We are not supposed to do the Dharma

We are the Dharma!

The Buddha didn’t teach us to follow his teachings: he taught us to recognise our true nature. We may become very learned and scholarly in the Dharma, but we can miss taking the Dharma to heart. We are both the teacher and the student.

If we do not take the Dharma to heart, we will be beggars and feel unworthy, because we are following and not being. We will then project that concept onto others. One of the problems with Dharma centres is that people learn the routines, and become very scholarly in the routines. This is not Dharma.

Dharma is uncontaminated compassionate awareness.
That is exactly what we are.
In our relative side we may not be perfect, but we can have perfect empathy for others, knowing that we are not perfect…yet!

How we treat others says much about ourselves. We may praise this or that Lama, be able to repeat spiritual jargon, look the part, but still steal someone else’s cushion, smother the atmosphere with our need for home comforts, or shut others out with coldness and detachment…I’ve seen all these!

If we cannot be Dharma,
at least we can be a decent human being.