Tibetan Buddhism has a long history of more than one
thousand years. Due to the fact that it has many different
ways of Dharma practices, with a lot of rituals and
ceremonies, it may seem to be exhilarating at the
very beginning to the newcomers. But as time passes,
some practitioners, whose basic foundations in the
Buddhist teachings are weak, or those whose intentions
are impure, will soon find themselves becoming frustrated,
or to be at a lost as to where they are and what they
should accept or abandon. In this way, the
more they practice the Dharma, the more they are confused
as a result.
A lot of questions and problems have been received
from both laymen and the Dharma practitioners, who
have complained that it is, indeed, not easy to cross
the threshold of Vajrayana. Even when they have entered
the door of Vajrayana, as it is so full and rich in
various arrays of outward fascinations, it is very
often that these fascinations
distract the eyes and confuse the minds. Hence,
the more they go deeper, and enter into the more inner
dimensions, towards the center of the Vajrayana teachings,
the more questions, difficulties
and problems they will encounter, even so much
so that distorted conceptions and perceptions of Dharma
practices start to arise. All in all, these are long
and winding roads with many twists and turns,
just like a "maze", and that it is usually more easy
to get in but very hard to get out, and is even more
difficult to have a holistic
picture of what is going on with a sense of direction.
How about all those skillful means, as well as the
teachings of perfect liberation and enlightenment
within a single life-time, as taught by Vajrayana?
These are usually all the main "attractions" of Vajrayana,
and so what should we do about this ? Particularly,
when we are at the moment
of death, the "single thought" will determine whether
we will be liberated or to continue on with samsara.
To be or not to be, that is the question ?
Thus, this set of lectures is the first of a series
entitled "Series on the Practice of Tibetan Buddhism",
the contents of which touch upon the interplay and
the interface of the Dharma practice with our everyday
life. "All Dharma practices
are rooted in life itself", and so how
to practice the Dharma, how to maintain
our pure intention
as well as our pure awareness,
in our everyday life experiences will be the main
focus of these lectures.
Those who are long-time Dharma practitioners will find
the materials to be very practical, not to be found
in books, and come from the
essences of wisdom that flow from real life experiences
in the practices of the Dharma, and not just
some kind of theoretical knowledge about the Buddhist
teachings. Basic concepts, fundamental
principles and teachings, as well as the crucial
points, distractions, misunderstandings and the pitfalls
of practices in Vajrayana will be introduced.
As the contents are very condensed and tightly structured,
and interpreted in a very special way, there is almost
none of such kind of presentation before on the holistic
picture of Vajrayana in the propagation of Tibetan
Buddhism. Hence, for those who desires to learn
about Vajrayana, for those who have not yet correctly
mastered the crux of the Dharma practices, as well
as for those who have already practiced Vajrayana
for years but still have a lot of questions, and would
like to review and to consolidate
on their Dharma practices, they will all find
this series to serve as a useful
guide with correct and clear directions. Even
for the general practitioners, whether those of the
Hinayana, Mahayana, or Vajrayana, this will also provide
insightful significance for them.
We sincerely invite you all to enter the great door
of the practical merits of Buddhism, so as to reorient
one's life, to redefine its
meaning and to reposition oneself in it. If
there are any benefits to be gained from this series
of lectures, these will be totally
dedicated to all motherly sentient beings, as well
as to the three Root Gurus of the author.
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