Lama Yeshe in Kopan 1970From a question and answer session with Lama Yeshe in Italy Oct. 18, 1982:
Q. I've been interested in Buddhism for a long time but I find it difficult to penetrate the teachings deeply because I don't have anybody to ask. Occasionally I can ask a geshe* some questions through a translator but as time goes by I find new questions and problems that are rather extensive and I don't know who to speak to about them.
A. It's good that as you think about the teachings more questions arise. Buddhism is a path of research into the universal reality of your own mind, and when you examine this reality and where it comes from, countless questions come into your mind and this process begins to shake your previously held concepts. However, from the practical point of view, you have to answer your own questions through meditation. I truly believe that you can't get satisfactory answers from anybody else. Perhaps I'm ignorant--of course I'm ignorant--but in my experience I've had to fertilize my own mind, be constructive and take personal responsibility, and that's the way I've found answers to my own questions.
So my experience also applies to you--unless you're merely seeking intellectual, verbal answers. But who wants those? If you have a philosophical question, we can give you philosophical Tibetan answers, but they probably won't fit your way of thinking. There are cultural differences in Western and Tibetan philosophical thought. Anyway, if your questions are strictly philosophical and you're seeking simply intellectual answers, then you can probably find some philosopher to reply, but if you're looking for something deeper you shouldn't expect an external teacher to be able to give you all the answers. That's not the Buddhist attitude.
Q. Thank you, but I am seeking deeper answers than the merely intellectual.
A. Then it's best that you find the answer within yourself through meditation rather than expecting some Italian monk or other teacher to tell you. Through a combination of analytical meditation and single-pointed concentration you'll get answers; the best answers.
*A geshe is a higher degree of teacher in the Tibetan tradition.
1 comment:
I like his answer. Some of the worst theological nit picking I've ever encountered was between buddhists competing to see who was the most enlightened.
That's the buddhist version of all out war.
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