On the Benefits of Prayer/Practice
by Khenpo Tashi
Buddha-mind is with us. This is the Buddha-nature present in any mind, in our mind, deluded or undeluded.
But, how do we benefit from this Buddha-mind? The perfectly peaceful, non-dual, empty yet clear, nature of mind?
Through practice. We cannot just read. Even if we were to read all the Buddhist books and sayings, when our habitual negative emotions, accumulated and hardened by ourselves for such a long time, come up in our minds, the Buddha-mind is clouded. Then, we suffer again.
When we feel sad, we really believe that we are sad. When someone disrespects us, we really believe that we are low. When someone says something good to us, we feel proud, really believing that we are something special. And so on.
This means, the deluded mind is under the power of the strong negative emotions and habitual tendencies, all the time. (READ: Basic Karma)
So, practice is ‘getting closer’, or more familiar with a Buddha. That is the way to purify the emotional obscurations and negative Karma in us. (READ: Chanting a Mantra and So On)
Buddhist practice is called “accomplishing method” (Tib: drub-thab). Accomplish what? Accomplish a Buddha. By gaining familiarity with Buddha-mind. We can do this because the potential, the Buddha-nature (Tib: deshin nyingpo), is in our minds already. It is simply clouded by thick tendencies and self-clinging.
To decrease the clouds of emotions and negative habitual tendencies in us. Then, we become more stable, more at ease, more humble, less selfish, less self-centered.