DOES ALZHEIMER’S EXIST?
[Rinpoche and students recite Prayers Before Teachings]
As I mentioned before, due to ignorance, the root of samsara, we hold the I and aggregates as truly existent. We belong to Sera Je, but there are also Sera Mey, Ganden and Drepung that are monasteries within Lama Tsongkhapa’s tradition in Tibet. From Mongolia and Ladakh, when many learned, holy beings went to Tibet in the early times to study extensive Buddhist philosophy, they went to Sera, Ganden or Drepung to study. Many became holy beings, very learned, and they benefited the countries they came from so much.
In particular, in Mongolia, there were many extremely learned geshes, highly learned in the five major texts. I forgot the name in English. Tsema Namdrel, Pramanavarttika or something. Prajnaparamita, Madhyamaka, Vinaya: the extensive teachings on the Vinaya, the thirty-six vows, then two hundred and fifty-three gelong vows and the vows of the gelongma, the fully ordained nun, which has three hundred and sixty-three or three hundred and sixty-five, something like that. Then, the Abhidharmakosha, the evolution of the worlds and the details about the mind and mental factors. And Tsema Namdrel, Valid [Cognition]. I forgot the Sanskrit name. It doesn’t matter. In the Pramanavarttika, there are four subjects and I think the second one proves how the Buddha is a reliable person, as well as the logical proof of reincarnation.
Then there is tantra. In the monastery it depends on the student. Many study tantra as well. When they have finished the examinations, they go to the Upper Tantra College or the Lower Tantra College, both founded by disciples of Lama Tsongkhapa, each with a slightly different tradition, but both are basically the same. There the students have to learn the root tantras and memorize and recite many hundreds of pages. There are many things they have to memorize, learning sand mandalas, the meanings and all that. And there are many other things.
A student who has a long enough life can become a perfectly qualified Mahayana teacher, able to reveal teachings of the Lesser Vehicle path and the Greater Vehicle path, the Mahayana. They can reveal all the sutras and tantra; they can reveal Kriya Tantra, Charya Tantra, Anuttara Tantra and Maha-anuttara Tantra, the different levels of mind the Buddha taught. After they become a perfectly qualified teacher, if they have a long enough life, they can become the regent of Lama Tsongkhapa, sitting on the golden throne in Tibet. That is a very profound thing to do. It’s incredible. The benefit to the world of being fully qualified to benefit sentient beings is unbelievably great.
Even far from Tibet, in India, Ladakh, Khunu and Mongolia, scholars went to Tibet in the past. I heard there were many learned teachers, geshes, in Mongolia even without going to Tibet. I heard there were a hundred geshes who had memorized Lama Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo, the Great Lamrim, by heart. So unbelievable.
So, there are the Upper and Lower Tantra Colleges, Ganden, Drepung and Sera Mey and Sera Je. We belong to Sera Je. Each one has an altar, and the great holy beings wrote the five root texts. They are basically the same, but there are a few differences in the answers.
Ours is Panchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen, an incredible great being. I think he wrote both sutra and tantra. He explained that the root of samsara is ignorance, holding the I as truly existent while it is not. And also the aggregates. We have five aggregates at the moment, so holding those five as truly existent, existing by nature, as “real” in ordinary language, that is also the root of samsara.
Due to not realizing emptiness, we have been suffering from beginningless time in samsara, from beginningless rebirths up to now, in the oceans of hell suffering, the oceans of hungry ghost sufferings, the oceans of animal suffering, the oceans of human being suffering, the oceans of sura being and asura being suffering. We don’t have omniscience; we don’t even have ordinary clairvoyance. We can’t see past and future. Even so many things we have done just in this life we have forgotten. Something happens, like a story, but we forget; we don’t remember.
Somebody who has bad memory like me forgets so many things. We don’t remember what we ate yesterday. People who have Alzheimer’s don’t recognize their parents, their brothers and sisters; they don’t even recognize their own name. That’s the degeneration of the mind. There are so many people like that in the world. Then, there are people developing more awareness. More understanding.
There are those who remember past and future lives, remembering more and more, deeper and deeper. When they progress, when they clean their obscurations and purify, their memory [improves]. I don’t remember by heart, but people who actualize the path of merit and path of preparation can remember past and future lives. Then, there are the five clairvoyances.
There are the five Mahayana paths to achieve enlightenment and the ten bhumis. It’s unbelievable. I don’t remember all the names.
[When we progress through the paths,] developing the mind, we see more and more past and future lives, hundreds and thousands and then millions. We can fully develop the mind because the mind has buddha nature. That is why we can develop it.
A mirror is not one with dirt; even though it is extremely covered with dust, we can clean it. In the same way, by meditating and actualizing the path, we can clean all the obscurations. We can clean all the dirt, all the obscurations. Then, we will be able to see our past lives and future lives. All the things that ordinary people don’t know about, we can see. We have to use our intelligence, our mind. In the ordinary world, without meditation, people’s minds degenerate and they forget.
With Alzheimer’s, we even forget our name. There are other people who are really clever and who clean the mind through meditation and with so many practices, cleaning the obscurations and actualizing the path. Then, they can realize more past and future lives and they can read others’ minds, telling others about their past lives. There are people who can develop their mind and go up and there are some who go down.
We can believe that Alzheimer’s doesn’t exist. If Alzheimer’s doesn’t exist, that means we don’t exist, the world doesn’t exist, Kopan doesn’t exist, nothing exists. We don’t have parents because we don’t exist. Because we don’t exist, we don’t have money. I just brought this up to show you have to use your intelligence. Reincarnation is like that.
WE CAN’T DISPROVE REINCARNATION JUST BECAUSE WE CAN’T SEE IT
In the early Kopan courses, not here in the gompa but in the tent, for many years we spent a few days meditating on the mind, maybe three days, because people had come from the West, a totally different culture, where most thought the brain was the mind, that there was no separation from the brain. That would mean the mind had to be physical, that it was not formless. The mind is shapeless, formless, colorless, able to perceive objects, but they didn’t know that. At that time [it was thought that] the brain was the mind.
Then, quite a number of years ago His Holiness started meeting with scientists, and through the discussions, they started to realize the mind is separate from brain. Of course, the mind depends on the brain, but it is separate. Mind is not brain; brain is not mind. Many years ago, they analyzed this through discussions and debates.
What was I saying? Back in the early Kopans, we did a lot of discussion and meditation, looking at how today’s mind comes from yesterday’s mind. You can say the same thing: that this second’s mind comes from the previous second’s mind.
This hour’s mind comes from yesterday’s mind and yesterdays’ mind comes from the past year’s mind. It’s the continuation of that. And then, when we go back to the mind in our mother’s womb, the first moment we were conceived in our mother’s womb [and the moment before that], people who had a very clear mind could remember their past life in Tibet. They could even see the dong nga, the wooden churn ringed with brass used to make Tibetan tea by mixing butter, salt and tea. They could remember that. I think maybe they could see things in the kitchen, such as some people, although not everything that happened. This was because the mind had become very quiet and subtle during the course.
If we don’t have our own experience of seeing past and future and conclude that other people are wrong, that past lives don’t exist, that is so silly. It is like not accepting somebody who has more education than we do, like a teacher. It might just be somebody who knows more about common things, like how to clean or how to cook. Even in the West, people even learn how to be a waiter. It’s good. I think California waiters [greet people], asking how they are when they arrive, and then talk about the weather or something. Then, at the end, they say “Have a nice day. Thank you.” They were taught how to make the customers happy. So, it’s not just others’ education we should accept; it’s more than that. If we don’t accept that other people can remember past lives, that means we shouldn’t accept other people who have more education than we do. We should only accept those with [the same degree] of education.
Because we can’t remember past lives, that means nobody should be able to remember them. That’s what this means. Because we don’t know, nobody can know. [If we accept that], we don’t need to accept any teacher. When we don’t go to university, to college, to primary school, when we don’t go to kindergarten, when we don’t go to learn what others know, we don’t accept that. It becomes like that.
I want to tell you one thing. The seed of a bodhi tree is very small but if it is planted the tree grows so big. The branches are huge. In hot countries, in India, you can see it from the train. The branches can cover five hundred horse carriages, but the seed is so small. [Once, when somebody did not believe the power of karma] the Buddha [used this as an example,] saying, “I know that reincarnation is true because I know past and future lives. I see them even though you don’t.”
Like the Buddha, there are many people who can see past and future lives. There are many people who know the future, who can predict it correctly. Not necessarily high lamas. There are many people, young and old, who can see the future correctly. It becomes very funny to deny this because we ourselves can’t see it. It’s very strange.
BEING USED BY OTHERS
I’m going to recite these words today by Nagarjuna, a second buddha, who propagated in the world the middle way the Buddha taught, the Prajnaparamita. He wrote the six collections of wisdom texts with his extensive experience. In Precious Garland, he says,
[483] May I always be an object of enjoyment
For all sentient beings according to their wish
And without interference, as are the earth,
Water, fire, wind, herbs and wild forests.
“According to their wish and without interference” means may sentient beings use us without any resistance blocking that, however they want. That is what is directly mentioned here, but I think we can condense it to wishing sentient beings to always use us completely, however they want.
The earth is used to make fields to plant crops for food so we can live. It brings wells for water as well as roads, tracks for trains, airports for planes. On the earth we build houses and factories, all kinds of things, whatever we need. The earth is used in so many different ways for people’s comfort and happiness. In the same way, may we ourselves be useful for sentient beings in whatever way they want for their pleasure and comfort.
This is Nagarjuna’s practice. Nagarjuna gave this advice on the basis of what the Buddha taught. Some people say this only comes from Nagarjuna, that the Mahayana teachings are not the Buddha’s teachings. A long time ago, a professor told me this was not taught by the Buddha, but by Nagarjuna. In his talks, even His Holiness says that [this attitude is wrong].
Water is used for drinking, for swimming and so forth. In so many different ways, water is used by sentient beings for their comfort. In the same way, may we ourselves be used by sentient beings, however they want. Fire is used in so many different ways for sentient beings’ happiness, not only for cooking and burning. May we ourselves be used in so many different ways by sentient beings for their happiness, for their pleasure.
I told you the night before how one sentient being is so precious because of their kindness. I gave the reasons, so I’m not going to repeat this again and again. They are so precious. The Buddha, Dharma and Sangha came from this mosquito, this insect, who is most precious, most kind, most dear, wish-fulfilling for us. All our happiness came from them, so they are wish-fulfilling for us. I told you this.
On the basis of that, we can understand this practice, otherwise we might think this is a crazy thing. I already explained to you the whole thing, how they are so precious. Remember I said, helping sentient beings, even in a small way, like offering a seat to somebody who needs it on the bus or train or carrying somebody’s heavy load or offering a cup of water or tea or a candy, something small, such a thing makes others happy. It’s a small thing, but it makes another sentient being happy. That is the best offering to the numberless buddhas and numberless bodhisattvas, because for three countless great eons Guru Shakyamuni Buddha practiced the merits of wisdom and merits of virtue for this sentient being, this mosquito or this person asking our help, this lame person, this beggar.
The Buddha did this for all sentient beings, including us, so this sentient being was there. The buddha practiced for three countless great eons making charity of his body, his limbs. He gave charity of his body to the tiger [who was too weak] to eat. He cut himself with a plant and produced blood, letting the tiger and her four children slowly drink it and then eat his body. By eating the Buddha, they made a connection. When they became human beings, they became monks in Sarnath in India, becoming the Buddha’s first disciples, the five monks the Buddha turned the first wheel of Dharma for. Those five were the five tigers.
It’s mentioned in A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, at the very end of the benefits of bodhicitta, the last word is a bodhisattva makes prayers to have a good connection with even the sentient being who harms them, benefiting them in return for their harm. There is a verse, but I don’t remember it, on the very last benefit of bodhicitta.
[[1:36] I bow down to the body of those
In whom the sacred mind is born.
I seek refuge in that source of joy
Who brings happiness even to those who bring harm.]
Even if we haven’t made the connection, if we harm a bodhisattva, the bodhisattva benefits us in return; they make prayers to benefit us. When the Buddha gave his holy body to the tiger, what then happened was, due to that connection, they became the five monks who were the first disciples in Sarnath, the ones the Buddha turned the first Dharma wheel for. He revealed the four noble truths to be free from samsara.
So, this one sentient being—this mosquito, this snake, this person we dislike or who gets angry and criticizes us, who abuses us—the Buddha made charity of his limbs for them for three countless great eons. Then, he practiced morality with great hardships for this sentient being. That includes us and it includes this sentient being. Then he practiced patience for three countless great eons. then perseverance, then meditation, then wisdom. The Buddha did that. I’ve already read the quotation the other day how the Buddha gave his flesh and blood, including his beautiful wife and many things, in order to make charity to sentient beings.
So of course, if we benefit [somebody], if we give them a small help, it is a great offering to the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas, not only to one bodhisattva but to the numberless bodhisattvas. It is a great offering to them, the best offering to them, something most pleasing to them. Even if we don’t do so many water bowls or other offerings, just giving a small help by giving food to ants or worms, whatever, that is most pleasing to the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas; it is the best offering to the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas.
THE TIME OF DEATH
We should remember that every day. We should practice that mindfulness. Carve this in your brain or your heart! Attachment doesn’t come from the brain; it comes from here. [Rinpoche points to his heart] Compassion doesn’t come from the brain; anger doesn’t come from the brain. Compassion and loving kindness come from there. It’s true. I’m talking from my experience. They don’t come from the belly, the feet, no, from the heart. That is very important knowledge the West must know. It is the heart, but not the bumping heart. At the center of the heart chakra, inside, there is the indestructible seed, half red, half white, the size of a bean. That is the central place of the mind.
Why does anger come from there? Why do patience, compassion, loving kindness come from there? That is according to experience.
Did you lead them in the death evolution meditation? [Ven. Robina: We did.] How many times? [Ven. Robina: Once.] Half. Half? I’m joking. Because you went through the meditation, you understand.
After the breath stops, that is just the gross death. Even without meditation, natural death can last up to three days, although not a sudden death like in a car accident. There are twenty-five absorptions, and the consciousness abides in the indestructible seed. When that leaves the indestructible seed, at that time there is the subtle death.
I tell you, that is the time in Tibetan monasteries when many meditators meditate. When they die, when the breath stops, they meditate. There are many who even sit up with nothing supporting them. There is no smell and they look very bright, radiant. I’ve seen meditators meditating like that for however many days they had planned. I’m talking about natural death. Some meditate lying down like the Buddha, in the snow lion posture with two legs stretched out. Many die in that way, in the Buddha’s lying position, like the position of a snow lion. Many meditate during that time.
One of Lama Tsongkhapa’s regents, not the previous one, who was Rizong Rinpoche from Ladakh, but even before that, the Ganden Tripa who passed away, he was very learned and very pure. He led a pure life; he had pure conduct, living in the vows, meditating with pure view. When he died, he stayed in meditation for eighteen days. With Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s guru, I think it was fifteen days.
In the monasteries, there are many monks who are ordinary monks, not learned at all, who don’t know much Dharma, who don’t debate. Normally, people don’t respect them or regard them as special. But when they die, they die in meditation. When they die, everybody is so amazed. Then, everybody praises them so much. I think, even though they don’t know much, they are not expert in debate, they are very good in their daily practice, in keeping samaya with the guru, in keeping their commitments. They are not learned but they are very good people, very good practitioners. That is how they can meditate as they die.
Even though people don’t think they are special, there are signs as they die that show they lived a good life, with pure Dharma practice. There was a monk in Sera who was famous for being angry. I might have already mentioned him. After a few minutes talking with him, he would always get angry. He was famous for that, and everybody was scared of him, but when he died he stayed in meditation for some days. Then, everybody was so amazed; they highly praised him.
Sometimes, somebody like that can seem like an ordinary person, looking ordinary, getting angry, but actually they can be a holy being. On the outside they act ordinary. There are many like that, who look very ordinary but in reality are not necessarily like that. Some are extremely learned but many are ordinary.
There was a monk in Tsawa Khangtsen, Lama Yeshe and Lama Lhundrup’s khangtsen. (Khangtsen means a college or house where a small group from the country you belong to stay.) There was a monk, I don’t know his name, who was not an expert in debate or anything like that. He did puja for Tibetan families. They invited him to do puja—there are many monks who do this—and he was always back by five o’clock. He had many students, little monks, so of course when the teacher went away they played. When he came back he would beat them—maybe not in the West but in Tibet this is a common thing. In this house the monks were beaten by the teacher, then in the next house the master returned from puja and beat them again. So, those little monks were always crying. I heard that.
I heard this monk was very sincere, very devoted to his gurus. He died in meditation, which really surprised the other monks. He had received initiations like Guhyasamaja, Heruka and Yamantaka, and the story is that he never missed his commitments. He was not learned but he was a very devoted and sincere monk. Because of that, when he died, he died in meditation, meaning it was impossible for him to go to the lower realms and he possibly could have attained a pure land.
What you have to understand is that for common people, when the breath stops, that is death, but it just gross death, not the end of life. It is said in tantric texts that for common people, even animals, who die naturally, the consciousness stays there for three days. Of course, for the meditator it is different. The tantric texts mention that.
I had a dog called Om Mani Padme Hum. Each time his name was called, it planted the seed of the whole path to enlightenment. But, of course, people didn’t call him Om Mani Padme Hum. They called him Mani—not “money” but Mani. The dog bit Sogyal Rinpoche, Geshe Ngawang Dakpa, and some of our students, Pete and Massimo, when they went to pet him. The dog died while I was here in Nepal. Holly was taking care of him. Holly left the dog as it was because it didn’t look dead. It looked very natural, like it was sleeping, not with its tongue hanging out, not very sad. It looked like it was sleeping and there was no smell for three days. After three days, then I think blood came, like with a period.
What happens is that [when the mind finally leaves the body] blood from the mother comes up from the navel. In the West they say the seed is from the testicles, but the seed comes from here. [Rinpoche points to his forehead] When they meet, there is darkness, then when they split, after that, there is the clear light. The white one, the seed, goes down, and the red blood comes up, and then subtle consciousness leaves from that. As soon as the consciousness leaves the indestructible seed, the intermediate state being begins. [Rinpoche snaps his fingers] So, this sign happened for the dog; blood came out after three days.
What came out of the nose? [Ven. Holly: Blood.] I see. Usually, if blood comes, then the white seed comes out, but this doesn’t necessarily always happen. It depends on the health. Both don’t necessarily happen. The blood or the white seed happen depending on whether it’s a male or a female. Either both or one can happen.
The sign of death is that the smell starts after that. Then, the face changes. You have to know that. If people in your family die, that is the sign of death. There is hospital, what do you call that? The English word. [Ven. Ailsa: Hospice.] No, no, the hospital has decided they are dead but that is not death. That is the gross death, not the subtle death.
Up to three days [after the breath stops], the consciousness is there. But after the consciousness leaves, the sign is that smell starts. And if you touch the body and the skin stays up, then that person is dead. If the skin goes down, it means the consciousness has not left yet. In Australia or Italy, somewhere, they asked the government if they could leave the body for three days, but I don’t know if they got permission or not.
There are many practices in sutra and tantra, such as jangwa to purify the person’s karma. Unbelievable! To not get reborn in the lower realms and to get higher rebirth, to be born in pure land.
CHERISHING OTHERS MORE THAN OURSELVES
This was a side talk.
[Nagarjuna’s verse says we should be used like the earth, water, fire and so forth.] The wind is used in so many ways by sentient beings for their happiness and comfort, such as the air we use for breathing. In so many ways it is used for the happiness and comfort of ourselves and of other sentient beings. Medicine is used by sentient beings for their happiness in so many ways, to be used like that. And firewood is used in the monasteries. I don’t know. Maybe it’s not so economical, as the monks waste wood. They’re very relaxed; they just let it burn, not controlling it very much.
Like all this, we should allow ourselves to be used by sentient beings for their happiness and comfort. “Without any resistance, without any interference.” That is the bodhisattva’s attitude, the bodhisattva’s practice.
Next Nagarjuna said [in Precious Garland],
[484ab] May I be as dear to sentient beings as their own life.
And may they be even more dear to me.
What it is saying is that just as we cherish ourselves, we should cherish sentient beings. “Cherish” means like how we now cherish our life as the most precious. Even though there are numberless sentient beings, numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas, even we have our father and mother, we still think this I, our life, is the most important thing, the most precious thing.
This is so important. Now, we think the same for the numberless sentient beings, for anybody. Just as we cherish our life, we cherish all sentient beings. We cherish every sentient being in the six realms—even the tiniest thing we can’t see with the eyes but only with a microscope.
Just as we cherish ourselves now, like that we cherish all sentient beings. We cherish everybody. Everybody is most dear to us. Everybody is in our heart, most dear, so precious, so precious. Just as our life is so important, everybody is so important.
Then, the second line says, “May I cherish them much more than myself.” In the first [line], we see sentient beings as the same as us, most important, most dear in the same way. Now, in the second [line], we see them as more important. The Tibetan, dag la, is complicated. It means cherishing sentient beings more than cherishing ourselves.
When I asked a geshe [what dag la meant], he said it does not mean cherishing another being, like we cherish His Holiness and follow him. Of course, that is good, but this doesn’t refer to cherishing in the way ordinary people cherish. What ordinary beings want—those who cherish themselves, who have attachment to this life—is for everybody to cherish them, to think they are the most precious. It’s not that here. That is not a path. That is not a realization. That is not the bodhisattva’s attitude. This line, “May I cherish them much more than myself,” means that we only cherish others. We let go of the I and cherish sentient beings the most. That is bodhicitta.
In the first [line,] we and all sentient beings are equal; we cherish both equally. In the second line, we cherish others more than ourselves because all the suffering comes from the I. All the suffering of the past, from beginningless rebirths, all the present suffering—all the endless suffering of samsara comes from the I.
There are numberless sentient beings, but even comparing ourselves with one, just us and this one person or us and this insect, this ant. Who is more precious? Where does all our happiness come from? We have received all our happiness—the happiness from beginningless rebirths, the happiness now and all the future happiness, including liberation from samsara and enlightenment—from this person who abuses us or from this insect. Wow! Of course, they are so precious.
If we cherish this one being, there is enlightenment for us. If we don’t cherish them, there is no enlightenment for us. If we cherish this one being, we become free from samsara and achieve enlightenment. That is the benefit. Even if it is one sentient being, if we cherish them, there is enlightenment. If we don’t cherish them, there is no enlightenment. That is clear! That is what this line contains. Because of that, “May I cherish them much more than myself.” Even one sentient being. That is the most important practice, bodhicitta.
Next Nagarjuna says,
[484cd] May their ill deeds fructify for me,
And may all my virtues fructify for them.[485] As long as any sentient being
Anywhere has not been liberated,
May I remain [in that world] for the sake of that being
Though I have attained highest enlightenment.
May all the sentient beings’ negative karma ripen on us and may all our virtue, the cause of happiness, ripen on them, ripen on the sentient beings who are numberless.
This shows the bodhisattva’s attitude, how they live their life. For example, as I told you, the great meditator, Kadampa geshe Chekawa, always prayed to be born in hell for sentient beings. That means he prayed to experience all the sufferings of hell and for sentient beings to be free from all that suffering and achieve enlightenment. He always prayed for that but the day he was going to die a vision of the pure land happened, so he told his disciple his prayer didn’t succeed. Because he totally dedicated his life to sentient beings, a vision of hell was supposed to happen as he was dying, but a vision of a pure land happened instead because he dedicated his life to others.
So here Nagarjuna [sets out] the bodhisattva attitude. Even though we could achieve enlightenment, we pray to abide in samsara, in the suffering realms, to be able to help sentient beings. This is the bodhisattva’s attitude—letting go of I, and instead of cherishing the I, cherishing only all sentient beings.
This is just side talk. An American monk, John, was the original person at Vajrapani in America. Before we blessed the land, his family was living in, what do you call it? [Student: Teepee.] A teepee, like a tent with three posts, a teepee in the forest in Santa Cruz. Somebody offered the land. When we invited the previous Kyabje Zong Rinpoche to bless the land, a snake came out, maybe a naga. Then, we built Vajrapani center there. We built a gompa, a room for the geshe and retreat rooms. Then, gradually, a stupa. After Lama passed away, we built the stupa. The day the stupa was finished, the incarnation of Lama Yeshe, Lama Ösel Rinpoche was able to go there. It was incredible.
John was lay for a long time. His job was building houses. Then, he separated from his wife and his children, and then he met another lady. I told him to become a monk, so he became a monk. He helped me to get to Land of Calm Abiding. The old lady who owned the land only knew John, so he contacted her. She checked the FPMT through John for a year before giving us the land for meditation.
The purpose of the land is to achieve zhi nä, calm abiding. Everybody who has gone there to meditate has had a great experience. When he was there, Ribur Rinpoche, one of my gurus, highly praised the Land of Calm Abiding. To get there, you have to go over Big Sur, the mountain. There are sometimes lay people there but mostly Sangha. A Chinese nun died there. She went to meditate there for a long time. She’s the only person so far. John helped to get the land and to run the place.
He has usually been in retreat in Washington. We have a retreat place in Washington and his house is above the hill. We are down below the hill and he is up. He led the last Kopan course. That was his first time. He was very surprised. He doesn’t have a particular reputation for leading meditations, but he did. Anyway, I asked him one day, “Do you want to be born in a pure land or not when you die?” He is a very good practitioner. He told me he didn’t want to be born in a pure land but in a suffering country to help others. That is a very good attitude, a compassionate attitude. That is similar to Nagarjuna’s wish here.
I suggest you write Nagarjuna’s prayer down in nice English and stick it in your room. And there is another one to put in your room to remind yourself. There is this one and another one, but I don’t remember it. Anyway, make it nice and then keep it in the house. Stick it [in your house] to remind you. This is what I suggest. It is so good, a key practice.
This is the same as the bodhicitta practice tonglen. It makes our life the most beneficial for every sentient being. That means for us to be the happiest. It is a quick way to achieve enlightenment, a quick way to free sentient beings from the oceans of suffering and bring them to enlightenment. That is incredible.
With this, if we die, there is no worry. We are so happy because we will never ever get reborn in the lower realms again. Even though, like Geshe Chekawa, we might wish to get reborn in the lower realms, with bodhicitta we won’t. Our mind gets transformed because of this and we go to a pure land.
REFUGE PREPARATION
How much have you done on the subject of the Wheel of Life, I mean on samsara? Have you covered it all? [Ven. Robina: We covered it all, but you can start again.] Of course, we have to start numberless times until we are free from samsara!
I think maybe I’ll do refuge. I was going to go through as an introduction to samsara on the basis of Geshe Sopa Rinpoche. [Ven. Robina: I made a mistake. We didn’t do that at all. I thought you meant… I’m sorry.] Geshe Sopa Rinpoche made an explanation, so I’m just going to briefly explain it. He was Lama Yeshe’s guru from Tibet. I received many teachings from him, but he passed away many years ago. Maybe he has reincarnated in Tibet, but I’m not sure whether he has been found yet.
I think maybe it is time to go to bed to sleep, so I’ll do the refuge before sleeping. [Ven. Robina: They are here to take refuge.] They want to take refuge in what? They want to take refuge in ice cream? They want to take refuge in milkshakes? They want to take refuge in potatoes? Like in Thailand, where they put many frogs on a stick—one, two, three, six, seven—and they burn them in the fire. Are they taking refuge in that? [Ven. Robina: No.]
Besides samsara, the nature of suffering and all that, you have already been through all that and then you went through bodhicitta and of course many days on emptiness. I’m just going to do refuge very quickly.
Generally taking refuge. When we are hungry, we take refuge in food; when we are thirsty, we take refuge in water. We are taking refuge all the time. We take refuge in buildings, in rooms, to protect our life. Children take refuge in parents; they rely on their parents. Always, our whole life, there is refuge like that. When it is hot, we take refuge in a fan or an air conditioner. When it is too cold, we take refuge in a heater. It is like that. We take refuge in the toilet!
But here, the benefit [of taking refuge in a worthwhile subject] at death time is that we won’t be reborn in the lower realms. That’s the first thing, to not be reborn in the suffering lower realms. We protect ourselves from rebirth in in the lower realms by taking refuge in the Buddha [or any deity] such as Tara or Medicine Buddha, by relying on them when we are dying. If the very last thought is relying on any of the buddhas, we won’t get reborn in the lower realms. Remembering their names, reciting their mantras, is enough. We won’t get reborn in the lower realms. Even remembering or reciting the Heart Sutra near the time of death, or reciting Lama tön pa chom dän dä de… or TADYATHA OM MUNE MUNE MAHA MUNAYE SVAHA, remembering that, we won’t get reborn in the lower realms.
Then, remembering the Sangha, a monk or nun we have devotion in, if we remember that, we won’t get reborn in the lower realms. We don’t need all three, the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
But to be free from samsara, [we need all three.]
The definition of samsara. Samsara is not a factory, not a farmhouse, samsara is not our house. To understand what samsara is, the definition is the continuity of the rebirth of the contaminated aggregates caused by karma and delusions.
That is the definition of samsara. Samsara is that—the continuation from beginningless rebirths up to now of the aggregates caused by karma and delusions, the contaminated seed, like I explained for pervasive compounding suffering, the contaminated seed of karma and delusions. Because of the continuation of that, we have continual rebirth; we die and then we are reborn, we die and are reborn. With the continuation of beginningless rebirths up to now, these aggregates are in the nature of suffering. We always die and we are always reborn.
To be a human being in the next life depends on karma. That is samsara—the continuity of rebirth of the contaminated aggregates caused by karma and delusions. That is samsara. You must write it down. That is what samsara is.
We receive teachings explaining the whole path to nirvana, liberation from samsara, explaining the five paths. We receive teachings, we listen, reflect and meditate on this, and then we actualize the five paths to liberation. Then, we become free from karma and delusions; we become free from the suffering of samsara.
The Buddha revealed four noble truths: true suffering, the true cause of suffering, true cessation and the true path. We need to listen, reflect and meditate on the whole path to liberation to be free from samsara.
So, by coming to Kopan, by listening, reflecting and meditating, you have been doing just that. Now, you have to continue. It is not enough to realize emptiness; you have to develop the direct perception of emptiness. Then, that ceases the seed of karma and delusions.
That is what we need, to become free from karma and delusions. When we actualize the first path, the path of merit, and then we do much listening and reflecting, during that time, on the path of preparation, with shamatha meditation and so forth, we realize emptiness.
At that time, we remove ignorance, kun tag, “all labeled”, the ignorance that is due to doctrines. Then, by actualizing the right-seeing path, tong lam, when we attain the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, at that time we abandon the simultaneously arising ignorance. Then, on the path of meditation, we completely abandon all delusions. To be free from samsara, we need all three refuges. We have to rely on all three.
The example is like a patient who is sick needing to rely on a wise doctor, somebody who can diagnose their sickness without mistake, and where it came from, the cause. Then, they can give the right medicine, not the wrong medicine. We need the medicine the doctor has prescribed, and we need a nurse who can help us take the medicine. That is their job; we need a nurse. A sicker patient needs all three. We who have had the chronic disease of karma and delusions, causing ignorance, anger, attachment and so forth from beginningless rebirths, we who have the chronic disease of the three poisonous minds, [need all three objects of refuge].
From beginningless rebirths we have been sick with this chronic disease in the six realms, as a hell being, a hungry ghost, an animal, a human being, a sura or asura being. We have been sick from beginningless rebirths. For us to be free from samsara, from the oceans of suffering of the six realms, we need to rely on the Buddha who revealed the correct path, like the patient who relied on the doctor. Then, we need to follow the path that the Buddha taught, like taking the medicine that the doctor gave us. Like that, we have to follow the path.
We need to do the listening, reflecting and meditating to actualize the path. The four noble truths are the basis. For that, we need the Sangha, like the nurse who helps us, who inspires us, the one we look to as an example. The Sangha inspire us, helping us practice the Dharma.
We need to rely on all three otherwise we can’t be free from samsara. Now you understand that to take refuge is to free yourself from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and the cause.
Of course, that is the first thing. Then, the second thing is that once we have done that ourselves, we can liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsara. It’s the same thing, of course. Once we have achieved peerless happiness, great liberation, great nirvana, enlightenment, we can bring all the numberless sentient beings to peerless happiness, to full enlightenment.
So, there is the refuge of the Lesser Vehicle being. By knowing our own samsara, how it is in the nature of suffering, and then, to free ourselves from that, we take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. That is the refuge for the being who follows the Lesser Vehicle path.
With the Lesser Vehicle, there are two causes of refuge. The first is useful fear, the useful fear of our own samsara, seeing how it is in the nature of suffering and having the useful fear of that. Then, having faith in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, knowing they have the power to free us from samsara. These two are the causes of the Lesser Vehicle refuge. With that mental factor relying on the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, that is taking refuge the Lesser Vehicle way.
With the Mahayana way of taking refuge, the extra thing is compassion. Based on our own renunciation, we have compassion. When we think of the numberless sentient beings—the hell beings, the hungry ghosts, the animals, the human beings, the suras and asuras—suffering in samsara, we want to free them from the oceans of suffering of samsara. Then, we go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. [This is with] the useful fear of our own samsara and faith in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, that they have the quality to free us.
For many years, the monks and nuns in the monasteries study the qualities of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, how they have the power to free us. They study all their qualities for a long time. This is something we need to understand through study and logic. Then, in the Mahayana, the extra thing is compassion for sentient beings, the intense wish to free them from the oceans of samsaric sufferings. Just as we have renunciation to our own samsara, we have compassion, wishing others to be free from the oceans of samsaric suffering. For that, we go for refuge—the Mahayana refuge. Then, there is tantric refuge. That’s it.
THE REFUGE BOOK
While you are sitting, I’ll explain this. For those who want, there is only the refuge vow, the upasika [or upasaka] only refuge vow, without any of the five precepts you can take, or the four or the two or the one precept. The Buddha is so skillful. He gave us a choice, according to the capacity of sentient beings, according to what we can do. We can just take the upasika refuge vow without the other precepts.
With refuge, you went through the three things to abandon and the three things to practice? [Ven. Robina: Yes.] The three things to abandon and the three things to practice. That is very, very important.
I don’t know about other centers, but I know in our centers, many people, even those who know the lamrim from beginning to end, don’t know these basic practices, so they put Dharma books, the Buddha’s teachings, on the cushion. The spiritual coordinator arranges [Dharma books] without any cloth, nothing; they just put them on the cushion or chair. You can’t do that! I’ve seen that in many centers. It is OK to arrange them, but they don’t know that [putting them on a cushion without a cloth] is disrespecting the Dharma books. That obscures the mind from having realizations. Disrespecting them obscures the mind. It’s mentioned in the teachings that if we see even one syllable in the garbage, we should take it out and put it on our crown thinking it is the actual Dharma, then put it in a high and clean place.
The Kadampa geshes in Tibet practiced like this. Whenever they saw even one syllable in the garbage or even a piece of a torn page from a Dharma text, they would put it in a high place so that other people wouldn’t [inadvertently] step over it and create negative karma which obscures the mind. [If we do this negative action] it obscures the mind and blocks us from realizing guru devotion—correctly following the virtuous friend—renunciation, bodhicitta, the sutra realizations and the two stages [of highest tantra]. Even if we have some compassion or something, after some time even that disappears. Our mind becomes so degenerated. Things like that happen.
What we have developed for a long time by doing retreats on this and that, our mind degenerates. The mind becomes empty like a hot desert where nothing grows, where nothing happens, where there are no realizations. This can happen. It takes a long time to have realization, but that obscures the mind, and then it’s difficult to understand the Dharma. Things like that are explained here in the refuge book. There is a detailed explanation. You must study this detailed explanation.
Then, there are the benefits of keeping the refuge precepts.
At the end, I added a Jesus picture [that belonged to] Saint Francis, a great holy being, a bodhisattva. The picture spoke to him, like we have so many statues [in the Tibetan tradition] who speak. When somebody has great devotion, high realizations or pure karma, statues or paintings can speak to them or give answers or guidance. This has happened many times in Tibet, Nepal and India. I thought because [Saint Francis’] mind is bodhicitta, unbelievably pure, with no self-cherishing, no attachment, he is such a pure bodhisattva, that’s why the buddhas spoke to him through this picture, so I put it there.
I changed the last [verse] about heresy as it might cause confusion. I added it there because it might be useful. Then there are seven or eight general advices. It is there; you must study it well.
You should do prostrations in the morning. You should do three prostrations to the Buddha by seeing his qualities when you get up and three prostrations before you go to bed. Before you eat or drink, even chocolate or candies, before you eat you should offer to the Three Rare Sublime Ones or to the Guru-Buddha, understanding that the guru is the Buddha. Thinking in that way, the guru is the richest object of refuge. Then, you make offering of candy or whatever you are going to eat. You offer and take it as a blessing to receive the realizations of the whole path to enlightenment and benefit sentient beings. You take the blessing like that.
When you do prostrations or offer food, you collect skies of merit each time, the cause of happiness up to enlightenment, when you do it with bodhicitta. The number of atoms of the earth is tiny compared to the limitless skies of merit you collect when you offer with bodhicitta to the Buddha. Collecting merits to achieve enlightenment and enlighten sentient beings makes life so unbelievably rich.
THE MERITS OF OFFERING TO A STATUE
Please understand this. Normally, we ordinary people think there may be small merit when we make an offering to a statue or a visualized deity, whereas if we were to actually meet a buddha and make offering, there would be unbelievable merit. We might think like that. I don’t remember the text, my memory is very bad, but the Buddha said this. This is very important. Everybody ought to understand this. I will read it and translate it.
If my four [types of] disciples
Make offerings to me now
Or if in the future, with devotion,
They make offering to my statues,
There is no difference at all.
The merits and ripened-aspect results are exactly the same.18
Whether the Buddha’s disciples made offerings to him [while he was alive] or made offerings in the future to his statue with devotion, there is no difference at all. Seeing the Buddha now and making offerings and making offerings to a statue creates exactly the same amount of merit. The Buddha said there is no difference. You have to know that.
We are so lucky to be able to understand this. We are so lucky to be able to make offerings and make prostrations, even to a statue of the Buddha. Having the opportunity to do this, we collect unbelievable, unbelievable merit, the cause of happiness, the cause of realizations of the path to enlightenment and of enlightenment. That is amazing. Just that makes our life so rich. Being able to attain all the realizations and then enlightenment, we can free all sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment.
For ordinary people, a statue probably seems nothing [compared to] the Buddha, but it is not like that. The two are exactly the same. You must know that. You must write it down. I’m not going to explain now, it takes time.
That’s why we have already built so many big statues in the world, such as the seven-story Padmasambhava statue. Now, we have to build the statues of Maitreya, the future buddha, one of four stories in Bodhgaya and one of fifteen stories in Kushinagar, where the Buddha showed the aspect of passing away. Kushinagar is such a complicated place and there were so many problems. It has taken a long time, but that is what we are planning now.
We just finished building a large stupa in Solu Khumbu. The manager, Tenpa Choden, has great merit. He built it for the people, the old people and the children, and even the animals, who create so much merit, the cause of enlightenment, by going around it. They have invited me to go there to bless it. We have already built so many of the hundred and eight stupas we plan to build in Ladakh. I think many hundreds of years ago they were built by Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo, a great holy being, but now they are broken, so we plan to rebuild them.
I think I explained to you a long time ago, even a fly that goes around a stupa creates the cause of enlightenment. Holy objects are of unbelievable benefit to sentient beings. It is so easy [to create merit]. Our wishes for happiness in this and future lives, for liberation from samsara and for enlightenment—all our happiness—depends on good karma. It all comes from good karma, and having holy objects makes it so easy.
Even if our mind is not Dharma, even if we are looking for the happiness of this life, not Dharma, just attachment, even if our heart is black, by the power of the holy objects—of statues and stupas—our actions of going around, prostrating and making offerings becomes the Dharma and the cause of enlightenment. It makes it so easy for even animals, dogs and people who go around.
When the dogs at the Boudhanath Stupa or in other holy places follow the people around, they create the causes of enlightenment so many times. The Buddha said, “The merits and ripened-aspect results are exactly the same.”
Then, the Buddha said,
That is the Buddha’s blessing,
But ordinary beings do not know this.
Therefore, in places where there are no buddhas,
There are no holy objects.They do not exist in outlying barbaric countries.
They do not exist when the teachings of the Buddha degenerate.
They cannot be seen by no-level beings and animals.
Therefore, all holy objects are manifestations of buddhas.
“Outlying barbaric countries” do not have [holy objects]. When the teachings of the Buddha degenerate, holy objects don’t exist. And mutegpa, follows of those religions opposed to Buddhism (mu teg means “no-level”) those followers and animals can’t even see holy objects. The Buddha himself said “Therefore, all the holy objects are manifestations of buddhas.”
For example, when Lama Atisha went to Bodhgaya, there were paintings and statues around [the stupa] that spoke to him. When he asked them what the best, the quickest way to achieve enlightenment was, they all answered, “Bodhicitta.” When we have pure devotion and our mind is purified enough, statues and paintings will speak to us.
I have to tell you this. If we make any offering, even water, to the Buddha statue or the visualization of the Buddha, we collect unbelievable merits. For eight [hundred] million eons and four million eons we will never be reborn in the lower realms. For eight hundred million eons and four million eons, we will never be reborn in the lower realms, even if we offer just water or anything to the Buddha. We get benefits like that.
For example, a lady, Drangtse Palmo, Brahmin Palmo, offered sandalwood powder to the Buddha, sprinkling it on the Buddha’s feet. The Buddha predicted she wouldn’t be reborn in the lower realms for eight hundred million eons and four million eons. The Buddha explained this to the bodhisattva, Miphampa.
So, the more holy objects—paintings, pictures, statues and stupas—there are, the more opportunity sentient beings have to go around, to do prostrations, to make offerings and all that.
For example, the Boudhanath Stupa is big. The bigger it is, the more people come to see it, not only animals. It is unbelievable. Day and night, everybody is creating the causes of enlightenment and, by the way, the causes of liberation from samsara and of all the happiness of future lives and of this life.
So, after taking refuge, each time before we eat, we should offer [the food] to the Buddha, whether we know a prayer or not. There are certain prayers. We offer to the Buddha and then we take the blessing. Then, we practice compassion for sentient beings by trying to control our mind, overcoming our anger and things like that.
When you have taken teachings from the guru, there are seven or eight general advices. Without thinking of the precepts, just having taken refuge makes life so unbelievably worthwhile. But then, on top of that, there are upasika precepts. If you cannot take all five, you can take four or three or two or one. I used to advise people in the past to take the precept to not kill, which means not only not killing human beings but all sentient beings, even insects. That is so important. If you don’t want anybody to kill you, you should take that precept to not kill others.
THE FOUR SUFFERING RESULTS OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
For example, sexual misconduct is one of the three negative actions of the body from the ten nonvirtues. There are four factors with karma; the base, zhi, which means the sentient being; the thought or motivation, sampa; the action, jorwa; and the completion, thartug, when the action is done. If it is killing, we kill the other sentient being before we die. If it is stealing, when we steal and we think, “This is mine.” That is the goal, the completion.
An action with these four factors is negative karma when done with delusion, done with the self-cherishing thought. It becomes negative karma because it is done with the self-cherishing thought, with attachment to this life. That is the negative mind that transforms the action into a negative one.
As a negative karma, it has four suffering results. The ripened-aspect result is rebirth in the lower realms, as a hell being, a hungry ghost or an animal. The other three suffering results [are when we are finally reborn] in the human realm.
The possessed result refers to the place we are born into, that we live in. [For sexual misconduct] it’s a very dirty place, with lots of mud, a filthy, dirty, very unhealthy place. Even we don’t live normally in a dirty place, if we have to go through one for even five minutes, that is also the result of the past negative karma of sexual misconduct. The possessed result is to do with the place. If we have to cross [such a place] for an hour, for five minutes or for even one or two minutes, that is the result of the past negative karma of sexual misconduct.
The third result is experiencing the result similar to the cause. That means that what we caused others to suffer we now have to experience. If in the past we lied, we abused others, we committed sexual misconduct, what we did in the past, we experience a similar result now. Others do the same thing to us, such as sexual misconduct.
When others abuse us or cause us to suffer because of sexual misconduct, we are experiencing results because of our past karma. When top businesspeople and famous people in the West are sued because others can get a lot of money by saying they did something wrong, that is because those suing them were abused by them in the past. It is the result of them abusing others in the past, in this life or in past lives.
If we are experiencing [harm from] sexual misconduct, that is because in the past—in this life or in other lives—we committed sexual misconduct with a negative thought. We ourselves committed this negative karma. Having done it once in the past means we will have to experience it for five hundred lifetimes. For five hundred lifetimes, we will have to experience being harmed by others in this way. That is the reality.
Then, there is creating the result similar to the cause. Because we committed sexual misconduct in the past, in past lives, there is the karma, the habit, and we do it again in the future lives. So, in this life we again commit sexual misconduct, we abuse others. All that happens because of the habituation of past karma.
For example, there was a monk who was here, who is now a layperson in Italy. Although he knew stealing was not good, the thought came to really want to steal, the thought to steal arose so strongly. In many actions, negative karma is like that. We create the result similar to the cause, meaning the habituation of past negative karma makes us repeat the negative action over and over in many lifetimes. This happens.
I must tell you this quotation. It is very important to write it down. [A Hundred Actions Sutra says:]
By becoming habituated with negative karma, again in the future you will rely on negative karma, again you will do negative karma, and again you will be reborn following negative karma.
The Buddha said when we create negative karma, we get habituated to negative karma. When we engage in negative karma, that is due to habituation from the past and by doing the action we make ourselves more habituated. Then he said that in the future we will again rely on that nonvirtue. That means we will do it again in the future, repeating the same negative karma.
Following our mind, not practicing the Dharma, this happens again and again. We follow our delusions, the cause of suffering, [and commit negative] karma without end. Then, there is no end of karma and delusions. Not only is there no beginning but there will be no end.
You must write this down! And if possible, make a notice to put up in your house, in your room, to remind you. This is a really fearful thing.
For hundreds and hundreds of lifetimes it goes on and on like this uncontrollably. Our karma and delusions create endless suffering for us.
So, for each of the ten nonvirtues that has the four factors gathered, there are these four suffering results. I just gave you an idea. That is enough. Therefore, taking precepts is to go against that negative karma, to not make ourselves habituated to the cause of suffering that makes suffering endless. It is so important.
THE REFUGE CEREMONY
Those who are taking refuge, don’t only think of freeing yourself from samsara, think of sentient beings suffering in samsara, so you have compassion. And therefore, take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Think of the numberless hell beings, the numberless hungry ghosts, the numberless animals, the numberless human beings, the numberless suras and the numberless asura beings, think of freeing them from samsara and bringing them to enlightenment. For that reason, you are taking refuge.
Those who are taking refuge, please do three prostrations.
[Rinpoche performs the refuge ceremony]
With taking refuge in the Buddha, there is the conventional Buddha and the absolute Buddha. The absolute Buddha is the Buddha’s holy mind, the dharmakaya. The ultimate nature is the dharmakaya. The sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya aspects are the conventional Buddha. So, there are two aspects, the dharmakaya as one and the rupakaya manifesting as the sambhogakaya and the nirmanakaya, holy body manifestations, as the other. You are taking refuge in these two things.
With taking refuge in the Dharma, [there is the absolute Dharma and the conventional Dharma]. The true path, the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness that ceases karma and delusions, that ceases the cause of suffering, that directly frees you from the suffering of samsara, that is the absolute Dharma. The conventional Dharma is the Tripitaka that explains the path. You take refuge in both: the absolute Dharma and the conventional Dharma.
The lasso of attachment, craving, ties you to samsara. The root of samsara is ignorance, but attachment is the close cause of samsara. It is what ties you to samsara, what doesn’t let you be free from samsara. That is why when you take refuge in the Dharma, the Dharma is that which liberates you from attachment. Therefore, you go for refuge to the Dharma.
With taking refuge in the Sangha, there is also the absolute Sangha and the conventional Sangha. The absolute Sangha can be one person, ordained or lay, who has the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness. That is the absolute Sangha. It can be an ordained person or a lay person. It doesn’t have to be four. But the conventional Sangha refers to those who don’t have a direct perception of emptiness, and then it has to be four fully ordained monks or nuns living purely in the vows. Because in Vinaya, when there is a Sangha meeting to decide something, it has to be a community, and there have to be at least four members to decide. That is conventional Sangha. You not only take refuge in the absolute Sangha but also the conventional Sangha.
[Rinpoche concludes the refuge ceremony]
DEDICATIONS
“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by numberless sentient beings and numberless buddhas…” Not just yourself, think of your family, think of all of us here, all the students, please think that. “In all the lifetimes may I never be separated from Lama Tsongkhapa as the Mahayana virtuous friend of me, my family, all of us here and all the students in the world. May we never be separated from the pure Dharma that is admired by all the buddhas.”
[Rinpoche and students recite prayers in Tibetan and English]
Please pray for the world. “Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by numberless sentient beings and numberless buddhas, may the wars happening now and the wars that will happen be stopped immediately. May all famine and disease be stopped immediately. May all the dangers of earth, water, fire and wind be stopped immediately. May all the dangers to sentient beings be stopped immediately: the melting ice, the oceans rising, the tsunamis destroying cities. May all these problems be stopped immediately. And may the Dharma, the source of perfect peace and happiness, prevail in everybody’s hearts. May the Buddhadharma, where all sentient beings receive happiness from, last a long time and spread in all the ten directions. May sentient beings meet Buddhadharma and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.”
Last thing. “Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by numberless sentient beings and numberless buddhas, may I fulfill the wishes and hopes of all sentient beings more than a wish-granting jewel. May I fulfill the wishes and hopes of all sentient beings more than a wish-granting tree.
“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by the numberless sentient beings and numberless buddhas, which are merely labeled by the mind, may I, who is merely labeled by the mind, achieve full enlightenment, which is merely labeled by the mind…” [Rinpoche yawns] Sorry! I think I’m going to bed while I’m talking to you. I might have to say goodbye anytime! “And lead all the sentient beings, who are merely labeled by the mind, to that buddhahood, which is merely labeled by the mind, by myself alone, who is merely labeled by the mind.”
For His Holiness’s holy wishes to succeed and to have a stable life.
Incomparably kind and supreme Tenzin Gyatso,
The wish-granting Wish-Fulfilling Jewel—
Source of every single benefit and happiness in this world—
May you have a long life and all your holy wishes be spontaneously fulfilled.19
[Rinpoche says mantras and blows on malas to bless them for the people who have taken refuge]
I’ve already given you the lung of this mantra that I’m reciting on the malas, OM PÄDMO USHNISHA VIMALE HUM PHAṬ. For anybody who touches it, it purifies the five heavy negative karmas: killing your father and mother, killing an arhat, causing blood to flow from a buddha and causing disharmony in the Sangha. These very heavy negative karmas get purified. I do the same to bless the dolls [the stuffed animals] before I give them to somebody. Anybody who touches them, it purifies their negative karma.
Notes
18 Rinpoche often attributes this quote to Manjushri Root Tantra, but Ven. Tenzin Namjong has found it quoted by Tsongkhapa. [Return to text]
19 See FPMT Essential Prayer Book, p. 286. [Return to text]
