The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Cherish You

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Cherish You

Date of Advice:
November 2016
Date Posted:
December 2016

Rinpoche gave this advice to a student who felt that no one liked him.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the day of his arrival at Cham Tse Ling gompa, Hong Kong, April 2016. Photo: Roger Kunsang.

When you have very negative thoughts, thinking that “Nobody loves me, no one cares for me,” and so on, you have so much unhappiness that is made by your own mind. You have had that very unhappy mind for a long time. You think that the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas don’t love you, they don't care for you; that you are completely left out, that they let you suffer. This shows that you don’t have renunciation. You have no renunciation of attachment, nor bodhicitta or emptiness.

Actually the buddhas and bodhisattvas cherish you one hundred thousand times more than you love yourself. If they did not love you and cherish you, then you would not be a human being this time, not even that. All these virtues could not be done and so much benefit to sentient beings would not happen, you would not have all this Dharma education and so forth. So much, so much, so much.

It is important to understand that those who are living in renunciation—the meditators, monks, nuns and also lay people—have inner peace and happiness. Renunciation means to renounce attachment to this life, to future lives, to samsara. They don’t feel that “Nobody loves me.” They are satisfied because they have inner peace and happiness. The stronger the renunciation, the more peace and happiness inside. Many people do not know this and they think that bringing presents, flowers and cakes makes them sooooo happy.

Generating the two bodhicittas, loving kindness and compassion, is not attachment. Just as a mother cherishes her child, in this way the meditator cherishes all sentient beings—numberless hell beings, preta beings, animals, humans, suras, asuras and intermediate state beings—and generates the precious thought to achieve full enlightenment for all mother sentient beings. From this there are skies of happiness and peace.

This is very important news, which can be very helpful for many other people, students and general people. The sadness, feeling alone, that no one loves you, comes from attachment to this life. That's why we need renunciation. This is the antidote to bring inner peace and happiness. It means the mind will become pure Dharma.

Drogön Tsangpa Gyare, who is the savior of transmigratory beings, said:

We must not lose the auspicious connection with the valid perfect one. Even if we lose auspicious connection with everyone else, let it happen. But if we lose the connection with the valid perfect one, then even if all transmigratory beings become our relatives, what is the use of that?