Lama Zopa Rinpoche

As the great lay pandit, the great holy being Lobpön Chandragomin pointed out, during the
three countless great eons that we’re accumulating the merit of wisdom and the merit of
virtue, sentient beings are undergoing sufferings in samsara, and that’s unbearable. It takes so
long to reach enlightenment following the Paramitayana path. It’s unbearable that the
transmigratory beings have to suffer that much and for that long.
Therefore we should practice the quick path of tantra, but not with the attitude, “Great! I
can get enlightened quickly and then I can relax. I can bliss out,” like taking LSD or some
other drug. It’s not like that, where you’re totally hallucinated and spaced out and don’t
know what’s going on in the world or even if it’s day or night. There are many people like
this. They either don’t know Dharma or don’t practice it. But even if you practice just a little
Dharma, it reduces attachment, you have some renunciation and it helps bring peace.
If you don’t know the Dharma or don’t practice it, you have no protection and no method
to bring happiness into your life. Then all you see is problems. The only life you know is one
of dissatisfaction. And then, like many other people in the world, you get fed up and perhaps
even commit suicide. This probably happens every day. People don’t know what to do, they
don’t know how to bring themselves happiness and are overwhelmed by problems. It’s such
a pity; this is very sad.
So, we must help sentient beings but we cannot wait the three countless great eons that it
takes to become enlightened following the Paramitayana path. Therefore we have to practice
tantra, the Vajrayana, which allows us to become enlightened in an incredibly short time.
As the omniscient Lama Tsongkhapa said,
Please bless me to enter
The holy gateway of the fortunate ones:
The supreme vajra vehicle. 74
Of the three vehicles, Hinayana, Mahayana Paramitayana and Mahayana Vajrayana, the latter
is supreme. It is the holy gateway of the fortunate capable beings, who, among sentient
beings who are objects to be subdued, are like jewels, with so much merit and intelligence.
To achieve full enlightenment in one life, this is the holy gateway we must enter, so, “Please
grant me blessings to enter that.”
We must practice the various levels of tantra: Kriya Tantra, Charya Tantra, Yoga Tantra and
Maha-anuttara Yoga Tantra (or Highest Yoga Tantra). Doing so will give us the skillful
means we need to achieve enlightenment in one lifetime.
As I mentioned before, transmigratory beings are completely under the control of delusion
and karma, totally without freedom. All the time they migrate through the six realms again
and again and again, and suffer and suffer and suffer unbelievably, continuously. There is
nothing new that they have not already done from beginningless rebirths but they are unable
to remember.
To free these transmigratory beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to
full enlightenment, we must practice tantra to achieve enlightenment in one lifetime. This is
the motivation for practicing any of the four classes of tantra. But with the lower tantras, we
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