24th Feb –Vajra Vidhya Institute, Sarnath.
Day 4 Report
On the fourth day of the Spring Teachings the Gyalwang Karmapa turned the focus firmly inwards: if we look inside our own minds, a wishfulfilling jewel is already waiting. No matter how long we may search elsewhere for it, in the end we come back to what was already present within ourselves from the very beginning.
“Within our beings, all of us, there are these uncontrived, natural roots of virtue, these instinctive seeds of innate goodness. We still look for something outside ourselves, not knowing how priceless and how important what we already have is. We need to look at these seeds of virtue in our mind as if they were as rare as a Buddha.”
By first being able to see the innate treasure already present in our own minds, we can then work to develop it further and further. “We need to take those virtuous seeds within ourselves and increase them,” he said. “We need to elicit the power that is naturally there and work with that until we achieve the ultimate state of awakening.”
From exploring the innermost essence of our mind, the Gyalwang Karmapa then shifted the focus back outwards again, by reminding those gathered that sometimes we need to look from the perspective of others to see the full value of our lives. Using the metaphor of a net, in which each individual life is completely connected and completely interdependent with others, we must also be able to see how others find our lives meaningful.
“When we are trying to figure out what the essence or the meaning of life really is, then it’s not just a question of looking inside oneself. Sometimes we have to look outwards to see the meaning we hold for others. We have to look in all different directions to be able to see what is good about our life.”
Leaving the audience with this beautiful perspective on interdependence, the Gyalwang Karmapa told those gathered that he would continue the next teaching session with a different instruction from the ‘Tri Thung Gyatsa’ text, on devotion.
The Gyalwang Karmapa’s Spring Teachings continue until February 28. In addition to the seven languages already offered, live translation is now also available in Russian.
