How to practice daily prayers
[Chanting]
Doing the prayers, it is not an utmost need to read in Tibetan, so you can read them in English. It is totally up to you whichever language you want to use to recite the prayers—the language that you know or the language you don’t know.
[Chanting]
Do not commit any unwholesome actions.
Engage in perfect, wholesome actions.
Subdue your own mind.
This is the teaching of the Buddha.
—Verse 183, Dhammapada
Then, read the next stanza, do the meditation on the next stanza. Causative phenomena are in the nature of impermanence, including your own life. And they don’t exist as they appear to your own mind, which is hallucinated.
Therefore, giving those words exactly, don’t allow your mind to apprehend, to hold onto appearance as being true, the appearance which is a hallucination, holding onto that as being true, the opposite of false. Apprehending that it’s true, not a hallucination, it’s reality. That’s how we create delusion, that’s how we create delusions all the time, how we create the king of delusions, ignorance, the root of samsara, all the time. That’s how we produce hallucinations all the time, mistaken thoughts, the hallucinatory mind and that motivates karma all the time. That makes the endless suffering of samsara.
[Chanting]
The impermanence of the body
Along with this, reflect that we cherish this body so much, that we take such care of it, from kindergarten, and primary school, then high school, college or university, obtaining all that education up to a degree then finding a job and earning money. So many years of effort and education in order to make money, to get a degree and to find a job, to obtain money.
In order to take care of this body, for survival, we spend so much on this body, in order to have shelter, money for that, buying a house, renting, all these things for this body and then all the money that we spend, after all those years of education and many years of working, saving money, spending on food, for the comfort of this body, for survival and the comfort of this body. There is so much expense—food and drinks—we have so many expenses, we spend so much money for the comfort of this body. We buy clothes for this body to wear, for protection, for comfort. And then there are other things like getting sick. We spend so much money, even just having checkups, before we even get sick, making sure that we are not sick, making sure there is no sickness at all, hoping there is no sickness at all. To check, to make sure to not get disease, to check whether there is sickness or not. And if there is sickness then again we spend so much money for this body, then we have operations.
We cherish this body so much, but at any day it can be in the fire. There is a verse in the meditation on impermanence and death. The Buddha is teaching us, showing us how causative phenomena are in the nature of impermanence and phenomena do not exist as they appear to us, to our mind which is hallucinated—not hallucinated forever but temporarily. Of course, if we practice Dharma, if we actualize the path, we can remove the hallucination, including the seed that is the imprint, which projects the hallucination. As I mentioned before, we spend so much, an unbelievable amount, huge expenses, to buy shelter—renting, buying, working for many years to pay back the money, many years of work to pay back the house, shelter, all these clothes, having to clothe every piece of the body, except the nose. I don’t think you need to cover the nose. Anyway, I am joking. And food and like that.
We cherish this body so much, twenty-four hours a day, buying so many other things besides shelter and clothes, so many other things, even just for the hair there are so many things. The hair is very expensive. [Laughter] To take care of the hair, all the different styles and different colors. Even just for the hair we spend much money. Besides that there are the shoes. There are all the different seasons’ shoes, shoes for outside, shoes for inside, shoes to wear to parties. To parties or for dancing.
In reality this body is destined for the fire. Maybe the text relates to the place where the body is burnt on firewood or by electricity. Immediately it’s just dust, it’s only ashes, there are only ashes left. Ashes or hashish. [Laughter] Maybe some people’s bodies become hashish. I am joking, I am joking. Maybe those who have taken a lot of hashish after two minutes become hashish. [Laughter] Anyway, I am joking. That can happen at any time. We put all this effort into our body but in reality, as the Buddha says in these verses, this body can any day be ashes. What do you call that one? You press the button and then … huh?
[Student explains]
Rinpoche: What?
[Student explains]
Rinpoche: Cremation, this one minute or immediately it becomes ashes, right? Anyway, whatever it is. That or firewood. So, this is how it can be. Any day this body can be put on the firewood. That can happen at any time, any day. Any day it can happen. And then, nobody can see us. We can’t see our friends, those who already passed away, our family members who have passed away. There are only the pictures left, photos or their names in a letter or in books. We see some dresses, clothes, skirts, worn by others, that belonged to others, and we say, “This belongs to so-and-so.”
Any day, any day, that can happen to us, to ourselves, like it has been happening to others. We must have already experienced others’ death, but the same thing can happen any day to us. Death can be experienced any day, suddenly, there will be a time when we ourselves are not there. We are not there with this human body, at all. It’s gone; we have left this human world. That absence, that impermanence can happen to us, any day.
Today we can go to bed and during the sleep, death happens. Then tomorrow, what’s left there is just the body, the thing called a “corpse.” Now it is not labeled “corpse” but tomorrow morning this body receives the name “corpse,” the label “corpse.” This is something terrifying. Even friends or people who normally come around, playing, spending time with us, for them it is suddenly a big shock, when our body becomes a corpse, unable to be touched. They can only bear to pull it by the clothes, in the bed. That can happen, by this time tomorrow this body can be lying lifeless in bed and receiving the label “corpse.”
There are so many people in this world who went to bed today and have no chance of waking up tomorrow as a human being. By the time the sun rises tomorrow, they will no longer be a human being; they will be separated from their precious human body. This will happen to so many people in this world tonight. They will go to bed believing that they are going to live for many years, that they are not going to die for many years, then suddenly death happens, and tomorrow when the sun rises they will be separated from this precious human body. Even today, this is happening so much. We could be part of that group, suddenly becoming nonexistent in this human world. The whole body could suddenly disintegrate.
And we can never be sure where that consciousness will be, maybe in another universe. We can be anything; it’s all to do with the karma, the various karmas from beginningless rebirth. By this time next year we could be a pig. We could be a chicken, like those chickens at the butcher’s place down there, left there to be killed at any time, or packed in the cage. Like in India, they are so hot and completely packed in this small cage, waiting to be killed at any time for food, for human beings’ food. We could be in that small cage, packed with so many others, so hot, so thirsty, and at any time taken out to be killed for human beings’ food. Or by this time next week we could be born as a snake or a crocodile in Africa. We could be anything, even a worm.
We could even be in the hell realm. This is the most terrifying thing. Once we are reincarnated like that, there is nothing we can do, nothing. We have to experience that until our karma finishes. Once that result is experienced, then it’s very difficult. Before experiencing the result, we can purify the cause, stopping it from happening. That is now, that is now, every day, every hour, every minute, every second, with this precious human body, that is the best time to do anything. Now, we can practice. There is all that opportunity to practice the best method and to stop creating the causes of suffering again and to purify the previous ones, those already created. How many seconds we have left in this human life, with this precious human body, this is the time we have left, this is all the opportunity that we have.
Therefore, every second we have this precious human body is wish-fulfilling, bringing all the happiness, up to enlightenment. Every second of this precious human body is wish-fulfilling in that we can achieve any happiness. With each second of this precious human body we can even create the cause of enlightenment,. We can create any happiness, liberation from samsara, the happiness of future lives, any happiness we can achieve. And we are able to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to full enlightenment.
[Chanting]
The four immeasurables
“How wonderful if all sentient beings were to abide in equanimity, free from discriminating thoughts, anger, attachment, discriminating some sentient beings are far, some are closer. May they abide in equanimity. I will cause them to abide in equanimity. Please Guru-Buddhas grant me blessings to be able to do this.”
That is generating the immeasurable thought of equanimity. The next one is generating the immeasurable thought of loving kindness.
“However wonderful if all sentient beings were to have happiness.” In their hearts, thinking of enlightenment, of peerless happiness. In each realm there are numberless beings, in the hell realms there are numberless hell beings, and so on, like that, wishing everyone to have peerless happiness, enlightenment. And the same with the pretas, animals, with every realm. “… and the cause of happiness. May they have happiness. I will cause them to have happiness. Please Guru-Buddhas grant me blessings to be able to do this.”
“How wonderful if all sentient beings were free from all the sufferings and the causes. May they be free from all the sufferings and causes. I will cause them to be free from all the sufferings and causes. Please Guru-Buddhas grant me blessings to be able to do this.”
To be free from all the suffering and causes, think again about the numberless hell beings being free from all the suffering and its causes, with the mindfulness of all those unimaginable sufferings of the hell realm, human realm, preta, and so on. Think like that.
“Please Guru-Buddhas grant me blessings to be able to do this.” Generate the immeasurable thought of compassion.
Now, generate the immeasurable thought of joyfulness.
“How wonderful if all sentient beings were never to be separated from the happiness of the upper realms and ultimate happiness. May they not be separated from this happiness. I will cause them to not be separated from this happiness. Please Guru-Buddhas grant me blessings to be able to do this.”
Visualizing the Buddha
As I explained at other times, visualize Guru Shakyamuni Buddha either in one aspect—that is, as everything, as all the Gurus, the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, like that—or in many aspects, the elaborate refuge merit field. Whichever one you visualize, however, is in essence the Guru. The very essential meditation should be guru yoga. In guru yoga, the mind is transformed into pure thought, devotion. What is that? Devotional thought, seeing the Guru as Buddha, by looking at the Guru as Buddha, that kind of pure thought, that devotional thought. From the ordinary thought, the mind is transformed into pure mind, with devotion, by seeing the virtuous friend, with whom you have established a Dharma connection, from your own side, as Buddha, by looking at the Guru as Buddha. That mind is guru yoga.
So, this is the way, when we visualize the merit field, the Buddha, the deity, this is the way to meditate. This is the way to recognize, how to look at them or how to meditate.
With that mind, with that guru yoga mind, with your mind transformed into guru yoga, then practicing the seven limbs purifies the obstacles to achieve realizations of the path to liberation and enlightenment, the obstacles to completing the work for self and for other sentient beings. That pacifies, that purifies, that makes you collect the necessary conditions, the merits and you increase the merits by rejoicing and by dedicating, by doing the practice of dedication. That enables you, that creates the condition, like in a field, where all the rocks, the stones, all the things that interfere with growing the crops are cleared away and then there is good soil and water, everything, to makes the seeds planted in the ground ready to grow. It makes them ready to grow, to produce the stems.
So, refuge, bodhicitta, generating the four immeasurable thoughts, the seven-limb practice, the mandala offering, requesting the blessings of guru and the guru yoga, then the direct meditation on the steps of the path to enlightenment. Go over the meditation prayer, the actual body of the meditation, planting the seeds and meditating on path. With all these together, then the realization comes from within. Liberation and enlightenment come from within, just as the stem comes from the seed, it doesn’t come from somewhere else. It comes from the seed that you have planted.
[Chanting]
To repeat again here the confessing.
The need for purification
In your heart, think, as I mentioned before, from the ten nonvirtuous actions, having committed any nonvirtuous action, as long as you don’t purify, you will experience the four results, and one of them is creating the result similar to the cause [Tibetan]. By experiencing this one, creating the result similar to the cause, then it produces the four suffering results, and one of them again is creating the result similar to the cause. That produces again four suffering results. It goes on and on, so it’s endless suffering of samsara. Having committed one of the ten nonvirtuous actions, one negative karma, a complete negative karma, then the result goes on and on.
It is very important to remember that. You are really seeing how karma works. It’s something very deep. It’s not just experiencing something one time and then it’s finished. Not like that. If you don’t purify, if you don’t do anything, it goes on and on.
From this one negative karma, this is the result you have to experience. But there have been ten nonvirtuous actions done numberless times, even in this life. Even in one day, things like gossiping, covetousness, the three negative actions of mind. For example, covetousness, when you go to the market for shopping, being attached to things. How many objects you get attached to when you go for shopping, and then you decide to buy—it’s to do with the motivation, with how much covetousness you have. Even in the house, even in your room, it’s a mental action. So in one day, there are so many completed negative actions. From beginningless rebirths you haven’t finish experiencing them, you haven’t purified them, there are so many.
By committing one negative karma from the ten, that becomes endless suffering. Now there are so many, uncountable. Even one negative karma you can’t stand, because the result is endless as long as you don’t purify—as long as you don’t purify and don’t abstain from committing that negative karma again. Even just this one. Even if you eat poison, the worst thing it can do is to separate the consciousness from this body, to be the cause of death. If you don’t have negative karma, even though it can cause the consciousness to separate from the body, but without negative karma, poison doesn’t cause you to be born in the lower realms as a hell being, hungry ghost or an animal. You don’t get reborn in the lower realm by eating poison alone. But if you have negative karma then it makes you be born in the lower realms.
What the negative karma does is not just cause death, but also all those eons of suffering in the lower realms, then all those ongoing sufferings again and again in the human realm that you experience, just from that one negative karma.
Therefore, feel that even if you have only committed one negative karma, you can’t stand it, you have got to purify it, you have got to purify it without delay even a second, because death can happen at any moment. Death can happen at any moment—any day, any hour, any minute, any moment it can happen—so you must purify. Death can happen at any moment, so you must purify immediately. You must not miss out on the opportunity, the chance to purify. So you must do it, you must do it right away, you can’t delay even one second.
If you have eaten poison or a poisonous snake has bitten you, you can’t stand it; you have to rush to the emergency hospital without waiting even for a second, but that’s nothing, that’s nothing. That’s regarded as very terrifying but it’s nothing. The only thing that it can do is just cause death, separating the mind from the body. If you don’t die with the nonvirtuous thought then you won’t get reborn in the lower realms just because a poisonous snake has bitten you. That alone doesn’t cause you to be born in the lower realms. But if you die with nonvirtuous thought, if you have negative karma, if you die with negative karma, then you will certainly be born in the lower realms.
If you think about the numberless negative karmas you have committed from beginningless rebirths—or even just in this life, if you think only of this life—it’s uncountable. That’s much more terrifying. You can’t stand not purifying them right away. On top of that, those who have taken the pratimoksha, bodhisattva or tantric vows, this is not the first time you have taken them. You took them in past lives and broke them. There are so many of those vices you collected in the past numberless times. And the heaviest negative karma collected is within the relationship with the virtuous friend. That’s the heaviest negative karma. If it’s done in this life, that’s not the first time. It has happened numberless times in the past. This is so terrifying, you can’t stand it even for one second. You can’t wait; you must purify immediately.
So, when you do confession, at least think something like this, something strong like this.
In the teachings it is said it is a feeling like you have eaten poison and are in mortal danger. Somebody else has taken that poison and has already died, and although you’re not sick from it yet, you know you must die from it. You need to feel that much regret about having done a negative action. If somebody has created negative karma and then already died, they will surely be born in the lower realms, and experience great suffering. You are in the same situation, except you have not yet died.
Think like this when you do Vajrasattva practice or when you do the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas purification practice—doing prostrations while reciting the names of the Thirty-five Buddhas, or just reciting the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names without doing whole body prostrations. Whenever you do a confession practice, at least try to think something like this, to make yourself mindful of all these karmas, how they are not easy to purify, how they are something very deep. Think how the suffering is unbearable, for many lifetimes.
As the thought of regret becomes stronger, the thought of repentance becomes stronger, then the negative karma becomes thinner. Regret is the remedy from the four powers that makes your confession perfect, powerful. Among those four this is the most important one. Depending on the strength of your regret or repentance, that negative karma, even though it is very heavy, becomes very thin.
[Chanting]
That I have met the teachings of the peerless founder at this time is by your kindness. By this may all the transmigratory beings meet the teachings of you, the supreme leader.
[Chanting]
You, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, for an inconceivable number of eons trained your holy mind in compassion toward the sentient beings and gave up your life, family, belongings, everything, numberless times, You bore so many hardships to actualize the path and achieve enlightenment for sentient beings. May I be able to bring all the transmigratory beings in this path and bring them to enlightenment.
[Chanting]
The Golden Light Sutra: Oral transmission
The refuge and merit field absorb. If you are visualizing the elaborate one, they absorb to the Buddha, then the Buddha descends to your crown, melts into light and absorbs here at the center of the eyebrows. He then blesses your body, speech and mind, in the essence of the Buddha’s vajra holy body, holy speech, holy mind. This is the visualization for those who haven’t received a great initiation; this is how you are advised to visualize when you absorb. But if you have that initiation, then you absorb straight from the crown. In the case of the Buddha, who is the founder of the present Buddhadharma, that is OK. So he can melt into light or absorb within yourself. Then he blesses your body, speech and mind. Then think, “I have achieved all the qualities of the Buddha,” which is the blessing.
Even when you meditate on the lamrim, you visualize here and meditate; you can also do that. But here in the oral transmission, this is how it is advised. So we did the mandala offering already in the beginning.
[Chanting]
Which number?
[Student explains]
The Tibetan number, huh?
[Student explains]
I thought maybe keep the doors open, so that outside, if there is anybody around, on the trees, they can hear.
[Oral transmission]
Another thing, please think of the motivation and the benefits of listening to this, as I mentioned at other times.
[Oral transmission]
Here, it is talking about the benefits of requesting the Buddha to turn the Dharma wheel. So here Buddha told Sharipu, his heart disciple, one who is excellent in psychic power, wisdom: “When I was doing the bodhisattva’s conduct in the past, I made a request to the tathagatas to live a long time and due to these merits I have achieved the four fearlessnesses realization.” From the ten powers, those realizations, the Buddha’s qualities, the ten powers and eighteen unmistaken dharmas, those realizations, the four individual perfect wisdoms, and great loving kindness, great compassion and he completely achieved sorrowless state—full enlightenment, great liberation. Then it says, “May the holy Dharma also last a long time.”
The Buddha made a request to other buddhas, when Guru Shakyamuni Buddha was a bodhisattva. Due to that, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha became enlightened and then he revealed Dharma in this world. When he was a bodhisattva, having requested to other buddhas to live long, that caused him, when he descended in this world and revealed teachings, it helped the teachings to last a long time. It helped Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings to last a long time.
In the seven-limb practice requesting a stable life or to live long, that’s talking about what an incredible benefit that practice has. Here, this section is talking about the benefits of rejoicing and then the next one is requesting to turn the Dharma wheel, to abide here for a long time. So, it is talking about how each one has greater merit. It goes like that.
[Oral transmission]
Here, it is talking about rejoicing. It explains here the unconceivable merit, which is not clarified in lamrim that extensively, as much as it is here. Then, it is saying that by requesting the tathagatas to abide for long time, you collect much, much, much greater merit. Then requesting them to turn the Dharma wheel, you collect even much, much more greater merit. Then the last one, dedication, even doing that you collect even much greater merit. So, it talks about how much incredible merit you collect through that.
The Buddha is telling Sharipu, the type of son or daughter, anyone who receives this sutra, this Golden Light Sutra, who tries to understand the meaning, who memorizes it, who reads it, who reveals it to others, that person will collect innumerable number of merits, numberless merits doing the dedication practice. So he is comparing this, saying dedication becomes incredible merit, here it is the most.
Then now, you compare this with anyone who receives this text, who tries to understand the meaning, to memorize, to read it, to reveal it to others, then this collects even more innumerable, numberless greater merit than the previous merit, the dedication.
So page what? Page a billion? That is the Western number, 371.
[Chanting]
Dedication
Due to all the three times’ merits, the past, present and future merits collected by me, the three times’ merits collected by others, may the bodhicitta be generated in my own heart and in my own family members, in all of us here, in the hearts of all the students and benefactors of this organization and those who give up their life to this organization, doing service for sentient beings, for the teachings of the Buddha, then in the hearts of all the sentient beings without delay even a second.
[Chanting]
May the bodhicitta be generated in my own heart, in my own family members, in all of us here and in the hearts of everyone in this world without delaying even a second.
[Chanting]
Then all the leaders of this world and all the Maoists or the terrorists, all these different groups who harm so many beings, may bodhicitta be generated in all their hearts, anybody who gives harm to others, may the bodhicitta be generated in all their hearts without delay even a second.
[Chanting]
That there is all this incredible opportunity to do retreat and study the lamrim, the stages of the path to enlightenment, the essence of the whole path and to hear the Golden Light Sutra—where hearing each word purifies all the negative karma and collects inconceivable merit and brings so much peace and happiness in this world, country, area, and plants the seed of enlightenment—to explain, to read and to listen, all this is due to Avalokiteshvara in human form, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Then, it is also due to Lama Yeshe’s kindness, whose name is extremely rare to mention and who is kinder than all the three times’ buddhas, who is particularly kind.
So please dedicate for His Holiness’ long life and for all his wishes to succeed.
[Chanting]
Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, the three times’ merit collected by others, may the father, mother sentient beings have happiness, may the three lower realms be empty forever, may all the bodhisattvas’ prayers succeed immediately. May I be able to cause all this by myself alone, due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the three times’ merits collected by others.
Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, the three times’ merit collected by others, may any sentient being who sees me, touches me, remembers me, thinks about me, criticizes me, praises me or whatever connection they have with me, even making fun of me, or seeing my pictures—just by that, may they never ever get reborn in the lower realms from that time on. May it cause them to immediately open their hearts, find faith in refuge and karma and generate loving kindness, compassion and bodhicitta, in all their hearts instantly. Just their seeing me, touching me, remembering me, thinking of me, talking about me, criticizing me, praising me, harming me, or whatever conditions may it be able to affect back to them only as wish-fulfilling, only as wish-fulfilling toward others. May all these become wish-fulfilling toward all living beings, to themselves, to cause all their wishes for happiness to succeed instantly, immediately. May all their negative karma be immediately purified, and may they never ever be reborn in the lower realms from that time. May they be free from all the defilements and may all their sicknesses be immediately healed. May they immediately be able to actualize the whole path to enlightenment.
Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, the three times’ merit collected by others, from now on may I be able to offer limitless skies of benefits to sentient beings like Lama Tsongkhapa, by having the same qualities as Lama Tsongkhapa has, from now on and in all my future lifetimes.
Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, the three times’ merit collected by others, who do not exist from their own side, may the I, who does not exist from its own side, achieve Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, which doesn’t exist from its own side, which is empty, and lead all sentient beings, who do not exist from their own side, who are totally empty, to that enlightenment, which doesn’t exist from its own side, which is totally empty, by myself alone, who also does not exist from its own side, who is totally empty.
[Chanting]
I dedicate all the merits in the same way as the three times’ buddhas dedicated their merits.
[Chanting]
Please pray. Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, the three time merits’ collected by others, especially today having listened to and explained the Golden Light Sutra and given the oral transmission, the very precious teaching of the Buddha, may the five-hundred-foot Maitreya statue be able to be constructed immediately and without delaying even a second. May it be completed and abide in this world until Maitreya Buddha descends to this world. And may it do the special function of causing to purify all sentient beings’ negative karma and cause them to collect so much merit. Through this may they be able to soften their hearts, find faith in refuge and karma, and actualize loving kindness, compassion and bodhicitta in their hearts. May the statue cause them to purify and collect so much merit and through that this lamrim realization comes from within. In that way, may everybody live their life only benefiting each other with the special motivation, and may nobody experience war, famine, disease, torture, poverty, the dangers of fire, water or earth.
And may all the companies who are working on the statue, the coolies who are doing labor, may all those people involved actualize guru devotion, the three principal aspects of the path, the two stages of tantra, in this very life, while they are working for the statue.
May all the people who donate, anyone who is doing service and anybody who helps the project, who thinks of the project, who dreams of the project, who criticizes the project, who praises the project, may they never ever get reborn in the lower realms from that time and immediately find faith in refuge and karma and actualize bodhicitta. May they meet Maitreya Buddha’s teachings and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. And may all the funding for this be received without delay even a second, to not have any more obstacles.
May the general teachings of the Buddha and particularly the teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa spread in all the directions. May they flourish forever in this world by completely actualizing within my own heart, in the hearts of my own family members, in all of us here and in all the students and benefactors of the FPMT organization, especially those who sacrifice their lives for the organization, doing service for sentient beings and Buddha.
[Chanting]
Due the blessings of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, due to my pure prayers and unbetrayable dependent arising, may all my pure prayers succeed immediately.
[Chanting]
Good night. I hope this causes a very blissful sleep.
