By having offered this mandala to Chenrezig, may myself and all sentient beings’ mind become Dharma, Dharma become the path and to not occur any obstacles to the path. Especially bless us to generate the two bodhicittas, conventional bodhicitta and absolute bodhicitta, immediately within all our hearts.

From now on, whatever action I do, eating, walking, sitting, sleeping, doing job, so forth, listening, reflecting, meditation practice, and whatever life I experience, happy life or unhappy life, healthy life or having sicknesses, poor or rich, receiving criticism or praise from others, or bad reputation or good reputation, receiving material or not receiving material, gain or loss, living or dying, even born in the hell realm, whatever life I experience from now on, may it become most beneficial towards all the sentient beings, that which causes all the sentient beings to achieve enlightenment as quick as possible by ourself being enlightened.

IDAM GURU RATNA....

The request.

sang gye chö dang.... (3x)]

So, as it was mentioned yesterday, so, the main objective of our life, why we are born as humans, why we are born human being this time or why we have this precious human body at this time, that is not just to achieve happiness only for oneself, not just only to solve one’s own, not to solve only one’s own problems, but to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them in full enlightenment. For the success of that then there’s no other way except first oneself achieve the state of omniscient mind. For that, then one need to actualize the graduated path of the higher capable being, and that depends on preliminary realization, having realization of the graduated path of the middle capable being in general and that depends on preliminary realization, having achieved the graduated path of the lower capable being in general. So that starts the subject, the beginning of the path, the eight freedoms and ten richnesses, how this human body is so precious.

So what makes successful actualizing the beginning of the path, how this human body is qualified with eight freedoms, ten richnesses, how this is so precious, from there up to enlightenment is by the correctly devoting to the virtuous friend with thought and action, so therefore it is called the root of the path to enlightenment. Without that then cannot, without the root you can’t have the stems, you can’t have the trees, the main trunk and all the branches and the flowers and the fruit, can’t have all those enjoyments. But if there’s the root then it can, everything can grow, all these things can happen. So that’s why devoting to the virtuous friend with thought and action is called the root of the path to enlightenment. So, without that, all the rest of the path to enlightenment doesn’t happen. By having that, all those happens. That is why it’s called the root, ________ that example.

That Lama Atisha and Lama Tsongkhapa, having introduced this meditation first, how to correctly devote to the virtuous friend, if one make mistakes, what are the shortcomings, the heaviest shortcomings, the obstacles that can happen and the great advantages if one did practice correctly devote to the virtuous friend with thought and action, and how to do that. So extremely skillful, extremely kind that these meditations was explained the first, so it protects, it saves one’s own life, it saves, it protects oneself from this biggest mistake in the life, this greatest obstacle, creating the greatest obstacle, so it protects oneself from this. From the very beginning being aware, so that helps, and also one comes to know this is the one that makes, what makes successful actualizing the whole graduated path and how quickly one will achieve enlightenment, the answer lies in how good quality, how much one is able to devote to the virtuous friend with thought and action, how much one cherish this than one’s own life. Like one’s own life or cherishing more than one’s own life, which brings enlightenment quickest.

That as it is mentioned in the guru devotion commentaries by great ?Guru Heruka, Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, that bodhisattva Always Crying, Taktungu, even without practicing tantra, correctly devoted to his guru, bodhisattva Chöpa, more than one’s own life. Seven years correctly devoted his guru bodhisattva Chöpa, that waiting to receive teachings from bodhisattva Chöpa for a long time. First of all spent a long time to seek, to find the guru that one has karmic connection. Even though bodhisattva Always Crying One can see numberless buddhas in nirmanakaya aspect, but still want to look for the guru that with whom he has karmic connection in the past. So, then, so did bodhisattva Chöpa was in retreat, so had to wait for years, so did cleaning around the temple, inside bodhisattva Chöpa was there, so did cleaning a long time. And then, and the day when bodhisattva Chöpa comes out of the retreat from the temple, then cleaned the dust on the ground and performed the throne for the teaching. So due to the maras, they caused the water to dry so there’s no water to sprinkle over the ground to not rise the dust up, so then he took his own blood from the body and he sprinkled over the ground to not rise dust up.

And [pause] I think, I don’t remember very clear, there was some story before, so those who have read the story of bodhisattva Always Crying One will remember, from the sutra, crushed the bones, his own body bones, kind of sawed and, in order to receive teaching or something, I’m not sure, there was a story like that. However, and his own body bones, however, because having devoted to his guru Chöpa correctly, cherishing more than his own life, so because of this, even without practicing tantra, he was able to complete, normally which takes, to accomplish the merit by following the Paramitayana path, Mahayana the Paramitayana path, one who practice it takes three countless great eons to complete the merit, so the bodhisattva Always Crying One did such strong, correctly devoted to the virtuous friend, cherished more than his own life, so therefore, which takes two countless great eons, merit, to complete the merit, that much merit which one collects by, the two countless great eons by following the Paramitayana path, so that is finished, that much merit is completed, able to complete within seven years, due to such strong practice of guru devotion, sacrificing his own life, cherishing more than his own life. So even without practicing tantra became quicker, so much quicker to achieve enlightenment.

So, [pause] as it is mentioned in the outlines of the lam-rim, Quick Path, the Red Commentary, the Quick Path, as it is mentioned there, that this tradition that a fortunate being to go to full enlightenment, this is well expounded, this is a path, traditional path that well expounded by great charioteers, the Nagarjuna, Asanga. Then, this is profound, like the very essence of understanding that Lama Atisha and the Dharma King of the three worlds, Lama Tsongkhapa, as the essence of their understanding, it expressed out. Then this contains the essence of all the 84,000 teachings without missing and all this is set it up for graduate practice for one person to achieve enlightenment, such these teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment, the lam-rim, so in order to show pure references of this teaching, then showing the qualities of the author. From Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, that it has pure references. This essence, such this practice, this teaching came from Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, who is the founder of the present Buddhadharma and in particular Lama Atisha, who the essence of the 84,000 teachings of Buddha, Lama Atisha integrated and set it up, graduated practice, the vast teachings of Buddha, the meaning, then Lama Atisha integrated, set it up graduate practice for one person to achieve enlightenment without any confusion, the ______ ________ teachings of the Buddha. Any teaching taught by Buddha, so how to practice, without any confusion.

In order to rise devotion to this teaching, explaining the advantages of the teaching, of this lam-rim teaching. And then, how to listen and explain this teaching that which has advantages and qualities, this lam-rim teaching. And how to bring the, how to guide or bring the, in the path to enlightenment, the disciple of the actual teaching, the lam-rim. Then, puts in two, the session time and break time, how to do, then session time, that the preparation, actual body and the completion. The actual body, then persuading on this body endowed with the freedoms and richnesses to take the essence, persuading the mind to take the essence on this body endowed with the freedoms and richnesses, and how to take the essence on this body. So, persuading the mind, persuading the disciple to take the essence on this body endowed with the freedoms and richnesses. So that this, that has the eight freedoms, ten richnesses, how this is highly meaningful and this is difficult to achieve again.

So, I left out the ______ ______, sorry, but actual body, actual body of the meditation. So devoting the, how to devote to the virtuous friend, by devoting to the virtuous friend, how to train or how to transform the mind in the path, in this graduate path. How to devote to the virtuous friend and by devoting to the virtuous friend, the second one is, by devoting to the virtuous friend, means on that basis, how to transform the mind in the lam-rim, the graduate path to enlightenment. So, by devoting, by Kyabje Chöden Rinpoche, when he was giving the lam-rim teaching in America, at LMB, so Rinpoche explained when Rinpoche was going through the outline, Rinpoche explained that people, from those two outlines, how to devote to the virtuous friend, then by devoting to the virtuous friend, how to train the mind in the graduate path to enlightenment. So, some people may think, which, from those two outlines, which is more important? They may think, by devoting to the virtuous friend, how to train the mind in the graduate path to enlightenment, they may think the second outline is more important, training the mind in the graduate path to enlightenment. Rinpoche said, correctly devoting to the virtuous friend, it is important, it is such important, it is similar, it is so important to the second outline, training the mind in the graduate path, the first outline it is so important as the second one, it is equal. Rinpoche said that if you put luggage, load, on an animal, Rinpoche mentioned a yak or whatever it is, so the other one is light then whichever’s heavier, luggage, one side is lighter, but other one is, they’re not the same then it will fall down, so Rinpoche used that example.

I think here, reason, I think, the same, so without this, because without, why the correctly devoting to the virtuous friend is so important as the second one, how to train the mind in the graduate path to enlightenment, because without the first one, correctly devoting to the virtuous friend, how to correctly devote to the virtuous friend, without that then the second one cannot happen. So, that’s what Rinpoche’s saying. So first one is so important as the second one.

However, so this, then how to train the mind in the graduate path to enlightenment, that one as I mentioned before, the outline, persuading the disciple’s mind to take the essence of the body endowed with the freedoms and richness. Then, how to take the essence on this body. So, as Nagarjuna mentioned in the Writing to the Friend, so hell, hungry ghost, animal, barbarian, long-life god, the heretical being, place where Buddha hasn’t descended and then, fool. They might have mentioned also mute, ?len-kuk, mute, fool, but I think the fool is more harmful. Mute, if they can learn, no, that’s the blind. I was talking about reading Dharma texts with the hands, that’s the blind, not the mute. [RL] Not to do with the mute, it’s to do with the blind. Anyway, somebody made a comment that in the teaching it says mute, imperfect body, that ?meant cannot practice Dharma, but it’s not true, because in the West, because of technology you can read Dharma texts with your hands, with hands can read, can learn Dharma, can learn teachings with the hands. I’m not sure the person can learn very technical things like philosophy, with the hands reading, with the hands touching the paper, that I’m not sure. However, so, fool, mentally fool, that’s more harmful because understanding has to be done by the mind, if the mind is fool, it’s more harmful to learn Dharma.

However, so here now, [pause] it is said in the teachings that all the fire energy in the human world put together, and then end of the time fire, end of the world fire, which is hotter. The end of the world fire is sixty, seventy times much more hotter than all the human realm, the energy of all the human realm fire, even all put together the energy, so that is how hot it is, it’s very small comparing the end of the time fire, end of the world fire, that which melts even the, like lava, the volcano this lava, so that melts even rocks, that which even the hard rocks that which touches it get melted. However, that which melts even the rocky mountain, like that. So, and that one is, now comparing to the one tiny fire spark of the hot hells, it’s sixty or seventy times hotter than the end of the world fire, so even one tiny fire spark from the hells, how hot it is, it gives some idea. However, so, comparing how hot it is, one tiny fire spark from the hot hell, all the human beings, all the fire energy of the human world how hot it is, it is nothing, it’s like air-conditioning or it’s cool air, it’s very cool air, it’s like snow flake falling down, like cool air.

So therefore, even one tiny fire spark how hot it is like that, so now if we are now in the hot hell, then impossible to practice Dharma, to meditate, such most unbearable suffering, the hot suffering, so how fortunate I am that I’m not, now I’m not in the hell, not being in the hell realm, not experiencing the hell suffering and having opportunity to practice Dharma, this is unbelievable miracle, can’t imagine. So first one meditate to get the feeling, think that yourself in the hell, the hot hell realm and how it is, to get the idea, some understanding, then think, then come back, then think of the present situation, not being there and having freedom to practice Dharma. So how unbelievable this, the freedom one has now. And then, with this freedom even within one second you can achieve happiness of future lives, whatever one wish, because one can create the cause. With this freedom, even within one second, you can achieve any happiness of the future lives one wishes, one can achieve, one can create the cause. Even one wishes to achieve liberation from samsara, ultimate happiness, liberation from samsara, one can achieve because one can create the cause. And even within a second, with this freedom, not being in the hell realm, you can practice Dharma, can achieve enlightenment, because within each second one can create the cause, can generate bodhicitta. With bodhicitta within one second one can create the cause of enlightenment. So with bodhicitta you create the cause of enlightenment even within a second, so that means by the way, when that happens, by the way you create the cause to achieve liberation from samsara; by the way, within each second you create the cause of happiness of future lives, it comes, when you create the cause to achieve enlightenment, as a package, by the way it comes, liberation from samsara comes by the way and happiness of all the future lives comes by the way. So within that package, package or, anyway, I just give an idea, package.

So this freedom, without being in the hell, having freedom to practice Dharma, with this freedom even within a second, how precious it is, how unbelievable precious it is, it’s more precious than sky filled with the wish-granting jewels. It’s more precious than the whole sky filled with the gold, diamonds, more precious than that, then the whole sky filled with diamonds, that is still nothing, the whole sky filled with wish-fulfilling jewel, that in the past, those bodhisattvas, wheel-turning kings, those who have so much merit, good karma, then able to find wish-granting jewel under the ocean and clean three ways all the mud and smell, three ways, then you put on the top of the banner, on the full moon, that day then you put wish-granting jewel on top of the banner, on the roof of the house you put a banner then you put the jewel on top of that. Then whatever you pray, whatever you ask for, any material enjoyments, whatever you generate a wish you get, it gets materialized immediately, so of course, a person’s side having that good karma to find the wish-granting jewel and then by praying one is able to, whatever material enjoyment one wishes it gets materialized immediately.

So, [pause] not just one, but limitless skies of wish-granting jewels, all that is nothing if you compare the value of the freedom to practice Dharma not being in the hell realm. Why? Because even you own that many wish-granting jewels, this freedom is more precious, this freedom to practice Dharma without being in the hell is, even with second, is so precious, more precious than zillions, trillions of dollars. So, I think, maybe sometimes this example of money is better, money is better example. So to compete, to compare, here you don’t use competition, it’s not football or something. So anyway, compare, so when the business people lose millions of dollars, then the thought comes to commit suicide, to jump over the bridge, those famous bridge, go to those famous bridge, like San Francisco there’s a famous bridge, Golden Bridge, or Australia, maybe Sydney or, I don’t know where, [RL] so famous bridge, anyway, many countries there is famous bridge where if you want to, if the thought of suicide comes then you go there or high buildings or famous cliffs or something. So Spain or something like that, sometimes there are some place where people talk about where people can go to jump.

So anyway, nervous breaking or people become lung, becoming crazy, lung, nervous breaking, anyway, have to go to hospital, so much, nervous breaking, then mentally disturbed, becoming, cause mental sicknesses and have to go to hospital or like that. So however, millions of dollars or billions of dollars, those business people, the worldly people, then generally become, feel great loss, unbearable loss or lung or crazy that having lost one thousand dollars or one hundred dollars or even one thousand rupees or even one hundred rupees. So that is because you know the money’s so precious and you can do so many things, because you know the value of the money, but one never feel with this precious human body, no matter how much it’s wasted, even the whole life is wasted, even the whole life is spent not just to create meaningless actions, empty, which has no essence, which doesn’t bring any happiness, which doesn’t result any happiness, not only that, not only makes life empty but the precious human body, whole life used only to create negative karma, only cause of the lower realms. The precious human body or human life it’s used only to create negative karma, cause of the unbearable suffering. So even the whole life is spent, used, like that, never feel having lost, never feel having wasted or lost this precious human body, life, as one feel great loss one has lost billions of dollars or millions of dollars, then even one hundred dollars, one feel great loss, even one lost a hundred dollars or a hundred rupees or ten rupees. So it all depends on the person, how much a person feel value.

So anyway, with this precious human body never have the feeling of, like how you feel with money, if the money’s lost. Somebody cheated, which cost one rupee, that person having asked you for two rupees, then the extra rupee’s gone to other person instead of your having the one extra rupee, it’s gone to other person’s hand, so then you feel, just generally speaking, so you feel then so lost, lost so much, one rupee extra is gone. It’s just you didn’t have but it’s in the hand of the other person, but you feel so much loss, the other person cheated you, which is only one rupee but took two rupees. So it becomes a huge problem. So anyway, so that feeling of loss, one rupee is gone, one extra rupee is gone, so feeling loss. But this human body is so precious, so this precious human life or this body, how much it’s wasted, not only empty but used only to create negative karma, every day used to create negative karma, to suffer in the lower realms, so still feel completely okay, then there’s no feeling of loss even one rupee is there, that kind of feeling of loss. So that means you value this one rupee more than, that one doesn’t see the value of even one rupee to the precious human body, human life, you don’t have that feeling of precious, how precious, not even how you feel with one rupee.

So however, now, what I was going to say is this, skies filled with wish-granting jewels, that much even you own, with that many wish-granting jewels cannot stop your rebirth in the lower realms, cannot. That many wish-granting jewels you have, that alone, just having wish-granting jewel or just having even sky filled with wish-granting jewels cannot stop rebirth in the lower realms, cannot stop even the rebirth in the lower realms, besides it cannot give liberation to you from samsara and the lower nirvana. So, but if you have this freedom, not being in the hell realm, freedom to practice Dharma not being in the hell realm, with this freedom can, without one single wish-granting jewel, without one single even jewel, without one single money, even one doesn’t own one single money, but having this freedom not being in the hell, freedom to practice Dharma without being in the hell, can achieve, even within a second can achieve enlightenment, can create the cause, can achieve enlightenment, can achieve liberation, so can achieve happiness of future lives, can creates the cause even within a second, with this freedom even within a second, and can achieve liberation from samsara, by creating the cause even within a second, can achieve enlightenment even within one second with this freedom by creating the cause.

So therefore, if one waste this freedom to practice Dharma without being in the hell, it’s a greater loss, much more than the whole sky filled with the gold, with diamonds, even wish-granting jewels. Much greater loss than having lost whole sky filled with wish-granting jewels. The reason why, how it is greater loss, the reason was explained before.

So now, this freedom to practice Dharma without being in the hell, this difficult to find again and this doesn’t last long, this can be stopped any time, this freedom to practice Dharma without being in hell, this can be stopped any time. So, must practice Dharma right away. Without delay even a second and must practice Dharma continuously.

So same, so if you are in the place where there’s no food, you can’t find any water, if you have to be in one place, if you have to be in that place where you can’t find any food, one spoon of food or one piece of bread or one piece of food, one spoon of food cannot find and even a drop of water, can’t find even a drop of water, you have to be in such a place for one day, so can’t bear that, it’s unimaginable, can’t bear that, where there’s no drop of water, not even one drop of water, where can’t find even a spoon of food there, so if one has to spend just even one day, it is so long. Even it’s one day but it will be so long, like years or like a hundred years, so unbearable, feel like that. So anyway, so no question if one has to be in such a place for one week or a month or year, that can’t imagine this. So therefore now, impossible to practice, you don’t die, but somehow you have to suffer like this, how the suffering is so great, so unbearable, no way to practice Dharma.

For example, when we have, for example, for us human beings, when we are too excited also unable to practice Dharma, too excited, too happy or anyway, too excited, so can’t relax the mind, can’t practice Dharma. When there is very heavy relationship problems, very painful, very painful, the other person left you, you have incredible pain in your heart, again you can’t do sadhana, you can’t recite OM MANI PADME HUM, you can’t recite even one mala of OM MANI PADME HUM because so much pain in your heart, relationship problems. Difficult to think of practice. It’s just only mental thing, the problem is just only mental thing, not physical thing, that there’s a big pain in the _____, not like that, it’s just a mental thing, the problem because of your wrong way of thinking, which become problem, but even something like that happens, cannot do sadhana, cannot do even a mala of OM MANI PADME HUM, very difficult to remember, so like that.

So therefore, if we are in preta realm now, where hundreds of years, thousands of years, can’t find a drop of water, spoon of food, and the body has to suffer, doesn’t die, have to suffer. So how unbearable that suffering is, hunger and thirst, then all these incredible disappointments, all those, all these obstacles, outer obstacles of food obscuration, the inner obscuration, that’s explained the preta suffering in the teaching, always so many obstacles. When you see food there’s so many obstacles to get it. Even to get a drop of water, so many obstacles you have to go through, so many obstacles, even a tiny bit of water to get to the mouth, that which is size of the eye of needle, so even to get to here, not only that it doesn’t benefit, difficult to go through the neck because of knots and even it reaches the stomach can’t help, only become the cause of suffering, burning, like fire burning, like you put kerosene, if you put matches, lit the matches and drop in the gas or kerosene, like that, it burns inside. So, even just to get that one, so many obstacles, so difficult to succeed to get into the mouth.

However, if are now there, born as preta, impossible, having freedom, without being born in preta realm having freedom to practice Dharma, so this is like a dream, like can’t believe it, that I have this freedom, can’t believe it. It’s unimaginable. Amazing.

So now, with this freedom to practice Dharma without being born in preta realm, so even with, not only one can achieve three great purposes with this, but even within a second, with this freedom, even within a second can achieve the three great purposes. Then, so, it’s so precious, so therefore, unbelievable precious this freedom to practice Dharma without being in preta realm, one second is so more precious, as I mentioned before, billion, zillions, trillions of dollars or the sky filled with the wish-granting jewel, all that is nothing, the value is nothing compared to this value, this freedom to practice Dharma not being in preta realm, even duration for a second, because you can achieve the three great purposes.

So therefore, this, difficult to find again, that this freedom can be stopped any time, so before that think, wasted, having wasted this freedom even for one second it’s like having wasted, much more than having wasted whole sky filled with the trillions or zillions of dollars or the whole sky filled with gold, diamonds or even wish-granting jewel, much greater loss than that. And this is difficult to find again, and then this freedom that I have now can be lost any time. So therefore, I must practice Dharma right away and I must practice all the time, non-stop.

So this is just an idea how to meditate, how to realize how each freedom is so precious, even within a second, duration like that, to discover that. So conclusion, to practice Dharma. [pause]

So maybe to mention then I stop.

So my having freedom to practice Dharma not being born animal realm, so if one is born now, if one is turtle or the worms, pigs, if one is pig now, or crocodiles, even as a dog, cats and dogs that lives with people, so [few words inaudible], so cats and dogs even they are living with people, cats and dogs, pigs, I mustn’t give up pigs, [RL] anyway, so if you explain them what is the cause of happiness, the cause of happiness is virtue. What is the virtue? Action which results only happiness, action which results happiness, motivated by non-anger, non-ignorance, non-attachment. Even just the short one, action which results happiness, just that, so explaining to pigs, if you teach the pig the definition of virtue, action which result happiness, how many billions of eons you explain the pig, the cat or dog, can never, they can never understand the meaning of virtue, the meaning of virtue they can never understand, even you explain billions of eons. [pause]

But, no matter how long you repeat them, teach them, no way, with that body, no way to learn this, but with by having this human body, if somebody explains, what is virtue, the actions which results happiness, motivated by non-ignorance, non-anger, non-attachment. Understood, you have understood within a few seconds. With the other one, no matter how many eons you explain, they cannot understand. But here you can understand, if somebody explains to you, you can understand within a few seconds. So that’s a few seconds explaining that, to complete the sentences, a few seconds. So you understood, then you can understand a few seconds. That is because you have this human body, able to communicate, but not only able to speak but the main thing is able to understand the meaning, so therefore, you can see that this is the reason why in the teachings it says, the human body that we have is so precious, so precious, so precious. Why this is so precious? You can understand from this simple example. So that means, by having a human body, how quick you can learn Dharma, how so fast you can learn Dharma, so you can get idea of all the rest, from this example, you can get all the rest idea, idea of the rest, how it’s so easy to learn the whole path to enlightenment, so easy, so fast to understand, and practice. So with this understanding, correct understanding, then you can do practice, correct practice. Then that also, so easy to practice, that also means so easy to achieve realization, it also implies so easy to achieve realization. Those lower realm beings, such as those dogs, animals that I’ve mentioned, no opportunity, no freedom even, leave aside practice, even to understand, no freedom at all, difficult. So that, by thinking that then you know with this human body that we have this time, so precious and if we do put effort, with this understanding, with this awareness, like this, how it’s so precious, that those other beings they don’t have such this incredible freedom, with this understanding then we can see how with this human body, learn so fast, quickest, if somebody explains to you, learning so fast, quickest, that means able to achieve enlightenment, also that implies also able to achieve enlightenment quickly, so from one’s own side, from your side, from one’s own side, if you do put effort to learn, to practice, so like that.

So by analyzing, comparing, then you can see how this human body is so precious, so therefore, always we have to do the best decision, most meaningful decision in the life, whatever we decide, most meaningful, most beneficial.

So maybe I stop here.