About Shang Rinpoche

Rinpoche’s spiritual pursuit began at a very young age and has spanned many years, in which he received lineages of all four major Vajrayana Buddhist schools—Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug—from numerous lineage holders and great yogis of our time in India, Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. Rinpoche has acquired all the necessary empowerments, transmissions, and teachings to become a fully qualified Vajrayana master. Furthermore, Rinpoche is a recognized tulku (reincarnate lama), authenticated by eminent lineage holders and distinguished masters of our time.
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2015年2月25日 星期三

Revelations from the Venerable Juntou


Once Buddha was residing at Jetavana Grove. There was a renunciate in the sangha named Juntou who because of karma became so ill that he needed assistance with even eating and other basic activities. Before attaining enlightenment, people’s faith is prone to waver and might even regress when things are not going well especially if they are suffering from ill health. Likewise Juntou was at a low point in his life, he even felt he didn’t receive any blessing from the Buddha. The medication he was taking was of no use and his emotions were therefore in flux and he would often complain. The Buddha took some disciples to visit him to see how he was doing. The Buddha then asked Juntou, "In the past you've heard the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, could you share your understanding of them with us?" Juntou started reciting from memory the teachings he had heard. In the process of reciting he started to feel much better and by the time he had finished reciting, all of his mental and physical ailments and afflictions were completely cured. Buddha then explained to everyone in attendance that when the karma of a practitioner comes to fruition he must joyfully accept it with unmoving faith, and especially towards the Three Jewels he should not harbor any doubts. The Seven Factors of Enlightenment teaching is a miraculous ambrosia that can cure any incurable mental or physical illnesses. It can also liberate sentient beings from the sufferings of life and death.

In fact, many practitioners don't fully understand the principles of karma and samsara: when things are going well for them, they are naturally brimming with faith and presume that their body, speech, and mind are in perfect alignment with their faith. From my personal experience over a long period of time, it is all too common to see students joyfully giving praise to the guru and the Three Jewels during favorable times; but as soon as there are any setbacks, their attitudes will inevitably take a turn for the worse and they might even express resentment or start to doubt the teachings. Actually this is a very sad situation since all suffering and afflictions in life actually come from our own lack of awareness, lack of clarity, and overindulgence in the five skandhas, which over time causes us to drift away from the blessings of the correct dharma, the master and the Three Jewels. This causes us people to be ill at ease and only adds to people’s afflictions causing them to become lazy and perhaps even stop their practice. This then leads to having less and less wisdom and joy from Dharma practice which naturally brings about illness caused by karmic obstacles.

Life is unpredictable with highs and lows, good and bad times. To live a life on the path means to completely meld with adversity. There can be no doubt or fear in the mind since fear, resistance, and attachment will only create more negative tension in an already upstream battle causing you to feel as if you’re going against fate where troubles of all kinds descend on you. A wise person is unhindered by fear of failure and instead muster all their courage and wisdom in dealing with life's pitfalls and adversities. They will also spend even more time contemplating the wisdom teachings of the Buddha, practice awareness and self-reflection during these times-which are precisely the part we are most likely forget completely whenever afflictions set in or adversities attack.

From Shang Longrik Gyatso Rinpoche


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