[Rinpoche does preliminary prayer in Tibetan.]

So, first I would like to mention that, thank you very much, so everyone coming here, I ?hope you came here for the Maitreya Buddha retreat, the few days. [pause] So it is great that able to give time to do a few days retreat, however, this Maitreya Buddha’s retreat that, and there’s skies of benefit to individual person, oneself, there’s great benefit, the meditation itself then there’s the mantra, the recitation of Maitreya Buddha’s mantra has, it has skies of benefit. That, the particular one I think I also mentioned last night and that is, after the Buddha’s teaching stopped in this world, then when Maitreya Buddha descend in this world, to turn the Dharma wheel, I don’t remember the exact time but there’s something about around 40 million, 100 million, like that, something around forty times, I think, 100 million years, like that, something around forty, something like that, exactly I don’t remember, so mentioned in Liberation in the Palm, the time that Maitreya Buddha descends in this world. So I’m sure it become much less by now. Liberation in the Palm, that teaching was given in Tibet many , quite a number of years ago , so by now it will be much less. The time will become much, much shorter. Then by great enlightened being, Tibetan great enlightened being, Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo.

So anyway, so by even by hearing this mantra of Maitreya Buddha, that, so what it does, what benefit, advantage or benefit you get is, even for the animals, insects, anybody who can hear the mantra, no question about human beings, when Maitreya Buddha descend in this world, turn the Dharma wheel, that time you become the first disciple, receive teachings directly from Maitreya Buddha and also receive a prediction for your enlightenment from Maitreya Buddha. So there’s possibility to achieve enlightenment during that time, so that’s one particular, special benefit. So if you don’t become enlightened during the Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s time, during the duration of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching, while the teaching’s existing in this world if one did not become enlightened so there’s opportunity the next.

So it’s regarded, so this is regarded very important arrangement, this arrangement now, to make this preparation for the future. To make this preparation now definite to happen this. If in case one did not become enlightened during Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching time then to meet Maitreya Buddha and receive teachings and become enlightened during Maitreya Buddha’s teaching time, so forth.

So the other thing is that, if one recite this mantra, then you’re able to live your life in virtue, able to live in ten virtues, you’re able to live your life in positive, virtue, by the power of mantra. I guess what it means is that, as the mantra is so powerful that it purifies the defilements, negative karmas, it collects so much merit so therefore, I think, due to these reasons, then able to live in the positive life, in the virtue, abiding in the ten virtues.

And then also it creates so much merit that makes to be born, I think maybe ?devas, anyway, thousand wheel-turning king. So it’s giving an idea of how much merit one collects. To be born as one wheel-turning king, you need to collect inconceivable merits, so now here it’s a thousand wheel-turning kings, so you need unbelievable merits to cause to be born as a wheel-turning king, so here it’s a thousand wheel-turning kings so much more. I think, yeah, it said, this is mentioned some period, eons, or something, so giving an idea of how much merit one collects by reciting the mantra. Probably it might be similar to the prostration. So when you do prostration, if there’s one atom that your body covers then you collect merit to be born as a wheel-turning king one thousand lifetimes, if there’s one atom that your body covers when you do prostration to the Buddha, Dharma, to the merit field, to Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, the statues, stupas, scriptures, any holy object of the buddha, that when one does prostration then if it’s one atom that your body cover then you create merits to be born as a wheel-turning king one thousand lifetimes. So doesn’t mean you have to be born, doesn’t mean if you do prostration then what you achieve is only, what you get is only wheel-turning king , only king, only wheel-turning king , got stuck there, you got stuck in the wheel-turning kings, so by doing prostrations, so it doesn’t mean that. That you are prisoned into the wheel-turning kings. Into wheel-turning king’s life, you’re prisoned into that. It’s not saying that. Doesn’t mean you have to be born as a wheel-turning king. It’s giving an idea, as I mentioned before, one, to be born as a wheel-turning king one time, you need to collect inconceivable merits, all the wealth and power.

Maybe I mention this by the way, this. So a wheel-turning king, in the world, two wheel-turning kings doesn’t happen, it’s only one. Like Buddha, who show, Buddha who reveal the twelve deeds is only one, doesn’t happen two Buddhas in the same world, revealing, showing the twelve deeds, that doesn’t happen. Two Buddhas showing the twelve holy deeds doesn’t happen in the same world, only one. So same, the wheel-turning king, only one in the world, not two happen the same place.

And it is mentioned that when the wheel-turning king does happen in the world and all the people living in the world they’re able to abide in virtue. Everyone is able to live in virtue, in good karma, virtue, so when the wheel-turning king does happen in the world, then everybody able to somehow to, somehow by the merit, by so much merit, the wheel-turning king has so much merit and so much power, so maybe somehow due to that everybody is able to live in the ten virtues. The body, speech and mind able to live in virtue. So to cause that, that you have influence or you have power to cause everyone to live in, to abide in the ten virtues, abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, telling lies, slandering, gossiping, then the abstaining from covetousness and the mind living in the three virtues abstaining from covetousness and ill will and heresy. So that means that you able to cause other sentient beings to live in the ten virtues is not easy, so have to have a lot of merit or, the wheel-turning king has to, to cause that, has to have a lot of merit and a lot of spiritual power, a lot of merit you need.

So that, for example, a leader of a country, who can cause, who can influence, positive influence, beneficial influence, positive influence that brings so much peace and happiness in the lives of the people, in the millions and millions of people, in the life of millions and millions of people in the country to bring so much peace and happiness and virtue, their body, speech and mind engage in virtue, that leader has to have a lot of merit, a lot of spiritual power, a lot of merit. Not just anybody can do that.

So however, then, that and then, and also, reciting the Maitreya Buddha mantra is also prosperity, it helps also, that’s how Maitreya Buddha eliminate poverty, so by reciting this mantra it helps to eliminate poverty of sentient beings.

And then, anybody who hear this mantra, even the animals if they hear this mantra, dogs and cats and fish and these frogs and any creature they hear the mantra they never ever get reborn in the lower realms. So it is mentioned in the text that, after talking so much about the benefits of this, alle, I’m running into, here I’m running into the Medicine Buddha, the benefits of the mantra, I’m running into that. So anyway, running from Maitreya Buddha, the benefits of mantra, I’m running into the benefits of the Medicine Buddha.

So anyway, so anybody who hear the mantra, just by hearing the mantra then never ever get reborn in the lower realms just by ?hearing it. So therefore, if you want to help the animals, then wondering what you can do, you chant Medicine Buddha mantra, you should memorize Medicine Buddha, not Medicine Buddha! Maitreya Buddha! Again I ran into that. So the Maitreya Buddha mantra one must, should memorize and recite the Maitreya Buddha mantra in the ears of the animals, recite, chant loudly. So that’s one very beneficial thing to do, what comes out, for animals. So not only if you want, I say that way, but actually one should do. One should help, should do, help the sentient beings. So as you have all the opportunities to, you have met Buddhadharma, many of us here have met Buddhadharma many years ago, so many years ago, learned so much, so the purpose is to benefit, the purpose is not just for your own happiness; it’s to benefit for other sentient beings, who are numberless. So, one should learn and, even one has just started, one must learn and must benefit to other sentient beings as much as possible. As much as possible, how many years, how many months, how many weeks, how many days, how many hours, how many minutes, how many seconds you have the life, you have this precious human life, how long, even there’s only five seconds left in your life, even there’s only five seconds left, must benefit to other sentient beings. And even you have only one minute to live, you must benefit for sentient beings, by generating compassion you must benefit, do something for sentient beings. Do something for sentient beings, who are numberless. Everyone who is like you, want happiness, do not want suffering. So, to do like that, because that’s the purpose of life. Why? Why we should do? Why one should do? Why one should help others? Because that’s the purpose of life. That’s the purpose of life why we have taken a human body at this time, why we have taken this precious human body that can communicate and can understand, can learn, can understand words and meanings. We have received this body which has this incredible capacity, that has all these opportunities to help others, must do it. Even there’s only five minutes left in your life to live, yeah, even there’s five seconds, ten seconds, must think to benefit others.

So therefore, no question, if you have a few weeks, if you have a few months, a few years, then no question, must, because there’s unbelievable opportunity what you can do for others, to help others, to free them from all the suffering and causes and unbelievable, unimaginable sufferings, to free them from those suffering and causes. So to free them from suffering, you need to free them from the cause of the sufferings, so you need to learn, so therefore you need to learn very extensively, the sufferings what others experience you need to learn. We need to learn all the different types of sufferings. What normal people, what common people in the world know of suffering is very limited. What common people in the world know suffering, even who studied in college, university, the suffering what they know is very little, very limited, only a very little part of the suffering of sentient beings, so there’s so much other sufferings, types of, that we’re not aware, so must learn all the different types of sufferings. Not only suffering of pain and all the temporary samsaric pleasures, which is only in nature of suffering, because of that that these samsaric pleasures do not last. Because they’re nature of suffering that’s why, the reason because of that it doesn’t last. It doesn’t increase. First of all, it doesn’t increase. But Dharma happiness it increases. Dharma happiness, you can increase, you can complete. But the samsaric pleasure, worldly pleasure, samsaric pleasure, you can’t increase and you can’t complete, there’s nothing to complete, so cannot increase, cannot develop, whereas Dharma happiness can be developed and can be completed. So we need to be liberated, we need to achieve full enlightenment, then inner happiness, the pure happiness, real happiness, and then completed that time, nothing more to, so there’s an end for your work. There’s end for your meditation practice, there’s end of actualizing the path, there’s end of practice. There’s end of practice, Dharma practice is not endless. But working for samsaric pleasure, worldly pleasure, samsaric pleasure this has no beginning, this work didn’t have any beginning, from beginningless time we have been working for this but still didn’t get satisfaction, still didn’t complete, and because it’s nature of suffering so that’s why it can’t increase. And not only that it can’t increase, but doesn’t last. The second thing, it doesn’t last. The reason, because nature of that pleasure is only suffering. Whereas Dharma happiness always can be developed and can be completed. It’s one time work, it’s one time work. So attaining the path, to achieve liberation, enlightenment, to achieve liberation, that which is free forever from oceans of samsaric suffering and causes, that’s one-time work. And achieving the peerless happiness, full enlightenment, that work is one-time work. So there’s huge differences attaining Dharma happiness than worldly pleasure, samsaric ?pleasure, working for worldly pleasure, samsaric pleasure, that which is only in nature of suffering, there’s huge differences, difference is like the sky and earth.

So living the life working just for the worldly pleasure, or samsaric pleasure, however, this, this, the result is continual cycle of death and rebirth. Being attached to that then you have to die, being illusioned, that which is suffering but label pleasure and believe as real happiness, then grasping on that and then it’s only cause of, to be born to, cause to reincarnate in samsara, cause to bind again to samsara, again prisoned oneself into samsara again, bind oneself to samsara again, and causes to reincarnate again in samsara, then to die again. Because you’re reborn so you have to die again, so then as a human being, old age, sicknesses, then all the relationship problems, and the depression, loneliness and all this, you could never get satisfaction, whatever you try, whatever you try externally in this world, how much you achieve the wealth, even you own the whole world, all the material possessions what there is in this world, even you own everything still you don’t get satisfaction, still you don’t have inner peace, you don’t achieve, you don’t get satisfaction, inner peace. Still there’s no contentment, you can’t achieve contentment. It doesn’t give. Even you own devas’ those, suras, asuras, devas, those other planets ?who are ?living, who have a billion times much greater wealth, sense enjoyments, than the human world, even you own, after that, even you own devas’ world, where there’s a billion times much greater enjoyment, sense enjoyments, sense pleasure, wealth, so still you don’t achieve, you don’t find happiness, inner happiness, contentment and the satisfaction, can’t achieve. So still constantly one suffer because of that. Still the same problem, it become worse. So after you have all this wealth then you don’t get satisfaction that’s much more painful, there’s unbelievable disappointment and depression.

So as there are many stories happened, the billionaires, millionaires in this world, and so many, as you hear often from Time magazines, that people talk about and a person who’s, as the Time magazine shows that most successful person in the world that means one who has the most money, from business, by doing business, one who has the most number of money in the world, so that’s regarded the most successful person in the world. [pause] Those who, the most successful person, the one who has achieved guru devotion realizations and the common path, renunciation, the means to be free from, your inner attainment that which frees yourself from the sufferings, getting caught into suffering continuously, in confusion in the life continuously, so renunciation, the realization.

And when we achieve the right view, ultimate reality, who has actualized, then, that who can eliminate the root of samsara, the root of all the sufferings, the delusions, and also the wrong concepts and the action, karma, so who can by, by having realization of ultimate reality and can remove the root of samsara, the ignorance, that while the, there is I but, there is self but while there’s no self within this body or while there’s no self on this body or on this association of body and mind, there is I, there is a self but while there’s no I, self, in this body or on this association of body and mind, the aggregates, so while there’s no such self, I, a real one in the sense existing from its own side, while there’s no such thing, there’s I but there’s no such I like that, real one in the sense existing from its own side, so then seeing the, realizing, discovered this, so same, the rest of the phenomena is also like that. While they’re empty, while they’re existing but that they’re empty, while they’re existing that they’re empty of existing from their own side. So, however, that who can develop this ultimate wisdom and remove the cause of all the sufferings, cause of death, cause of rebirth, cause of old age, sicknesses, so forth, all the sufferings, cause of depression, loneliness, migraines, there are many people who suffer migraines for years and years, migraines, and then there are many people who suffer hurt, no peace, unhappiness, hurt for many years, so whose life suffer. However, so, who can make to, who can to be free forever from all these sufferings. And then, with this wisdom, by developing this ultimate wisdom.

Then who completely let go the, who is able to let go the ego, the self-cherishing, the selfish mind and having only the mind, pure mind, holy mind, cherishing only other sentient beings and seeking happiness, only seeking happiness of only other sentient beings. So, and working for only other sentient beings, nothing slightest for oneself. So that is the most successful life. That who has achieved bodhicitta, only cherishing others, seeking only happiness for others, working only for other sentient beings, not even slightest, there’s no slightest, doesn’t rise even for one second the thought cherishing oneself and the thought seeking happiness for oneself, doesn’t rise even for one second. So such as that great holy being is the most successful, who has such a realization, pure mind, that is the most successful person, most successful, greatest success in the life, most successful being in this world.

So that is still the common path. Then, on the basis of this, after your mind is completely cleaned with the three principles of the path, after your mind is completely cleaned by the three principles of the path, by transforming in the three principles of the path, completely cleaned all this, ego, attachment, all these basic emotional negative thoughts, which bothers you, harms you and harms the world, to all sentient beings from life to life, harms to you and harms to, harms to you from life to life, from beginningless rebirth, from time without beginning, from beginningless rebirth because continuity of mind has no beginning, continuity of consciousness, your consciousness has no beginning, so it has been harming from beginningless, from time without beginning, from beginningless rebirth is has been harming you, in all the lives constantly it has been harming you, torturing you, from beginningless rebirth and then still, depending on how long, you’re able to transform your mind, you let go those garbage, mental garbage, so then until that then it constantly tortures oneself from life and life.

Then the more scary one is that it harms constantly to other sentient beings from life to life. So when you think from life to life, then it harms all the numberless sentient beings directly or indirectly, so if you think life to life then it harms numberless sentient beings.

So, [pause] so what I was saying before, then talking about successful person in the world, so on the basis of these common realizations that, these three principles of the path, which cleans, which makes the mind so pure, clean, all this garbage, mental garbage cleaned away, and then with this pure mind then you practice tantra. Then you have tantric realizations, yeah, generation stage, Highest Tantra, the generation stage, completion stage, those things, so those who are having attainment, quick path to achieve enlightenment so that you can, not only you can achieve enlightenment but you can, not only you can achieve enlightenment and enlighten, liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment. Not only that, then you’re able to liberate the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering as quick as possible and bring them in peerless happiness, full enlightenment, the perfect state, which is perfected in all the qualities of cessation, of all the mistakes of the mind, all the defilements and perfected in all the qualities of realizations. So to bring the sentient beings as quick as possible in this peerless happiness, the state of full enlightenment. So to be able to do this, benefit this to numberless sentient beings without discrimination, so this is the most successful person, who is having these attainments.

So there are, I mean there are practitioners having great success like this, of course that doesn’t come out in the Time magazine. So anyway, so of course it doesn’t come out in the business world, Time magazine, business world, it doesn’t come out. So that is not counted, because not known. Those phenomena are unknown in the business world, in the common world.

So anyway, so what I, anyway, going back, so you hear many times, billionaires, millionaires, so many, that temporary success, there’s some temporary success, external success in the world but you hear so many times their own inner life is filled with so much depression, disappointment and so much unhappiness, so many problems, their inner life, the inside, the inner life, inside their heart, filled with misery, so more external success one achieve but lack of meditation, lack of meditation practice, lack of Dharma practice, lack of Dharma, then more external wealth is achieved, more reputation, you become more famous, more wealth, things like that, then there’s more disappointment, more dissatisfaction, more discontentment, so more misery, more unhappiness in the real life. In the real life, in the inner life there’s more unhappiness.

So, [pause] quite often you hear these stories and from magazines, things like that, so there is, I have seen in the TV, I think it’s a movie, oh, in the airplane, I think, somewhere , so in England there’s one very rich person, very wealthy person, who has huge castles and, so there’s one guy, so he become wealthy by selling cars, so then, after all that wealth he achieved then he, because he never achieved the happiness, contentment and satisfaction, so then he looked at back, his problem came from. So misery, so it’s, life become so dissatisfied, so then he checked back, sources, so he thought it came from the selling, he thought the root of his problems, where his problem came, the unhappiness, the great dissatisfaction, so he thought it came from selling cars, because he become wealthy by selling cars. Then outside of his apartment there’s, I think maybe cement, maybe where you fill up with water for birds or something, something like that, so his bodyguard bought toy cars, a lot of toy cars, so then he put inside this container and then he put gas or something, then he burned, so he burned all these toy cars, because he thought his dissatisfaction, so unhappiness, so came by selling cars, so he thinks that’s the root of his problems. So then as the remedy , as a solution then his bodyguard, he asked his bodyguard to buy a lot of toy cars, put in there, then put gas and he burned. So anyway, so that’s his own analysis, what he thought the root of his problems.

So anyway, and then, this huge castle, so he, there’s many, many rooms, so he said that he moves every night different rooms, sleeps, . Anyway, so like that, of course, he hasn’t met Dharma, hasn’t studied Dharma, did not meditate, he hasn’t studied Dharma so he doesn’t know, so his understanding of the root of the problem is outside, cannot see that it’s in his mind, his own wrong way of thinking, thinking, not thinking according to reality, not seeing the I according to the reality, not seeing the phenomena according to the reality, that they’re impermanent, yeah, that they exist by depending on parts, so they do not exist alone; they don’t, cause and conditions, they do not exist with its own freedom, so there are many, there are so many realities even just the I itself and all these phenomena there are so many realities, so many their nature, actual nature, but you don’t think that way and you think something opposite to what they are, differently. You think, you don’t think according to what they are, their nature. Without talking emptiness, there’s so many other natures, so you never, you don’t think that way, so you think totally opposite, totally contradictory, totally hallucinated way, totally the wrong way, so then all these wrong concepts become what causes the problem in your life, what causes, what makes your life unhappy. Your mind unhappy. However, to rise anger, attachment, ignorance, all these delusional minds, all these wrong concepts, all these superstitious thought, all these superstitions, all these wrong concepts, which are superstition, because things are not like that way you think. Things are not like the way you think, the way you believe, so it’s all superstition. So this is without talking about the emptiness. There’s so many other things that we don’t think according to the reality, according to those other nature.

So these wrong concepts everyday life that we create, it didn’t come from outside. It was not given by God, was created by yourself, these wrong concepts. So, unnecessary wrong concepts, unnecessary to have these wrong beliefs or the wrong way of thinking, opposite to the reality how things are. So, unnecessarily we suffer. We don’t have to suffer but unnecessarily we create suffering. We create wrong concepts, we create delusions, and that’s how we create sufferings, but unnecessarily. With nonsense, nonsense, total nonsense, all these wrong concepts are total nonsense, so strong we believe in these. Even without the concept of true existence, even without talking that, just those other extremely gross ones, there are so many. Our mind is full of those. We strongly keep, we strongly hold, such strong belief so we keep it, we keep it, we treasure it. We treasure all these wrong concepts, treasure, like keeping diamond, gold or like treasure, all these wrong concepts so strongly we keep it. Instead of let go, get rid of, so we strongly treasure it, keep like treasure. So that’s how we never get out of suffering, never end our problems of life and harming to other sentient beings as well in the world.