Ven. Lama Rinchen Dharma classes in Bangkok in June 2015

Meditation and Dharma classes by Ven. Lama Rinchen (Tibetan Buddhist Master)

We would like to invite you to public Dharma talks be Ven. Lama Rinchen Phuntsok in Bangkok areas in June 2015.

Venerable Lama Rinchen Phuntsok is a skillfull teacher with a light and joyful manner. He is a scholar and meditation master of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition.
Biography can be found at http://dongakcholing.org/LamaRinchen.html

Topic: “Attachment, Detachment, Aversion and Antidote”
Date: Sunday 21st June 2pm-5pm
Venue: The Continent Hotel (near Asoke intersection next to Interchange tower, on Sukhumvit road, hotel web site: www.thecontinenthotel.com/location/) 33rd floor GMT room
Note: Limited seats, please RSVP by email ram@pluslab.com

Topic: “Virtuous and Unvirtuous mind and their action”
Date: Monday 22nd June 6:30pm-8:30pm
Venue: ‘APARTMENTS’ building, Ekkamai road near Ekkamai BTS station, more information on www.littlebang.org Location: www.littlebang.org/step-inside/apartments-meditation-studio-2/

Topic: “The Textual Tradition of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism”
Date: Wednesday 24nd June 1:30pm-3:30pm
Venue: Mahidol University, Kanpai Room, Ground floor, Department of Humanities, Salaya
For more information please email: prasajya@gmail.com
For more information please feel free to contact us at:
Tel: (Eng) 0819855564,0989195519 – (Thai) 0894817754
Email: ram@pluslab.com
Web: www.mongkol.org
You can signup to our mailing list at: www.mongkol.org/contact/

These events are free of charge and suitable for everyone.

Lama Rinchen Phuntsok Bangkok Dharma classes in June 2015

Five Dear Friends – Phakchok Rinpoche message in July 2014 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช สิงหาคม 2557

Guru Rinpoche Day, 6th August 2014 Dear Friends Near and Far, Firstly on this Guru Rinpoche day, I would like to share a short video in which I talk about the five dear friends that everybody should have. Watch the video here, or click the image above. Next, I would like to talk about motivation. These days when we talk about enlightenment, many people, including sometimes myself, don’t have a full understanding of what enlightenment really is. As a result, they end up thinking that it’s not of much benefit or relevance to them and then lose the wish to reach enlightenment. And this can happen to us whether we be practicing dharma or involved in the mundane world. But if you can do what you do—whether it be the dharma or ordinary activities—with the ‘mind of enlightenment’, meaning the motivation to help free all sentient beings from suffering and the cause of suffering and establish them at the precious state of enlightenment, it has a really positive effect. From one’s own side, when you have this motivation you become free from personal, selfish desires and free of anger and aversion towards others. And when you are free of both selfish desires and aversion then you don’t make many mistakes; you are free of ignorance. On the other hand, when you have selfish desires and this kind of self-importance you might regard yourself as having many good qualities and others as being lower than you, and then you easily criticize others and can end up making many problems. So this motivation, the mind of enlightenment (bodhicitta) is so important and beneficial. For example, in the morning when I recite prayers and make the sang (smoke) offering and so on then I do it focusing on all of our monks and nuns, the Rinpoches, our students, sponsors, the people working in our Foundation, and all the people I know with the wish to benefit them through these prayers. But at the same time we also need the mind of enlightenment that focuses on all sentient beings. And sometimes I forget that. My motivation is indeed very positive—to benefit everyone I know, meaning the lamas and monastics, and all our students and friends—but we need to have the motivation of the mind of enlightenment that keeps in mind all sentient beings and sometimes we can forget that. So in this case the motivation I have is not perfect. There is attachment to others and aversion or indifference towards others. Even if you don’t have any evident aversion to others, if you fail to include all sentient beings in your motivation and think, “Well, I don’t know those other sentient beings, they are strangers to me, I have no real reason to focus on them or think of them” this is actually an aspect of aversion and ignorance. We need to include all sentient beings with the wish that we can help all of them attain perfect enlightenment, understanding that we have been connected to them from beginningless time up until now through the relationships we’ve had with them throughout our past lifetimes—as mothers, fathers, friends, relatives. If you can really think about this, engender this motivation, and take it to heart you will feel quite differently towards other sentient beings. How so? Immediately your anger and aversion will decrease. Likewise, your self-interest and selfishness will decrease. Your mind will become more open, relaxed, and joyful, and also kinder. This being so, today I would like to remind you all about this precious motivation of bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment. Whether you are practicing the dharma or doing ordinary things, do it with this motivation seeing that all sentient beings without a single exception have been your parents and dear friends in the past and that you are connected with them in that way and wishing all of them to be free from their suffering and its causes and attain the precious state of enlightenment. What is enlightenment? The state free of all negative emotions and suffering and endowed with primordial wisdom. This motivation is so important. So today on this precious occasion of Guru Rinpoche Day, please make some prayers, practice generosity, perhaps give your parents a gift, be loving to your children and others, and speak kindly to people. If you are a practitioner, then do some practice. Do some meditation, some recitation, make prayers, and if you know how then make a gathering (feast) offering to Guru Rinpoche.  And throughout please keep all sentient beings in your heart and think of them. Work on developing this motivation that thinks of all sentient beings. I am sending this short message from Heathrow airport in England where I am in transit on my way back to the United States. As always, with many prayers and aspirations for you all, Sarva Mangalam, Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche     www.phakchokrinpoche.org

6 Vajra Verses and 3 Points of Practice – Phakchok Rinpoche message in July 2014 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช กรกฎาคม 2557

Guru Rinpoche Day, 7th July 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pttmYe4d8GQ Dear Friends Near and Far, First of all, on this very auspicious Guru Rinpoche day, I would like to share with you this short video in which I give some advice on how to solve our problems in daily life. I also explain the meaning and significance of supplication to Padmasambhava by means of the six vajra verses . The supplication I mention in the video is as follows: དུས་གསུམ་སངས་རྒྱས་གུ་རུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ༔ dü sum sangye guru rinpoche Guru Rinpoche, the Buddha of past, present and future, དངོས་གྲུབ་ཀུན་བདག་བདེ་བ་ཆེན་པོའི་ཞབས༔ ngödrub kün dak dewa chenpö shyab ‘Dewa Chenpo’—Guru of Great Bliss—the source of all siddhis, བར་ཆད་ཀུན་སེལ་བདུད་འདུལ་དྲག་པོ་རྩལ༔ barché kün sel düdul drakpo tsal ‘Düdul Drakpo Tsal’—Wrathful One that Subdues Negativity—who removes all obstacles, གསོལ་བ་འདེབས་སོ་བྱིན་གྱིས་བརླབ་ཏུ་གསོལ༔ solwa deb so jingyi lab tu sol Grant your blessings, we pray! ཕྱི་ནང་གསང་བའི་བར་ཆད་ཞི་བ་དང༌༔ chi nang sangwé barché shyiwa dang Through them, may all obstacles—outer, inner and secret— བསམ་པ་ལྷུན་གྱིས་འགྲུབ་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས༔ sampa lhün gyi drubpar jingyi lob Be quelled, and may all our aspirations be fulfilled. Secondly, I’d like to quickly remind you to reflect on three important aspects of your practice: Motivation, which is the way of clearing and showing our path Aspiration, which is the way to fulfill our path Dedication, which is the complete accomplishment of motivation and aspiration Lastly, I’d like to know what I can do to help you in your practice. Please complete this simple form to let me know what you need and what obstacles I can help you overcome. I’ll try to fulfill your wishes in the coming months. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1rcdzDJc8slIcdGb4QfQgF7ZUPsDeGZuPYoIKbFIWFh4/viewform With constant aspirations for you all, Sarva Mangalam Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche     www.phakchokrinpoche.org Supplicaton credit: http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/chokgyur-dechen-lingpa/removing-obstacles-and-fulfilling-wishes

Four Qualities – Phakchok Rinpoche message in June 2014 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช มิถุนายน 2557

Video from Phakchok Rinpoche
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qhl8FGBAwQ

Phakchok Rinpoche message on Guru Rinpocheday 8th June 2014 View this email in your browser

Guru Rinpoche Day, 8th June 2014 Four Qualities Dear Friends Near and Far, These days we often mistake what it’s meant to be a dharma practitioner. The heart of the buddhadharma is to tame one’s own mind, so a dharma practitioner is someone who is able to do this, who can see their own faults, address them, and tame and transform their minds. Someone who is unable to do this is not a dharma practitioner. Secondly, a dharma practitioner should be sincere and honest. So if you wish to practice the buddhadharma authentically this you need these qualities. In terms of our motivation for practice, we need to have compassion and our compassion should have four qualities. To generate compassion means to see sentient beings’ suffering and the causes of their suffering and to wish to free them from it. You also need to be able to see your own suffering and its causes, to see and experience this directly for yourself. If you can, it will not be difficult to generate compassion for others. Likewise, if you can understand that you have been connected to all sentient beings from beginningless time until now as parents and children that will make generating compassion easier, and will also help you to have more equanimity. You need to contemplate compassion in this way and when you see someone else suffering put yourself in their shoes and try to imagine what it would be like to be going through what they are going through. If you can put yourself in their position and really understand their suffering, you’ll develop some compassion. Having developed this initial compassion then you need to improve it. Don’t leave compassion as a mere thought; apply it in your behaviour and actions. When you do this you will be able to see whether your compassion is genuine or not, whether it is pure, strong, and constant or not. This is the first quality our compassion should have: application. Since compassion is the wish to free oneself and others from suffering and its causes the second quality our compassion needs to have is dignity. Dignity here means you see and acknowledge your suffering and the suffering of others, and you have the confidence that you can dispel it and its causes, that you have the means and methods to do that. Where does this dignity arise from? It arises from genuine practice of the dharma. It is through practice that you will develop this confidence that you can bring about change. And therefore, someone who has this dignity is a practitioner. Someone who lacks this dignity, who lacks the confidence that they can change, is not a practitioner. The third quality is aspiration, the sincere and heart-felt aspiration to benefit other beings. We need to have this genuine aspiration and wish. But it’s not enough to leave it there, as an aspiration. To make our compassion pure, we need wisdom, prajna. So to reiterate, whatever we do we should do it with compassion – we need to apply compassion in all of our actions. Secondly, our compassion needs to be accompanied by dignity, a confidence that we can change. Thirdly we need aspiration and fourthly wisdom. If our compassion has these four qualities, it will be pure, genuine, and strong. Since, as you all know, we need to develop this kind of genuine compassion then while thinking of you all on this Guru Rinpoche Day I am sharing these few points on compassion with you. But in addition to generating compassion ourselves we also need to teach our family and friends about compassion, to talk about it calmly and nicely with them while continuing to practice it ourselves. With constant aspirations for you all, Sarva mangalam, Phakchok Rinpoche   www.phakchokrinpoche.org / www.cglf.org

Merit, Role-model, Intelligence, Dignity – Phakchok Rinpoche message in April 2014 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช เมษายน 2557

Guru Rinpoche Day, 9th April 2014 Four Points to Apply to Your Life Dear Friends Near and Far, I hope this finds you all well and happy. I recently finished two months of retreat and have been keeping you all in mind and heart. At the moment at our monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche and Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche are presiding over the annual Ngakso (Ocean of Amrita) puja which runs twenty-four hours a day for nine days dedicated to the health and happiness of all beings and the fostering of world peace. Likewise, Gyari Rinpoche, my father-in-law, has been performing 100,000 recitations of Leu Dunma, The Supplication to Guru Rinpoche in Seven Chapters in Sikkim, India. They will complete the 100,000 recitations today. What I’d like to mention in today’s message are a few points that apply both to the mundane world and the spiritual path. Whatever the circumstance may be there is such a difference between people who gather merit (or positivity) and those who do not. What’s meant by ‘accumulating merit’? Firstly, to be able to cultivate compassion. To have an altruistic motivation and to do things to benefit others. To help people in an appropriate way such as giving advice, and likewise to be generous, disciplined, to develop patience—to develop these kinds of qualities and do things with a pure, sincere wish to help.Moreover, someone who regards themselves as a Buddhist should ‘make offerings upwards and practice generosity downwards’ meaning that one should make offerings ‘upwardly’ to our objects of refuge, the buddhas, our spiritual teachers, and the sangha, the community of practitioners.  Similarly, you should give ‘downwardly’ to sentient beings. So make offerings and practice generosity like this on a regular basis.It is through these kinds of actions (done with a pure motivation) that one gathers merit, and the result of this is that you will encounter fewer obstacles and hindrances in this life (whether they be outer, inner, or secret), your aims will be fulfilled, and things will go smoothly for you. In addition to gathering merit, we also need good role models to follow. It has been more than 2500 years since Buddha Shakyamuni passed into parinirvana, yet the transmission of his teachings remains up till today embodied and upheld in the present genuine and qualified dharma teachers. These teachers are excellent role models for us. To follow their example and teachings is excellent. They really are one of the best examples we can find.In my case my role models are my meditation teachers, for example Kyabjé Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Kyabjé Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche. Both of these teachers were extraordinarily kind-hearted, generous, caring, and patient, and outstanding meditators. They were amazing people. So you likewise need to find this kind of role model, someone with truly excellent qualities, to look up to and try to emulate. As Buddhists, our shared role model is of course Buddha Shakyamuni himself.By relying on such role models, we will be able to mould and transform our character and behaviour into something much more positive, and as a result we will encounter fewer difficulties.This is particularly important for dharma practitioners since as practitioners we need to unravel the true intent and meaning of Buddha’s teaching: the innate, natural state. We need to understand this and know how to train in it. And to take a genuine dharma teacher as your example and follow their teachings will booster and enhance your understanding and practice of the natural state. Whatever activity it is you are involved in, whether mundane or spiritual, you need to approach it withintelligence. You need to ask yourself, “Okay, what qualities are needed to fulfil this role? How should this job be done? What information is needed?” You need to acquire the necessary skills and qualities, to listen to and learn from others, and to change yourself. As for learning, you all know how to do this. It can sometimes be difficult to listen to and learn from others but we need to do it. And thirdly, change—we need to mould and transform ourselves: if you are lacking certain needed qualities, then learn to develop them. If you see you have some faults, then slowly work on transforming these faults; don’t just leave them as they are. Otherwise you will never improve.In terms of the dharma, we need the intelligence of knowing the natural state and never parting from the motivation of bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment. These days many practitioners are losing bodhicitta. Sometimes I also find myself thinking, “Can I really reach enlightenment? Is it really possible? And in any case, will it really be of benefit to others and to myself?” The state of enlightenment, buddhahood, is the ultimate benefit, the ultimate bliss, the ultimate peace, and the ultimate, unsurpassable method to benefit oneself and others. This being so, we need to develop the wish and determination to attain enlightenment. This is bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment. So as a practitioner, with intelligence we should receive genuine dharma teachings from a genuine teacher, reflect upon them genuinely, and put them into practice genuinely. Dignity. Sometimes we encounter problems and challenges in our mundane lives, or we experience failure. In these cases, we shouldn’t let the setback rob us of our dignity and confidence. We should approach the situation in a constructive way: think, “Okay, I didn’t succeed here. Why not? What was I missing? What did I do wrong?” And take it all as experience. Then set out to remove the faults and flaws that caused the problem so you’ll be able to succeed in the future. You should feel confident that, yes, I can attain enlightenment, I can benefit beings. Here in samsara I can help my family, I can support the sangha and benefit sentient beings. I can do it. I can achieve things, and I can live a joyful, meaningful life. In this way, we need to nurture inner dignity and confidence, even in the face of challenges.This kind of dignity is such an important quality, and for practitioners it is simply indispensable. Kyabjé Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche would say that without dignity you cannot succeed in dharma practice, and in particular in meditation. This dignity is a kind of courage, a decisive, unwavering confidence. It is not a shaky or hesitant state of mind, like thinking, “Oh, I am not sure if meditation will really be beneficial or not… I wonder if my meditation is okay or not…” Nothing like that.Some people know the dharma, they understand, but still ask questions. This is a clear sign of lack of confidence and doubt. Of course if you don’t understand something or don’t know something then you need to ask and should ask, but when you find yourself asking questions and feeling doubt about things you already know that is a sign of lack of dignity. So what is the remedy for this? How can practitioners develop this dignity? Supplicate the buddhas and Supreme Ones (buddha, dharma, and sangha). This is the general approach common for all Buddhists. If you are a Vajrayana practitioner, also supplicate your gurus and supreme yidam deity and train in developing divine dignity. Whichever approach you follow, make supplications that they bless you with inner dignity. Since some of you reading this email are probably not practitioners and some of you are, I am sending you these four points since they are relevant to both. I am well and I hope you are all healthy and happy too. With aspirations,  Sarva Mangalam (May all be auspicious) Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche For more information and teachings, please visit:   www.phakchokrinpoche.org / www.cglf.org

Compassion and Negative emotions- Phakchok Rinpoche message in March 2014 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช มีนาคม 2557

Guru Rinpoche Day, 11th March 2014 Dear Friends Near and Far, I have been thinking of all of you, my dharma brothers and sisters. In our lives, we need the spiritual path, meaning we need to practice. So please, be happy in whatever it is that you’re doing; don’t always look at others and get caught up in comparison. Mind is very skilled at searching out things to be unhappy about. This being so, I feel it’s extremely important to remind yourself everyday of how fortunate and happy you are. Today I would like to send you two poems, one about compassion and the other about the negative emotions. Compassion Compassion is the essence of human beings. Compassion can remove our faults. Compassion is the jewel heart of courageous ones. Compassion is the root of buddha. Compassion can improve our worldly lives. Compassion can benefit ourselves and others. To practice compassion is very important. Negative Emotions Negative emotions are like a light for human beings. For without negative emotions we do not see our faults. Negative emotions are like camphor; medicine for some, poison for others. Negative emotions are the root of benefitting beings. When you know negative emotions, happiness begins. When you do not see the negative emotions, suffering begins. The essence of negative emotions is wisdom. I wrote these two poems in my simple retreat in USA while looking out of the window one morning. There was a very beautiful purple orchid, seven flowers blooming in one pot, and looking at these flowers I wrote these poems for everybody. Practitioners should be like sunshine that shines constantly without thinking. Happiness should be like sunshine that shines without doubt day and night in different places throughout the world. Practitioners should be diligent like sunshine, which comes at the right time without any delays. Our wisdom should be like sunshine, unobstructed by any negative emotions, shining throughout the world. Compassion should be like sunshine benefitting the entire world—different people in different times with their different needs—bringing about happiness. In this way, sunshine has many different meanings for practitioners. With aspirations,  Sarva Mangalam (May all be auspicious) Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche For more information and teachings, please visit:   www.phakchokrinpoche.org / www.cglf.org

Balance – Phakchok Rinpoche message in February 2014 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช กุมภาพันธ์ 2557

Guru Rinpoche Day, 9th February 2014

Dear Friends Near and Far, What I would like to share with you on this auspicious Guru Rinpoche day is a short contemplation on the importance of balance. In life, one of the most important things I think is balance, especially as a practitioner but of course in ordinary life as well. Balance what? Yourself, your work, your family and friends and so on. As a spiritual practitioner it is very important to balance all of these things. How to balance them? The most important way I think is to reflect. So firstly, what responsibilities do you have? How are you going to keep them all up to date and not neglect them? Have you informed everyone you need to inform? To balance our different responsibilities in life is very important. I am sending this from transit in Istanbul airport. With many aspirations for you all. Sarva Mangalam (May all be auspicious!) Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche For more information and teachings, please visit:   www.phakchokrinpoche.org / www.cglf.org

Routine, Compassion, Faults – Phakchok Rinpoche message in January 2014 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช มกราคม 2557

Guru Rinpoche Day Message – 10th January 2014

Dear Friends Near and Far, On this Guru Rinpoche Day I would like to share three short points: Our routine is extremely important. In terms of practice, this means keeping a daily routine of practice. This is the first point. Secondly, generating compassion—correct, unmistaken compassion—and balancing it with meditation is very important. And thirdly, finding our own faults, but without judging ourselves. This is key, but it is also quite difficult. We have our own problems, difficulties, and in particular bad habits. We have a lot of selfishness and many bad habits. So it is very important to check and become aware of these. Please try to keep these points in mind and apply them throughout your lives. With many aspirations, Sarva Mangalam! Phakchok Rinpoche For more teachings or information, please visit my website at www.phakchokrinpoche.org or find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/phakchokrinpoche Phakchok Rinpoche, P.O. Box 19704, Boudhanath, Kathmandu Boudha, Nepal

Giving – Phakchok Rinpoche message in December 2013 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช ธันวาคม 2556

Dear Friends from Near and Far,

This month is the tenth Tibetan month (Monkey month), which is also Guru Rinpoche’s month. On this Guru Rinpoche Day in this very auspicious month, I wish all my friends happiness and health and may all your wishes be fulfilled.

I am writing to all of you from Singapore, where today we are doing the Sampa Lhundrub (Spontaneous Fulfilment of Wishes) Feast Offering Puja for the whole day, generating vast accumulation of merit. The past two days, we completed the Lama Norlha (King of Wealth Deities) retreat, which also went very successfully.

During the retreat, I shared with my friends an important tip about success. In order to be truly successful in life, we must have kind and caring mind, and especially a generous mind. Giving is important and when we know how to give, we become successful. Only by giving unconditionally and without any taint of stinginess on our part, will we generate the conditions for success and good fortune. Please keep this in mind, and try to apply this in your daily life.

Take care yourselves and practice diligently. Don’t be lazy. Take care of your health, not only physically but also mentally.

Wishing you every happiness and joy, and with constant aspirations,

Phakchok Rinpoche
Sarva Mangalam!

Four practice points – Phakchok Rinpoche message in November 2013 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช พฤศจิกายน 2556

Guru Rinpoche Day Teaching – 12 November 2013
คำสอน เนื่องในวันรำลึกถึง คุรุปัทมสมภพ ประจำวันที่ 12 พฤษจิกายน 2556

Dear Friends Near and Far,
สวัสดีกัลยาณมิตรทั้งใกล้และไกล,

With warm greetings to you all this wonderful Guru Rinpoche Day of the ninth Tibetan month, today I would like to share four simple and practical points:

เนื่องในวันรำลึกถึงกูรูรินโปเชประจำเดือนที่ 9 ในปฏิทินทิเบตข้าพเจ้าอยากจะแบ่งปันหัวข้อข้างล่างทั้ง 4 ที่ง่ายและนำไปปฏิบัติได้จริงพร้อมทั้งมอบคำทักทายอันอบอุ่นให้กับพวกเธอใน วันพิเศษนี้

1. We all want happiness, and we all want to be free from suffering. This is our most basic wish. And to accomplish this, some of us are studying and practising the dharma, Buddha’s teaching. There are many others who are not interested in the dharma, but either way, we are all seeking the same thing. Regardless of whom we are, one of the most important factors in helping realize this basic wish is cultivating a calm, peaceful mind. This isn’t something that comes straight away though; we need to develop it bit by bit. For this reason, the practice of shamata (calm-abiding) meditation is so very important: practicing shamata meditation focusing on the cycle of the breath every morning for fifteen minutes or so. Through training in this, our mind will gradually calm down and we’ll gain some control over our state of mind. This control will prove to be extremely helpful in quelling our uneasiness when we encounter difficult circumstances and emotions, like stress and frustration.

1. เราทุกคนต้องการความสุขและเราทุกคนต้องการที่จะเป็นอิสระจากความทุกข์ นี่เป็นความปรารถนาระดับพื้นฐานขั้นแรกสุดของเรา และเพื่อให้บรรลุเป้าหมายนี้พวกเราบางคนศึกษาและนำธรรมะ (คำสอนของพระพุทธเจ้า) มาปฏิบัติ และยังมีคนอื่นๆอีกหลายคนที่ไม่ได้สนใจในธรรมะ, อย่างไรก็ตามพวกเราทุกคนล้วนแสวงหาสิ่งเดียวกันดังกล่าวมาข้างต้น ไม่ว่าเราจะเป็นใคร, การเพาะบ่มจิตที่สงบสุขสันติเป็นหนึ่งในปัจจัยที่สำคัญที่สุดในการช่วยให้ ความปรารถนาขั้นพื้นฐานสัมฤทธิ์ผล แต่จิตที่สงบไม่ได้มาจากการแบมือขอหากแต่มันมาจากการเพียรฝึกฝนทีละเล็กทีละ น้อย ด้วยเหตุนี้การปฏิบัติสมถะกรรมฐาน (การภาวนาเพื่อให้จิตเกิดความสงบ) เป็นสิ่งสำคัญมาก: เธออาจจะเริ่มต้นด้วยการปฏิบัติสมถะกรรมฐานแบบเพ่งดูลมหายใจที่เข้าและออก (อานาปานสติ) ทุกเช้าเป็นเวลาประมาณสิบห้านาที ด้วยวิธีนี้จิตของเราก็จะค่อยๆ สงบลงทีละน้อยและเราก็จะการควบคุมอาการของจิตของเราได้ในที่สุด การควบคุมจิตได้จะเป็นประโยชน์อย่างยิ่งในการขจัดปัดเป่าความไม่สบายใจของ เราเมื่อเราประสบกับสถานการณ์ที่ยากลำบากและอารมณ์อันเกี้ยวกราดและเลวร้าย เช่น ความเครียด และความขัดเคืองใจ

2. Secondly, in our quest for happiness we need love and compassion. These are indispensable qualities. We really cannot do without them. If we lack compassion and concern for people and are always getting angry with them, we won’t have a very pleasant time ourselves, and it goes without saying that this will make life difficult for those around us. So we need care and love for our family and friends and a basic empathy and concern for everyone around us, an empathy that allows us to feel connected to all other humans, a very open and caring state of mind. Otherwise, without these qualities it will be very difficult for us to live a truly unhappy and enjoyable life; we will in fact just be creating needless suffering for ourselves.

2. ประการที่สอง ในการแสวงหาความสุขเราจำเป็นที่จะต้องมีความรักและเมตตากรุณาต่อผู้อื่น สองสิ่งนี้เป็นคุณสมบัติที่ขาดไม่ได้จริงๆเราไม่สามารถที่พบความสุขอันแท้ จริงได้โดยปราศจากสองสิ่งนี้ หากเราไร้ซึ่งความเมตตากรุณาและความห่วงใยต่อผู้อื่นและมักจะผูกโกรธผู้อื่น อยู่เสมอเราก็จะไม่มีทางอยู่เป็นสุขได้และมันจะทำให้ผู้คนรอบข้างเป็นทุกข์ ไปด้วยอย่างไม่ต้องสงสัย ดังนั้นเราจึงจำเป็นต้องเอาใจใส่และมอบความรักให้กับครอบครัวและเพื่อนของ เราและรู้จักการเอาใจเขามาใส่ใจเราและมีความห่วงใยต่อผู้คนรอบข้าง, การเข้าใจความรู้สึกของผู้อื่นช่วยให้เรารู้สึกผูกพันกับคนเหล่านั้น, มันเป็นการสภาวะจิตที่เปิดกว้างและเต็มไปด้วยความเอาใจใส่ต่อผู้อื่น ในทางตรงกันข้ามหากปราศจากคุณสมบัติทั้งสองนี้มันจะเป็นไปได้ยากที่เราจะใช้ ชีวิตอย่างเป็นสุขและสนุกสนานอย่างแท้จริงได้; มันกลับจะสร้างความทุกข์ทรมานให้กับตัวเองโดยไม่รู้ตัว

3. Thirdly, we need a good balance. If you are a spiritual person then practice the dharma (or any other religion or spiritual path you follow) well and genuinely, and at the same time look after your family and friends. Take good care of your kind parents, grandparents, your siblings, your entire family and all your friends and acquaintances. Also do whatever you can to help those in need through charity and in different ways. This balance I feel is very important. To accomplish this balance, learning and practising the dharma can really help. Even if you are not inclined to follow a spiritual path, it can be very helpful to learn some simple meditation, and of course, whoever we are, to practice charity and care for our families.

3. ประการที่สามเราจำเป็นต้องรักษาสมดุลในชีวิตให้ดี หากเธอเป็นนักปฏิบัติก็จงนำธรรมะมาเจริญภาวนาอย่างจริงๆจังๆและบ่อยๆ (หรือทำตามคำสอนในศาสนาหรือนิกายอื่นๆที่เธอนับถือ) และก็ดูแลครอบครัวและเพื่อนของเธอไปพร้อมๆกัน ดูแลพ่อแม่, ปู่ย่าตายาย, พี่น้อง, สมาชิกในครอบครัวทั้งหมดที่ดีต่อเธอเสมอมา, รวมทั้งเพื่อนๆทุกคน, และคนรู้จักของคุณ นอกจากนี้ก็ทำบุญสุนทานกับผู้ตกทุกข์ได้ยากหรือบำเพ็ญตัวให้เป็นประโยชน์ใน รูปแบบต่างๆที่แตกต่างกันไป ข้าพรู้สึกเลยว่าการรักษาสมดุลนี้เป็นสิ่งสำคัญมาก เพื่อให้เข้าสู่สภาวะสมดุลการใฝ่ศึกษาและปฏิบัติธรรมสามารถช่วยเธอได้จริงๆ แม้ว่าเธอไม่ได้คิดที่จะเอาจริงเอาจังในทางธรรม, มันย่อมมีประโยชน์มากที่จะเรียนรู้การเจริญภาวนาแบบง่ายๆ, และแน่นอนไม่เธอจะเป็นใครก็ตามมันย่อมเป็นประโยชน์ไม่ยิ่งหย่อนไปกว่ากันหาก เรารู้จักทำบุญทำกุศลและเอาใจใส่ดูแลครอบครัวของเราเอง

4. Fourthly, and lastly, we need to be sincere and honest with ourselves. At the same time, we also need self-confidence. By ‚’sincere and honest’ I mean that we need to be able to see and acknowledge our own faults and flaws. But when we see them, we should not fall into self-judgement; rather we should move towards positive change. Just acknowledge your shortcomings, and then do whatever you can to improve. If we slip into self-judgement we can end up making ourselves really miserable and lonely with low self-esteem and many different kinds of problems. So we need to be wary of that and work on reducing our self-judgement, as well as our judgement of others.

4. สุดท้ายประการที่สี่ เราจะต้องมีความจริงใจและความซื่อสัตย์กับตัวเอง ในขณะเดียวกันเราก็ต้องมีความเชื่อมั่นในตนเอง โดย “ความจริงใจและความซื่อสัตย์กับตัวเอง” ในที่นี้หมายถึงเราต้องสามารถสังเกตุเห็นและยอมรับความผิดพลาดและข้อบกพร่อง ของเราเอง แต่เมื่อเราเห็นสิ่งไม่ดีเหล่านั้นของเราเอง เราไม่ควรที่จะเลยเถิดไปถึงขนาดจมอยู่กับการเพ่งโทษตัวเอง; หากแต่เราควรจะปรับปรุงแก้ไขสิ่งไม่ดีเหล่านั้นเพื่อพัฒนาตัวเองต่อไป เพียงแค่ยอมรับข้อบกพร่องของเธอเองและจากนั้นให้พยายามทำทุกสิ่งทุกอย่างที่ เธอจะทำได้เพื่อที่จะแก้ไขสิ่งไม่ดีเหล่านั้นของเธอ หากเราหลงจมอยู่กับการเพ่งโทษตัวเองเราก็จะทำให้ตัวเองรู้สึกสลดหดหู่, โดดเดี่ยวเดียวดาย, ขาดความมั่นใจในตนเองและมีปัญหาอื่นๆตามมาอีกมากมาย ดังนั้นเราจึงจำเป็นที่จะต้องระมัดระวังในสิ่งเหล่านี้และเพียรที่จะลดการ เพ่งโทษทั้งต่อตัวเองและต่อผู้อื่น

These four points I feel are very important factors, whether we be Buddhists or not, in cultivating true happiness and well-being so we can live our various lives with joy, ease, and dignity.

ไม่ว่าเราจะเป็นพุทธศาสนิกชนหรือไม่ข้าพเจ้ารู้สึกว่าหัวข้อทั้ง 4 ข้างต้นนั้นเป็นปัจจัยที่สำคัญมากในการเพาะบ่มความสุขที่แท้จริงและความเป็น อยู่ที่ดีเพื่อให้เราสามารถดำรงชีวิตในแบบต่างๆของเราด้วยความร่าเริง, ผ่อนคลาย, และอย่างสง่างาม

Wishing you every happiness and joy, and with constant aspirations,

ข้าพเจ้าปรารถนาให้เธอมีความสุขและร่าเริงและเปี่ยมไปด้วยแรงบันดาลใจที่ไม่มีวันเสื่อมคลาย,

Phakchok Rinpoche

วัชราจารย์ พักชก รินโปเช

Sarva Mangalam!

ขอมงคลทั้งปวงจงมีแด่ท่าน

@Credit Thai Translator Team