Wisdom Roads

Author(s): Lorrence G Muller
Publisher: Continumm New York

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Tenzin Wangyal RINPOCHE
who are living ordinary lives; it is here to provide them with a place to practice; and to learn, to practice—and to try to integrate that practice into their lives as much as they are able to.
L.M.: Is the goal of liberation possible for the lay practitioner even in this very lifetime? That seems to be a hallmark of Bon Dzogchen teachings.
T.W.: Dzogchen teachings generally say about it happening in one lifetime—that it is “one body, one life”-it means you can achieve full liberation.
L.M.: You can, yes, but it still depends. You have to take the practice very seriously.
T.W.: You have to take the practice very seriously. But not intensely; rather, you do it with joy, and without tension. When people talk about being serious, they lose the joy.
L.M.: So how do you have joy?
T.W.: You have to have a joyful attitude toward practice.
L.M.: How do you encourage them as a teacher? Say you might see a student taking a too intense approach.
T.W.: Yes, you try as a teacher, you try to support them; you try to look at the conditions and circumstances of the student. And you try to guide them as much as possible. Some students might have a past karmic connection, and they immediately connect with the teachings. They immediately feel at home there; they practice, they become very successful. But some students, they are very hard to work with. But still, with them it might be possible. And then, other people don't have a karmic connection at all. So there is nothing you can do, except that you can make a new karmic connection. So that in the future, in another lifetime, it is possible.
L.M.: Their own history, their past karmas perhaps are an obstacle for them to do the practice.
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