Advice Of An Old Man

“Since I am the eldest of the Nyingma lamas, I have been asked to share some humble thoughts and opinions with all those who have gathered here this year in the sacred place of Bodhgaya, India…

Above all, what do we need to develop bodhicitta?  Have not all the beings of the six realms - having passed through the bardo and been reincarnated many times - at one point been our mother and father? By following over and over the path of the Mahayana taught by the Buddha, all temporary and ultimate subtle and gross suffering will be mollified for everyone. The temporary and ultimate benefits of happiness and goodness will increase further and further.

These days we are living in the age of the five degenerations, also called the "five insurmountables. " In this wild and unruly time, because of such things as the proliferation of many kinds of evil, the Buddha's teachings are being taken away as if by an untimely frost… Different types of dark forces have transformed the minds of all of these people and they view their neighbors with prejudice; the small ones view the big ones with envy, the big ones treat the small ones with contempt and equal-size ones see each other as being competitors… So it is in order to pacify these hostilities that we recite prayers of aspiration.

The prayers that we are using in this Festival are "Reciting the Names of Manjushri " - which is the quintessence of both the sutras and the tantras…

Especially because we follow the teachings of the Nyingma Early Translation School, in the area of the view, conduct must not get lost and in the area of conduct, the view must not get lost. As Guru Rinpoche said,

In the direction of the view, if conduct gets lost, the view goes to the tarnished state of Mara. In the direction of conduct, if the view is lost, having become entangled by the hopes and fears of materialism and ideology, real liberation will never come and there is no way you can reach the level of the unified state…
Even wearing monk's robes will not make one a holder of the teachings. In reality though, even if a person is a lowly beggar, if they are in harmony with the Dharma they can be called a great person who is a holder of the teachings.

If you don't become like this, even if one thinks they are a holder of the teachings by being in various positions like the head of a sitting row or sitting exclusively on an exalted throne, it is a difficult thing if they may have a correction coming as to whether or not they are a holder of the teachings based on how they live. If one speaks purely in accordance with the Dharma, it might offend a few. If what I say is wrong, please forgive me. I openly confess it. It is my misunderstanding. It is a mistake. It is a distortion. It is lack of knowledge. If it may have also just been the phony advice of an old man, I don't know. As an old man saying these things, I am just proclaiming all the thoughts in my mind. It is possible that it is like this - that there was no need for me to discuss these things - that I am discussing that which I don't have reason to discuss and saying that which I don't have reason to say. All people will come to make mistakes like this - not just me.

Everyone said that there was a need for some spoken advice… I had been very busy satisfying some benefactors elsewhere in the Kathmandu Valley and while being in a great hurry… As soon as I had gotten out of the car, I spontaneously spoke this advice and did not have time to consult texts or write it down. There was no need to do so anyway. I don't expect it to be on the shelf of a Buddhist philosophical college library. For this year alone, it was suggested that among us elder Nyingma lamas, someone should explain how discipline should be kept. That was the opinion of others and I also think that this is right. Other lamas would not feel comfortable listening to the advice of someone who is unknown, so that is why one who is known as a "lama " like myself is speaking out.

Lamas, tulkus, and khenpos who are knowledgeable are qualified to give advice and should do so. Otherwise, those who just say things in the way of meaningless gossip and talk nonsense will just create conflicts. There is no benefit whatsoever in saying things that will only go on to increase our attachment, anger and delusion. Talking in this way will harm the Buddha's teachings and be of help to no one.

For the benefit of all beings, all the practitioners of the teachings of the Nyingma Early Translation School living in monasteries great or small, from Upper, Middle or Lower Tibet, in a mountain hermitage, a study center with just four monks or even if you are practicing alone; for all of you year after year when you gather here again at this time, you must take responsibility for upholding your discipline. For the period of these ten days, if you don't have something good to say, there is no reason for you to speak. You should behave in such a way that no one will have reason to criticize or gossip about your conduct so that you can be a perfect example to lead the faithful and become worthy objects of the accumulation of merit of the benefactors.

I hope and pray that this event will come to be very good through the planning at the beginning, middle and end. It will then serve to benefit the longevity of the great holy beings who hold the teachings of the Dharma. In the long term, it will also help the Buddha's precious teachings by way of the two chakras of teaching and practice to never fade and instead expand and flourish now and always in the four times and ten directions and abide for a long time.

During this degenerate age in the outer world, there are many natural disasters due to the upsetting of the four elements. Also, demonic forces come with their many weapons to incite the fighting of wars. All of those forces have caused the world to come to ruin and led all to tremble with fear - so terrified that their hair stands up on end. Still, the demonic forces find it necessary to come up with many new types of weapons. If we were called on to confront them, there's no way we Dharma practitioners could defeat them. That's why we make supplication prayers to the Three Jewels, do the aspiration prayers, the offering prayers and the prayers of invocation. We are responsible for those activities. This is what I urge you to do. So at this great gathering, please think about the pacification of all these forces.

Since I don't think there is anything inconsiderate or unacceptable in this advice, please listen to it carefully and take it to heart. If you do so, when the Great Prayer Festival is over, you will have good reason to be happy and will be able to rejoice in the merit you have accumulated. So please make it happen that way! May you have a long life! Please - all of you - make vast prayers of aspiration so that the precious teachings of the Victorious One may flourish in the ten directions. That's about all that an old man like me has to say. May you all keep this advice in your minds.”

~ "Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche, (1913–2015) was a renowned Dzogchen master, a reclusive yogin famous for his great realization and strict discipline. A disciple of the great master Khenpo Ngakchung, he was widely regarded as one of the most highly realized Dzogchen yogins of recent times.
Chatral Rinpoche shunned institutional and political involvement his whole life, choosing instead to live the life of a wandering yogin. A lay yogin, he was also greatly concerned with maintaining strict discipline in the context of the Dzogchen view. He was especially well known for his advocacy of vegetarianism and his yearly practice of ransoming the lives of thousands of animals in India. In addition to his emphasis on the union of view and conduct, Rinpoche also stressed the practice of retreat. He established numerous retreat centers throughout the Himalayas, including in Pharping, Yolmo and Darjeeling.

He passed into parinirvana in Yangleshö in Nepal on December 30th, 2015, at the age of 102. He had two daughters, Tara Devi and Saraswati (recognised as a tulku of Sera Khandro), with his wife Sangyum Kamala." ~ Rigpawiki.org