Discriminating Right and Wrong Paths

by Lama Dudjom Dorjee

An essential aspect of our journey toward liberation is being able to discriminate between right and wrong paths. In short, we must follow the path of the great bodhisattvas and avoid falling onto the paths of samsara.

To follow a right path, we must practice the three yanas of the sacred doctrine of the buddhadharma. This includes utilising deity visualisation practices without any reservations and without cultivating attachment to those practices. From the ultimate point of view, we must practice beyond the notions of conditional and non-conditional, not allowing ourselves to fall into the extremes of existence and nonexistence. Yet from a relative point of view, we must follow the path of the bodhisattva and continue to practice behaviour consistent with the altruistic mind, which ultimately leads us to liberation. Even from the Hinayana point of view, we must follow the right path of renunciation of and detachment towards samsara so that we may attain the state of an arhat.

In the end, choosing and committing to a right path, whether it be Hinayana, Mahayana, or Vajrayana, rather than a wrong path or no path at all, will determine the results that are produced by our practice.