The Mirror of Dharma. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

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      Introduction

      The explanation given in this chapter will bring great benefit to those wishing to practise the very profound and blessed instructions presented in the following chapters. The subject of this book is how to put Buddha’s teachings, or Dharma, into practice.

      The first point we should think about is, ‘Why do we need to practise Buddha’s teachings?’ The answer is very simple. It is because we want to be happy all the time, and we can fulfil this wish only by putting Buddha’s teachings into practice. We therefore need to practise Buddha’s teachings, Dharma, sincerely and purely.

      Although we normally want to be happy all the time, even during sleep, we do not know how to do this. If someone were to ask us how to do this, we would have no clear answer. Do you have a clear answer? Some people may say, ‘I will be happy all the time if I become wealthy, enjoy a good reputation and have the opportunity of a relationship with the person I desire.’ I am very sorry, but this is not true! We can see that people who have all these things also experience great unhappiness and many problems. Many wealthy people and those in high positions experience great suffering and many dangers. We see and hear news about such things all the time.

      Also, we should know that when, for example, we enjoy a holiday we may feel happy, but this enjoyment is not real happiness; it is just a reduction of our previous problems. If the happiness we experience by going on holiday were real happiness, it would follow that the holiday itself would be a real cause of happiness. But this is not true because, as we know, holidays can also cause many problems. We can apply this to other enjoyments, such as eating, drinking and sex. For example, if the happiness we experience from eating were real happiness, it would follow that eating in itself would be a real cause of happiness. If this were so then the more and more we ate without stopping, the more our happiness would increase. But in fact the opposite is true. Through this we can understand that in СКАЧАТЬ