When the Student is Ready

Last Sunday I met Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, a remarkable dharma teacher from Tibet. Khenpo studied with over 40 lamas in the Himalayas and of the three contiguous lineages of practice in Dzogchen he holds the succession for two of them. As a young man he was hidden from the Chinese who were actively suppressing Buddhism in Tibet. Eventually he left the country. The Dalai Lama asked him to join the government in exile and he declined citing his desire to teach. So they agreed that Khenpo would devote his life to bringing Dzogchen to the world, particularly in the West. This man is the real deal, an authentic lama of great simplicity whose compassionate and disarming manner of teaching communicates more than words ever could.

I heard Khenpo twice in two days, once at Red Cedar in Bellingham and again in a private home on Mercer Island. Both times he taught the same basic message about the true meaning of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. In Dzogchen they teach that it is possible to achieve liberation in one lifetime and the chants make strong statements of personal responsibility. "I am always humble... I am never egotistical". Sounds ridiculous but Khenpo begs to differ. Unless we believe it is possible to live in harmony with our world and purge negative thinking we never will make progress on the path. It takes courage to stay on the path and embrace our inner nature. Buddhism teaches us that we have Buddha nature but what does this really mean? Khenpo taught us that happiness is primordial Buddha, the more we replace negative thinking with positive thinking the closer we get to our true nature. All beings wish to be happy and cease suffering, this is the simple path to progress toward this goal. In Dzogchen they emphasize compassionate action as well as meditation. In fact Khenpo said they generally start students with 5% meditation and 95% service until enough negative karma is offset that meditation can actually begin. Khenpo's approach to the Buddhist path is thoughtful, practical and simple.

So what are Dhamma and Sangha? Dhamma literally means "teaching" and Sangha means the practice community. But Khenpo puts a slightly different spin on it. My positive thinking is teaching for me and a refuge for others. Their positive thinking is teaching for them and a refuge for me. In this way we embrace each other, teach each other and offer a refuge where practice is possible. And by doing this as a community we bring greater harmony to our world.

In Bellingham Khenpo taught for almost three hours and had to leave for another engagement in Canada so we didn't have time for much personal interaction. On Mercer Island it was different. He knew the family he was staying with and the children loved him. They gathered at his feet and he taught them in simple terms. It was a beautiful experience. At the end I had a chance to briefly speak to Khenpo. After we talked for a few minutes he looked at me with great intensity and said "teach this". And I told him I would.