His Eminence Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche: Let us re-establish real connections outside the small screens

Opening blessings of the Avalokiteshvara - Zambala precious gemstone mandala by H.E. Thuksey Rinpoche.

As an international Buddhist master who’s passionate with education, when asked about the challenges technology poses to modern life, His Eminence says that people, especially youth, are increasingly disconnected to others and to the world. “If you just feed a child one kind of food day after day without ever letting them try other things, very soon they will become frustrated. Similarly our youth are finding only very limited sources of enjoyment and learning, which as you can see is all through a small screen”.

“They are connected with thousands of people through Facebook, Instagram but have no connection with real people. Youths are becoming very lonely nowadays. They don’t understand how connected we are, thus they don’t feel anything is important. They don’t feel nature is important, sometimes they don’t feel their parents are important. If we just keep them like this, when they grow up, they will not understand others’ pain and suffering, and they won’t become great parents, great leaders who understand each and everything”.

Then what do parents and educators need to do? H.E.’s advice is that we need to understand this challenge and set the correct course for the development of youth, starting with acting as proper role models, then make sure they live in an environment of loving compassion and connected with others.

A life dedicated to benefitting others

H.E. Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche is the spiritual disciple of His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa and the reincarnation of the First Kyabje Thuksey Rinpoche, a famed yogi of the Drukpa Lineage of the 20^th century. Before embarking on this visit to Vietnam, His Eminence has just completed a Dharma tour over a month across 10 countries in Europe. His Eminence shares the motivation to help him stay energized amidst such busy schedule: “As human beings, we have so much capacity, so much energy and intelligence, we have to use this body to live meaningfully. So wherever I go, I’m always thinking that with the 50 or 70 years I have left in this world, even if it’s the last day, I want to do something for others".

Secondly, Buddha Shakyamuni himself has sacrificed his entire life, gone through so much difficulty and in the end attained enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. And my Guru, His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa and many other masters, when I look at them, they are putting so much effort and time for sentient beings whoever is in need. So that’s the few reasons I’m always trying to keep myself busy. Maybe sometimes physically you can feel tired and lazy. But I’m always thinking of what I need to do, and I’m always happy with what I’m doing, so that never gives me the tiredness and laziness".

Make yourself a good cup of tea

The spiritual festival at Tay Thien Stupa under His Eminence Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche’s lead has attracted more than 6,000 devotees over two days. The beginning of the spring season is also the spiritual season in Vietnam, where people travel to holy locations and pray for health and prosperity for the year.

When asked about how people should act and pray, H.E. comments: “Good health, long life, a good year, good month… it’s not dependent on anything else but yourself. We have to make it a good day and good year, we cannot just pray for it. Just like tea, we have to use clean water, boil it and put tea leaves in, we cannot just pour the water and pray for good tea. We have to make it a good month, good year by taking positive actions with a positive mind.

Praying and wishing are good, with the blessings from Buddhas we may get out from obstacles. But for people without actions, it will be just like painkiller. It will give you temporary relief, but the pain will return. So rather than taking the painkiller, you must take the real medicine.

Praying and wishing will give you some blessings, but in the end it very much depends on how you live. So it’s important that we should care about each other, we should love each other, we should respect each other and try to live in peace and harmony. That will give you long lasting happiness, the real long life and good health".

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