Here, we explain what Ngon-dro is and the signs of successful Ngondro practice.
by Khenpo Tashi
What are the Ngondro practices, how to do them and so on, are found in the next article.
Ngon-dro is made up of two Tibetan words. Ngon. Dro. It is translated as “preliminary practices”.
These are the five kinds of practices that are supposed to be done before an individual can receive higher Tantric teachings in Tibetan Buddhism.
Ngondro is an unsurpassed way to accumulate merit and purify one’s thick negative Karma and obscurations. It is the condensed essence of the entire Buddhadharma. That is why, thousands of great masters and practitioners did so many Ngondro in their lifetime.
Purpose
Ngondro softens and removes our hard self-grasping. Even if we study all kinds of Buddhist teachings, if we do not put them into practice through body, speech and mental activities, our learnings will be pointless. Our doubts about the Buddhadharma will never end. Our deluded view about the beauty of Samsara will remain.
Little Trust in the Dharma
There are many people who are very interested in realizing emptiness, wisdom, Buddha-mind, Bodhicitta. That desire is really admirable. The problem is that we do not know how to get there. Worse, we create our own methods, without learning from a qualified teacher, without practicing through a lineage.
Where the problem lies is with us. We have a very big doubt. We have very little trust.
We doubt the teacher, we doubt the Sutras, we doubt the workings of Karma, we doubt that practicing Buddhism can purify our negative thoughts, speech and actions. We doubt that we have accumulated so much negative Karma. We doubt the possibility of Liberation. We doubt that we need to learn under a qualified teacher. We doubt traditions and lineage.
Trust
What is the opposite of doubt? Trust. This is a good example. When we buy a plane ticket, we do not know the weather, the pilots, the mechanics repairing the plane, how old the plane is, and so on… BUT immediately, we TRUST that buying the airplane ticket will bring us to our destination.
We do not have that kind of trust in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and Ngondro. But, with Samsara, our trust in Samsara is like that, very strong.
To use another analogy, we are like a plywood tightly screwed to the wall of Samsara. There are millions of screws that have attached us to this wall.
Ngondro practices un-screw each of these screws, one by one. Ngondro practices loosen our addiction and desire for Samsara and Samsaric thinking. Practicing Ngondro will make us trust the Buddha’s teachings, and achieve Liberation.
Signs of Effective Practice
Khenpo Nga-ga, in the Supplementary Notes on the Words of My Perfect Teacher, asks, “What are the signs that practice is working, and that the Dharma is beginning to penetrate our minds?”
He answers, “More love (for others), compassion (for suffering beings), wish to liberate beings from Samsara, faith in the Triple Gems, greater revulsion or disgust for Samsara and so on…“ (READ: Is My Practice Working or Not?)
Another good sign that Ngondro is becoming effective for us, is that, we will feel frustrated with our negative habits more and more. We will have greater desire to correct them.
CONCLUSION
The purpose of Ngondro is to turn our mind away from Samsara and towards Liberation from Samsara.
From (the point of view of) our worldly activities, Ngondro will look like a waste of time and energy. It will look like an outdated, cultural practice. It will look boring and useless.
Yes, that is because, Ngondro is the opposite of our everyday logic of self-centeredness and Samsaric thinking.
Having practiced Ngondro, we compare ourselves to our old self. We compare our mind to our past mind. Is our mind becoming more permanently stable? Is it more inclined towards virtue? Does it have more trust in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha? Is it becoming more at peace?
For the advanced article about Ngon-dro, read here.