Dudjom Rinpoche’s Teaching on Smoking

An Eternal Now SG

As requested by Geis =)

My Root Lamas, Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen, urgently requested that I should make this text available to as many people as possible. They had been searching for this text for some years, and I was fortunate enough to be able to procure it for them – after long research. They also asked me to introduce the text on the basis of my knowledge of the ways in which Western people think.

I am extremely happy to say that I have been able to provide an increasing number of people with Tibetan purification medicine and guidance for the purpose of giving up smoking. I sincerely hope that the wider circulation of this text by His Holiness Düd’jom Rinpoche will provide a turning point for anyone who is seriously interested in Vajrayana practice – because to smoke and imagine oneself to be a practitioner is a sad contradiction. Vajrayana would appear to be unique in considering tobacco, as well as narcotics,not simply harmful to physical health but also severely damaging with regard to spiritual health. It is particularly damaging with regard to the rTsa-rLung system and renders any kind of formless practices worthless. Ngak’chang Rinpoche once said: Those smokers who engage in silent sitting, merely sit in a cloud of smoke of which they are entirely unaware – and in which they remain entirely unaware.

In this crucial essay¹ on the subject, HH Düd’jom Rinpoche explains the non-ordinary visionary history which illuminates the deleterious nature of these poisonous substances, according to gTérma revelations. To help Vajrayana practitioners understand the danger of smoking, HH Düd’jom Rinpoche collected major salient pronouncements of Padmasambhava concerning tobacco and narcotics for those who regard these sacred revelations as their refuge. Warnings about tobacco and narcotics have been revealed as gTérmas since early on in Tibet, by the great gTértöns, and so no authentic Nyingma practitioner need assume that what is presented here is not applicable to them. Warnings about tobacco and narcotics actually cross the spectrum of Vajrayana lineages, and advice on the subject is voluminous.

The visionary accounts presented here deal with demonic intentionality, and ideas such as these may be ‘difficult’ for some people who are new to the practice of Vajrayana. We would therefore ask anyone who has difficulty in relating with such revelations to consider why this warning has not been more widespread within the Buddhist world. It cannot be that HH Düd’jom Rinpoche is not widely known and universally respected within the Tibetan Buddhist world.

We would also ask why it is that, in the face of massive medical evidence, people still smoke – and why governments who are happy to legislate against all manner of things, find themselves unable to ban this substance. How can this be, in view of the fact that the very same governments have made it mandatory for tobacco products and tobacco advertising to carry a health warning? Is there any other non-medically prescribed substance on the open market which carries a health warning – let alone such dire warnings as are found with regard to tobacco? How is it that this substance remains legal? How is it that children can be exposed to cigarette fumes without this being regarded as ‘child abuse’ – when it has been shown that ‘secondary smoke’ is as harmful as direct smoking? We live in societies where social agencies have become extremely sensitive to such issues – so why is there not as much concern about injury from smoking with regard to children as there is concern over firearms? Surely death is death – whatever the cause, and a demon is a demon by any other name.

The ‘demonic quality’ of tobacco is evident whether or not one perceives the ‘demon’. The important fact here, for anyone who has respect and devotion for HH Düd’jom Rinpoche, is that smoking destroys one’s practice and one’s samaya. HH Düd’jom Rinpoche is the Lama whom most other Nyingma Lamas alive today venerate as the epitome of all that is inspiring – so those who have not yet been convinced as to the effects of smoking, please take this opportunity to rid yourself of its corrupting influence.

1. The following essay was originally translated (with the benefit of explanations by Khenpo Pema Shérab) by Könchog Ten’dzin in 1979. This current translation was produced by the translation committee of the Confederate Sanghas of Aro in 1999 with advice from Ngak’chang Rinpoche and KhandroDéchen.

An Eternal Now SG

Om Swasti:

With supreme appreciation and deep respect for Padmasambhava – wisdom manifestation of all Buddhas and union of the Buddha families – I shall relate the history of tobacco. Approximately a hundred years after Buddha Shakyamuni’s parinirvana, a Chinese demon, maddened with obsession, spoke these dying words:
“Through my body I wish to lead the beings of this earth to lower realms. Bury my body intact and eventually a plant, different from all others, will grow out of my remains. Merely by smelling it, people will experience pleasure in body and mind, far more joyful than the union of male and female. It will spread far and wide until most of the beings on this earth will enjoy it.”

At present the actual fruition of this wish is clearly evident. Opium and other related intoxicants taken by mouth or nose, neither help quench thirst nor satisfy hunger. They do not possess a taste which is delicious, and they are bereft of anything which promotes health or which strengthens one’s life force. These substances serve to increase nervousness and blood pressure. They also cause cancer and pulmonary disease. At this time, many people, from all levels of society, develop irresistible attraction for these substances and proceed to consume them without control – and thus demonic intentionality has borne fruit.

In the gTérma of Chögyal Ratna Lingpa it is stated:
‘Padmasambhava bound the Nine Demonic Brothers under oath, but they were breakers of samaya, and the youngest of them found a way to undermine their commitment to protect beings. He told his kindred: “Brothers, do not despair, listen to me. I shall manifest myself in the country of China as tobacco; the name of this toxin will be ‘the black poison’. It will grow in the border lands, from whence it will spread to Tibet. The people of Tibet will consume this enjoyable substance. By the strength of this, the five neurotic poisons will increase. Rejecting the ten positive actions, people will practise the ten negative ones. The lives of the lineage holders will become precarious, and they will depart for the Buddha Fields. The smoke of this poison, penetrating the earth, will annihilate hundreds of thousands of cities of the kLu. Rain will not fall, harvest and livestock will not thrive, there will be civil unrest, plagues, and calamities. The poison’s smoke rising into the sky will destroy celestial dimensions; untimely eclipses and comets will appear. The essential fluids and veins of those who smoke will dehydrate. It causes the four hundred and four diseases to arise. Whoever smokes will be reborn in the lower realms. If one smokes and others inhale the odour, it will be as if one were ripping out the hearts of six million beings.’

According to the gTérma of Sang-gyé Lingpa:
‘In this decadent age people will indulge in unwholesome behaviour. In particular, rather than eating nourishing food, people will consume the substances which are poisonous and evil-smelling. Interrupting what they are doing, they will consume the poison. They will need to spit, their noses will run, their health and complexion will fade.’

The gTérma of Rig’dzin Go’dem predicts:
‘In the ultimate decadent age people will absorb poisonous vomit, food of dri za’i. Merely smelling it, one will go to the Mar-med Myal-wa. For this reason give it up right now.’

From the predictions discovered by Düd’dül Dorje:
‘Practitioners will enjoy inhaling the smoke of these plants and sniffing their powder and the country will be invaded by samaya-breakers. They will be deceived by illusion and experience the arising of obsessive characteristics. As a sign of the exhaustion of merit they will have causes for tears which will flow uncontrollably.’

The gTérmas of Longsel reveal:
‘The time when people smoke these vile substances is also the time when close friends will poison each other’s minds.’

The gTérmas of Thugchog Dorje specify:
‘Because of the five neurotic poisons, the obsessions, animosities, strife, arguments, and miseries of beings will blaze like an inferno. As the ten good qualities are discarded, negativity will rage like a storm. Wholesome behaviour will be neglected, while perverse practices will be promulgated. In this degenerate age the Protectors will vanish as demonic beings assume power. People will inhale tobacco smoke, and the spatial-veins of discriminative wisdom will become blocked, whilst agitation and distorted emotions become intensified. The central channel will be obstructed and the clarity of awareness will die. Exhaustion of energy will cause agitation around the world. Religious artifacts, the objects of veneration, will deteriorate; perverted ideologies and false religions will spread. The Protectors will turn aside and look only towards Mount Méru. Foreigners will invade Tibet, and Tibetans will be forced to stray in the border lands. Doctrines of Illusion will spread and the world will become a dimension of hell.’

The gTérma of Dro’dül Lingpa predicted:
‘By merely smelling the odour of these herbs, grasses and leaves will spring from demonic blood, one will find oneself in Vajra Hell.’

A prediction of Ma-gÇig Labdrön states:
‘In the final period of disputation a substance will appear which one ingests orally, and it will aggravate all five neuroses. It will originate in China, extend to Mongolia and Tibet. Wherever it travels it will be consumed, and wherever it is consumed – rainfall will become irregular, accompanied by severe frost and hail. If practitioners consume this substance, even were they to practise for a hundred æons – they will not realise their yidams. In future lives, they will wander incessantly in the three lower realms, where even the compassion of the Buddhas will have no power to help them.’

There are innumerable other predictions concerning tobacco – the use of which has been particularly forbidden by accomplished masters of both Sarma and Nyingma traditions. The vajra words of Padmasambhava were not given to deceive practitioners, so do not entertain doubts as to: ‘how can so many problems arise from smoking a natural plant?’ Aconite is also a plant, yet eating a small quantity of it can be lethal. If this should be the case with a plant, at the physical level, why could not the fruit of the demonic intentionality cause spiritual death? Understanding this, the wise will render themselves a great kindness by renouncing tobacco and narcotics. In doing so, may the honourable and wise who avoid the path to the precipice have the good fortune of finding respite in the ecstatic garden of liberation.

This was written at the request of Golok Gé-rTa Jig’mèd, by Dorje Yeshé
(Kyabjé Düd’jom Rinpoche)

Sarwa Mangalam.

An Eternal Now SG

We enthusiastically express our unending devotion to Kyabjé Düd’jom Rinpoche, Jig’drèl Yeshé Dorje—Mahasiddha and luminary gTértön of the 20th century. As the inconsequential eccentric yogi and yogini of the Aro gTér – we feebly attempt to raise Düd’jom Rinpoche’s demon-destroying banner of battle against the demonic carcinogen tobacco. We hope that Vajrayana practitioners who respect Padmasambhava and the Nyingma tradition will pay heed to Düd’jom Rinpoche’s text ‘The guide that leads the blind on a false path which ends in a precipice’ and to the words of the great gTértöns.

Düd’jom (bDud ’joms) means demon subduing. The word düd (bDud – mara) has many meanings and covers every aspect of dualistic derangement.

(The bDud bZhi – the four demons are as follows:

1. phungpo düd (phung po bDu) – the demon of illusory connections
2. nyon-mongpa’i düd (nyon mongs pa’i bDud) – the demon of emotional disturbances
3. chhi’dag düd (’chi bDag gi bDud) – the demon of fatality
4. nyem-jèd kyi düd (sNyem byed kyi bDud) – the demon of arrogance.

They are the source from which malevolencies arise – either in human form or in any other form.)

As we discuss it here bDud means: tobacco – the demonic carcinogen with tacit government sanction

We have been aware for some years that the ‘warnings’ on cigarettes and other tobacco products have been escalating in the UK and the USA. We were recently surprised, however, to find that the comedian Denis Leary had been frighteningly accurate in 1991 when he said: “You could have packets that were called the warning, and we’d still want them.”

We wondered how far it was possible to go with such warnings before they became a joke: “. . . expert texpert choking smokers don’t you think the joker laughs at you . . .”, as John Lennon put it, but the laugh is the laughter of the Lord and Lady of the Charnel Ground – the grin on the skull. It would appear that what should be ludicrous has become normal. Every successive warning disappears into itself and undermines its own message; and people find it hard to believe in demonic influence. Call it what you will, it is diabolical that governments who are happy to outlaw a variety of phenomena are unwilling to outlaw tobacco. It is diabolical that children can be exposed to secondary smoke with no evident governmental concern with regard to child abuse – yet infant-school teachers are not permitted to cuddle infants who have fallen over in the school playground. In a world of political correctness, smoking stands out as a significant and bizarre anomaly. Many people may be aware that we are not greatly enamoured of political correctness. To us it appears merely as the will of powerful lobbies who often wish to restrict human freedom. We seriously question the fundamental integrity of governments who banish handguns and fail to banish tobacco.

We are aware that there are strong pro-tobacco lobbies, and that there is considerable tax revenue at stake – but does this make sense of allowing one lethal product to be marketed, when various less dangerous products have had to be withdrawn from the market? What other ingestible product has anything remotely close to the warnings which accompany tobacco? Is this not uncanny? Is this not supernatural? Is this not demonically demented?

In his endless kindness to Vajrayana practitioners, Kyabjé Düd’jom Rinpoche quotes from the gTérmas of Chögyal Ratna Lingpa, Sang-gyé Lingpa, Rig’dzin Go’dem, Düd’dül Dorje, gTértön Longsel, Thugchog Dorje, Dro’dül Lingpa, and Ma-gÇig Labdrön, in order to explain the non-ordinary visionary history which illuminates the deleterious nature of tobacco.

Warnings concerning tobacco have been revealed as gTérmas since the first spread of Buddhism in Tibet, and therefore authentic Nyingma practitioners cannot have association with tobacco.

D üd’jom Rinpoche’s treatise deals with demonic intentionality as discussed in the gTérmas of the great gTértöns, and is thus mainly influential with those Vajrayana practitioners who have confidence in Padmasambhava and the gTérma tradition. It should, however, be of interest to other Buddhists – and to people in general – that such warnings have existed for so long and that they are so vehement.

With both Düd’jom Rinpoche and Chatral Rinpoche’s teaching in mind. we have decided that members of the public who attend ‘Open Teaching Retreats’ will have to commit to refraining from smoking for the entire weekend – i.e. ‘smoking off premises’ will no longer be tolerated. We have been attempting to reach this point for some years now – but strangely enough it has proved difficult. This injunction has not been acted upon until recently – not because of any evident resistance with regard to it appearing in print – but because of factors which no one can explain. Everyone asked expressed surprise and commented that they thought someone else had taken the task in hand. Is that not diabolical?

TTFU SG

Dont smoke. Go read a book.

geis SG

thank you very much AEN :)

-StarDust- SG

Smoking is bad. Dont smoke.

smoking causes cancer.

wisdomeye SG

Thanks AEN,

yes this is the article i'm referring too... surprised it's so short, thot it was longer... in my memory...

there is a very much longer article but in Chinese... i'd see if i can hunt it down. Do u read chinese Geis?

wisdomeye SG

二吸烟之过患

　　《金色律藏》中云：“末法浊世之毒物，出现十八种烟草，凡接触者转地狱，后世不生悦意境。”《具光律藏》云：“浊世末时之烟草，口鼻享用诸罪人，今生贫穷如饿鬼，来世将于百劫间，住于嚎叫地狱中。”邬金莲师曾经说：“依此臭味不净烟，虽然终生修本尊，不会成就一本尊。诸守舍神离彼去，诸护法神远离之，境神地神亦逃离，洞神家神财神离。冒犯凶恶之天神，病痛死亡灾难起，每一年中渐衰败，人畜眷属现恶兆。”伏藏大师桑吉朗巴说：“享用大量恶臭具毒烟，永不厌足反增大贪爱，口水鼻涕不止失光彩，死后百次转生地狱中。”伏藏大师绕那朗巴曾经说过：“凡触口气感受烟味者，等同挖出六百万人心。”持明者够多巴说：“浊世末期恶臭烟，仅闻味堕无间狱，是故今断极重要。”持明者降魔金刚是这样说的：“青叶烟草口中吸，沙子灌入耳朵里，僧俗男女聚集鬼，破誓言者遍山谷。被魔所欺之相征，贪欲之心屡屡生；灭尽福德之相征，彼作庸俗之行为；诸不吉祥之相征，眼泪不由自主流。”持明者龙萨酿波说过：“享用恶物烟之时，以食杀害亲密友。”玛吉拉卓空行母曾说：“正当末世具诤时，五毒具全之恶物，由经汉土而出现，流布蒙古之领域，烟草传入此藏地，是故于此赡部洲，雨水不调霜雹起。修行之人若吸烟，百劫本尊不成就，后世永远漂恶趣，三宝大悲不能救。”全知多哦巴尊者说：“毒叶之味遍何方，持教大德现寿障，天龙发怒旱灾起，后世直下堕地狱。”大班智达罗桑秋坚曾经说：“肮脏烟味霜雹起，出现种种不幸事，果报未尽闻烟味，有情投生于地狱，饿鬼旁生等恶趣，以及八无暇之处，智者谁不警惕此？”阿底峡尊者曾说过：“谁人倘若依烟草，五毒烦恼盛似火，今生受谤及讥毁，死后恒时转恶趣，纵投生人成疯子。”持明无畏洲说：“诸位上师若吸烟，凡结缘者堕恶趣；诸位长官若吸烟，所有属下堕恶趣。”宗喀巴大师曾经说：“以邪愿魔之恶物，不必说是直接用，甚至药中配烟草，七日服用则病人，医生二人七劫中，地狱之中不解脱。”阿哦仁波切是这样说的：“倘若指甲上放少许烟而吸，罪业以诵一亿观音心咒亦不能忏净，烟乃一切过患之根源，凡有关联之人均被引入恶趣。”新龙喇嘛降魔莲花尊者说：“吸烟的人，身体之脉以及梵穴被烟阻挡，神识无法往生，肺等内脏及颅内积烟垢，苍鹫都不吃他的尸体，凡与之结缘者均转生恶趣。”阿哦丹真达吉说：“口中吸一支烟草，及吸少量之鼻烟，较杀十八人和马，罪过胜过九倍也。”嘉扬夏巴（文殊欢笑）尊者曾经说过：“依此臭恶之烟草，引恶业众堕恶趣，除地狱外无去处，贪爱黑毒极其重。烟汁不离彼身体，烟锅烟角及烟袋，置于枕旁而死去，口鼻之中出烟汁，见尸之人断贪烟。尸体毒肉鸟不食，住于恶趣不解脱。”此外，持明者降魔金刚又说：“仅闻烟味者，世世所积资，善根刹那毁，后人当戒烟。”伏藏大师绕那朗巴说：“于坛城前若吸烟，智慧本尊不降临，一切冤魂诸魔障，如同烂肉苍蝇聚。”邬金莲师也强调说：“法王应供上师等，利众传承继承者，此烟草物吸体内，中断清净之传承，投生亦是魔化身。”降魔金刚尊者再次说：“仅仅嗅闻烟味者，虽是八地大菩萨，亦转黑绳狱一次。”夏嘎巴尊者说：“谁人若吸恶物烟，中脉之内遍黑暗，经血脉孔永阻塞，纵然圆满佛降临，死时无法令往生。”萨迦班智达曾说：“依靠教证知此理，贪执经血毒烟味，设法传播自他者，乃是恶魔之儿子，凡结缘者堕地狱。”夏嘎凑哲扬珠尊者又说：“有吸烟草心思者，不仅直接仅梦中，亦不生念当发愿，若生护法饮心血。”此等教证虽有无量，但此处恐繁不说。
在当今时代，一些自诩的伏藏大师最为注重的只有烟酒，日日夜夜以此消磨时光，你们如果真正是境心融入一体的瑜伽士，能够使所杀的众生复活、能起死回生、能将酒变成甘露、将毒变成药，是这样的大成就自在者，当然是值得高兴的，如此你自己作什么都可以。然而，当前，有些人向别人推广烟酒，还认为以此可利益众生，他们如果不是耳中灌了沸水、眼中烧着铜液，必定能见闻到前面刚刚提过的经续论典中所说的烟酒过患。假设已经看了一百遍，仍然无有丝毫的恐惧心理，那么这些冒牌的成就者在亡人的头边超度、顺便为各地的僧俗作加持，很大方地给他们灌色酒，递烟和鼻烟。倘若那人说：“我已经在某某上师前发誓戒烟戒酒了，现在不应当吸烟饮酒。”可是那位上师却满不在乎地说：“没关系，没关系，我作加持就可以了。”于是他边抽烟边吹气作加持，那些具有信心的弟子们就迫不急待地抽起烟、喝起酒来。如果你们这些人真有这样不退的信心，那么将他的大便吃得饱饱的，将他的小便喝得足足的，也许他的这些圣物真的成了享解脱，即便不能解脱，也不会成为佛教的怨敌。相反，如若吸烟饮酒，那你们这些上师与弟子才真正是佛教的怨敌。为什么呢？因为世亲论师曾经说：“何人生起一善心，即是如来之证法；何人言说一偈颂，即是如来之教法。”高僧大德有识之士们宣说烟酒的过患是教法，对此生起诚信后戒烟戒酒即是证法，这是真正的教法与证法，说它不是教法与证法你有什么能成立的理由呢？如果没有理由，那你说吸烟饮酒无有过患就是在摧毁教法，你让他人吸烟饮酒就是在摧毁证法，因此说你是同时摧毁教法、证法的佛教怨敌，这一点以教证、理证、正量都能成立，正如《净续》中所说：“能害佛教法，勤谤上师者，智者当诛之。”十大应诛怨敌需要斩尽杀绝，这就不必说了，而且对于严重造罪业的这些人，获得自在的密宗成就持明者以及护法神为什么不降伏，理应当机立断降伏他们。
　　另有些人说：此烟只是松潘地方的一种草药，所以吸烟没有过失。请这些人听清楚，烟的来历是这样的：很久以前，魔王波旬无论如何也死不了，他三个女儿中的大女儿说：“我杀害一千个众生。”当时波旬也不能死去。二女儿又说：“我杀死一亿个众生。”他仍然还无法死去。最后小女儿说：“我将胎血洒在地里，百般发邪愿：愿以经血为因生出毒叶，男女俗人尤其是入佛门的僧人吸烟，以此过失七世中三代人天眷属不得解脱，千劫中必定不能从漆黑烟馆中解脱出来，毒叶产出的烟草遍及之处的所有天龙地神八部都被制伏，彼人耗尽所有的寿命、福德，眷属百姓受用衰减，彼人短命多病、畏惧怨敌，出现各种不幸，后世沦落于十八层地狱中。”她这样发恶愿后，魔王波旬才死去。这是大持明者降魔金刚伏藏品中所说的。
　　如果有人说：由魔女经血而生长出的烟草通过加持便可以享用。按照你们的说法，那屠杀牛羊通过加持也必定可以宰杀了，同样十不善业与五无间罪等通过加持也可以造了，如此活着的时间根本不需要断恶行善，仅仅依靠吸烟饮酒便可息灭病魔并且后世得以往生极乐世界，这就是你的观点。这般荒诞不经的邪法甚至在顺世外道中也没有。顺世外道除了认为前后世以及业因果不存在以外，绝不会有将吸烟饮酒视为善业、将戒烟戒酒视为罪业这种善恶颠倒的见解。此见解过患比外道还严重百倍。这种人不仅不承认本师佛陀的教言以及所有的经续论典，而且还肆无忌惮地公开反驳宣讲吸烟饮酒过患的观点，这真正是毁灭佛法的第二大恶魔又出现在浊世中了。我们应当清楚地认识到，安住在十方刹土中的佛菩萨进行商议后如果不予以调伏，则必将殃及世间。
　　若又有些人口口声声地说：所有的烟酒是魔所加持的恶物，这一点虽然是事实，但是吸烟饮酒的人并非是魔，因此也没有这样严重的过失吧！
　　从前在玛拉雅山上，吉祥密主金刚手在为五种姓眷属传授密法时说：未来，此密法在藏地雪域兴盛时，天尊相与魔相同时存在。所以对此若未加详细观察，会有无法挽回的危险，因此进行观察十分重要。如果出现魔相，那么连法音也不能传出。上师未观察弟子是魔业，弟子未观察上师也是魔业。一般来说，本尊相极难观察，相比之下，魔相稍微容易些。例如，一位上师即便是杀害了一千个众生，以假冒的佛法欺骗众生，而且接受、享用女人，也无法断定他是否为魔的化现。弟子也是同样，哪怕是屠夫、娼妓、渔民、猎人等所作所为完全违教背道的人，也不能确定他是否为魔的化现。所以说本尊相是难以观察的。因为即便是在这些人当中，也有许多是佛菩萨化现随机调化众生的。尤其作为末法浊世的人更难以观察。
　　魔相：恶物烟草是冤魔九兄弟的经血而形成的。吸烟之人，即使依靠心境一味的境界而如大鹏鸟一样飞于空中，如鱼儿般游在水中，通彻无碍穿行山岩，具有了知现有一切的神通，也确定无疑是魔的化现。尤其是人们指望能将亡灵超度的上师们，如果吸烟饮酒，那简直就是故意将亡灵引入地狱的向导。因此观察这一点极为关键。不用说在讲闻密法以及众会合修时吸烟饮酒，甚至在仅有枣核许烟酒的地方观修本尊、念诵咒语以及修行等持，也会像水挤不出酥油一样，连发梢百分之一许的成果也不会得到。我们应当认识到，未来此物（烟酒）将是摧毁佛法基业的唯一恶魔。”密主金刚手的金刚密传中是这样说的。因此，所有吸烟饮酒以及传播烟酒的人都是九头恶魔的化身。这一点丝毫不必怀疑。魔的化身无论出现在何处，那里的男女老幼定要捂上口耳，立即逃离，甚至都不要瞧他一眼。
　　如果又有些人说：虽然在显宗里的确不允许吸烟饮酒，可是密宗的伏藏大师很多都是通过这种方式利益众生的。
　　昔日在印度，出现了大持明成就者萨绕哈等八十位大成就者、四位瑜伽母，在此雪域出现了邬金法王莲师和他的意子君臣二十五尊、意瓦地方的八十位大成就者、成百的伏藏大师以及成千的伏藏师等宛若空中群星般不可思议获得自在的大成就者，但他们所有人的传记中，对烟酒作加持并向他人传播的历史只字未提。如此上面刚刚提过的宁玛派，阿底峡尊者师徒等为主的嘎当派，玛尔巴米拉日巴师徒等为主的噶举派、萨钦根嘎酿波师徒为主的萨迦派、根钦多哦巴师徒等为主的觉囊派、帕单巴师徒为主的息法派、布敦匝札师徒为主的哦派、宗喀巴大师师徒为主的格鲁派，在藏地曾出现犹如连绵不断金山般的上述八大宗派的教主，我阅遍了他们所有的传记，通过对烟酒作加持以及向他人传播利益众生的事迹只言片语也没有。魔王波旬及其眷属显然已入到你的心里，凡是与你结缘的人都将被引入地狱，这是魔的授记，你除了是为魔王波旬卖命的时间已到之外还有什么？夏嘎奏哲让珠尊者曾经这样说过：“放逸无度享用恶物（吸烟饮酒）的你们死后转生地狱，并与你同饮一个山谷之水的所有人也由于沾染冒渎晦气而被连累到地狱中，这是金刚持等宣说的。如果明知这些道理仍然不恪守誓言与戒律，恣意吸烟饮酒，那么你是不是认为金刚持的语言虚妄不实，或者认为虽然真实却无必要，或者你的境界已远远超过了金刚持，或者已经鬼使神差，成了无心的人？无论如何也仅此而已。如果你想去地狱，就随你的便吧，但求你不要将同饮一个山谷水的所有人带入地狱，把他们留下来。求求你不要毁灭整个地区。意思是说，不仅与吸烟饮酒者其它邪法的关联，甚至凡是与其饮一山谷水的人都将被连累到地狱中。这样的魔化身无论出现在何处，就连风吹到的地方都应当逃离，更不用说与他相互交谈、同居一处了。这样的人无论到哪里，他走后，人们都应当在此撒一把灰。对于加持并传播烟酒的魔知识，但愿生生世世也不要见到，不要听到。如果反复这样发愿，则能圆满数劫的资粮。”
　　如云：“俱胝佛子菩萨未曾说，且从经续论中未曾闻，经血烟草传播于众生，破坏佛教基业诚可悲！九兄弟魔恶愿所成物，烟草若亦可能作加持，三界罪人为何不去往，大师您前请求作加持？传播烟草利众魔之相，三世佛陀已经作授记，魔王波旬化身此再现，凡结缘者被引入地狱。”那么，诸位人士，如前所说，仅仅闻到烟味，甚至八地菩萨也要转黑绳地狱一次，我们这些凡夫人如果不象舍弃麻风患者的肉般弃离烟草，那么今生必定会遭遇各种不幸，后世也无有脱离十八层地狱之时，这是金刚持无欺之语，对此应当深信不疑。那些吸烟饮酒的人应当即刻发誓断除，戒烟戒酒功德无量。虽然前面有念诵一亿观音心咒也不能忏悔吸烟饮酒罪业的说法，但若以追悔之心戒烟戒酒，也可以清净往昔的所有罪业。因此，思维这一功德而戒烟酒至为重要。刚一戒除烟酒，就能遣除修法的违缘，护法神也会鼎力相助，现世中一切心愿顺利实现，后世最起码也会获得行持正法的人身，依之获得圆满佛果。
　　乃至真实佛法住世间，
　　一切欲求皈依三宝者，
　　对于散布毒物魔知识，
　　刹那亦莫见到与听闻。
　　佛陀菩萨仙人出有坏，
　　千数成就者谴之烟酒，
　　仅闻其味地方亦莫生，
　　何况直截了当而享用？

geis SG

Thanks AEN,

yes this is the article i'm referring too... surprised it's so short, thot it was longer... in my memory...

there is a very much longer article but in Chinese... i'd see if i can hunt it down. Do u read chinese Geis?

yep can read chinese. actually i got past experience to share with regards to quiting smoking.

now is actually the 3rd time im stopping, past 2 times managed to stop for 6 months each.

the 2nd time i stopped was actually because of my first contact with the dhamma when i first started meditating in 2007.

remember at that time the concentration was so high it only just took a decision one early morning to stop. the scenario was one which i can never forget and now there is a tendency to try to relive that experience. but of cos now i understand better how come i was able to stop then. it was due to the very high concentration level spurred on by the initial contact with dhamma and the samatha meditation that i was doing, and at the same time then i had a brief experience of 'i am' that provided the energy and resolve to stop. unfortunately as i continued practicing without a teacher to give me proper guidance, i had no idea of the path ahead. i continued on meditation on my own after stopping smoking, but along the way did not know that there will be 'unsettled scores' to resolve.

the 'unsettled score' came in the form of a relationship of a 'lenchak' nature which spanned 1 1/2 years.

along the way in this relationship all the manifestations of greed, lust, anger, delusion, pain came fast and furious. it came to a point in time i actually stopped meditation, with the false view that meditation was not helping to relieve the pain but created more and more pain. and i went back to my old ways of smoking and drinking. drinking was easier to curb then as i was in financial problems from all the decadent living pre-2007, but the restarting to smoke in May 2008 (coincidentally its May now hmm) was the tough part.

the relationship ended last year July, and along with it some other relationships with others. and thats when dhamma 'reentered' this life. amazing thing is it felt automatically then like a passing of a dark cloud, and somehow even though i stopped practice for so long, i had new profound understanding of the dhamma. so thats when i registered this account and started engaging in this forum.

now is the 3rd and last time to quit this harmful habit.

faith and guidance from a teacher is necessary. from my personal experience i sincerely urge anyone practicing on their own to look for a teacher.

also thanks everyone who have provided the encouragements :)

geis SG

二吸烟之过患

thanks alot Wisdomeye :)

wisdomeye SG

yep can read chinese. actually i got past experience to share with regards to quiting smoking.

now is actually the 3rd time im stopping, past 2 times managed to stop for 6 months each.

the 2nd time i stopped was actually because of my first contact with the dhamma when i first started meditating in 2007.

the 'unsettled score' came in the form of a relationship of a 'lenchak' nature which spanned 1 1/2 years.

now is the 3rd and last time to quit this harmful habit.

faith and guidance from a teacher is necessary. from my personal experience i sincerely urge anyone practicing on their own to look for a teacher.

also thanks everyone who have provided the encouragements :)

hi geis,

thanks for your candour... anyway, in my own journey too, i go thru countless ups and downs and it will continue... i think it is happening for all of us... it is always harder to improve than to backslide. The teacher can hammer us into shape, but he/she is not around always... we have to have a very very strong mind. There is so much suffering always, in all aspects of life, for oneself and for others, such incredible suffering. Sometimes, one wonders why samsara is so exceedingly painful. everyone is going thru their share of suffering... if we really see the pain, we can develop renunciation, it becomes a source of strength to further pick ourselves up again and again, over and over and then to walk on. Actually, there is no other choice, one has to complete the journey by oneself, opting out is not an option. Seeing this deeply for oneself, it is a endless cause for compassion for others too... the more one sees it for oneself, the more sadness one has for others too.

geis SG

hi geis,

yes very true

there's no running away, only realization and acceptance of this conditional nature of this life

longchen SG

hi geis,

To me, the more i walk the path, the clearer i see that there is no way to prevent difficulties in life. There will come a point when you just let go...

Rather than fight with reality, see through its illusionary nature... There is no self there in all the happenings... Self is the reaction to the happening... that is manifesting spontaneously. Even the anger, emotions, etc have no self-agent...

From my experience, it is very hard to see the illusionary nature in the midst of pain. The pain is too real to be illusionary...

wisdomeye SG

It is said by Dudjom Rinpoche,

The Great Perfection is so profound that it also has obstacles, just as sources of great profit entail great risk. The reason for these obstacles is that the instructions' impact stirs up your previously accumulated negative karma.

He goes on to describe the many possible signs of these...demons, attacks by robbers, diseases, mental suffering for no reason, depression, positive qualities decreasing, feel like going crazy, take good advice wrong way, doubts about the teachings, bad reputation, frens becocming enemies, wrongly accused etc etc .. such are upheavals... recognise them as such... at such points, be courageous and turn your mind to your lama (or objects of refuge) and pray fervently... at some point these circumstances' solidity will naturally collapse and your practice will be enhanced.

Anyway, not want to discourage anyone out there who wish to practice on the path of awareness. But one will always encounter more and more obstacles to purify. That is why in the Tibetan tradition, one has to do the extensive preliminaries of accumulating merit and purification before attempting the path of awareness. Like Milarepa had to suffer a lot to purify before he received the pith teachings...

wisdomeye SG

Very Ven. Khenpo Karthar, abbott of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, Woodstock, NY:

" There is not any event that under all circumstances is an obstacle. During your life, sometimes a test situation may arise because of your meditation. If
you lack understanding and meditative insight, this test could become an obstacle. However if you have enough insight and understanding, the test could heighten your realization to a great extent. As an outcome of meditative experience, whatever appearances may arise can be transformed through meditative insight into a realization of the nature of all things as insubstantial, uncompounded, and only existing interdependently. Then we do not reject the appearances of existing things, but nevertheless none of these things hold the truth of independence or the truth of substantiality. They are just another play of illusion.

If a person understands and relates in this way, whatever drama appears in meditation could be tremendously uplifting. On the other hand, when you are meditating you may get drawn into whatever arises out of your habitual and emotional conditioning. The appearance may just be your psychological patterns, but for you it is a spirit, it is demonic, and it is real. You will probably be afraid and try to defend yourself. That is not the strategy we adopt in the path of meditation, though.

For instance, when Milarepa was in a particular cave and the so called demons appeared, roaring and thundering toward him, Milarepa said, "Your appearance is most wondrous, and your message is the message of my teacher." He worked with it in that way. The demon of your confusion does not cling to you; you cling to it. From that point of view, such an event becomes a kind of special treat and a technique that brings more enrichment than the ordinary process. What is really important is how a person is able to work with what happens, so strictly speaking, these neither are obstacles or are not obstacles."

wisdomeye SG

by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

How to Quit Smoking
A student in the UK asked Rinpoche for advice on how to stop smoking. She had been cutting down, but was finding it difficult to quit altogether, as her boyfriend still smoked.

My very dear Madeline,
Thank you very much for your kind letter. I am very happy you have reduced your smoking, as smoking is very harmful to your body and life. It can cause obstacles to your life, shorten your life, and cause cancer. Not only in the teachings, but even in ordinary life, it is said that smoking is harmful. It is also unbelievably gross.

Doctors understand that smoking is harmful for you. It is barred in many places, such as restaurants, theaters, and shops. The teachings say that the material in cigarettes is impure and that evil beings caused the substances to grow in order to interfere with people’s practice and degenerate the mind. With a bad intention, the evil beings made prayers for tobacco to grow to harm people in their practice of virtue, to degenerate their mind, to get them to engage in nonvirtue, and so that their mind is not free from delusion.

I once saw in a morgue the dead body of a woman who died of lung cancer from smoking, and her lungs were blue. A Tibetan doctor from Dharamsala put her hand into the body and took out her lung, which was all black and blue. So, if you want to die like this, you are most welcome.

It is said in a text composed by Panchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen (who also composed the Guru Puja) that when someone asked him to do po-wa practice, he asked first if the person who had just died smoked. He said that if the person smoked he would not be able to do po-wa, because he would not be able to transfer the consciousness through the person’s crown. Since even high lamas can’t transfer the consciousness of a person who smokes to the pure lands, if you want to be free, and especially if you want to go to the pure land at the time of death, don’t smoke.

You don’t have to follow every single thing your boyfriend does. Your mind is not his. Your mind is separate and your body is separate. You are responsible for your own happiness.

Smoking pollutes your whole body, making it impure. It makes it difficult for virtuous thoughts to arise, and it makes it very difficult not to have attachment. Smoking just gives some temporary pleasure, and that’s all. When you die, you don’t take one single benefit from smoking with you. Like an empty reputation in the world, it doesn’t protect you from suffering. It can’t make you achieve a good rebirth in the next life, and besides that, it can’t liberate sentient beings from samsara, and can’t actualize enlightenment.

Here, you are trying to become a champion, to defeat your delusions, especially your attachment. The main thing here is you have to be strong yourself. You can see how people spend their whole life training for the Olympics, practicing dancing on the ice and trying to be champions and defeat other people. When they don’t succeed, they experience unbelievable suffering, because they trained to win for so many years.

But if you can succeed over the enemy, delusion, by avoiding smoking cigarettes, which desire craves and which is your object of desire, that is so fantastic! You create less negative karma, and each time you succeed, it protects you from the lower realms, the most unbelievable, longest suffering in samsara. Not following delusion also causes you to achieve liberation and helps you to reach enlightenment. Each time you create the cause of realizations on the path to enlightenment. By defeating delusion, especially attachment, you will be able to liberate numberless sentient beings from eons of sufferings in samsara and bring them to enlightenment. What better Olympic sport is there than this one? What better champion is there? This way you become the most famous one among all sentient beings, not just in one country or in one world, but among all sentient beings—that is, you become a buddha. Every day you have to have courage. Be brave.

Padmasambhava explained how extremely harmful tobacco smoke is even to the area where you live, besides to the person smoking it, because it degenerates the mind and harms your chakras, winds, and drops. It is very harmful to the development of virtue. When you smoke, you pollute the environment and make the whole area impure. Many other beings, such as nagas and devas, go away, because they cannot bear it. They also harm people, who get very sick, with arthritis and so on, because of the smoke polluting and harming the nagas.

Your smoking also makes people who don’t smoke unhappy. When I am in the same room as someone who is smoking, it’s very unpleasant for me. It is difficult to breathe, and it has such a bad smell. I find it hard, because I feel I have to breathe the smoke, and it goes into my lungs.

At Kopan monastery there was once a caretaker, who helped to buy the land Kopan is built on. He used to take care of and milk the buffalo. Each day at sunrise, he would sit down and smoke. Because my window faced east, the smoke used to come into my room, and I would feel very uncomfortable when I breathed.

Smoking harms not just you, but so many other beings. The teachings say that the smoke from cigarettes destroys whole cities of nagas, like a tornado blowing everything away. This is what happens to them when you smoke.

With much love and prayers...

Advice on How to Stop Smoking

My very dear Polly,
How are you? I am very happy to hear from you. In regards to your problem, this is my advice (below). I hope that this will help you to get inspiration and courage to stop smoking, so that you have a long life and healthy life, healthy body and mind. If your body is polluted, made dirty, then it is very easy to get sick and to get cancer.

Tobacco is a very impure plant, it came about due to devils, who made prayers to harm people. Then, from that, tobacco grew, to harm people. Especially, it blocks spiritual development. If spiritual development doesn't happen, then one has to continually die and be reborn, and experience continual suffering and problems, again and again, without end, as human beings, hell beings, devas, animals, etc. There is no end to the suffering in samsara and, also, you can't liberate thousands of others from samsaric suffering, and bring them to full enlightenment.