Simply getting angry does not constitute mentally abandoning beings, but when we form the resolution to never help them in the future, that is mentally abandoning them. When we experience conflict with others, we need to remember that there is a great deal of difference between dharma and practitioners of dharma. Dharma itself is pure and unafflicted. Whether we are thinking of dharma as tradition (the buddhas teachings) or dharma of realization, they are both free of affliction. So when someone acts inappropriately and we become outraged, or we think they are acting inappropriately and we become outraged, we first of all have to remember that they are acting in contravention of dharma, not in accordance with it. And if they are fellow practitioners, then this should inspire our compassion rather than our resentment, because they are acting against the course of what they have chosen to do with their life. If you can view it that way, then instead of feeling so much resentment towards the person, you will make the compassionate aspiration that you will be able to help them in the future. In that way a situation of potential conflict can become a source of great compassion that will fuel your bodhichitta.
Treasure Teachings Are Meant For Those Who Encounter Them
..practices like this are—to use English colloquiasm—they are not off the rack. They are tailor made for you as an individual. You, as an individual, were known by Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal when they composed these texts. Your needs and abilities were taken into consideration. That is why Yeshe Tsogyal said, “All beings in the future who are interested in these treasures will all be those who have established a karmic connection with them in the past. Therefore, have joy and confidence. These words of mine are more precious than gold.” We find these words in the autobiography of Terchen Barway Dorje and in the great biography of Yeshe Tsogyal discovered by Taksham Nuden Dorje as well.
You, My Disciple
(From a collection of songs translated by Yeshe Gyamtso and published by KTD Publications (2007) as the Treasury of Eloquence: The Songs of Barway Dorje. Posted with permission. Copyright 2007 Karma Triyana Dharmachakra & Peter O’Hearn. All Rights Reserved.) You, my disciple with genuine good intentions, Don’t crave the busy distractions of this life. Continuously recollect…