PLEASE BE CAREFUL!
The contents of this article below will be stated in a simple, clear and easy to understand words, the main purpose is to prevent anyone misinterpreting the meaning of Dharma by their own thoughts without understanding the deep meaning of Dharma, and unaware of misunderstanding the vinaya (discipline) and samaya vows.
Recently, I’ve heard people speaking to others: “My luck become worse and worse after practicing Throma”; “My health become worse and worse after practicing Throma”; “I become more and more poor after practicing Throma” ...etc. People said these might only be unintended chatting, however whom has already made a serious obscure by slandering the dharma and making downfall of violating samaya vows, and there will still be consequence of slandering the dharma and violating samaya vows even though you were unaware or unintending.
“We are experiencing sickness, poor, unfortunate and disaster due to the retribution of the obscure by our desire, anger and ignorance which we have made in samsara from infinite billion eons ago”, those who says such words should look the cause of sickness and poor in the view of Buddhist believing in karma (cause and retribution). If we have never killed any beings in our past life, then none of any powerful demons or witchcrafts are able to make us sick; if we don’t have any obscure by refusing donation out of stingy, our wealth will not be taken even thousands of thieves are around. The obscures we have committed in the past infinite eons are so heavy, which doubtlessly, result in experiencing sickness, poor, and disaster in this life; While facing some unfortunates in live, if we don’t reflect and confess to the obscures from our past life but blaming on the precious dharma which brought us ultimate happiness, that will be very incorrect. For example, when a very poor and sick person has fortunately met
a kind person who take a pity on him, and given him a huge amount of wealth, so he is able to be out of poverty and cure his sickness; before he knows how to use his wealth properly, he will still be poor and sick, but he is blaming his poor and sickness on the kind person who give him the wealth. Think about it, how ridicules it is.
Our poor, sickness and pain in this life could be the retribution from past life, it could also be the mistakes we made in this life, or even the mistakes we made in the dharma practice. For example, The practice of Throma is a method combined with practicing of Dzogchen (Atiyoga). Does the practitioner understand the view of Dzogchen in the mind? Does the practitioner have practiced with compassion? Does the practitioner maintain a clean samaya? Does the practitioner practice for worldly rewards such as fortunate, wealth, reputation, well-being? Does the practitioner practice to please lama? Does the practitioner intend to win people’s praising by pretending to practice? If the practitioner doesn’t practice this Dharma with correct intention, many obstacles will occur for sure; while the obstacle occur, the practitioner doesn’t reflect the confess to the mistakes, but blaming on Throma. Will it be reasonable?
There are also people misunderstand the meaning of chöd is severing all the fortunes and merits, the twisted understanding is a very serious mistake. Frankly, the meaning of chöd is severing two attachments in order to understand and reach the truth of the Dzogchen’s view, and those truly accomplished chöd practice yogi, no matter they are in sitavana or market, we can only see they are in poor appearance by our eyes, but we are unable to value their true achievements in the dharma practice. There are only ultimate wisdom, compassion and great bliss in the mind of these practitioners, worldly rewards are dreams and illusion to them, and the attachments are vanished in the emptiness. It’s not because of practicing chöd or Throma, so their appearance is humble and abjection, but they have no needs and desires, in fact, they have greater wisdom than any other people in their mind to benefit all sentient beings by methods.
There are also people, by mistake, think Throma is not a method for accumulating merits, so the more he practice the more poor he will be. Frankly speaking, there are not only chöd in Throma, but also methods for accumulating merits, such as mandala offering in the fundamental practice, puja offering in the wisdom sun sadhana, accumulation of merits with siddhi like rain drops, offering to naga king, fire puja for activity of increase…etc. Aren’t these methods of accumulating merits for practitioners? How can you meet wise advisors (good teacher) without merits? How can you sever obstacles without merits? Since a practitioner requires to live a normal live like any ordinary people before enlightened, he will need sufficient merits to keep on his practice. The Throma practice contains all the methods from fundamental to Buddhahood for all the practitioner, it also contains the methods to fulfill the merits we required.
There are vows of maintaining samaya and ritual of taking samaya water in all the empowerments, the meaning of samaya water is that it will stay in our mind and bless us till we reach Buddhahood if we maintain samaya vows well; otherwise it will bring us many unfortunes and sickness or even fall into lower three realms in the future if we violate the samaya vows. Moreover, if we feel our health is not as good as before or sick often after practicing the dharma, it might be a friendly reminder from dharmapala telling us we might have done something wrong.
People speaks such words have created obscure heavily without acknowledgments, all the Buddhists believe and follow the four dharma seals (all compounded things are impermanent, all contaminated things are suffering, all phenomena are empty and selfless, nirvana is peace beyond description)by Buddha, the seal of nirvana is indicating the dharma practice is able to remove the pain of samsara and obtain the nirvana beyond samsara, when you hear someone says “Throma practice makes me sick, makes me poor…etc, this person is creating obscure by slandering the dharma, and is already removing this method from pure dharma to the contaminated things which cause us suffering. People who speak these words is already violating the fourth vows “slandering mahayana” and sixth vow “slandering dharma” in bodhisattva vows if he is a Mahayana practitioner. People speak these words might also already violating the second downfall “transgressing the words of buddhas”, sixth downfall “criticizing the teaching of sutra and tantra
” and twelfth downfall “upsetting those who have faith in teaching” in the fourteen root downfalls which commonly followed by all the annuttarayoga tantra if he is a vajrayana practitioner in Mahayana; it is mentioned in tantra that the obscure of violating samaya vows is much heavier than violating vows in Mahayana. It is clearly written in most of the sutra, compassionated buddha has remind us the seriousness of slandering the dharma, people who slandering the dharma will still be suffering in avichi hell even if thousands of buddhas has born and entered nirvana over thousands of billion eons. People who criticize should be very careful and fearful with such a serious consequence.
It takes infinite thousands of billion eons for a Buddhist to purify obscuration and accumulating merits before hearing the name of Throma. We have already received and started the practice of the teaching now. How can we bear to ruin the efforts we have practiced from infinite thousands of billion eons just for careless?
There is no merits for obscures itself, the only merit of obscure is that it can be confessed and purified, although slandering the dharma is a serious obscure, it can still be purified as long as confess sincerely. The best way to confess this obscure is to be aware of the serious mistake of self, and develop the mind for confession just like acknowledging death is arriving due to the poison, and confess honestly in front of Lama, tell Lama the slandering you have made and confess in front of him, and take a vow that you will never slander the dharma again in the future no matter facing any threatening, harms, suffering or difficulties, and ask for the teachings of purification from Lama, such as vajrasattva teaching, and practice it diligently, then the obscure will be confessed and purified.
~H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche,
Sangye Pema Shepa
(Translated by Urgyen Jigme)
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