Double of nothing

Rinpoche recently asked us to examine our lives and what we have accomplished in terms of our spiritual practice. In my case, after 28 years, how many attachments have I reduced or let go of?

Double that and when I am 56, how many attachments will I have reduced or let go of? I can safely say that if I let the current rate of things continue, about roughly double. And roughly double of “not much” is not much at all.

And that’s if I am lucky enough to live that long.

With that in mind, how much time do I have left to waste on justifications for not doing Dharma work?

This applies to everyone where I am just using myself as an example.

Now, the Dharma work I am referring to is not just the Dharma work that we physically do, but the work we do on our minds. Working on our minds is Dharma work too because due to the nature of samsara (where things degenerate if you do nothing to maintain them), we actually have to put work and effort into maintaining, improving and transforming our minds.

So we should focus on that, instead of the people who discourage us, who quit, who tell us they don’t want to. As Kache Marpo recently advised us, everyday we should seek to control our minds a little more.

After all, at the end of the day, when we are lying on our death beds, it’s our minds we take with us, not the opinions of others.

Reflections and Teachings