From a teaching given by Geshe Tenpa Dhargye, resi­dent teacher of Osel Ling Retreat Centre, Spain. December 1988.

When working to spread the Dharma it is worth­while to be patient and tolerant when facing problems, because this work gives great benefit in this life and future lives, as well as benefiting future generations. For this reason it is very important to be able to cope with the problems and obstacles that appear.

It is very important to have a correct attitude in our everyday life. It is not right to think that, in order to practice the Dharma, I will have to give up all worldly activities like my work, my family, etc. It is not good to think like this. The practice of Dharma can be integrated into our daily life. To practice the Dharma without hav­ing any contact with the outside world and with people, to practice isolated from others thinking “I am a Dharma practitioner” – this is an attitude which gen­erates pride which makes one turn one’s back on the world and people. This is something that will seem strange to others, so it is an attitude that may create problems and obstacles. People may get the impression that Buddhists never work and that they lead a strange kind of life. For this reason, it is very important to keep on working and leading normal lives while we are practicing the Dharma.

The most important thing is to go to our work with a good motivation, because in this way we may be able to turn all our work and different activities into Dharma. It is very important to integrate our work with the practice.

So many Dharma texts exist. Buddha gave 84,000 teachings in all. All these teachings were given to subdue our mind. For instance, the teachings on the discipline or the “Vinaya,” explain how to control our body and speech, and the teachings on the Abhidharma were given to control our mind. Each text treats different points showing how to develop our different qualities. The lam-rim treats all these points in a gradual way. It is very practical, and for that reason it is very good to study the lam-rim.

There are eight great commentaries on the lam-rim. The best would be to study them all, but if that is not possible, one should at least try to study one of the three versions given by Tsongkhapa, either the short, medium, or long one. Try to study one of these, because they are essential.

The practice of lam-rim is fundamental. Before doing any practice, be it sutra or tantra, we ought to practice lam-rim. It is like a preliminary practice to be able to progress in our practice of sutra and tantra, and, although there are many other preliminary practices, lam-rim should come before any of these. Also, when we do a retreat, we should first meditate on lam-rim.

Yesterday the group from Novelda explained how they had been meditating on lam-rim for the last three years. They explained how they take turns, with one student leading the meditation one week, and someone else the next. This seemed to me a very good idea, and it made me very happy. To meditate like this is very effec­tive and beneficial. In this way they may be able to understand the real meaning of the Dharma. It made me feel really good, as if somebody had given me a big present.

For the last five years I have been teaching on differ­ent lam-rim texts. If somebody is only interested in advanced practices, like tantra, or only wants to receive initiations, this may turn into something dangerous for the practitioner. So it is very important, especially for new people to receive explanations on the four noble truths. If these teachings are explained clearly, beginners may capture the real meaning of the Dharma. I see it as very important to teach the four noble truths.

When we are doing our different Dharma practices, we should know why we are doing them, that is, what their ultimate purpose is. We should understand that the basis for our practice is the noble truth of suffering and the noble truth of the release from suffering, and also that the path is method and wisdom and that by practicing this path we obtain the two results: the two bodies of the Buddha – the rupakaya and the dharmakaya. When we have to explain this to others, we should do it in a clear way with quotations from different teachings so that they can understand.

Spreading the Dharma is something that has to happen gradually, since we cannot bring the teachings to all beings at once. This is a gradual and slow process. Here, now, you are 30 people practicing the Dharma. If each of you helps one other person, this is very posi­tive, because in this way 60 people have become involved. If each of these 60 again helps one person the number and the benefit keep increasing.

When Buddha gave his first teachings he had only five disciples, but from these five, Buddhism spread to many countries and people.

That is all I have to say. Thank you very much everybody.