The Gyalwang Karmapa recently met with a private group of 300 advanced Mahamudra
students and explored what it means to be an authentic
Buddhist. He began his teaching by observing that it's difficult
if we merely call ourselves dharma practitioners or Buddhist followers
in name, without really understanding the essence of being a true
Buddhist.
"Sometimes the most important thing is to be a good person, a
good human being. This is very important," he began. The Gyalwang Karmapa continued: "For example, in terms of
me myself, sometimes I think I'm a real Buddhist follower or a real
Buddhist student, because I was born in a Buddhist family and raised in a
Buddhist environment, in a monastery. I think I'm the real sort of
Buddhist practitioner or follower. But if you really think carefully
about it and discover, 'Oh, maybe I'm a Buddhist practitioner or
follower, but I'm not sure if I'm a good human being or not,' then that
is a little bit funny.
"So maybe the point is to confront ourselves with the
question: am I really a good person, a good human being? Because that is
what characterizes being an authentic Buddhist."
More (including video) here
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