Be Scrupulous

During the Pure Land Puja, I was tied up handling different administrative affairs and receiving a surplus of visitors who packed the reception room. After a long day, my mind became a blur and I felt dazed. But the conversation I had with a lady in her 30s wearing a blue down jacket kept ringing in my ear. Like the lingering sound of a bell being struck, her words shook me and set me thinking.

“I graduated from a prestigious institute in Shanghai and received my degree in Singapore. Later I became interested in Buddhism and studied with a number of venerable teachers of both Tibetan and Han traditions.

A few years ago I met a Rinpoche and became one of his main students. I tried my best to smooth his dealings with various agencies and helped him establish a children’s home. Through him I learned the many teachings of Tibetan Buddhism and have aroused in my being an unshakable confident faith in the Dharma. Without him, I would have remained as my old self; thus I am deeply grateful to him.

Yet as time went on, I began to see in him some unacceptable conduct, to me at least. When he travels, he prefers to stay in hotels that cost more than 400 yuan per night; when dining out at restaurants, he likes to show off by ordering expensive dishes that, regrettably, were hardly touched and only piled up as leftovers. I tried to persuade him by saying that a teacher does deserve to be treated with decent lodging and fine food. But a room costing 100 yuan per day should serve the purpose just as well and too much food ordered will be left unfinished. The children in the orphanage are looking forward to our help with starving eyes, and the remaining money can be used for lifesaving to protect more lives. Isn’t it a shame to waste money in your way?

He was not happy to hear what I had to say each time, as he deems the perks are the results of his merits and he’s justified to enjoy them. As for myself, I have read many books and I do have unshakable faith in Vajrayana. I believe firmly that his behavior is but the display of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas’ skillful means to tame sentient beings, and I did not generate wrong views. Yet, in the end, I can’t help choosing to leave him.”

My heart grew heavy after hearing her account. Many so-called masters usually indulge in food and drink unscrupulously when they go out. People in the monastic order should be aware that the money or provisions offered to them are objects carrying heavy consequences. To spend offering money without restraint will bring unimaginable retribution. Other than those skillful means of the Conqueror and Bodhisattvas to tame sentient beings, an ordinary spiritual teacher should pay minute attention to every conduct and speech, to avoid inciting wrong views in their followers.

As to leaving one’s teacher, great masters hold different opinions. According to Rongzom Mahapandita, it won’t hurt to leave a teacher discreetly if there are character issues. Zagar Rinpoche regards that physical separation means mental abandonment—that is, if one is unwilling to stay close to the teacher, how can one manage to do any visualization? Therefore, a disciple needs to exercise caution when contemplating leaving a teacher even if only physically.

A teacher who is responsible for upholding the Buddhist tradition should protect his disciples’ faith most carefully. Should a student break a tantric vow through conceiving of faults in his guru, the latter can’t come out completely free from blame either.

All spiritual teachers please think this over carefully!

19th of September, Year of RenWu
October 25, 2002