..续本文上一页 really lies. It is as if there is a quality in us that is committed to keeping us unhappy.

　　Dzigar Kongtrül: Somebody asked me yesterday where our overwhelming self-absorption comes from. I told them that universal self-absorption comes from universal confusion. The confusion is like a blanket of fog. When the confusion is not there, the self-absorption is not there. One sees one”s enlightened nature directly, and one can also see that mind can both know something and know itself. It”s magic, really.

　　Pema Chödrön: By “confusion” do you mean our inability to understand the chain reaction of our habitual patterns, how it starts and how it leads to suffering

　　Dzigar Kongtrül: Yes, that is the confusion. But the confusion is also a feeling of being overwhelmed and bewildered. You don”t know where to look for the causes and conditions of your pain, and even if you are vaguely able to identify what the causes and conditions are, you don”t know what to do about it.

　　Pema Chödrön: What would you say, in a nutshell, that we should do about the confusion

　　Dzigar Kongtrul: Listen to the teachings, study them, and contemplate them. Then, allow the teachings to illuminate your experience, rather than trying to bring your experience in line with the teachings. It”s important first to have the teachings illuminate your experience, so you can see what”s happening clearly before you actually try to put them into practice.

　　Elizabeth Namgyel: Pema, tell us how you came to be a student of Dzigar Kongtrül.

　　Pema Chödrön: About ten years ago I was invited to a Buddhist teachers” conference in San Francisco, and I arrived a day early to rest. I”d been resting all day and decided to go out for a walk. As I emerged from my door, Rinpoche walked out of his door at the same time. We recognized each other, so I asked whether he would like to have a cup of tea. We went into my room and had a very nice cup of tea, and I was so inspired by what he was talking about that I began to feel stronger physically than I had for some time. I felt a powerful connection, and when I had an interview with him later, it reminded me very strongly of how I felt when I used to talk with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, my root teacher.

　　About a year later, we had another meeting and I asked to receive a certain set of Dzogchen teachings. Rinpoche refused. That was a bit of a shock, so I asked him to explain why. He cited several obstacles he felt I needed to take care of first. Later, when I had dealt with those and told him I felt confident that I could genuinely study these teachings with him, he agreed.

　　Eventually, I worked with him while in retreat over a hundred-day period. At that time, I realized I hadn”t met anyone since Trungpa Rinpoche who could sense where I was stuck. I was very good at conning everyone and talking about not getting hooked, but Rinpoche somehow had this great ability to hook me. I knew we must have a really old karmic connection. I felt so grateful to have met him, so I asked if he would take me as his student, and he accepted. And he”s continued to mess with me ever since.

　　Elizabeth Namgyel: Why is it so important in Buddhism to have a teacher

　　Pema Chödrön: When you”re with a teacher, their wisdom resonates with your wisdom. It transcends the two personalities. Being with them connects you with your buddhanature. No one can tell you who your teacher is. It”s a completely personal thing based on karma. It”s like falling in love with someone.

　　The most important requirements for a teacher are to know you well, see where you”re holding on, and be able to create circumstances that highlight your grasping. Situations emerge that allow you to see where you”re stuck. Because it”s happening with your dharma …

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