Member of the FPMT

You said that you met with a Tibetan lama, who you consulted about your business. He did an observation and said there were many problems but the business could change. Because your business didn't change, now you are having doubts about Buddhism, about your beliefs, about being generous to the masters and abbots of the monasteries, and making offerings to them.

The lama you met with said things could change this year. This year is not finished yet. You should think about what he said. He said it COULD be changed this year. He meant it's possible, if the causes and conditions come together, if you create them, then things can change. But it seems that you are clinging to the idea that things could change very fast. Even though the year has not finished, your doubts arose. It seems to me that you expected too much too quickly, and this made you upset because it's not happening.

There was a very high lama, the head of the Nyingmas, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Our first student, the Russian lady, Princess Zena Rachevsky, lived in Nepal for many years, studied with Lama Yeshe, and translated. Her husband, a quite wealthy American man, sent money for her every year, maybe every six months. She, Lama, and I lived on that money. One time the money didn't come for a long time, in the Year of the Rooster, which is a special year to make pilgrimage in Nepal. Many people come over the mountains to make that pilgrimage. At that time, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was giving the transmission of the Kangyur in Nepal. She went to ask him to do a divination to see whether the money would come. The money didn't come, so I told her that if the person who asks the question doesn't have the karma to receive the right answer, but to receive the wrong answer, then this is what happens. I also did a divination. I told her that, for myself, if a mistake is made, then it is my own mistake, but with high lamas, there is no mistake, they are enlightened beings, so they don't make mistakes. If the other person has the karma to receive a wrong answer, that is what happens. She understood that situation one hundred percent.

At the beginning of each session, meditate for at least 15 minutes on the lamrim, following the outline.

In your first retreat session please practice Lama Chopa.

In the second, third, and forth sessions practice the Four Mandala Offering to Tara.

At the end of your last session recite the King of Prayers, Vajrasattva mantras, and protector prayers.

Recite each of the Tara mantras after the praises and emphasize the individual Taras for wealth and success. Recite more of these Taras’ mantras.

My very dear Martha,
I hope you are doing well and that you are happy. You can learn a lot from your present situation by looking at it in a positive way.

Normally, you don’t have the opportunity to learn this, by not being in such a situation. Especially, you can learn to have courage and develop your full potential. In this way, one can overcome all sufferings and their causes, including the cycle of birth, death, old age, and sickness. One can achieve peerless happiness and full enlightenment. Not only that, one can cause so many other living beings to have perfect happiness and to bring them from happiness to happiness, to the peerless happiness of full enlightenment, by liberating them from all the sufferings of cyclic existence – samsara – including the causes of negative emotional thoughts and their actions – karma.

I have seen you so many times on TV and thought that I would like to send you some meditation books for you to read in prison, as you have a lot of time to analyze things, to look within yourself, to study your life, to explore change, and to achieve freedom, inner freedom, which is most important, because then you have freedom over all external things.

At other times, your life must be extremely busy, so you may not have much time to really meditate or analyze. So, this situation you are in now is like when one is alone in retreat, where one has space to think about one’s life, qualities, mistakes, and one can see deeper into one’s own life. Through that, one can benefit others more deeply and bring more peace and happiness to others.

My name is Lawudo Lama; usually people call me Lama Zopa. I bear the name of an incarnate lama. I guess this is from some merit, positive actions, committed in past lives, and this is the result. I was born in the Himalayan Mountains, near Mount Everest. That’s why I am sending you this picture of Mount Everest. Hopefully, one day you can visit there; it is a totally different world.

On one side of Mount Everest is Nepal and on the other side is Tibet. In ancient times, many great yogis achieved high attainments in these places. Many holy beings meditated in the caves in these areas and were liberated there.

Liberation does not mean you become nothingness, it does not mean that you disappear. Not only does your body not disappear but your mind also does not disappear. It does not mean that your mind becomes non-existent; it is not like that.

Liberation means one achieves total control over one’s body and mind, not only the gross body and mind but even the extremely subtle ones. One is free from all the gross and subtle defilements, wrong concepts, and delusions and their actions – karma. One is liberated from the sufferings of rebirth, old age, sickness, and death, as well as from the suffering of pain and the suffering of change – the latter of which is temporal, samsaric pleasures, but which are derived from delusion and karma, whose nature is only suffering. If you analyze samsaric pleasures you discover that they are only suffering, just like a hallucination, they appear as pleasure through our ignorance. Not only that, you become liberated totally from the aggregates (the body and mind), whose nature is suffering, because they are contaminated by the seed of delusion. This seed is the foundation for the sufferings of change and pain.

I try to help a little bit in the world, teaching meditations on the nature of phenomena and cause and effect, showing which causes come from which effects. From positive causes come happiness and from negative causes come suffering. I try to emphasize ethics and also teach compassion in order to alleviate the suffering of living beings, and to bring them ultimate, everlasting, peerless full enlightenment, the completely liberated state, when we have eliminated all the mistakes of mind, gross and subtle, and have a complete, full understanding, and all realizations. With this one is able to do perfect work for so many living beings and bring them perfect, peerless bliss and full enlightenment.

Please enjoy life with a good heart and have a liberating and enlightening journey with these books.
With much love and prayers...

My most dear beloved Jimmy,
I hope you are well. I wanted to send this message to you quickly. We will try what we can. It might be a little late. We should have done some pujas and prayers dedicated for you and your success earlier. It seems that making a four-foot high statue of Kurukulla can make a difference, especially if the statue is completed within two weeks. It seems that work and business can then become positive and successful.

If things don't succeed, you shouldn't let this make your mind unhappy and depressed, feeling great shame. From the Dharma point of view, it's nothing. Even if you don't succeed, this is nothing to worry about or feel concerned about. If it were something non-virtuous, like killing, stealing, and the other ten non-virtues, it would be something to worry about. It's just work, and you didn't succeed because people don't want to invest money. It's nothing to worry about from a Dharma point of view. Only from a worldly person's point of view is it something shameful.

Try as much as possible, but if it doesn't happen, then you shouldn't worry. Don't make your mind down. It's unnecessary and also causes you to be physically unhealthy. The important thing is that in your life you have collected so much merit and offered so much service to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the FPMT organization, because of me, our relationship in the Dharma.

A business failure would be shameful according to a worldly person's point of view, those with attachment clinging to this life, but it is not shameful. From a worldly person's view, if one is able to kill one's enemy, one rejoices. In Dharma, this is wrong rejoicing, and is very harmful to oneself and others. Why is it harmful to others? Because it becomes heavy negative karma, which means you can’t have realizations, and you can't benefit others.

Also, from a worldly person's view, to defeat others and win is regarded as the best thing. But from a Dharma point of view, from the Mahayana view, or in reality, to offer the victory to others and take the loss upon oneself is the most profitable, because by doing this sincerely you create the karma to win in all your future lives. You always create the cause for victory and no defeat. From a worldly point of view, you take the victory and give the loss to others, but that negative karma brings loss in so many future lives, so much unhappiness. With Mahayana Buddhism, with Dharma, you have happiness in all future lives, you achieve the victory, and because of that and because your practice is to benefit others, you take others' sufferings and experience them and give others all happiness, temporary and ultimate, including enlightenment. So, because of that, being able to offer the victory and take the loss, you are happy. It is very satisfying, very fulfilling.

As I have mentioned to you before, your victory is something that causes happiness to many sentient beings, offering great benefit to them. Taking the victory is not for you, but for all sentient beings. It is like His Holiness the Dalai Lama not creating violence but fighting for the truth, for the Tibetan people to have their own country and total religious freedom, to preserve and spread the Dharma in Tibet and in the rest of the world, for the Dharma to exist for a long time, and for it to flourish and spread all over the world. His Holiness is fighting for this because people are not happy. In China, there is no religious freedom and people are unhappy. One has to think of the benefit for sentient beings in the decisions we take. Which, taking the victory or the loss, has most benefit for sentient beings – you make your decision from that basis.

From the Dharma point of view, bearing hardships to create negative karma or to harm others is not perseverance. It is wrong perseverance. However, those who bear hardships to practice Dharma, for realizations, to achieve liberation and enlightenment so that they can liberate and enlighten other sentient beings, are practicing perseverance, one of the six paramitas, because the object is virtue.

Another example is a person living an ascetic life of renunciation in a cave, to achieve liberation and enlightenment so as to be able to enlighten all sentient beings. From a worldly person's point of view, they think this person living in a cave is an object of compassion; they see this life as suffering – having no material possessions and living in a cave instead of a luxury house. From the Dharma point of view, thinking that this person is pitiful is wrong compassion. This is the view of the worldly mind. Sentient beings not practicing Dharma and engaging in negative karma, creating the sufferings of samsara and the lower realms, are objects of compassion. That is unbearable.

It is good to think that in emptiness, there is no gain and no loss. It is very good to think in this way in case you don’t achieve your aim in business. You must think like this over and over. As I mentioned one morning, when I talked about emptiness to you, think of a truly existent “I,” truly existent company, truly existent business, and truly existent funds. In reality, these things have no such true existence, the true existence that appears and that we believe in, such as a real company and business.

Look at this situation as like a dream. Then, all this loss and gain is like a dream. Then, you get the feeling that it isn’t important, that it's nothing. That's what we should do. Try those methods in meditation. Don't bring yourself down and make yourself unhappy. I want you to have a very, very long life. Remember that the appearance of this life is very short; it can stop any minute, hour, or day. Think about this business loss as like a water bubble. Also, even if the whole world criticizes you, it's nothing. Even if people give you a bad reputation, it's nothing when you think of impermanence and death.

Overall, in this case, what seems to be needed is merit. My suggestion to you is to make many offerings. I have asked two people to buy prayer wheels turned by candles for you. It's important to replace the old candle when it burns down so that the prayer wheel is always turning. This is a very special method. I also have special dakini mantras and prayers and requests to help to eliminate obstacles.

So for now, thank you very much for all your generosity and support for me and the organization. It's wonderful.
With much love and prayer...

Business Downturn
A letter from Lama Zopa to a student.

My dear Jim,
How are you? I understand that there has been a lot of change in your life. However, you must know that you are not the only one who is experiencing this problem of failure in business. There are many people in the world who have lost millions of dollars, and I know there are other students in Hong Kong, other businesspeople, who were unbelievably wealthy before, and now are having problems. And I also know that in the world there are people for whom nothing is working at the moment. Everything is blocked, and they don’t know what to do, or how to solve the problem.

Generally, this shows the nature of samsara, its ups and downs. Even if someone is wealthy through all this life, in the next life they can be poor. That is besides the changes within one life. Things can’t always stay the same. What is always the same is suffering, that everything is suffering in nature, until we are free of samsara. Its nature is for nothing to be definite, and for nothing to give satisfaction except Dharma, practicing the gradual path to enlightenment with determination. The nature of samsara is like fire; it’s hot. One has to accept that. There is no reason to be upset that the nature of fire is hot. The only thing to do is get out of the fire. It’s the same with this: the only method is to get out of samsara.

It is said that even an enlightened being like the Buddha experienced difficulties, although he had purified the two obscurations and completed the two realizations. At one time, Buddha had a thorn go six inches into his foot, as a result of an action he committed in a past life. The conclusion to draw from this is: If even the Buddha demonstrates this pain due to past karma, why not us? Why not me, an ordinary sentient being? Of course, I have to experience past karma. The ultimate solution is nothing other than spiritual practice: Dharma, which means purifying past negative karma and creating as little negative karma as possible. This is the fundamental solution for success, for this life’s work for oneself and for others.

We are unbelievably happy. We have incredible freedom compared to hell beings. What we think is a problem is nothing; it is only great pleasure. We are in a pure realm where there is no suffering, compared to hell beings. Even in the human realm, there are many others who have a hundred times worse problems than you. And the worst thing is that they haven’t found a valid spiritual path, and have no solutions to their suffering. They have no idea of future rebirths, and what can happen then. They are so deluded, completely crazy, and don’t know where they are going.

Therefore, you are an unbelievably fortunate being, with unbelievable freedom. So, you must use the freedom to practice Dharma. Of course, what happened to you is ending past negative karma.

Enjoy life by recognizing all the incredible freedoms you have, a precious human rebirth, and Buddha nature, which you can use to achieve all happiness, including enlightenment, and cause it for all sentient beings.
With much love and prayer...

Experiencing Business Problems
A student was experiencing business difficulties.

My very dear Tim,
How are you? If, through serving others with a good heart, you lose even your whole business, there is always so much merit gained from that. Even if a lot of money does not result from your efforts, sooner or later you will enjoy the result.

When you work for projects that have greater and deeper benefit for sentient beings, usually obstacles arise. Not every time, but many times. You have to have a lot of merit to be able to offer that service. Otherwise, sentient beings would be able to attain enlightenment very easily, and there wouldn’t be any left by now.

But it is very important work, because it makes your life meaningful. Even though the money didn’t come, because it made your life meaningful, your effort was not wasted.

In the world, in most people’s cases, even though they may be making many billions of dollars, it’s all done for the self and for this life, so everything becomes negative karma. Their whole life becomes negative karma—a cause to reincarnate in the lower realms—besides such a life being meaningless and empty. You can see the big differences between these two lives, this one and the one who is serving sentient beings and the teachings of the Buddha.
With much prayer and love from the Lawudo Mickey Mouse...

Falling on Hard Times
A Hong Kong businessman had been very well-to-do, but now no matter what he did, he lost money.

Dear Tony,
It is important that you practice with strong faith. Your good karma from the past to have wealth and enjoyment has finished. When you had the opportunity, you didn’t use it to create more good karma and more wealth by making offerings to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and by offering charity to sentient beings.

Your recent good karma was just used for yourself, with attachment clinging to this life, so it did not become virtue, and the merit finished. This is the same as working hard and accumulating a lot of money, and then spending it, without putting anything in the bank or investing anything. All the money just gets used up. It is the same here.

When you are enjoying the results of good karma, you should continuously use it to create more good karma with a sincere heart, with the thought of benefiting others. This way, there will be prosperity continuously.
Much love and prayer...

Profiting from Selling Alcohol
A Chinese businessman asked for advice regarding whether it is bad to make money selling wine, caviar, and canned salmon. Rinpoche was concerned about the effect on him of mentioning the result of selling alcohol, which is to be reborn in the hell realms, and so began by speaking to him for some time about the lay vow of abstaining from alcohol.

An exception would be if a thousand people are dying of starvation and there is no other way to save them except by selling alcohol to them, then in that case it is better to sell it than to refuse them.

Selling alcohol, unless one has a great purpose and is doing it with strong compassion, is better to avoid.

It is explained in the Vinaya teachings, Dorwa Lung, that there are eight hot hells, called Black Line hot hell, and so on. A person who drinks alcohol gets born in the fifth hot hell, called Great Lamentation, and the person who sells wine gets reborn in the Great Crying Hell and also in the Iron House Hell, which is a house in a burning fire with no way to escape.

It is better to gradually change the nature of your business, and give the money that comes from these things to a good cause, such as charities. Psychologically, it feels better to do it this way, in the short term.