They spook from time to time

Apprentice In your reply to my last letter you said that I should try to celebrate whenever obstacles arose, and that I should try to regard difficulties as opportunities to smile—that each setback could create a further smile.

Ngak’chang Rinpoche Quite so. You simply—humorously—persist. You never give up or give in to difficulties. For example, I have experienced some difficult times. My life continues to present me with difficulties of one sort and another, and although apprentices in particular try to be as helpful as they can, difficulties continue to arise, difficulties continue to manifest all the time.

Apprentice Can’t we learn from difficulties?

Ngak’chang Rinpoche So that they can appear to be to our advantage? No. I do not regard difficulties as ‘signs’ of anything; they are simply what they are. I had a prolapsed haemorrhoid earlier this year—but I learned nothing in particular from it, apart from the fact that I will lance the next one. It was not exactly pleasant, yet something about that situation made me smile. It made me laugh. I wrote to apprentices about asteroids and black holes and found a wealth of humour there. It was not a big deal, and I am not trying to portray myself as some sort of hero. I just fail to object to life.

Apprentice Is it that you have to go through difficulties with a smile?

Ngak’chang Rinpoche No. It is more like riding a horse. They spook from time to time—and that makes you smile. You do not have to remember to smile or keep a fixed grin ‘in spite of everything’. You simply allow ‘smile’ to happen. You smile rather than panicking. You smile rather than gritting your teeth and thinking that you should enjoy yourself because you have paid for the ride—and since it was your choice, you have to enjoy it. That would be positivistic dumbness.