Student and Teacher

Together on the Path

As students on the Tibetan Bön Buddhist path, we offer our teachers a range of questions from the simple to the complex. Here we share an excerpt from the transcript of oral teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche at the 2003 Spring Retreat at Serenity Ridge on "Guidance for Living and Dying: Commentary on Bardo Teachings from the Bön Mother Tantra."

Student: The teachings point to an underlying joy that arises in the absence of things. I am trying to relate to that in the absence of those close to me who have died. I feel greater pleasure when they are there, but can I tap into joy without their presence?

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche: We reconnect to these experiences of joy inside ourselves. Someone whose presence brought you joy has died, and now the absence is there. But only thinking, "Now they are not here anymore, and we can never sit together and talk," is not going to help you. If you think, "Well, it was wonderful when they were here, and this is a natural process that they have passed away," that is a better way to think. The relation between the teacher and student is similar. You don't need to be neighbors; even if you never see each other again, the inspiration that you have is alive, the joy that you have is always alive. If that aliveness is always there, that is the greatest gift, because it is not dependent on the existence or presence of something or someone. It is always there. That is very powerful. When joy is dependent on someone being there, it is difficult and actually becomes an obstacle.