When we see His Holiness the Dalai Lama, what we are actually seeing is the holy body of the Compassion Buddha in human form. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the actual living Compassion Buddha, so besides hearing his holy speech, even just seeing his holy body is great purification—it makes preparation in our mind for us to be liberated from the oceans of samsaric suffering and plants the seed of enlightenment.
Even a yogi who is not enlightened but has realizations of the graduated generation stage, which ripens the mind, and the completion stage, which liberates the mind, of the Highest Yoga Tantra or Maha-anuttara Yoga Tantra path, is unbelievably meaningful for us sentient beings. Due to the realizations of such yogas, just to be able to see the holy body or be in the same place as such a yogi is meaningful. It is said in the Heruka root tantra, "Just by seeing, touching, hearing, and remembering (the yogi), one gets liberated from all negative karmas (sins). There is no doubt that it happens exactly like that. And one gets born in the race of the Tathagata and will become a king endowed with Dharma." This is the benefit of someone who is practicing the deity Heruka.
The same Heruka root tantra text also says, "The hero or heroine, the supreme yogi, wherever he or she is abiding, blesses the whole place and the living beings in that area." Such a yogi extensively benefits not only the human beings but even the insects in that area, purifying their negative karmas and liberating them. Even when a practitioner of Heruka is passing over a bridge, the insects under the bridge are purified and liberated.
Besides the actual yogi, an unenlightened being who has those realizations, or even a practitioner of the Heruka deity becomes meaningful to behold for sentient beings. So there is no question about the benefit of seeing an actual enlightened being, what is historically known as Avalokiteshvara. We can understand from these valid quotations from the Heruka root tantra how much benefit we get just by being near His Holiness.
This is just the benefit of being able to see or be near the holy body. Then, with each hour that we hear his holy speech, it plants the seeds of liberation and enlightenment—so much preparation is made in our mental continuum to achieve liberation from samsara and full enlightenment. His Holiness’s holy speech is simplified and easy to understand, but it contains the depth and extensiveness of everything that is explained in Buddha’s holy texts. Each word is like an atomic bomb to destroy our inner enemy, the delusions, especially to defeat the very strong selfish mind and let us win, and to destroy as well the creator of not only human problems but all the rest of the samsaric sufferings—the mind unknowing the ultimate nature of the “I” and the ultimate nature of the mind, which creates death and rebirth, as well as old age and sickness; the fundamental problem of our life, dissatisfaction; all emotional pain; and the rest of the sufferings of samsara.
As amrita nectar is the most enjoyable thing we can drink, His Holiness’s speech is the supreme nectar for the minds of sentient beings. And even though at the moment we cannot see His Holiness’s infinite qualities, we can see that His Holiness is filled with wisdom, offering the solutions to every difficulty in every aspect of life, and showing all those people who think their life has no meaning and no hope, not only in the East but in the West also, how to make their lives most meaningful. We can also see that His Holiness is filled with loving kindness, compassion, and respect for everyone, whether they praise him or criticize him, whether they are rich or poor.
By seeing His Holiness, especially by hearing his holy speech, and by seeing all his qualities, the hearts of many millions in the world have been filled with hope and joy and peace. Of course, we should see His Holiness in the pure aspect of Buddha Avalokiteshvara, in the aspect of the Compassionate Buddha Avalokiteshvara’s holy body, but as it is mentioned in the teachings, "Even if all the Buddhas actually descend in front of oneself, one does not have the fortune to see the holy body with the holy signs and exemplifications except the present appearance (the ordinary impure appearance projected by the ordinary impure mind) until one is free from karmic obscuration." Like that, since ordinary beings like myself only have the karma to see the Buddha in an ordinary human form, His Holiness has manifested in this inspiring human form exactly in accordance with our karma, giving us the opportunity to hear and see directly this aspect. This kindness of His Holiness is without limit or measure, like the limitless sky. By being able to see His Holiness and hear his holy speech we can awaken or enlighten our mind—this is the best gift we can receive in this life.
By showing the four noble truths, His Holiness introduces true suffering and where it comes from—the true cause of suffering. Because they are dependent arisings, existing in dependence upon cause and conditions, they can be ceased by other causes and conditions, so we can achieve the cessation of suffering. How is this possible? Because there is the true path. So, by showing us the four noble truths, His Holiness liberates us sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and brings us to liberation, everlasting happiness. This is the most important education, and such a teacher is much more important than one who teaches us how many mosquitoes there are in the world today.
Many of us here have no idea what the "I" is, what the mind is; we have no idea of ultimate truth and conventional truth. Our minds are totally dark. Even though everything—including the I, the self—exists by being merely labeled by the mind and because of that is totally empty, we are constantly overwhelmed with a totally wrong belief in the very heavy inherently existent appearance projected by ignorance, which is not true. All this that we see as real, His Holiness sees as empty; His Holiness sees all phenomena existing as being merely labeled by the mind. Not only that, but all the sense objects appear most pure to His Holiness. We constantly suffer, overwhelmed by negative emotional thoughts, if not by anger then by ignorance or desire, like a city covered by the ocean’s waves. But His Holiness’s holy mind is totally free from obscurations, from disturbing emotional thoughts such as desire and so forth. His Holiness’s holy mind does not have even the slightest stain or taint of this.
We are like oil spilt on paper. Whatever we do, even breathing in and out, we are totally overwhelmed by the self-cherishing thought. But numberless eons ago His Holiness became free from the stain of self-cherishing thought, with no thought of seeking happiness for the self arising even for one second.
His Holiness has made even being the political leader of Tibet totally Dharma, which means only benefiting others. In this world, the best politician, the one who gives no harm to any being but only benefits them, is Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and Avalokiteshvara—His Holiness. His Holiness is also purest in morality, or ethics, without any scandal, and is the Omniscient One, whose compassion embraces numberless sentient beings, never giving them up even for one second.
In conclusion, until we remove the cause of suffering, which is within us, the wrong concepts, the delusions, and their imprints left on our mental continuum, those negative imprints will give rise to delusions, which motivate karma, then create the suffering of samsara. We need to develop wisdom, analyzing the spiritual path, and then practice, not because of family, religion, or because of what we call “guru” explains to us.
There is no way to repay the kindness of each word of advice, or teaching, even if we offered the whole universe filled with billions of dollars or jewels for many eons. Putting into practice whatever advice we are given is the best way to repay the kindness. And along with that, everyone should pray for the freedom of the Tibetan people to come as quickly as possible, which is one of His Holiness’s main holy wishes, and do what they can to help this cause. And, finally, we should constantly request His Holiness to live until samsara ends and guide us all the time.
