Since my father Chögyam Trungpa passed away twenty-five years ago, a generation has grown up exposed to his teachings but having never met him. They have come to know him though forming their own profound connections with his mind and understanding of his teachings in a way that is both relevant to their own experiences in life as well as important for the continuity of the wisdom he presented. It is in the hands of these young men and women to perpetuate this message of honoring the basic goodness that is within all of us and to create enlightened society in whatever way makes sense for them. I am thankful of and inspired by their connection. I can not believe how many different takes people have on my father’s wishes. To those of you with strong opinions on what Trungpa Rinpoche wanted, if he came back he probably would just kick your ass immediately and spend no time at all listening to your personal trip. I can confirm this, because I’ve thought about it and that’s how it would play out with me! His magnetic personality is hard to shake whether you met him or discovered him, and his fluid way of moving between modalities of interaction is endlessly fascinating as we examine what make we ourselves tick. Watching his talks, I always look forward to the question and answers and seeing him deftly redirect and identify the hidden motivation behind people’s questions. Somewhere in some recess of my mind he is in a realm of endless Q&A hilarity. I’ve always imagined my father wanted to die on April 1st…but that he just showed up late, as he was known to do on a few occasions (always). For me as in how he operated in life, his impact seems to come after years of waiting; in the end as you probably already know it was as it always had been, well worth the wait. I hope you enjoy my video offering, and I thank you for taking the time to remember my father and honor his life work on the 25thanniversary of his passing. ~ Gesar Mukpo
Verse 1
1: At this time when the difficult-to-gain ship of leisure and fortune has been obtained, ceaselessly hearing, pondering, and meditating day and night in order to liberate oneself and others from the ocean of cyclic existence is the bodhisattvas’ practice.
Many people do not consider the preliminaries very important, thinking that because they have read a book they already understand the eighteen leisures and fortunes and don’t have to concern themselves with them any longer. They rather move on the ‘real and more profound’ practices. According to Lord Jigten Sumgon the preliminaries are most profound. You will only become free from the cycle of existence, the ocean of suffering, if your whole heart wants to become free, otherwise no matter what other advanced practices you may engage in, they will not free you from suffering and in fact, they may even reinforce the ego. In the beginning you must understand the preciousness of this human incarnation and how difficult it is to obtain. Normally we ask others, ‘how did you sleep last night?’ And when they respond, ‘I slept well,’ we say, ‘that’s really good.’ If we didn’t get enough sleep, we feel sorry for ourselves.
This is a sign that the thought of the precious human life has not yet fully dawned in our mind. If it would have dawned in our mind we would feel sorry for every minute we wasted sleeping. We would not be sluggish and grouchy in the morning, but upon awakening we would remember the precious human life and feel a sense of urgency to get out of bed. Thus in the morning it is important to remember the precious human life. You may wonder how to do your daily tasks without sleep. You do not need to abandon sleep, but you should practice moderation and discipline. Furthermore, if you practice for instance the Om Ah Hung Vajra Recitation as you fall asleep, your sleep will become virtuous. Every time you awake in the middle of the night, you should remember sentient beings and recite a few Mani mantras for them. This human life is the fruition of myriad virtues accumulated throughout countless lifetimes.
It is a one-time opportunity and we shouldn’t expect to obtain such a precious opportunity again in the future. Knowing how precious this human life is, one would not waste one’s time with meaningless activities. Moreover, one will always be joyful even if things seem to go wrong, if one becomes a beggar, is without friends and family, or without wealth. Let alone becoming depressed, one would be happy, knowing that one possesses a precious human body, the ship that can bring one beyond the ocean of suffering. In fact, one will know that worldly pleasures will only bring one’s own ruin in the future. This human life is very powerful, for humans are endowed with intelligence and the six elements. It is the crossroad between going up or down. If we know how to use this human existence well, we can attain enlightenment in a single life. If we waste this human existence and engage in negative deeds, it will propel us into the lower realms for countless eons.
