Monday

Friday Night Notes: Changling Rinpoche and “Living Without Regret”

by Laura Landau

On Friday night, the Los Angeles Shambhala Center was honored with a public talk given by the Venerable Changling Rinpoche. Changling Rinpoche, enthroned by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and a student of the late Penor Rinpoche, has been invited by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche to teach at Shambhala Centers throughout the Mandala.

Changling Rinpoche gave us teachings about the only real wealth we possess: nothing belongs to us except our own self-confidence. When we develop self-confidence, we can work with anything. We develop this confidence and we work with regret in the same way: by working with our minds. It isn’t enough to know that we’ve got a problem; we need to discover the method to work with that problem.

We begin by recognizing the precious value of being human. Using books for information is not the answer; using our everyday life experiences and our intelligence is. By tuning in to what’s happening in the phenomenal world before us, we can educate and improve the quality of our thoughts, making them more positive. In that way, we cultivate our wisdom. As an example of a stable mind, he described Tibetan lamas who, with their world turned upside-down, maintained undisturbed minds. Changling Rinpoche reflected upon this lesson, stating, “When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.”

We must vigilantly pay attention to our mind: it is the main object of our attention. Negative thoughts disturb our minds. If we don’t pay any attention to negative emotions, they can only live a second. If we give them too much weight, they live for years. He defined the state of enlightenment as the perfect state of living.

Finally, Rinpoche explained how attention to our own mind improves our ability to relate to others. He said our goal is to improve ourselves, not others. We should train ourselves to love others – not train them how to love us. He attributed these teachings to Atisha: Take control of your mouth when you are with others. Take control of your mind when you are with yourself.

From: SMCLA News Magazine