black people are you talking about?
Look at the statues at Angkor Wat or look at Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, who is depicted with a broad nose, thick lips, and curly hair. There are also some interesting murals in India's Ajanta caves depicting black people handing a lotus to a prince. Or look at Runoko Rashidi's book African Presence in Early Asia and read about black people in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and so on. I have personally met black people from Burma and I have a student who is currently living among the black people of south India. And that is just skipping the rock over the surface because we don't have a lot of archaeological information to discern the complete history of black people in Asia. The African diaspora in Asia has been mislabeled and African Americans continuity with the black Global diaspora has been broken as well. African-American's disconnection with the black people of the world is an injury resulting from slavery in America and in some way, western Dharma's exclusion of the black Asiatic experience in Buddhism has become conjoined with that continuum of injury.
Do we do injury to ourselves by focusing on ethnicity while practicing Dharma?
Buddhism's pedagogical structure moves step by step. We don't start with enlightenment, we start with suffering, and then we proceed in a direction. The purpose of that is to clear obstacles that prevent us from living as a fully awakened, unobstructed human being. Some of these obstacles are intellectual, some are emotional, some are psychological, and some of them are cultural. It is how we move through these obstacles that gives Buddhism its ability to penetrate into the depths of people's hearts.
It is important for African-Americans to be free to use their culturalisms as a means of liberating themselves from their culturalisms. We're not in competition with our Asian Buddhist counterparts, but just like Tibetans or Chinese or Japanese people can use their culture to achieve enlightenment, African-Americans can use their own culture, too. No one questions Tibetan, Japanese or Chinese culture in Buddhism, but the moment African-Americans say, "this is my culture and I am doing Buddhism," people say we are being ethnocentric. In fact, culture itself can be a vehicle for liberation when we use its narrowness and divisiveness as a teaching of what we must transcend. This is not just for African-Americans, but also for all human beings to consider carefully. What is your culture and has your practice allowed you to transcend it, or are you maintaining your culturalisms under the guise of Buddhology?
Ultimately, we must always remember that the seed syllable Om is Buddha's gift to all of humanity. Buddha was not thinking about giving it to ensure the longevity of one cultural group.
What do you say to practitioners who feel isolated?
Over the past seven years I have heard from many African-American practitioners from all over the country on this subject of isolation. I get questions like, "I am in this major metropolitan city, do you know any place I can go where there are other African- Americans practicing?" Although they are in a major metropolitan city with millions of people, they feel alone. So I have recommended and also adopted as a teaching style a very intimate presentation of Buddhism in the African-American community. Buddhism in my view needs to spread like the works of a good country doctor, from one house to the next, so that the teacher knows the living rooms of all of his or her students.
The adoption of a new faith practice in the African American community is confidential and its power lay in people being able to hear the teachings unobstructedly. It is the genesis of establishing dharma in one's family, not just as an individual practitioner, but in teaching people the legacy of how Dharma is transmitted from parents to children. Very quickly a small living room can become a safe haven for new practitioners. That does not mean that larger organizations and centers have no role, but time is of the essence. No further delay is necessary. It is a matter of understanding that Buddhism in the African-American community is an idea whose time has come.
How can we bring European-American and African-American practitioners together? Should we?
We have to. Despite all that has happened in America between African-Americans and European-Americans, the answer for the Buddhist community, for America, and for peace on earth is for the descendants of slaves and slave-owners to use Buddhism to become One.
The only Buddhism that needs to be practiced in America is called world peace. We can see that peace is disappearing from the world. It is no longer a matter of the environment or the devastation to the animal kingdom, it is humanity itself that is perishing. To the extent that we can disallow our history to be a factor in what we must do together, the potential for us to save humanity and the world has its best chance. We have to become bigger than our differences and to know that we are the same in our ability to improve the world or to serve as obstacles that will lead to its destruction. This is not a racial issue, this is not a cultural issue, this is not a Buddhist issue, it is now an issue of human survival.
What is the role of black people in the bringing of Buddhism to the West?
America plays a pivotal role in Western Buddhism, and that role is not separate from the history of America. The plight of African-Americans and their ancestors is living testimony to the barbarism that samsara can yield. When African-Americans as a community find an indisputable, irrevocable, unshakable healing, America is likewise healed from the karmic onus of its devastating history. When we as a society intentionally or unintentionally obstruct the path of African-Americans' quest for self-healing, we