Is your spiritual welfare being looked after?
Neither time nor space exist – but they are the two most precious things we have! In our relative existence, we need time and space in order to practise. Time to just be, and a clear space in which to ‘be’. Everything else we do is just to support that.
Teachers do not have the time to guide every student individually: they can only offer you the ball, but you have to practise and play with it.
Somehow, we have to sustain our own aspiration.
We have to be clear and confident in why and how to practise properly. This brings us to the concept of reincarnation and future lives. Can reincarnation be proved? Well no, but psychologically, a consideration of the possibility of reincarnation has a huge effect on our lives – although of course, not everyone would agree ;-). Much can be inferred from being born with certain tendencies and inclinations, and a recognition that pure essence never changes. There is also the aspect of accumulated good and bad karma which will have effect on future lives.
The main point is that by not identifying with this mind and body, we never feel old. We will practise constantly until the very last breath, resting in pure awareness and unconditional happiness. So the idea of a better incarnation in the future, and a genuine wish to be of benefit to sentient beings because of the sadness that arises from watching others suffer unnecessarily, can sustain us throughout our practice
BUDDHA IN THE MUD is a blog - a living book based on the Dzogchen teachings. Our teacher is life, and life is karma. We are all Buddhas in the mud of concepts. 
A salutary reminder, Tony – thanks. It IS down to each of us. We leave this world alone – no one can do the work for us.
I once knew a lady (a Buddhist) who was terminally ill. She believed that, when she died, her teacher would “do his stuff” and everything would be OK for her. In his eulogy at her funeral, I was told that the lama made a reference to her “not really being Buddhist”. I wasn’t there so don’t know the tone in which that was said – or even whether it was reported to me accurately – but it had a powerful effect on me.
We are ultimately alone. And even if that’s not the case, it’s better to err on the side of taking responsibility for ourselves.
Thoughts?
Daisy
Hello Daisy,
That was an unfortunate thing to say.
We are all sleeping Buddhas, with the potential for awakened Buddhahood.
Tony