Rules of Thumb

Whether we are a good vessel for the Dharma or not depends on our character. If our character is good there is a high chance we can make decent progress in the Dharma. Whether we can say we’ve made progress and are now a good practitioner or not, depends on our way of thinking, how we relate to things.

Many of the past lamas placed a lot of emphasis on a prospective student’s character. When someone would introduce a friend to Gyalse Togmay (the author of the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva) his first question would be, ‘What is their character like?’

When it comes to being a practitioner, it doesn’t matter how someone looks, what colour clothes they wear, whether their head is shaved etc, it is all about their minds and whether their thoughts are in accordance with the Dharma or not.

These, I think, are reliable measures, or general rules of thumb, for assessing ourselves and others in relation to our prospects and progress in the Dharma.

September 16, 2023 Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal