Palyul Times: Your Holiness, would you please tell us about the conditions necessary for practising the Dharma through your experience?
H.H. Karma Kuchen Rinpoche (KKR): In order to practise the Dharma, the first condition necessary is that one should have the compassionate mind of bodhichitta. This is because if we don’t have compassion, there is no other ways to practise the Dharma. The second condition is that one should consider all the sentient beings as one’s parents and one’s master as a buddha.
PT: Please tell us about how important it is to practise the Dharma as an individual in his or her everyday life.
KKR: The importance of the Dharma that an individual practises will depend on how he or she practises.
PT: If there are some practical and convenient steps to implementing the Dharma practice in one’s daily life, would you please share them?
KKR: If you want a real, convenient way to practise the Dharma, then you should eliminate the thing called ‘I’. There are countless things that one has to go through in order to satisfy ‘I’ (oneself). One’s life becomes most convenient when the so-called ‘I’ is absent.
PT: How different is the peace and harmony of a Dharma practitioner compared to that of a non-practitioner?
KKR: Generally, a non-practitioner has more worries and tensions compared to those of a Dharma practitioner. However, it is really important for everyone to make other beings happy at all times.
PT: Since Your Holiness has been visiting many foreign countries, have you noticed any significant differences in the way of practising the Dharma between a Tibetan and a foreign Dharma practitioner?
KKR: Like others, I myself am also trying to practise the Dharma, so I could not pay much attention to the way others practise it.
PT: At present, the number of people diligently practising the Dharma is decreasing. This in turn leads to the deterioration of Buddhism. So, what are the methods that Buddhists should adopt to confront this problem?
KKR: Generally, everybody should have faith in cause and effect. And particularly, if one is a Buddhist, then one will have devotion and faith in the aspirational prayers and the play of karma. So, even if there are no buddhas or siddhas at present, this will not affect the Dharma (because Dharma practice depends upon oneself). As it is said, “If one tames one’s mind, this is Dharma.”
PT: Finally, we would like to thank Your Holiness for sparing the time for the interview. However, is there any special message that you want to share to the readers?
KKR: The Dharma is not an external entity that we can buy with a huge amount of money and insert into our body. We cannot fulfil all the needs of our lives like that. The main point here is we should be able to effortlessly engage in Dharma practice without relying on outer circumstances. In such cases, we can define this as Dharma practice. So, be alert! Thank you.
