My dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,
How is your job in the clinic? Buddhism mentions taking care of sick people, giving them medicine and whatever they need. This is the cause for others to have a long life and as a result you will have a long and healthy life, not only now, but for hundreds of thousands of lives. It continues for millions of lives.

Actions such as taking care of sick people, giving them food and medicine and so forth, helping them with a good heart; also helping people who are suicidal, helping them to be free of suicidal thoughts; or saving animals who are going to be killed by buying them and liberating them; these actions are the cause of long life. Also liberating animals from the dangers of being killed has the effect of being healthy and having a long life.

It’s most important to do things with a good heart and to think that our purpose is to serve others, to free them from suffering and problems, and to bring them all the happiness. If you can think like this, it creates the cause of temporary happiness and ultimate happiness, liberation from samsara and ultimate happiness—the total cessation of all the obscurations and completion of all the realizations. Think that the purpose of our life is to serve sentient beings. We are the servants, not only of people, but even insects, animals and so forth.

We receive all our happiness from other sentient beings and have done so numberless times from beginningless time until now. We will experience this in the future, up to buddhahood, therefore they are the most kind, most precious, most dear, wish-fulfilling ones.

Also Buddha, Dharma and Sangha came from sentient beings. By relying on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, we will become free from rebirth in the hell realms, hungry ghost and animal realms, we will become free from samsara, free from lower nirvana, and we will achieve everlasting happiness, peerless happiness, buddhahood, the total cessation of all the obscurations and completion of all the realizations. This happens by relying on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and that comes from every single sentient being—every hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human, sura and asura being. They have been our mother numberless times from beginningless rebirth.

This year's mind came from last year’s mind, this life's mind came from our past life’s mind and that mind came from the previous life's mind and so it continues, from the one before. It goes on and this is how mind is without beginning. Similarly, our ignorance, anger and attachment, all the delusions, have no beginning. That’s why we say [the continuity of the delusions] has no beginning, but it has an end. It can end by practicing Dharma, by actualizing the path, then we can end the suffering of samsara.

Therefore every sentient being has been our mother numberless times and has been kind in four ways. Our mother gave us our body, especially this human body, so that we can learn and actualize Dharma, and we can become free from samsara. Our mothers have been kind from beginningless rebirth, by protecting our life from many hundreds of dangers every day. We have been protected by the mother. Our mother endured many hardships, day and night, even giving birth to us. She endured many hardships day and night for us. Lastly, our mother gave us education. Thus our mother has been very kind from beginningless rebirths, numberless times.

Similarly, regarding this life's mother, it is not the first time she has been our mother. We have had different bodies numberless times, so she has been our mother numberless times from beginningless rebirth. It’s the same for everyone. In Buddhism it says everyone has been our mother numberless times, therefore they are most kind, most precious, most dear, wish-fulfilling.

Think, “I am here to serve others who are my mother, in order to free them from suffering and bring them happiness.” That’s how to live our life. That’s the happiest, most beneficial, most meaningful life, if we can think like this about every sentient being.

I am sending you this motivational card with advice from His Holiness the Dalai Lama about having a positive motivation and about the purpose of our life. It’s very good if you can think about this every morning when you wake up. It’s very good for you to achieve peerless happiness, the total cessation of all the obscurations and completion of all the realizations.

Please give my regards to your parents. Give them my prayers, with much love and prayers to them and to you. Thank you very much, I hope to see you soon.

Now I am leaving for Kopan Monastery in Nepal for the Tibetan New Year and also for the enthronement of the ex-abbot of Kopan Monastery and Kopan Nunnery. He passed away from cancer and now has reincarnated back. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has recognized the new incarnation and I am going there for the enthronement.

I hope to see you soon. If there is anything I can help with, please let me know,

With much love and prayers ...