Expert: Bodhicitta - 7/14/2008

Question
As a novice in terms of the rituals of Puja and the more esoteric aspects of Buddhism I started going to a Gonpa recently. I have always tried to maintain a compassionate heart (since very little) and to try to be honest and moral. However something rather interesting to me is that in the Buddhism group I am trying out (Sangha) I see this kind of attachment to the number of years, hours, times and such that each person claims to have in the Gonpa. To me this seems rather false form of practicing. It's as if the idea is that unless you are meditating/praying/know Tibetan/ for X long then you are not really a Buddhist. Isn't this a form of attachment?

Answer
Hi Stacie
The main basic practise is to work with  your own experience in order to
work against ego. This is basically to realise that our own ego is at the root of any problems that might appear to be someone else's problem.
This is a hard practise.

So it might be good to go to the Gonpa and if we find there are faults in the Sangha, we should thank  them for being our teachers. It is our
own ego that makes us think there are such problems. They are projections. We should open to these problems and feel them.

Bodhcitta