[Q: Rinpoche, would you like to be a teacher?]
I would like to be a teacher if I could realize that all the different phenomena that come from wisdom mind are the cause of omniscience. If through wisdom intelligence I could understand all the different cultures of humanity, I could impartially teach to all the different disciples or students according to their faculties with or without a system, with or without judgment, at the right time, temporarily for the benefit of their present life and ultimately for the benefit of their enlightenment. But I’m afraid that before I really recognize pure wisdom intelligence I might confuse it with superficial worldly intelligence and as a result not be able to teach clearly without properly responding to their different faculties. And I’m afraid that if I only have worldly intelligence, which can be defeated by impermanent phenomena, then I’ll turn my open-minded students into pathetic ones; my rich, powerful, and beautiful students will turn me into a servant; or my careless students will drain my energies and use my precious knowledge for their own selfish benefit and finally throw me away like an old mistress when they are through. So I’d better try to stay in ordinary mind without worrying about whether bad students will stay or good students will abandon me.
— Thinley Norbu, from “Gypsy Gossip and Other Advice”
I would like to be a teacher if I could realize that all the different phenomena that come from wisdom mind are the cause of omniscience. If through wisdom intelligence I could understand all the different cultures of humanity, I could impartially teach to all the different disciples or students according to their faculties with or without a system, with or without judgment, at the right time, temporarily for the benefit of their present life and ultimately for the benefit of their enlightenment. But I’m afraid that before I really recognize pure wisdom intelligence I might confuse it with superficial worldly intelligence and as a result not be able to teach clearly without properly responding to their different faculties. And I’m afraid that if I only have worldly intelligence, which can be defeated by impermanent phenomena, then I’ll turn my open-minded students into pathetic ones; my rich, powerful, and beautiful students will turn me into a servant; or my careless students will drain my energies and use my precious knowledge for their own selfish benefit and finally throw me away like an old mistress when they are through. So I’d better try to stay in ordinary mind without worrying about whether bad students will stay or good students will abandon me.
— Thinley Norbu, from “Gypsy Gossip and Other Advice”
As
Buddha said in his first teaching, the root of all our suffering in
samsara is ignorance. Ignorance, until we free ourselves from it, can
seem endless, and even when we have embarked on the spiritual path our
search is fogged by it. However, if you remember this, and keep the
teachings in your heart, you will gradually develop the discernment to
recognize the innumerable confusions of ignorance for what they are, and
so never jeopardize your commitment or lose your perspective.