[Short mandala; recitation of Shakyamuni Buddha's mantra.]

So [very long pause], for example the, how the compassion, thought of benefiting others, this good heart, how this is the source of happiness, peace, for oneself and for other sentient beings, not only human beings in this world but by having the thought of compassion, the thought to benefit others, to free others from suffering, which means that it is based on the thought to not give harm to other sentient beings. That is the very fundamental thing. That not only it brings happiness not only human beings in this world, even other living beings, animals, creatures, those other different types of beings, by having this compassion, by having this thought to benefit others, it brings, it causes happiness, this person causes happiness, besides numberless human beings, many other, those other numberless animal beings, those beings who are called worldly gods who are living in different planets, who are living in the higher planets, then those hell-beings and those hungry ghost beings, all those different types of beings, so it brings, this person who has compassion, because there's compassion, so one stops harming those other beings. As there is compassion, wishing them, wishing all those other sentient beings to be free from sufferings, one attempts to free them from the sufferings. So this person able to cause happiness towards all other, besides human beings, all other, all the rest of the other sentient beings.

So as I often mention, that, [long pause] for example, one couple, even one doesn't have, even one live alone without companion, even one is living alone, but by having this good heart, the thought of affection, compassion, loving kindness, even the person is living alone, there is much peace in the heart, even there's no other friend, even this person has no companion living together, there is much satisfaction in that person's heart.

More ego there is, more self-cherishing thought there is, there is more problems. Even one stays alone, there's still problems; even there's nobody around, but there's ego, the self-cherishing thought, so still there's a problem, that brings loneliness, self-cherishing thought and also the attachment, clinging, grasping to this life, so this brings, causes loneliness, so even one lives alone it brings, the ego, there's the ego, so it brings those other problems.

However, less ego, more compassion, the stronger thought of caring others, so there's more freedom in one's own life, in one's own mind, more space, more calmness, more peace. So, even, as I often mention, that, for example one couple, even both persons do not practice good heart, do not practice compassion, at least one person from these two people practices compassion, the thought to benefit others. So if the wife is the one who practices good heart, compassion, even the husband does not practice, there is much peace in her life. Without need to talk about how much peace she has in her life or in her heart, in her daily life that, if the other companion, the husband, has that much peace even though he does not practice compassion, good heart. But because she practices, so even he's angry to her but he doesn't receive harm from her. In return he doesn't receive harm. Only benefit out of compassion, having compassion to him, only benefit. At least to not harm, to not hurt him. So there's much peace even in his life. Even he's not a meditator, doesn't practice meditation, or doesn't practice good heart. So he receives peace from her. He receives happiness from her, because she practices. So that his peace, happiness which he receives from her, that is her responsibility. Now, because if she does not practice then he doesn't receive peace, happiness. If she practices, then he receives happiness. So therefore it's dependent on her so it's her responsibility.

So now however, even within two people, even both persons don't practice good heart, only one person practices, but there is much peace in their life. There's no question that because of her also, he learns from her example and he also changes his mind. He will also have less anger, less temper. He will also develop more compassion, more thought to benefit others.

So, that is very much possible. Because our life depends so much on example, influence, around. Depending on what kind of influence around, then one becomes that. One copies the same thing. So there's a story happened, there were two people, one is alcoholic, one is not alcoholic, one doesn't drink alcohol. They went to Lhasa. So each one of them met a different friend. The person who is alcoholic met a friend who's not alcoholic, so then this person who used to be alcoholic, he became not alcoholic. The other person who was not alcoholic before, he went to Lhasa and met a friend who is alcoholic, then the person who was not alcoholic before became alcoholic. So those two people by going to Lhasa completely changed . So that, so even by this reason that life is so much dependent on what is happening around, the influence, the example; so therefore even from this we can see that it influences people, whether it is positive or negative. So even from this we can understand in our everyday life that we are responsible, that we have the responsibility of other sentient beings' happiness, peace, depending on what influence one gives to others, depending what kind of example one gives towards others, so surrounding people also become that. Children, surrounding people, so forth become like that.

Even by this reason we can see clearly how each of us are responsible of other sentient beings' happiness, for them to not have suffering and to have happiness. For them to not experience problems, to not have negative thoughts, so that they won't have problems, to not have negative thoughts, so that they won't have problems, to cause to generate positive mind, compassion and so forth, so that they can have peace, happiness, harmonious.

So like this couple or like the story of the two friends who went to Lhasa, so in the family, if there are ten members in the family, so if one person in the family practices compassion, even the rest, nine members do not practice meditation or the good heart, even they don't know meditation, how to develop compassion, haven't studied or haven't received teachings, however, if there is this one person in the family who practices compassion, good heart, doesn't give harm to the rest of the members, the nine people, so as they don't receive harm from this one person, so they have peace. They receive peace from this one person. So these nine members who receive peace from this one person who practices compassion, so that one is this one person who practices compassion, his or her responsibility, because it's dependent on him or her.

So now it's similar, if oneself, each of us, practices the good heart, compassion including family, the surrounding people, whether is a meditation center or family, office, how many people are around everyday life that one deal or live together, so including this, how many millions of people in Australia, all of them they don't receive harm from oneself. They receive happiness, peace, absence of harm from you, that itself is peace what they have, what they receive from you. So therefore, oneself is responsible not only family, all the millions of people in Australia, their happiness, each of us are responsible how many people in Australia, their happiness, peace. Because that depends to you, whether one has compassion towards them or not.

So now, same thing, not only the human beings, animals, all those beings in this globe, this one globe, this one universe. There are numberless universes, there are numberless sentient beings, numberless human beings. Each type of those suffering beings are numberless, numberless animal beings, hell-beings, hungry ghosts, those worldly gods, numberless suras, numberless asuras, there are numberless sentient beings, so as one has compassion towards others, all sentient beings, first of all, one doesn't give harm to others, so that's one peace. Second time, on top of that, the stronger the compassion is, one benefits more, one causes more happiness towards other sentient beings. So that is one peace, happiness what others they receive from you. So numberless sentient beings they receive peace, happiness from you. So, that is dependent to you, because it dependent to one's own compassion. If one has compassion towards other sentient beings, they have peace, happiness. If one doesn't have compassion towards other sentient beings, they don't have peace, happiness, they don't receive peach, happiness from oneself.

So it is completely in your... So you see, all the rest, including the family, the sentient beings, people, animals who are around oneself in everyday life, including those, then all the rest of the sentient beings, all their happiness, peace which they receive from oneself is dependent upon oneself. Therefore, oneself is responsible for all sentient beings' happiness, which they receive from you is you're responsible. So each of us has a responsibility for every single sentient being's happiness, peace. Not only temporary happiness, also, especially the ultimate happiness.

So, again, from this, one can understand how this is the purpose of life, to free all sentient beings from all the sufferings and to lead to happiness, temporary and ultimate happiness. After knowing how I am responsible for all sentient beings' happiness, now it becomes even more clear the meaning of the life.

So, now [long pause], so if we can remember this, the meaning of one's own life, that one has the responsibility of all sentient beings' happiness, when one gets up in the morning: first thing to remember: what life is for, remember that responsibility, starting from the family, nearest, whether it's animal or human being, those sentient beings, those living beings who are around oneself, then, so, first thing when you get up, if you remember this, then there is happiness, joy in the life, there is satisfaction in the life, there is enjoyment in the life, there is happiness in the life because you see the purpose of living from the beginning of the day. When you remember this, you see the purpose of living...

By remembering the meaning of the life, the responsibility, the thought feeling responsible, that I have the responsibility to free the sentient beings from suffering and to obtain happiness for them, then to do that service, then I will wear the dress. For that purpose, I put dress. Then when one go to wash, again remember the purpose of life, feel the universal responsibility. Then to do this service need healthy mind and body, so going to wash. Then before going to work, then again remember the meaning of life, the universal responsibility, how I am responsible for all sentient beings' happiness. Then if one can, then generate a motivation of bodhicitta, that I must achieve enlightenment to free all sentient beings from all the sufferings and lead to enlightenment. Therefore, I'm going to do service, the bodhisattva's deeds, I'm going to practice bodhisattva's deeds, working for other sentient beings. So, by generating a motivation of bodhicitta, then one goes to work. So this way, the morning get up, dressing, washing, going to work, working for eight hours or however many hours one does the work, so with this motivation, even one cannot think to achieve enlightenment, even one doesn't understand that, but at least think of the meaning of the life and feel the universal responsibility, so therefore to do service, freeing others from suffering, to cause happiness for others, therefore I'm going to do service. So however many hours one does the work, so this way all the actions, all the work, dressing, washing, eating, drinking, same thing. Before eating, before having a meal, breakfast, lunch, dinner, before one eats or drinks, also one again remembers the meaning of life and feel the universal responsibility.

So if one lives the life like this, the whole action, eating, drinking, washing, dressing, working, everything becomes Dharma. Everything becomes pure Dharma, because unstained by the ego, the self-cherishing thought, because everything is done for others, dedicated for other sentient beings, so becomes pure Dharma. Becomes best. Pure Dharma means best cause of happiness. So all these activities become, even sleeping, again, before going to bed again remember the meaning of life, that I have universal responsibility to bring happiness to everyone. So, to do that I need a long life and healthy, so I'll go to bed. So sleeping as medicine. So this way sleeping is also dedicated for other sentient beings. So everything is done, dedicated for other sentient beings; so everything becomes Dharma, cause of happiness, cause of success, like that.

So when you go to work, as I often say, that if it's a company making furniture, food, whatever, there are many thousands and thousands of people who will experience comfort by using this furniture, food, whatever it is. For example, building a house. So if you're a builder of a house, so by building a house, so many people, they can have comfort, enjoyment, and even the dogs, cats, animals, even they have comfort, so many sentient beings they receive comfort by building this house, so even by thinking like this, at least, even one can't think "all sentient beings," at least those thousands, many thousands of people who receive comfort, enjoyment from this company, from this production. So all this comfort depends on the people who work, who actualize the company who materialize all these things. So therefore yourself is one of the persons who helps to actualize all these things, so practically you are offering all this comfort to so many thousands of other sentient beings. Even one can't think of all sentient beings at least this one, one can think. When one goes to work, all this enjoyment what other sentient beings they need, are going to experience, this is what I am offering to them. With that thought one can go to work. Then, while one is working in the office, time to time again remember this motivation, the bodhicitta, this meaning of life, that I have the universal responsibility, time to time remember. Then again the motivation for work, during the time of working even the motivation becomes negative, the self-cherishing thought or anger or attachment, then again by remembering the meaning of life, that I have the universal responsibility, then again the thought is transformed into good heart, to serve others, so then again the action becomes pure, Dharma.

So this way it becomes great protection, that, especially when our lives are so busy with the family engagement, and at home, and outside, at office, and come back to home, family, then outside. Life is so busy, that our own motivation, your own mind, becomes the main protection, main refuge.

What is that mind? That is the virtuous motivation, the positive attitude. When our lives are so busy that no time to do long time practice, to meditate on the lam-rim, the steps of the path to enlightenment, to do long-term meditation, that life is so busy, so only refuge that you have, only refuge, only protection that we have is the motivation, is the positive motivation, is the good heart, the best motivation, the good heart, the compassion, the thought of benefiting other sentient beings. So this is the, first of all, Dharma, positive attitude, Dharma attitude. Positive attitude that which is Dharma: that which is non-ignorance, non-anger, non-attachment. So that's Dharma, that mind is Dharma. But even more precious is the thought of benefiting other sentient beings. Not only to abandon the cause of suffering, to create the cause for one's own happiness, not just that, but having the thought to benefit others, to free others from suffering, to cause happiness for other sentient beings, so this good heart is even more precious than the first attitude, that which is Dharma. Even it causes, even that makes the action to become Dharma, but it is just happiness for oneself. Even that attitude--the non-ignorance, non-anger, non-attachment--even this attitude which is Dharma, which makes one's own action to become the cause of happiness for oneself, even it becomes the cause of happiness, but it's for oneself.

But here, the second motivation, the attitude is that very extensive attitude, the thought to benefit others who are numberless; whether it is one or whether it is many, it is a very special attitude that's very precious. The conclusion is that the positive motivation, the good heart, the thought of benefiting other sentient beings, however, the bodhicitta, this became the main refuge, the sole refuge, that's the only thing what we have. That your own mind--this good heart--is the one that which makes all your actions, the daily life activities, the works that you do, the good heart, the thought of benefiting other sentient beings, this bodhicitta, that makes your action, your everyday life work, that action itself, a method to purify the negative karmas, the cause of the sufferings. And that bodhicitta, that good heart, makes your daily life actions become the means for accumulating infinite merit. Just like making offering to the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.

Like that, your own, even one doesn't have time to do extensive offerings to the holy objects, but by having this, the thought of benefiting other sentient beings, the good heart, thought of bodhicitta, one's own daily life activities become the means of accumulating inconceivable merit, like those practices making offerings in order to accumulate infinite merit. So, if one has the good heart, compassion, thought of benefiting other sentient beings, so they transform one's own daily life activities to become also means of accumulating infinite merit and also every action to become cause of enlightenment, highest, the peerless happiness, the full enlightenment, to achieve full enlightenment and then able to bring, able to free every sentient being from all the suffering and to bring peerless happiness, the full enlightenment.

So when one's life is so busy, so this is the only protection that you have, is the motive, when one's so busy, no time to do many practices, even one wishes, so that those many practices, prostrations, so forth, mandala offerings and so forth, so many different forms of practices, preliminary practices to do. However, that one's own action becomes all those preliminary practices if one has the good heart, the thought of benefiting other sentient beings, this bodhicitta, one's own daily action becomes same as the Vajrasattva practice, becomes the same as unbelievable purification.

So depending on how stronger compassion one has towards others, so for example, Asanga. The pandit, the Indian pandit Asanga, who tried to achieve Maitreya Buddha, who meditated for twelve years to achieve Maitreya Buddha, so didn't achieve. So then he came back and in the road saw a wounded dog, the lower part of the body completely filled with worms. So Asanga, by seeing that felt unbearable compassion so he cut from the thigh, he cut flesh from his own leg and stretched out there, otherwise worms don't have food to live. He went to pick up the worms with the tip of his tongue. So he could not reach so he opened his eyes and saw Maitreya Buddha right there. Right there. Before he was seeing wounded dog, so now that appearance, the appearance of the wounded dog, that stopped. Now there's Maitreya Buddha. Now he sees Maitreya Buddha. So he did a retreat twelve years in the hermitage, but didn't see Maitreya Buddha.

Only now, when he felt unbearable compassion to the wounded dog, when he sacrificed himself to this wounded dog, only that time he saw Maitreya Buddha. That impure appearance seeing Maitreya Buddha in the form of a wounded dog, this impure appearance stopped. And now there is pure appearance, seeing actual Buddha, in the aspect of Buddha. So that is this unbearable compassion, that he sacrificed himself to that one living being. He sacrificed his life to one living being. So because of this unbearable compassion that he sacrificed himself to this living being, so much negative karma, unbelievable negative karma, obscuration is purified by this. So, it's like become so many millions of Vajrasattva retreat in that hour, or in that, in those few minutes. So, this is to do with the motivation. What made him to see Maitreya Buddha, now stopped seeing Maitreya Buddha as a dog, that ordinary appearance is purified. Impure appearance is purified; now it's pure appearance. That came from the motivation, the unbearable compassion and sacrificing himself for that living being.

So if there's compassion, the thought of bodhicitta, depending on how strong, that itself becomes many hundred thousand Vajrasattva practice, that itself becomes many hundred thousand mandala offerings. So itself becomes great means of purification, becomes great means of accumulating infinite merit, the quick path to enlightenment.

So therefore the most important protection we need is the motivation. The most important protection that we should look for is the motivation in our lives, compassion, loving kindness, bodhicitta. And the best cause of success, even we are looking for success, this is the best way, your own mind is the best cause of success. Your own mind, your own positive attitude, the good heart, is the best cause of success. So this is the only refuge that we have when our life is so busy, no time to do so many other practices, retreat and so forth. So this way makes our life most rich, meaningful.

Yeah then, stop here. Thank you so much. [Offering of mandala]

Please dedicate the merits: Due to all the past, present and future merits accumulated by oneself, by all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, may the source of all the happiness and success for oneself and for all sentient beings, the bodhicitta, may it be generated within one's own mind and in the minds of all sentient beings. Those who have, may it be developed.

Please dedicate the merits for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and all other holy beings who live their lives to benefit, to bring happiness to other sentient beings and Lama's incarnation, Tenzin Osel Rinpoche, to have a long life and to take the aspect as Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, Lama Atisha, Lama Tsong Khapa, having the same qualities and doing extensive benefit for all sentient beings, to become the leader of the peace, liberation, enlightenment of all sentient beings. [Tibetan]

May the father/mother sentient beings have happiness and all the three lower realms be empty forever and may the bodhisattvas' prayers succeed immediately. And may I be able to cause all this by myself alone. [Tibetan]

I will dedicate all the merits accumulated by me in the same way as all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas dedicate their merit to quickly enlighten all sentient beings.

Due to all the three time merits accumulated by oneself and by the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, due to all these merits, that which are empty of existing from its own side, may the I who is empty of existing from its own side, achieve the Guru Shakyamuni Buddha's enlightenment, that which is also empty of existing from its own side, and lead all sentient beings, who are also empty of existing from their own side, to that enlightenment as quickly as possible. [Tibetan]

Thank you so much.

First I will do the oral transmission of the text, first, so anyway I will do tomorrow. Thank you so much. Good night.