My dear James,
Thank you very much for your kind letter. First of all, the Buddhist teaching is unmistaken, not misleading, because of Buddha’s omniscient mind and compassion for all living beings. Therefore, I normally think, even if you don’t understand the subjects, Dharma texts, and prayers, it is still extremely worthwhile to read or recite them because it leaves positive imprints. When you read mindfully, sooner or later you will be able to understand the meaning, not only intellectually. Each realization of the path is contained in the sadhanas and ceases delusions and karma, liberates us from all the sufferings of samsara and their causes, and ceases defilements, even subtle defilements. As long as the Buddha’s teachings are correctly translated, by reading or reciting them you can achieve advantages like the limitless sky. These explanations include reciting prayers even if you don’t feel them in your heart. As long as it is done mindfully, it always leaves positive effects now and especially in the future. Just hearing the Dharma’s words enables you to receive a good rebirth in your next life and to achieve enlightenment.
For example, the Indian pandit Vasubandhu recited the Abhidharma every day, and there was a pigeon living on the roof who heard his recitations every day. After the pigeon died it was reincarnated into a family in the same area. The Indian pandit went to the family and asked for the child to become a monk. Later, the monk became Lodro Tenpa [Lobpon Loden, Skt: Sthiramati] and wrote five commentaries on the Abhidharma, the text he had heard when he was a pigeon. There are many stories like this. You should understand that you also receive the same benefit.
People read so many books, novels, and stories about things that haven’t happened, that are made up, and also things that have happened, which are all mundane stories about life. So many billions of people read these books in the car or airplane, for the whole day. Reading books which cause anger or attachment means there is no positive imprint. The books people read their whole life only increase negative imprints, either to develop delusion, attachment, and anger, or to build wrong concepts and more delusions.
The buddhas not only taught the path to enlightenment but the quickest way—the tantric sadhanas and so forth, the most secret, sophisticated and skilled path—and you are saying you don’t want to read these sadhanas. For sure, you don’t do sadhanas 24 hours a day, or for four hours, or I doubt for even one hour a day. This is completely cheating yourself and you quickly lose enlightenment. If you compare with all the billions of people wasting their life doing meaningless reading, you will see how you are so fortunate compared to other times, past and present. Just to read sadhanas mindfully is an unbelievably precious thing to do in life.
If you have many sadhanas, the general advice is you make your main meditation whichever is your main deity. You can do the other sadhanas fast. The most important thing is to meditate on the dharmakaya, then a little on the sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya. If you have many sadhanas to do, the rest of the sadhana you can do quickly.
The great enlightened being Pabongka Rinpoche said, “Even if you don’t meditate on the meaning of the sadhanas, you are still reciting. But if you stop doing the sadhanas it is so very unfortunate. You don’t even get the good fortune from just reading or thinking of the words, which leads to positive imprints.”
With much love and prayer...
PS. If you think it is dogma having to do many of these practices, is it also dogma that after you eat food you have to go to the toilet? Is it dogma that when you get sick you have to go to the hospital? The definition is: if you are suffering, then you have to practice Dharma. There is no other way to gain enlightenment for sentient beings. There are so many means to practice and so many realizations to achieve.
