Actions Speak Louder

The best way for a lama to teach his students is by example, by his own actions. He should act in ways that are consistent with what he says. This is very important. For instance, if a lama teaches, ‘The nature of samsara is suffering and futile. You should let go of your attachment to this life.’ But then the lama himself has strong attachment to his status, fame, and resources, the students will regard the lama as deceptive. It will be hard for them to trust the lama and rely on him fully.

Or, to give another example, if I were to say, ‘You all should go to retreat. It is an excellent thing to do.’ But if I spend most of my time galavanting around the world and don’t spend much time in retreat, you will not value my words nor see retreat to be as important as I say it is.

Such statements coming from someone like my retreat master, Lama Sherba, however, carry weight. How so? During the six years I relied on him (the last six years of his life) he only left the retreat centre once, which was to have one of his legs amputated in hospital. It wasn’t that he was simply present in the retreat centre, but he also acted as timekeeper for all the sessions, for about 3 of the 6 years I was with him. He followed the same practice schedule as all the other retreatants. It would be ok to say that he spent his life in retreat. So if someone like him were to say, ‘Retreat is very important. You should go to retreat.’ The words carry more weight, because they ring true and sound sincere. When someone walks the walk, you take what they say seriously.

Therefore, if a lama wants to lead their students, the key point is that the lama himself should act in accordance with his words. Take Jetsun Milarepa as an example, he renounced everything of the world. This act itself is a teaching. Although we are not able to do exactly as he did, his life-story still encourages us to go in that direction.

The same applies to us who are normal practitioners, we too should pay careful attention to how we conduct ourselves. Whatever you do, good or bad, influences the people around you. Therefore, it is important to set a good example by your actions. No matter who you are, what role or status you have, whether you are a lama, the head of a dharma centre, a housewife etc, when you devote yourself to listening, contemplating and practising the Dharma, people around you will be affected by that, and some may be inspired to follow your example.

Excerpts from Mind Training teaching in HwaYue Foundation, Taiwan, 2015