Once a Sage Makes a Vow, It Must Be Fulfilled—Even Two Centuries Later

Achieve by Doing The main speaker of this session is Khenpo Sodargye Chapter Title Mapping Everyone thinks their obstacles come from others—until they open a coffin and see a mirror. Khenpo Sodargye's bestselling book hides a complete Tibetan Buddhist practice that no one noticed. This is a lecture given by Khenpo Sodargye on June 22, 2015, at Hainan University, with the theme "Achieve By Doing." Khenpo's core perspective is that true success comes from down-to-earth action, not empty ideals. He develops his argument on five levels: First, he reveals the complete Tibetan Buddhist practice system hidden within his book Achieve By Doing—the Four Common Preliminary Practices (precious human birth, impermanence, suffering of samsara, and karma) and the Six Uncommon Preliminary Practices (refuge, bodhichitta, phowa practice, etc.). Second, he critiques four types of wrong "doing"—doing without moral boundaries (crime), doing without aspiration (drifting through life), doing with half-heartedness (giants in thought, dwarfs in action), and doing only verbally (making promises without fulfilling them). Third, he emphasizes the sacred nature of commitment, illustrated by the story of a child's grave in New York that has been preserved for two hundred years, embodying integrity. Fourth, he points out that success requires accumulation of causes and conditions, warning against the quick-fix mentality of "success studies." Fifth, he calls for cultivating altruism and the Mahayana spirit. Khenpo quotes a Zen koan: "Today is most important"—doing good in the present moment is true achievement. 2015622