Pretend Practitioners

Most practitioners these days are pretenders, actors. That’s not good but what’s worse is that they don’t even know how to pretend.

The past high lamas lived in caves, ate the simplest of foods and spent most of their time studying, practising and teaching. For example, if you visit the hills around Tsurpu in Tibet, you will be shown to caves where many of the earlier incarnations of the Karmapas stayed.

You won't find many higher lamas than the great Karma Chagme Rāga Asya and he spent decades in retreat with the door sealed up. It was while staying in retreat like this that he composed most of his writings, which he relayed through a small window to his attendant and scribe. Many of the well-known past lamas whose names inspire awe in us lived like that.

I don’t know how it happened, but these days when people wish to give the impression of being a high lama, they wear nice clothes, gather an entourage around them and try to live like kings. Basically, they do the exact opposite of what they should do if they were going to be convincing.

Fundamentally, I’m just a pretender too, I’m nothing like an authentic dharma practitioner, but I have witnessed how true practitioners live, so I think I at least have a better idea of how to pretend. Although I’m not sure that’s anything to brag about.

Drupon Khen Rinpoche

01.09.2023