Serkong Rinpoche’s Advice for Buddhist Practitioners

Being Considerate toward Our Spiritual Teacher

Serkong Rinpoche always stressed being considerate of all lamas and not wasting their time. He suggested avoiding the example of the devout people of Spiti. When lining up to present him with ceremonial scarves (kata), his devotees in Spiti would wait until they were directly in front of him before offering prostration, each of them one at a time. Such a procedure can often take hours. Further, when asking questions to a lama, Rinpoche said never to tell a huge story or to put on a show. In fact, he instructed me never to translate such questions literally, but just to get to the point.

In addition, Rinpoche did not want visitors always to present him with katas and with what he referred to as “lousy” boxes of cookies. He said those wishing to make an offering to a lama should present something really nice that the person can use or likes. Moreover, if anyone saw him frequently, as I did him, he said to stop bringing things. He did not want or need anything.

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