How to receive Dharma Teachings

A certain mindset is needed when it comes to receiving dharma teachings. It is similar to that of a sick person going to hospital. What is on our mind when we go to hospital? We are hoping to find out what is wrong with us or to receive treatment that will cure us. That would be our aim. We would feel that something must be done to fix our current problem. And when receiving the dharma, we must have that same mindset. But the fact is most people do not attend the teachings with such thoughts.

The thought that most people come to the teachings with is, “I wish to receive the transmission or instructions that will be given.” Or, if the person has faith they will think, “This is a special lama. I will receive blessings by attending their teaching.” The point is that most people do not come with the intention to implement what they hear.

Going back to the hospital example, people go to hospital with the thought, “I am going to make myself better” be it through an operation, medicine, etc. In the person’s mind there is something that needs to be done. That is not the attitude we bring to the teaching though, is it? Most of us attend with the thought that the lama will say something and we will sit and listen, or we will go and learn what is taught. There is no real thought of “I must change something about myself.” So right from the start, there is a mistake in our basic motivation.

So the thought we need is, “Today I am going to receive a Dharma teaching, I am going to find out something about myself that I need to change and fix.” That is the basic mindset that we need to attend a teaching with. Having this way of thinking will be very beneficial to our way of studying the dharma and it will also help us gain insight into what the teaching is really saying.