Given to a temple member who likes to do charitable activities
by Khenpo Tashi
Question: I want to build a charitable foundation to help the poor people. But this will take up time and I will devote less time for practice.
Don’t forget that there are the excellent and profound teachings – the Tsalung and Dzogchen practices – waiting there. That is why we are doing the preliminary practices.
On one side, the preliminary practices purify great amounts of negative Karma and accumulate excellent merit. On the other side, what are preliminary practices for? To be able to practice the higher practices.
We should remember that those valuable and rare practices, full of blessings, practiced by the masters of the past, are still available.
Half-Baked Helping
Helping people, doing charitable works, these are noble. I am not saying they are not important. We will gain lots of positive Karma there. But, we must check, is the resulting positive Karma stained or stainless? (READ: Merit Further Explanations Part 1)
The problem is one’s self-centeredness. When we help now, we are not sure whether the helping is stained or not stained by one’s selfishness or self-promotion.
For example, if we face obstacles and problems in our charitable works, as humans with strong and negative emotions, we will regularly feel sad, doubtful and confused. “Am I doing my work wrong? Why is nobody thanking me for my noble actions? Maybe I should stop this because I just wasted my time, and nobody is appreciating my work.”
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas don’t doubt or get tired. They’re beyond that. Their helping is limitless. Compassion, also limitless. So, this is very hard to say, but if we have the opportunity in this life to practice further, we must grab that chance. (READ: Dont’s Forget All Sentient Beings)
Making Great Aspirations
Then, as we practice, we make great aspiration prayers, call the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as witnesses. We aspire that, when our mind is on the level of the Buddha’s perfect mind, we will find and help all these helpless people and beings now, and give them benefits on all levels. We aspire that the help that we will give them in the future will never stop benefiting them even how many lifetimes it takes. (READ: Calling Witnesses)
That is because at that time, we are beyond self-grasping. We will no longer doubt ourselves or get tired. That is the true Bodhicitta.
So, those who do isolated retreat, Buddha Shakyamuni’s foremost disciples, the masters of the lineages, they spent time in retreat. As Buddhists, we must remember that our main aim is to purify one’s own mind first.
There is no way of truly and permanently benefiting others if our mind is entangled in Samsara. When one’s mind is completely purified, our level of helping becomes limitless, just like the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
At that time, our focus is 100% towards others, no more “me, my, mine”.