When you first started... (lightweight question)

[Lingpupa]

When you first got started in the Dharma, what was the one thing you would most have liked to be told at the beginning that would have made your life, or even your progress in the Dharma, easier? Something trivial, like "Eat a good lunch at this centre, because supper is usually very small"? Or something deep and meaningful?

[Motova]

Don't be quick to rush to Vajrayana, it's really complicated. I suggest forming a strong foundation in sutra and just ask for blessings from Lamas (not empowerments). If you really want to practice with deities, there are possible practices that only require lungs, try those out first.

Don't get an empowerment from a Lama unless you see them as a Buddha.

Don't get an empowerment unless you see yourself dedicating years to that practice.

Don't get an empowerment unless you can also receive a lung for a practice that corresponds to the deity, along with a tri (commentary of the practice). Or you will be stuck and frustrated.

Don't get an empowerment just because everyone else in your group is getting it.

Understand that even once you get an empowerment, lung, and tri that you will still have an infinite of questions to ask. Make sure you have access to a Lama that can answer those, or you will be stuck and frustrated.

Don't collect Lamas or empowerments.

Understand Samaya and your vows, basically how to maintain and restore/repair them or you will cause yourself a ton of stress with the idea of Vajra Hell.

You will meet crazy people at the temple who might unknowingly mislead you. Be skeptical of what people tell you, even the Lama.

Research Lamas, lineages, and controversies.

Vajrayana is very serious and complicated, don't underestimate it.

Know your bladder when you receive an empowerment, they can last a while and you don't want to have to pee in the middle of one.

[Ayu]

"Just keep in touch with the Dharma. There are various different ways to do so. Dharma is a precious jewel. Watch it happily. Never beat yourself up, never discourage yourself."
(Would have been great, if somebody said this to me right away from the start.)

[justsit]

Gomdens are ungodly uncomfortable. A good buckwheat hull zafu is da bomb.

Also, wish I'd known how much time and money I was going to be spending traipsing around the country. I would have planned accordingly.

[dzogchungpa]

Don't take what people on internet forums say about Tibetan Buddhism, and above all Dzogchen, very seriously.

[practitioner]

Don't take what people on internet forums say about Tibetan Buddhism, and above all Dzogchen, very seriously.

[Motova]

Receiving an empowerment is like getting married except that you can't get a divorce.

Just because you've read 50+ books on Tibetan Buddhism, doesn't mean you know shit about what you're getting yourself into.

Just because you've decided on Buddhism and then Tibetan Buddhism doesn't mean much, now it really begins and it's a totally different ball game. Deciding on a path and walking down it takes a different mindset.

Watch a lot of Star Wars and understand it.

Bodhicitta is the most important thing.

[jkarlins]

Keep at it. Listen to others but not too much. Know when to push yourself and when to relax.

[Punya]

Understand that things may not be organised in a western way with regular teachings every week. Be patient, things will evolve at their own pace.

Follow your instincts and, if a teacher appeals, check them out further. The more verifiable background they have the safer you'll be.

Don't be pushed into taking empowerments by teachers or other students when you're not ready.

[Thomas Amundsen]

Do not take as true anything others say, good or bad:
Do not regard it with hope or fear; do not affirm or deny it.
Allow others to say whatever they like, as if they are talking about a corpse.
Except for a qualified Lama, no one can give correct advice, not even your father or mother.
Be the judge of your actions and do not let others lead you around by the nose.
Outwardly, be persevering, and know how to live in harmony with everyone without being annoying.

[Kim O'Hara]

It's called the Middle Way for a very good reason. Avoid all extremes and be happy to just muddle along as best you can.


Kim

[Anonymous X]

When you first got started in the Dharma, what was the one thing you would most have liked to be told at the beginning that would have made your life, or even your progress in the Dharma, easier? Something trivial, like "Eat a good lunch at this centre, because supper is usually very small"? Or something deep and meaningful?

Why would you want to keep the belief that there is a 'beginning of' and 'a someone to begin' alive? Emptiness teachings are central teachings that cut right to the core that refute our ideas of time, space, and an existent self.

[jkarlins]

I think it's a fine question. Thanks Lingpupa.

[Lingpupa]

Why would you want to keep the belief that there is a 'beginning of' and 'a someone to begin' alive? Emptiness teachings are central teachings that cut right to the core that refute our ideas of time, space, and an existent self.

Thank you for your input, whoever you are, but I wonder how you square your "emptiness" point of view with all that other material in the sutras. You know, all those things like cause-and-effect, or how it was that the Buddha of this age began, all those ages ago, by becoming a bodhisattva and accumulating the causes for becoming a Buddha. Traditionally, that is said to be why he is enlightened and why people like you and me are still fooling around in samsara. Or do you perhaps equate "emptiness" with "non-existence"? How do you feel, for instance, about starting ngondro? If you are empty, ngondro is empty, and the result is empty, then why bother?

Of course, if you are speaking from the point of view of true realisation, I would be happy to have you hang your coat on a sunbeam and let me take teachings from you. Otherwise, I don't think ideas like "beginning" or "someone" are going away very soon.

[conebeckham]

Good post. ^^^

[Thomas Amundsen]

Why would you want to keep the belief that there is a 'beginning of' and 'a someone to begin' alive? Emptiness teachings are central teachings that cut right to the core that refute our ideas of time, space, and an existent self.

Thank you for your input, whoever you are, but I wonder how you square your "emptiness" point of view with all that other material in the sutras. You know, all those things like cause-and-effect, or how it was that the Buddha of this age began, all those ages ago, by becoming a bodhisattva and accumulating the causes for becoming a Buddha. Traditionally, that is said to be why he is enlightened and why people like you and me are still fooling around in samsara. Or do you perhaps equate "emptiness" with "non-existence"? How do you feel, for instance, about starting ngondro? If you are empty, ngondro is empty, and the result is empty, then why bother?

Of course, if you are speaking from the point of view of true realisation, I would be happy to have you hang your coat on a sunbeam and let me take teachings from you. Otherwise, I don't think ideas like "beginning" or "someone" are going away very soon.

[CedarTree]

Although I am of the Zen tradition I will say the biggest was "keep sitting".

Going past special states and really delving into and opening up to the mundane/ordinary mind has been big.

[Anonymous X]

Why would you want to keep the belief that there is a 'beginning of' and 'a someone to begin' alive? Emptiness teachings are central teachings that cut right to the core that refute our ideas of time, space, and an existent self.

Thank you for your input, whoever you are, but I wonder how you square your "emptiness" point of view with all that other material in the sutras. You know, all those things like cause-and-effect, or how it was that the Buddha of this age began, all those ages ago, by becoming a bodhisattva and accumulating the causes for becoming a Buddha. Traditionally, that is said to be why he is enlightened and why people like you and me are still fooling around in samsara. Or do you perhaps equate "emptiness" with "non-existence"? How do you feel, for instance, about starting ngondro? If you are empty, ngondro is empty, and the result is empty, then why bother?

Of course, if you are speaking from the point of view of true realisation, I would be happy to have you hang your coat on a sunbeam and let me take teachings from you. Otherwise, I don't think ideas like "beginning" or "someone" are going away very soon.

You seem like an intelligent guy so I asked you some direct questions regarding your idea of a 'person' who wants to achieve something. The way that I understand Buddhist teaching is from the point of view of teachers like Nagarjuna whose dialectic exhausts the discursive mind that believes that there is an existent self within the person and within phenomena. This kind of approach may not resonate with you but it is a very direct one that confronts our beliefs that create ignorance and suffering. Trying to emulate the Buddha or anyone else is not going to touch one's own illusions. You come to this through contemplation of your own state, not someone else's.

Emptiness is not nothingness. This is an erroneous view. Through careful study and contemplation, you begin to exhaust your own illusions about self, becoming, and attainment. You have to get past the words and images that cloud all of our perceptions. There are no people like you and me. Perhaps you don't get what I'm saying.

[PeterC]

"Don't think too much".

[TaTa]

Im still a beginner so its for me also: practice regulary and keep it simple