and continued with his work. The king and people of Kashi knew the time had
come for sunset, but they could still see the sun in the sky. One other rishi knew
the situation and guessed that it was Vyasa who had stopped the sun to accomplish
his task. The king, his ministers, and all the people went to the place where the
rishi Vyasa was digging, and the king paid homage to him and asked him to stop
the work. The king’s presence embarrassed Vyasa, so he ignored him. Rebuffed,
the king found out whose work the rishi was doing and then went to see Kashi
Koliti to ask her to release the rishi from his labors. Koliti sent three messengers,
one after the other, to ask Vyasa to stop digging but to no avail, so she went herself,
and kicking Vyasa in the head, scolded him for not heeding her messengers.
Vyasa, happy that she had come to him herself, ceased his digging, and let the sun
set. The moral of the tale: sexual attachment leads to sexual slavery. Look at the
great rishi Vyasa who became the menial servant of the courtesan Kashi Koliti!
As the mahasiddha Saraha sings, “Wherever there is attachment, let it go!” If we
wish for permanent happiness and freedom from suffering, we need to eliminate
attachment—in such a way we will benefit this and future lives. If we cannot
avoid attachment, looking for happiness outside while at the same time hoping for
eternal happiness is like applying medicine on the skin when the disease is in the
entrails.
It is important to realize that the Dzogchen view eradicates the affliction of
attachment and other emotions that are the cause of suffering. If we cannot apply
the Dzogchen teaching just now, we should at least walk the paths to contentment
taught in the Mahayana and Vajrayana approaches; then, finally, we may engage
in actual Dzogchen. If all we can do is practice the four common discursive
meditations that turn the intellect back upon itself (that is, meditations on precious
human body, impermanence, karmic cause and effect, and samsaric retribution)
in this life, we will be more peaceful and happy. We will be free from
covetousness, competition, aggression, enmity, and bad intention, and everybody
will love us. We will have less sickness; when we are ill, we will recover quickly;
and any serious chronic disease will not get worse. Some scientists, understanding
the close relationship between body and mind, know that religious conviction can
sometimes alleviate sickness. For these reasons, it is very important at all times to
try to avoid both internal and external attachment.
3.16 THE STUPIDITY OF SUICIDE
These days people who are ignorant of Dzogchen and have no understanding of
buddha-dharma regard suffering as real and solid. So everywhere in the world,
especially in the West, some deranged individuals shoot randomly in schools, or in
other public places, killing innocent people, and in the end often kill themselves.
Such cases create anxiety in society, particularly, because governments are
helpless to prevent such incidents. The phenomenon of random killing is caused
by the frustration of an individual’s personal desires and aspirations. Intense anger
and hatred result, and repeated rejection and frustration may lead persons to
attempt suicide by jumping off a bridge, setting themselves on fire, poisoning