[Rinpoche and students chant Refuge verse in Tibetan three times.]

I go for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha until enlightenment is achieved. In order to accomplish the works for self, works for others, I’m going to generate bodhicitta.

I go for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha until enlightenment is achieved. In order to accomplish the works for self and others, I will generate bodhicitta.

I go for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha until enlightenment is achieved. In order to accomplish the works for self and others, I’m going to generate bodhicitta.

With wisdom, compassion, perseverance, by abiding in the presence of all the buddhas, by myself abiding in the presence of all the buddhas, I’m going to generate bodhicitta.

With the wisdom and compassion, perseverance, for the benefit of sentient beings, I abide in the presence of all the buddhas, I’m going to generate bodhicitta.

With the wisdom, compassion and perseverance, for the benefit of sentient beings I abide in the presence of all the buddhas, and generate bodhicitta.

With the wisdom and compassion and perseverance, for the benefit of sentient beings, by abiding in the presence of all the buddhas, I’m going to generate bodhicitta.

Then, next one is purifying the place. So you can think as the prayer says, the translation of the prayer, you do that as a meditation, you visualize like that, visualize like a pure land, for the buddha, It involves invoking the buddhas, bodhisattvas, so like before inviting a king or some important person, you make the place clean, make it nice. So here, to collect merits, so, the, purifying the land, the field, so that’s, the practice like that, so however to collect the merit, extensive merit, so for the merit field, ?one ?make offering, the place like a pure land, without any the ugliness, the ?hole, rock or thorns or this, any rough things, without that, ugly things. Very soft, the ground, very soft nature, when you step, it’s like that, spring, like the spring bed stepping, it goes down then it comes up, like that, but very blissful nature, lapis lazuli ground.

The, which, the pure land where there’s no suffering, and even the name “suffering,” and which has all the beauties. So, filled with the wish-granting trees, all the trees, whatever you generate a wish you get everything, so, like that, and then it’s filled with flowers, and water pond, and all these, the various types of water, I’ve forgot the, pond and so forth. Then, beautified with all the huge, all the utpali flowers or lotus, many precious, rare flowers, the petals are like the size of a room or the drum, huge, then unbelievably beautiful.

Then the whole space filled with the blissful scented smells, like that, flower rains, wind blowing the trees you hear Dharma, and even the birds, all this, sounds are the Dharma, you hear from them. So, it’s extremely beautiful, which has all beauties, like that.

Then, after that. Tham chä du ni sa zhi dag….

Blessing the offerings. Now, so it’s very important, extremely important to the, this is not only blessing the offerings, it’s multiplying the offerings to, there are numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas, so if you chant this mantra, whatever, if it’s one incense or one light offering or one water offering, what, even it’s just one, but if you chant this mantra, not only blessing but it multiplies, it becomes numberless, it becomes like clouds in the sky, clouds covered the sky, so to each buddha, bodhisattva, there are numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas, to each buddha and bodhisattva receives the offering, like sky. So it’s very, very important. So here, I think already many of you do recite it, so it’s extremely good, but if you don’t know by heart, you must learn by heart this mantra. Even the actual offering is just one, one tiny offering, one Christmas, one tiny light, even one tiny light, so the, one incense, one stick of incense or a flower, whatever it is, one plate of food or whatever it is, so, one tiny flower, so you chant this mantra three times, so, the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas, each one receives skies of offerings, so this inconceivable, inconceivable, inconceivable merits, how much merit you collect is just unimaginable.

So, even if you’re, even if one is physically very poor, not much ?actual means, but if you know the practices, even if you are physically very poor, but if you know this practice, with one tiny flower, you just chant this mantra, then numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas, each buddha and bodhisattva receives skies of offerings. So it’s just, one small bowl of water, you chant this, so they receive nectar, skies of nectar offerings, so like this, just unbelievable, just unbelievable, so then collect merit, unimaginable.

So, now you should understand this, now pay attention here. So that we can remember the kindness of Buddha, how much compassion he has, Buddha has compassion to us sentient beings, making it so easy, unbelievable easy to create the cause of happiness, to create the cause of enlightenment, unbelievable, unbelievable, cause of liberation and enlightenment, unbelievable, so you can remember the kindness of buddha, so making life unbelievably easy, so easy.

So the, so, one, it is said in the ?Metog Tsekpai Do, the sutra, Pile of Flowers, ?Metog Tsekpai Do, so, one grain of rice or one tiny flower, there it talks about a stupa, but it means any object from the statues, stupas, scriptures, no question actually living buddha, ?if one visualize buddha, if you visualize buddha and offer, no question that, even statues, stupas, scriptures, so, which signifies the buddha’s holy body, holy speech, holy mind, so to one of them, okay. So offering one tiny flower, one grain of rice, okay, so now you offer one grain of rice, one tiny flower, so now here you pay attention, the benefit of that, okay, you pay attention to the benefit of that, so, very, very important, extremely important. So the benefit what you get by offering one grain of rice or one tiny flower to a statue or stupa or scripture, okay, so the happiness what you’ve experienced from beginningless rebirth, like that from now on, okay, like that from now on, the, that much like, to be experienced in the future, so it contains, what you offer, one grain of rice or the one tiny flower to a statue or a stupa or a scripture, whatever it is. So, you get, benefit what you get is just like that, it’s unimaginable, okay.

Now, that’s temporary, okay, so now on top of that, then, ultimate happiness, liberation, cessation of the whole entire oceans of samsaric suffering and causes, so that means including the path, including the five paths to achieve liberation, so, all the, every single realization, becomes cause for that, becomes cause to achieve that, okay. Then, even you achieve ultimate, the ultimate happiness, the everlasting happiness, liberation from the whole entire samsara, okay, so that’s’ amazing, amazing achievement.

Now look at this, you look at the world, ourselves, look at the world, now, the people, you look at the world, people, unbelievably busy, unbelievably busy, unbelievably busy, work so hard, work so hard, unbelievably busy, work so hard, so, now look at this, unbelievable work so hard, so, except the very little number who are practicing Dharma, okay, with renunciation, with the motivation of renunciation, that which ?actually becomes cause to achieve liberation, okay, so, with wisdom, the mindfulness, with the realization of emptiness, like that, doing activities with that. So, then the rest, now, unbelievable work so hard, unbelievable, just for this life, just for this life happiness, just this life happiness, which is only, which is a very short time, a few number of years, a few months, a few weeks, whatever. My earring dropped. [pause] This is a very long earring.

Anyway, so, unbelievable work hard for this life, for this life happiness, which is just only a few years, very short, but work unbelievable hard. Nothing becomes cause to achieve liberation, the everlasting happiness, total cessation of all the oceans of samsaric suffering and causes, nothing. Then it becomes just, it becomes only cause of suffering. Every single effort, work so hard, unbelievably hard, for this life happiness, so then everything becomes, so done with the attachment, so everything becomes negative karma, everything becomes negative karma, twenty-four hours ?every day, everything you do becomes negative karma.

So, of course, when you think, when you see sentient beings like this, so you see how much they are suffering, can’t stand, can’t stand, how much they are suffering, being ignorant, they want happiness, but they, what they are doing is totally, totally cause of suffering, becomes total opposite, cause of the lower realms, and cause of the sufferings which they experience also in the future, even in the human realm they experience so many problems, so, result of these negative actions, okay. So, can you imagine, can you imagine that? We can’t stand that. Can we stand that? No way, just unimaginable, so due to ignorance not knowing Dharma.

So there are these things, liberation and enlightenment, all this can achieve, but they do not know, they have no idea. So, from this, you understand how we are so fortunate, how unbelievably fortunate we are in this life, so, like that, so shows how most important in our life to practice Dharma, there’s nothing else, the most important thing. Whatever we are doing to become Dharma: eating, walking, sitting, sleeping, doing job, whatever, not only praying, meditating, studying Dharma, but all the other things to become Dharma, so becomes the most important thing.

So, anyway, so can see how, even you think of human beings, how much they are suffering, lack of understanding Dharma, and practicing Dharma, how much they are suffering. So, so that, so this, what I am saying now here, shows how unbelievably important to learn Dharma, for us, unbelievably important, something inexpressible that you have met Dharma, this is most inexpressible, that, you could think of all the rest of sentient beings, people in the world.

So listen here, this morning, we get up early in the morning, sorry, I didn’t get to come early, maybe you become sleepy or maybe you’re tired and, so but, sleepy or whatever, , half samsara, half nirvana, a few minutes samsara, a few minutes nirvana. It depends on the mind. Anyway, I’m joking.

So, anyway, now here pay attention, so, one tiny incense, one tiny flower or grain to offer to a statue, stupa, scripture, not all three, just even one, so, not only ultimate happiness of liberation from samsara, not only that, on top of that, full enlightenment, you get enlightenment from this, by offering this, one tiny grain of rice or one tiny flower, whatever, having offered to a statue or stupa or scripture of Buddha. So that means, you have to understand, that means all this includes all the paths, five Mahayana paths, ten bhumis, all that, within that there are so many realizations, okay, so it contains everything, so it becomes cause to achieve all that path, unbelievable, and then the, as I mentioned, there’s unbelievable, unbelievable qualities buddhas and bodhisattvas have, I mean, skies of qualities, okay, so cause to achieve that, this is what you get, this is what you achieve from that

Then not only that, buddha, which has, whose holy body, holy speech, holy mind has skies of qualities, so you achieve that, that can do perfect work for sentient beings, unimaginable, unimaginable, so you achieve from this, one tiny flower or grain offered to a statue or stupa, scripture.

So, then, it doesn’t stop there, the benefit doesn’t stop there, okay, still you have to understand, after this you liberate numberless sentient beings in the hell, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, suras, asuras, all the numberless sentient beings in each realm, you are able to liberate from the oceans of samsaric suffering, so you have this benefit, you get this benefit.

Now, on top of that, you get benefit able to enlighten numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, suras, asuras, intermediate state beings, all the numberless sentient beings, okay, you are able to enlighten.

So, now here, listen, until you, not until, when you brought numberless sentient beings from each realm, suffering sentient beings from each realm to enlightenment, to full enlightenment, everyone, everyone to full enlightenment, in each realm they are numberless so you brought, you bring them to full enlightenment, everyone, oh, that time, then your purpose, then the benefit is completed having offered one tiny grain or one tiny flower to a statue, stupa, scripture. That time the benefit is completed, okay. So like that.

So this is not sort of a custom, making offerings, not just sort of a custom or some culture or custom, not like that, kind of like somebody made it up, some custom, culture or something, not like that. So it’s just amazing, the benefit, you achieve. So, also have to remember this, so, everyday life, how important, how it is so essential to, the practice of making offerings to the merit field. So, the actually performed offerings, then also visualized offerings, you visualize the offerings filled the whole sky, to offer.

So, so this is, so the, so in the seven limbs, the second one is offering so, the benefit what you get, even a tiny offering.

Then, you visualize the offerings, you offer, visualize, even visualized offerings, same, you get unbelievable merit.

So, here listen, here, pay attention here, so even visualized you get so many benefits, even by visualizing. So the, that, the King Ashoka, who in India, King Ashoka, maybe after ?Buddha, King Ashoka who built, in that life able to build many monasteries and able to offer food, Sangha, able to make so much extensive offering to the Sangha, then built ten million stupas in one day, ten million stupas in one day. If you build one stupa, ?even with rocks, it leads your life to enlightenment, unbelievable, so many eons of negative karma get purified. You get a shorter in samsara, your life. So, now here, King Ashoka built ten million stupas in one day, so now, he was born as a king, wealthy king, all that, and able to do so unbelievable benefit merit, why? Because, now you listen, the cause of that is a very simple thing, the cause. So the, okay, so the cause was life before the king, it was the time when the Buddha was in India, so there were three children playing in the sand, not in the sand, on the sand, playing. So the, so Buddha was coming in the morning for alms, so they want to make offering to Buddha. So Buddha is very, very tall, there’s a measurement, it was mentioned, but I don’t remember, very tall. I think it was maybe taller than even that, much taller than ?Peter, I think, much taller, I don’t remember the measurement, but it’s mentioned.

So, three children were playing on the sand. So then they went to make offering to Buddha, so the one child stood up, the second child stood on the shoulder of the first one, then the third stood up on the second child’s shoulder, then the third child offered a handful of sand grains, by thinking, visualizing all this as gold, all this as gold, put in this bowl, Buddha’s begging bowl, by thinking all this is gold. Firstly by offering even sand grains they, as I mentioned, as I gave you idea of offering one tiny flower or grain, one grain to a statue, stupa, or scripture, how much benefit you get, do you understand?

Now here, you visualize gold, all these sand grains, okay, so, why the next life that child was born as king, King Ashoka, and, unbelievable wealthy and Dharma king, not just ordinary king but Dharma king, that makes huge differences, so able to offer deep benefit for sentient beings, like the ocean. So, built many monasteries, and offered Sangha, made offerings to Sangha, food, unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable merit, because the Sangha is a very powerful object, as I mentioned the other day, so, then built ten million stupas in one day, like this. So, that was because life before that, during Buddha’s time, when Buddha was in India, then visualized, the handful of sand grain, visualized as gold, so, collected merits having actually offered that many gold, even though there’s no one single gold there, but having visualized gold, offered, so the child got actual merit having offered that much gold. So therefore, this is something very simple, something very simple, very easy to do that, very simple, not that maybe something very extensive offering, something, not like that. So, you can see karma is expandable, so, the causes, might be something very small, very simple, but the result, can you imagine? Huge!

So we have to, that’s very important in our life to remember that in our daily life, remember, even a small negative karma, or good karma, even small, result like this, so always must put effort in our daily life, always must put effort, even small, must do it, okay. Then, even a small negative karma, don’t do it, try to abandon as much as possible, because same, a small negative karma, result unbelievable, so that’s very important.

So now, so therefore, now, even visualized made offering, I use that example, there’s not one single gold, but visualized gold, all this, made offering, then that child actually got the merits having offered that many gold, okay.

So, now, so therefore must memorize this mantra, it’s very important, that point, otherwise, if somebody chant, you don’t chant, you don’t get the merit, totally, there’s skies of, the benefit, limitless skies of merit, but you don’t get if you don’t recite the mantra. Somebody else recites, then you don’t get that, I mean, otherwise they can dedicate the merits for you, but, then you’re zero, you’re zero, zero.

So it’s very important to memorize the prayer, at least, some, so the basic ones, okay, so here, so multiplies the, not only blessing, but multiples like skies, it becomes to each buddha and bodhisattva, so, you need a lot of unbelievable merit to actualize bodhicitta, unbelievable merit to realize emptiness, okay. So, you have to know that, to have realization, I mean to, your life towards liberation, and especially enlightenment, to pacify, to remove delusions, you need lots of merit, so much merit, unbelievable merit. So if you read life stories of the buddhas, how much merit they collected. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha collected merit for three countless great eons, by sacrificing, practicing charity, the body, to other sentient beings, being born a human being, then, especially born, purposely took birth of king, and with all the wealth made charity so many times, and family, children, everything, made charity to others, then even the body, eyes, made charity to others, limbs made charity to others. So for three countless, even that’s not just one time, three countless great eons. Then, not only that, then practiced morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, wisdom, there’s also ten paramitas.

So, anyway, so therefore, in our daily life always your mind should put, should keep, every time when there’s opportunity, while you are walking, while you are eating, while you are doing job, wherever you are, outside, inside, always, or whenever you find ways to collect merit, must take opportunity. There’s unbelievable, full of, I mean the possibilities to collect merit, always you can find if you, so if you, by knowing all those various practices, various ways to collect merit, as many as possible, then, you find, in your life, all the time you find ways to collect merit, okay, so must attempt, and abandon suffering and the cause of suffering.

So, anyway, then...