by the great Kagyudpa Master

Araga Karma Chagme 

Excerpt from the third day of the retreat given by 

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

26th June 2011, Merigar West, Italy

Purification

If we don’t purify when we have done something wrong, even if we only did a slightly negative action that has a very small potentiality of negative karma it nevertheless becomes heavy because, not having been purified, it associates with other thoughts and increasing more and more it becomes very serious. This is just like the example I told you about the monks and nuns, when they have taken complete vows. Even if they have only done one of the ninety different kinds of least serious negative actions, if they do something wrong every day of course they can accumulate many of them. This doesn’t mean that when you become a monk or nun you never do anything wrong. It is normal and it can also create many problems. But they then do purification twice a month. They not only purify their bad actions, they also repair any damage they have done. Doing that twice a month, they are purified. Of course monks and nuns need to do that with the Sangha. Maybe you have seen this in a film. His Holiness the Dalai Lama does this ceremony every fifteen days. There are two small groups of monks: one group is the elder group and the other is the younger group. They pay respect to each other and then they do purification of each other. Even if you have accumulated only one small bad deed and you don’t purify it, after one month, or two months or a little longer time, that one of the ninety least bad deeds becomes just like one of the thirteen heavier ones. Now it is more difficult to purify. That is an example showing that we need to purify everything frequently and immediately. This is not only for monks and nuns in the Vinaya. This is an example for everybody. 

Also in Vajrayana teaching, as well as in the Dzogchen teaching, we know very well we have Samaya commitments, particularly commitments of paying respect between sisters and brothers of Vajra. This is one of the heavier problems we have in the Dzogchen community. Many people ignore this and when they are angry they no longer remember that this is their Vajra brother or sister. For example, when husband and wife or engaged couples fall in love they are very happy and they come together to a retreat. Even when receiving teachings they sit very close together, in Italian it is called ‘appiccicato’, clinging to each other. As soon as they feel tired of each other or if they are jealous of each other, these husbands and wives say, “Now we have so many problems”. Then they begin to fight each other. Even though what they are fighting about is not so important, they don’t remember they are Vajra brothers and sisters. This is very, very bad. Our relationships in the normal human condition are maybe relatively a little important if we are paying respect to each other, but they are still in a very worldly situation. For example, some husbands and wives remain very faithful. If for instance the wife has died and the husband is still alive, he takes flowers to the cemetery every Sunday and talks to her somewhere. This is all we can do in the worldly situation; we couldn’t go beyond that. He believes he is talking to his wife there in the cemetery. Her body was put there and then he is talking to her: “Oh! I am very sorry and I still have these feelings …” but no-one is listening there. 

But the relationship of Vajra lasts until we have total realisation; nobody can ever break that. If we create problems they become obstacles for our realization. So we must have the presence of that; we must keep it in mind. 

I am not saying that husbands and wives should never separate. If you can’t get on well together, of course you can also separate paying respect to each other. But it is not necessary to fight and create so many tensions and problems. Your relationship of Vajra is much more important than money, house and everything. You know very well that when you die you won’t be able to take even one euro or dollar with you. What could you do then, if you are too attached to those things? They are relative; they are not so very important. What is very important is your relationship of the Vajra.  We really must be careful of that. I have always found that is the most difficult thing. 

Some people say, “I have a good intention and a good relationship and I keep my Samaya between my teacher and me.” There is no difference between your relationship with your teacher and your relationship with your brothers and sisters of Vajra. Try to remember to read the Marmei Monlam (mar mei smon lam), Invocation of the Butter Lamp. It says how important this relationship of Vajra is. For that reason, if we did something wrong we should purify it. For example, we do Ganapuja regularly. Each time we do the One Hundred Syllable mantra in the Ganapuja we purify our samaya. 

However some people did something wrong and they think, “I did something wrong but now I did a Ganapuja and it is purified.” But if you had some tensions with someone and you are still keeping those tensions in you and you believe you have purified them, what does that mean really? What you should purify is your tensions. If you observe well you will see that your different kinds of tensions have no importance whatever. They are only a kind of invention of your mind. You are following your mind and your mind is developing more and more tensions. Observe everything very well and you will see there does not exist anything. 

When you have any of these kinds of tensions you never feel good in any moment; you never enjoy your life.

If you have some tensions, if you don’t like someone, eliminate your tensions! When you have freed your tensions there is no longer any problem and you become friends. Now you can enjoy your life. So it is very important to do purification and after we have done it, to be present in that way, keeping that in mind.     

If we have not purified, even if only one day passes, it continues to develop. Why does it develop? Because we are always thinking and judging. Mind is always associated with those kinds of problems and they develop continually. 

If we purify concretely with our intention, there does not exist anything we couldn’t purify. For example, if there are very dirty things on our clothes or something, if we wash them with water we can clean them. In the same way, we can eliminate and purify all our thoughts and these kinds of tensions. If we did something wrong, we know it is very bad, it is not good. Now we want to liberate it immediately. For example, maybe you ate some kind of poison by mistake; you thought it was some kind of food but later on you discovered it was poison. If you were to discover you had eaten poison you couldn’t remain indifferent. You would try to do something straight away to purify it otherwise you would die. In the same way, if we did something wrong, then we need to purify it immediately. If you notice you did something wrong and you are very sorry and want to purify, if you purify in it that way you will a find it easier to do.

But sometimes we have pride. We think, “Oh! I can do this easily.”  When we are conditioned by pride it is not so easy to purify, even if you are doing purification. 

Or if you are thinking that even if you do purification you won’t be able purify, if you don’t have confidence in your purification, also in this case it is not so easy to purify. 

In particular, if you think, “I have done something wrong so I want to purify and from today I don’t want to apply and commit this kind of thing anymore,” and you take a commitment by yourself, even if you do this kind of purification thinking, “There is no problem, I can just purify it”, that means you are not considering your negative action is very serious. Also in this case, even though you are doing purification it is very difficult to purify. Also Buddha said that.