The Four Noble Truths

http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/fourtruths.html

The Four Noble Truths

1. Life means suffering.

2. The origin of suffering is attachment.

3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.

4. The path to the cessation of suffering.

 

1. Life means suffering.

To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.

2. The origin of suffering is attachment.

The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a "self" which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call "self" is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.

3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.

The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that suffering can be ended by attaining dispassion. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.

4. The path to the cessation of suffering.

There is a path to the end of suffering - a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely "wandering on the wheel of becoming", because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.

When Mao came face to face with his destiny at Buddhist temple

Indian Express, Aug 14, 2011

Mt Wutai, China -- Mao Zedong, founder of China's Communist Party, rarely visited temples as he remained steadfast with his atheist ideology, but his visit to the sacred Buddhist Mountain here left a legend of how a fortune card he picked accurately predicted his destiny.

On a relaxed tour of this 1200 years old Buddhist shrine after successfully leading the revolution in 1949, Mao picked up a fortune card no: 8341 out of the pack offered to him by Buddhist monks and insisted on knowing what it foretold.

Much to his chagrin the monks maintained stony silence.

Their refusal to speak despite his persistence made him leave the place in a huff.

It later turned out that the card predicted that he would live for 83 years and his rule as a leader of the party would last 41 years.

Mao was born in 1893 and died in 1976 on the 83rd year of his life. He took over the leadership of the ruling Communist Party of China, (CPC) and the Red Army in 1935 during the Long March and remained its leader till his death, which makes it a leadership of 41 years.

True or false, this legend of Mao's destiny is on the lips of scores of official tourist guides here on this picturesque mountain. It is interesting to note how much China has moved away from Mao's era and has aggressively marketed the spiritual importance of the Buddhist shrine using his own legend.

For over 1200 years, Wutai Mountain has been China's most sacred Buddhist place because it was where the highly revered "Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of wisdom", one of prominent disciples of Lord Buddha, once lived and taught Buddhism.

The atmosphere in the shrines easily reminds one of any Indian temple, with hundreds of devotees seen going around it chanting prayers, while others lighting fragrant sticks before the giant bronze statues of Lord Buddha.

This mountain is regarded as one of the four holy Buddhist Mountains in China, with 360 temples built on it dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) after Buddhism came to China from India.

Currently only 47 temples exist here. Broadly imbibing the Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist traditions is a massive white pagoda which can be seen from several miles.

The pagoda, in Nepalese style, has a base circumference of 83.3 meters and is 75.3 meters high.

It reportedly contained a small India-made iron stupa, where some remains of Sakyamuni (One of the names of Lord Buddha) are kept.

Mt Wutai lies in Wutai County in Xinzhou Region of China's flourishing Shanxi Province which has taken a prominent spot on China's burgeoning tourist map.

Besides the temple, the province which has emerged as the power house of China catering power supply to top cities like Beijing, also houses the famous 'Pingyao' -- the ancient city which is a UNESCO world heritage site.

The city dating back to 557 BC-532 BC is regarded as the

"outstanding city model" of Han nationality styled during Ming and Qing dynasties. Hans constitute over 95 per cent of Chinese population.

Plush with houses and places built with ancient Chinese style architecture, the walled city has age-old Buddhist temples, China's first Bank as well as an old prison, depicting torture kits extensively used by the rulers to keep the population under check.

The place which has emerged on top of China's tourist map with modern hotel facilities designed to give the experience of living in the ancient houses is attracting lakhs of tourists every year.

Places such as this helped China emerge as one of the top three tourist destinations in the world last year raking up billions of dollars in tourist inflows.

With 56 million tourist arrivals last year, China edged out Spain, to become the world's third most visited country, behind France (79 million) and the United States (61 million).

Buddhists split on claiming Jobs as one of their own

by Daniel Burke, Religion News Service, Nov 2, 2011

Cupertino, CA (USA) -- A few days after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, a mini-debate erupted on the Facebook page of Buddhist Geeks.

The tech-savvy podcast and digital magazine had linked to a CNN article that explored the late entrepreneur's ties to Zen Buddhism.

One Buddhist Geeks fan said she had recognized Buddhism's influence on Jobs, and wished him a "very auspicious rebirth."

But another argued that Jobs should be held responsible for a spate of worker suicides last year at Foxconn, a Chinese factory that produces parts for iPhones.

Buddhist Geeks responded that it "certainly wasn't our intention to grab up Steve Jobs as a fellow Buddhist. As you and others have pointed out, there is plenty about Steve that we might not want to claim."

In addition to questions about Apple's business decisions, a new biography of Jobs portrays him as mean and egocentric.

Vincent Horn, the co-founder of Buddhist Geeks and a self-described "Apple fanboy," says the debate over Jobs touches on age-old arguments.

One camp argues that when a person practices Buddhism, he walks a linear path that should completely change his life and eradicate bad behavior. Horn calls this "Buzz Lightyear" school of enlightenment, after the "Toy Story" character's token phrase: "To infinity and beyond!"

Another camp argues that even celebrated Zen masters retain human foibles.

"I think the two camps are locked in a perennial argument about the nature of human beings and human ethics," Horn said. "It's so deep and so core and that's part of the reason this whole thing with Steve Jobs has brought up such emotion."

Adam Tebbe, founder and editor of the website Sweeping Zen, said the debate over Jobs is complicated by the fact that the Apple chief rarely spoke publicly about Buddhism.

"It does feel like we're dancing around the edges and not talking about what his real feelings were," Tebbe said.

The Rev. Danny Fisher, a professor and coordinator of the Buddhist chaplaincy program at University of the West, in Los Angeles, said American Buddhists have grown somewhat leery of discussing "celebrity Buddhists."

"At the same time, we could be avoiding the important conversations about Steve Jobs," Fisher said. "Because he is wearing this label of Buddhism, he could be a catalyst for discourse regarding these big questions about Buddhist practice and the market."

Barry Boyce, a senior editor and feature writer at Shambhala Sun, a Buddhist magazine, said he is wary of portrayals of Jobs as a committed Buddhist.

"To be quite honest, I never heard him saying or in any way indicating that he was looking deeply at the interconnected affects of what he was doing with his life and company," Boyce said.

Ashes to beads: South Koreans try new way to mourn

by HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press, Nov 14, 2011

ICHEON, South Korea -- The intense grief that Kim II-nam has felt every day since his father died 27 years ago led to a startling decision: He dug up his father's grave, cremated his bones and paid $870 to have the ashes transformed into gem-like beads.

<< In this Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011 photo, Kim Il-nam, a retired high school principal, displays beads made from his father's ashes during an interview in Icheon, South Korea. Kim dug up his father's grave, cremated his bones and paid $870 to have the ashes transformed into gemlike beads. "Whenever I look at these beads, I consider them to be my father and I remember the good old days with him," Kim said. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Kim is not alone in his desire to keep a loved one close — even in death. Changes in traditional South Korean beliefs about cherishing ancestors and a huge increase in cremation have led to a handful of niche businesses that cater to those who see honoring an urn filled with ashes as an imperfect way of mourning.

"Whenever I look at these beads, I consider them to be my father and I remember the good old days with him," a gray-haired Kim, 69, told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

"As a little boy, I often fell asleep while being hugged by my father," he says, sobbing and gazing at the blue-green beads, which sit on a silk cloth in a ceramic pot on a table.

A decade ago, six out of every 10 South Koreans who died were buried, a practice in line with traditional Confucian instructions to respect dead ancestors and visit their graves regularly. Since then there has been a big shift in South Koreans' thinking about the handling of the deceased, in part, officials say, because of Western influence and a strong government push for citizens of this small, densely populated country to consider cremation as a way to save space.

The government cremation campaign included press statements, pamphlets and radio broadcasts. A law passed in 2000 requires anyone burying their dead after 2000 to remove the grave 60 years after burial.

The results have been dramatic: The cremation rate last year was so high that only 3 in 10 were buried.

About 500 people have turned their loved ones' ashes into Buddhist-style beads at Bonhyang, a company based in Icheon, just south of Seoul. It and several other ashes-to-beads companies say they have seen steady growth in their business in recent years.

Bonhyang founder and CEO Bae Jae-yul says the beads allow people to keep their relatives close to them, wherever they go. He also says stored ashes can rot, a claim denied by crematoriums. "Our beads are clean; they don't become moldy and don't go off and smell bad," he says.

Bae uses ultrahigh temperature to melt cremated ashes until they are crystalized and can be turned into beads in a 90-minute process. The colors are mostly blue-green but sometimes pink, purple and black.

The ashes of one person can produce four to five cups of beads, Bae says, although the ashes of young people have a higher bone density that can yield up to eight cups of beads.

Bae isn't the first to use the technology in South Korea.

A meditation organization obtained similar bead-making technology in the late 1990s, but it was imperfect and wasn't long in the public eye, Bae says. He says he saw the potential, bought the technology and spent several years refining the process.

Bae believes his company has an important edge over rivals. His beads are made purely from human remains with no added minerals, which he says other companies blend in.

Bonhyang's chief rival, MiKwang, says added minerals help produce more rounded, gemlike beads in a faster time and at lower temperatures.

Mikwang officials say they have more business than Bonhyang but refuse to disclose their profits. Bae also refused to disclose business details. No special government license is necessary to start an ashes-to-beads business, according to the Health Ministry, which says individuals have the right to determine how to dispose of loved ones' remains.

The fledgling industry has drawn some criticism.

"They are only interested in making business profits," Do Young-hoon, a researcher on South Korea's funeral culture, says. "The highest level of respect for the dearly departed is to let them go back to nature."

Businesses turning the dead into beads were launched in the United States, Europe and Japan in the past, but were mostly unsuccessful because few people regarded it as a normal way to dispose of dead bodies, says Park Tae-ho, chief researcher at the Korea National Council for Cremation Promotion, a Seoul-based civic group.

Bae's customer Kim, a retired high school principal, says it took some time to persuade his family to accept his plan to honor his father "because they thought a ghost could come to our home along with these beads."

Every morning, Kim, a Catholic, prays to his father's beads, which he keeps on a bookshelf. He takes some beads with him in his car and has also given some to his five daughters.

Despite loyal clients like Kim, Bae says he is still years away from seeing a profit, partly because of the emergence of copycats. But he still feels confident about his business when he sees his customers' delighted reaction to the product.

"People are moved," Bae says, "and I feel it's something worthwhile. I'm confident this business will flourish considerably someday."

Bae says seven Buddhist temples and one Catholic church lease his bead-making machines. He is also negotiating deals over his technology with dozens of other religious organizations in South Korea, and with businesses in China, Thailand, Japan and the Philippines.

Ashes-to-beads businesses could also get a boost when South Koreans take advantage of next year's quadrennial leap month in the lunar calendar to conduct cremations. There's a traditional belief that the ghosts that supervise humans go on vacation during a leap month, so many people in South Korea don't feel sinful for relocating graves or digging up their relatives for cremation.

Kim plans to exhume his mother and make beads from her remains next year.

"I've also told my daughters I want my ashes turned into beads," he says.

The Karmapa's statement on the recent acts of self immolation by Tibetan monks and nuns

The Karmapa's statement on the recent acts of self immolation by Tibetan monks and nuns

The Buddhist Channel, Nov 14, 2011

Dharmsala, India -- A Buddhist nun in China's western Sichuan Province burned herself to death on November 3, 2011, bringing to 11 the number of Tibetan clergy and former clergy who have set themselves on fire since March. The series of self-immolations, unprecedented in Tibetan Buddhism's modern history, has continued despite an increasingly large Chinese security presence in the predominantly ethnic Tibetan area.

In response to the gruesome events, His Holiness the Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, issued the following statement on November 9, 2011:

"Since March this year 11 brave Tibetans have set themselves on fire while calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to his homeland.

These desperate acts, carried out by people with pure motivation, are a cry against the injustice and repression under which they live. The situation is unbearably difficult, but in difficult situations we need greater courage and determination.

"Each report of self-immolation from Tibet has filled my heart with pain. Most of those who have died have been very young. They had a long future ahead of them, an opportunity to contribute in ways that they have now foregone. In Buddhist teaching life is precious. To achieve anything worthwhile we need to preserve our lives. We Tibetans are few in number, so every Tibetan life is of value to the cause of Tibet. Although the situation is difficult, we need to live long and stay strong without losing sight of our long term goals.

"As His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said, the Chinese leadership should face up to the real source of these tragic incidents. Such drastic acts have their origin in the desperate circumstances in which Tibetans find themselves living. A ruthless response will only make things worse. Where there is fear, there can be no trust.

"His Holiness the Dalai Lama has stressed that the use of force is counter-productive; repressive measures can never bring about unity and stability. I agree with him that the Chinese leadership needs seriously to review its policies towards Tibetans and other minorities. I appeal to right-thinking, freedom-loving people throughout the world to join us in deploring the repression unleashed in the monasteries in Tibet, particularly in the Tibetan region of Sichuan. At the same time I appeal to the Chinese leaders to heed Tibetans' legitimate demands and to enter into meaningful dialogue with them instead of brutally trying to achieve their silence.

"Because the Tibetan issue involves truth and justice, people are not afraid to give up their lives, but I request the people of Tibet to preserve their lives and find other, constructive ways to work for the cause of Tibet. It is my heartfelt prayer that the monks and nuns, indeed all the Tibetan people, may live long, free from fear, in peace and happiness."

The monk who flew in a jet

The monk who flew in a jet

Source: Business Bhutan, January 1, 2011; Published on the Buddhist Channel, Nov 14, 2011

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- In 2008, as my friend and I sat down in the restaurant to eat our dinner, we saw a man in the hotel lobby. Immediately, we assumed that he was alone so decided to invite him for dinner.

"I don't eat dinner," the elderly man declined the offer, "I am on my way to the gym."
The next morning, I met him in the hotel lobby and noticed that he was wearing the same clothes.

"Excuse me," he said politely and then looking at the young monk sitting next to me, said affectionately, "Son, it is time for us to go home." The son obediently picked up his small cloth bag from the floor and followed his father.

Earlier, curious to see a monk in the Uma hotel in Paro, I had started a conversation with him.

"Yesterday was my father's 70th birthday and he wanted me to spend it with him in a special place," the monk informed me. The monk could have been in his early thirties.  He had short hair and was wearing saffron robes and had a pair of slippers on. "What a beautiful country you have? They had flown into Paro in their own jet.

So who are these people?  The elderly man is Ananda Krishnan and the monk his only son.

Krishnan is the second richest man in Malaysia . According to Forbes he is worth 7.6 Billion dollars. The Tamil Malaysian of Sri Lankan Tamil origin is a self made man and is a notable philanthropist but leads a low profile life. He and his son are both Buddhists.

Few years ago, the billionaire lost his son. He started to look for him and his search stopped in a Buddhist monastery in north Thailand .  Shocked to see his son in saffron robes, short hair with a begging bowl in his hand the father invites his son for a meal.

"I am sorry; I cannot accept your invitation."  Like all my fellow monks, I have to beg for my food." Krishnan reply made headlines, "With all my wealth I cannot even afford to feed my own son."

The son still lives in the monastery in the forest of Thailand and like all the monks in the monastery depends on other people's generosity for his sustenance.
Hearing stories like these one wonders if we are giving up everything that we already possess to acquire things that we really don't need.

This story clearly demonstrates that human contentment and well being in real terms requires us to go beyond physical, mental, and emotional dimension. Krishnan's son clearly shows that detachment could be a greater wealth and devotion a bigger asset in our lives.

Buddhify web app promotes calmer urban experience

Posted on 15 November 2011 - 05:28am

LONDON (Nov 14, 2011): For a lot of people the day begins amid the chaos of a transit pressure-cooker.

Agitated workers wedge onto trains or buses to make the stressful commute to work and arrive feeling frazzled, a state that only worsens as the day wears on.

Now, a Glasgow-based entrepreneur and digital innovator has launched a new web application for iPhone and Android smart phones intended to help people on the go learn to cope better with some of the struggles of city life.

The Buddhify app introduces users to restful mindfulness meditation practices by allowing them to select from 32 audio tracks to hear instruction from either a male or female voice.

Although its name makes reference to Buddhism, a religion in which meditation plays a key role, the app is intended for use by anybody interested in mental wellbeing.

"The only prerequisite is having a mind," Rohan Gunatillake said.

"Its origins are in the Buddhist tradition, but it's totally independent. It's a way of training your attention in such a way that it develops positive qualities in your mind."

The app also has a two-player mode allowing friends to meditate together.

The traditional ways meditation instruction is delivered seem somewhat outdated to Gunatillake, who has been meditating since 2003.

"The perception of the aesthetic wasn't quite right -- it felt too hippy, the baggage of lotus flowers and incense still
comes with the meditation scene, but that's always been like wrapping paper rather than the actual thing," Gunatillake said.

"It's a cultural effect because of the boomer generation who came across it and who are teachers now."

Buddhify is also meant to help people who may not have time to take meditation courses in real life.

One audio track provides instruction on how to meditate while walking and another on how to mentally wish others peace and happiness - how "to take a break from our own personal soap opera" by choosing a random person to focus on.

"When travelling around have you ever noticed that despite being among so many people we're often just stuck in our own little stories?" Gunatillake's recorded voice asks.

"If it's the start of the day it's all about things we have to do, if it's the end, it's all about the drama of the day's
events. Exhausting stuff really."

The trick is to spread kindness to become happier and more generous, the recording says. –Reuters

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche (1961 - )

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, aka Khyentse Norbu, is the third incarnation of the founder of the Khyentse lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He kept with Khyentse tradition and learned from masters from all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Sakya, Geluk, Nyingma, and Kagyu. From a young age he has been active in the preservation of the Buddhist teaching, establishing centers of learning, supporting practitioners, publishing books, and teaching all over the world. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche supervises his traditional seat of Dzongsar Monastery and its retreat centers in Eastern Tibet, as well as his new colleges in India and Bhutan. He has also established centers in Australia, North America and the Far East.[1] He created the organization the Siddhartha's Intent, which organizes all his teachings and tours around the world. He rebuilt the Dzongsar Monastery in the 80's when Tibet began to lax their policies on practicing religion. In addition to having his seat at the Dzongsar Monastery, he started the Khyentse Foundation, a non-profit organization with the stated goal "to act as a system of patronage for institutions and individuals engaged in the practice and study of Buddha's wisdom and compassion." He has also been involved with the arts. He recently became an author and released his first book in 2007, What Makes You Not a Buddhist. He has also become pretty involved in the film industry. He has made two films, The Cup (1999) and Travelers and Magicians (2003). He was also the star of a documentary called Words of My Perfect Teacher, the film examined the Vajrayana Buddhist student-teacher relationship. The film essentially works as biographical portrait of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche.

Date of Birth: 02 Jan, 1961 Location: India State: Himachal Pradesh

Summary Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, aka Khyentse Norbu, was born in 1961 in Bhutan. He is the grandson of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche. At the age of seven, he was recognized as the third incarnation of the founder of the Khyentse lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He studied at the Palace Monastery of the King of Sikkim. His root-master teachers don't come from one lineage, but from all four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Sakya, Geluk, Nyingma, and Kagyu. Members of the Khyentse lineage tend to take a non-sectarian tradition, which is why he had root-masters from all four schools. Some of the teachers he received empowerments from were His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, and his own grandfather, His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche. His main guru was Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He spent much of his teen years publishing rare texts that were in danger of being lost forever. He left Sikkim to attend college at Sakya College in Rajpur. After completing his studies there, he went to London's School of Oriental and African Studies. When he returned from college, he had the opportunity to help restore the Dzongsar Monastery, which was destroyed during the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959. He helped re-establish the Dzongsar Shedra in 1982 in Sikkim, India. In 1983, classes resumed, with the arrival of Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk, one of the original teachers from Tibet who had spent 20 years in prison under the Chinese. The Shedra was moved to Bir, 70 km from Dharamsala. In 2004, the Dalai Lama inaugurated a brand new complex in Chaundra, 6 km from Bir, which can house 1000 monks and is called the Jamyang Khyentse Chkyl Lodro Institute. The complex also includes eleven classrooms, reading rooms, a library, and a main hall. The institute now has many trained teachers and students enrolled in its nine year graduate program. In addition to the monastery and institute, he established another college in Bhutan. In 1989, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche founded Siddhartha's Intent, an international Buddhist association of non-profit centres, most of which are nationally registered societies and charities, with the principal intention of preserving the Buddhist teachings, as well as increasing an awareness and understanding of the many aspects of the Buddhist teaching beyond the limits of cultures and traditions.[2] His teachers asked him to travel in order to open more Dharma centers around the world. He established centers in Australia, Europe, North America, and the Far East. He established Siddhartha's Intent, which organizes his teachings and tours. Khyentse Norbu found himself very intrigued with the idea of film-making and in 1999, he released his first film The Cup. In 2001, he started the Khyentse Foundation, a non-profit organization with the stated goal "to act as a system of patronage for institutions and individuals engaged in the practice and study of Buddha's wisdom and compassion." In 2003, he released his second film Travelers and Magicians. In 2007, he went with a different medium and released his first book What Makes You Not a Buddhist.

Real Gurus “Couldn't care less”

The dilemma of an Eastern master in a postmodern world

An interview with Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
by Andrew Cohen

 

The enlightened mentor—the guru—has throughout the ages been that great being who willingly does battle with the powerful forces of ignorance that reside in the depths of the human soul. Through his or her living presence, the guru catalyzes extraordinary transformation, guiding human beings from darkness to light, from the limitations of a small and petty existence to the free and infinite expanses of illuminated awareness. Few modern teachers are as qualified to claim the title of guru as Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, heir to a long and illustrious lineage of enlightened Buddhist masters. In this recent interview with spiritual teacher and WIE editor in chief Andrew Cohen, Dzongsar Rinpoche candidly discusses what it takes to fulfill his role as guru and explains why the greatest challenge, East or West, is to have the courage to completely disengage from public opinion and attain "a genuine indifference."

ANDREW COHEN: You are uniquely straddling two worlds: you were born a tulku and had traditional Buddhist education and training in your own culture, but you have spent a lot of time in the West and have also become a well-known filmmaker. So you seem to have one foot in the premodern world and one foot in the postmodern world. You are quite an independent thinker, forging your own path as one of the pioneers in this very interesting time of transition in the evolution and development of the dharma, of East-meets-West spirituality. So I would like to talk with you about what it means to be a guru at this point in history.

When someone takes on a guru, as is clearly illustrated in Words of My Perfect Teacher, it's a deep and serious engagement. And in the film, you speak very directly about the challenge that relationship poses to the ego, to the separate sense of self. The guru represents the dissolution of the ego, and yet Westerners of our generation, more often than not, don't seem to be prepared for this. And while you have said that there are many different methods for finding enlightenment, for discovering "the guru within," one of the quickest and easiest is to receive the blessings of the teacher. Why is this? What actually is the role of the guru, and why is it so vital?

DZONGSAR Rinpoche: The reason why the guru is the most effective is because the guru is someone you are supposed to look at as being superior to a human being. But he is also someone you can relate to. A guru is someone who eats pizza, who likes the same pizza that you like. And that's quite important because at the same time that he is someone you can relate to, he is the one you have consciously or unconsciously hired to destroy yourself!

COHEN: Could you say what you mean by that?

DZONGSAR: You give up everything and then hire him to destroy your ego. And you pay him body, speech, and mind to do that.

COHEN: When you say "destroy the ego," that's not a small thing.

DZONGSAR: Yes. That's true.

COHEN: And as we were saying earlier, it seems that the destruction of the ego is an alien concept in postmodern Western culture, which is a nonreligious secular society. In fact, it seems that in postmodern culture, the ego, or the separate self-sense, has become even more powerful as a result of the cultural revolution that began in the sixties. At that time, the emphasis became freedom of the individual and freedom for the individual. And the result is that, unlike in previous times, there was no God above that one had to fear, which in the past had perhaps engendered humility, a bit of healthy fear of something higher than oneself.

So when we in the West discovered enlightenment and then found that in order to attain it, the ego, or the separate self, had to die, this was a very big shock because culturally we had no training or preparation for this whatsoever. Now in the film, Words of My Perfect Teacher, you speak about how you hire the guru to be the assassin, the man or woman you hire to "completely dismantle you." But how does a teacher succeed in "dismantling" their students' egos in this kind of cultural milieu?

DZONGSAR: It's difficult. This is why defining ego is very important, especially within a culture that doesn't have this kind of background. And I think the classic way of defining the ego is, at the end of the day, the only solution: Ignorance—which is the same as ego—is when you're looking at two, or more than two, ever-changing transitory things, and yet you think that they're one; you think they're independent and permanent. That is ignorance and that is ego.

For instance, if I look at my hand, I make three mistakes. One, I think it's the same hand I had this morning. But that's not true; it has changed. And two, I think there's something called "hand" when there actually isn't because it's a part of a lot of things—my veins, my skin, my blood, all kinds of things.

COHEN: So the point is that there's no such thing as independent existence.

DZONGSAR: Right. And then another mistake I make is not realizing that the existence of my hand actually depends on many things. For instance, the fact that the ceiling hasn't fallen on my hand is the reason why it's moving, why it's there. But I don't think in that way. I think my hand is there because my hand is there.

COHEN: You're talking about what is called "dependent origination," the understanding that everything that exists depends upon everything else that exists, which depends upon everything else that exists. In this, one sees that one's own self exists as part of this infinitely dependent process in which there is no one who is isolated or separate from the whole.

DZONGSAR: Yes, and all this information needs to be transmitted to one who wants to be the victim of the guru.

COHEN: In the movie, you also spoke about how the guru crushes people's pride, as the means to purify them of ego motivations and attachment.

DZONGSAR: Yes, because pride is thinking something that is not necessarily you. For instance, if I asked you, "Are you a man?" you would say, "Yes." That is confidence, not pride. Now, if I ask, "Are you a superman?" and you say, "Yes," that may be pride because "super" is only an adjective, and is not imputed. Pride, ego, and ignorance are all synonymous.

COHEN: And you said that the teacher who "crushes your pride and makes this worldly life completely miserable is something that you ask for. He is the assassin, he is the man or woman whom you have hired to completely dismantle you."

DZONGSAR: You may not realize that's what you're doing, but that's the idea—to dismantle everything: your identity, everything. And it's not like dismantling one big habit. It changes. Let's say today I would like to be stroked. Then a teacher should not stroke me. Or maybe today I would like to be beaten. Then maybe I should be stroked. So that's why this is actually beyond abuse and not abuse. If somebody bites you or beats you and handcuffs you, that's a kind of abuse, isn't it? But what I'm talking about is ultimate abuse. At the same time, abuse phenomena only exist if you are still clinging to transitory phenomena as permanent and real. If you don't, there is nothing to be abused. But that's difficult, really difficult.

COHEN: In that case, the teacher's work would be done.

DZONGSAR: Yes, of course. But the kind of student we're talking about doesn't exist. And that kind of teacher doesn't exist, either. Teachers don't have that kind of courage. I don't have it. I may be a teacher, but I don't have that kind of courage because I love my reputation. Who wants to be referred to as an abuser? I don't. I am a sycophant. I try to go along with what people think. If people think a teacher should shave his head, wear something maroon, walk gently, eat only vegetarian food, be so-called serene, then I'm very tempted to do that. Rajneesh had the guts to have ninety-three Rolls Royces. I call it guts. One Rolls Royce is one thing. Even two or three—but ninety-three is guts! And I don't have the guts, the confidence. I like Rajneesh very much. I like him much better than Krishnamurti. Many of his words are quite good, and I can see why the Westerners would like him.

COHEN: Perhaps the problem with Krishnamurti was that he pretended that he wasn't a guru or a master, although he obviously was. I think this made it very difficult for people.

DZONGSAR: Yes; it was a contradiction.

COHEN: Are you saying, then, that you hold back with your students?

DZONGSAR: I do, always.

COHEN: At the same time, you said in the film that you're an assassin—that that's your job.

DZONGSAR: Yes, in the context that if I am a student's teacher, then that is my job. But I'm not promising I can do it. You know, but I love very much the eight worldly dharmas. I'm like these police undercover cops who are sent into a Mafia family. What I'm supposed to do is really check out these people, but I fall in love with what they do, so I follow what they want. It's difficult. And that comes from attachment to the eight worldly dharmas—attachment to the praise and fear of the criticism.

COHEN: But some of the greatest Tibetan gurus have the reputation for being the most fierce, like Marpa, for example. He was the fiercest.

DZONGSAR: Oh, yes, of course. They could do it because they have no agenda. Their only agenda was to enlighten. They didn't care what people said, what other people thought—I call it CCL: couldn't-care-less-ness. That holds the biggest power. But who has it today? No one.

COHEN: One of the most interesting things that was revealed about you in the film was the juxtaposition of the roles you're playing. As a guru in the West, you are working with Western students who, at least in theory, are coming to you for enlightenment, and yet who come from this postmodern context where there's an inherent mistrust of authority. Whereas in Bhutan, thousands and thousands of Bhutanese people have no doubt that you are a living god.

DZONGSAR: I think on both continents I have mastered the art of pretense. I go to Bhutan and I know what to do for them, to do what is most harmonious. Because if I act or say things in Bhutan or in Tibet that I say in the West, I'll be in trouble. Now that is what I was referring to before. I do this because I don't want to lose disciples; I don't want to be criticized. Of course, I can justify those actions by saying, "Oh, it's coming from a good motivation, because I don't want to jeopardize the spiritual path of hundreds of people."

COHEN: You described in the film how it's very difficult for you to have an authentic relationship with many of your Bhutanese devotees because of the kind of admiration they have for you. But with your Western students, there is the fundamental ego position that feels that "no one is higher than me." And this also presents difficulty, because for any authentic guru to be able to help a student achieve enlightenment, there has to be the acceptance from the outset that the guru has realized something that the student has not yet realized. Then, of course, there's the tremendous pressure the teacher places on the ego and the student's identification with it. And in Words of My Perfect Teacher, Lesley Ann Patten showed very well how many of your Western students were struggling with these very issues—with the notions of hierarchy and authority, and even with their lack of faith in the possibility of enlightenment itself.

DZONGSAR: Yes, exactly. But in both cultures there is one thing that is similar—it's this culprit: expectation. In Eastern cultures, like in Bhutan, there may be blind devotion, but they all have an expectation. In the Western culture, they may be skeptical and secular, but there's also expectation. And that expectation, while it may manifest differently, fundamentally has only one nature and that is that everybody wants to be happy. And that is where things go wrong.

To be a Buddhist and to be practicing dharma have nothing to do with being happy. If you're practicing the dharma to be happy, then it's like you're doing the opposite, just the opposite. Enlightenment has nothing to do with happiness or unhappiness. And both cultures come to me to be happy. That really is the source of all the misunderstanding.

COHEN: Yes. The goal is to be free from both happiness and unhappiness.

DZONGSAR: Yes, and I have to teach them what to expect. But it's really difficult.

COHEN: The fact that you are in these two different cultures seems to make it challenging for you to be simply and authentically yourself. Because on the one hand, in Bhutan, there is a certain role you need to assume, which you've accepted—that's your dharma, your destiny. But there are restrictions associated with that premodern context. And in the West, because of the postmodern secular context, there are also restrictions. So your own capacity to just be fully and spontaneously yourself, even as a teacher or as a guru, must be inhibited in both cases. Could you speak a little bit about this?

DZONGSAR: This is a very good question. It all goes to tell me that the bottom line is that I need to develop my courage, the courage to learn CCL—"couldn't-care-less-ness." In the morning, with a little bit of good motivation, I can start teaching. That will accumulate some merit, I'm sure. At least I'm not going around teaching people to blow themselves up or kill infidels. And even teaching I only do when I'm in a spiritual mood. But my job now, my duty is to first develop my "couldn't-care-less-ness." The bottom line is that I need to learn that; I need to achieve that. Then, even if I receive bad publicity in the West, I couldn't care less. Once I achieve that, then I'll reach a certain level where real genuine compassion is. Until then, everything is a bit deceptive.