From a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:
Two years before the parinirvana, Kyabje His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, my Guru told me he was no longer useful to sentient beings, that he would go. Shocked to my core I begged “please Holiness, we need you. We are not ready. Palyul is not ready; and you are our Father.” The heart sons came, and I know they must have begged also. To a living Buddha like His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, there is no reason to live if not liberating beings.
Actually I feel the same way. When I know my work is done, my usefulness is over, I too will want to go, and return swiftly to benefit sentient beings again. So it is with the way of the Bodhisattva. There is no attachment to the world per se. The world is beautiful, but also temporary, filled with cruelty and selfishness. Unkind. So it is like a costume party gone very wrong. There is no point in staying. The music stops, the balloons deflate, the food turns, there is nothing left, nothing but the dancing dead, dreaming. Renunciation is seeing this clearly and losing affection for the narcotic quality of samsara. Just that – seeing through the hallucination.
When the view is understood we recognize the empty nature of all phenomena, and of all beings. Each being, while lost in this dream, has within them the seed of Buddhahood. We have the seed, but have not awakened. So it is still a seed. When anyone tells you we are inherently awakened, they are deluded or fooling themselves. We have the seed but it is dormant. We have to grow it, ripen and mature it. When you see a worm on the ground, can you point at it and say “awaken! Now! Do it! It’s simple! No effort, all magic!” No, and you will look like a lunatic as well. The worm is, however equal in nature to every Buddha. The difference? The worm is still asleep, ignorant. No recognition. No ripening. No method no path. Someday, the worm in a different form will meet someone who has a connection to Dharma and will lead the way. Then Wormie will find the Guru and the path; method. And hopefully at that time will be in a form with a full array of faculties and the inclination to practice. There is no instant “Aha!” in recognition. In Dharma it is step by step, practice and accomplishment. For now, we must pray for them – the wormies. We must have the kindness to help them on their way…
We spend so much time in pride and arrogance pretending to be Guru or convincing others we are so accomplished. How does that help? It doesn’t. We need to awaken, feed the hungry, benefit beings. Then we have the power and heart to lay down the ego trip, stop explaining how enlightened and great we are, and show the great concern of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for all beings of all shapes, colors, species – all. It is this great compassion, this awakened Bodhicitta that is the difference between wormies and Buddhas. Secretly there is no difference. It is the outer relative reality that is different. But wormie is still a worm; and we the elders of his great “cosmic” family. They are our children, brothers, sisters. Just as we walk the path we must do so by bringing every being with us.
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