This is an excerpt from a teaching by Shamar Rinpoche entitled “Enlightenment is Within You”, originally printed in a 1995 edition of Kagyu Life International.
Shamar Rinpoche
The common problem is that people think, “I must achieve the results quickly, I cannot wait more than 5 or 6 years. Otherwise, I don’t like it.” But otherwise, after 6 years what do you have in life? You have nothing else. You cannot achieve the results of the Dharma practice within 6 years. You simply cannot. But still you are doing something meaningful. After 6 years, if you have another goal which you could achieve, then forget the Dharma and chose the other one. But the sentient beings’ life has no other goal besides enlightenment. I am not trying to discourage you from being human, but there is no other thing to do in life. You can try to get rich, but then what? Suppose you can be a successful politician, become a president or something like that, but then what? The problem is the same, isn’t it? There is no other goal to achieve. Dharma is the best. That’s why I say that even if you are a slow mover, still, Dharma brings more meaning than anything else.
Shamar Rinpoche (Kagyu Life International, No.3, 1995)
“Kagyu Life” was the Buddhist magazine that predated the contemporary “Buddhism Today” magazine. Buddhism Today aims to be a living document of authentic Buddhist transmission for the lay person and yogi practitioner in the West. Online subscription to the magazine is available at the website: www.buddhism-today.org
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