In the last days of 2024, I finished a wholesome Dharma book gifted to me by Geshe Jampa Gelek, our Teacher. Within its introductory pages, those words by the translator Toh Sze Gee, stroke me as so very true and important.
“Traveling on the path takes humility and self-awareness. What may appear to be assiduous spiritual practice can sometimes, instead of diminishing and eliminating afflictions, leave afflictions untouched.
Contemporary teachers have coined terms such as spiritual materialism and spiritual bypass to caution against spiritual self-deception.
People may have the trappings of a spiritual practitioner – wearing prayer beads, chanting mantras, quoting scriptures and spinning prayer wheels – but if they fail to acknowledge the mental flaws and do not sincerely work on their own mind, they are not true spiritual practitioners.”
(Panchen Losang Yeshe – The Swift Path
Foreword by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Translation and Introductory Notes by Toh Sze Gee)
The Garden of Maitreya 