The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso given at Kunzang Palyul Choling on Ngondro:
The Four Thoughts that turn the mind from samsara are very important. Our minds are distracted by this world. We practice a little bit, and then get distracted, thinking life is good — eating pizza in the restaurant, going to the beach on weekends, and enjoying ourselves. It is really nice. One could have a very happy life with one’s family, and eating, and experiencing all those happy experiences. At the end of life, if one could not have the continuation of that kind of happiness in the next lifetime and many future lifetimes, one may get a little upset and think, “I should have done something. I have just been going to the beach, the mountains, camping, bungee jumping, and all that. I’ve spent my time doing all that, but I really didn’t do anything.” Then all one’s karma ripens. Whether you believe in karma or not, understand it or not, it doesn’t matter. Whether you are a Christian or a Buddhist or a Hindu or a Jew or a Muslim, in cyclic existence, karma is the life process. It is the nature of cyclic existence itself. So that nature ripens to everybody. Everyone experiences that. After death, if one has to bear all different kinds of suffering, then one may experience some regret.
This is how one has a very happy life. You can have entertainment, but at the same time have a kind of entertainment which really makes sense, which you can carry with you. On weekends, you could come here and participate in a tsog offering or a puja or some kind of a practice. While you are doing the practice, you may experience some minor problems with your knees or sitting or doing prostrations, but still you are bearing some karma and having some purification. After all, you could have something you can really carry with you after death. It is as the Buddha, who is fully enlightened, has explained. Jetsunma has also explained all this a number of times. The important thing to realize here is that this precious human birth is one in which one could really become involved in practice, in which one could become involved with the Dharma teachings, in which one could really become involved in Dharma activities. If one could really have some time to apply to practice, then this becomes a precious human birth.
