Chapter 23 & Chapter 24

Chapter 23. Wednesday, November 14: Final Medicine Buddha Session

Bodhicitta motivation

Good evening. I was supposed to come this morning and spend all day here. This one sitting here is false; the one that you didn’t see is the reality. The Lama Zopa that you didn’t see sitting on this throne is the reality. Anyway, I’m joking.

I hope you are all healed by now, from the other night.

Think, “At this time I have received all the necessary conditions to practice Dharma, and I’m free from all the obstacles to practicing Dharma. At this time, while I have all these opportunities, I must make it certain that I receive the body of a happy migratory being, particularly a perfect human body, right after my death happens, whenever that is. Wherever I reincarnate in this samsara—the desire, form and even the formless realm—is only in the nature of suffering. Therefore, I must achieve liberation, which is freedom forever from all these suffering realms. However, this alone is not sufficient. This is not the ultimate meaning of why I have taken not only a precious human body but a perfect human body at this time. The ultimate purpose of having taken a precious human body, particularly a perfect human body, is to benefit others, and the ultimate benefit is to free the numberless sentient beings, each one of whom is the source of all my past, present and future happiness, including realizations and enlightenment. Every single sentient being without exception is the most precious thing in my life. I must free them from all their suffering and its causes and bring them to enlightenment by myself alone. To do that, I must achieve full enlightenment; therefore, I am going to listen to the holy Dharma.”

Benefits of Medicine Buddha practice

We have been talking about the skies of benefit from practicing Medicine Buddha, from even reciting Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra.

There are twelve leaders of the nöjin, or harm-givers. I’m not quite sure about nöjin, the name of these beings. Perhaps it means protecting beings from harm, but I’m not sure. The twelve leaders of the nöjin, the harm-givers, promised to protect day and night, all the time, without distraction, any sentient being who recites Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra, memorizes it or remembers it. Their mind will not be distracted for even one second from protecting that person. They made a promise:

We will protect that sentient being six times day and night without even a second’s distraction.

It means that they will protect that person all the time: morning, noon, evening and also nighttime.

We will protect and guide them and conceal, or hide, them.

I’m not sure about the meaning of that. It might be that if some other beings are going to harm the person who is practicing Medicine Buddha, they hide that person from those beings.

We also remember the qualities of Medicine Buddha and the special prayers Medicine Buddha made in the past. We devote ourselves to and have faith in Medicine Buddha, and we will remember Medicine Buddha’s name without ever forgetting it.

This is what the twelve leaders of the nöjin promised. In the mandala you visualize the ten guardians and the twelve groups of nöjin.

The twenty medicinal goddesses also promised that any sentient being who generated even a small merit in relation to Medicine Buddha would generate the extensive merit of having done the seven-limb practice in relation to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. I have already explained before that if you make offering to Medicine Buddha you collect the merit of having made offering to all the buddhas. So, if you do the seven-limb practice with Medicine Buddha, you collect the merit of having done the seven limb practice with all the buddhas. There is a great difference in terms of merit between doing the seven-limb practice with Medicine Buddha and with another buddha. When you compare the two, you collect far greater merit by practicing the seven limbs with Medicine Buddha than with any other buddha, because you collect the same merit as having done the seven-limb practice with every one of the numberless buddhas. You collect skies of merit.

What the twenty medicinal goddesses of Medicine Buddha promised is in the text that talks about the benefits of Medicine Buddha.

Any sentient being who even sees Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra purifies mountains of negative karma, even the five uninterrupted negative karmas of having killed father, mother or an arhat, harmed Buddha or caused disunity among the Sangha.

When a sentient being even hears Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra, all the buddhas and bodhisattvas descend in front of that being and initiate and bless them. The buddhas and bodhisattvas also make to ripen the pure prayers of those sentient beings who hear Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra. Their life is also prolonged. Even if that sentient being has no more life to live according to their previous karma, if they hear Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra, the buddhas and bodhisattvas will help them to live a long time, even hundreds of years, and to enjoy peace and happiness.

As I mentioned one night when I was talking about the Medicine Buddha sutra, there are two types of sutra. You find that the sutra mentions a few times how, as it says here, “By remembering Medicine Buddha’s name, you will never be born with a woman’s body.” His Holiness used to say that when the culture changes, it will be different. One has to understand this is in the ordinary sense.

The main point is that whether you are a man or a woman, if from your side you put effort into practice, you will achieve enlightenment; but if you don’t put effort into practice, whether you are a man or a woman, nothing will happen. There will be no development. As explained in A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life,⁷⁵ even a mosquito has buddha nature, and if a mosquito practices Buddhadharma, it can achieve enlightenment. Mosquitoes and ticks have buddha nature, and if they practice Dharma, they can also become enlightened. It is basically like that. There have been many female beings who became enlightened in a woman’s body. The proof comes from those who did the practice.

In tantra, one can achieve enlightenment on a woman’s body. Even though the Theravadins may not accept achieving liberation on a woman’s body, even enlightenment can be achieved on a woman’s body by practicing tantra. You achieve enlightenment quickly if you put effort into practicing Highest Yoga Tantra on the basis of practicing well the pratimoksha, bodhisattva and tantric vows and correctly devoting yourself to the virtuous friend, cherishing the samaya of the guru like your own heart or life.

The person who remembers Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra won’t receive harm from maras, spirits and such beings. The person who even touches the Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra written on rock or paper won’t be reborn in the hell, animal or preta realms or in the world of yamas.

By doing the recitation of Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra, when you die one thousand buddhas will make prediction, and you will be born in Medicine Buddha’s pure land. If you write Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra, you will be protected by the four guardians. If you meditate on Medicine Buddha, Medicine Buddha will descend in front of you and lead you by the hand to the three pure fields.

I’m not sure what three pure fields means. One must be Land of Medicine Buddha, where we are now....

Wherever a sentient being who even remembers Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra goes, the black-side spirits who are in that place run away, but the white-side devas see Medicine Buddha and do prostrations and circumambulations.

This probably means that when a person is remembering or reciting Medicine Buddha’s name and mantra as they are simply walking around on the beach, in the jungle or somewhere else, the white side devas, who like Dharma and help sentient beings to practice Dharma, see this person as Medicine Buddha and make prostrations and offerings to and circumambulations of this person. They offer them chocolates, ice cream and pizza. I’m joking. That’s not quite mentioned, but I think it’s included.

They will grant food, wealth and medicines, and without doubt they will help that person to accomplish all their wishes.

The white-side devas will help that person to accomplish everything they desire.

In Hong Kong, Esther, the mother of the reincarnation of Gen Jampa Wangdu, the great meditator who was also my teacher, used to have many severe headaches and had a major operation in which they cut open her skull. It was a very dangerous treatment, but the doctors commented that it was surprising how well it succeeded for her. She didn’t tell me what happened during the operation for a long time. I think she normally does some Medicine Buddha practice every day, maybe reciting one mala of the mantra. When I met her in Hong Kong before the operation, I think I did mention the practice to her and gave her advice on what to think when she went to hospital to have the operation.

Anyway, during all those hours of a very intense operation, she saw herself very clearly as Medicine Buddha. That’s what happened during the operation when they were cutting her skull. She also thought of me, but I think that part is just her own mind.

There is also a story about John Schwartz, who has now passed away. John was the director of Vajrapani Institute for quite a number of years, and he was also Lama Yeshe’s attendant for some time around the time Lama was in America teaching at a university in Santa Cruz. He was a nice guy, with a very sharp mind. Many years ago he guided the meditations during one of the meditation courses. People found him very dynamic, I think.

One time John was having a major heart operation. It might sound funny but during that intense operation, he had a vision that I was lying down right on his body, head to head. I don’t have any capacity to help in that way and, anyway, it was not in the form of a buddha.

After his recovery, he came to see me at the airport and said, “Now I understand. Now I will do everything that you say.” I didn’t understand why he was so keen. There were many other people at the airport, but somehow he quietly explained what had happened to him during the operation. I think he might also have been practicing Medicine Buddha. Of course, that happened because we have a Dharma connection as guru and disciple. Whether it was Medicine Buddha or not, Buddha was helping to save him during that operation, but because we have a connection, it was by using my form. I wish I could actually help like that, but I think that is how it works. It came from him; it was the result of his own practice in the past.

We are talking about two very risky, intense operations, but the same thing happened in both. Seeing Medicine Buddha, as happened to Esther, can also happen when you die; at that time Medicine Buddha can also guide you. I told her that she doesn’t have to worry at all about when she dies. Anyway, she normally says that she is not afraid of death, and that the main purpose of her staying alive is to help the FPMT center in Hong Kong and the Maitreya Project, as well as other projects that I have. Her wish to live is only to help these projects, and she herself is not afraid of death.

Also, Angela [Wang] saw Medicine Buddha when she was giving someone acupuncture. She saw Medicine Buddha on a woman’s body as she was putting needles into her.

The medicinal goddesses (who have tantric realizations, I guess) initiate and bless every day a sentient being who one-pointedly makes prayers and requests to Medicine Buddha. The medicinal goddesses then make the prayer: “My fortunate son, may the buddhas of the three times and ten directions initiate and bless you to heal sickness by medicine and to develop your works for sentient beings.” They also pray, “May this person have complete freedom in treatment by operation, not being distracted for even one second in their service to sick sentient beings. May this person be able to work for sick people.”

This means that not only the medicinal goddesses but also Medicine Buddha prays for the person to be able to heal sick people.

“May this sentient being never separate from me for even a second, always accompanying me like a shadow follows a body. May this person spontaneously and effortlessly accomplish all the nectar medicine and equipment necessary to help sick people.

“May this person be expert in giving medicines for heat and cold.”

There might be two meanings here. I think it might be related more to the person needing to be wise in mixing the medicines for those two, heat and cold.

“May this medicine, like shooting an arrow at a target, be the exact remedy to sicknesses of heat and cold. When this person does pulse diagnosis, may they immediately be able to recognize the sicknesses.”

The doctor holds the patient’s wrist and checks their pulse while asking them questions.

“When this person checks urine, may they clearly see the outer and inner sicknesses.”

This is like a Tibetan doctor, who uses urine to diagnose a person’s sickness.

“May this person be wise in mixing the medicines for heat and cold and be able to heal sicknesses.”

For fever or sicknesses that involve heat, you give cool medicine. For sicknesses that involve feeling cold, you give warm medicine. For sicknesses that are a mixture of heat and cold, you give a balance of the two medicines.

“May the collection of the hosts of sicknesses be destroyed.”

Medicine Buddha and the medicinal goddesses pray in this way every day for that person. Medicine Buddha especially helps you to serve sick people if you are practicing Medicine Buddha by reciting the mantra and doing the meditation. In such degenerate times (over-degenerate times), the diagnosis of disease is not clear even to expert doctors. Since diseases don’t follow what is normally explained in the texts, it’s easy to get mixed up so that you can’t judge the sickness a person has. By doing Medicine Buddha practice, however, you are then able to diagnose exactly the diseases that confuse even other expert doctors. The diseases that they can’t recognize, you are able to diagnose and treat with the right medicine. Medicine Buddha and the medicinal goddesses help you to give the right medicine to your patients.

There is a Medicine Buddha retreat to do, which is from Padmasambhava’s practices. After you have done that, you have to always keep the samaya of eating only white food and no black food. I think it’s done to keep the body clean. To do the retreat, I think you need a Highest Yoga Tantra Medicine Buddha initiation, which is from the Nyingma tradition, I think. If possible, you should have received this initiation as a preliminary. Once you do Medicine Buddha retreat, you can then diagnose patients without doing even the normal study. I guess that your mind becomes very clear from having done the retreat and from eating only white food. When you diagnose patients, you recognize a patient’s sickness either through your own clairvoyance or through the medicinal goddesses telling you in your ear what sickness the person has. Without needing to go through the normal study, you are able to diagnose sickness, especially the many new sicknesses there are nowadays, the explanations of which aren’t actually mentioned in the texts, which were written in olden times. Sicknesses nowadays don’t normally match what is written in the old texts; sicknesses haven’t stayed that way but have got mixed up. It is now easy for doctors to make mistakes. So, this is one particular practice that helps in these difficult cases.

I think I saw this text when I was staying for a long time in Dharamsala during Lama’s time, during one of the Dharma Celebrations. I gave the text to Dr. Barry Clarke, an old student of Yeshe Donden, and asked him to translate it. I don’t think it got done, so I got the text back. One point is that you have to eat only white food to make your body clean so that your mind is clear. I think that may be very helpful for your patients.

The person has to practice Medicine Buddha and have a good heart, with a sincere wish to help others. Medicine Buddha and the buddhas and bodhisattvas then help that person to help others; they bless the person to give them healing power.

I think the Highest Yoga Tantra Medicine Buddha initiation was given by His Holiness in Dharamsala in recent times, though I didn’t receive it. I think Khamtrul Rinpoche also gave it some years ago at Root Institute when I was there, but I didn’t attend the initiation. Root Institute invited Khamtrul Rinpoche there to do a course, and he also gave Medicine Buddha initiation. I heard that initiation was the Highest Yoga Tantra one.

“They help to take out sicknesses with the wisdom needle. They burn some sicknesses with the transcendental wisdom of the magnifying glass.”

I think it means by making a small fire.

“Some sicknesses are taken out with the iron that drops from the sky.”

You often see this metal in Tibet, where the nomads keep it to sharpen knives. It’s called nam chak. You put it on the body to draw out sickness.

“Some sicknesses are healed by wisdom binding.”

The medicinal goddesses help in many different ways. They bring all these tools and medicines to help that person cure the sick person.

“The Brahmin sage who has attainments does good prayers, and this sage also makes prayers that the person who is treating other sick people succeeds in all their activities.

“Generate strong faith in Medicine Buddha and be certain to recite my holy name and mantra and make offerings and prostrations.”

If you are doing massage or other types of healing, it’s very good to practice Medicine Buddha. If you put effort into this practice, your treatment will then be more successful, more effective, and you will be able to benefit others more.

Short, short, short!

[The group recites the short mandala offering.]

Now Queen of Prayers. Or does everybody have the prayer called Blissful Realm? No? OK, so today we’ll do King of Prayers.

[The group recites King of Prayers, followed by the long-life prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Ösel Rinpoche.]

I drew this Buddha a long time ago at Kopan, when there was plenty of time to do many things. Anila Ann made a copy of it, and it was used in the Wish-Fulfilling Golden Sun, the early Kopan course book.

Dedications

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, may bodhicitta, which is the root of all success and all temporary and ultimate happiness for me and for all sentient beings, be actualized within my own mind, in the minds of my family and in the minds of all the rest of the sentient beings without even a second’s delay. May that which has been generated be increased.

“Jang chhub sem chhog rin po chhe....”

Do the same dedication for the wisdom realizing emptiness.

“Tong ye ta wäi rin po chhe....

“Gang ri ra wäi khor wä zhing kham dir....”

Do the same dedication for the other virtuous friends to have stable life. “May all their holy wishes succeed immediately, including those of the Buddha of Compassion, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, may the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts and animals, who are now experiencing unimaginable suffering in those realms and those who have died whose names have been given to me, for whom I have promised to pray and who rely upon me immediately be liberated from all those unimaginable sufferings and reincarnate in a pure land where they can become enlightened or receive a perfect human body and quickly achieve enlightenment by meeting a perfectly qualified Mahayana guru and Mahayana teachings.

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, may my hearing a sentient being is sick cause that sentient being to immediately recover. And may my hearing a sentient being has died cause that sentient being to immediately be born in a pure land where they can become enlightened. Or if a sentient being has been born as a human being but with no opportunity to practice Dharma, may they achieve enlightenment quickly by meeting a perfectly qualified Mahayana guru and Mahayana teachings and by putting the teachings into practice.

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, may I, the members of my family, all the students and benefactors of this organization, those who give their lives to the organization to offer service to sentient beings and the teaching of the Buddha, as well as those who rely upon me, those for whom I have promised to pray, those whose names have been given to me, those who are offering service to me and everyone else, have a long life and be healthy. May all our wishes succeed immediately in accordance with the holy Dharma. Especially, may we be able to complete the realization of the lamrim, the steps of path to enlightenment, and Lama Tsongkhapa’s stainless teaching, which unifies sutra and tantra.

“May all the Sangha in this organization be able to have complete scriptural understanding and realization of the path to enlightenment, by living in the foundation practice, vinaya, and by receiving all their needs and protection.

“May the social service centers and meditation centers become most beneficial for all sentient beings, immediately pacifying the sufferings of body and mind of sentient beings. May they be able to cause bodhicitta, the ultimate good heart, to be generated in the minds of sentient beings.

“May anyone trying to help and any dying person connected with any of the hospice projects in this organization never ever again be reborn in the lower realms. May they immediately be reborn in a pure land of buddha—not just any pure land but a special pure land where they have the opportunity to practice tantra and become enlightened. Or may they receive a perfect human body and, by meeting a perfectly qualified Mahayana guru and the Mahayana teachings, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. May all those people die with a virtuous thought, either of compassion, emptiness or devotion to Buddha. (Dying with such a virtuous thought means dying without fear.) May all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, especially Medicine Buddha, bless and protect all those people that the hospice groups have tried to help.

“May all the centers be able to spread the complete teaching of Lama Tsongkhapa in the minds of all sentient beings by receiving everything needed for that. May the temple with 100,000 Medicine Buddha statues, the 100,000 stupa project, the building of a place for Sang ha to stay, the social service projects, as well as any other projects here, and universal education quickly liberate sentient being s. May these projects enable sentient beings to purify their negative karma and to collect extensive merit and quickly bring them to enlightenment. May any human being, insect, spirit or any other sentient being who sees the stupa, goes round the stupa, remembers the stupa or sees a picture of the stupa be quickly brought to enlightenment. May the universal education project be most successful, even more successful than what has been envisioned by the organization. May it be able to bring so much peace and happiness in the world and stop the violence, killing and wars between religions and between countries. May each child or teenager who joins and completes universal education become like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, like Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, like Compassion Buddha, like St. Francis. May they become an inspiring example of compassion and a leader of peace, bringing peace to the whole world. May every child and teenager bring peace to all sentient beings.

“May all the projects in the rest of the organization and the centers succeed immediately by receiving everything needed. May all the building of monasteries and nunneries and holy objects in different parts of the world, especially the 500-foot Maitreya Buddha statue, be completed as quickly as possible by receiving all the funding without even a second’s delay. May this project and all the other projects of the FPMT centers be able to cause bodhicitta to be generated in the minds of everyone in this world and of all sentient beings. May everyone have perfect peace and happiness. May nobody experience war, famine, disease, torture, poverty, sickness, the danger of fire, water, air, and earth, such as earthquakes, or any other undesirable thing. May they never ever experience anthrax or a terrorist attack or any other undesirable thing. May the Maitreya Project and the other projects in the centers cause all sentient beings to achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

“May Lama Ösel Rinpoche come back to the monastery as quickly as possible (as he should already have done two weeks ago) to continue his study. May he be inspired to change his mind and want to come back to Sera Monastery as quickly as possible. May he want to do only that. May he be able to complete his study then show qualities like Lama Tsongkhapa’s and bring benefit like the sky to sentient beings. May he guide the students, bringing the light of Dharma all over the world, like the sun rising. May he bring so much peace and happiness and grant enlightenment to sentient beings.

“May the teaching of Lama Tsongkhapa be spread in all directions and flourish, and may I be able to cause this to happen.”

[The group recites the multiplying mantras.]

Which prayer is it? Der ni ring du... or the one for the spread of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings?

[The group chants Final Lamrim Prayer, followed by the two Lama Tsongkhapa dedication prayers in Tibetan.]

Break-time practices

The retreat is now about to finish. I didn’t get to spend enough time here to give more explanations here and there, either related to the sadhana or to things to practice not only during this retreat but also normally in daily life. I would like to have explained some things for you to experiment with during this retreat.

Even though there’s not much time in the breaks, during these few days that are left, we’ll still try to practice mindfulness of bodhicitta in the mornings and concentrate more on emptiness in the afternoons. Tomorrow, in the morning, we’ll practice mindfulness of bodhicitta, particularly in the breaks between sessions. With any being that you see—any person, insect or bird—practice mindfulness that they have been your mother and kind numberless times. Remember how they gave you a body not just to enjoy temporary pleasure but especially to practice Dharma. They have given you a body numberless times—even the omniscient mind cannot see the beginning of those bodies. Think, “Each time that sentient being has been my mother, they have saved my life from danger many hundreds of times a day.” That sentient being has been kind like that numberless times. Even the omniscient mind cannot see the beginning of that second kindness.

Next, they led you in the path of the world, which means they gave you an education. They especially gave you the opportunity to read and write, to read Dharma books and to learn Dharma. They did this numberless times.

Think, “They also suffered for my well-being, for my happiness, for my survival. Each of the numberless times they have been my mother they have suffered so much.” Even the omniscient mind cannot see the beginning of that kindness. To repay the kindness, even if you sacrificed your life equal in number to the atoms of this earth or the drops of water in the ocean, you could never finish repaying each of these kindnesses of the mother.

I’m just giving you an idea of how to meditate when you practice mindfulness of kindness, especially in the break-times when you go out walking. While you are walking, remember this with everybody you see. With every insect, animal or worm, think, “This being has been my mother numberless times and been kind in the four ways numberless times to me.” You just say those words, but in your heart you have the idea that you have received all that kindness numberless times. It’s like looking through the eye of a needle and seeing a whole city. You say just one or two words but you then get the whole idea.

Of course, we don’t just think they are kind and stop there. We then think to repay their kindness by thinking, “I should achieve enlightenment to benefit them.” That’s the conclusion, after meditating on their kindness. The basic thing is to feel in your heart that everybody is very precious.

That is the same even if you are doing retreat alone. It is fantastic to practice like this even in the break-times, while you’re sitting or while walking around. Meditation is not just for when you sit. You should actually be practicing lamrim wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. Whether you’re standing, sitting or sleeping, you should be practicing lamrim.

I didn’t get to tell you about this at the beginning of the retreat, and it’s not that I myself practice it, but it’s my wish for this to happen when we do retreat. I think it’s very, very good to put strong and continuous effort into mindfulness. There will then really be some result in your heart. Retreat is not just about finishing mantras. In this way, a retreat becomes really inspiring, whether it’s a group or individual retreat.

Anyway, tomorrow meditate like that. Since there’s not much time left, do that meditation in the morning and meditate on emptiness in the afternoon. Maybe tomorrow you can start doing this while you’re in your room, in the gompa or outside walking around. Practice constant mindfulness that what appears to you and how you see it have to do with your view. What appears to you—people, animals, objects—is the view of your mind. So, that means it has come from your mind, from your concept; you created it.

This kind of mindfulness is extremely powerful. You’re not just mindful, “Now my foot is touching the ground.” As I think I mentioned one other time, you can practice mindfulness like an expert thief. As a thief, especially in the West, you need a lot of mindfulness to choose the right time to get into a house or a bank. You need to be aware of the right time and the right place, where there’s money. You need to be mindful of how to get inside and have all the tools. You need a lot of skill, a lot of awareness.

These meditations on bodhicitta, emptiness, renunciation and guru devotion are the actual antidotes. When you practice these meditations, you’re taking powerful medicine that heals sickness. You need a lot of awareness when you’re a professional thief, but of course at that time there is no lamrim. There is no bodhicitta there; there is no emptiness there; there is no guru devotion there; there’s no three principles of the path there; there is no visualizing yourself as a deity. When you go to rob a bank, you don’t visualize the bank as a mandala and yourself as a deity. What is missing is the three principles of the path. Of course, if you thought of lamrim at that time, you wouldn’t go to steal. You would stop stealing if you applied lamrim.

Here the mindfulness doesn’t involve just watching your breath or watching your bare foot touch the ground all day long. Here it’s very rich meditation. Practicing mindfulness of what appears to you is a very powerful, scientific meditation. What appears to you, what you see, is all the view of your own mind; it came from your mind.

To give a clearer idea, I sometimes use the example of how your friend and your enemy come from your own mind, are projected by your own mind. I think many of you will have heard this in different places, as I usually mention it in courses. I usually give the following example, which is quite helpful to get an idea of this meditation practice, of how to practice mindfulness of this.

When you were a child and couldn’t read, when you didn’t know the alphabet, before your teacher introduced you by saying, “This is A,” you had no idea what it was. The teacher drew three lines on the blackboard in this particular design, and that’s all you saw. Before the teacher taught you, “This is A,” and you believed in what the teacher said, that’s all you saw. Before that, you saw just three lines; you didn’t see A. At that time you didn’t see this as A, because this didn’t appear to you as A. Do you understand? The reason it didn’t appear to you as A is that your mind hadn’t yet labeled “A” on this design and believed in that label. That hadn’t happened. Because of that, you didn’t see this as A. You just saw these lines. The teacher then taught you that this is A, you believed in what the teacher said and your mind then made up the label “A.” Your mind imputed “A” and believed in that. So, that’s how you created the concept of A and believed in it. Right after that, A appeared to you. You then saw these lines as A.

You can now see that’s there’s a projection of A, a projection from your mind. There is now an appearance of A; you see this design as A. This came completely from your mind, from your concept.

Now, it is the same when you see a bell. Because you are familiar with this base and the label that is given to this base, you already have the concept, so on seeing this base, you label it “bell” and believe in that label. You then see a bell. It is the same with the I, the aggregates and all other phenomena. It is like this with every single object here: the Medicine Buddha statues, all the different colored lights and so forth. And when you go outside, it is the same with the sky, the road, the plants, the people, the insects. It is like this with everything. Everything that appears to you, everything that you see, including the sky and the earth, came from your mind. You can now see that it’s the view of your mind.

The same liquid in the same bowl appears as nectar to devas, because they have more merit; as water to human beings, who have no merit to see nectar; and as pus and blood to pretas, who have no good karma to see something clean. The view of these three different types of beings depends on how much merit they have.

If you start with awareness of the example I gave of the A, it helps you to see how everything came from the mind, which can be very helpful in leading to emptiness. You recognize more and more that the object to be refuted is a hallucination. You recognize more and more how things appear to be truly existent, to be existing by nature. The more you think that these things came from your mind, the more you recognize that they are false. In that way it is then easier to get an idea of emptiness. As you are able to recognize the more subtle wrong view, the more subtle object to be refuted, your understanding of emptiness becomes more correct.

This can also be practiced in daily life. Before you leave home to go sightseeing or to the market or beach, plan to meditate like this. Use what you are going to do for meditation. There are many different ways you can meditate. Take seeing a beautiful object, for example. Here it becomes very interesting when a beautiful object causes desire to arise. You then remember that it came from your view, that it’s simply the view of your mind. As with the A, what appears to you, what you see, is simply the view of your mind.

When you don’t analyze, when you don’t practice mindfulness, it looks as if that beautiful object totally exists from its own side, as if something real exists from its own side, as if something truly exists from its own side. But when you analyze, when you’re mindful, it’s actually not like that but the total opposite. It’s the view of your own concept. You created a certain belief, and you then have this view. If you change your belief that it’s beautiful, you will then see it as ugly. By thinking of the reasons, you will see that thing you now believe is beautiful as ugly.

It is the same with something that you see as ugly or undesirable, which makes you angry. If you are aware, you will think, “This is just the view of my mind. I have this view because I have created such a concept of an ugly, undesirable thing. Because of my concept of ugly, I have this view of ugly.” It’s like having a movie projector with a film inside on which are recorded very unpleasant things; they are then projected onto a screen, and you see them. When you’re not mindful, “This is just a movie,” you think that what you’re seeing is real, and it then disturbs you. If you’re mindful that a dream is a dream, anything you see in the dream doesn’t bother you. It is similar here. Without mindfulness, without knowing this is the view of your own mind, it appears to you as something truly ugly, a real ugly existing from its own side. By believing in that, you then get angry. It affects your mind, and anger then arises. It is the same with the rest of the emotional thoughts.

You practice mindfulness that what you see is projected by your mind, just as a movie projector projects what is on the film inside it. When you practice mindfulness of this, anger, attachment and other negative emotional thoughts don’t arise. (Devotion to guru, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha might also be called an emotional thought, but it’s positive emotion not negative. It’s positive and useful, but these negative emotions only harm you and other sentient beings.) Thinking in this way doesn’t allow negative emotional thoughts to arise, because there is mindfulness of their nature. So, it brings equanimity, stability and peace to your mind. I think it also brings satisfaction, because it doesn’t allow desire to arise. When desire is cut, you find satisfaction. That’s what satisfaction is.

Anyway, it’s not exactly meditating on emptiness, but it’s a basis for that. It’s very helpful, especially for a beginner. It’s an introduction that allows you to gradually discover more and more wrong views. It’s a scientific analysis of how you see things, of how things appear to you.

I thought there was a prayer left . Maybe Lama Chöpa?

OK. Good night.

 

Chapter 24. Saturday, November 17: Combined Jorchö and Lama Chöpa Puja

The importance of Lama Chöpa

[Rinpoche performs a cymbals solo.]

Good morning.

Before doing the offering practice, I want to mention how Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo highly praised the importance of practicing Lama Chöpa, or Guru Puja. It might be good to write this down and keep it at the beginning of your Guru Puja text as a reminder of the importance of the practice.

The great enlightened being, Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, said:

If you are able to do the practice of Guru Puja in your daily life, it contains all the important points of sutra and tantra. It is a complete practice, and it shows the palm (which means the heart) of the instruction of the ear-lineage of Ganden.

Ganden refers to the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition. There are two terms: Gelug, which means the virtuous tradition, and Ganden, which means the joyful one. Lama Tsongkhapa’s monastery, Ganden, was established before the other major monasteries of the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition, Sera and Drepung. Ganden means having joy or joyful one. I don’t know how others translate Ganden, but ga means joy and den means having, so having joy or joyful one. Nyen gyu means the ear-lineage. It can be translated as whispered lineage, but nyen means ear and gyu means lineage, so ear-lineage. The translation could read, “It shows the palm of instruction of the text of manifestations of the ear-lineage of the Joyful One.” I think it should be translated that way.

I think it means that Manjushri manifested in the form of a teaching, or text. Lama Tsongkhapa received sutra and tantra teachings from Manjushri in the manner of a disciple receiving teachings directly from their guru. It didn’t happen as some kind of vision or dream. Lama Tsongkhapa met and directly received teachings from Manjushri. This was definite, not like some kind of vision that you’re not sure you can really trust.

I think shows the palm is expressing that this is a key secret instruction that gives enlightenment in the very brief lifetime of a degenerate time. The expression also means that it shows it very clearly.

The lineage of mahamudra of Drubchen Chökyi Dorje....

Drubchen Chökyi Dorje [the mahasiddha Dharmavajra] was a disciple of a disciple of Lama Tsongkhapa. Chökyi Dorje was a Tibetan lama who, like Milarepa, achieved full enlightenment in the brief lifetime of the degenerate time by practicing tantra on the basis of lamrim. I think His Holiness the Dalai Lama also explained this in the mahamudra teaching during the first Enlightened Experience Celebration.⁷⁶ I don’t remember whether we or some other people requested a tantric mahamudra commentary. There was a lamrim commentary before it, I think. Alex Berzin translated the teachings, as those who were at the first EEC in Dharamsala will remember. At that time His Holiness explained that Drubchen Chökyi Dorje, this great yogi, this great enlightened being, is still living on Mount Everest, or Chumolhamo, in Tibetan. Alex Berzin, who is normally able to translate terms very well, wasn’t familiar with the meaning of Chumolhamo.

There is also Gyalwa Ensapa. His Holiness Song Rinpoche used to mention quite often that Gyalwa Ensapa achieved enlightenment in the brief lifetime of the degenerate time very comfortably, eating delicious food. His Holiness Song Rinpoche used to say Gyalwa Ensapa achieved enlightenment in comfort, without having to bear hardships as Milarepa did. His Holiness Song Rinpoche said that this happened because Guru Puja involves integration of three deities: Guhyasamaja, Yamantaka and Chakrasamvara. Generally, in the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition one practices tantra by integrating these three deities. One way to do this is by doing the sadhanas of the three deities each day. The general reason for practicing these three deities is in order to benefit sentient beings. In order to liberate sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and its cause and bring them to full enlightenment, you need to achieve the two kayas: the dharmakaya and the rupakaya. Once you have achieved the dharmakaya, while you are in that state, you then manifest in the rupakaya, as you’ve just recited in the second verse of the prayer of prostration from the seven-limb practice, “manifesting in various forms to whomever it subdues.”⁷⁷

Achieving the two kayas, unification of the holy body and holy mind, depends on achieving the direct cause of that, the unification of no more learning. In order to achieve the unification of no more learning, the unification of the holy body and holy mind, you need to achieve the direct cause of that, the unification of learning, which involves the unification of the clear light and illusory body. In order to achieve the unification of those two, you first need to separately achieve the clear light, which is the direct cause to achieve dharmakaya, and the illusory body, which is the direct cause of rupakaya. You need to achieve those two separately. It is the Chakrasamvara teaching that gives detailed techniques for achieving the clear light. One has to practice mother tantra, which emphasizes clear light, and that practice is Chakrasamvara.

The tantric teaching that emphasizes the means to achieve the illusory body is father tantra, specifically the Guhyasamaja teaching. The Guhyasamaja teaching, particularly Lama Tsongkhapa’s commentary on Guhyasamaja practice, shows clearly and in detail how to achieve the illusory body. Such a clear explanation didn’t exist before Lama Tsongkhapa. Of course, there have been many Tibetans who achieved enlightenment in other traditions, but as far as commentaries go, there hadn’t been such a clear explanation of the techniques before Lama Tsongkhapa. Anyway, this is why you need to practice Guhyasamaja.

Then, of course, for the success of those two practices, you need to practice Yamantaka, the wrathful aspect of Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom. While Manjushri is a peaceful aspect, Yamantaka is extremely wrathful. It’s a most powerful deity in eliminating obstacles. By doing the practice of Yamantaka, you are able to eliminate obstacles and succeed in the other two practices. Of course, by practicing Yamantaka you are also able to develop wisdom, because Yamantaka is a manifestation of Manjushri. It fulfills these two purposes. So, that’s why you need to practice these three deities.

Doing the sadhanas of the three deities each day is related more to the generation stage, I think. There is then a way of integrating the practice of the three deities according to the graduated completion stage. You practice Yamantaka to dispel obstacles. Practicing the Six Yogas of Naropa, for example, is part of the Chakrasamvara practice. And there are Guhyasamaja completion stage techniques to open the heart chakra. The final instructions on how to release the knots at the heart chakra and open the heart chakra are from Guhyasamaja, I think. I don’t remember exactly, but it is something like that.

One reason that Lama Chöpa is so special is that it integrates these three practices. You begin by generating yourself as Yamantaka. The second merit field is from the Guhyasamaja body mandala. You visualize the different parts of the guru’s holy body as all the deities of the Guhyasamaja body mandala. The Chakrasamvara practice then comes in the section of offering. Visualizing extensive offerings, with the sixteen goddesses carrying the various offerings, is part of the Chakrasamvara practice.

Geshe Senge Rinpoche advised that another way of integrating practice of the three deities is by reciting the mantras of the three deities after the guru enters your heart—by meditating on being oneness with them, I guess.

From Geshe Senge Rinpoche, a great yogi of Most Secret Hayagriva, I received almost all the oral transmissions of the teachings of Most Secret Hayagriva of a past incarnation of Kalka Damtsig Dorje, a great yogi of Most Secret Hayagriva. I received the oral transmission of the three volumes that have the entire practice of Most Secret Hayagriva, as well as two volumes on that practice by the Fifth Dalai Lama. I received them in Dharamsala over about three months, along with some incarnate lamas in the lineage of that practice. Keutsang Rinpoche, who in his past life was a great practitioner in the lineage of Most Secret Hayagriva, was there, as well as Jhado Rinpoche and Pari Rinpoche, another incarnate lama, who came from Tibet quite some time ago. Bakula Rinpoche was also there from time to time when initiations were given. Lama Gyüpa, the old lama who takes care of the altars at Tushita and Geshe Tsering, Lama’s relative, were also there.

When we generate special bodhicitta to practice tantra at the beginning of Guru Puja, there is the expression nyur war nyur wa, in Tibetan, which means “quicker and quicker.” In the general definition, the first quicker means quicker than Mahayana sutra, where you have to collect merit for three countless great eons. In tantra you don’t need to do that. Since you can achieve enlightenment within one life it is quicker. Of course the lower tantras are quicker to achieve enlightenment than sutra, but Highest Yoga Tantra is even quicker than the lower tantras. This is the meaning of the second quicker. Not only can you achieve enlightenment in one lifetime, but you can achieve enlightenment in the brief lifetime of a degenerate time, when life is very short.

Gomo Rinpoche’s wisdom mother

Gomo Rinpoche’s wisdom mother is coming today. She arrived the day before yesterday, and today I want to show her LMB, especially the temple. It will make her extremely happy to see the many holy objects and the temple. I want her to pray for the success of the various projects here, the temple with the Medicine Buddha statues and the stupas.

She is now showing the aspect of being very old, but her qualities are beyond doubt. There is no doubt that she is extremely spiritual, extremely devoted. Since her prayers have much power, it will be very good if she can come on the land to pray. I think she was a nun in a nunnery in the early times in Tibet. She knows everything, but she sometimes appears as if she has a mental disorder. Her daughter says that she has Alzheimer’s.

It might be better to place her chair where she can see the statues and the other holy objects, where she has a good view of them.

She is the wisdom mother of the previous Gomo Rinpoche. The present incarnation of Gomo Rinpoche is still very small.

I think she came to Dharamsala one time because in his will in his past life, Gomo Rinpoche asked for some teachings to be requested from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I think she sponsored a lamrim teaching and a Vajrayogini teaching. I wasn’t there at that time.

The importance of Lama Chöpa

Geshe Senge used to say that when we do Guru Puja we should also recite the mantras of the three deities. That practice is also the integration of the three deities. After the guru has entered your heart, with that meditation you then recite the mantras of the three deities.

The reason His Holiness Song Rinpoche used to say that Gyalwa Ensapa, unlike Milarepa, achieved enlightenment very easily and comfortably, by eating delicious food and so forth and without bearing much hardship, is because of this special practice in the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition of doing Highest Yoga Tantra practice by integrating these three deities.

Pabongka says:

The great accomplished yogi Chökyi Dorje, Gyalwa Ensapa and so forth did this Guru Puja as their heart practice.

Why are those two names mentioned? Because they are examples of practitioners who, like Milarepa, achieved enlightenment in the brief lifetime of a degenerate time. And so forth refers to the others who practiced Guru Puja as their heart practice.

Having done this as their heart practice, the great accomplished yogi Chökyi Dorje, Gyalwa Ensapa and so forth found the state of unification in that life.

All the previous holy beings (which means the lineage lamas) did this as their heart practice. Even though the words are few, this practice contains great meaning and brings great blessing. It has found the great vital points.

This means it has profound importance.

There is a text in which many different people—incarnate lamas, practitioner nuns and sometimes people from other traditions, such as Nyingma ngagpas—ask Pabongka questions by letter, and Pabongka then replies to them. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo usually emphasizes that even if one can’t do much else in daily life, Guru Puja is the essential practice. I guess you begin the day with Guru Puja and then on top of that do the sadhanas of Yamantaka, Vajrayogini, Chakrasamvara and so forth. Because Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo himself was a great yogi of Chakrasamvara, he quite often emphasized Chakrasamvara practice.

You should do the daily practice of Guru Puja, even if you can’t do the sadhanas of many other deities, such as Chakrasamvara.

This practice of Guru Puja is very profound, with many extra benefits, and is very quick to bring enlightenment. The lamrim prayer, the prayer of the steps of the path to enlightenment, in Guru Puja has lamrim and also lojong, or thought transformation. Generally, the whole of the lamrim, from guru devotion up to enlightenment, is thought transformation. If your mind is not transformed into the path, how can you have realizations of the path? There’s no way, without transforming your mind. All the lamrim realizations—guru devotion, perfect human rebirth (its usefulness and the difficulty of finding it again), impermanence and death and so forth—are lojong, thought transformation. When you say “general lojong” it covers everything, but when you say “lamrim lojong” it specifically covers the part of bodhicitta, such as the paths of integrating the lifetime practice into the five powers and the five powers to be practiced near the time of death. The lamrim prayer in Guru Puja has lamrim, thought transformation and, after the six perfections, the generation and completion stages of tantra. There are verses that show those paths.

The lamrim prayer also contains powa. Many lamas do powa with Guru Puja. They do the whole Guru Puja, then when they come to the verse on powa,⁷⁸ they do the “hic!” to shoot the consciousness of the person who has died to a pure land. They visualize Amitabha Buddha, Vajrayogini or another buddha on that person’s crown, then shoot their consciousness to a pure land.

I haven’t seen this done much, but an old lama who lives in Delhi, Rongtha Rinpoche, has done it. Naresh Mathur, the lawyer who is a member and former director of the Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre in Delhi, is married to an Italian woman, Antonella. When Antonella’s father died in a Delhi hospital, they invited me to come but I suggested they invite Rongtha Rinpoche and another very good lama from Drepung, Gyalse Rinpoche. Rongtha Rinpoche just went straight through Guru Puja and performed powa at the verse on powa. He just did one “hic!,” though usually there are three or four.

The second incarnation of Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, the author of Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, also does powa with Lama Chöpa. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo passed away a long time ago in Tibet, then reincarnated, escaped from Tibet and studied at Buxa in India, where I lived for eight years. He became a geshe then soon afterwards showed the aspect of cancer and passed away in a place called Kashang, near Darjeeling. That incarnation was just about to spread Dharma, having completed his study in the monastery and received all the lineages of the sutra and tantra teachings from His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche, who had received them from the previous Pabongka. He was just about to spread Dharma in the world like a flower opening or like the sun rising, but due to the lack of karma of sentient beings he took the aspect of cancer and passed away. There is now another incarnation, and we became close friends quite some time ago.

One time when we were talking about powa, Pabongka Rinpoche said that when somebody has died he just does Lama Chöpa. After the verse on the completion stage, with the clear light and illusory body, there’s a verse on powa. Of course, if you have achieved the clear light of the completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra, you don’t need to worry about powa; you have overcome death and achieved the inner pure land. Such a practitioner can achieve enlightenment in the very brief lifetime of this degenerate time. However, if you didn’t manage to actualize the completion stage realizations of clear light and illusory body, when you die you then do powa and try to achieve the outer Khachö, the Chakrasamvara and Vajrayogini pure land. If you are able to be reborn there, you will definitely become enlightened in that life. So, it’s kind of the most profitable pure land. It’s not so certain with Amitabha Buddha’s pure land. When I asked my root guru, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche, a question about this, Rinpoche said, “Yes, you can practice tantra there and achieve enlightenment.” But Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche and some other lamas, including maybe Denma Lochö Rinpoche, don’t accept that. They say that you have to reincarnate back in our world, this southern continent, then practice tantra here and achieve enlightenment.

That is the reason that verse on powa comes after the verse on the completion stage.

The lamrim prayer in Guru Puja contains all the profound, vital points of the complete path of sutra and tantra.

Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo also mentions that when we do this practice we should think of the meaning of the words and meditate, not just recite the words blah, blah, blah, like an Indian express train—or an American express train. As much as possible we should reflect on the profound meanings. Doing this definitely leaves an extraordinary imprint of the complete pure path to enlightenment. In this way it makes it definite that we will achieve the very essence of life, which means that we will definitely achieve the essence of the happiness beyond this life up to enlightenment, and especially enlightenment.

Doing the main practice of this Guru Puja is like hitting a target. When you shoot an arrow or gun or drop a bomb, your aim is to hit right on the target, your enemy or whatever you want to destroy. In the same way this practice hits the right point in an effective way. So, you should attempt to integrate everything in this way. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo says “one hundred waters are contained in Guru Puja.” He probably means that just as all the many streams from the snow mountains and other places go into the ocean, all the important practices of sutra and tantra are condensed here in Guru Puja. If you do this practice every day, you don’t miss anything.

Since this is the very heart of the scriptures of the manifestation of the Joyful One, the blessing is unequaled by any other practice.

So, it has great importance.

On the basis of this, you then meditate on lamrim and the tantric path of the main deity that you are practicing. This also contains all the important preliminary practices, the main one of which is guru devotion. Guru devotion is the root that enables you to receive blessings, the cause to achieve realizations of the path to enlightenment.

So, is it breakfast time? Not only is it time for a pipi break, but it’s maybe also time for breakfast. No? OK, pipi break.

Ven. Sarah: They don’t want one, Rinpoche.

Rinpoche: Oh, I see. Then the pipi break will be sad....

Because I always fall asleep, I haven’t been able to come for Lama Chöpa, but I thought to mention this advice from Pabongka, which emphasizes the importance of this practice. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo himself completed the lamrim and tantric paths. I think it is an extremely rich practice that includes all the important points. If we begin the day with this practice and live our life in this practice, it’s incredible.

Maybe the tradition of not having a fixed practice is better, then at the end perhaps you can do Bönpo or Hindu practice. I think bin Laden’s religion may also be very strong and effective.

As to commentaries in English, there is an excellent commentary by His Holiness the Dalai Lama from the second Enlightened Experience Celebration, which FPMT requested.⁷⁹ His Holiness has an incredibly broad view. He has read the guru yoga practices of many other high lamas and then integrated them. I don’t know, but there may be other commentaries in English.

In regard to Tibetan texts, there are many from many great lamas. One of the most elaborate ones is by Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen, a great pandit in Tibet, who wrote many volumes of teachings on sutra and tantra. He was an unbelievable lama. From what I hear, that’s the most elaborate commentary and the one that is normally used as the basis for Lama Chöpa commentary. However, in English, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s commentary is an excellent one.

I mentioned last time in San Francisco that the next time Chöden Rinpoche comes, Rinpoche should do a Guru Puja commentary, because we do Guru Puja all the time. It would be unbelievable to have that course.

I didn’t get to do the practice, but I think I received my first Lama Chöpa commentary from His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche at Sarnath many, many years ago, and I then received another commentary from His Holiness Ling Rinpoche in Bodhgaya. I heard that at that time His Holiness Ling Rinpoche hadn’t received the lineage, so His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche offered it to His Holiness Ling Rinpoche, who then gave it to the public. I received the commentary for the third time during the EEC. I have received the commentary many times, it’s just that the practice is missing....

To practice Lama Chöpa and do the meditations, you need to have received a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation; to become a vessel, or container, to receive teachings on and to practice this, as a preliminary you need to receive any one of the Highest Yoga Tantra initiations. You are then qualified to receive commentary on Guru Puja and to practice it. I’m saying this in case there is somebody who wants to read the commentaries and practice Guru Puja, but who hasn’t yet received a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation. You need to receive a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation; you are then permitted to study the commentary and do the practice.

Extensive offering practice

So, we’re going to make the extensive offerings.

First we will make charity of all the offerings here—every single light and every single offering here on the altar—as well as all the offerings at the Aptos house—the many hundreds of water offerings, the many thousands of lights and the flowers inside and outside the house. Normally, wherever you are, even when you are at your home, you can visualize the offerings at the Aptos house and offer them when you do a sadhana or Guru Puja. Anybody can think of the extensive offerings there at the house and offer them. I give you permission to offer them. Wherever you are, whether in Afghanistan or any other part of the world, you can always think of the offerings there and offer them when you do a sadhana or Guru Puja.

Even at your own home, after you have set up the offerings on the altar and before you offer them, it’s good to start by first making charity of the offerings to all sentient beings. You then offer the offerings you have on the altar, even if it’s just seven water bowls, and all the lights in the house on their behalf. You make charity to every hell being, every hungry ghost, every animal, every human being, every asura, every sura and every intermediate state being. You make charity to every single one of them. This also helps you to practice bodhicitta. It’s an antidote to thinking, “This is mine. This is my offering.” Generally, after we have taken the bodhisattva vows, we’re supposed to think that everything belongs to sentient beings. I don’t think this is in the section of the entering vow, and it’s not in the actual avoiding of the four black dharmas and practicing of the four white dharmas of the wishing vow. I’ve forgotten exactly where, but it’s mentioned somewhere that part of the bodhisattva practice is thinking that everything belongs to sentient beings.

Before you offer, if you can, make charity of the offerings to all sentient beings, then offer them on their behalf. As I have mentioned in the past, it is then also as if you are doing puja for others. Here, by making charity of all the offerings you have performed on the altar to all other beings, you collect limitless skies of merit. You then make the offerings on their behalf, as if you are the manager. In a lojong text it says that you can offer on their behalf or make the offering together with all sentient beings. If you can make the offering on behalf of all sentient beings, everyone then gets the merit.

For example, when a family member has passed away, you make charity not for your benefit but for the benefit of that person who has passed away, so that they collect much merit. Or you make offering to the Triple Gem, Sangha and so forth on behalf of that person, so that they get much merit. It is similar here. It’s a very practical way of helping sentient beings. For them to have happiness, they need to create merit. Without merit, they can’t do anything. They can’t experience any pleasure, any success or happiness—even temporary happiness. Even the small pleasure that comes when a cool breeze passes over you when you feel uncomfortably hot depends on having collected good karma in the past. Even though we dedicate the merits at the end of the practice for other sentient beings, it’s very beneficial even at the beginning to first make charity of the offerings to other sentient beings. It’s more powerful.

At your home, there is a way to cheat the lazy mind that is unable to do the practice of offering many times a day. Put the guru’s picture everywhere there’s a light. Since you need to have light in your house, when you switch on a light, the picture reminds you to make offering of the light. The lights in your house aren’t just for your comfort but also to make light offerings. And, of course, making offering to the guru collects the most extensive merit, more than from making offering to numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas and to the numberless statues, stupas and scriptures that exist in the numberless universes. Because you are using the light anyway, by the way you collect merit. This is a way to cheat the lazy mind that can’t do the practice of offering many times a day. In this way it just gets done.

Ten benefits of each of the different offerings are explained in the sutras.

Now we can do the practice. Otherwise, making the offerings will never happen. The day will go, and we’ll never get to make offering. We will have talked about it but never made the offerings.

In Mongolia there are two thousand offerings. I brought flowers from Malaysia or Hong Kong and bowls, some of which are huge, but I don’t think they use them. When I was there I bought some bowls, and then sent many bowls from here to Mongolia. I think it’s very good to have the offerings done there, because the six women who take turns to make the offerings at the center seem to enjoy doing it very much.

The Mongolian center is very good. It’s a new building, with a room as long as this but not as wide, where extensive offerings can be made. They put tables all the way along both sides of the room and make the offerings on them. The whole wall is also covered with pictures of the Thirty-five Buddhas. The Mongolian economy is very bad. A doctor in the West gets a very high salary, but in Mongolia doctors get a very low one. People from the West are shocked when they find out how little they get. I even thought to pay a salary to the Mongolian women to make the offerings, because I think it’s such a worthwhile thing. The money would help them to make a living. Of course, there’s no comparison between the money you would spend and the merit you would collect and the result you would get from the merit of each offering. What you would spend is nothing compared to the merit you would get.

However, Dr. Adrian, who is the teacher there, said that it wouldn’t be good to pay them, that it would become a problem. Actually, they have been doing it voluntarily, and they’re very, very happy to do that. I think Dr. Adrian taught them how to make water bowl offerings. As long as they think, “I am making offering to Buddha,” they create the same number of causes of enlightenment as the number of offerings they make. It’s different if you just set up water bowls on the altar without thinking that you are offering them to Buddha. During a teaching in the first Enlightened Experience Celebration, His Holiness Song Rinpoche said that if you just put the water there then empty it out, what meaning does it have? This means that if you don’t do the meditation of offering to Buddha but just arrange the offerings on the altar, it becomes like a habit. It’s not a very good practice.

Of course, since many students don’t have space in their home to set up many offerings, they can’t make extensive offerings. One time I was at Tara Institute, in Melbourne, Australia, which has a very large, very nice gompa with large stained-glass windows. It wasn’t a church, but the building used to be owned by the Catholic Church. Many students were having difficulties with their businesses and they couldn’t seem to improve the situation. In such cases, you need to create merit, because without good karma nothing works. One solution is to purify past negative karma, the result of which is all these hardships. The other thing is to create merit for success. My idea was that one person at the center could be in charge of setting up extensive offerings every day. That would be that person’s main job. Many students could support the person by putting in just a little money each. When many students do that, it becomes a large amount, but the individual contribution would be just a few dollars each month. That person could make extensive offerings every day, then do the dedications. The dedications would be for all sentient beings, and in particular for all the people who sponsored the offerings. The person would make the offerings for them and then at the end dedicate all the merits for them. The person would need to be paid some pocket money or a small salary. If you were unable to do offerings at your own home, this person at the center could do the offerings for you. While you were driving along in your car, you could just remember all those offerings at the center and offer them to the merit field. All you would have to do is the mental action of simply remembering all those many hundreds of offerings there at the center and just offer them to the Guru Puja merit field or to your gurus.

Also, when you did sadhanas at home, each of the many times you come to ARGHAM, PADYAM, PUSHPE..., you could remember those offerings and offer them. This would be especially good if you’re unable to have clear visualization of the offerings. It would help very much the students themselves. While you were driving your car or in your office, you could just remember the offerings and offer them. You could do it many times. You think that each of the thousands of beings in the Guru Puja merit field (though I’m not sure there are thousands of them) is your root virtuous friend and make offering to them. Because you thought of each of them as your root guru then made the offering, you create the most extensive merit thousands of times; you create that many causes of enlightenment, and by the way, causes of liberation from samsara and the happiness of future lives. There are many ways you can create much good karma. That’s a very simple way to do it, and you just put in two or three dollars. Even if your house is very small, with no space for offerings, the center has a large space. It helps everybody. This way a lot of merit is created, which then makes life easy for the students and for the sentient beings. Life becomes easy rather than hard and painful, and there is also more opportunity to practice and create extensive merit.

Now we really are going to offer....

Make charity of the offerings here, the offerings at the Aptos house and the offerings in all the centers to every hell being.

There is a little bit of difference between saying “all sentient beings” and saying “every hell being,” “every hungry ghost” and so forth. There are numberless hell beings, and saying “every hell being” or “every hungry ghost” or “every animal” makes it more personal. When you say “every” you feel closer. Saying “all sentient beings” is OK. You can say “all sentient beings,” but the reason I often say “every hell being” or “every hungry ghost” is that it is a more personal giving, from you directly to that being. This is just my own thought, but I think when you say, “I offer this to all sentient beings,” that feeling kind of disappears.

So, make charity of all the offerings here, at the Aptos house, and in all the rest of the FPMT centers’ gompas to every hell being. When you say “every,” do it with the idea of every one of the numberless hell beings. Make charity of all these offerings to every hungry ghost. Make charity of all these offerings to every animal and insect, to every human being, to every asura being, to every sura being and to every intermediate state being.

Think, “Now I am going to make offering to the guru-Triple Gem on their behalf.”

You can also think, “I myself am going to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all my kind mother sentient beings, to free from all their sufferings and bring them to full enlightenment.”

First offer all the offerings, every single light and water offering, here and at your own house. When you make offerings in this way, you can also play music, so you then have more offering . Making any offering to Buddha is the same in being a general cause to achieve enlightenment, liberation from samsara and the happiness of future lives, but each specific offering also has different results in terms of the happiness to be experienced. While you are making offerings in this way, you can also offer sound, an offering of religious music. You can also offer incense with whatever other offerings you have. You can offer all the many different offerings you have arranged. There are various offerings you can offer in this way.

Offer every single one of the offerings here, all the water bowls and other offerings, which appear in the nature of great bliss to the buddhas, to the merit field. Also offer all the offerings at the Aptos house, all the offerings in the rest of the FPMT centers’ gompas, including those in Mongolia, which are in the nature of infinite bliss, to the guru.

Put your palms together like this. You are then not only offering but also doing prostration at the same time. By putting your palms together to a statue or picture of Buddha you immediately receive eight benefits. You will have a perfect body in your next life. You will have perfect people to serve you, according to your wishes; everyone around you will be obedient to you. You will be able to live in morality. (That’s very important, because without that you have no foundation for realization.) You will have devotion. (Without devotion, again you have no foundation for attainment. You cannot receive blessings, so you can’t have attainment of the path to enlightenment.) You have the courage to do things in public. In your next lives you will be born with a deva or human body. You will then achieve the arya path, where you overcome death, old age, sickness and rebirth. When you achieve the Hinayana arya path, for example, you overcome all those sufferings of samsara. When you achieve the Mahayana arya paths, the Mahayana path of seeing and the Mahayana path of meditation, you no longer experience the sufferings of rebirth, old age, sickness and death; you have completely abandoned those sufferings of samsara. When you achieve the tantric arya path, the clear light of meaning, again you have overcome those sufferings, the cycle of death and rebirth. So, the seventh benefit of simply putting your palms together like this to a statue or picture of Buddha is achieving the arya path, and the last benefit is achieving enlightenment.

You immediately achieve these eight benefits by putting your palms together to a statue or picture of Buddha. There are also ten benefits of putting your palms together; they include extensive body, retinue, wealth, remembrance, concentration and realization.

During the offering, it is very important to prostrate at the same time.

Whenever you go on pilgrimage to temples or holy places or even in your own shrine room, where there are many statues and pictures of buddhas, at least one time every day and, if possible, each time you enter the room, if you can prostrate to all the holy objects in this way, just by the way you collect causes of enlightenment according to the number of holy objects in your room. If there are a thousand, you create a thousand causes of enlightenment each time you enter the room if you put your palms together to all those holy objects, as well as a thousand causes of all the other types of happiness. At least one time each day you should prostrate with your palms together like this to all the holy objects.

If you also hold lit incense between your hands, it becomes prostration and offering. One particular advantage of offering incense is that you will always be surrounded by scented smells. One other very important benefit is that you will be able to live in morality, in this life and in future lives.

At the Aptos house, I made it a regulation that people who enter the offering room first have to generate a motivation of bodhicitta by thinking, “The purpose of my life is to free all sentient beings from all their suffering and its causes and bring them to enlightenment; therefore, I must achieve enlightenment. Therefore, I am going to circumambulate, prostrate and make offering.” Prostrate means put the two palms together. In the center of the room there’s a stupa and tsa tsas, and sometimes also relics. There are also relics in another room. I don’t know exactly how many, but there are probably many hundreds of thousands of pictures of buddhas. Pictures or tsa tsas cover all the walls. They then think, “My root guru manifested in the forms of these buddhas and other holy objects to purify my defilements and negative karmas and to enable me to collect extensive merit, which allows me to have realizations of the path to enlightenment.” In this way they think of the purpose of those holy objects appearing to them as statues, paintings or pictures of buddhas.

In every picture of the Lama Chöpa merit field, there are so many beings, and you think that every single one of them is your root guru. You think that every single holy object is your root guru. With this mindfulness, you then think, “I am prostrating and offering incense to them.”

This is what I tell people to do when they come into the offering room. At the end, after they have gone around at least three times, depending on how much time they have, they then dedicate the merits. Because there are so many holy objects there, just going round one time and making offering in this way create many thousands of causes of enlightenment, liberation and the happiness of future lives, and the success of this life comes by the way because there is so much merit. Even though you don’t expect it, the success of this life comes by the way, while you’re working for enlightenment.

So, we’ll put our palms together while we’re making the offerings.

Also, your parents suffered so much to take care of you, to ensure your well-being. During the nine months your mother kept you in her womb, she bore so much hardship, so much pain, and especially during your birth. From then up to now, your parents have borne so much hardship and suffered so much. They have experienced physical exhaustion working to take care of you. They did their job to make money to take care of you. And they always worried about you, even at night. When people have children, even at night they have to experience so much hardship. They can’t even get a good rest, because their children are always crying or wetting themselves. Even if your mother asked somebody else to take care of you, it’s the same. That person who took care of you suffered so much and bore so much hardship to take care of your body. Because you have this body, somebody has to take care of it. If you didn’t have a body but only a mind, you wouldn’t need somebody to look after you, to give you food, clothing, shelter and education. But because you have this body, you need food, clothing, shelter and many other things.

Even if your mother left you and asked somebody else to take care of you, at least your mother gave you your body. If she had had an abortion, if she hadn’t created the good karma to give you this body, which you can also count as part of her kindness, you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to practice Dharma. Even if she went away after your birth and didn’t take care of you, her simply giving you this body is unbelievably kind, because it has allowed you to hear Dharma, to understand its meaning, to practice it and to have attainment. You can now see that the kindness of your mother is as limitless as the sky. You might think, “Oh, she didn’t take care of me after I was born. She’s so bad, blah, blah, blah.” In the West, people say, “Oh, my mother is so bad,” as if she’s their worst enemy, worse than bin Laden, worse than hundreds of billions of bin Ladens. Just think of her kindness in giving you this body. It’s unbelievable. Her kindness is like the limitless sky, especially when you think that she gave you the opportunity to practice Dharma because of this body.

No matter who took care of you after your birth, somebody sacrificed their life to take care of you. They bore so much hardship for you. They suffered so much and created so much negative karma for your well-being, for your food, clothing, education and so forth.

Therefore, in your daily life you should use your body as much as possible to create good karma, to practice Dharma. This is the best way to repay their kindness. After that, you can then dedicate the merits for them. That’s one point. By collecting merit, you are able to develop your mind in the path to enlightenment, and you are then able to liberate them from the oceans of samsaric suffering and its cause, karma and delusion. That’s the best way to repay their kindness. You should take every single opportunity to collect merit in your everyday life, doing whatever you can with your body, speech and mind.

Make offering to the guru of all the offerings here, all the offerings at the Aptos house and all the other offerings in the FPMT centers’ gompas, which are in the nature of infinite bliss. Offer them to the gurus by thinking that each one is the essence of all the buddhas.

Prostrate, make offering and generate infinite bliss within them. [meditate]

Make all the offerings here, those at the Aptos house and all the extensive offerings in all the FPMT centers’ gompas, including the two thousand offerings in Mongolia, which are in the nature of infinite bliss, to all the Guru Puja merit field, by meditating that their essence is your root virtuous friend. Think in this way.

Prostrate, make all these offerings and think they generated infinite bliss within them. Do the meditation with these three. [meditate]

Next, prostrate and make all the offerings here, those at the Aptos house and all the extensive offerings in all the FPMT centers’ gompas, including the two thousand offerings in Mongolia, which are in the nature of infinite bliss, to all the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha of the ten directions, by meditating that their essence is your root virtuous friend.

Prostrate, make the offerings and think they have generated infinite bliss. With these three, make the offerings again and again. [meditate]

Prostrate and make all the offerings here, every single light and water offering, all the offerings at the Aptos house and all the offerings in all the FPMT centers’ gompas, including Mongolia, to all the statues, stupas, scriptures and thangkas in all the universes in all the ten directions. (This covers every single holy object in every temple and individual shrine room. It covers everything.) From here, while you are sitting on this cushion, you make offering to every single holy object, including every single extra tsa tsa that has been made anywhere. Every time somebody makes a new thangka, picture of buddha or tsa tsa, you collect more merit by making offering to them. [meditate]

Prostrate, make all the offerings here, those in the Aptos house and the offerings in all the rest of the FPMT centers’ gompas, including Mongolia, which are in the nature of infinite bliss, to every single holy object in India, by meditating that the essence of each one is your root virtuous friend. Th ink that they generated infinite bliss within them. Also prostrate to them. Do these three practices again and again. [meditate]

Prostrate, make all the offerings here, those at the Aptos house and those in all the rest of the FPMT centers’ gompas, including Mongolia, which are in the nature of infinite bliss, to every single holy object in Tibet, including the Shakyamuni Buddha statue blessed by Buddha himself, the most precious one historically, which is in the Lhasa temple; the stupa that was built by FPMT at Sera Monastery; Meaningful to Behold, the precious Maitreya Buddha statue in Drepung Monastery; the most precious Most Secret Hayagriva statue in Sera Monastery; as well as all the rest of the many holy objects in Tibet. Meditate that the essence of each one is your root virtuous friend.

Prostrate, make all the offerings again and think they generated infinite bliss within them. Do these three: prostrate, offer, generate infinite bliss. [meditate]

It’s especially important to make offerings to that statue of Buddha in the Lhasa temple and pray for world peace. In the past this was done by the Dharma kings for success in spreading Dharma in Tibet. You can pray for world peace, as well as for other things.

Now, prostrate and make all the offerings here, those at the Aptos house, and those in all the rest of the FPMT centers’ gompas, including Mongolia, which are in the nature of infinite bliss, to all the holy objects in Nepal, including the most precious one, Swayambunath Stupa, which contains a crystal stupa that spontaneously appeared from the lake when Kathmandu valley was still filled with a lake. It was predicted by Buddha as an embodiment of Buddha’s holy mind, dharmakaya, which is inside that stupa. Think also of the Boudhanath Stupa, which is called “the all-encompassing, wish-fulfilling stupa.” A mother with four sons started to build the stupa then after she passed away, the four sons completed it. While they were making prayers, all the buddhas and bodhisattvas absorbed into that stupa. That’s why it’s all-encompassing. Because they dedicated the merits of building the stupa for the spread of Dharma in Tibet, the four sons in future rebirths became the Dharma king, the minister, the powerful yogi and the abbot who passed the lineage of ordination. They spread Dharma in Tibet, enabling so many Tibetans to actualize the path and become enlightened. Dharma was thus preserved in Tibet for a long time, and has now spread all over the world, so that we are now able to make our lives meaningful by meeting Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism, especially lamrim. Every year many thousands of people in the West are able to meet Buddhadharma and make their lives meaningful. They have the opportunity to follow the path to enlightenment. So, it all came from Boudha stupa; it is due to that stupa.

Also prostrate and make offerings to all the rest of the holy objects in Nepal. Prostrate, make all the offerings to them and generate infinite bliss within them by meditating that their essence is your root virtuous friend. [meditate]

Prostrate and make all the offerings here, those at the Aptos house and those in all the rest of the centers, which are in the nature of infinite bliss, to all the holy objects that are in the rest of the world, including Sri Lanka and Burma. Meditate that their essence is your root virtuous friend, and think they generated infinite bliss. [meditate]

As you have heard, by offering to Medicine Buddha, you get the same merit as having offered to all the buddhas. You have also heard that just by making offering to Medicine Buddha, you are always protected by Medicine Buddha’s entourage, the twelve leaders of the groups of nöjin, each of whom has 700,000 in their entourage. They all protect you all the time, day and night. In this way all your wishes are fulfilled and all success comes.

Make offering to Medicine Buddha for success; to bodhisattva Kshitigarbha, so that you become, like bodhisattva Kshitigarbha, able to instantly fulfill the wishes for happiness of all sentient beings; and to Thousand-arm Chenrezig, to develop great compassion so that you can liberate sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment as quickly as possible. Make offerings to these three, meditating that their essence is your root virtuous friend. [meditate]

We’ll now complete the section of the offerings.

[The group chants Lama Chöpa verses 23–37.]

Taking bodhisattva and tantric vows

I think it’s good for whoever is leading the prayers to again remind everyone of the motivation before taking the vows.

Think, “The purpose of my life is to free all sentient beings from all their suffering and its causes and bring them to enlightenment. Therefore, I must achieve enlightenment. Without living in the bodhisattva vows, I can’t achieve enlightenment. Therefore, I’m going to take the bodhisattva vows for the benefit of all my kind mother sentient beings.”

When Guru Puja is normally done at the centers, whoever is leading the puja can do the motivation and say that whoever has taken bodhisattva vows in the past can take the vows again. In this way the people who haven’t taken bodhisattva vows don’t have to feel uncomfortable. It is the same with the tantric vows. Those who have taken tantric vows can again take the tantric vows to revive whatever vows have been degenerated and make them pure. In this way the people who haven’t taken tantric vows don’t have to feel uncomfortable. I don’t think it’s a good idea not to do the prayers at all because there are people who haven’t taken the vows. The people who have taken the bodhisattva and tantric vows then lose the opportunity to make them pure again. Whoever leads the prayer can clarify in that way.

[The group takes the bodhisattva and tantric vows then recites the Samayavajra mantra.]

[The group chants verses 38–39, followed by meditation on rejoicing.]

[The group recites Lama Chöpa verses 40–42, followed by the long and short mandalas, Special request for the three great purposes, recitation of the nine-line migtsema and Visualization.]

I think the verse that is recited three times was left out.

[Ven. Sarah recites Requesting the Guru three times, then repeats Visualization.]

Requesting prayer to the lineage lamas

[The group recites the first verse of Requesting Prayer to the Lineage Lamas, then Ven. Sarah requests Rinpoche to lead the chanting.]

There is a way of chanting this according to Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo. I’m not sure about it because I didn’t hear it directly from Pabongka; it came through other people. I’m not sure whether this is the chanting from His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s temple or from Dakpo monastery, but in recent times His Holiness has been chanting the lineage prayer in this way. It’s a little faster than the Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo one.

[Dren pa nyam me... tän päi sog shing sum la söl wa deb]

The lineage of the profound path starts here. The previous one is the path of the extensive lineage. When you’re about to start another group, you stop and then lead into each new group. It’s a way to differentiate the different groups.

[Ma wa da me dren chog.... dzam ling gyän gyur nyi la söl wa deb]

[Näl jor wang chhug päl dän ... nam kha gyäl tshän zhab la söl wa deb]

The previous group, from Lama Atisha and Dromtönpa, integrated both paths, the profound and the extensive. The next group, starting with näl jor wang chhug päl dän..., is the Kadam Lamrimpa, with Gönpawa in the center and the others around him. Now comes the Kadam Zhungpawa, with Kadampa Geshe Potowa in the center and the others around him.

I forgot to repeat the last line twice. We repeat the line ending ... söl wa deb two times. With the first recitation, nectar beams are emitted and purify the obstacles to achieving realizations. Here there are both paths, the extensive and the profound, method and wisdom.

With the second request, ... söl wa deb, a replica of that lama absorbs within you. You then achieve all the realizations and feel one with them.

I forgot to repeat the ... söl wa deb line two times, but after this we’ll do it.

[Gyäl wäi dung tshob... päl dän la mäi zhab la söl wa deb]

Now here the next group is Kadam Män-Ngagpa. The Kadam Lamrimpa are usually introduced as the Kadampa geshes who go about achieving realizations and enlightenment without doing extensive study but mainly by studying lamrim, the heart of the entire Buddhadharma. Without being scholars of the extensive philosophy, they practice lamrim and achieve enlightenment. The Kadam Zhungpawa, while of course still practicing lamrim, do extensive study. They integrate their extensive study into the lamrim, then practice and actualize the path to enlightenment. The Kadam Män-Ngagpa receive oral teachings and instructions from the guru and mainly meditate on them. They try to achieve enlightenment by understanding the guru’s instructions and putting them into practice.

The highly attained Tsultrimbar is the Kadampa geshe in the center of the Kadam Män-Ngagpa, with the others around him.

[Drub päi wang chhug... nam kha gyäl tshän zhab la söl wa deb]

From here starts the lineage of the Kadam Sarmawa, or New Kadam tradition, with Lama Tsongkhapa in the center and the other lamas around him.

Here, just so that you know Pabongka’s chanting and can see the difference, we’ll do a few verses according to Pabongka’s chanting.

[Mig me tse wäi... wang gyur je tsun la ma söl wa deb]

This is His Holiness Ling Rinpoche, and the next one is His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

[Nga wang lo zang... sem la jug par shog]

You can read the qualities in English.

[The group reads verses 43–53 of Lama Chöpa in English.]

The slow chanting is normally done first, then you do the quick ones after that. There are three repetitions. You do it slowly once, then quickly twice.

Ven. Sarah: I couldn’t remember the chanting....

[Rinpoche leads the chanting of verse 53.]

Do the last two in English.

[The group recites verse 53 twice in English, then verse 54, the mantras and a short mandala.]

Rinpoche’s name mantra

Ven. Sarah: There’s a request for Rinpoche’s name mantra.

[Rinpoche leads three recitations of sang gyä chö dang....]

Think, “At any rate I must achieve enlightenment quicker and quicker for the benefit of all the sentient beings; therefore, I am going to take the oral transmission of the guru mantra.”

Of course, to tell people to visualize or think of me as a buddha is like telling them to think of kaka as gold. However, if a disciple, from their side, practices by thinking of the inseparability of the guru and buddha, that devotion causes them to receive blessings. If there is devotion, one receives the blessings of all the buddhas. The blessings come because the disciple looks at the guru as one with buddha. It’s not that I have blessings to give, but by thinking in that way, you receive blessings, which then become the cause to achieve realizations of the path to enlightenment. It is for that purpose that this oral transmission is given.

[Rinpoche gives the oral transmission of his name mantra: “OM AH GURU VAJRADHARA MUNI SHASANA KSHANTI SARVA SIDDHI HUM HUM.]

“VAJRADHARA” is added. The actual name is “MUNI SHASANA KSHANTI.”

[Rinpoche recites the name mantra again.]

Dedications

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, may I, the members of my family, all the students and benefactors in this organization, those who give their life to the organization to serve others, as well as all the rest of the sentient beings, in all our future lifetimes meet only perfectly qualified Mahayana gurus. From the side of each of us, may we be able to see the virtuous friend as only an enlightened being. May we never see the virtuous friend as an ordinary being but only as an enlightened being. May we do actions only most pleasing the holy mind of the virtuous friend. And may each of us immediately be able to fulfill the holy wishes of the virtuous friend. May we be able to do this from now on, in all future lifetimes.”

By seeing the guru as buddha, as I mentioned before, one receives blessings and realizations. Doing actions most pleasing the guru brings the most powerful purification of negative karma and collects the most extensive merit. One then quickly achieves the realizations of the path and enlightenment. Fulfilling the guru’s holy wishes is the best way to have success. It is the most powerful way to bring your success, the most important success being attaining the path and achieving enlightenment, so that you are able to do extensive works for other sentient beings.

“Jang chhub sem chhog rin po chhe....

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, which are empty from their own side, may the I, who is empty from its own side, achieve Vajradhara’s or Lama Losang Thubwang Dorje Chang’s enlightenment, which is also empty from its own side, and lead all the sentient beings, who are empty from their own side, to that enlightenment, which is empty from its own side, by myself alone, who is also empty from its own side.

“Ge wa di yi nyur du dag....

“Jam päl pa wö ji tar khyen pa dang....

“Dü sum sheg pai gyäl wa tham chä kyi....

“Chhö kyi gyäl po tsong kha päi....”

Dedicate the merits in the same way the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three times dedicated their merits, in the way they admire most.

And dedicate the merits to actualize the pure teaching of Lama Tsongkhapa, which unifies sutra and tantra, within your own mind and in the minds of all the students and benefactors, those who give their life to the organization. May this teaching spread in all directions and flourish forever in this world.

So, good afternoon. You can have lunch and breakfast together.

Mani pills

As you pass out of the gompa, I want to give you mani pills. I meant to give them to you this morning but it didn’t happen. This is not to keep, not to save for your next life, but to take now. If you are saving the pill to give to someone else, it’s different. So, come quickly past.

It’s good to take mani pills before you meditate on bodhicitta. The mani pills are blessed with the continuous chanting, day and night for seven days, of one hundred million OM MANI PADME HUM's. These pills have been blessed by His Holiness himself, the actual Chenrezig, as well as other meditators. In the morning, before you meditate on bodhicitta, you should take one or two of these pills, then think that you have purified all your defilements, in particular your self-cherishing thought and the emotional mind of anger, which are enemies to bodhicitta, and that your mind is transformed into Chenrezig’s qualities of great compassion for all sentient beings and bodhicitta. It’s very good if you can do that every morning before you meditate on bodhicitta. This is one way of using the pill for the development of your mind.

So, maybe take them as you quickly run for lunch.

[Someone asks a question about doing the Medicine Buddha sadhana.]

The sadhana? Oh, yeah! We’ll do it before tomorrow.

[Rinpoche hands out mani pills to the students.] 

---

Notes

⁷⁵ If they develop the strength of their exertion, 
Even those who are flies, mosquitoes, bees and insects 
Will win the unsurpassable Awakening, 
Which is so hard to find. (Ch. 7, v. 18.)
[Return to text]

⁷⁶ Published in The Gelug/Kagyü Tradition of Mahamudra. [Return to text]

⁷⁷ You are the wisdom-knowledge of all infinite conquerors 
Appearing in any way that subdues. 
With supreme skillful means, you manifest as a saffron-robed monk. 
Holy refuge savior, I prostrate at your feet. (V. 19.)
[Return to text]

⁷⁸ Should I not have completed the points of the path at the time of death, 
I seek your blessings that I may be led to a pure land 
Either through the instructions of applying the five forces 
Or by the forceful means to enlightenment, the guru’s transference of mind. (V. 112.)
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⁷⁹ See The Union of Bliss and Emptiness: Teachings on the Practice of Guru Yoga. [Return to text]