Growing Into a Dharma Person

We all feel that we have to become good Dharma practitioners. And what it means to be a good dharma practitioner is to have a view that is different from normal worldly views. We simply can’t become dharma practitioners whilst maintaining a worldly view, because that can only take us along the path of samsara, whereas the dharma view takes one along the path to liberation. Simply put, different views lead to different pathways and destinations.

But having the dharma view is not about swopping a modern day view for a religious one, it’s about finding the truth – what’s really true and false, what’s real and not real, and then thinking about these a lot until you gain some certainty. For us then, becoming Dharma practitioners means gradually transforming our minds and the way we see things.

To use the example of a fruit tree; first a seed is planted and cultivated until the stem grows, then branches, leaves, flowers, and blossoms until finally the fruit slowly ripens. It’s not the case that we can plant a seed and get fruit immediately. Of course, different trees will grow at different rates, some taking years to actually produce fruit, while others may even produce fruit in the same year they’re planted. But without exception, there has to be a process of transformation. And it’s exactly the same for us; our mind has to proceed in a similar fashion – there is a process which needs to be followed. Without going through this gradual transformation within our minds, we cannot become real dharma practitioners.