Chocolate or Dharma ?

Something very important we need to be aware of, is that we don’t have good understanding of the dharma and what it is. Therefore we don’t really appreciate the dharma as much as we might think. It’s very important that we are aware of this.

Here is an example that clearly shows how we think. If we went to Bodhgaya and were fortunate enough to see His Holiness the Karmapa and receive some teachings, we might not necessarily feel great joy just in having received those teachings. We might not have that much feeling at all for the teachings that we received from him. But then if we were to get an interview with the Karmapa, and he was to give us a little gift such as a piece of chocolate or we were to get a really nice photograph together with him, we would be totally overjoyed! We would be delighted. And when we get home, the first thing we would do is get out our phone and show all our friends. “Oh, look at this really good picture I have got of me with the Karmapa!” We wouldn’t be talking to our friends about the teachings we had received, saying, “Now I can see that the way I practice is mistaken! After having received these instructions, I’m now clear about the way to go!” This shows very clearly that we don’t really understand the dharma and have no insight into what it is. Because a photograph is not going to make us enlightened, nor is a gift. Only teachings and instructions show us the path to Buddhahood.

At the time of the Buddha many students attained enlightenment. But if we look at the way things were done, did they take lots of snap shots with the Buddha or did the Buddha give them many gifts? I doubt he really had anything to give. Yet his students attained Buddhahood, arhatship or the state of a bodhisattva. And how did they manage to achieve those states? They did so because they saw the dharma teachings and receiving instructions to be important.

We, ourselves, haven’t studied much and so don’t have such good understanding of dharma. Not understanding it very well, we don’t see it to be very important. We could even say, that between receiving one week of dharma teachings and one piece of chocolate from the Karmapa, we would be happier receiving that piece of chocolate. What does this show us? It shows us that we don’t really appreciate that which is actually going to take us to Buddhahood. We much prefer chocolate! In reality, there’s no comparison between these two, dharma instructions are inconceivably more precious. But we don’t appreciate them. And as long as we don’t appreciate that which is going to lead us to Buddhahood, we’ll never have any opportunity to get there.