This is Lesson 24 from A Comprehensive Commentary on the Words of My Perfect Teacher, serving as both an extended teaching on why the preliminary practices must be genuinely internalised and a sobering warning against the dangers of superficial Dharma. The teacher explains his decision to guide students through ngondro in person, stressing that without a solid foundation in the four common preliminaries, no amount of higher empowerments or teachings can uproot the causes of samsara. Two vivid cautionary tales illustrate the cost of heedlessness: the Tang Dynasty monk Fa'ai, who misappropriated sangha funds and was reborn as an ox, and the story of Shide who identified former temple elders among the monastery's cattle. The lesson examines Longchenpa's sixteen additional conditions that leave no freedom for practice, warning that even a high-ranking lama or revered teacher may not have entered the true Dharma if these are unmet. It closes with the urgency of Chandrakirti's verse — that when we are free and conditions are favourable, failure to guard the mind through mindfulness means that once we fall into the lower realms, there is no self-powered way out.
Practice Guide
To practice the meditation related to this teaching, please refer to:
