Member of the FPMT

Dear Lorraine,
First, you have to know the benefits of the bodhicitta practice; you have to have a big goal in mind. The purpose of life is to free all sentient beings from all sufferings and to cause them to have happiness, especially to bring them to enlightenment, to free them from all defilements and sufferings.

The next thing, in order to perfectly do that, is that you need the path to enlightenment. The door to enlightenment is bodhicitta. Bodhicitta is the most important thing in life, not only for your own benefit but in order to eliminate all the defilements of countless other sentient beings, for everyone.

You need to know what bodhicitta is: it is renouncing oneself and cherishing other sentient beings. You need to understand this to be able to enjoy and accept the practice (tonglen). That depends on how much you see self-cherishing as the enemy. The more you see it as the enemy, the more you are able to do tonglen practice sincerely.

You are not only taking the suffering of others, you are taking all the undesirable things onto the ego and destroying the ego. The ego is the enemy of bodhicitta. If there is ego, there is no space in the mind for bodhicitta. Bodhicitta is the wish-fulfilling, holy thought that brings all happiness for oneself and for every sentient being.

The more you understand this, the more you will enjoy taking the suffering of others and giving them all your happiness and merit. How this benefits other sentient beings is because the more you renounce the ego, the more you are able to practice bodhicitta. It makes it possible to enter the Mahayana path that eliminates both defilements, gross and subtle, and to attain omniscience, so you are able to become enlightened and do perfect works for sentient beings. You collect vast amounts of merit each time you take others' sufferings or give others your happiness. For example, each time you visualize giving your body to others, you collect so much merit. Each time you give your possessions, happiness, and merits to others, you collect vast amounts of merit. Giving all of these are the cause for achieving ultimate happiness. Each time we take others' sufferings, we purify many eons of negative karma, so we are able to achieve enlightenment soon, even in this life.

The actual benefit of taking others' suffering, the long term, ultimate benefit, is that you become enlightened for the benefit of all sentient beings. This benefit is enormous, like the vast sky, and what you can offer to each sentient being is like the limitless sky.

This is the main benefit of this practice. Then, it becomes more powerful purification than doing a three-month Vajrasattva retreat, with comforts and ego. You are doing the Vajrasattva retreat so you will not be born in the lower realms. This is not a very powerful purification or sacrifice for others. Sincerely taking others' suffering and its causes with strong compassion, just once, purifies more than doing a one-year Vajrasattva retreat.
With much love and prayer...

One time I was in England and we were driving to an office for a meeting with the Maitreya Project designer, engineer, architect, and environmental advisor, when these people were going to present their ideas. We were stopped at a red light.

There was a middle-aged, well-dressed man, quite short, crossing the road. He had such an awful body, with long, large fleshy protrusions pointing out, covering his hands and face. It was the first time I saw such a face and body. I pointed him out to my companions. This one fortunate time I remembered to practice tonglen. When you see such a suffering being, practice tonglen. I pointed him out to one of my companions and said "Quickly, quickly, practice tonglen." I found that meditation quite effective. You can take the suffering on yourself and give it all to your ego, to destroy the ego, the self-cherishing thought.

One of my companions asked whether by doing this practice it made the man's sickness meaningful, that it would get better. I said it would be extremely beneficial to achieve enlightenment to be able to benefit all beings. One can pray and dedicate the merits from that practice for that person to be quickly liberated from samsara. That means to stop all sicknesses, however many hundreds of sicknesses there are, all sufferings, and all the problems of life. So, this way of praying covers everything. This meditation develops bodhicitta, enables oneself to collect extensive merit, purify negative karma, and achieve enlightenment more quickly. After that, you're able to perform perfect work, not only for that person but for all sentient beings, and are able to free them from the ocean of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment.

Although we have different definitions for love and compassion, and during tonglen practice love and compassion are practiced at different times, actually, they are not separate.

Just as smoke is a sign of fire, and with fire there is smoke, so, too, where love is present, so is compassion. In practice they come together.

When you are wishing to take on the suffering of others sincerely, then you are also wishing for their happiness. And when you are wishing sincerely for others’ happiness, then you are also wishing to remove their suffering.

Although the thought of love and compassion does not arise simultaneously, in practice they appear together.

My very dear Laura,
Thank you very much for your kind letter.

All that you are experiencing is due to past karma. It is still very good to continue to practice Lion-Face Dakini. Also, if you can recite the White Umbrella prayer. You should also perform Medicine Buddha puja three times – you can practice it with other people.

It would also be very good if you could recite the Arya Sanghatasutra four times, and the Sutra of Golden Light five times. Read whatever you can each day, until you complete the recitations.

Also, you can take the Eight Mahayana Precepts [see Rinpoche's Direct and Unmistaken Method] twice each month. This is very powerful for purifying past negative karma, as well as for collecting merit, so that you can have a good rebirth in your next life, when death comes, which can happen at any time. So, this would be extremely good.

Regarding reading the two sutras, this is a very important way to collect extensive merits. Also, reading these two sutras becomes a very powerful purification practice. If you read even just two or three words of the Arya Sanghatasutra, it purifies the five uninterrupted karmas (killing your father, killing your mother, killing an arhant, drawing blood from a Buddha, and causing a schism in the sangha community). Even hearing just two or three words from this sutra is very powerful purification, so reading the whole sutra is much greater. Also, by reading these two sutras you collect so much merit, for your health, long life, protection, and so on. But most importantly, you collect extensive merit that purifies negative karma and defilements, so that you can achieve the path as quickly as possible, liberate many sentient beings from unimaginable sufferings, and bring them to enlightenment as quickly as possible—especially the sentient beings who are connected to you, so that they can meet the Dharma, be free from samsara, and achieve enlightenment.

It is also very good if you can do a little lamrim meditation each day, on the lamrim outlines, especially focusing on impermanence, death, and bodhicitta. You can follow the outlines of the two ways to generate bodhicitta. For one week focus mainly on death and impermanence, and then the next week on bodhicitta. Do this for some time.

Purifying negative karma is one way to not experience problems. The other solution is to collect extensive merit, so that you can have fewer problems and experience more success and happiness. When things are difficult in your life, this is the result of past negative karma. Whether you experience this as suffering or happiness depends on how you look at the situation. If you look at it as pleasure then it becomes pleasure and happiness. The suffering is transformed into happiness. This depends on your thinking differently from how you normally think.

It is good to think in the way it is explained in the Guru Puja, in the lamrim section:

Should even the environment and the beings therein
Be filled with the fruits of their karmic debts
And unwished for sufferings pour down like rain
We seek your blessings to take these miserable conditions as a path
By seeing them as causes to exhaust the results of our negative karma.

In this way you are looking at the problems as purifying past negative karma. The first way to think when you encounter problems is to think that they are finishing your past negative karma.

As Kadampa Geshe Kara Gomchen says:

Even the present little suffering finishes past negative karma,
And one will have happiness in the future,
Therefore look at the suffering as happiness.

Always remember this quotation, whenever you have difficulties.

Another way is to look at the problems and suffering in your life as positive. One way they can become positive is when you experience sufferings on behalf of other sentient beings. Do the tonglen practice of taking other sentient beings’ suffering on yourself, as your own suffering. Take the suffering into your heart, onto your ego, and think that it destroys your ego, which becomes non-existent. Think also that your emotional “I” or ego “I”—the one that cherishes the ego—also becomes non-existent. Then meditate on that emptiness. This way tonglen becomes not only a means to develop bodhicitta but also to develop emptiness. Do this practice regularly, and then, from time to time, think, “I am experiencing this suffering, these difficulties and problems, on behalf of all sentient beings. May they have all happiness, up to enlightenment.”

When you take on others’ suffering, the idea is that they experience all happiness up to enlightenment. When you live your life with this attitude as much as possible, then whatever negative problem occurs only appears to you as an incredible opportunity. This also depends on how strongly you recollect how very kind and precious sentient beings are to you, and how much they are suffering. Through this, one feels their unbearable suffering.

In this way, every second that you experience suffering for others, you collect merit as vast as the sky, and purify eons of negative karma. Each time, you become closer to enlightenment and closer to enlightening other sentient beings.

This is the way to develop bodhicitta. By experiencing suffering for others, one can see that this is the happiest life. There is no happier life than this in the world.

When you are experiencing difficulties or problems in your life, normally you label the problem as a problem, and then you experience suffering, because of the way phenomena appear, including the “I,” action, and objects. Even though the way an object (as well as the “I” and action) exists is to exist in mere name—merely imputed by the mind—it doesn’t appear to us in that way. Its appearance is totally opposite to how it is in reality. It appears to be not merely labeled by the mind. It appears as real, and existing from its own side. This is a complete hallucination. This is the object to be refuted. If you look at this as an hallucination, or as the object to be refuted, you decide in your heart that the problem is empty or an hallucination. Because of that, suddenly you don’t see it as a problem in your life.

Usually, when there is an hallucinated appearance, a truly-existent appearance, you make your mind believe in the hallucinated appearance, that it is reality. Then, on that basis, other exaggerations occur, and you see the appearances as bad, or you label them bad, and then they become a basis for anger to arise.

Another thing we do is exaggerate the base and label an object as beautiful, and from that attraction arises, or some other delusion. From that hallucinated base, other delusions arise, such as jealousy and so forth, and this is how one’s problems come from own one’s mind. Knowing this, you know immediately what to do – how to switch your way of thinking to looking at the situation as an hallucination, as empty. In this way, you can stop problems in your mind by meditating on emptiness.

You mentioned in your letter how the problems come from within your mind. First, suffering comes from your mind because the cause is karma: one’s own mental factors and a negative intention. This means your mind can stop the suffering by purifying the cause of the suffering. Your mind can experience happiness and success, because your mind can create the causes: the good karma.

For example, if you practice covetousness, it causes you to experience failure. But if you rejoice in others’ good fortune, and in good things that happen to others, that becomes the cause of your great success.

Also, if you experience envy or jealousy, not wanting others to have happiness, realizations, material wealth, or good friends, thinking this way becomes the cause to experience failure.

From this, you can see how everything comes from your mind. All happiness and success comes from your mind. It depends on what label you put on experience and then your believing in that label, whether it is “happiness” or “problem.” Therefore, you can see, as it is mentioned in the lamrim teachings on thought transformation in the Guru Puja, always keep your mind in a state of happiness, only putting a positive label on phenomena.

As I mentioned before, by doing this you will eliminate your past negative karma and then you will have a better life and future happiness. Transform your mind with bodhicitta. This brings happiness based on the thought of experiencing suffering for others.

If you are able, do what Geshe Jampa Gyatso advised, applying effort without letting your mind fall into laziness or distraction due to pleasure. As you saw before, without Dharma practice, your life will become miserable, and when you practice Dharma, it brings so much satisfaction and fulfillment.

You are in my prayers. Be happy. It looks like you need a more fixed schedule for the different practices that you are doing. This keeps you strong, so you have a stable, happy mind.
With much love and prayers...

Dear Nancy,
How are you? I heard you are very depressed. Do you know why? Is it because you had a family member die and had to break retreat, or because other people seem happier, or is it because there was no success in the retreat? If it is to do with how you see others, then it is easy. Just rejoice, then you collect so much merit, and that brings you to enlightenment, and to enlighten others, who are countless, and so it brings you so much happiness and peace in your heart.

If it is because of other distractions, then think, “It is not a distraction. It is practice.” Think, “I am taking on the obstacles of other sentient beings, and letting them have all the opportunities and happiness.”

Do that meditation, and many times a day, think, “I am experiencing the obstacles to success on behalf of sentient beings.” Then you achieve realizations quicker, like Asanga achieved the vision of Maitreya Buddha; Kadampa Geshe Chekawa had a vision of a pure land at the time of his death, as a result of praying to be reborn in the hell realms; and Getsul Tsubuwa went to Vajrayogini’s pure land with his own body.

One should plan to practice Dharma for eons, and to bear hardships for Dharma practice for eons.

Thank you very much.
With much love and prayers...

Dear Joe,
There is some reason why you feel sad. Look at that situation as positive instead of negative. This is how you transform it into happiness, through transforming the mind. The mind projects a negative label on a situation in life, and this needs to be transformed into a virtuous thought: compassion, loving kindness, bodhicitta, cherishing others, and experiencing suffering for others. In this way, experiencing the problem, including sadness, is used in the path to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, which means it becomes the cause of happiness for all sentient beings. The other thing is wisdom, looking at it as empty of existing from its own side.

Here are a few examples. Give the sadness to your ego—the self-cherishing thought, which has prevented you from achieving enlightenment, liberation from samsara, and the rest of the path, from beginningless rebirths up until now. It has made you suffer so much and caused you to feel this sadness for beginningless rebirths, not only in this life.

Your ego prevents you from being successful. It interferes with the happiness of future lives and a good rebirth, causing continuous suffering. So, give the sadness to your ego to destroy it, like a bomb, blowing up the self-cherishing thought. When you do this, you are using your sadness to develop bodhicitta. Take all sentient beings' sadness on yourself. From time to time, during the rest of the day, think, “I am experiencing this on behalf of all sentient beings.” This is the best meditation.

If you die with this thought, you will be reborn in a pure land or you will receive a higher rebirth, because you have bodhicitta. It brings great purification. The stronger you dedicate yourself to others, with the thought to benefit all sentient beings, the more negative karma you purify and merit you collect. You become closer to enlightenment and closer to being able to enlighten all sentient beings.

The other thing is also to accept your sadness. Think that it is the result of your past karma: having broken samaya with the guru, caused sadness to others, or engaged in sexual misconduct. Depression that occurs without a reason and that happens at certain times, such as when you get up in the morning, or at night, is the result of sexual misconduct.

Think: “I created the negative karma, so this sadness I am experiencing is the result of that.” Accept the karma. This will also help. Kadampa Geshe Karab Gomchung said: "Even this small suffering now helps to finish past negative karma and there will be happiness in the future.” It is good to think like this. Transform the problem into happiness in relation to karma.

Every day, recite one mala of the name of the Medicine Buddha Glorious One Free from Sorrow (NYA NGEN ME CHOG PEL). Nectar beams enter your body and mind, purifying all your harms from spirits, downfalls, negative karmas, and delusions and their imprints. You receive all the buddhas' wisdom, compassion, and power. Then, your whole body is filled with joy. The nectar fills you with bliss, especially your heart and chakras. (Also, recite the names of the Seven Medicine Buddhas seven times, but do one mala of this name with the meditation. Practice it with a motivation of bodhicitta and a dedication at the end.)

Thank you very much. I hope this will help you. Goodbye.

With much love and prayer,
Zopa

PS - If there is a reason for your sadness, such as committing negative karma, it can always be purified. Everything can be changed. But if the sadness means you are incapable of doing your work, study, practice, or other things, then one way to think is that there are many other beings who are much worse off than you. That way you see your situation is not so bad and that brings happiness. Don’t think that it is hopeless. Think, "I will put in more effort. I will try. I will be better." Encourage yourself. For example, if you are unable to do your practice, missed your practice, encourage yourself, "Again, I will try. I must try." Think of the opportunity you have rather than seeing it as hopeless. This will help.

Dealing with Depression
Rinpoche received a letter from a student asking how to deal with her depression.

My very dear Jenny,
Thank you so much for your email.

Use your depression by experiencing it with compassion. Meditate on taking on all sentient beings’ depression and suffering and the cause of that suffering. It comes to you and absorbs into your heart. Your self-cherishing thought is destroyed. Even the inherently existent “I” becomes non-existent, the “I” that appears as if it were truly existent.

Perform this practice with compassion for others who have more depression than you. Numberless beings experience depression for many lifetimes, without end. Think, “I am just one living being. No matter how much suffering I experience, others who are numberless, have so much more suffering.” Think, “By my receiving all this depression, they are free of all suffering and have all happiness up to liberation and enlightenment. I experience it for them, and let them have all happiness up to enlightenment. How wonderful to be able to do this, because all my happiness is due to the kindness of each sentient being. They are the most precious objects in my life, from whom I receive all my happiness.”

Then generate loving kindness: “I must cause them to have happiness and the cause of happiness.” They receive whatever they want and need, all their pleasure becomes the pleasure of the pure land of the Buddha where no problems exist. They receive from you the purest, highest sense pleasures, enjoyment, beauty: everything they need. That causes them to actualize the whole path to enlightenment. Their mind becomes the Dharmakaya, their body becomes the Rupakaya. All become enlightened.

Perform this meditation, if possible, in the morning, afternoon, and night, taking and giving 5, 10, 20 times or more. Spend more time taking. While eating, walking, and at other times think, “I am experiencing this depression on behalf of all sentient beings.” Think it is not your depression.

Enjoy your depression by voluntarily taking on the experience for numberless sentient beings and giving the depression to your ego, destroying it completely. Enjoy depression in this way.

Think of the depression as purification of past negative karma, “If I don't experience this now, I will have to experience the hell realms for many years, so it is good to have it now.”

Also think, “I am experiencing past heavy negative karma. This is being purified by my experiencing this.”

Experience the depression on behalf of all sentient beings. Use it to purify the cause of depression and all negative karma. Use the depression to achieve happiness, like transforming poison into medicine, like, for example, snake venom that is used for medicine.

Also, use depression to collect extensive merit. This way your depression becomes like many hundreds of thousands of prostrations and recitation of powerful deities’ mantras. It becomes like preliminary practices for purifying and collecting extensive merit, such as by making mandala offerings.

Work for other sentient beings to collect merit and purify. Here, you are using your depression to achieve not just temporal happiness but ultimate happiness. Transform it into the path to enlightenment. Use it to develop compassion for other sentient beings and bodhicitta. It is not only the cause to achieve your own enlightenment but it brings ultimate happiness, up to enlightenment, for all sentient beings. So, enjoy depression in this way.

At the beginning it is good to accept your depression, thinking “I deserve this.” That can help. Start with that. Use the depression for meditation to develop renunciation of samsara, bodhicitta, and right view. This way your depression is used so as to be totally free of depression forever. It becomes the best Dharma practice and best way of healing.

Usually, taking medicine and following psychological advice doesn’t do anything for the cause of depression, although it forces the problem down for a short time. It is like drinking alcohol. When it is gone from the body, the problem is still there.

If you have depression due to a particular reason, for example, a relationship problem, meditate on that situation. If the depression is without reason, then do the mediation I have explained here.

Using depression to develop compassion enables us to achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. It allows us to free sentient beings from suffering and bring them to enlightenment more quickly. So, enjoy all these benefits of depression, by thinking about them clearly.

More talks by Lama Zopa on this topic:
See the Depression topic in the Emotions chapter of the Advice Book.
See also the Problems During One's Practice topic in the Practice Advice chapter.