Christmas, New Year, all samsaric things like this naturally come. However, to practice Dharma, making a deep connection with our own mind, requires a lot of effort. Rather than turning inward, Lama Rabten Tshering noted that we tend to choose samsara– suffering. Why? 

Connecting with the Four Reminders: Foundation for Any Practice

In order to turn the mind towards the dharma, Lama Rabten emphasized during an inspiring teaching last evening at our beautiful Nalandabodhi center in Taipei, we need to deeply contemplate the Four Reminders. They are also the foundation for any practice, be it Mahamudra, Dzogchen, or Yidam Deity. During his traditional three-year retreat, he shared that they would take a full week for each reminder:

1. Precious Human Life
2. Death and Impermanence
3. Karma, Cause and Effect
4. Retribution of Samsara

Drawing on his personal life and traditional dharma teachings in a serious yet lighthearted manner, Lama Rabten made it very easy for all joining onsite and online to connect with these four reminders. 

Turning our Mind toward What is Meaningful

While the first reminder is to make our precious human life meaningful, the second is to ensure we practice diligently. Considering how past actions have brought us to where we are now and how current actions shape our future, our practice can become virtuous. Thinking carefully about samsara—how we mistakenly engage in activities that bring us suffering—will lead to strong renunciation.

In short, Lama Rabten explained, these four reminders help us to practice the dharma genuinely. This is not limited to doing prayers and meditation on the cushion. It is also helping families, our surrounding communities, schools, and so forth. We shouldn’t separate dharma from our daily life. Rather, we need to turn our mind away from what is meaningless toward what is meaningful.  

Pure Practice of the Dharma

We feel very grateful for Lama Rabten’s instructions and Nalandabodhi Taipei for kindly hosting this inspiring teaching. Without getting distracted and wasting our time, he kept reminding us, we need to take this opportunity to directour minds towards nirvana. This will also make us more capable to take of others, together with ourselves. That is the pure practice of dharma.