THE UNCONTROLLED MIND CAUSES SO MUCH SUFFERING
[Rinpoche and students recite Prayers Before Teachings]
As mentioned, the Buddha said,
Do not commit any unwholesome actions.
Engage in perfect, wholesome actions.
Subdue one’s own mind.
This is the teaching of the Buddha.4
Unless the mind gets subdued, [great danger happens]. I heard the First World War started from one person. At the actual beginning the problem came from one person, and then it got bigger and bigger. The First World War is [an example of] the mind that does not get subdued, maybe the largest one. What happens is that the mind becomes under the control of anger, attachment and ignorance and then danger happens. The largest one, the First World War, started from that. One person did not control their mind, did not subdue their mind; then the First World War happened.
When the Second World War happened, so many millions of people died. How many millions? It was mentioned. So many million people were killed during the Second World War, not just one million people, but many millions of people were killed in the war. If the mind is not subdued, if we do not control our mind, if we do not look after our mind, if we have an uncontrolled mind, we do whatever our mind says. We just let the mind run around like a crazy monkey or a crazy elephant. This is without talking about our own problems but the problems it can cause in the world, such as so many millions of people being killed.
I heard that in Singapore when the Japanese came to take over the country, they put children on a spear. They had spears and they put the children on top of them. So many people got killed at different times. I heard during Hitler’s time, so many children were burned in fires, killed by oxygen in the train. Many millions of people died in different times, caused by different people in the world, not just Hitler, but many from different countries. When that one person does not control the mind, does not take care of the mind, so many millions of people in the world are killed.
What happens if our mind is under the control of anger and attachment? Here, we are just talking about human beings; we are not talking about animals. One person not subduing their mind, it originally started like that. We can see that the great sufferings in the world started from one person who did not take care of their mind. If we do not take care of our mind [this can happen.] You have to know. You have to see very clearly, besides all our own problems from life to life, affecting us for hundreds and thousands of lifetimes, our negative mind, our negative actions harm others. It affects us from life to life, for thousands of lifetimes. It goes on and on as long as we fail to subdue our mind. As long as we don’t meet the Dharma, we don’t practice the path, we don’t subdue our ignorance, anger and attachment, it goes on and on and on. It becomes millions and millions of lifetimes, endlessly harming ourselves and harming numberless sentient beings.
Our ignorance, anger and attachment harm numberless sentient beings. Our self-cherishing thought, which we have had from beginningless rebirths, has not only been harming us, it has been harming numberless sentient beings from life to life. From beginningless rebirths we have been following the self-cherishing thought. It is due to that dictatorship. Our selfish mind is a dictatorship; it is the real dictatorship. It is the reason that we can harm anybody, we can kill anybody in the world, we can complain, we can do anything, but nobody can complain to us. That is the selfish mind. That is what the selfish mind wants. We can do anything to others—abuse them or whatever—but nobody can even complain or say bad words about us, or even look at us in a bad way, with the nose up. Nobody can do that; nobody can get angry at us, nobody can complain about us. That comes from the ego, the self-cherishing mind. For no reason, we can harm anybody, we can kill anybody, but nobody can harm us. That is the dictatorship.
Everybody wants happiness. The chicken wants happiness, the fish wants happiness. Everybody is the same. That is dictatorship. We can do anything but nobody can complain about us, which is ridiculous. It is very strange, very funny. If we check, it is like that. The self-cherishing thought, the selfish mind is a dictatorship. His Holiness says that the self-cherishing thought has already harmed us and others, meaning numberless sentient beings, from beginningless rebirths.
A GOOD HEART IS THE MOST IMPORTANT EDUCATION (SIXTEEN GUIDELINES)
We need the good heart. Instead of being careless, renouncing others, we must cherish others. We must let go of the I and cherish others. That brings happiness not only to us but to others; it brings happiness to numberless sentient beings. Numberless sentient beings receive happiness from us, from this one person with a good heart, with the ultimate good heart cherishing others and letting go of the I. We are free from the dictatorship of the self-cherishing thought, the selfish mind. We are free; we gain independence from our dictator, from our demon, from self-cherishing. Cherishing others gives us happiness—all the happiness up to enlightenment—and happiness to the numberless sentient beings up to enlightenment. Can you imagine? One person. We are that one person by changing our mind. Living life with a good heart cherishing others is the best life, the happiest life, the most meaningful life.
That education is missing in schools and universities. This is something people need to learn from kindergarten. We can even teach small children what they can learn in a simple way. At school, college, university, that should be the main education, the most important education, the root of everyone’s temporary and ultimate happiness, not only liberation from samsara but also the peerless happiness of enlightenment.
As I started to speak my talk got more and more expanded. We have a school in Chailsa,5 which I think has one hundred sixty children now. Before, there were four thousand Tibetan people, but they left for the West and India, so now there are only two families. The Snow Lion Foundation did not want to sponsor the school, so we look after the school, sponsoring it, helping it expand, making better conditions, and all that. I was there for one month last time. I was supposed to go to Korea. A businessman who became a monk became the abbot. We have a large Jade Buddha, one and a half stories high I think—even the throne is jade—and he asked the Jade Buddha to go to Korea. He invited me to go, but it seems the abbot is not easy to communicate with. If I had gone there, I would have had to practice a lot of patience. You have to prepare for that from the beginning. By knowing, you prepare for patience, otherwise, then you suffer. Anyway, he was difficult to communicate with, so in the end I apologized and said I could not go. Instead I went to Chailsa, which is a day’s traveling. We have a school and monastery there.
It is good land, not too cold and not too hot, probably better weather than upper Solu Khumbu. I met the school teachers. I don’t remember if the children were there or not, but the school teachers gathered and we talked about language, grammar and the many things they learn. I said the most important education, the main education, should be the good heart. Even in their childhood, at school they should learn to practice the good heart. I don’t remember exactly what I told them word by word but generally I said to be kind to others and practice the good heart. If you meet unfavorable conditions and somebody gets angry at you or whatever, you should practice patience from your side. If somebody bothers you, you should not become angry but practice patience. If somebody harms you, you should practice patience back. So, like that. A good heart, practicing a good heart, being kind to others.
We have a Universal Education school, where there are sixteen human Dharmas and ten divine Dharmas. I have not started the ten divine Dharmas yet. It has started in Malaysia. When I was there they did ten divine Dharmas. It was demonstrated and it is very good. That was the first one. I translated and planned the course but Malaysia was the first one. Before that, there have been many advices from His Holiness and from Lama Yeshe about the good heart. There are many books from those ancient Indian pandits from Nalanda on the Buddha’s philosophy. You take it from different subjects, then use the philosophy to show all the logical reasons to practice a good heart.
All the reasons behind [practicing a good heart] are, for example, by not harming ourselves or others, by only doing good things, we create the cause of happiness for ourselves and create the cause of happiness for the numberless sentient beings. There are all the logical reasons behind that, such as dependent arising and ultimate nature, emptiness. Then, to be able to benefit others more, of course we need to do meditation, yoga. [In Malaysia] they do feng shui and astrology to help others as much as they can. I kind of put something together like that.
There are seven things, and the very first one is to practice kindness day and night, not only to human beings but even to animals and insects. We practice kindness day and night, all the time. That is the first one.
And then I think the next one is maybe rejoicing. Instead of jealousy, being jealous that somebody has a very luxurious or beautiful house, a very expensive car, like a Volkswagen, and so on and so on, instead of being jealous somebody is rich and disliking them, we should rejoice. Our whole day, our whole life, we should rejoice instead of being jealous. When we see others enjoying something good, like a good body, good hair, a good car—whatever good things others have—we should always rejoice. How good it is, how wonderful it is that they have this. Instead of being jealous, feeling a kind of negative mind, we rejoice and feel happy for them. Seeing others enjoying beautiful things, seeing others having success, like a successful business person, we feel happiness. It doesn’t have to be our family member or a friend, just anybody in the world. Even seeing animals enjoying good things, we rejoice.
Psychologically, our mind becomes very healthy; it is not disturbed but so healthy and happy. We become a happy person, always smiling. Our mind is light, not heavy. Anybody can speak to us very easily, very happily. That mind is a positive mind; it’s a virtue, not a nonvirtue.
For example, when we think about another person’s good karma collected from beginningless rebirths, we rejoice by feeling happy. We can think, “How wonderful it is,” but rejoicing means not just reciting the words, our mind has to feel happy. When a mother cherishes her beloved child more than her life and somebody praises them, she is so happy. They don’t even praise her but her child, but that makes her so happy. Even somebody giving a small present to her child makes her so happy, whereas complaining about the child or hurting them in some way makes her very angry or sad. Now here, we feel happy that that sentient being has collected merit, good karma, from beginningless rebirths and we rejoice.
If that person’s level of mind is lower than ours, we collect double their merit. However much merit that person has collected from beginningless rebirths, we collect double. It’s unbelievable; it’s incredible. There is no such business in the world! If that person’s level of mind is the same as ours, we collect the same amount of merit. However much merit that person has collected from beginningless rebirths up to now, we collect that same amount of merit. If that person’s level of mind is higher than ours, we collect half what the person has collected.
For example, in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, the bodhisattva Kyabje Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo said if we rejoice in a bodhisattva’s merit collected in one day, even though we do not have bodhicitta while they have it, by rejoicing we get half of the merit collected by that bodhisattva in one day. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo says if we don’t rejoice, it would take thirteen thousand years to collect that much merit. But if we rejoice in one bodhisattva’s one-day merit we get half of that merit, in a second! [Rinpoche snaps his fingers] Like that.
So of course, by rejoicing in not just the merit of one day collected by that bodhisattva, when we rejoice in all merit they have collected from beginningless [rebirths], even though we do not have bodhicitta the merit we collect is unbelievable. But there are numberless bodhisattvas, and if we rejoice in the merit collected by all those bodhisattvas, how much merit do we collect? How much cause of happiness do we collet, not just temporary but ultimate happiness, even enlightenment? Even for somebody whose level of mind is higher than ours, for example, a bodhisattva, it is like that.
Then, by rejoicing in our own merit collected from beginningless rebirths, each time we rejoice the merit is doubled. So, the second time we rejoice that is doubled, becoming four times, and then rejoicing again it becomes six times. I don’t know, maybe it becomes double four times! Sorry. There is no such business in the world. If we know how to practice Dharma, we create the cause of happiness.
Sorry, my talk got expanded. It’s like that. Rejoicing in others’ merit every day, day and night, keeps the mind very positive and very happy, psychologically. We don’t drive ourselves crazy. We don’t have to go to a mental institute. What do you call it? [Student: Psychiatric ward.] Psychiatric home. We don’t have to go there.
I think that is the second thing. The third is patience. If we want a happy life we need to practice patience. I’m saying this not only for somebody who practices Dharma. Even a nonbeliever who doesn’t believe in reincarnation and karma, if they want happiness, if they want to have a long-lasting relationship in their family, with their husband or wife, even if the other person doesn’t practice patience, they have to practice patience.
Practicing patience, we have so much happiness. Then, even if the other person doesn’t practice patience, by our practicing patience we make the other person happy. First, we become happy; then, because we practice patience and don’t retaliate, don’t get angry back, that makes the other person happy. Then, the relationship lasts a long time. That is in the family, but of course that means with anybody inside the family or outside.
With patience, our mind becomes happy; we have a happy life and we give happiness to the family and to outside people, even to animals. Even if we don’t believe in reincarnation and karma, there is so much happiness. It brings peace in the world, starting from our family—our husband or wife, our parents, our children—starting from them, we bring happiness and peace in the world, instead of harming and causing danger. It is so important. As I mentioned yesterday, anger and fear eats your, what? What did I say, I forgot? [Student: Immune system.] Yeah, immune system, and then our health becomes weak, without protection from sickness. It destroys our health. That means we lose ourselves.
Then, if somebody harms us, we accept it. I forgot the word? If somebody harms you? [Student: You accept the defeat.] Defeat? If we made some mistakes, if we have harmed others, we immediately apologize. If somebody harms us or says something bad to us, then we immediately forgive them.
Who said that? That’s right, I forgot. Forgiveness, then we have made the other person happy; they become closer to us and there is happiness. If we can do like that, there is happiness. It brings peace in the world, by training with the people that we deal with every day, and from there to the rest of the people around and then the people in the world. We are able to bring peace and happiness in the world.
The other one is instead of depressed, “I can’t do anything,” putting yourself down, being so sad, instead of that we build up, what? [Ven. Sarah: Courage.] Courage, yes, courage. Even though we don’t understand buddha nature, generally speaking our mind has buddha nature. We build courage by thinking that because the ultimate nature of the mind is pure, we can overcome any problem. Because of that, any problem can be overcome and we can develop all the good qualities. That is the main reason. We can think of many opportunities to develop courage that helps others.
Then, I don’t remember. [Ven. Sarah: Contentment.] Yes, the practice of contentment. In other words, practicing satisfaction in our life. There is a very big problem with drugs in school. Children meet friends who are involved in drugs and then they get involved in the same thing, like drugs or alcohol. It destroys their life; it harms the family and others’ lives. Alcoholics harm so many other sentient beings. It’s the same with lack of contentment, dissatisfaction, in the relationship, with sex. So much of the suffering and problems in the world are due to that, dissatisfaction, discontentment.
People finish one whole set of problems, whether they are married or separated, and then they start another whole set of problems, similar [to what they have just finished]. The whole problem starts again, the same as before, but again that does not last. And then again there is another whole set of the same kind of problem. I don’t have to describe it; it goes on until the person dies.
The whole of life is unbelievable suffering through not practicing satisfaction, contentment, in life. There are many other things that are so important. We need to practice contentment, even if we don’t believe in reincarnation and karma.
This is unbelievably important education. First, for our own happiness, and then, the next thing is for others. There are so many other sentient beings; it is so important for them. If we have satisfaction, if we are living our life in contentment, we are able to give happiness to so many sentient beings in the world.
Yeah, OK. Tea.
[Tea offering]
THE BUDDHA MANIFESTS IN MANY FORMS
I’ll just tell a story for all of us to practice. There’s a horse in the West who shows affection to sick people. The horse chooses the room, which person to go to see, and then it goes there. Then, the horse sort of touches [the person] which is kind of very unusual. The person feels loved, feeling the affection of the horse then somehow gets healed or something. The story of the horse that helps is very interesting. Was this recent? Yes, it happened. It is very interesting. The horse comes right in the room through the door.
Among the various forms of animals, there can be a buddha in the manifestation of an animal, a bodhisattva manifesting as an animal to help others, to help animals. That is just one example. In China, Wutai Shan is Manjushri’s holy place. Manjushri is the embodiment of the buddha’s wisdom. Anybody who goes to Wutai Shan can meet Manjushri, although ordinary people don’t recognize him. But anybody can meet Manjushri in an ordinary form. Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, who went there, told me the first being you see is Manjushri. He saw birds flying in the sky. Whether it is in the form of an animal or a human, whatever you see first is Manjushri. Generally, anybody who goes to Wutai Shan meets Manjushri. If you have awareness, sometimes something little bit strange [occurs], something that in ordinary aspect is quite unusual—maybe something other normal, ordinary people can’t do—so, if you have that kind of awareness, you are able to recognize that is Buddha Manjushri.
A long time ago, a lay person was given a letter to give to a bodhisattva, mentioning the place where the bodhisattva was. The person went to that place and read the name of the bodhisattva to the family there, but they said, “We don’t have a bodhisattva here of that name but we have a pig with a similar name.” The pig always used to go after the other pigs—the other pigs would go first then this pig always went last, maybe as a sort of protection for the other pigs. So they read the message to the pig, “Your karma to benefit in this world is finished. Now, you have to go to another world to benefit others.” As soon as the message was read, the pig made a huge noise and immediately passed away. It means his consciousness left and went to another world. The pig was a bodhisattva. It was the bodhisattva Manjushri manifested for ordinary people. That happened.
Anybody who goes there meets Manjushri. It’s kind of like that. I’m just telling another story. There are holy beings in various forms. Buddhas manifest in human forms, as women, as men, as ordained people. You might therefore think I’m announcing I’m a buddha. But I’m not saying that! No way. It will take numberless eons for me to become a buddha. It’s like that for all of us. [I’m just saying that buddhas] take all kinds of forms.
This is mentioned in the sutra, Meeting the Father and Son, Gyab Se Jalwai Do. The Buddha manifests as Indra who is worshipped by the Hindus. The Buddha manifests in the form of the worldly gods, like Indra and Brahma. He manifests as mara. Here, it says dul which means mara or demon. It actually says he takes the costume of mara. Chache means costume. He takes the costume of mara and works for sentient beings in that form. But, jigten kham, the people in the world do not recognize that as such.
The Buddha takes the “costume of woman.” He also manifests as a woman. And the Buddha also manifests in animal form. Although he is without attachment, he shows [having] attachment. He manifests having attachment. Of course he has no attachment. Even arhats have no attachment; even the other arya beings before achieving arhathood have no attachment, and we are not talking about buddhas or bodhisattvas. This is talking about the Lesser Vehicle path—even they do not have attachment. Here we are talking about the Buddha. He has no attachment but he shows the aspect of having attachment. He has no fear but he shows the aspect of having fear. He has no ignorance but he shows the aspect of having ignorance. He has no craziness but he shows the aspect of having craziness. He shows all kinds of manifestations, nampar trul, to benefit, to subdue the minds of sentient beings.
There is a longer quotation but this is another quotation. The bodhisattva Thogme asked a question, “Now we are guided by the Buddha, but in the future who will guide us?” That means when the Buddha has passed away, who would there be to guide the disciples? The Buddha answered him, “In order to ripen the minds of sentient beings, I show birth, old age, sickness and death.” The Buddha said this to benefit us sentient beings.
So, that’s just by the way, just an aside. Now, I’ll go back.
A GOOD HEART IS THE MOST IMPORTANT EDUCATION (BACK TO)
The way the Buddha guides us sentient beings to enlightenment, including you and me, is to guide us gradually. So, this is a very deep subject, one we have to remember in our daily life, both during our practice and in our daily life. I was telling this to the school teachers when we had lunch, that the main education is the good heart, practicing kindness all the time. I’m talking about being kind to others, but of course, remembering the kindness is one thing.
I told them this is the main education, that they have to grow up with that. Then, what happens if this is our main education, when we grow up and become old, there is so much happiness in our life. There are no difficulties. Whatever we wish for happens, because in earlier times we helped others, we were kind to others. Because of that karma—the cause—the effect is that as we grow up all our wishes are fulfilled and happiness comes. That is one thing.
The second thing is that we become a good-hearted, kind person, so even when we grow old, we always help others in the world, giving so much happiness to others, and so other people keep us in their heart and they pray for us. They wish good things for us; everybody wants to help us. I mentioned this to them but I didn’t say the details.
The other thing is this. If the children grow up with a good heart as their main education, practicing a good heart, being kind to others, when they become government people—presidents or ministers or whatever—by living their life with a good heart and having an important job, because of habituation from a young age practicing a good heart, instead of using the population for their own power, for their reputation, to get power and possessions for themselves and their family, they become a source of happiness for the whole population, for all the millions of people in their country and in the world. Here, it is totally different. With a good heart, we might seek our own happiness but we principally seek the happiness of so many people in our country and in the world. We wish to fulfill their wishes for happiness. That is so good, so important. The result is a huge difference, starting from childhood, if this can be the main education.
With a good heart, we can become the president or a minister and be a source of happiness for everybody, for all the millions and millions and millions of people in our country. You have to know that.
I explained this to the school teachers of Chailsa. There was maybe a third thing, I don’t remember. I don’t remember whether there were two or three things I explained. Of course, there is practicing meditation, practicing the Dharma. That is the best. That is the best way to practice a good heart. Serving others is the best meditation, the best Dharma practice. You have to know that. It’s not that [we sit still] for many hours and then do nothing to help others. We spend our whole life like that but don’t do anything for others. Life would become very strange, very sad, [if that were the case]. There would be no good result to show at the end.
Sorry, I should go back. In the world many people do that. They meditate and meditate but the mind never changes, the personality never changes, the egoistic, selfish mind never changes. There is no happiness or peace in life. As I’m talking here about teaching children, the idea I wanted to bring to the school teachers is that having a good heart is the main education. And that what I want to say to you, especially if you have children. Of course, this is for you yourself but if you have children you should know that is the main education, the most important education.
When somebody has a good heart, they are liked by everybody in the world. It is like the sun shining. The person becomes like that. And of course, if the parents practice a good heart, that becomes a good example for the children; they become an example for the children to copy. “My parents do like that,” then the children naturally follow, also developing a good heart. So, that very much depends on the parents.
SUBDUING OUR MIND, THERE ARE NO MORE ENEMIES
Unless you know that the most important education is developing a good heart, when you have children you bring them up to suffer. Most people make children for their own happiness, to bring themselves happiness, to make this real I happy—this real I that is not there at all. That is the reason for them having children. They get married, have children, and the children have children, all for this real I, to make it happy. But it is not there at all. That is really laughable! It is not even there.
[If we think like that,] we keep our whole life so busy, running around the city. If we find a little bit of time off work, we jog or run around the city to be healthy, to have long life. We keep so busy for this I, to achieve happiness for this real I which is not there. It is very funny, but people in the world never check. They believe the real I is there, and they keep their life so busy, day and night, for this real I. But it is not there! Do you understand?
People are so worried about cancer and this and that. They are terrified this real I will get cancer, but the real I is not there. There is an I that exists, the I that experiences the oceans of suffering of samsara. We can stop that [suffering] and achieve not only nirvana but also enlightenment. There is the merely labeled I, but people don’t know that. There is an I that exists but there is no real I, but they don’t know that. They unbelievably don’t know that truth, the truth about their life, that there is an I that exists—the merely-labeled I—and there is the false I, the I that doesn’t exist.
Because of that, people keep their life so busy, day and night, so busy, all to get happiness for this real I, this I that is not there, that we cannot find anywhere in the world. The numberless buddhas see that this real I is not there, that it does not exist. That’s funny.
As the great bodhisattva Shantideva said, those who are bothering us, harming us, who are angry at us are numberless, like the sky. If we wanted to kill them all, it would never end. But if we just destroy our own anger, we destroy every enemy. When we are free from anger, nobody bothers us, we have no enemies.
Once we have destroyed this one thing, our anger, it is like having destroyed all our enemies. It is like nobody becomes our enemy. Once we have destroyed our inner enemy, our anger, there is no enemy outside. In A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life Shantideva said,
[5:13] Where would I possibly find enough leather
With which to cover the surface of the earth?
Yet (wearing) leather just on the soles of my shoes
Is equivalent to covering the earth with it.
If we want to [travel over] the whole earth, in order to not get thorns we would need to cover the whole earth with leather. There would not be enough leather to cover the whole earth. But if we were to just wear leather shoes, we could walk anywhere without getting stuck with thorns, so it’s like the whole earth is covered by leather. The meaning is if we destroy our anger, it’s like having destroyed all the numberless enemies.
We have a car in Aptos, America. I put a sticker on the back of the car saying, “No anger, no enemy.” Many people look at it. Some people look at all the messages on the car. Some write them down. Once at the airport, an old lady was copying everything, all the messages on the car. Many people looked and read them and others started copying them. One side of the car has the saying by His Holiness: “My religion is kindness.” Then on the other side there is: “Cherishing others is source of happiness."
On the front there are many mantras. Especially when you drive at night, so many insects die, so to benefit them there is Namgyälma protection in the car. Namgyälma is unbelievably powerful. I brought the text to explain to you but now I’ve run out of time. Although so many insects die, because the car has becomes holy by having the protection, when they die under the wheels, it purifies their negative karma and they do not get reborn in the lower realms. Things like that.
On the front of the car I have a very important meditation, teaching: “Less desire means more happiness.” Do you remember?
Ven. Roger: “Letting go of desire means gaining real happiness and satisfaction, no problems.”
Rinpoche: Can you say it again, slowly?
Ven. Roger: “Letting go of desire means gaining real happiness and satisfaction, no problems.”
Rinpoche: So, that is on the front of the car. Most people don’t know that. It is a very important education, showing how you can free your life from problems, how to do that. How to achieve satisfaction in your life. So, that education is here.
There is one more quotation but it is difficult to remember, I can’t remember it. [Tibetan] So anyway, the essence is this: Subduing your mind, all those harmful animals are subdued. It mentions tigers and lions, sengge. It says lions. There is the snow lion and the mud lion, the African mud lion, living in the mud, as well as langchen, elephant, drel, mule, snakes, and all the enemies. When we change our mind, it’s like all those harmful animals are changed; they become harmless. Because our mind is changed, controlled, none of those harmful animals can harm us; it’s like they are chained. By subduing our mind, all those harmful animals who would normally harm us are subdued; they are so peaceful.
For example, King Majeta who always competed with the Buddha, who always wanted to harm the Buddha, sent a crazy elephant to harm him. But when the crazy elephant came in front of the Buddha, it did a prostration like this, like a dog, like this. [Rinpoche demonstrates] It was unable to harm the Buddha. Even though it was a crazy elephant, because of the Buddha’ subdued mind, bodhicitta, it could not harm him. It was subdued like that. Once our own mind is subdued, all those harmful animals are subdued, Here it was because of the Buddha’s bodhicitta, letting go of the I and cherishing numberless sentient beings. So, the crazy elephant went in front of the Buddha and humbly prostrated like this.
The Tibetan bodhisattva, Thogme Zangpo, was an ordained person who wrote the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva. He had two animals, a cat and a wolf. Because the bodhisattva was a great practitioner of the ultimate good heart of bodhicitta, because of that blessing, the cat and the wolf both became vegetarian. They did not harm mice and other animals. Just because of the power of his bodhicitta, the minds of the two animals were naturally subdued and they no longer harmed other sentient beings.
I lived for eight years in India, in Buxa, the place where Mahatma Gandhi-ji and Prime Minister Nehru were imprisoned and where so many people were killed in that time. While I was there, I learned philosophy, studying like a child. The abbot of the Sera Je and Sera Mey monastery, Losang Wangchug, was very learned, very famous in Sera, Ganden and Drepung. Each college had many thousands of monks. Sera had 7,700 monks and there were many well-known monasteries, famous for Buddhist philosophy, for sutra and tantra. Losang Wangchug had a cat, but when a mouse ran around the room, the cat just stayed there; it never ran out to kill the mouse. The cat just naturally became harmonious because of his blessing, his bodhicitta. You have to know that.
In Italy, even Communists appreciated Saint Francis. Everybody likes him, harmonious and not harmonious. There was a wolf in the forest that had harmed many people. When he heard, Saint Francis said he wanted to go into the forest to tell the wolf not to harm others, but his disciples told him not to go because the wolf would harm him. But Saint Francis went into the forest, and when the wolf met him, it was like when a dog sees its master. The dog became humble, like the elephant I explained. Instead of harming Saint Francis, the wolf became so humble, maybe licking his legs or something, harmless, only delighted. Then, Saint Francis told the wolf he would beg food in the city and bring it to the wolf. He did that and the wolf stopped harming others.
Saint Francis’ external appearance was very different to the other priests, who wore very good, pure white robes. I saw his dress in the monastery. When you drive from Spain to Italy, on the way there is a big monastery in front of a mountain, like a Tibetan monastery. There were many clothes inside. I don’t know the name, but the robe was hanging, old and black, with many patches, not like the robes of the other priests, but like a Tibetan yogi, a pure practitioner. A Tibetan yogi wears robes like that, full of patches. To renounce the pleasure of this life, he had a rough belt made of I don’t know what, grass—not grass—I don’t know what, a belt with two ropes to tie around inside against the skin to renounce pleasure of this life or something. That was shown there. Then, because of his bodhicitta, even the elements could not disturb him.
Our main center in Italy, Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, is about half an hour or something, from Assisi, where his holy body is kept, but you cannot see the body. There are some thorn bushes around. Lama Yeshe sat down to do meditation in front of where his body is kept. There was his disciple, a nun, who had three hundred disciples. Her body, which was very tall, was kept in glass and still looked very good.
When Saint Francis was there, his disciples, who had been meditating near the water complained to him they could not meditate because of the noise of the water, so Saint Francis went to the water and said, “Sister, please stop because my disciples cannot meditate.” Then, the water stopped and has been stopped since then. Far up in the mountain there is a kind of mark where the water came to. Up to now the water has never come back.
There are many stories of how the big rivers stop when bodhisattvas travel, and after they have crossed the water starts again. Keutsang Rinpoche in a past life was called Keutsang Jamyang Monlam. The incarnation lives in Dharamsala. One of his past lives was Keutsang Jamyang Monlam, a bodhisattva at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Tsang in Tibet. Once, flood water was coming from the other side going toward the monastery, but Keutsang Jamyang Monlam wrote on a stone, “If it is true I have bodhicitta then the water should turn back.” He then put the stone facing the water and the floodwater went back. That is common to bodhisattvas. They are able to stop the danger of the elements due to the power of bodhicitta, the good heart.
Saint Francis was like that, like many bodhisattvas, so this shows he had bodhicitta. He recited “God, God,” very humbly while going on the road. His disciples went with him. A priest kind of spit on him from above. In Sicily there is a place where there are many chairs. There is a picture of Jesus Christ there that spoke to Saint Francis. Similarly, we have many Buddha statues in Tibet, Nepal and India like that. For example, in Bodhgaya there is a Tara statue outside the stupa, but not only that one. People think it is only the Tara [that spoke], but during Lama Atisha’ time many statues outside the stupa spoke. That is what Kyabje Khunu Lama Rinpoche said, not only Tara but many statues in Tibet and Solu Khumbu. I think because of the purity of his mind, bodhicitta, the ultimate good heart, all the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas are of course very happy, very close. As I mentioned before, the Buddha manifests even as demons to help. If by manifesting as a demon the Buddha can help sentient beings, in the form of a picture, this picture spoke to bodhisattva Saint Francis. I think it is like that.
I’ll stop here. I didn’t get to go over the subject. I’m so sorry.
DEDICATIONS
[Rinpoche and students offer mandala]
“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and all the three-time merits collected by the numberless sentient beings and numberless buddhas, may bodhicitta, the ultimate good heart, the source of all happiness up to enlightenment for me and every sentient being, be generated in me and in the minds and in the hearts of all sentient beings, and those who have developed it…”
Maybe I’ll mention this. I’ve elaborated on this once today. We pray that bodhicitta is generated in the hearts of the numberless hell beings so that they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. The hell beings are the ones with the heaviest suffering and they are numberless. I heard some people left the gompa—not Kopan but the gompa—when John went through that. I don’t know how long they left the gompa for, how many hours. The advantage is that when you meditate, when you go through the sufferings of the hell realm, you know what it means to be a hell being, with the most unimaginable suffering that we humans could not stand for even a second. There are the sufferings of the major hot and cold hells, the six neighboring hells and the suffering of the ordinary hell.
The six neighboring hells I’m talking about, it’s like being in the very center of fire, being born there and suffering, like a quagmire, a septic tank, full of unbelievably dirty things, or like the whole ground is covered in swords that cut you wherever you put your foot down, but then your leg revives as you raise it and then it cuts you again. And the trees become swords that go through the body. [That hell is] called Shalmali.
Then there is the hell called Churabme, which is liquid but oneness with fire. My idea is that it is like lava that flows from a volcano, like in Hawaii and many places. I don’t know if the scientists mention the depth it comes from, but it is so deep and it shoots up. It’s much hotter than human fire. All the rocks it touches are melted. I went to Hawaii to see the lava, so I think Churabme might be like that, liquid lava. It looks like liquid but it’s oneness with fire. Of the six neighboring hells, the last one is Churabme. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s disciple, the arhat Maudgalyayana went to the lower realms with his psychic powers. I want to bring this one up to you, about Churabme, the lava, the last and sixth of the neighboring hells. This is what I think it is.
By following the meditation, we can develop compassion and actualize bodhicitta. Then, by actualizing bodhicitta as the motivation, we can practice the six perfections and complete the path. Then, we achieve enlightenment for sentient beings. And then we are able to liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment. So, now you understand how it is unbelievably important to know the suffering of other sentient beings. Even though we are not suffering like that right now, that is what we have already suffered numberless times before, and if we don’t practice Dharma in this life, if we don’t take care of our mind well, we will suffer like that again numberless times in the future. So, by learning about the unimaginable suffering of the sentient beings of the lower realms, we can develop compassion. It becomes so important to learn about it, to know about it.
I want to tell you, in the West people are so curious. People can spend years learning about one species of harmful spider, searching for it in the forest. That is one example, but there are so many different animals that people study for years. They are so curious to learn something new. From that side you should not think, “I don’t want to learn, I don’t want to hear.” That is ridiculous! In the West, where people are so curious, always wanting to learn something new, you should see that it is so important to develop compassion for sentient beings, even for devas. Then, we are inspired to pray for them. We have to help, we have to pray, we have to practice Dharma, we have to actualize the path. If we become free from the oceans of samsaric sufferings, if we attain renunciation, bodhicitta and the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, we can help liberate other sentient beings. Because we see their suffering, we are qualified and we can liberate other sentient beings from those sufferings.
Otherwise, liberating others from suffering never happens. We just stay in our kind of cave, I don’t know how to say it? [Student: Cocoon.] We never move, we stay like this, [Rinpoche covers his head] so we don’t see other sentient beings who have unbelievable suffering. Now I should finish. We have to help, we should pray. We have this most precious human life we have received about only once, just this life, so we must make it most beneficial for the numberless sentient beings. At least, we should pray and dedicate our merits like we are doing now to help them.
Before you came here, you had no idea at all, only thinking of yourself, but now, after all that, you can see the advantage. You yourself are able to help numberless sentient beings. There is no greater happiness than this. Then, you can bring them to enlightenment by yourself. Can you see how that is most important to do in your life? Can you understand now?
“May bodhicitta be generated in the hearts of the hell beings and may they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. May bodhicitta be generated in the hearts of all the hungry ghosts. May every single hungry ghost achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. May bodhicitta be generated in the hearts of all the animals.” As I said yesterday, there are numberless universes with numberless animals. “May bodhicitta be generated in their hearts. May bodhicitta be generated in the hearts of all the human beings and may they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. May bodhicitta be generated in hearts of all the suras, asuras and intermediate state beings—they are numberless—and may they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.
“In particular, may the sentient beings in this world, in particular in Nepal, in particular the FPMT centers in Nepal, the people who come to the centers and monks and nuns here, all the staff of the centers, may they generate bodhicitta and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. May all the students in the world, including those who rely upon me, who I have promised to pray for, those whose names were given to me, may they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.” I say “mine,” but you can think yours. “All the sentient beings, insects, human beings, all the sentient beings who I see, all the sentient beings who see me, may bodhicitta be generated in their hearts and may they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. Then, anybody who hears my name, who hears my voice, who remember me, who touches me, who even seeing photos of me, may they all be able to generate bodhicitta and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.” Sorry, I don’t have the blessing but just my hand touching anybody, it includes all that in prayer. Those whose head or hands I touch are included in the prayer. “May they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.
“Due to all the three-time merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by numberless sentient beings and numberless buddhas, the most important thing in the world, may the Buddhadharma last a long time for the happiness of sentient beings. May His Holiness Chenrezig abide stably until our samsara ends. May His Holiness have a stable life and all his holy wishes succeed immediately.
[Long-life prayers for His Holiness the Dalai Lama]
“Due to all the three-time merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by numberless sentient beings and numberless buddhas, may we be guided by Lama Tsongkhapa, our Mahayana virtuous friend, in all lifetimes.”
This prayer is not only for you and your family but for all beings, those who are living and those who are dead. It’s so important to pray for them. You don’t want them to suffer without end in the six realms of samsara all the time, do you? No, you don’t want them to suffer, so you must pray. Coming here you have come to know this, so now you must help them. You have met Dharma and you have a great opportunity to help other sentient beings, so this prayer is also for them.
You also have to think, “May no being ever be separated from the pure path admired by all the buddhas. May they be able to actualize Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings in this very life—not only to study but to actualize—and be liberated and achieve enlightenment.”
Then you must 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 in the future be stopped immediately, and may the disease and famines happening now in the world be stopped immediately. May all fires stop, especially those recently in California that have burned for so many months, killing so many people.”
They don’t count the big animals, like the deer, or the numberless insects burned by fire. They never talk about the animals. In America the danger of fire happens quite often. It’s connected with the karma of the president as well, not only of the population. It depends on the good luck of the president. [With good karma, or luck, there are] less problems in the country; with not so much good luck there are more problems in the country.
“May the dangers of fire, water, air, earth, tsunamis, landslides, earthquakes—all the many problems—be stopped immediately. And may perfect peace and happiness prevail in everyone’s heart by generating loving kindness, compassion and bodhicitta in everyone’s heart. May the Buddhadharma, where sentient beings receive peace and happiness from, last a long time, and may they meet Buddhadharma and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. May I be able to cherish every sentient being more than the sky filled with wish-granting jewels.
“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, any sentient being who sees me, who hears me, remembers me, touches me or sees photos of me, just by that may they be free from all the sufferings and achieve all the happiness including enlightenment.”
The last dedication: “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, which exist in mere name, may the I, who exists in mere name, achieve buddhahood, which exists in mere name, and lead all the sentient beings, who exist in mere name, to that buddhahood, which exists in mere name, by myself alone, who exists in mere name.”
Thank you very much.
[Long-life prayer for Lama Zopa Rinpoche]
[Rinpoche stops to respond to a student’s question just as he is about to get off the throne]
As he asked a question, I thought to say some things. For example, Lama Tsongkhapa was invited by the [Ming] dynasty6 in China to receive an initiation or give teachings, but he didn’t go. He sent another lama, Jamchen Choje, who founded Sera Monastery.7 He went and gave teachings. Even though the Ming dynasty invited Lama Tsongkhapa, he didn’t go. [The student] asked a question about sometime working for others, so I’m giving two examples. Even though Lama Tsongkhapa was invited by the Ming dynasty in China, he didn’t go; he sent another lama. I don’t know, but maybe if he had gone, the great benefit to the teachings of the Buddha in Tibet wouldn’t have happened. That’s one thing. You have to know what is right. That is very profound. You have to know which has more advantage, right or wrong.
Then another example. While Lama Tsongkhapa was giving so many teachings on sutra and tantra to many disciples, Buddha Manjushri advised him to go to a solitary place to meditate, so he and eight disciples went. They renounced life, going with nothing, carrying only what monks need. He stopped the teachings and went to a solitary place to meditate with eight disciples. Manjushri advised Lama Tsongkhapa to do that, while he was giving teachings to many disciples. So like this, you have to know what will be more beneficial in the future—giving teachings or going to a solitary place to meditate. Because Manjushri advised this, he suddenly stopped giving teachings and went to the mountains to a solitary place, in order to meditate. So you have to know those very important things. What you asked is not like that, but your question includes very high things like that. It is true not just for normal life but even for very high beings such as Lama Tsongkhapa. You have to judge what is most important by knowing that. Thank you very much.
Notes
4 See FPMT Essential Prayer Book, p. 79, which can be found in the FPMT Catalogue. [Return to text]
5 Sarganatha Secondary School is located in Chailsa, a remote village in Solu Khumbu district, Nepal. [Return to text]
6 Rinpoche said Ching dynasty, however, he is referring to the Ming dynasty, which ruled China from 1368 to 1644. [Return to text]
7 Jamchen Choje Shākya Yeshe (1354–1435), a close disciple of Lama Tsongkhapa, first travelled to China in 1414. Read his biography in The Treasury of Lives. [Return to text]
