09/08/2025
Words of wisdom ๐ Big Love
When people criticize you, it doesnโt mean that they are right. We carry past livesโ negative karma, give rise to heresy, and lack devotion. There are people who criticize His Holiness and there were six heretics who criticized the Buddha. You have to know that. One thing is that you can be evil, but others can look at you as positive, pure, and enlightened, even if you are a demon. The other is that you are a buddha, but people donโt see it.
For example, the Buddhaโs attendant Legpai Karma always criticized him. One day the Buddha went out for alms and a girl offered a handful of grain into his begging bowl. As a result, the Buddha predicted her enlightenment as Sangye Tsema. Then the Buddhaโs attendant thought, โWhy is the Buddha saying that? He is lying.โ For twenty-two years, he believed the Buddha had lied and in his next life he was born in hell for eons.
This example is brought up in the root text of the ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฏ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. Therefore, you have to make an effort to make your mind pure, positive. You have the responsibility of becoming enlightened. Like you have the responsibility of getting better if you are sick, take care to keep your mind healthy. His Holiness emphasizes this, the hygiene of the emotions. Get sick with attachment and great negativity will ensue all day long. This happens with the five poisonous minds. We do take care of our body, but the best thing is to make sure you have a healthy mind; thatโs what makes a very healthy body.
-Lama Zopa Rinpoche
from ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/reflect-kindness-others Image of Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, February, 2010. Photo by Seow Kheng. From https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/gallery/singapore-2010-feb/