DISCOURSE GIVEN DURING NYUNG-NÄ RETREAT

While practicing this Nyung-nä retreat think as much as possible: “This is not for me. What I am doing this for is the happiness of each kind mother sentient being. I am doing this for each human being, for each of the kind mother sentient beings here in this room, at this center, for each of them, for their happiness.”

Then think: “I am doing this for all the human beings in this country, in Italy, and all the rest—to free each of them from all the true suffering and all the true obscurations. I am doing this for each of them.”

All the human beings on this earth are so confused, they have so many problems. The kind mother sentient beings who have been so kind to me, who have been kind from beginningless rebirths until now, extremely kind, have so much suffering, so much confusion, so many problems. They are tormented by so many problems, experiencing many sufferings of body and many sufferings of mind, day and night. So many that even though they have not been born in hell, for them it is like being in hell. They do not know how to renounce suffering and be free of it. They do not know the cause of suffering, so they do not know how to renounce it. Even though they wish to have happiness, they do not know how to achieve this. They do not know the cause of happiness.

So think: “I am doing this Nyung-nä practice, the retreat of body, speech and mind from non-virtuous actions, for each of the narak beings, each of the preta beings and each of the animals."

Samsaric beings are constantly suffering. There is no break, not a second, not a minute when they are not experiencing suffering. Because of the suffering of compounding action they suffer continuously until they become free of samsara. There is no break, not for a minute or a second. They experience hundreds of sufferings from the three types of suffering.

Think of the kindness of others as much as you can, then by being aware of their constant suffering, think: “I am doing this for each of the sentient beings, so that they can be free from all the sufferings and achieve the ultimate happiness, the peerless happiness, the state of omniscient mind.”

Each prostration that we make accumulates unbelievable merit, so while we are making prostrations we give that unimaginable merit to all the sentient beings. While we are doing prostrations we dedicate from the heart all this unimaginable merit to each sentient being.

In the breaktime and during session time, again and again, think: “I am doing this practice not for myself but only for others, for each of the sentient beings. You should think, “I have complete responsibility for freeing each of the sentient beings from suffering, all the sufferings and leading them to the state of omniscient mind. I am responsible to help each sentient being as much as possible.”

Particularly you should remember the enemy, the sentient being you dislike and you should think, “I am doing this practice for him.” By remembering the kindness of those people who normally hurt your ego you think, “I am doing this for them.” These people are so kind, they show you how strong the selfish attitude and anger are within you—the root of your problems. And they show you how much impatience there is within you that has to be destroyed.

Also think:”It is possible to free these sentient beings. They create negative karma because of my existence. I myself am an object for them to create negative karma, so it is my job to free them from suffering and give them happiness. It is my responsibility to help them.”

I am going to give a little more explanation of how to train the mind in bodhicitta using the seven techniques of Mahayana cause and effect.

First of all you take the kindness of the mother as an example. This does not necessarily mean your present mother: maybe you did not see your present mother, she died when you were a baby so you do not remember her or you did not live with your mother. If your father or somebody else took care of you, you can think of them; think of somebody who has been very kind in this life.

First we do the meditation of the kindness of the mother on that person. Try to see the kindness more deeply, not only the kindness of this present life, make it deeper. It is easy to feel the kindness if you use the example of somebody who has been very kind to you, who has taken care of you when you were young and given you education or much material help.

Not remembering the other person as having been your mother is no reason to think that they have not been kind to you and your mother. Just that alone does not prove it. You see, we don’t remember each other as having been our mother and kind. We don’t remember that the dog outside has been our mother, but that is no proof. Just because we do not recognize them is no proof. Even in this lifetime there are many times when a child who has been cared for by somebody else and has not seen their parents for a long time, for many years, cannot even remember the figure of their parents. If they meet after many years they cannot recognize each other, even though that child was born from those people. That child cannot even recognize the parents of this life.

It is due to ignorance and the change of death and rebirth, the transference of consciousness through death and rebirth that sentient beings do not recognize each other as having been mother and kind.

Generally, most children feel closer to the mother—she is the closest relative. So by remembering the kindness of the mother, it is easier to deepen your understanding of the kindness of other sentient beings, the kindness that they have given you in past lives. Then, you see them in warm aspect, in beauty.

It is like when amongst many other people you see a person who is very kind to you, automatically you see them as different from the others. Even if they are physically ugly, you get a warm feeling of beauty. This is the same feeling that you get when you meditate on the kindness of all the sentient beings having been mother. First you think of the example of the mother, then you extend that feeling to all sentient beings and you see them all, even enemies, in the aspect of beauty, warm. This aspect of beauty comes with the kindness. The love of beauty is different from the great love.

There are four steps: realizing the kindness of the mother, seeing all sentient beings as mother, wishing to repay their kindness and then the great thought of loving kindness. The great thought of loving kindness and the thought of love are different. There is a difference between these two. The love of beauty comes at the same time as you think of their kindness.

Sometimes, when you are training your mind in bodhicitta the meditation technique of equalizing and exchanging oneself for others is stronger than thinking how sentient beings are precious and kind. Depending on how you think, the other way of training the mind can be much more effective, the thought of bodhicitta comes more strongly than by using the more extensive method—the seven techniques of Mahayana cause and effect on the basis of equanimity, cutting off anger and attachment and then trying to realize how sentient beings have been mother and kind. Sometimes when you meditate one is stronger, sometimes the other.

So, the mother has been extremely kind by giving us this body. If we meditate on the basis of the four outlines it is easy to understand the kindness. There are different headings containing all the ways in which the mother has been kind, if you know these headings you can meditate on these and expand the meditation on this basis.

One great bodhisattva, a great pandit, Kunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen gave this advice and teaching: for us to receive this body—the body of the happy transmigrator, the perfect human rebirth—depends on the parents, we receive it from them. It is dependent on them creating the karma to give you this body.
(End: rest of the discourse not recorded).

ADVICE GIVEN DURING NYUNG-NÄ

Because we have always been a friend of the selfish attitude, disturbing thoughts and the dissatisfied mind, we are still not liberated from samsara. The main purpose of this fasting retreat is to destroy the inner enemy: the selfish attitude, the disturbing thoughts and the cause of samsara—craving.

So far, we have been defeated by ignorance. Now, realizing the harm caused by this ignorance we are trying to gain liberation. So far, we have not been liberated from ignorance since beginningless lifetime. By gaining liberation we will not create any more negative karma, nor any more causes to be born in samsara and experience sufferings.

This practice came from Chenrezig, it was handed down to Gelongma Palmo—a full bhikshuni who achieved Chenrezig—and then through the lineage lamas.

On the second day you cannot even take a drop of water, but that does not mean that you cannot wash your mouth. You can wash your mouth because it is a precept of kriya tantra to wash and keep the body clean. But you cannot clean the bad smell inside the body!

One student misunderstood from a letter that she could not wash the mouth, but she could not stand the bad smell in her mouth, so she tried to clean her mouth with toilet paper. She wrote me a letter saying that it was not tantric practice to have to clean the mouth with toilet paper. So, I wrote back saying: “I will build you a toilet paper factory so you can keep clean during Nyung-nä!”

(Beginning not recorded)...to abstain from impure view, from meaningless actions. This involves taking ordination and doing a lot of prostrations. Prostrating to Chenrezig as well as to all the Buddhas brings many benefits—even just one prostration. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha said in the Lankavatara Sutra that one atom covered by your body while prostrating creates the merit to be born a thousand times as a wheel-turning king.

Wheel-turning kings are mostly bodhisattvas who have much power and merit to do works for sentient beings. To be born as a wheel-turning king one should create infinite merit. If one atom is covered by your body in prostration you create the karma to be born a wheel-turning king one thousand times. So, however many atoms are covered when you make prostrations, especially when you have a long body and long hair (laughing) that covers the ground, there is that much more merit, inconceivable merit.

This does not mean that we have to be born as wheel-turning kings. We direct all this merit to achieving enlightenment for the sake of sentient beings. There is incredible merit just from one prostration—enough to make you happy for many lifetimes. Even the merit of making one prostration is something that we can be happy about all our life.

We can do a retreat for one month or two months, for a long time, but with a lot of enjoyment, without hardships, or we can do two days intensive retreat involving many things—ordination, prostration, Chenrezig meditation. I think, normally, the shorter retreat is greater purification than the very comfortable retreat where you did not have to bear hardships.

If we have done something wrong, this is the method to purify it.

Also, this retreat is very beneficial for people who have cancer; people who have a heavy disease that medicine cannot cure. You can understand that from Gelongma Palmo’s life story, and there were many lineage lamas who had leprosy disease or many things that medicine could not cure who recovered by doing this practice.

There are many Westerners who are told by doctors that they will die, that they have one year or only a few months to live. I advise them to do Nyung-nä practice. One girl from Tara House in Melbourne recovered from cancer by doing Nyung-nä practice in Bodhgaya and Kopan.