05/09/2019
聆聽法語,深入思惟;智慧明燈,去除無明。
Whatever Appearances We See Are the Result of Past Karma
Lama Zopa Rinpoche sent the following advice to three students who had written him complaining about a center director.
… Yes, I have also heard complaints from the director as well as from you. The reality is that there is negativity on both sides. I am not saying one is completely pure and the other is bad, unless one is Buddha. Then, that is my own problem.
Again, to remind you, if we accept karma, first there is whatever we experience with our senses. Whatever appearances we experience are the result of past good and bad karma. Have you heard of one liquid appearing differently to a preta being, a hell being, a god being, and Buddha? The solution is, if we want to enjoy nectar, we have to purify the negative karma of seeing pus.
In the letter, you never talk about your own negative karma and wrong conceptions. In the letter it always sounds like one is perfect and the other is always wrong. The letter never talks about your own mistakes, only others’ mistakes. This is my general view of how I see your letter.
If you sincerely care about the organization of the center and the FPMT, then I appreciate that very much. One reason why people criticize the center is because you criticize it to the world, so when people hear about the center, they also start criticizing. They are just like children believing bad things from the television. …
Previously at another center, everybody complained about the director. We made one of the people who’d complained the new director, and then everyone complained about the new director.
Much love and prayer…
This advice was originally published in 2011 as “Complaints about Director” in “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book” on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/complaints-about-director
Watch short video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/videos-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/whatever-appearances-we-see-are-the-result-of-past-karma/
Caption: Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Institut Vajra Yogini, France, May 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.