[The students chant Praises to the Twenty-one Taras in Spanish.]

There’s a booklet with the whole story of how, in the past, Tara generated bodhicitta and then benefited so many sentient beings. Tara has not only omniscience, but perfect power to benefit us sentient beings and complete compassion. Tara exists with all these qualities, and how much guidance we receive from Tara depends on how much connection there is with Tara, which depends on how much, from our side, we trust in Tara. First we have to create the karma from our side, then once the karma ripens, we receive guidance from Tara.

One of my gurus is His Holiness Tsenshap Serkong Rinpoche, who was not the actual guru of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Tibet but a tsenshab, who is like the representative of a guru and helps with the education of very high lamas in philosophical studies when they are young. His Holiness the Dalai Lama had tsenshaps who were the top geshes among many learned geshes. It seems that His Holiness had one tsenshap from Sera Je, to which Lama Yeshe and I belong, and another from Sera Me. I think the tsenshap from Sera Je was a Mongolian monk. Many of the top learned geshes there were Mongolians who had come from Mongolia to study in Tibet.

So, it seems that a learned teacher came from each of the monasteries to help His Holiness with his studies. They were not gurus, but like a representative of the guru to help with His Holiness’s education. The other monasteries are Ganden, which has Shartse and Jangtse colleges, and Drepung, which has Loseling and Gomang colleges.

This is the meaning of tsenshap, and His Holiness Tsenshap Serkong Rinpoche performed this function in Tibet and also in India. Rinpoche is a great holy being. He’s the embodiment, or incarnation, of Darma Dode, the son of Marpa, Milarepa’s guru. Rinpoche had a bald head with some hair at the back, and when there was a lot of talk on a hard topic, Rinpoche would wrinkle up the skin even on his head. You don’t see other lamas do that. It is said that Marpa told his son, Darma Dode, not go to some place where many people had gathered, but he went anyway. Darma Dode then fell off his horse there, banged his head on a rock and broke his skull. So, I heard that Rinpoche wrinkling his skin in this way from time to time, but only when the talk was a little bit hard, was connected with that story of his past life long ago as Marpa’s son.

Milarepa is one of the Tibetan yogis who achieved enlightenment not only in one life, but much quicker than that. He achieved enlightenment within a number of years in the brief lifetime of a degenerate time. Because of Milarepa’s dedication, he became very well known, and Milarepa’s life story was one of the first Dharma books in English. After Shakyamuni Buddha, there were the Six Ornaments and the many other great yogis from India, who were like stars in the nighttime. There were also so many yogis from Tibet and other countries who completed the path; they practiced exactly according to how Buddha explained and himself practiced and completed the realizations. Milarepa is not the only one who achieved enlightenment within a number of years. There were many others. Gyalwa Ensapa, a disciple of one of Lama Tsongkhapa’s disciples, did it, and without even bearing as much hardship as Milarepa. One of my gurus, His Holiness Zong Rinpoche, often used to explain in teachings that Gyalwa Ensapa achieving enlightenment in this way was because of the special qualities of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings. When clarifying the special qualities of Lama Tsongkhapa teachings, Rinpoche often used to say that Gyalwa Ensapa achieved enlightenment very comfortably, while eating delicious food. I think the point of saying this was to emphasize the special qualities of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings.

So, many practitioners achieved enlightenment in the brief lifetime of the degenerate time. It wasn’t only Milarepa. However, Milarepa became very well known to the world, and his life story was one of the first Dharma books in English. I know that one book of Milarepa’s life story was available around 1963.

There was another book called Way of the White Clouds by a German professor, Lama Govinda. He went to Tibet and met Domo Geshe Rinpoche, the great yogi whose story I mentioned a couple of days ago. This is the great yogi who lived in a cave in the forest at a place called Domo, which is near Sikkim. A shepherd, who was looking after his animals in that forest, saw a monk sometimes coming out of a cave, and a large animal (I don’t know whether it was a gorilla or a yeti) bringing fruit into the cave to the monk.

I don’t think Lama Govinda went to Lhasa; he just crossed the border from Sikkim and then went to Domo, where this great yogi, Domo Geshe Rinpoche, was. I think he met Domo Geshe Rinpoche, but I don’t know how much teaching he received. He probably received some short teachings—I’m not sure. He wrote Way of the White Clouds and another book, The Foundation of Tibetan Mysticism. Or The Foundation of Tibetan Secret Things. I’m joking.

That was another book available around those times. I think he maybe talked about the death process, about the twenty-five absorptions, white appearance, red increase, dark near-attainment and clear light. I think he tried to connect some of the visions with other signs. The other book that was available was The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or Bardo Thodrol. Around those times just these few books existed in English.

The other one was Lobsang Rampa. Do you have Lobsang Rampa in the Spanish language? You must have! In those early times, when Lama Yeshe and I were going around in the West giving public talks, after we stopped talking and gave time for questions and answers, many times the first question was about Lobsang Rampa. Many times the first question was, “Do you know Lobsang Rampa?”

There were no other Dharma books but the Lobsang Rampa books became very well known. There must have been some karma for that person to give those explanations about astral trips, about the mind traveling without the body. I mean, during the intermediate state you don’t have a gross body, and in just a moment you can reach Tibet or any other place you think of. It depends on which rebirth you are taking. If you are going to be reborn in the formless realm, you don’t have to go through the intermediate state but are immediately born in the formless realm. Otherwise, if you are going to be reborn in the desire realm or form realm, after death you have to go through the intermediate state. There, the moment you think of a place you’re just there, without obstruction from mountains or anything else. Also, intermediate state beings have clairvoyance gained through karma, not through meditation.

Anyway, in a moment the intermediate state being can be anywhere. It’s not a special development; it’s the nature of that karma. However, due to karma they can’t go back into the old body. However, practitioners of tantra like Lama Yeshe, for example, can take astral trips, astral tours. Lama Yeshe’s mind was trained well in the root of the path to enlightenment, guru devotion. Lama mainly followed his root guru Trijang Rinpoche, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s junior tutor, but he also had an excellent, very close heart relationship with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Guru devotion is the most important realization; that’s what brings success in the whole path to enlightenment. Lama then trained well in the common path. Having renunciation of samsara pacifies all the desire, all the attachment to samsara and samsaric perfections, which has been a huge problem during beginningless rebirths. With realization of bodhicitta, there is no self-cherishing thought, so all the big problems are gone. Then with not only the wisdom realizing emptiness but the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, there is no ignorance. Lama Yeshe also practiced tantra, or Mahayana Secret Mantra, and had achieved not only the generation stage but the completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra. Highest Yoga Tantra has two stages: the graduated generation stage, which has gross and subtle levels, and the graduated completion stage, which has isolation of body, isolation of speech, isolation of mind, the clear light, illusory body, the unification of those two, and the unification of no more learning, which is enlightenment.

So, practitioners like Lama Yeshe who have the Highest Yoga Tantra realizations of the clear light and illusory body can do astral traveling. Your main body is there in your house, sleeping or doing something else, but your subtle mind can go out to do activities. Those who have that realization of clear light and illusory body can do that. So, this is before enlightenment. It isn’t necessary for the gross body to be there wherever the consciousness goes.

One time, maybe during the first Dharma Celebration, His Holiness Zong Rinpoche was at Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala. Tushita, one of the FPMT meditation and retreat centers, has been very successful right from the beginning, because, while philosophy and other teachings are taught at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, run by the Tibetan government, there’s nowhere else where meditation is combined with teachings. I heard that these days when Tushita has meditation courses there are people on a waiting list.

Anyway, late one night, after midnight, one monk, Lama Gyupa…. Lama Gyupa is a monk who directly entered a tantric college. There are two tantric colleges: Lower Tantric College and Upper Tantric College. Those who become geshes at Sera (Je or Me), Ganden (Shartse or Jangtse) or Drepung (Loseling or Gomang) enter a tantric college after they have completed their studies and got a geshe degree. They then study tantra, learning the important root texts of tantra, how to draw mandalas, how to chant, and all the rituals and the meanings behind them. They have to learn many things. Anyway, you can become the gekyö, the disciplinarian, and then the abbot. There are two, the abbot and the lama, but I don’t know the exact functions of the lama. After some time you can then you become either the [Shartse Chotse] or [Jangtse Chotse], two very high lamas. If you become one of them and you live long enough, after that there’s a possibility for you to become the highest lama, the Ganden Tripa, who is the representative of Lama Tsongkhapa. In Tibet, the Gaden Tripa sat on the golden throne of Lama Tsongkhapa to give teachings. The Gaden Tripa is like the most qualified lama, after having completed all the training, and acts as the regent of Lama Tsongkhapa.

Basically, it means you have become fully qualified to help sentient beings. You are able to teach Dharma in an extensive way; you are able to show the Lesser Vehicle path to liberation, the Mahayana sutra path to achieve enlightenment and the Mahayana tantric path for quick enlightenment, according to the level of sentient beings. You can guide and benefit sentient beings in so many different ways. It’s unbelievable what you can do. You then become the full propagator of the Dharma. You preserve the entire Dharma, not only through intellectual understanding but by being a monk and practicing. You are not just a monk-scholar but you are also a practitioner living in the experience of the teachings. So, that’s how you’re supposed to be.

Why was I talking about this?

[The students explain that Rinpoche was talking about Lama Gyupa.]

So, there was one Lama Gyupa at Tushita making water offerings and taking care of the altars in the main gompa and in Lama’s house. He was not from Sera, Ganden or Drepung. It was not that he’d finished studying and debating the extensive philosophy and then entered a tantric college; he was one of the monks who entered straight into a tantric college. I don’t think that such a monk can go on to become the Ganden Tripa. The one who can go to become the Ganden Tripa does so after becoming a geshe, after having studied all the extensive subjects of Buddhist philosophy, such as the five major sutra texts. One is the Pramanavarttika, Commentary on Valid Mind, which is the study of reasoning. There are many different subjects. The second subject is reincarnation, and the first one might be proving how Buddha is an object worthy of trust. It’s not that you trust Buddha through blind faith; all the logical reasoning is presented to show that you can trust Buddha because he is a true founder and so forth and to show that the teachings are true teachings. Basically, the way you learn Buddhism is through analysis, like a scientist. The whole of Buddhist philosophy is like that: the way you learn is through checking, not through blind faith.

You also study Madhyamaka, Maitreya Buddha’s teaching, Abhisamayalamkara, and Abhidharmakosha. You mainly study texts written by the great Indian pandits known as the Six Ornaments, who based their texts on Buddha’s teachings. There are about one hundred volumes of Buddha’s teachings on sutra and tantra. You also study vinaya, the ordination vows, for some years. You have to memorize many pages of root texts and commentaries, not only by Lama Tsongkhapa but also by Indian pandits.

Of course, it is similar with studying tantra. You have to memorize the root tantras received from Buddha and the commentaries written by the great Indian yogis and great Tibetan lamas.

Lama Gyupa is a good practitioner. He did a three-year Guhyasamaja retreat at Tushita; he must have some karma with us. From his side, he took responsibility to look after the altars and make offerings.

Lama Yeshe liked him. He had practiced, and he had some good understanding of tantric practice, of the sadhanas and meditations. Anyway, late one night, there was some conversation between Lama and Lama Gyupa about the consciousness going out without the body, leaving the body in the house. Lama Yeshe then said, “Oh, I can do that. I can come to your house without my body and kill you.” Lama put it that way, but Lama could do that, because he had those realizations. He just put it that way as a joke. Lama presented it in that way, but it means that Lama could do these activities. There is no doubt that His Holiness, the embodiment of Compassion Buddha, can do this, and so can many other high lamas who have achieved those tantric realizations. They can leave their gross body in the room, then the subtle mind goes wherever it wants to do activities.

Besides from Geshe Sopa Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe received many, many teachings from his guru, Geshe Rabten Rinpoche. Geshe Rabten Rinpoche, whom I met before I met Lama Yeshe, was also the first guru who introduced me to dura, the initial philosophical text. I didn’t receive many teachings from Geshe Rabten Rinpoche, only during that time we were at Buxa.

Geshe Rabten Rinpoche was invited to Dharamsala by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to help him by working for His Holiness in the library and sometimes having Dharma discussions. Geshe Rabten Rinpoche’s senior disciples, such as Lama Yeshe, who had already studied the five great texts, then studied by themselves. The younger disciples studied with Geshe Rabten Rinpoche’s senior disciples or with other gurus.

Many years ago in Nepal a doctor mentioned that Lama Yeshe had heart problems, but it was much later at Kopan that Lama showed the aspect of serious sickness and then went to a hospital in Delhi. At that time I went to see Mummy Max, an African American student, who had taught at the American school in Kathmandu for many years. She was a very good teacher. Mummy Max had tried to help all the young monks at Kopan Monastery and also the hermitage at Lawudo, where I was born.

Many of you have probably read the story of Zina Rachevsky, our very first Western student. Zina had the title of “Princess Rachevsky” because her father was part of the nobility in Russia in the old times. When the Russian revolution happened, the family left Russia and came to live in France. I think she was born in France, then grew up in the United States, where she spent much of her life, then went to Greece. She went to many different places in the world, including Afghanistan, and lived many different types of life, rich and poor. She had all kinds of experiences, did all kinds of things and knew rich people and simple people. Anyway, she was the very first Western student.

Zina was still there when Mummy Max started to be the benefactor of Lama Yeshe and me and take care of us. Zina had become a nun in Dharamsala. We asked His Holiness to ordain her, but His Holiness didn’t have time to do it, so His Holiness asked Lati Rinpoche to ordain her. Zina was more in retreat. Lama gave Zina all the necessary advice, then sent her to the mountains to do retreat for many years.

Mummy Max then looked after us. What was I talking about before this?

[Students: Geshe Rabten]

That’s right—Geshe Rabten. You’re right. Thank you very much.

So, Mummy Max looked after Lama in Delhi for three months, taking him to the hospitals and helping with everything. She was running a very big business in the United States to help the monastery at Kopan, but she didn’t have time to look after her business for the three months she took care of Lama.

After Lama had passed away, she found out that she had she lost many hundreds of thousands of dollars, or maybe even a million. She had employed a new person to help her. Before, one old student called Anila Ann, who was a nun and an old friend of Mummy Max, helped her. At that time the business was very successful, making some millions of dollars, I think. After Anila Ann left, Mummy Max found a new person to run her business. Later, after she had finished taking care of Lama Yeshe for that three months, she found out that she had lost many goods and many hundreds of thousands of dollars when the goods got stuck in Bombay.

Anyway, during that time, Lama Yeshe was taken to a village outside Delhi, a very quiet place, and Mummy Max took care of everything. When Lama Lhundrup, who is now the abbot of Kopan Monastery, and I went there to see Lama, in our view the color of Lama’s holy body had already changed, and he was using oxygen. We tried to invite Geshe Rabten Rinpoche to see Lama. Geshe Rabten Rinpoche is also Lama Yeshe’s guru, and Lama received many, many teachings from him for many years in Tibet. Geshe Rabten had shown the aspect of having a small stroke, and he was coming to have treatment in Dharamsala from Ama Lobsang, a female Tibetan doctor who had a very close relationship with and was a fellow disciple of his root guru, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche. We tried to bring Geshe Rabten Rinpoche to meet Lama, because it was a very critical time, but Lama didn’t show much interest. Usually, Lama would be very eager because, of course, Geshe Rabten was his guru and they had an excellent relationship; but at that time Lama didn’t show the aspect of longing for a meeting.

Geshe Rabten Rinpoche was not only a great scholar but a great yogi who had realization of the root, guru devotion (guru devotion brings success in attaining the whole path up to enlightenment and success in liberating all the numberless sentient beings and bringing them to enlightenment); the three principles of the paths; and very high tantric realizations, not only of the generation stage, but of the illusory body and clear light. I think that His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche, who is their root guru, mentioned that they had the same realizations.

So, what I understood from Lama not showing much interest in seeing Geshe Rabten was that they didn’t need to meet with the gross body because they could meet and communicate with each other with the illusory body. For those who have such realizations, it’s not necessary to meet in the gross body; they can meet and communicate in a different way.

Lama usually showed unbelievable devotion to his gurus. Anyway, it’s hard to say the words. We disciples thought it might help the situation for Lama to meet Geshe Rabten at that time. Geshe-la did come and have lunch; our cooks, Pemba, who is now in Hong Kong, and Monlam, offered momos, the Tibetan food. Geshe Rabten then left for Dharamsala for his treatment.

Lama didn’t talk much to Geshe Rabten, but what I thought was, with their level of realization, they had already talked in a different way. Geshe Rabten is one with whom Lama Yeshe studied a lot in Tibet, as well as Geshe Sopa Rinpoche.

We were talking about astral traveling, but it has become a long story. I don’t know if it’s an astral trip or an astral tour….

Take His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for example. There’s a lama in Nepal called [Tubtul] Rinpoche, who has a relationship with the special deity, Most Secret Hayagriva. As a practitioner, that lama does all his practice early in the morning after he gets up. One time when he went to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Holiness said, “Oh, first you do this, second you do this, third you do this….” His Holiness could tell him everything he did without his informing His Holiness of his practices. I think that every morning he also does long-life meditation for His Holiness.

I think His Holiness tells certain people such things. It means that when His Holiness’s holy body is physically in one place, he can still travel to other places and see what is happening. Of course, His Holiness is the embodiment of Compassion Buddha, so his holy mind, his omniscience, covers all of existence. The omniscient mind doesn’t see things from afar the way we see things through a telescope or binoculars. The omniscient mind sees things by covering all existence. There is no place where there’s no omniscient mind. Once you’re enlightened, there’s no resistance, no blockage, to your mind; you’re free from that. Since the vehicle of that mind doesn’t have resistance, the mind covers all existence, pervades all existence. Because the vehicle of the mind, that subtle body, pervades all phenomena, the omniscient mind inside that also pervades all phenomena. In that way, the omniscient mind directly sees all past, present and future phenomena. So, the main point is that the way the omniscient mind sees phenomena is by covering all of existence.

Because of that, as soon as a particular sentient being’s karma has ripened to receive guidance, without even a moment’s delay, the guidance is right there. In that second, the omniscient mind manifests whatever form is needed. If the sentient being has an impure mind, you manifest in an impure body; if they have a pure mind, you then manifest in a pure form. Otherwise, if a sentient being has an impure mind and you manifest in a pure from, it won’t benefit them as they cannot see you, so you can’t give them direct guidance. Therefore, you manifest as an impure being, as an ordinary human being or even as an animal or spirit. You manifest as anything that accords with the karma of that sentient being. For preta beings, buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest as a preta to help them. Many times buddhas and bodhisattvas also manifest among animals to benefit, to protect, those animals. For example, among conches in the water, there are many bodhisattvas in the form of conches, and buddhas also manifest in that form. It is explained by Nagarjuna, the great propagator of the Buddha’s teachings, especially those on emptiness, who is a like a second Buddha, that if you keep one of those shells in your home and blow it, it will bring harmony, good relationships, in the family. Blowing the shell is also regarded as auspicious in bringing good luck and in healing sicknesses. There are shells in Tibet, but this kind of thick, heavy shell is extremely rare there. It’s said that this particular shell belongs to a being that has been born seven times as a bodhisattva, or something like that. This type of shell is regarded as very auspicious, and it is usually offered at the forehead or heart of Buddha statues. However, in Florida and other parts of the United States, it seems you can get a lot of these shells.

Buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest even among animals as that same type of animal and then look after the other animals. They take the aspect of these conch animals to protect other conch shell animals. So, if a being is a buddha, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re always a being radiating light. Buddhas can manifest in any form: as ordinary children, ordinary old people, male, female, even blind or lame. Buddhas and bodhisattvas can manifest as a beggar who begs from other sentient beings, thus allowing other sentient beings to collect merit, to create so much good karma.

There are buddhas and bodhisattvas who manifest even as spirits to benefit other spirits, as pretas, as nagas, or, as I mentioned before, as different types of animals. In China there is a holy place of Manjushri with five mountains, called Wu Tai Shan. There are many stories about this place, but there is one story I saw in a text and also heard from Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, the great lama who is my guru. One person who was going on pilgrimage to Wu Tai Shan met a Chinese man, who gave him a letter and asked him to take it to a particular village and give it to a particular bodhisattva. The pilgrim took the letter to the village and asked, “Where is this bodhisattva?” There was a family with some pigs there, and the man from the family said, “We don’t have a human bodhisattva named that, but we do have one pig with that name.”

The pilgrim then read the message to the pig. The message said, “Your time to be in this world is now finished. It is time for you to benefit other sentient beings in another world.” That was the message sent by the Chinese man to that pig. Right after the message was read to the pig, it made a huge noise, then passed away.

So, that Chinese man was actually Manjushri. Everybody who goes on pilgrimage to Wu Tai Shan sees Buddha Manjushri, but they don’t necessarily see Manjushri with a sword, like in the paintings of Manjushri. Of course, if you have a pure mind, you will see Manjushri in the pure aspect of a buddha. But a pure mind is rare, so most people will see Manjushri as an ordinary person. Everybody who goes there definitely sees Manjushri, but it doesn’t mean that they will recognize Manjushri.

The man who gave the letter to the pilgrim and told them to go to the village and give the letter to this particular bodhisattva looked like just an ordinary man, but actually it was Manjushri. The pilgrim passed the message to this bodhisattva, who had manifested as a pig. That pig, who was actually a bodhisattva, protected all the other pigs. He would look around and let all the other pigs go first; he was always the last pig.

I’ve forgotten the name of this bodhisattva. I first heard this story from Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, then I also saw it in the teachings. I think there are many stories like this. They are just to give you an idea of how buddhas and bodhisattvas can manifest any form. They manifest as animals, even pigs, to benefit other animals.

If you go on pilgrimage to Wu Tai Shan and see something that’s a little unusual, it’s maybe the way to figure out what is happening. Everybody who goes there sees Manjushri, but it’s not sure they will recognize him.

Kyabje Choden Rinpoche also went to China. I myself have taken teachings from Kyabje Choden Rinpoche, and lately Rinpoche has been giving many teachings at FPMT centers in different countries, including Taiwan. I made a Dharma connection with Rinpoche quite a few years ago and have been receiving many teachings from him. Rinpoche is a great lama from Sera Je, the same monastery as Lama Yeshe and I belong to. Rinpoche is always in meditation on lam-rim. Whatever he is doing, even if he is traveling or walking, Rinpoche’s mind is always in meditation, always in Dharma: bodhicitta, right view, the tantric path. Rinpoche’s mind is inseparable from Dharma.

So, Rinpoche also went to China. When you first arrive in Wu Tai Shan, it is said that the very first thing you see has great meaning; it is a manifestation of Manjushri. I myself haven’t been there, but I’ve been waiting for more than fifteen years. Fifteen years ago I wanted to go there to do retreat, but so far it hasn’t happened. Last year or the year before I went to China, to Beijing, and gave some teachings and a long-life initiation in a private house, that of the famous singer from Hong Kong, Fay Wong. I also had to see some Chinese business people there. From there, I then had to go to Tibet for a short time, because I want to build a statue in Lhasa. So, I didn’t make it to Wu Tai Shan, the Manjushri holy place.

So, this story gives you an idea of how you can’t tell who is or is not a buddha and who is or is not a bodhisattva. It is not only that you can’t tell among human beings, but you can’t tell this even among animals. So, in regard to getting angry with or harming others, you need to be very careful.

There’s one young Tibetan lady in Dharamsala who came to India from Tibet to offer service to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and mainly to protect His Holiness from obstacles. She’s a khadroma, or dakini. She’s a real dakini, who has very high attainments, including maybe direct perception of emptiness. Geshe Yeshe Tobden, a geshe from Sera Me Monastery, not Sera Je, regards this young Tibetan lady as an actual buddha. Geshe Yeshe Tobden, who is very learned, was Lama Yeshe’s best friend. They met and became friends in Buxa, in India, not in Tibet. They had the same style. I wear my robes long, but Lama and Geshe Yeshe Tobden wore theirs very high. (Later, Lama wore his robes long, but when he was in the monastery in Tibet and at Buxa, he wore his shem-thab very high up.) Their robes were of the same color and same style. They looked similar. Anyway, it’s not necessary to talk about other stories. So, Geshe Yeshe Tobden regarded this young Tibetan lady as an actual buddha.

The way she came from Tibet is beyond our concepts. When she came to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, she saw Milarepa when she was circumambulating the monastery. I mean, Milarepa was the great yogi who achieved enlightenment more than a thousand years ago. Milarepa gave her a bundle of money to her to go to India to help His Holiness. That’s how she came to India.

She went on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and saw amazing things there. She didn’t see what we see; what she saw was totally another world, beyond our concepts. She was alone, and it seems the protector Palden Lhamo put her on a mule. It wasn’t a donkey, but a mule. She was then taken around the mountains. She then came to Dharamsala, and what happened to her is all mystical.

Anyway, because she looked like a very young girl and nobody knew her, it took her one year to get to see His Holiness.

There are other mystical stories. Sometimes she manifests in the form of a protector and acts as an oracle, but actually she can tell things without becoming a medium, without manifesting in that form. She can check and see things from the past, present and future.

When she met Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, Rinpoche said to her, “I will make a golden bridge between you and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.” She was then able to see His Holiness, and since that time, she has been under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Anyway, the main story I want to tell you is that one time His Holiness was traveling to different places in the West and she was in Dharamsala. One day, while she was lying down, she had an intense feeling. I think it was like when you have a very serious dream and your body feels like something serious is happening. When the people who were around her later asked her what had happened, she said, “I was with His Holiness the Dalai Lama traveling in an airplane.” She was asked by one deity called Kurukulla to travel with His Holiness in the same plane. That means that she was asked to protect His Holiness.

I’m just talking about all this because I was talking before about the intermediate state beings; but here I’m talking about the freedom that realized beings have to do these things.

When she was doing retreat, even though everything was locked and there was no way to get out of the house, sometimes her body was outside the house. When it happened at night, she would be outside without many clothes on. For her, there’s no resistance. The attendant who had the keys would sometimes not be there, but when he later returned she would already be inside. She doesn’t need keys. She has a physical body, but it’s not an obstacle to her.

These are normal stories of what happens with those who are realized beings.

Many years ago, when she was still in Tibet, she could see Geshe Yeshe Tobden in Dharamsala. I think they have some past karmic connection. When she then came to Dharamsala, not immediately but after some time she went to see this geshe on the mountain at the back of Dharamsala. Quite a number of meditators live there in hermitages. When she went to see Geshe Yeshe Tobden, he sat in his room and didn’t move and didn’t speak. He didn’t say anything, not one word. She then went inside, and she also acted in an unusual way, telling him, “Now meditate, now meditate.” But he didn’t react at all. She then left.

After a year she went back again, but the geshe had had a dream the night before she came. Whatever dream he had, the next day when she came, the geshe cried and cried. He then asked her to sit on his bed and said, “You are a buddha, I’m a sentient being.” He sat down on the floor, and the girl sat up high on his bed. He then cried a lot. Whatever dream he had had, it totally changed his mind. From then, he treated her as an actual buddha, as Tara.

Geshe Yeshe Tobden would often go to Italy to give teachings. He was our first resident teacher at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, the largest and main center in Italy, where he lived for three years. When he went to teach in Italy, he would mostly teach at our centers, but he also had one center of his own that his students started some years ago. He would spend six months there in Italy, and then he would come back to Dharamsala to meditate for six months, then he would again go to Italy for six months. He was under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Geshe Yeshe Tobden would give her money to help take care of her expenses in Italy and when she traveled to countries, or even while she was staying in Dharamsala.

So, basically, you can’t really tell who’s a buddha and who’s not a buddha or who’s a bodhisattva and who’s not a bodhisattva. You can’t tell even among animals and spirits. As many of you have read in the Arya Sanghata Sutra, buddha manifests as a spirit to benefit spirits and manifests as a naga to benefit nagas.

Anyway, when you recite Praises to the Twenty-one Taras, the more you trust or rely on, take refuge in, Tara, the more guidance you receive from Tara. There are twenty-one Taras. With any of the different aspects of buddha, the general aim of every buddha is basically to bring every sentient being to enlightenment. The aim is to liberate every sentient being from the oceans of samsaric suffering by causing them to actualize the path and cease the cause of suffering, delusion and karma, and even the subtle defilements and bring them to enlightenment. Now, there are twenty-one different aspects of Tara. The twenty-one Taras according to the Lama Atisha tradition have one face and two arms; one is very wrathful, at least one is wrathful and another is a little wrathful. In her left hand, each Tara holds a wish-fulfilling vase, which fulfills the particular wishes of sentient beings. The purpose of each Tara is to grant particular wishes of sentient beings. Holding the wish-granting vase signifies that. It’s possible that the Twenty-one Taras manifested in that way to Lama Atisha.

The Twenty-one Taras with many arms are according to the vision of Pari Lotsawa, the great Tibetan lama and translator. I saw pictures from Taiwan of another aspect of the Twenty-One Taras. The Taras have one face and two arms, but with implements that signify the function of the different Taras in an utpala flower. I haven’t discovered yet which lama’s tradition, or vision, this is. Besides that, there is another set of Twenty-one Taras, also holding implements, I think. I don’t remember the exact details, but I’ve seen one set in recent years in New Zealand.

I think the Twenty-one Taras appeared in these different aspects according to the karma of the lama or certain sentient beings. They manifested in the aspect that was needed.

When you recite Praises to the Twenty-one Taras, you visualize Green Tara in the center, with the twenty-one Taras around her on twenty-one petals. Starting in front of Green Tara, the one who does all the activities, there is red Tara, and the others go around in this way. It is said that when you finish the first praise to red Tara, who does the action of controlling, she then absorbs within you, and you think, “I have received all the qualities of this Tara.” The particular function of this first, red Tara is control over sentient beings, so that they listen to you and obey you; you can then bring them into Dharma, into the path to enlightenment. You can liberate them from samsara and bring them to enlightenment. That’s the main reason to have control over sentient beings. There is also control over the material possessions that you need for your practice or to benefit sentient beings and the teaching of Buddha.

After you recite the first verse of praise, the first, controlling Tara absorbs within you, and you think that you receive all the qualities of that Tara. To become that Tara, however, you need the preliminary of a great initiation, at least a lower tantra great initiation. You can then become that Tara. Without having received initiation, you cannot become that Tara.

It’s the same with the next one. When you finish the praise, that Tara absorbs into you, and you receive all her qualities. No matter what problem you or other sentient beings have, among the twenty-one Taras, there’s one Tara there whose function is to pacify that problem. Whether it’s black magic, spirit harm, other people harming you, poison or something else, there’s always one Tara there to pacify that problem.

Your own problems are pacified, and you achieve all the qualities. It helps for your own personal development, or if some obstacles are happening, it helps to pacify them. By receiving qualities and power, you can then help others. According to the problem that you or another person has, you do more practice of that particular Tara, reciting the mantra and visualizing that nectar-beams emitted from that Tara enter your body and mind or the other person’s body and mind and completely purify sicknesses, spirit harms, negative karmas and defilements. You keep on chanting the mantra while the nectar is coming, then at the end you think that all the qualities have been received within you or that other person. After you have received a lower tantra great initiation such as that of Chenrezig, Mitukpa, Kunrig or Medicine Buddha, you can become Tara.

I haven’t yet heard of a Tara great initiation. Many deities have a great initiation, but some don’t. It’s not necessarily that with every deity there’s the tradition of a great initiation. Once you have received a great initiation, you yourself can then become Tara.

If you have a special, strong feeling for Tara, no matter what problem you have, you can take refuge in Tara and recite more of the mantra of the particular Tara that helps for that problem. In this way you can help yourself and others. Even if somebody in prison wants your help, there’s one Tara that helps in that situations.

Since you are reciting Praises to the Twenty-one Taras, and also reciting them in Spanish, later I want to give the oral transmission of Praises to the Twenty-one Taras, the lineage of which I have received. If you then receive the lineage, the practice has more blessing and more power to benefit others or you.

There were a few points that I didn’t make clear yesterday, but I’ve now forgotten them….

I think that the meditation I mentioned yesterday is very important. It’s a total change of your view of life, not only change from this life but from beginningless lives. It’s a total change of the perception and beliefs you have had during beginningless rebirths.

It’s very good to think of whatever problem you have and very important to meditate in this way. There are various problems, such as business problems and relationship problems. I can’t think of many at the moment, but I’m sure you can think of many more. Write down all the problems; this problem, that problem…. Anyway, I’m joking. With whatever problem you think of, be aware that there’s no I, that this real I that you have been believing in, not only from this morning and from birth,, but from beginningless rebirths, doesn’t exist. First think of the problem you believe you are experiencing, then think of the I, this real I. Relate it to the I: “I have this problem.” First think of the problem, then think of how it is a problem for this real I.

Then think of the reality of the I. You can do more elaborate analysis, but the simple way to think is as I mentioned before. None of the five aggregates is this real I, and even the collection of all five together is not this real I. This real I cannot be found from the top of your head down to your toes. It exists nowhere, neither on this nor anywhere else.

What exists is the merely imputed I, but it’s the same with it. None of these five aggregates is that merely labeled I, and even all five aggregates together is not the merely labeled I. So, where is the merely labeled I? You can’t find it anywhere, from the top of your head down to your toes. It’s exactly the same—you can’t find even the I that exists.

You have to get very clear that simple conclusion. Write it down in a notebook. Once you have that very simple conclusion clear in your heart, it’s then easy. When you study, there are many other types of logical reasoning, but this is the very simple conclusion.

Of course, you must understand that even though this real I, in the sense of existing from its own side, existing by its nature or being truly existent, doesn’t exist at all, neither on these aggregates nor anywhere else, it doesn’t mean that there’s no I. It doesn’t mean that there’s no I who creates the cause of suffering and the cause of happiness; who creates the cause of samsara and the cause of liberation; who creates the cause of hell and the cause of enlightenment. It’s not saying that the I doesn’t exist.

Before, you believed there was a problem, a problem for this real I. But when you discover that that real I is not there, what do you then think? The interesting question is, How do you now see the problem? If that I is not there, do you still have the problem?

So, I have one question. Let’s say that you’re going to sue somebody. The purpose of suing somebody is that you believe they have harmed me, this real I. It happens by believing in the real I. Now that you know that real I is not there, do you still sue that person who has harmed the merely labeled I? That’s the question.

In a relationship, when you get angry with your partner for something they did, you get angry because you believe that they did some harm to you, to the real I inside your body. You don’t get angry with or harm your partner because they harmed the merely labeled I. You don’t think that. Do you think it has ever happened that someone has got angry and said, “You’re harming the merely labeled I!”?

This meditation is very important, because what we normally do is the total opposite. We normally follow ignorance; we follow our wrong view of and wrong belief in the false I. We do everything for the false I, which is not there.

Awakening to this brings us to enlightenment. There are many wrong views, many superstitious thoughts, that we have to discover, but this is a very important one.

The other thing, of course, is that we think, “I am the most important one, far more important than others. My happiness is more important than others’ happiness.” That’s a different superstition. Again, it is exactly the same in being a wrong view that is not supported by valid, logical reasoning. That is another meditation, one that leads to bodhicitta.

So, first you think of the problem, then analyze the real I. You find that there’s no such thing there. How do you now see the problem? Is the problem there or not? It’s very important to check this, especially in relationship problems. When you check in this way, the relationship problem doesn’t exist, because there’s no such I there. Since this real I is not there, that problem doesn’t exist. You then don’t harm the other person. Discovering this can immediately bring you peace, and you can live in harmony with your partner.

Anyway, it’s very good to think about your problems, write them down in a book and then meditate on them in this way. It’s training for our mind.

If you have understood this well and solved your problems, you can then also help other people. You can help many people, even those who are suicidal. Many people become suicidal because of relationship problems or failures in business. But other people become suicidal because they don’t have anyone in their life; they think that nobody loves them and that they are all alone.

From last night’s talk on emptiness, I want to emphasize that this is a very important point. You can study billions of pages on emptiness and know them by heart, but if you don’t meditate, if you don’t get the experience, you will become just a scholar, and that’s it. Your problem will still be the same; it won’t be solved. Even after learning billions of pages of teachings on emptiness, you’ll still be the same person with all the same problems you had before you knew the teachings on emptiness. If your problems are not more, they will not be less. You will also have more pride. You will know the words, but you won’t have the experience inside.

I didn’t clarify the reason that I talked about Geshe Lama Konchog yesterday. I remembered the reason this morning, but I’ve now forgotten it again….

Yesterday’s talk happened because she asked a question and I wanted to answer it. However, I didn’t finish answering her question—I went off on my own trips yesterday. No, it was the second question she asked that I didn’t answer.

So, this becomes one of the meditations on emptiness. The first one I mentioned is being aware that your mind is constantly, twenty-four hours a day, labeling. There is constantly the mere imputation of “I” and then of “sitting,” “walking,” “eating,” “meditating,” “drinking” or “sleeping.” Because the aggregates are there, there is constantly the mere imputation of what the body is doing—“sitting,” “walking,” “eating,” “sleeping”—and what the mind is doing—“happy,” “unhappy,” “making plans”—and what the speech is doing. Because the aggregates exist, the label “I” exists, even though you can’t find I on the base, the aggregates. This is a subtle, important point: On the base, the aggregates, you cannot find even the imputed I. It’s very important to get a clear idea of this.

So, the mind constantly makes up the label “I” and, in dependence upon what the body, speech and mind does, constantly labels the actions of the I. It is like this twenty-four hours a day. It has been like this from birth and from beginningless rebirths, and it will be like this even up to enlightenment.

The mind makes up the label “I” and merely imputes the functions of the I. So, it all exists in mere name: I exists in mere name and the functions of the I exist in mere name.

You can meditate on this in the following way. In relation to this morning, first you were lying down, then you got up and got dressed. When your body was doing the action of dressing, your mind labeled, “I’m dressing.” The I, in mere name, was doing the action of dressing, in mere name. When your body was washing, your mind labeled “I,” which exists in mere name, and the function of washing, which exists in mere name. It will continue in this way through to tonight, when you go to bed. You can go over your whole life in this way, and then your beginningless rebirths, and then you can go up to enlightenment and after enlightenment. So, that’s one meditation.

You can also do this meditation while you’re walking, while you’re sitting, while you’re working. You can meditate on this, be mindful of this, continuously. Whatever you are doing—cleaning, working in the kitchen—your mind can continuously be in meditation. It is not that there is no I but that the merely imputed I is doing the merely imputed action of cleaning. Your mind is practicing mindfulness, practicing meditation. While you are talking to people, your mind is in meditation, mindful that the merely imputed I is doing the merely imputed action of talking.

For example, you can question yourself, “What am I doing?” You answer, “I’m talking.” You then ask, “Why do I believe I’m talking?” You answer, “There’s no other reason except that my aggregates are doing the action of talking. My mind made up the label ‘I’ and then the label ‘talking.’ That’s it. All of this exists in mere name. It’s not real, in the sense existing from its own side. There’s no such thing.”

While you’re having meetings and talking to people, part of your mind can be in that meditation.

You can do the same thing while you are walking, cleaning, doing your job and so forth. In this way, even though your life is very busy, at the same time you are continuously practicing Dharma, because your mind is in meditation, and here in meditation on emptiness, the most important one. Meditation on emptiness is most important, because without this realization you cannot directly cut the root of suffering and directly eliminate delusion and karma and the defilements. That’s the most important thing.

So, even though your life is very busy, in this way your life is unified with Dharma, because your mind is continuously in meditation in relation to your work.

During the time that you are mindful that there’s no real I inside your body and that the I and actions are merely imputed by the mind, if somebody criticizes you, puts you down, looks at you in the wrong way or disrespects you, it doesn’t hurt you. When you are in that state of mind, it doesn’t bother you because during that time you have no belief that the real I is there.

No matter how busy your life is, you should keep your mind in this meditation, which is extremely important to realizing emptiness. It’s not that you believe there’s no I, which is nihilism, or that you have a totally wrong view. Your mind is aware of what is the false I and of what is the I that exists. Here you’re meditating on dependent arising: there’s an I but it’s a mere imputation because there are the aggregates and there are merely imputed actions.

During that time, your heart is free. You don’t have all those problems, like a candy that has dropped on the ground and gathered all the dust. (Maybe you should find another example.) During that meditation, your heart is free. There is no strong desire and grasping to one particular object nor strong aversion wanting to get rid of a particular object. You don’t have discriminating thoughts of anger and attachment, and all the problems that come from them, which happen when you see things as real, as existing from their own side, which is a hallucination, then grasp onto them.

Imagine how it would be if everybody in the world realized that there’s no real I and that the I that exists is one that exists in mere name, merely imputed by mind. (We haven’t yet meditated on all the different problems that come because of the real I. I did say that when you analyze and find that there’s no such thing as the real I, you then see how the problem doesn’t exist. We need to meditate on that.) Can you imagine how it would be if everybody in the world came to have this realization? There would suddenly be no meaning in all the unbelievable global problems. Countries wouldn’t be fighting each other or using political means or force to take over another country. All the problems of the world, of societies, of families and of individuals would be stopped. Everything would be stopped. There would suddenly be no meaning in killing each other or in trying to grab power and wealth.

You can extend your meditation. First you can meditate on your own problems, then after that extend your meditation to the whole world. It’s really amazing. So many problems would be stopped, and there would be unbelievable peace and happiness. From there, you could then open your heart and have even much deeper compassion for others. When you look at the rest of the world, you see how there could be unbelievable peace and happiness for the people and animals on this earth. When the people have peace and happiness, the animals also have so much peace and happiness. All living beings would have peace and happiness.

So, she asked a very good question, and I shouldn’t waste it…. Because there is the base, the aggregates, there’s the label “I.” Because the base exists, the I exists; it doesn’t exist separately from the base, but it exists differently from the base. We need to meditate on that.

Now, how do the aggregates, exist? They exist in mere name, merely imputed by the mind. The collection of the five aggregates (form, feeling, discrimination, compounding aggregates, consciousness) is the base to be labeled “aggregates.” So, the aggregates exist, but they’re nothing other than what is merely imputed by mind.

It is good to meditate while I’m speaking, so that you immediately get a clear idea of what I’m talking about. But if you won’t be able to remember what I’m saying, it’s better to write it down. What you write down will be helpful now and in the future, for you and for other people.

The way the aggregates, the base of the I, exist is as nothing other than what is merely imputed, or labeled, by the mind, because there is the collection of the five aggregates. That’s it.

Now, form. What is form? It’s nothing other than what is merely imputed by the mind, because of the group of parts of the body: the head, arms, legs and trunk.. So, it’s not that what is labeled “form” doesn’t exist, but it’s so subtle that it’s like it doesn’t exist. Form is a mere imputation.

Now, you can continue the meditation by analyzing one of the parts of the body, the head, for example. What is the head? It is nothing other than what is merely imputed by mind, because there is the group of the parts of the head, which is the base to be labeled “head.”

Anyway, we’re not going to go through all the parts of the head—the brain, ears, nose, eyes, skull and so forth—as it would take a long time to go through them all. If you’re a doctor or you have studied anatomy, you would know all the different pieces that are put together to make the head. The head is like a football, with all the pieces wrapped up in skin and with hair growing out of the top. It now looks strange, doesn’t it? So, all the different pieces have different names; but they are all also merely imputed by mind, because their particular base exists. They all just exist in mere name, merely imputed by mind.

So, the idea you’re supposed to get in your heart is that there’s nothing real there. These things exist, but they’re not real. They’re not totally nonexistent; they exist, but they’re not real, or not inherently existent.

Now we will go down from the very small pieces, down, down, down, to the atoms. According to the philosophy of the Prasangika School, atoms have particles. Even the atoms are nothing other than what is merely imputed by the mind. They came from mind; they are merely imputed by mind. According to the Prasangika School, the particles of atoms also have particles, so it goes on in that way. The lower schools believe that atoms have no particles, but the Prasangika School believes that they do have particles.

Now concentrate here so that you get the idea of atoms. What are the atoms? They are nothing other than what is merely imputed, or labeled, by mind, because there are particles of atoms. Now, particles of atoms is a name, and a name has to be given by the mind. So, even the particles of atoms are merely imputed by mind. Therefore, the particles of the atoms do not exist at all from their own side. Meditate on this.

[There is a very long pause for meditation.]

Now, from the particles of the atoms up to the I, the self, they are all nothing other than what is merely imputed by the mind. It’s not that they don’t exist, but it’s like they don’t exist. From the particles of the atoms up to the I, they are all extremely fine phenomena. They exist because they have a base, which is also merely labeled by mind. Now you have the whole idea of how things exist, from the self down to the atoms and the particles of atoms.

What you saw and believed before is that, from the self down to the particles of the atoms, everything was real from its own side. All that view we had before is totally false, totally nonexistent, from the self down to the atoms and the particles of the atoms. The view we had in the past, from this morning and from birth, is a total hallucination; it is totally nonexistent—it doesn’t exist in the slightest. So, our believing these things to be real is the superstitious mind, ignorance.

This is a meditation on emptiness. The previous one was meditation on dependent arising, the subtle dependent arising according to the Prasangika School.

Next, you can meditate on all the hallucinations I was talking about just now. From the self down to the particles of the atoms, there are all these hallucinations, piles of hallucinations. This is another meditation you can do. While you’re busy, a part of your mind can be aware that all this is a hallucination, totally nonexistent.

The other one is the consciousness. You have to analyze the consciousness: the consciousness from life to life, this life’s consciousness, one day’s consciousness, one hour’s consciousness, one minute’s consciousness, one second’s consciousness, then the split-seconds of consciousness. All these are merely imputed by mind. The analysis is the same.

Again, it is the same. You realize that everything that exists, from the split-seconds of consciousness up to the self, is merely imputed by mind, so they are all empty, totally empty of existing from their own side. You meditate in that way.

You can then do the same meditations on emptiness and subtle dependent arising, as well as meditating that they are all hallucinations, as they are hallucinations.

Besides form and consciousness, you can also do the same meditations with feeling, discrimination and the compounding aggregates. The analysis to find out how they are merely imputed by mind is the same.

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others,

"Jang chhub sem chhog rin po chhe….

“Due to all the merits of the three times collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, which are empty, may the I, who is empty, achieve Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, which is empty, and lead all the sentient beings, who are empty, to that Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, which is empty, by myself alone, who is empty.”

So, thank you very much. Enjoy.

[The students recite the short mandala offering.]

Enjoy dinner.

[Rinpoche learns how to say this in Spanish, and the students laugh and applaud.]