A Good Education and a Meaningful Life

A Good Education and a Meaningful Life

Date of Advice:
October 2013
Date Posted:
November 2014

A student asked Rinpoche for advice on how to raise her daughter. 

My most dear, most kind, most precious wish-fulfilling Mia,
Please read my advice on bringing up children, I think you may find that helpful also.

Regarding how to support your daughter, if there are Buddhist courses, teachings and initiations—if she can come that would be very good, like putting water on flower seeds. They grow up by putting water again and again.

Then also read His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s books. Either you read to her or she can read them herself. Also read Lama Yeshe’s and my books, like Transforming Problems into Happiness or the benefits of the Medicine Buddha [Teachings from the Medicine Buddha Retreat]. This is for her education, so she can grow up having a good education and a meaningful life. That way her life becomes beneficial to sentient beings and ultimately to achieve enlightenment and to free numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment, therefore need to achieve enlightenment, omniscient mind, perfect understanding, compassion and perfect power.

If she can, she should do the practice of Tara; I will send a photo for her. Also she can do Tara guru yoga practice and recite the Praises to the Twenty-one Taras. Recite with her if you can. She should have a picture of the Twenty-one Taras.

Then there is one daily motivation I composed for another child when she was very small. She memorized this prayer when she was very young and recited it every day when she woke up.

Prayer:

By the kindness of all sentient beings and the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, I did not die yet. I am so fortunate to be a human being again today and to practice Dharma. What I am going to do from this day on is to give happiness to all living beings with compassion and love.

Please continue to make your life most meaningful with the thought of bodhicitta day and night.