Thursday, 4 February 2021

Quest Smart Dharma


An online quest for SMART DHARMA

 

Question. Will you do online teaching? 

    You should try that. 

Answer. Not yet. I think online dharma teaching is the last choice.
    Maybe in the future. Who knows? Till now I refused. It seems very boring.

Q. Really? We all do use online teaching now and it is very safe, no contact.

A. I know that it is kind of Smart Working, but Smart Dharma Teaching seems too smart!

Q. But you are smart and you should try something new.....very trendy now.

A. I think that sometimes Silence is the best teaching, especially during such moments of emergency. 

Q. You are absolutely right.

A. I do it via Facebook and Messenger post. I will wait for the right moment, when everything becomes normal, otherwise it becomes Emergency Dharma Teaching!

Q. Emergency Dharma Teaching...I like this term.

A. Dharma has never been an emergency or nor an Emergency rescuer. Dharma is life itself. 

Q. Yes, but this time of Covid-19 our life is in emergency.

A. We made it an emergency only now. Life is in emergency (From Dharmic point of view life is very fragile as its nature, impermanent reality.) from the very beginning of it, maybe we didn't realised. Dharma is an all time life rescuer. 

Note:
During the period of the spread of Covid-19 in our world, a very high degree of virtual connection between human beings developed rapidly. Therefore, today virtual courses, lectures and telematic teachings are growing enormously so that they have become the prevailing mode of communication.
    Of course the virtual connection between human beings has less potential and can never fully replace the irreplaceable direct human relationships, although in this circumstance the use of technology is desirable and necessary in order to be able to communicate exchanges of ideas, thoughts, concepts, reflections, questions and wisdom through websites, Skype, Youtube, Facebook, Zoom, etc..
     However, caution is necessary because the teachings of virtual Dharma, initiations, spiritual transmissions and blessings increase too quickly and risk remaining only at a superficial level.
For this reason, for the time being, I personally do not feel like giving any further virtual teachings and instead make available the teachings, books and contents of this humble Dharma Archive site of mine, which offers a platform for the exchange of ideas and thoughts. Just click on the title of the topic and the chosen document will automatically open.
     I am happy to offer consultations, to answer any questions or clarifications for the navigation of the site itself and especially for everything related to Buddhism and Dharma. You can consult me by e-mail or through my messenger on Facebook.
                                                                                                                     Geshe Gedun Tharchin

Karma and Covid-19



An online Interview on Karma and Covid-19 relation

18 May 2020 


Question: The word KARMA is a popular one, world wide use. Can you please explain the meaning of karma from a buddhist point of view?

Answer: It is a very complex subject! Practically Karma means simply Action, principally mental action, our intention and motivation. "Good and bad karma are functions of your intention; When your intention is good, everything becomes good; When your intention is bad, everything becomes bad; So everything depends on your intention." Those lines are practical advice of Je Tsongkhapa. 

Q: What makes karma ripening?

A: An uncontrolled Ignorance, Attachment and Anger makes our negative karma to bring bad fruits and constant practice of Sila, Samadhi, Prajna makes our positive Karma to bring good fruits. 

Q: What is collective karma?

A: Collective Karma is either positive, negative or neutral intention that is based on common interest, such as working in a war, praying or meditating in Sangha, volunteering in a hospital teamwork so on, anything that you do with a common intention of a community. 

Q: This Corona Virus can we say that is the result of our previous karma? and the fact that some countries suffered a lot and some much less can we say that is due to collective karma?

A: Covid-19 is a karmic fruit, it is part of our samsara or life. But we cannot verify exactly which karma created it and how many and what kind of karmas involved in it's cause.  Certainly so many karmas, negatives, positives and neutrals, collectives and individuals, pasts and presents, together created this pandemia. Of course very sadly this pandemic caused lots of suffering to so many humans. And at the same time it gave us lots of new knowledge for our future humanity. Suffering is not always necessarily judged as negative and a result of negative karma. Sometimes positive karma can bring temporary suffering for the interest of long run goodness in future. Sometimes negative karma can bring temporary happiness as well. So, it is impossible to know the mystery of the karma game! In a way we humans are the main actor of karma. So, each of us should investigate our intention and motivation for every single action and being aware of and witnessing yourself is the main practice of Dharma or Meditation.