An excerpt from a teaching called How Buddhism Differs from Other Religions by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo
Let’s say that a practitioner has dedicated their lives to practicing everyday for the sake of sentient beings, for the happiness of sentient beings. Maintaining their samaya or commitment practice very purely, practicing everyday for the sake of sentient beings. That’s extraordinary compassion. Even though you are doing it here on earth, the method for doing that did not come from the earth. It came from the realization and the awakening of the Buddha. If not for the Buddha’s awakening, the technology would not be here. And so it’s extraordinary compassion. And as we progress along the path, the first thing that we do is to practice ordinary and extraordinary compassion. These are the two feet of the path. This is what gives you the ability to go the distance. If all you’re concerned about is yourself and your own delusions and illusions and your own BS, and really not out there for the sake of sentient beings or doing your practice every single day for the sake of sentient beings, then you’re not there yet. And that’s why we call it practice.
Nobody comes here ready to fly. Nobody. If that were the case, you wouldn’t need to come here. But you come here with a taste. There must be some old habit in you, some karma. Something that you’ve given rise to in the past that puts you here in this moment. I beg you to take advantage of it. Because in order to get to the point where you can sit at the feet of your guru, and listen to the precious Buddha dharma, and then go to New York and hear His Holiness teach the precious Buddha dharma, you must have made so many wishing prayers, and must have done so much virtuous conduct in the past. And if your path goes smoothly, then you know that you’ve done it before. And if you give rise to the Bodhicitta, then you are not a stranger to it. And this is how we know where we’ve been, and what we were like simply by looking at ourselves.
If we’re poor, we didn’t give enough. If we’re sick, we did not see to the welfare of others or caused them harm. If we are mentally incapacitated, then we caused someone or many people mental suffering in the past. Those that die young have either killed others young or caused others to die young. So these are the things that we are looking for and these are the things that we can overcome by practicing the Buddha dharma. It can be overcome.
© Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo
