How to Find Authentic Guidance #The Way of the Bodhisattva L51 # KhenpoSodargye

The Way of the Bodhisattva L51

In this session of the Way of the Bodhisattva, Khenpo Sodargye continues the teaching on methods for maintaining mindfulness and awareness. He opens with a reflection that checking one's motivation should be the first step in all practice. He then gives extensive guidance on relying on spiritual teachers, urging practitioners not to rush — to investigate carefully before committing, not to slander previous teachers if things go wrong, and to understand the signs of a genuine teacher. He observes that in today's environment, fake teachers are common, and practitioners who rely on the wrong teacher and later become confused should not immediately seek a new one in panic. The session then turns to the core principle of the verse: diligently protecting the mind. Khenpo teaches that even if all outer resources — wealth, reputation, body, and worldly relationships — are lost, it does not ultimately matter. The one thing that must never be lost is bodhicitta. He quotes Jigme Lingpa's warning that using the Dharma for personal gain is a severe downfall. The session then presents Shantideva's verse in which he joins his palms and earnestly implores practitioners to guard the mind — an unusual gesture reflecting the teaching's supreme importance. Khenpo explains the precise definitions of mindfulness (never forgetting virtue, keeping the mind from scattering) and awareness (knowing clearly what the body, speech, and mind are doing), and closes with the teaching that a mind disturbed by afflictions cannot accomplish any virtuous deed, no matter how talented or diligent the practitioner.