PART 7 of Teaching on Medicine Buddha by Gyalwa Dokhampa – THE TWO WAYS TO UNDERSTAND PURIFICATION
Our sicknesses are often related to our lifestyle – such as eating, drinking, or whatever. For example, a person may be drinking a lot of alcohol to divert his mind, probably because of unhappiness about certain things in life or to overcome some difficulties. It could probably be because of our desires in life. We human beings have unlimited desires. Even if Green Tara comes and grants many blessings, I am sure we will not remember the blessings we received but remember the things we did not get.
Almost all of us are like that, you know; we don’t remember the blessings that much but keep counting what we didn’t get. It is quite rare that people say they are doing very well. It is such a feeling of joy when you hear people say they are doing well. Usually, even if we have many positive things in our life, we tend to highlight the negative ones because of our endless desires. No matter how many blessings we receive, it is impossible to fulfill all our wishes because of our limitless desires.
When we cannot contain our desires, it leads to disappointment. Disappointment then gradually leads to anger, depression, etc. If we look back and contemplate, all our behaviors that cause difficulties in our lives are tied to our emotions of jealousy, anger, desire, etc. That is why every time we do purification; we are reminding ourselves that whatever we are experiencing is a result of our causes and conditions.
There are two ways to understand purification. One way of understanding purification is to understand that since everything is a result of cause and condition if I can change my lifestyle and behavior, I can change my future. Every time you do purification, you are giving yourself a second chance; you are giving yourself the energy to try to deal with your future or try to create your future.
Secondly, doing purification is also to remind yourself that even though you may be angry or depressed at some point in your life, those are not your true nature. If anger was your true nature, then you must be angry from the day you were born, every moment of your life. But that is not the case. Maybe you are becoming angry when you are hurt or sad, but that is not your nature.
For example, I am not saying that fair-skinned is better or darker is better. Whatever skin color we are born with is our natural skin, and maybe we can change a bit superficially with cream and makeup, but all these external applications cannot change its nature. Usually, we Himalayans like fair skin and apply so much fair and lovely cream. But there is only so much that cream can do.
Similarly, if our nature is anger, depression, sadness, and so on, then that’s very bad because there is nothing that we can do about it as we cannot change our nature. If this is the case, then there is no point in advising other people, your children, or yourself to become a better human being, and all we can do is accept it.
Fortunately, this is not true. From the Buddhist perspective, we call these negative emotions “Bakchak,” meaning a habitual pattern developed over many lifetimes, especially within this lifetime, but these emotions are not our true nature. That is why, every time we do purification, it is a reminder that all these afflictive emotions are not my nature, and I can wash these off. Every time you do purification from the depth of your heart, emotionally you will feel lighter, and from the blessing point of view, your negative karma will be very much reduced.
To be continued…
A Short Prayer to Medicine Buddha is available for download from http://bit.ly/35K2uey
For Part 6, visit https://www.facebook.com/155584751132548/posts/4161618713862445/?d=n