Word from Perfect Teacher

H.H Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Status Update
By Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse


It occurred to me today that I will have to work much, much harder if I am ever even to get close to this thing called ‘enlightenment’—especially when I think of the strange dream I had recently.
I was in some kind of a restaurant and drinking coke from a classic coca cola bottle. As often happens in dreams, the ‘absolutely impossible’ suddenly became all too real, and I found myself—my entire body—being sucked into the bottle! And because I’m so attached to my ‘normal’ terms of reference, I really hated being stuck in that bottle. It felt completely wrong! I was furious about not being able to push my head out of its narrow neck, and as there were no hooks to grab hold of, I kept slipping further and further into the belly of the bottle.
Then I thought about how absurd and bizarre my situation was. The idea that I’d been sucked into the bottle in the first place defied all logic, so why was I trying to apply logic to get myself out? And I realized that the fact my familiar tool ‘logic’ didn’t work was what I hated most of all!
Children are far less fettered by reason and logic than adults. I’m constantly amazed by how carefree they are, and am reminded of something Claudia’s daughter, Sachiko, once did. She was playing with her Barbie doll one day, and as she really liked the doll’s skirt, she decided she wanted to wear it herself. So, completely unselfconsciously, she undressed the doll, convinced that the pretty skirt would fit her.
For myself, I can see how tightly bound I am to logic, and if I needed any further proof about just how far from enlightenment I really am, I just have to look at my inability to accept the death of my devoted attendant Karma Lodro. That he was too young to die is a foolish notion, actually, because it suggests that the death of someone older is somehow more acceptable. But this is the dichotomy I’m left with… along with my tremendous gratitude to Karma Lodro.

Abstracted from www.facebook.com on 14 March 2013