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| Teaching on the Mahamudra Prayer |
Excerpt from a teaching on the The Mahamudra Prayer
by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Heidelberg 2006
Transcribed and edited by Dylan Vaughn
The accumulation of merit or positive deeds includes:
Abstaining from doing negative things, those things which harm us and others, the actions which are inspired by negative emotions rooted in anger, greed, confusion, pride and jealousy, whether in body, speech or mind,
Doing things which are good and useful, and bring well-being and good to myself and others, both now and in the long term, like the six paramitas,
Helping others and bringing real benefit to them,
In short, it is any action done with compassion.
The accumulation of Wisdom is:
Any training we do that leads us to wisdom. It could be study or meditation.
These two together are the path.
Some people ask, should I meditate, or work for others like in a hospital?
From the Buddhist point of view you need both. Of course, you should help others, otherwise there is no compassion. What is helping others? Giving food and education, or guidance, health care - or teaching others to liberate themselves, which could be the highest form of help.
We need to learn to help others; therefore we need to work on ourselves. That is why both are so important and go hand in hand.
That is the whole practice.
Sometime there is more emphasis on one or the other - depending on circumstances that allow us to do the best thing. However, there should always be an intention to help others, even if it is only an aspiration that we can do so in the future.
When we practice with merit and wisdom, we accomplish two purposes: my own purpose in that I free myself from dissatisfaction and fear; because I know how to get out of my own problems, I can help others to do so, and I have the wisdom and compassion, energy, and know-how to help others – that is the result and it is free from Nirvana and Samsara.
One would think that if one is not in Samsara that one is in Nirvana. Samsara is not something to leave behind, and Nirvana is not something to go to.
It's not two things.
When we understand the nature of things and ourselves - clearly and directly -there is no Samsara to get rid of.
So there is no Nirvana to obtain.
When you see this clearly you are beyond both, because you know that everything is okay; and that is the realization or enlightenment.
-(c) Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Heidelberg, 2006, reproduced with permission
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