Post #1001

"When we correctly devote ourselves to the guru, all the heavy negative karma to be reborn in the lower realms, such as the five uninterrupted negative karmas, can be completely purif i ed in the shortest time—even in an instant. Instead of our having to be born in the lower realms and experience there the heaviest suffering for an incredible length of time, we completely purify our negative karma through experiencing disease, famine or some other difficulty in this life. All that heavy negative karma can be purif i ed even by having a terrifying dream or by being scolded by our guru, as in Milarepa’s life story. No matter how much heavy karma we have created in this and past lives, correctly devoting ourselves to the virtuous friend is the answer. What is the most powerful method of purification? Again, the answer is correct devotion to the virtuous friend, because the virtuous friend is the most powerful among all the powerful objects. By practicing perfect guru yoga, we can purify the heavy negative karma that would cause us to be born in hell and suf f er there for many eons by experiencing just a headache, a toothache or some other small problem in this life. We have to realize that the more problems we experience in doing the guru’s work, the more negative karma and obscurations we purify and the more merit we accumulate. In other words, by thinking of the benefits, we should see any difficulty we experience in doing the guru’s work as a good thing and as something we need." Lama Zopa Rinpoche