THE REAL KOPAN IS DEFECTIVE VIEW
[Rinpoche and students recite Prayers Before Teachings]
I just want to repeat again to make clear so that everyone is clear. Kar ma, “a star,” and what? [Ven. Karin: A star, a defective view.] OK. I just want to make this clear. For example, relating to the I, we create the I. The mind focuses on the valid base, the aggregates, and then merely imputes the I. The I exists, but how it exists is most unbelievably subtle. What it is—it only exists in mere name. So, the meaning of the star is emptiness. Not only the I but all phenomena are like that. That is the meditation.
Then, in the second moment after the I appears, it appears due to all the negative imprints left by ignorance from past lives, projected, decorated with true existence. This hallucination appears as real. It appears, and then our ignorance, our mind, holds it as completely true. That is ignorance. This hallucination doesn’t exist; there is no such thing existing, but we believe that it is real. That is the root of the oceans of sentient beings’ suffering, of every problem, including depression and abuse, every single problem of the hell beings, the hungry ghosts, the animals, the suras and asuras, the human beings.
In the second moment, it appears real. That is the “defective view” of the verse. The first example is the star and the second is defective view—meaning the I that appears real. Then, all other things are “defective view”—everything appears as real: the real, I, action, object, hell and enlightenment, samsara and nirvana, everything! Forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangible objects, all the senses, everything! If we look at it here, it is already mentioned.
This doesn’t only appear real to us here at Kopan. In the West, this defective view has covered our whole view of the world from beginningless rebirths. We have to think about that. This hallucination covers our view of the whole world, like the defective view, the second example. This meditation has a very deep meaning! Just calming the mind is not [that effective] but this is really deep. This allows us to see the truth of the I, understanding what the I is, what outside phenomena are.
I just want to mention that, to relate everything to defective view. That term “defective view” covers everything, because everything appears real. I gave the example of the real I that appears. I want to make sure your meditation is more than just mindfulness, that you are not satisfied with just temporarily calming the mind.
Of course, if we are angry and we visualize ourselves as a rock or a tree, like the big tree in front of the Kopan gompa, the anger will pass. It will be pacified. It is mentioned in A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life to visualize we are a rock for a few seconds. But if we want ourselves and others to be free from the oceans of suffering, we have to know the root where the suffering comes from.
We have to go deep. Just spending our whole life doing a breathing meditation is not enough.
OK. So, we continue the prayer. [Rinpoche slowly chants the verse]
Kar ma rab rib mar me dang
Gyu ma zil pa chhu bur dang
Mi lam log dang trin ta bur
Dü jä chhö nam di tar ta[A star, a defective view, a butter lamp flame,
An illusion, a dew drop, a water bubble,
A dream, lightning, a cloud:
See all causative phenomena like this.]8
Think, “Due to ignorance, I’ve been experiencing the oceans of suffering of the six realms numberless times from beginningless rebirths. And if I don’t meet and practice the Dharma, if I don’t actualize the emptiness, I will have to suffer again in the oceans of the six-realm suffering numberless times, without end. But it is not only me. There are numberless sentient beings—numberless hell beings, numberless hungry ghosts, numberless animals, numberless human beings, numberless suras and asuras—who just like me are suffering and who are just as important. I might think I am the most important, the most precious, but we are all exactly the same. Everyone, every ant, every mosquito, thinks the same as I do. Even the tiniest one I can’t see with the eyes, only with a microscope, is exactly like me. They have been suffering from beginningless rebirths in the oceans of suffering.”
They don’t have karma to meet the Dharma. There are numberless universes with numberless ants, mosquitoes, tiny bugs, and they don’t have the karma to come to Kopan Monastery and do the course, to hear lamrim teachings, to hear the teachings on emptiness or the three principal aspects of the path. I’m just relating it to your life. They have to suffer again and again without end in the suffering of samsara.
There are oceans of numberless sentient beings in each realm. Can you imagine? Think, “I must liberate them from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment. Therefore, the solution is listening and meditating, leaving a positive imprint on the mind in preparation to realize emptiness. I must first be free from samsara myself and achieve enlightenment in order to enlighten other sentient beings. For that reason, I’m going to recite the Heart Sutra and do the meditation.”
You should do that all the time, whenever you meditate on the Heart Sutra. It is very important! Later, we should organize a Heart Sutra commentary and a meditation retreat, so it is important. Or when you attend other lamas’ teachings, not necessarily at Kopan, it is so important.
Before you die, you should understand how to meditate on the meaning of the Heart Sutra. Then, in your next life, it’s much easier to have a direct realization of emptiness. Then, your life gets better like the sun and moon benefiting the world. Then, you go to enlightenment.
So, please do this. Understand how important it is to meditate on even one verse of the Heart Sutra! Or those verses that I mentioned. Even just meditating on the meaning of AH, as I told you, becomes a very important meditation. It eliminates the object of ignorance by seeing how the truly existent object does not actually exist. Ignorance is harmed by realizing the object is empty.
Before that, there is the praise to Prajnaparamita. “It is inexpressible…” Do you have it? [Ven. Karin: No.] You can go to buy it in the supermarket or in the department store. You can go there to buy emptiness! [Ven. Robina: You can get it on Google.] You can ask Google what emptiness is. That is a very good question. Probably, they think it’s nihilism, maybe not.
[Rinpoche and students recite the Heart Sutra and the prayer for dispelling interferers]
Everybody read and concentrate. Read it in the book or if you have it there [on the screen]—The Foundation of All Good Qualities.
[Rinpoche and students recite The Foundation of All Good Qualities, mandala offering, refuge and bodhicitta]
FREEING ALL TRANSMIGRATORY BEINGS
I mentioned the motivation for the Heart Sutra and it is similar here. I didn’t bring the text. I don’t remember it by heart but there is one verse I forgot from Kyabje Khunu Lama Rinpoche, who I received many teachings from: Lama Atisha’s Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Praise to Bodhicitta composed by Kyabje Khunu Lama Rinpoche himself a great, great bodhisattva, a holy being. [Praise to Bodhicitta9 says,]
[186] The precious supreme thought alone has the power
To be the ground for the continual production of benefit and happiness
For wandering beings, pervading space, who have been one’s mother,
And for relieving the suffering of each of them.
Wandering beings, dro wa, can be translated as “transmigratory beings,” meaning reincarnating in samsara always under the control of karma and delusions, without freedom, always suffering.
When we recite refuge and bodhicitta, dro wa in Tibetan means “going,” “transmigrating,” so “transmigratory being,” means a being completely under the control of karma and delusions, having transmigrated in the six realms without beginning and again having to transmigrate in the future without end, due to not knowing the Dharma, not actualizing the Dharma.
Transmigratory beings are numberless, “pervading space.” Equaling the sky, meaning limitless like the sky. They are the basis for all the happiness, and bodhicitta is that which can eliminate the suffering of all sentient beings. That is very important. We should be able to bring all the happiness to the numberless sentient beings: the happiness of this life, the happiness of future lives, liberation from samsara and peerless happiness, the great liberation of enlightenment, which is the total cessation of obscurations and the completion of all realizations. To cause all this to the numberless hell beings, the numberless hungry ghosts, the numberless animals, the numberless human beings—there are numberless universes, so there are numberless human beings, not only in this world—the numberless sura beings, the numberless asura beings and the numberless intermediate state beings. If we generate bodhicitta, we can cause all the happiness up to enlightenment for every sentient being! For every sentient being! If we can actualize bodhicitta, we can do that not only for ourselves, but we can also liberate every sentient being from the oceans of suffering.
With the “power of the sublime precious thought,” bodhicitta, that is what we can do. We can offer our life to the numberless sentient beings. That is what we can do, whether our body is tall like this or small. With bodhicitta, that is what we can do for the numberless sentient beings. You must know that. Write that down! Otherwise, our life has so much depression. “Oh, oh, oh, my happiness. My happiness,” “When can I be happy? When can I be happy? When can I be happy?” So sad, “When can I be happy? When can I be happy? When can I be happy?” Then, not achieving happiness, there is dissatisfaction. Even if we get some happiness, there is dissatisfaction.
Can you imagine being able to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of suffering? We should know what we can do. Our mind has the capacity to do that if we develop in that way. That is the happiness of life! That is the greatest happiness we can achieve in life. We should think of happiness in that way! It is unbelievable. Our mind is totally happy wherever we are. If we practice bodhicitta in the city or outside, on a mountain or in the ocean, wherever we are, we are so happy.
We need to dedicate our life for others, to live our life for others. That is what we need to learn. That is how we should dedicate our life; that is how we should live our life if we want happiness and don’t want suffering.
The way to develop our mind is to study the lamrim, by listening, reflecting and meditating on the lamrim. The lamrim is not a small thing, not just a small subject. It’s not like that. Then, we are able to develop bodhicitta, and then we can accomplish the happiness of all sentient beings.
Therefore, the purpose of our life is to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings: every hell being, every hungry ghost, every animal, every human being, every sura, every asura, every intermediate state being, to free them from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to peerless happiness, to full enlightenment. What I was going to say is that even when we do one prostration, we should first think of bodhicitta. Usually, every Buddhist practice—the preparation, the actual body and the completion—has that. You must know that.
Every practice has the preparation, the actual body and the completion. “Preparation” means the motivation, making sure our mind is always in the Dharma. Our mind has not become the Dharma yet. When it becomes the Dharma, everything becomes a cause of happiness. Every action of body, speech and mind becomes a cause of happiness. Not only that, with the preparation, our motivation becomes bodhicitta, which involves [compassion for] every being, not just for those we like or love but not those we don’t like or that we hate. It’s love for all sentient beings, loving kindness, not just love for those we like, which is conditional; it’s attachment. It’s the same for everyone: those who harm, those who help, those who praise, those who criticize. It doesn’t matter.
The motivation of bodhicitta means being involved in all sentient beings. Bodhicitta means involving every sentient being; the numberless hell beings, the numberless hungry ghosts, the numberless animals—those in the ocean, the large ones eating the small ones, those living in the deep ocean where there is no sunlight, where it’s so dark—the numberless human beings, the numberless suras and asuras. Bodhicitta means freeing everyone from the oceans of samsaric sufferings, not just from diarrhea, not just from a headache! Freeing them from every suffering and bringing them to enlightenment. Bodhicitta means we are able to do that. A buddha doesn’t have slightest mistake, so when we are able to achieve enlightenment, it is unbelievable. So, every prostration we do is for every sentient being.
Bodhicitta covers every sentient being. It covers every ant, every insect we see on the road here. We find ants in our bed, so we are doing prostrations for those ants. Not one ant is left out; not one snake is left out; not one mouse or spider—the animals most people hate—is left out.
RINPOCHE’S MOUSE KARMA
During the Vajrayogini retreat in France, when a lady, I think it was Vicky Chen, was in her retreat room, a rat or a mouse came out so many times and disturbed her. She almost couldn’t do the retreat, she told the center. I don’t know the name of the person who was in charge, but although they did something, the rat or mouse was still there. When she told me, I explained that I have karma with mice. I said that when I stayed in the Sangha house in Chenrezig Institute in Australia, after one or two days a mouse came. It came because of the karma I have with mice. It didn’t disturb me but it came out. When I left, His Holiness Sakya Trizin’s secretary, a monk, stayed there, and there was no mouse. That is my karma, my mouse karma. Because it is my karma to have a mouse, the mouse is there.
If we killed a mouse who was bothering us, then we would have to kill numberless sentient beings who bother us. There would be no end to them. I told her that.
Once, when I was doing a retreat, a small mouse came out in the night. This mouse was checking me to see whether it would harm me or not. It was checking my face, similar to what dogs sometimes do. I didn’t bother it, so it went around. That is nothing. They also have to check whether the person is harmful or not. Sorry, my wandering talk.
In Kopan, in the old times, in my room in the old gompa, Lama Yeshe knew there was a mouse, although he didn’t see one. He told the cook, who has now died, called Chöphel. We were the very first class studying dura in the monastery, and he was the leader of my class. He came with a stick, which he put under the bed as Lama advised. It seems it had made a nest under my spring bed. Then, the mouse came out and went out the door. I followed it to see where it went. The mouse jumped down from upstairs one story or maybe more, down into the field.
Then, what happened, there was a zen, the most precious thing in my room. This is called a zen. [Rinpoche points to his upper robe] This one was a very, very thin one. It was the only precious thing besides an extremely high-quality statue of Lama Tsongkhapa. The zen was new and very thin, given by Mommy Max, who was taking care of Lama and me. She was a nun, a teacher in Lincoln School in Kathmandu. She was the first one after Zina Rachevsky, who was called Princess Rachevsky because her father was a king in Russia, like the kings in India. After Russia, she went to France but she lived everywhere. She was the first student. When we do courses here, I speak English, and there are now a hundred and sixty or seventy centers. All that is because of her, the Russian lady. Later she became a nun. We requested His Holiness but His Holiness asked a very learned high lama who helped His Holiness, Lati Rinpoche, so she ordained with him. She was the first student and then the second was Mommy Max, who took care of us. She was a nun. She’s still alive, in Santa Cruz or Santa Fe. I forgot. She’s been there for many years.
Because Lama wanted to go to Japan and she thought it would be very hot, she bought this zen. It was well folded four times and placed in the cupboard. Then, the mouse we kicked out with the stick came back and ate the only precious thing we had, the very thin zen, folded four times. It made a hole through the middle of it, so when I brought the zen out and spread it out, there was a hole here, here, here and here. [Rinpoche points to demonstrate] Mice can do like that.
Maybe you don’t have the experience. But there are many amazing stories about animals. They have politics; they know how to harm without having to go to school. Human beings go to university to learn politics, but animals have politics to know how to harm others. The only precious thing was this very thin zen and the mouse knew how to harm. Having a human body and knowing how to harm is nothing special. Even animals can harm; even ants can do that; even insects can do that. So, that is not the meaning of a human life.
There are many stories. What was I saying? I’m getting lost in my talk.
MAKING CHARITY TO ANIMALS
[Even if we only do] one prostration with a bodhicitta motivation, we do that one prostration for every sentient being, to be free them from suffering and to achieve enlightenment. We do it for the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, suras and asuras, and no one is left out. When we generate bodhicitta, nobody, not one person, not one insect, is left out. We practice like that in Tibetan Buddhism. It came from India. You have to know these things. At the beginning, with the preparation of a bodhicitta motivation, when we recite OM MANI PADME HUM, it benefits every one of the numberless hell beings, the numberless hungry ghosts, the numberless animals, every insect, every ant. I saw a nest with thousands and thousands of ants, just one nest.
Sorry, I have to say this. When I went behind the house in Washington, I saw two nests, I have a text on how to make charity to ants, with the prayers to recite, so I made tsampa with flour and water and blessed it, to not just fill up their stomachs but also to purify their minds of the negative karma collected from beginningless rebirths, so they don’t always get born in lower realms but can take a rebirth in higher realms and meet the Dharma. Somebody who did one hundred nyung näs10 in Lawudo cave—he was a lay person but he became monk—when he gave me a human thigh bone to do chöd11 practice, he also gave me that text.
I made charity with the two ant nests, sprinkling the blessed tsampa mixed with butter and water. One of the two monks there makes charity to the ants every week. When I was last there, there were a hundred and seventy ant nests around the house, outside. He makes charity by sprinkling the blessed water, mixed with tsampa and maybe some sugar, on the nests. Then, I think the next day or on the third day, it has disappeared completely. Next week there were less nests, maybe a hundred and sixty. We should take whatever opportunity we have to make charity to sentient beings, such as making charity to ants. That is one way to practice charity.
In the past, the monks bought fishing worms every week from a supermarket and put them in buckets and boxes that held about three hundred. They then carried them around the Medicine Buddha statue we built from volcano stone that we received from students.
Now, we have an Amitabha Buddha statue made from marble from Vietnam. We painted the eyes, making the artwork better, and built a beautiful throne, so it’s finished now. They planted flowers around it and they say mantras, so it makes a beautiful offering. When [insects and animals] are taken outside and carried around, it purifies them and helps bring them to enlightenment.
In the house, there are many relics and holy objects, and when I was there I tried to carry worms in the bucket around the holy objects. Sometimes, the shopkeeper in the supermarket got angry because we bought so many worms that he didn’t have enough to sell to people who were going fishing. Once, the person selling was happy that we were doing a lot every week to [alleviate] the unbelievable suffering that happens when the hooks [go into the fish].
ALLEVIATING THE DARKNESS OF IGNORANCE
Those who fish don’t understand this. It’s some sort of blockage, some ignorance. It’s skies of ignorance; their mind is totally dark like the sky without the sun or moon. They don’t know about the suffering; they have no idea. They are blocked. Like we use paper to wipe kaka, they use fish. They are going to suffer for eons and eons, being caught by human beings. There is no opportunity to explain this to them; they wouldn’t accept it. I don’t know when it is time for them to understand. There is no time, there is no karma for them to understand. When can they wake up? When can they have light in their mind instead of ignorance? When can they have illumination to understand the Dharma? For eons and eons, there is no light. There is no way for these people to develop compassion. It is so difficult.
That is why the world has so much suffering, so many problems. Because the mind is like this. There is no way to bring the light of Dharma to people like this. So, you must know that you are so fortunate to have met the Dharma this time; you are so unbelievably fortunate compared to most sentient beings. Your coming here and meeting the Dharma, you are most fortunate.
Knowing sentient beings’ suffering—not only some problems but the deeper sufferings of samsara—and generating the wish to free others from suffering is so good, so good. Knowing others’ suffering—the suffering of pain, [the suffering of change], pervasive compounding suffering—and wanting to liberate others from all that suffering—you are so fortunate to come to Kopan to hear lamrim teachings from Robina.
[Rinpoche asks Ven. Robina] How many years have you been going around the world teaching Dharma? Tea or teachings, it doesn’t matter?
Ven. Robina: Rinpoche told me to do it in 1987, thirty-two years ago.
Rinpoche: Going around the world like that. The busiest person going around the world giving teachings is Robina. You have to appreciate her; it’s not easy. Not easy at all. It is very kind, extremely kind. Now since I have briefly introduced her, where there is darkness, without the sun, mentally like that, she goes around to teach Dharma, to light up the world with Dharma wisdom! You understand? You have to appreciate that. It is unbelievably important to introduce people to the Dharma, to teach it.
“Teach” doesn’t mean like this. Teach refers to having conversations anywhere. Talking about compassion to anybody is teaching. It’s bringing the light of Dharma in their mind, alleviating the darkness of ignorance. The sky is dark, but we bring light into their mind, talking about the Dharma, talking about compassion to anybody. It’s so important. To talk about what you have learned, what you have meditated on, what you know, it is so important to make them understand.
I’m not going to talk about the unbelievable benefits of talking about the Dharma. Maybe I also don’t remember them! My bad memory.
What was I going to say?
TAKING PRECEPTS BRINGS GREAT BENEFIT TO THE WORLD
Many terrible things happen in the world, with the bad weather, with all the dangers of fire, water and air. This all comes from the mind. It all comes from the sentient beings who live on the Earth. What are these things normally called? [Ven. Ailsa: Natural disasters.] Natural disasters. They come from the mind. It is said in Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakosha,
[41] The various worlds came from karma.
The various worlds come from karma, from the mind. Karma is a mental factor. There are six principal consciousnesses and fifty-one mental factors. Among the mental factors are the five “omnipresent” ones, as it’s translated, that always abide with the principal consciousness. One is called “intention.” Like a magnet, when iron is pulled there. Does the magnet go to the iron or does it pull the iron? [Student: The magnet stays and pulls the iron.]
[Natural disasters] are not natural; they don’t happen from their own side. If there were no causes and conditions for them, they wouldn’t happen. Because it’s due to causes and conditions, the mind created them. If everybody practiced bodhicitta, if everybody practiced patience, if everybody practiced the sincere mind, the good heart, thinking of others first, that would purify the past heavy negative karmas. That would bring so much peace and happiness in the world; it would reduce the dangers of earth, water, fire and air. It would stop all the tsunamis. You have to know that.
You took eight Mahayana precepts today? [Ven. Robina: Yes.] That brings peace in the world, peace to the sentient beings. Do you understand? It helps reduce and stop all the dangers of droughts, scarcity of food, the dangers of fire, water, air, earth.
I don’t know whether you heard the story or not, whether the four harmonious brothers, thunpa pun zhi, were explained. [Ven. Robina: We haven’t discussed that.] Among the students here you have to make four harmonious brothers! I’m joking!
This happened once in India, when the rains came at the right time and there was not too much rain. It was what was needed to make the crops develop, so there was plenty of food and the economy developed. The king thought he did it; the ministers thought they did it, so one minister said they should go to see a sage in the forest. When they asked the sage who was responsible for the economic development of the country, he replied it was none of them; it was four harmonious brothers, four animals living in the forest. The elephant lived in the five precepts and spread them to the other elephants; the monkey lived in the five precepts and spread them to other animals; and the bird and rabbit did the same. Because of the four harmonious brothers the country developed economically.
There is a drawing of the four harmonious brothers. Actually, the bird was a manifestation of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, the elephant was Ananda, the monkey was Maudgalyayana and the rabbit was Shariputra.
If you have disharmony in the family or at work, it’s useful to have the picture at home in the office or the Dharma center. It helps make people harmonious and brings the practice of virtue. It has that benefit. If there is a lot of disharmony, that is a picture you should keep at home or in the office as well as the eight auspicious signs.
Today you took the eight Mahayana precepts—not only five but eight! With bodhicitta! Not just for yourself. That is unbelievably helpful. Besides [being the cause of] enlightenment, helping sentient beings achieve enlightenment, it helps the world now.
What was I going to say?
Oh, sorry. If we recite OM MANI PADME HUM once with bodhicitta, it brings skies of benefit to every sentient being. Can you imagine? It helps free everyone from samsara and achieve enlightenment. Then if we recite one mala! It’s the practice of Tibetan Buddhism but Mahayana Buddhism came from the Buddha; it came from the Nalanda pandits.
If we are not happy with this, with practicing this Buddhadharma, with practicing bodhicitta, where else are we going to find happiness? Goodbye! Now the time is finished.
The preparation is the motivation for the actual act. Bodhicitta is so important, so good, so fantastic. When we generate bodhicitta and go around a stupa or a holy object, each step benefits every sentient being. It benefits the numberless hell beings, the numberless hungry ghosts, the numberless animals, the numberless human beings, the numberless suras and asuras. Every step helps everyone be free from samsara and achieve enlightenment. However many steps we take, every step does that.
With bodhicitta, anything we do—eating, walking, sitting, sleeping, doing our job—is to free every sentient being from samsara and achieve enlightenment. Every bite of food or sip of drink we offer to the Buddha in our heart, to ourselves as the Buddha or to the Buddha on the throne, to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Whatever action we do with body, speech and mind, with bodhicitta the benefit is unbelievable. Lama khyen, lama khyen. “Lama khyen” means “Guru, understand.” I say it when there is something terrible or something unbelievably good.
After the preparation there is the actual body of the practice and then the completion, which is the dedication. I don’t know whether I told you about the dedication or not. Did I tell you the other day about dedication? No. Dedication is so important.
The seven-limb practice is the basic thing. The seven very important parts create enlightenment, so it’s the important practice. Now, the dedication.
I think I might have mentioned at one time that it is so rare, so difficult, for our actions to become Dharma because our mind is impure. From the outside, the action might look like a Dharma action, but because of the impure mind, because it is not free from attachment to this life, at least, even if not pure of self-cherishing thought, even though the action looks like a Dharma action, because of our mind it doesn’t become Dharma. It is difficult. We might try to do something Dharma but then anger arises so easily. Because the mind has been habituated to negativity from beginningless rebirths, when somebody looks at us in a negative way, looking down on us or speaking badly, we easily get angry. Then, even if we have collected any merit, it’s burned like rice in a fire which we cannot grow if we try to plant it. Our merits become like that.
We might have done many retreats in our life, thinking, “I have done this retreat, I have done that Vajrasattva retreat, I did this, I did that,” counting a whole mala of retreats like that, or we might have done many good things, “I helped this project, I did this project, I did this project,” but, in reality, because we haven’t practiced patience in our normal daily life, every time anger arises it completely burns our virtue; it destroys it. How much virtue we have left is difficult to say. We are therefore unable to develop the mind; it takes so long. We need to generate renunciation, bodhicitta, right view, the tantric path and the root of the path to enlightenment, realizing the guru as a buddha. We need to see it that way, but even if we do so many things in life, any anger we have destroys all our merits if we don’t practice patience. Therefore, even if we don’t believe in reincarnation and karma, practicing patience is so important to not destroy our merits, to protect them.
Completion means we have to dedicate the merits to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, to free sentient beings from suffering and bring them to enlightenment. We have to do that so the merits don’t get destroyed, so the merits increase. So they increase all the time. After we dedicate the merits to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings in that way, even though the big mountain is still there no matter how many trucks come to take the stones away, it still becomes weaker. The mountain is still there but it’s weaker. Like that, our merits don’t get destroyed by anger, but now, for virtue to not get weaker, we have to seal it with emptiness. That’s what we’re going to do now. We seal our virtue with emptiness by seeing the I, the three-time merits collected by us and the numberless buddhas, the sentient beings and enlightenment itself as empty. In that way, the merits can neither be destroyed nor become weaker. Even if anger arises later, the merits cannot be destroyed or become weaker.
As Kyabje Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche explained, the wisdom realizing emptiness is the only thing able to eliminate the root of samsara, ignorance, timug dendzin marigpa, to eliminate the root of all the suffering. Only the Prasangika view of emptiness eliminates that ignorance. Because of that, by sealing [the merits we have created] with emptiness, if anger arises later, they cannot be destroyed. You have to understand that; it’s so important. Otherwise, the merits don’t become the Dharma, the cause of happiness, and sooner or later they are destroyed by anger. So, the practice of patience is so important, so important, so important, so important. You have to know that.
I’ll stop here. I didn’t get to do the subject! Maybe the whole course will be like that. Thank you very much.
DEDICATIONS
[Rinpoche and students offer mandala]
“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by the numberless sentient beings and the numberless buddhas, may bodhicitta, which is the source of all the happiness and success, including enlightenment for me and all sentient beings, be generated in my heart and in the hearts of all sentient beings, in the hearts of all of us here and our family members, dead or living.” It is very important to pray for them. Because most of them haven’t met the Dharma, except those who practice a good heart, they will get reborn in the lower realms and suffer. “Without delay of even a second, may the bodhicitta that has been generated in the hearts of others increase.”
Dedicate to have the realization that samsara and nirvana have not even an atom of true existence. While it is like that, nothing exists from its own side, everything is totally empty. While it is empty, from virtue the result of happiness arises and from nonvirtue the result of suffering arises. Being empty doesn’t contradict karma. Like that, emptiness and dependent arising are unified; they do not contradict each other. So, pray for that realization, that all the students and all of us here, including our family members have that realization.
“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by the numberless sentient beings and the numberless buddhas, which are empty from their own side, may the I, who is empty from its own side, achieve enlightenment, which is empty from its own side, and lead the numberless sentient beings, who are empty from their own side, to that buddhahood, which is empty from its own side, by myself alone, who is also empty from its own side.”
We pray for the success of His Holiness’ wishes and for him to have a stable life until samsara ends.
[Prayer for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama]
Notes
8 See FPMT Essential Prayer Book, p. 79. [Return to text]
9 This text, The Jewel Lamp: A Praise to Bodhicitta, has been translated into English by Gareth Sparham as Vast as the Heavens Deep as the Sea (Wisdom Publications). [Return to text]
10 A two-day Thousand-arm Chenrezig retreat that involves fasting, prostrations and silence. [Return to text]
11 A tantric practice aimed at destroying self-grasping, where the practitioner visualizes dissecting and distributing the parts of the ordinary body to spirits and other beings as a feast offering. [Return to text]
