Question : Jetsunma, could you say something on whether retreats are useful for beginners and, if so, what kind of retreat would you recommend, and how should one prepare for it?
J.K.: Actually, retreats are somewhat meaningless for beginners. People often think that a retreat involves staying indoors and sitting on a cushion for a long time. It’s not like that at all. If you do retreat, you’re better off starting with a shamata retreat, concentrating your mind; you do three or four sessions everyday, or as many as you can, for as long as you can. If you overdo it, then your mind gets tired, and then you can’t do anything. So you need to do things slowly, gradually. First you do a simple shamata retreat, and then gradually you start doing a little bit of visualization. Then you slowly increase the amount of visualization. For non-Tibetans to go directly into visualizing the deity, without previously having learned to control the mind through samatha meditation, can be confusing. If the mind is not stable,
it can affect it, and create an imbalance. So things have to be done slowly. It takes a long time, but this doesn’t matter. Every step is useful and helps the mind to become stable.
Question : Your Eminence, what advice would you
have regarding the choice of a suitable place to do
retreat?
J.K.: You need to be in a comfortable place, and make sure that all your basic needs are taken care of. So, before you start your retreat, you have to find a suitable house with all the right conditions, for example one that is quiet, not too hot or cold, and so on. And then you need to make sure that food, medicines and all your basic necessities, are available. Because if, for one reason or another, you become uncomfortable while you’re doing retreat, you’ll become distracted and won’t be able to do it properly.
Question : Nowadays more and more people are becoming vegetarian for compassionate reasons. Your Eminence, what would you say the benefits are for practitioners to become vegetarian, and also for non-practitioners?
J.K.: It’s very good that people should abstain from eating meat for these reasons, although there are also many insects living on vegetables that are harmed when we eat them. Every time we move, we kill tiny beings without realizing it. Nevertheless, it is very beneficial both for practitioners and non-practitioners to refrain from eating meat, thus abstaining from wilfully engaging in an action that involves the killing of an animal. Sometimes, however, it is difficult or even impossible to be strictly vegetarian. For example, if we’re staying with non-vegetarians, we can’t choose what we eat. Also, sometimes we need to eat meat for health reasons. If we’re feeling weak, we can’t practice properly, so eating meat in this context can
be beneficial.
Question : How do we develop patience?
J.K.: First develop your mind, and then you can work on patience. It has to do with impermanence, you know. Everything is impermanent, and life is very short. Always go back to the Lama’s teaching “Parting from the Four Attachments”, and other such teachings. Remember these all the time. In this way you’ll develop the right kind of attitude, and this will take you to a deep understanding of the nature of impermanence.
Question : It is because Tibetans lost their country that the Dharma has spread to the West. Would you say that this is a good thing, Jetsun Kushok?
J.K.: For Tibetans themselves, it is very bad, of course. But if one thinks of
the whole world, then yes, it is good that the Dharma has spread. But then, how many people are really doing practice? Some people see it as a kind of fashion, a kind of style, the Buddhist style. These people don’t really understand the meaning of the Dharma. And then, after a while, they grow tired of it, and give it up. But anyway, it is both a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing for non-Tibetans, and a very bad one for all the Tibetan people. You know, they lost their culture, they lost everything, and this is very bad.
But, at the same time, it is very good for them that they can find great teachers and practice the Dharma outside Tibet.
Melody of Dharma: Thank you, Your Eminence,
we are very grateful for your time and
advice.
J.K.: Thank you.
All words and pictures belongs to
An Interview With H.E. Jetsun Kushok Rinpoche
Melody of Dharma • 2010 • NO. 4
