Turning Around Business Failure

Turning Around Business Failure

Date Posted:
October 2005

A businessman wrote asking for Rinpoche’s guidance in dealing with a series of bitter disputes with former partners and employees. He also mentioned that one of his major business ventures had faced repeated obstacles and asked Rinpoche what to do about this. The businessman said that he was aware that he was the cause of his own problems, and wanted to purify this. “Henceforth,” he wrote, “my motivation in all my business endeavors is to profit everyone, not just myself.” He asked specifically how he could ensure that his future endeavors would be stable and profitable, “so that I can become a source of income for my employees, partners, shareholders, family and help support my Dharma practice and other Dharma practitioners, wherever they are.”

Even though your wishes are good, others involved, from their side, have to have the good karma to enjoy whatever success you are seeking, so maybe they should practice generosity and kindness. Small or big, do as much as possible.

My suggestion is to practice Dzambhala every day. Of course, your motivation should be purely to help others, to benefit sentient beings as much as possible, and to benefit the teachings of Buddha from which sentient beings receive all happiness. You can do Dzambhala water practice, and also make torma offerings to Dzambhala. Make a torma offering to Dzambhala every day. Offer fruits and cakes on your altar.

If you are able, sponsor Kopan Monastery to do 100,000 praises to the Twenty-one Taras. This came out very beneficial for you in my observations – for your success – with the motivation of bodhicitta as follows: “In order to free all sentient beings from all sufferings and to bring them to enlightenment, I am going to make offerings to all the Sangha.” There are about 300 monks and 260 nuns at Kopan, they are holy objects, so you create a lot of merit by offering to them. If you are taking Lama Lhundrup as your teacher, then when you make an offering to all the guru’s disciples, it becomes an offering to your guru’s pores. With such an offering, you collect far more merit than offering to many buddhas, bodhisattvas, statues, stupas, and scriptures in all the directions in any universe. Since there are so many Sangha members, as mentioned before, you can imagine how much merit is collected from making offerings of tea, food, and money to them. Reciting the 100,000 praises might take two or three days. This is only if you are able to afford it.

Another puja to do is She nyin dü dog.

You should also recite the Celestial Mansion Extremely Secret Sublime Success mantra seven times. First, visualize a wish-granting jewel at your heart. Many different colors shine out from the jewel, and in the center of the jewel, visualize your mind in the form of the seed syllable BHRUM. Then visualize that the essence of samsara and peace (liberation and enlightenment) all absorb into the BHRUM. Then, light beams draw in to the center of the jewel all success, whatever you wish for, for you and for others. With this visualization, you should recite the Celestial Mansion mantra. This is the mantra of the extremely well developed jewel of the unfathomable celestial mansion, and brings whatever you wish. There are two short mantras which should be recited a few times at the end of the meditation session. [Find links to this practice in the FPMT Catalogue.]

Also, recite the Buddha’s name: De zhin sheg pa sa dzin gyäl po la chhag tshäl lo.

Starting from today, the next fifteen days is the anniversary of the special time when the Buddha performed miracles to overcome heretics. During this time, the merit from virtuous activities multiplies 100 million times due to the power of his holy deeds. So, when you make one light offering during this time, the merit is equal to making 100 million light offerings; when you make one water bowl offering, the merit is equal to making 100 million water bowl offerings. You should take this opportunity to offer charity to Sangha and so on, to benefit sentient beings. This might help to change your business situation. Even if the charity you offer is small, it has a lot of meaning.