Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Online Advice Book
Dharma Organization Work :
Advice to Dharma Centers
- Advice for Dharma Center Workers and Volunteers
- Benefits of FPMT and Dharma Centers
- Practice Advice for Centers
- Center and Project Logos
- Recognition of Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Advice for Dharma Center Workers and Volunteers
| Dedication Prayers | |
| Rinpoche used the following dedication prayers during the ceremony for opening a Dharma center. | |
I myself will always practice cherishing all sentient beings as more precious than a wish-granting jewel, with the thought of achieving sublime success from them.
As long as space exists and transmigratory beings exist, I will abide and eliminate all the sufferings of transmigratory beings.
In the hearts of those sentient beings who have not generated the precious holy mind of enlightenment, may it be generated; that which has been generated, may it increase.
| Serving Others |
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| After teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya, Rinpoche said the following to the staff at the Dharma center where he had been staying. | |
Serving others, taking care of others with a good heart, with love and compassion, is the best life. Especially here, your service in looking after others is very important because the people coming here are trying to meditate, to practice Dharma, and trying to liberate themselves from samsara and to achieve enlightenment. Even though you are not actually teaching Dharma, your contribution is similar, since you are helping them get out of samsara and helping them achieve enlightenment.
| Thank You and Rejoice! |
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| Rinpoche sent the following message to a Dharma center on the occasion of it getting a new building. | |
All my dear brothers and sisters,
I just want to explain simply how meaningful it is that we have Dharma centers, so that we can help so many sentient beings while they have this most precious human body. We can awaken them to the unmistaken causes of happiness and suffering through explaining the Buddha's teachings on karma, which is our experience, not merely belief. By offering this education we open their lives to all happiness – not just that of this life, but that of future lives, the ultimate happiness of liberation from samsara, and the peerless happiness of full enlightenment.
How fortunate and happy I am! How fortunate and happy we are!
We awaken sentient beings by explaining what compassion is, the need for compassion, and how to develop it. This causes them to achieve the peerless happiness of full enlightenment and enlighten numberless other sentient beings by ceasing all their defilements and completing all the qualities.
How fortunate and happy I am! How fortunate and happy we are!
We awaken sentient beings by teaching them the basis of Buddhism – the two truths, conventional and ultimate – and educating them as to the very nature of the “I,” aggregates, and all other phenomena, which are empty. By understanding emptiness, sentient beings can understand the conventional truth of how things exist, not according to the hallucinating mind but according to wisdom, which accords with reality.
This offers sentient beings liberation and gives them the confidence that they can definitely achieve ultimate freedom through studying the teachings and meditating on them, thus developing and actualizing the wisdom that directly ceases all gross and subtle defilements. Developing the ultimate wisdom realizing emptiness – the only wisdom that directly separates gross and subtle defilements from the mental continuum – gives sentient beings the inconceivable freedom of achieving full enlightenment and the cessation of all suffering.
How fortunate and happy I am! How fortunate and happy we are!
In this way, we open sentient beings' ultimate wisdom eye by awakening them to how samsara and its pleasures are only in the nature of suffering. We inspire them to free themselves from the oceans of sufferings of the hell, hungry ghost, animal, human, sura, and asura realms and achieve the ultimate, everlasting happiness of total liberation. Thus, we liberate them from the prison of samsara; we release them from samsara's cage, bound by delusion and karma from time without beginning. We also liberate them from the pleasures of samsara by awakening them to how these pleasures are only in the nature of suffering; how samsara – the desire, form, and formless realm aggregates – is only in the nature of suffering, being caused by karma and delusion, the impure mind, contaminated by the seed of disturbing thoughts. All realms of samsara are in the nature of pervasive compounded suffering.
We awaken sentient beings by giving them the opportunity to listen to the teachings of the omniscient one, our kind, compassionate Guru Shakyamuni Buddha; to reflect and meditate on the teachings they have heard; and actualize the path.
Giving them the opportunity to listen to and reflect and meditate on the teachings on the four noble truths gives them a clear understanding of what liberation really is and shows them the path to achieve it. We educate them to avoid the experience of not just the suffering of pain and the suffering of change (samsaric pleasure) but also to free themselves forever from the fundamental suffering, the basis of the other two, pervasive compounding suffering, thus giving them a complete definition of liberation and how to actualize it.
How fortunate and happy I am! How fortunate and happy we are!
We educate the most kind, precious sentient beings in the tantric path – secret mantra, Vajrayana – liberating them from all suffering and its cause and bringing them to full enlightenment not only quickly, but in the very quickest way.
How fortunate and happy I am! How fortunate and happy we are!
We cause sentient beings to meet a spiritual guide – a qualified guru who shows them the whole path, lives in the practice of the higher training of morality, elucidates the complete path to enlightenment without mistakes, and guides them to liberation and full enlightenment.
How fortunate and happy I am! How fortunate and happy we are!
We not only give sentient beings an extensive, clear understanding of sutra and tantra but also educate them in the lam-rim – the arrangement and gradual practice for one person to achieve enlightenment that integrates the entire 84,000 teachings of the Buddha and makes it very easy for sentient beings to go about gaining enlightenment without any confusion.
How fortunate and happy I am! How fortunate and happy we are!
Thus, the Dharma center plays a most important role by taking responsibility for the peace and happiness of all sentient beings, particularly those in this world.
How fortunate and happy I am! How fortunate and happy we are!
Thank you very much to the director, teachers, all precious members and organizers, all pure students, daily meditation practitioners, and those who serve with great devotion the teachings of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and all sentient beings.
With much love and prayers...
| Creating Merit for a Dharma Center |
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| Rinpoche made the following comments about how to improve conditions at Dharma centers. | |
Be careful, watch your behavior with other people, be kind.
Offering food to students at the center is a way of collecting unbelievable merit, because students are the pores of the guru. Disciples of the same guru collect more merit from offering food to fellow disciples than from offering to the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and numberless statues and stupas. People don't think of this, they think only of offering food in monasteries, but you can collect merit this way, too.
Whenever you meet students with the same guru, if you offer things to them with the recognition that they are the guru's pores, as they have the same guru, then even if you offer chocolate, water, money, anything, that is an unbelievable way to collect merit. If you offer to many Sanghas who have the same Guru, then you are making offerings to that many pores of the guru. This is the easiest way to collect skies of merit through offering. By offering even just one candy, flower, or grain of rice to a statue of Buddha or even a visualized Buddha, you collect skies of merit, but offering to students in this way is much more powerful than offering to the three jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), as well as all the statues, stupas, and scriptures existing in all directions. These benefits should be understood, so that when you make offerings to the guru's pores, you think correctly. This is the best business.
Sometimes centers don't have much money, but if the director knows Dharma, he or she can very skillfully create merit without needing much money. When you meet people and support people, you also collect merit, which means that you can achieve enlightenment, and support one's own and others’ happiness. If organizers at centers are not skillful and wise, knowing how to take care of people, then even having a geshe teaching Dharma may not be enough. Developing the center doesn't only depend on the teacher, but on how you look after people. People can be made to feel welcome so they are attracted to come to the center, or not. So, we must pay attention to this.
The essential thing is to make people happy, and serve them well. This helps to build up the center, and to get material support very easily, without pushing. The purpose, of course, is to have more facilities, because then the center has more ability to spread the Dharma, and can offer more comfort, so more people can enjoy receiving the Dharma, and you can benefit them more, liberating them from oceans of samsaric suffering and bringing them to enlightenment.
You need to be aware of so many things. However, the key thing is to know how to take care of people. You must cherish every person who comes to the center, feel that they are so precious, and take care of them. Respect naturally comes from that, then caring, and the person is so delighted.
There are so many opportunities to collect merit for the center if you know the Dharma. Even just offering a bowl of water or cup of tea to a person who is a student or disciple of the same guru collects so much merit.
This is one way to build up the center. Think big. This is a bodhisattva's skillful means to benefit sentient beings.
| FPMT |
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| Advice to Study Group |
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| Rinpoche received a letter from an FPMT study group requesting his blessing for the group, and, if possible, a message to take back to the group. Rinpoche responded as follows. | |
Hello My Dear Students,
Your life goal is to achieve enlightenment and to liberate all sentient beings from the ocean of samsara and bring them to full enlightenment. Because of that, life becomes most beneficial. “All sentient beings” means also for yourself.
I’m very happy that your hearts are open to looking for a new path, new happiness, Dharma happiness, especially for ultimate happiness, liberation from samsara, and full enlightenment.
You must know that the life you have achieved this time is extremely difficult to get again and again. Even to receive it just once is extremely difficult. We make prayers to achieve this perfect human body that is qualified with the eight freedoms and ten richnesses. We have made so many prayers for this. We lived in pure morality in the past and have practiced charity to achieve this perfect rebirth. We created those causes, as well as lived in pure morality, which is very difficult. We have done this, which is miraculous. It does not last forever and can end at any time. Therefore, we must practice Dharma right away, because we don’t want suffering, only happiness, and because our main goal is to enlighten all sentient beings. We have miraculously met Tibetan Buddhism at this time. This Tibetan Buddhism is Mahayana. This has Hinayana teachings to achieve liberation from samsara, and the Mahayana purpose to get enlightened for all sentient beings. Tantra is also included, not Hindu tantra, but Buddhist tantra, to achieve enlightenment in one lifetime. With highest yoga tantra you can achieve enlightenment in a brief lifetime of these degenerate times.
Tibetan Buddhism is complete; it is what the Buddha taught. You can see now how it is a miracle of miracles that we have met Tibetan Buddhism, which includes all the teachings and the path. All of you are most fortunate beings.
Your teacher, Geshe-la, is a great teacher, who has studied well, so you have all the conditions and a teacher who can explain well.
Deeply from my heart, with my palms together, I sincerely request all of you to please study and meditate as much as you can. Don’t only study for intellectual understanding, but, as much as you possibly can, study to put the Dharma into practice in your daily life.
The heart of the Dharma is bodhicitta, so your attitude should become that. Dedicate whatever you are doing, put effort into whatever you are doing, for all sentient beings. That includes friends, enemies, and strangers. By studying the lam-rim you will understand how to do that. That is the most important thing. You can do some meditation on emptiness every day. Read the part of the lam-rim on guru devotion. Read, study, and meditate every day on those outlines until you have some stable realizations of seeing the Guru as Buddha.
The very last piece of advice is: Don’t think "I’m going to live for many years," following the concept of permanence. This life is like last night’s dream, very short, or like lightning in the sky—it appears while it is leaving. Therefore, put all your effort into Dharma, as I mentioned before.
You will encounter problems. At that time, use bodhicitta, emptiness and patience. When you encounter problems, apply Dharma to bring peace in your heart and the heart of the other person. Sometimes there is no peace, but your methods can bring ultimate peace to that person, and to your heart and mind.
In “Universal Education, Essential Wisdom” (Essential Education, Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom), I gave very very basic advice that the important practice to apply to bring peace to all sentient beings, even animals, is to practice kindness, not only to human beings, but to animals, day and night; all of the time, practice kindness. From this, your life, your heart, is always in peace, day and night, under any circumstances, during difficult times, or during easy times. The result from one positive action, one kindness to one sentient being, brings happiness in 100,000 lifetimes.
At the study group, you are practicing kindness all of the time. You can imagine how you will have unbelievable peace and happiness all of the time, in this life and future lives, from your compassion and loving kindness. Right away, every day, you make so many people happy, as the days, weeks, and months pass, wherever you travel, wherever you live.
Whenever you see good things happen to others, think how wonderful it is that they have this happiness, this success. If somebody has a beautiful house, car, family, or friend, you rejoice. When somebody makes a great profit in business, you rejoice. Basically, this person has great happiness, and you think how wonderful it is. If the person has a great education, more understanding of the Dharma, practices more, or has a beautiful body, you rejoice.
This doesn't directly use karma, but by practicing kindness to others and rejoicing, you collect merit like limitless skies. Rejoicing is the easiest way to collect merit. You collect all the merits. You are always creating the cause of happiness. You are making your life meaningful all the time. You are making your life beneficial for yourself and all sentient beings. Whenever people see you or remember you, there is always happiness. When they see you their minds are always happy.
When you rejoice for somebody whose level of mind is lower than yours, you collect double the merit. If they are the same level as you, you get the same merit. If they are at a higher level of mind, you get half the merit. For example, if one who doesn’t have the realization of bodhicitta rejoices in one day of a bodhisattva’s merit, that person collects half the merit of what that bodhisattva collects in one day. I am talking about how much merit you collect. Without rejoicing, it takes 23,000 years. When you rejoice, you collect that merit in one second, so you can see how rejoicing is the easiest way in life to collect extensive merit.
Now you can rejoice in one bodhisattva’s merits. It is unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable. Bodhisattvas are not just one but numberless, so the amount of merit you collect could make you faint. There are numberless bodhisattvas and sentient beings, so you can just imagine how much merit you collect.
As it says in the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, by renouncing attachment and desire, it becomes very pure Dharma. Each time you practice that, it becomes very pure Dharma. Any time you renounce delusion, it becomes pure Dharma. Any time you go against attachment and desire, it becomes pure Dharma, as attachment and desire only lead to suffering. There are so many people in the world, so much suffering in organizations, countries, etc. through following desire and not practicing contentment. There are so many people engaged in illegal things who end up in prison. They have to suffer a lot and make many people unhappy. They get killed and punished. Renouncing attachment and desire is one method to bring peace and happiness into your life, into your heart, to create inner peace.
When somebody harms you, forgive him or her. Immediately the other person receives so much peace and happiness and you also receive much peace and happiness. Most people get angry and want to get back at the person, and they do the opposite and give harm back to the person. As a result, the person’s family members and friends will harm you. You will be harmed by that person 500 times, not necessarily when you are in a human body. From that negative karma, from harming that person, you experience getting harmed or killed by that person 500 times. It makes you suffer on and on without end. There is the one complete negative karma that has four aspects:
1) The base, 2) thought, 3) action, and 4) goal.
When all of these are complete, you can receive four suffering results:
1) The ripening aspect result— rebirth in the lower realms for many billions of years.
There are three suffering results in the human realm:
1) The result similar to the cause—being killed by others.
2) The possessed result, concerned with the place. Whatever view you hold is bad, the appearances you see are bad, and you live in a very dusty place. Medicines and food become harmful to you and can cause harm, sickness, and death
3) Creating the result similar to the cause—you kill again because of the past imprint of killing, and you engage again and again in that negative karma.
You can see how one negative karma today results in so much suffering. It can make you faint. If you think about it, you have created so much negative karma today with your body, speech, and mind, this week, month, and year. From birth and from beginningless rebirths, you have created karma which has not been purified, not finished by experiencing it. If you really think well, you can’t stand having one negative karma near you. You can see how forgiveness is incredible. It stops you from harming others and others from harming you with their body, speech, and mind. Also, so many people, friends, family, and so forth, who are all connected to you, don’t engage in negative karmas because of you.
The next point is, if you do some harm, make some mistake, immediately apologize so it doesn’t make the person angry with you, make him or her angry or suffer. If you say sorry immediately, the person doesn’t become angry, and it brings a release. If you can practice like this, it’s unbelievable.
Do not get angry. Have peace in your heart. If you practice like this, with patience, you give happiness to all sentient beings, not only your family, but people at work too, not only in this country or this world, but after this life, to all sentient beings. In this world, there are many people who killed many millions of people, like Mao Tse Tung, Hitler, and many others.
If possible, you can recite daily one lam-rim prayer, like The Foundation of All Good Qualities, The Three Principal Aspects of the Path, and The Gradual Path to Enlightenment. Each time you recite one of these lam-rim prayers it leaves a positive imprint in the mind.
Another prayer you can recite is the lam-rim prayer that is contained at the end of your deity’s long sadhana, which contains all the stages of the path, of the common and tantric paths. When you do that, it plants the seed of the quickest path to enlightenment. It makes one closer to liberation and enlightenment.
This is my very brief essential advice to you about how to make your life most beneficial so you have no regrets now or in the future, only bliss and happiness. Your life only goes up, not down, because you understand guru devotion, correctly devoting to the virtuous friend without mistakes, and developing bodhicitta, the ultimate good heart.
Much love and prayers to all of you who are coming now and who are coming in the future.
| The Role of the Dharma Center |
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| Rinpoche sent the following message to a Dharma center on the occasion of its 21st birthday celebration. | |
I want to say hello to everyone. I pay my homage to Khensur Rinpoche, who is the principal holder of the entire Buddha Dharma and propagator of the Buddha Dharma from where sentient beings receive all their happiness and peace, as well as to the presiding teacher, Geshe Petse [Pema Tsering], Tenzin-la, taking care of Khensur Rinpoche, and to everyone helping out. To all Sangha I pay homage, give thanks, and offer my greetings.
I offer my greetings and thanks equaling the number of atoms of this Earth to the present director of the centre and all other organizers, all previous directors, and I would also like to thank those who have dedicated themselves and offered sincere service to continue to develop the center.
Up until now, spiritually, and with the present facilities, how far the conditions for ourselves and other sentient beings to practice Dharma, to develop the mind in the path to enlightenment, have been developed has depended on the kindness and offerings of all the previous organizers and directors. So, I would like to thank everyone and all those people who benefit, help, and put time and energy into teaching the program at the center, making the center beneficial, and who are able to spread the Buddha Dharma.
So, I’d like to take the opportunity today, this 21st birthday anniversary, to thank everyone and all the students, who due to the most precious opportunity can hear Dharma from Khensur Rinpoche and Geshe Petse, the present teacher.
You understand how such a Dharma center is so important. You can see more and more how much of an emergency it is to have such a center, especially regarding the present situation, because it shows the whole unmistaken path to liberation and happiness, the unmistaken cause of happiness and of the path to liberation, the unmistaken cause to the path to great liberation, full enlightenment, in other words, how to get out of suffering. What is the cause of suffering, how to get rid of that, is never explained and taught in schools, colleges, or universities.
Some universities which have a Buddhist philosopher on their staff may have some intellectual study, but these things are normally missing. Not only are these things missing in the world in these places of education but the most important, practical thing that is missing is the education of a good heart—compassion. That is why there is so much violence in schools. Then, families do not know what to do with their children. They find they have great difficulties with their children. So, this is missing. Parents guiding their children is also missing. Including in the United States, very young children kill many people; you have seen it happen in recent times. There is so much violence happening, in many countries—Columbia and so forth. There is so much violence among young people.
Why is there so much killing and war, even among religious people? It is because of a lack of this practice, this education of a good heart. The real religion, the real spiritual practice, is missing from education. They never talk about it, use the words, even in conversations. I am very surprised about this, after all the disasters and trouble that have happened in the United States, only this year. I was watching TV recently, and President Bush mentioned “compassion” six or seven times in a lecture. That is the first time I have heard it mentioned. There has been a lot of discussion for a long time over whether people should have guns or not in the United States. There are so many killings, and there has been a lot of discussion about it, but they cannot decide. But there is one solution, which is pacifying the mind, taking care of the mind, and guarding the mind. If you guard the mind then you don’t need guns. You don’t harm others and you don’t receive harm from others—shootings, atomic bombs, whatever, you don’t receive all this harm. So guarding the mind, the root, is never mentioned, and compassion is never talked about, never brought up in this discussion on whether to allow guns in the country or not. That clearly shows that people don’t think about it, because that education is not given in schools and colleges, even though this is the most important thing for world peace.
What can bring peace and happiness in the world generally, to all the different religions? It is compassion—loving kindness. You can only control weapons for a short time. Even if you are able to defeat your enemies it is only for a short time, but sooner or later you will be attacked by them, if not in this life then in the next life because the karma has been created and not purified.
So, compassion is the only answer for world peace, for young and for old, to bring peace and unity among religions. There is one thing—a good heart. The essence of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism, and the essence of Buddhism, is do not harm any sentient being. What differentiates Buddhism from other religions is compassion toward not only all kinds of human beings, poor and rich, friend, stranger, and enemy, but compassion to everyone, to every animal, insect, pig, fish, all sentient beings, whose minds are obscured and are suffering—so, compassion for everyone.
On top of that is not harming others and offering benefit. In the Mahayana path, there are the bodhisattva’s deeds, living with bodhicitta, the bodhisattva’s path, how to achieve enlightenment to offer extensive benefit to sentient beings, then teaching tantra, how to do that quickly—to liberate countless beings from the cause of suffering and bring them happiness, especially full enlightenment—as taught by the Buddha.
The essence of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism, at the Dharma center, is compassion. The existence of the center becomes a solution, offering this education, lots of practice, and a good heart. This is the real solution for cultivation of world peace and peace and happiness for all sentient beings.
Somebody comes to the center for one or two days for a course and hears about karma—if you harm others there is a consequence, result—due to the nature of the action you receive harm back. However, the other sentient being also wants happiness, and does not want suffering, like you. If you benefit others then the karmic result is that all your holy wishes are fulfilled. The person sees how other sentient beings are so precious and kind, how we receive all our happiness from others. From coming to your center for one or two days’ teaching, even a one-day teaching—with this as the main emphasis— that person stops killing other beings, fishing, and harming others. Then an uncountable number of sentient beings—insects, fish, worms—don’t receive harm from this person. All these countless other beings receive peace and happiness from this person. This comes from the center.
Over the years, so many sentient beings come to the Dharma center. Just from one person coming, so many sentient beings have peace and happiness. If this one person practices compassion, stops giving harm to others, makes a vow and tries to do that, countless sentient beings don’t receive harm from this person. This is the benefit to sentient beings. All the sentient beings receive benefit from this one person due to the center. That is your benefit. It comes from the director, from the secretary, from the teachers and translator, and from the whole community.
The center plays a most important role in world peace. This is our offering service. You are offering service to the center, trying to develop the center, to have teachings and office facilities so that more sentient beings can have contact with the Dharma. This is so important, urgent, an emergency, billions of times more urgent than an emergency at a hospital. You can see the incredible benefit to sentient beings.
There is certainly no question that the center liberates sentient beings from the lower realms and brings them to liberation, free from samsara and all the oceans of samsaric suffering. It also brings them to peerless happiness and enlightenment.
So, those are the general benefits of working for sentient beings and working for the center. You can see how incredible it is. I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all your great service and dedication. Everyone, thank you so much. This is my way of saying happy birthday to the center. I hope to see you soon and I will pray for everyone, for all of you, to have a meaningful life. Thank you very much.
| His Holiness the Dalai Lama |
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| Rinpoche wrote the following on how important it is to do what pleases His Holiness the Dalai Lama. | |
The most important thing, the heart thing, for the FPMT, however many billions of projects it has, is to do what pleases most His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This is the heart thing.
By concentrating on what most pleases His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the whole organization has a strong connection to His Holiness, to receive guidance from His Holiness, who is Chenrezig. So, this is the conclusion, the key, the heart one.
| Benefits of Dharma Centers and Temples |
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| Rinpoche gave the following advice, on the occasion of the opening of a new Dharma center, on the benefits of having centers and temples. | |
I prostrate with my body, speech, and mind to the Three Jewels who are the object of Refuge for all of us pitiful, suffering, numberless sentient beings.
My dear students, sisters and brothers, and benefactors,
From the bottom of my heart I would like to welcome everyone here for this special event, a great opportunity to create extensive merit, which is the cause of peace, happiness, and success in this life and future lives, liberation, and enlightenment.
I am very sorry I can’t be with you all today, I do apologize, even though it is my wish to be with you all to enjoy this function.
Compassion learned and practiced in your center is the source of all sentient beings’ happiness, because one person’s happiness, peace, and success is a mind without anger, ill will, etc. On top of that it benefits others. As a result of these actions, that person does not receive harm from others in the future, only help. Therefore, this individual has satisfaction and fulfillment and numberless others receive happiness and peace from this person. It is the same for a couple in a relationship – the harmony and success of it comes from the compassion of the individuals. It is the same for the family – the peace, happiness, and success depend on the individuals’ practice of compassion. The country’s and world’s peace also depend on the individuals’ practice of compassion.
This is why our temple is so important. We need this place for training in meditation on compassion. It is also a place to have many holy objects. Making offerings to them is a source of extensive merit, the cause of this and future lives’ happiness, peace, and success.
Look at the situation in Bosnia now, there is so much killing and torture, there is no compassion. The best way to help others is to inspire and educate others in compassion, besides practicing oneself. This helps with similar problems, such as famine, disease, poverty, homelessness, earthquakes, economic difficulties, etc. These all depend on causes and conditions and negative karma. Negative karma can wipe out a whole city in a few minutes! So, we need to educate people on how to purify negative karma and not to create the cause again. This can be done by developing compassion and understanding karma.
Why is there a need for a larger place to listen, reflect, and do meditation practice on the kind, compassionate Buddha's path? One can understand by analyzing how the need for Buddha Dharma is much more important, many billions of times more crucial, than going to the emergency room in the hospital when the heart stops. Why? Because suffering and happiness do not come from outside. They come from the mind.
For example, by following attachment there is only dissatisfaction, discomfort, and unhappiness. The minute one stops following attachment by reflecting on the nature of life, impermanence, and death, immediately there is contentment, satisfaction, peace, and happiness; there is no problem.
Similarly, when somebody is angry with you and harms you, you can see how that person is suffering, completely controlled by anger; how that person has no freedom at all, is completely overwhelmed and possessed by the spirit of anger; how he is creating so much negative karma by giving a lot of harm to you; how he is not only creating so many causes for the heaviest sufferings of the lower realms after this life, but has no peace or happiness even in this life; and how he is making his life unhappy and creating many problems.
If one uses it like this, the harmful action that would usually make the mind angry becomes the cause to develop compassion toward that person. Instead of getting angry, looking at that person as the enemy and harm, that person becomes only the object of your compassion. That person becomes only an object who has to be helped by you.
From these two examples, one can see the way the person thinks of you and behaves doesn't matter. How the person appears to you, the attitude and action, is totally up to your mind, how you interpret, how your mind labels. So what is called “friend” and “enemy” is coming from one's own mind. What is called “harming” and “helping” is coming from one's own mind, and the effects of happiness and unhappiness are coming from one's own mind. It depends on the way you think.
Everything, success and failure in business, wealth and poverty, a long life and short life, good health and bad health, good relationships and bad relationships in the family, all come from the mind, that which is good karma and negative karma. It is the same with liberation (the sorrowless state) and samsara (suffering), enlightenment and hell; all come from the mind.
How do we eliminate the evil mind that is the creator of everyday problems, including hell, and the karma causing suffering, and have only a pure mind producing day-to-day happiness, including enlightenment. That is only through holy Dharma. By developing method and wisdom shown by Buddha, we cease completely the root of all the suffering, delusion, and karma, including the imprints and even the obscurations, and we achieve liberation from samsara and full enlightenment, in order to lead all sentient beings away from all suffering and obscurations and to peerless happiness: enlightenment. The happiness of future lives, of this life, a long life, good health, wealth, and reputation also happen along the way.
Therefore, sentient beings need to learn how to practice listening, reflecting, and meditating on the teachings of Buddha. For that they need a teacher, translator, and all the necessary facilities. So, there is a need for a larger place, with more rooms, so it allows for different Dharma activities and other public services. This would also be the place for the Sangha to live and practice. The more space, the more it can benefit sentient beings. There can be more holy objects and places to make offerings, so it allows sentient beings to create more extensive merit and do more purification.
The particular function of this center is not only presenting philosophical teachings in a clear way, but especially lam-rim; to give a deep and clear understanding of lam-rim and meditation experience.
There are many enlightened beings and bodhisattvas in your country, but most of the people, even the Buddhists, who spend life studying and reciting one or two sutras, which explain only a small part of the path to enlightenment, have no idea where to begin the path, and how to go about practice, which is the steps of the path to enlightenment. The center can especially help by clearly teaching how to proceed on the gradual path to enlightenment through meditation practices.
The center also has a group which translates Dharma books, both philosophical teachings and teachings that different classes of people can relate to their lives. This way the center benefits Chinese communities all over the world.
Another special feature of the center is having well qualified teachers who know Mahayana teachings, not only sutra but also the tantra taught by Buddha (not Hindu tantra). This is a difference like the sky and earth.
What differentiates Buddha Dharma from other religions in the world is compassion toward every living being, without discrimination of religion, nationality, race, and so forth. A Mahayana Dharma center is the place which provides education on how to develop great compassion toward all living beings, and which causes others to practice and actualize this compassion in their heart.
Compassion never allows harm to be given to others, and besides that is only to benefit others. A Dharma center such as this becomes a very important tool to bring peace in the world, and peace in numberless sentient beings’ minds. So, whatever you are able to contribute benefits not only peace in this world but for all sentient beings. You can see how the Dharma center, which offers these practices and education, is an extremely important need. Therefore, I would say it would be an extremely practical thing to help this Dharma center so all these facilities exist and flourish.
It is said in the Sutra of Essence of Earth, Tenth Wheel:
In the world, comfort, happiness, peace, all those are received from making offering to the rare sublime ones [Triple Gem]. Therefore, those who like to have comfort, happiness, and peace always attempt to make offering to the rare sublime ones.
Generally, all the collections of goodness of Samsara and Nirvana are the result of having made offering to the Triple Gem. Especially by doing service with the various particular offerings, one receives different benefits individually. Buddha, the fourth guide, whose holy mind is enriched with the ten powers, announced in the Tune of The Brahma Sutra, clarifying Karma, that there are ten benefits of making light offerings.
1. One becomes like the light in the world.
2. One achieves the pure flesh eye, and
3. One achieves the devas’ eye.
4. One receives the wisdom of knowing what is virtue and what is non-virtue.
5. One eliminates the darkness of ignorance, the concept of inherent existence.
6. One receives the illumination of wisdom – even while one is in samsara one never experiences darkness.
7. One receives great enjoyment and wealth.
8. One gets reborn in the deva or human realm, and
9. One quickly becomes liberated.
10. One quickly attains enlightenment.
Those devas or humans who have accumulated this merit from making one light offering or just a handful of flowers will see the fully enlightened Maitreya Buddha.
Then there are the 10 benefits of prostrations to holy objects:
1. A perfect body, golden in color.
2. A beautiful body.
3. A sweet, enchanting voice that others can comprehend.
4. One can be in a public place without being shy.
5. Devas and humans like you.
6. You become very glorified.
7. You achieve a good rebirth.
8. You achieve great wealth.
9. You achieve liberation.
10. You achieve enlightenment.
There are 10 benefits of offering flowers to holy objects:
1. You become like a flower (expression of beauty).
2. Your sense of smell does not degenerate.
3. Your body does not smell and always smells scented.
4. You spread the scent of morality in all directions.
5. You become the first among others.
6. You achieve all beautiful objects.
7. You achieve wealth.
8. You have a good rebirth.
9. Liberation is achieved.
10. Enlightenment is achieved.
Incense and other offerings also have many benefits. Even putting one’s hands together in the mudra of prostration (young or old) to the temple and its holy objects, just for one second, achieves eight very important benefits:
1. A perfect body in your next life.
2. Perfect helpers in your next life, fullfilling all your wishes.
3. You are able to live in morality.
4. You have devotion.
5. You have bravery and a courageous heart.
6. You achieve rebirth as a deva or human.
7. You achieve the Arya path, with no death or rebirth.
8. You achieve enlightenment.
From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank all of you for your generosity in actualizing our temple, which is enables all sentient beings to accumulate merit.
| Voluntary Work |
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| A volunteer at an FPMT center wrote saying that he felt he was valued as a worker rather than as a Dharma brother. He felt that there was a lack of support for the volunteers in general. His idea was that the volunteers could undergo a trial period of a few months and if they proved to be good workers, then they could be given some pocket money for them to continue to work. | |
Dear John,
Thank you for your letter. I have heard your thoughts and your situation, and also your background. In essence, what I want to say is that the center has limited finances. It can’t feed the whole world. That is the background of the center. In the world, there are so many people who need help: homeless, hungry people, etc. People think only of this world, but there are numberless worlds. I heard there are volunteers who do their work as agreed and do get pocket money. So, I would like to request humbly of you: it is very important for you to take responsibility and fulfill the offer of service to the center, to sentient beings, and to Buddha's teachings. The center is there to provide what is needed to educate sentient beings in Dharma, liberate them from samsara, and bring them to full enlightenment.
Please think many times during the day: “The purpose of my life is to free others from suffering; I'm here to serve others. All sentient beings are the source of my realizations and enlightenment. They are very kind, most kind.”
There are different ways to meditate on this. An extensive way is to think that all your happiness of the three times come from your good karma. Your good karma is something you have been able to generate due to the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhas comes from bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas come from bodhicitta. Bodhicitta comes from the existence of obscured suffering sentient beings.
With much love and prayer, and please, with this positive mind, please enjoy your life at the center.
| Message to FPMT International Office |
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| Rinpoche sent the following message to the staff at the FPMT International Office. | |
The purpose of life is to benefit sentient beings, free them from suffering, and bring them to enlightenment. This is the real meaning of life, the purpose of surviving each hour, minute, and second with this human body. Some of us are in retreat in isolation, some are physically active in this world, some are busy with our bodies, some busy with our minds—whatever we are doing, our motivation is to benefit others and serve the teachings of the Buddha. This is the sole source of our own happiness and the happiness of others.
What else in life could be more meaningful, more fruitful, that can bring you to highest enlightenment, than cherishing and serving others?
I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all you have accomplished in this past year. All of this has come from your devotion and compassion. I will dedicate the merit and pray for you always.
With much love and prayer...
| The Need for Organizations |
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| Rinpoche made the following comments on the need for organizations. | |
There is a need for organizations in order to be able to help others, to be able to help more sentient beings. As an individual we can't do much. We need to be organized. The hippie attitude, from the 1960s or 1970s—to live in the mountains or on a farm and be free to do what you want—would, of course, reject organizations, rules, and formal discipline. Of course, rules that don't benefit the mind and which harm others are good to be rejected. It is wise to reject organizations that are harmful to the minds of oneself and others. But the statement that individual people can create their own religion needs to be analyzed. If the religion has no meaning or is harmful, then it is wise to reject it.
The purpose of Dharma center organizations is for you and your friends to learn more, to deepen your understanding, to help each other, to inspire each other, and, most importantly, to develop realizations of the path to enlightenment. Then you can overcome the sufferings of samsara by ceasing the cause: delusion, by practicing together the Buddha's teachings, especially the three principle aspects of the path to enlightenment: renunciation, bodhicitta, and correct view.
You can achieve enlightenment by ceasing the subtle defilements when you practice the Mahayana path. By practicing the Mahayana path you achieve both freedom from samsara and full enlightenment. If you are looking for the best, longest-lasting, highest quality happiness, then look for enlightenment—especially to benefit others.
Another thing—and this is extremely important—as a group, you can educate other beings. You can teach them Dharma, introduce the path, and also introduce them to the idea that there is more than happiness just in this life. There is happiness in future lives, in all coming future lives, as well as the ultimate happiness—freedom from samsara and fullest enlightenment.
So, to help many people you need organizations. As a group, it's easy to help many others in many ways. Even for teaching Dharma, you need organizations. You need a place, facilities, and funds for many things, including teachers, to be able to help others. You need a director, a cook, a bookkeeper, an accountant—so many things to be able to do it efficiently. As you want to do more to benefit others more extensively, there is social service. Of course, the best social service is giving Dharma, which removes the root of others' sufferings.
So, that's the purpose, that is why we need organizations.
| Education Program at Dharma Center |
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| Rinpoche made the following comments about the education program at an FPMT Dharma center, speaking to a nun who was studying there. | |
The resident teacher is a very learned geshe, and among the most experienced in astrology of all the monks from the three great monasteries in south India. More and more nuns are coming to the center, which has become a very good place to study.
I was suggesting that it would be good to start a four-year program, like the one the geshe already started in the Taiwan center. It would be good too if Geshe-la himself went over the program.
This method is good for Western people psychologically, because they have a limited number of years to study. That is easier for Western people, because it is not forever. They will have more courage. The idea is to give them a very clear goal, and for the course not to be too difficult. There would be examinations after each year, and that makes sure people really study. This means they have to memorize and learn, and understand what they have learned, so the exams are to help them. At the end, they would get a certificate from the organization.
The main thing is for them to become qualified teachers, able to offer courses and teach Dharma to people. Besides this, it also helps them in their own lives. It helps them very much in practicing Dharma, as there is less ignorance and more wisdom, which makes practicing Dharma much easier. Then by more correct practice, more correct realizations come.
One issue you raised was that people don't come regularly to the center, but only from time to time. In the West, there are a lot of obstacles in people’s lives. There are family obligations, and people have to work very hard to take care of their family, or even just themselves, because the lifestyle is very expensive here compared to other countries.
Not only that, but they also have a lot of distractions. Life is full of external desire objects, and there is also a lot of desire in the mind, which makes many excuses. So it is not easy for them to come to the teachings at the centers. It is easy to have a stronger interest in other things, like in desire objects, things having to do with the pleasures of this life and not so much with the happiness of future lives or even liberation and enlightenment. Also, after working long hours all day, they are tired when they come back home. So, people have many excuses.
There are so many obstacles in life, so many distractions from Dharma practice or even just from listening. Without question, the practice to focus on and the thing to actualize in the West is to deal with the objects of desire. There are so many advertisements. Even when you close your eyes, there is so much desire in the mind. Then when you open them, there is so much desire advertised, in the most effective way possible.
Therefore, even if just six people come, or even if just three people are able to come to the center to receive teachings, that is really amazing. That is incredible. It is unbelievable. They are very brave. They are defying the delusions, not following them. That is following Dharma.
The reason they come is either for their own happiness beyond this life or the happiness of this life. But which of these two reasons is to benefit others? This is not in every one’s case, but it can be generally said.
In any case, however small the amount of people who come to the center, we should rejoice. It is just amazing that sentient beings come to listen to the Dharma! This is something more precious than anything else in life. Even without practicing at all in this life, just listening plants the seed for enlightenment, so there is no question that it liberates from samsara and brings the happiness of this life, future lives, and enlightenment.
| Bad Luck |
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| Rinpoche gave the following advice to Dharma centers on what to do when your luck is down. | |
When your luck/controlling power is down, then obstacles come (you are blamed for things even if you haven't done them). To make life easy, it is very important to have pujas for protection performed. Otherwise, problems come one after another. You may receive a lot of complaints from people. This also depends on how much luck/controlling power the center’s leader/director has. For the center to receive help means that it needs the karma to receive help; a lot depends on the leader, too.
Buddhism is full of methods to protect from obstacles, so we can use those. If something is beyond people's intelligence, they can’t do anything; they can only do things if they know what to do.
It is good if centers can do things such as Medicine Buddha and Tara puja. I have been saying how Medicine Buddha puja is very powerful for success. Also, they must do regular protector prayers.
The most important thing for success is devotion and compassion—this is the cause for harmony. That is the best puja. Compassion for others cuts down on problems, and people will help you.
Devotion collects so much merit; good samaya leads to inner and outer prosperity; there is the wisdom to discriminate what is right, and everything goes well.
For example, in the USA, there are so many religions, but when problems occur, they don't use religion, they just use politics, not spirituality. We are a Dharma organization so there is so much that you can do. Some centers have a resident teacher who can do divinations and analysis and give spiritual support to the center through practices and pujas—at the beginning of each year, like in the monasteries, or every six months is best. If some problems are about to come which you can't predict, it is better to do pujas every six months (like Geshe Lama Konchog used to advise, and Kopan does). This will reduce problems and bring more peace.
Some things are very simple, like making a tea offering, but it can still help a lot.
| Advice for Buying Property |
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| Rinpoche gave the following advice to a Dharma center regarding buying property, in relation to what practices people can do to improve a situation for buying property, especially for changing the mind of the owner, who may be disinclined to sell. He pointed out that it is not always appropriate to use the same method but what is mentioned here can help. | |
Arya Sanghata Sutra: Print the sutra seven times and read it six times. You need to create extensive merits in order to buy and in order for them to sell.
Read the White Umbrella Deity prayer once and recite Lion Face Dakini prayer many more times.
Protector prayers—Recite the usual ones, particularly Kalarupa.
Perform the Incense puja three times. There is a particular one from the Nyingma tradition Riwo Sangcho. It involves paying karmic debts to sentient beings to eliminate obstacles and for success. It is a very short incense puja that is powerful.
Also, dedicate the merits for the Maitreya project to receive funding and be completed, and then for all the other projects to be completed with no obstacles. Dedicate all the offerings and services to monasteries such as Sera, Ganden, and Drepung, of the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition, and Tashi Lhunpo, the two tantric colleges, and other monasteries. Also, dedicate the merits for the FPMT to build monasteries and various holy objects in different parts of the world, which is the quickest way to purify sentient beings, allow them to collect extensive merits, and bring them to enlightenment. Dedicate the merits to offering social services in different parts of the world, to being able to help centers who have financial difficulties, and for other centers to be most beneficial to sentient beings, cause them to generate faith in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha and actualize bodhicitta in their hearts, to particularly spread Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings in their hearts, and to bring them to enlightenment as quickly as possible.
Then, particularly, ask for prayers for your wishes to succeed, for the benefactors’ and the international office benefactor’s wishes to succeed, and for all her business to be completed as quickly as possible, as well as for others who requested to have prayers for their success.
Finally, dedicate so that your center is able to acquire the property without any obstacle, financially, and also from the people's side—that they immediately and very happily respond.
| Protection for Dharma Center |
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| Rinpoche sent the following practices to provide protection for a retreat land. | |
Dear Jackie and Dave,
For protection you need the White Umbrella Tibetan text (this is mantra, prayers, and benefits). I will send it to you. Along with this is the mantra for protection from fire (Mantra Heart of Vairocana).
Regarding the White Umbrella Tibetan text, this should be printed and pasted onto big billboards in the four corners of the retreat land, also in retreatants’ own retreat houses and boundaries. It should at least be in the four directions (or monastery, city, and town, area).
The mantras and texts that are to be posted around the land should be blessed. If there is a very good practitioner or a high lama, then ask him or her to bless them to make them more powerful. Otherwise you can bless them yourselves (or ask one of the retreatants).
Method for Blessing
Refuge:
In your mind, make a strong request to Guru, Buddha, and Sangha to absorb into the texts. Make a strong request and think they all absorb into the texts. Recite the mantra of dependent arising 21 times. It is important to have strong faith in this method and protection.
By having White Umbrella mantra, one is unable to be harmed by contagious disease or from the elements, such as water, fire, wind, and earth. It provides protection from wars, enemies, and people wanting to harm.
Each person at the retreat land should take it in turns to recite White Umbrella prayer. Each person does it for a week and rotates like that, so it is always being recited by someone on the land. There is great benefit for the retreat land and also for the individual.
The Mantra Heart of Vairocana just needs to be displayed around, in people’s houses, also the four corners of the land.
| Creating Merit for a Dharma Center |
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| Rinpoche gave the following advice as to how to create merit for a Dharma center. | |
Be careful, watch your behavior with other people, and be kind.
Offering food to students at the center is a way of collecting a lot of merit because students are like the pores of the guru. Disciples of the same guru collect more merit from offering food to fellow disciples than from offering to Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, numberless statues, and stupas. People don't usually think of this, they mostly think of offering food to monasteries, but you can collect merit this way too.
If you offer with the recognition that the students are like the guru's pores, as they have the same guru, then anything you offer with this recognition – chocolate, water, or money – is an incredible way to collect merit. If you offer to many Sanghas who have the same guru, then you are making offerings to that many pores of the guru. This is the easiest way to collect vast amounts of merit through offering. By offering even just one candy, flower, or grain of rice to a statue of Buddha or a visualized Buddha you collect vast amounts of merit, but offering to Sanghas who have the same guru is much more powerful than offering to the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) as well as all the statues, stupas, and scriptures existing in all directions. It doesn’t have to be only Sangha, the students can also be lay people. These benefits should be understood so that when you make offerings to the guru's pores you think correctly. This is the best way.
Sometimes centers don't have much money, but if the director knows Dharma, he or she can very skillfully create merit without needing much money. When you meet people and support people, you also collect merit, which means that you can achieve enlightenment, and support one's own and others’ happiness. If center organizers are not skilful and wise, do not know how to take care of people, then even having a geshe teaching Dharma in the center may not be enough. Developing the center doesn't only depend on the teacher, but on how you look after people. People can be made to feel welcome so they are attracted to come to the center, or not. So we must pay attention to this.
The essential thing is to make people happy, serve them well. This helps to build up the center, to get material support very easily without pushing. The purpose, of course, is to have more facilities, because then the center has more ability to spread the Dharma and more comfort, so more people can enjoy and receive the Dharma, you can benefit them more, liberate them from oceans of samsaric suffering, and bring them to enlightenment.
You need to be aware of so many things. However, the key thing is to know how to take care of people. You must cherish every person who comes to the center, feel they are so precious, take care of them. Respect naturally comes from that, then caring, and the person is so happy. There are so many opportunities to collect merit for the center if you know the Dharma. Even just offering a bowl of water or cup of tea to a person who is a student or disciple of the same guru as you collects so much merit. This is one way to build up the center. Think big. This is a bodhisattva's skillful means to benefit sentient beings.
We have so many words at meetings, but we need to put them into practice in the center.
| Dharma Teachings via the Internet |
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| Rinpoche made the following comments regarding implementing an idea about using the internet to transmit live teachings from one Buddhist center to another, so that the students could receive the teachings given by a resident geshe at the center. | |
Before studying philosophy, one should start with the lam-rim first in order to gain an introduction to Buddhism, to generate a deep understanding of Dharma, and then one can study philosophy. At least one should have studied the middle scope of lam-rim, or studied renunciation of samsara, and then one be interested to learn Buddhist philosophy.
We can use an internet connection with whichever center has a good interpreter. The interpreter is a key issue: when there is a good interpreter, an interpreter who has learned Dharma, then during his/her translation, the teaching becomes even clearer. If he/she knows the subject well, it makes the subject even better. Even if there is a good geshe but not a good interpreter, the message cannot get through, students cannot get the details of the Dharma. Recently in the USA, there was an interpreter who was better than a geshe because he added laughter to his translation.
In general, we can apply the method of using an internet connection from any center, so that, for example, a study group can study Dharma even though it would be difficult for them to find or host a geshe locally. Some places do have difficulty in taking care of the housing for a geshe, a monthly allowance, food, and so on. Of course, it is good to have a geshe and interpreter in the center because that helps to bring people to the center for consultations, pujas, initiations, consecrations of statues, and so on, not just for teaching. The geshe can help with many things, it depends on what qualities the geshe has. The quality of the geshe brings quality to the center. For example, Geshe Lama Konchog knew astrology and knew how to check for appropriate dates.
However, the key issue is the lam-rim teaching, that the geshe sets an example for people, that people get inspiration from the geshe, feel his compassion, humility, and experience an example of morality—there are many benefits, not just study.
When there is no geshe in a center, the experienced students can organize discussion groups to go over the lam-rim. There are two reasons for them to organize this:
1. If they want to learn
2. For them to help others
New students should learn lam-rim first before philosophy so that they have more motivation to join the philosophy class, otherwise it is easy for them to drop out of the philosophy class.
Also, we can put some basic questions and answers about the Buddha's teaching online. Lam-rim teachings would be quite good for this and quite good for beginners, the questions being asked are quite similar. Then, when people press a button on their computer, they can get an answer to their question. For philosophy, that may be a bit difficult.
| Sutras Played Aloud |
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| Rinpoche gave the following advice to Dharma centers regarding playing sutras aloud in the center. | |
People come to the Dharma center for purification, to achieve liberation and enlightenment, so such an easy way to help them is to have a sutra playing so they can hear it as they are resting or working.
You can play the Sanghata Sutra or other sutras. Hearing the sutras can purify not only the ten non-virtuous actions, but also the five extremely heinous non-virtues and prevent rebirth in the lower realms.
It is very good to have a sutra recited by a holy being (such as the recording of Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche reciting the Sanghata Sutra) so that there is a stronger effect from the blessing of their speech. Or you can have the sutra recited by someone whose voice is enchanting, and who flies like to listen to.
| Finding a Retreat Center |
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| A Dharma center in the UK asked Rinpoche what practices they should do in order to help them acquire a retreat center. | |
My most precious brothers and sisters,
In order to be able find and buy a retreat center, please recite 108 Sanghata Sutras and one Golden Light Sutra.
You can also organize a special day where you offer drinks, food, snacks, English food, mashed potato,…just joking!
You can see in the world that so many people get an education, then wealth, power, and so forth, and then they use it to harm others, harm the world, and harm themselves. What you are doing is the opposite, bringing joy, freedom, happiness, peace, now and also in the future, forever, to so many sentient beings, not just for yourself, your family, England, the rest of the world, but for all sentient beings.
This is the total opposite to what most people do in the world. Your aim is not only for temporary peace and happiness, your main aim is for ultimate peace and happiness, total liberation from the suffering of samsara, great liberation, peerless happiness, and full enlightenment.
So, therefore, develop compassion and wisdom and enjoy, be happy! Thank you very much.
With much love and prayer from the Mickey Mouse from the Himalayan Mountain who is currently at Osel Ling.
Also, zillions of thanks to Geshe-la, and billions of thanks to all the rest – the director, education manager, house manager, bookshop manager, cook, book-keeper, Geshe-la’s attendant, all the students, and everyone who comes to serve and practice.
| Developing a Dharma Center |
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| Rinpoche gave the following advice to a Dharma center as to which practices students could do in order to develop the center. | |
Please read the Sanghata Sutra 300 times. Students can also write it out.
Offer gold to statues that are dull or tarnished.
Perform the practice of offering water to Dzambala's crown.
Make a two-storey Dzambala statue.
| Creating Merit for a Dharma Center |
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| Rinpoche gave the following advice as to how to create merit for a Dharma center. | |
My very dear fortunate ones, whose hearts are opened for liberation and to bring others, who are countless, to liberation and full enlightenment.
I am very happy to hear that the group is stable, continuing to learn the path to enlightenment and practice.
Please continue to learn from the geshe as much as possible while he is there. Later, you will rejoice so much. Even after you have achieved enlightenment and after you have enlightened all suffering beings, still you will enjoy the Dharma. Even at that time, there is nothing in life better than meditating on and practicing the lam-rim. This is the best life, because it is not suffering, and you attain everything from this. You can give all happiness to all suffering beings.
With much love and prayers for all you to have meaningful lives...
| Dharma Group Texts |
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| Rinpoche offered the following advice concerning which texts to study at new Dharma groups. He also commented which text would be more beneficial for this particular group to study out of a lam-rim text, a lo-jong text, or Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life. | |
In this case, it would be more beneficial to study a lo-jong text. The lo-jong and lam-rim texts are more beneficial for newer groups to study, as they give the outline of the whole path to enlightenment. Shantideva gives more detail of this outline.
So, it is like with the news on the television, the main points are presented and then you can decide whether to stay for the detailed report that follows. So, too, with the lam-rim and lo-jong texts: you receive an outline, and then you can choose to study Shantideva for more details of this outline.
More talks by Lama Zopa on this topic:
The Most Important Thing in the FPMT from November 2001
The Role of the Center and Study Group from May 2003
