Bodhicitta Eliminates All Faults and Generates All Qualities

[Rinpoche and students recite Prayers Before Teachings]

It is very important to pay attention to not only become free from samsara but also to achieve the rest of the Mahayana path and cease even the subtle defilements and achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, to free numberless sentient beings from oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment.

That is our largest project, that is our biggest goal. There is no other bigger goal; that is the biggest meaning of life. By paying attention even once to that, we plant the seeds of the path to enlightenment in our mind. Whether we make that preparation in our mind is up to us. It is very important to pay attention. Doing the meditation for even a few minutes makes skies of difference in our life. Our life, which might become like garbage, becomes like gold, diamonds, like the sky. To pay attention is so important when we recite; it makes our life so worthwhile.

Having been born a human being, if we hear this once, if we are able to pay attention even once, it makes our life unbelievably worthwhile. We might have many degrees in science and this and that, but when we die, there is no benefit, nothing; there is no happiness after this life. There is nothing to benefit our life beyond this one. But this makes us actualize the path to enlightenment for ourselves and then to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsara and bring them to enlightenment. That is incredible! There is no biggest meaning of life than that, if you want to know.

[They recite The Foundation of All Good Qualities, the mandala offering and refuge and bodhicitta)

I want to do the lung of the Namgyalma mantra and the mantra from the Sutra of Great Liberation. It is incredible, but every time I forget to do it. At the end of the teachings, I rush to go back, so I think I missed many days. So, I’m going to do it first!

Yesterday, one word wasn’t clear, which I want to correct, but basically what I said was OK. In Praise to Bodhicitta, Kyabje Khunu Lama Rinpoche said,

[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 all the suffering of each of them.

I mentioned yesterday that transmigratory beings, who have all been our mother, are numberless. Here, kha khyab means numberless, pervading space or covering the whole sky. Dro wa means “transmigratory beings.” Yesterday, I had some doubts but this is the basis of bodhicitta. That is one way to understand that sentient beings are the basis of all happiness but here it is relating it to bodhicitta—the basis of generating happiness and peace forever, re rei dug ngäl kün sel la, and eliminating every sentient being’s suffering. There are numberless sentient beings in each realm. “That precious supreme thought alone has the power to be the ground for the continual production of benefit and happiness,” through the power of bodhicitta. That means if we have bodhicitta, that is the basis of all the temporary and ultimate happiness from this life up to enlightenment, always! Always, to every sentient being, to every sentient being.

Each time we generate the bodhicitta motivation, even if we don’t have it now, it becomes that. You have to know that.

That is what I said yesterday. Today I want to say [from Praise to Bodhicitta]:

[21] Supreme bodhicitta is the wish to remove
Every flaw from every living being and to
Bring about limitless good qualities in each of them.
This is outstanding even among the outstanding!

Bodhicitta eliminates the mistakes of every sentient being: every sentient being in the hell realm, every sentient being in the hungry ghost realm, every sentient being in the animal realm—there are numberless universes so it’s every single tiny ant, every single tiny bug we can only see a microscope—every human being in the human realm without leaving a single person out. Bodhicitta eliminates the mistakes of every sentient being and makes them generate infinite qualities. What makes them generate that is supreme bodhicitta. Khunu Rinpoche says it’s amazing, wonderful; it’s more wonderful than wonderful. This is what it says. That is enough.

I’ll do the next verse. [Praise to Bodhicitta says:]

[22] If one wants to benefit everyone, one needs bodhicitta.
If one wants to befriend everyone, one needs bodhicitta.
If one wants to gain the confidence of all, one needs bodhicitta.
If one wants to be everyone’s spiritual friend, one needs bodhicitta.

OK. I’ll stop there. But if you can write it down, that is very good. Otherwise, you fill up the books with all kinds of fairy tales, stories that you made up. I’m joking.

Think, “The purpose of my life is not just to achieve happiness for myself; it’s not even to achieve ultimate happiness, liberation from samsara. The purpose of my life is to free the numberless sentient beings—the numberless hell beings, the numberless hungry ghosts, the numberless animals, the numberless human beings, the numberless sura beings and asura beings—from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment, by myself alone. Even though there are numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas working for sentient beings, this is my [responsibility].

We have received all our past, present and future happiness, every happiness including enlightenment, from sentient beings. That is the most extensive kindness. But I won’t explain it today; that is the evolution.

In particular, all sentient beings have been our mother, not just once but numberless times from beginningless rebirths, everyone! We must think again of their kindness. They gave us our body through that kindness; every day they bore hardships, protecting our life from hundreds of dangers, giving us an education. These reasons are gathered in the four outlines of the kindness of the mother. And all that is from beginningless rebirths, not just this one time. As I mentioned before, all our happiness and comfort, survival and everything, depends on them.

In water there are tiny sentient beings we can’t see with the eyes. They are killed when we make tea or food. Numberless sentient beings are directly killed when food [is produced], causing people to create such unbelievable negative karma. To build a house, to lay the foundations, so many small sentient beings have to be killed, creating so much negative karma. And clothing that comes from sentient beings, like silk and animal skin, means that animals are killed. There is so much suffering so we can survive. We get our comfort and happiness by depending on so many sentient beings being killed and suffering.

Therefore, it is our responsibility. Even though there are numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas working for sentient beings, it is our responsibility to free every sentient being from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment, by ourselves alone.

Oral Transmission of the Namgyalma Mantra

Therefore, we need to achieve the state of omniscience. Therefore, we need to purify the defilements and collect merits, to actualize the path to enlightenment. Think, “Therefore, I’m going to take the Namgyalma lung,” the lung or the oral transmission of Namgyalma.

In the past, Lobpön Yignyen [Vasubandhu] wrote the Abhidharmakosha. There was a pigeon on the roof at the hermitage who heard him reciting it every day. After the pigeon died, Vasubandhu checked with his clairvoyance and saw the pigeon had been born as a human being down in the valley, way down, in the house of a family. Vasubandhu went down there and asked the family whether he could have the baby. The family offered [the baby] to him and he brought the boy up, who later became a monk called Lobpön Loden [Sthiramati]. He became an expert on the Abhidharmakosha because he heard it so many times as a pigeon when Vasubandhu was reciting it in the hermitage. Lobpön Loden became an expert on the Abhidharmakosha and wrote four commentaries on it.

Kyabje Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche said he may have had some difficulties when he was studying Madhyamaka because he had not heard much of that in the past life. You have to know that. That is why even listening to an oral transmission is so important, so important, even if you don’t get to study it. Just to hear it, just to get the oral transmission is so important for your future, for you to get free from samsara, to become enlightened and to help others.

Kyabje Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche said when Lobpön Loden was small and he wanted to make a food offering to a Tara statue which surrounded by glass, he stuck the food on the glass. I saw in Bodhgaya, where there is the big stupa with the Buddha statue inside, Hindus put food inside the mouth of the statue to get merit, which of course means enlightenment. That means they rely on the Buddha. Sometimes they think the Buddha is a manifestation of Krishna. That is what Hindus believe.

Like getting the benefit by hearing the mantra, by receiving the oral transmission, there is unbelievable benefit in the future, actualizing the path that is to be attained and ceasing the delusions. And not only freeing ourselves from samsara and achieving enlightenment for sentient beings, being able to bring the numberless sentient beings to enlightenment. That achievement is the goal. That is the advantage of even receiving a lung, an oral transmission.

Namgyalma is an unbelievably powerful long-life deity. If we hear the mantra, we never get reborn in the lower realms. It’s so powerful, in all our lives we go toward enlightenment. As our life goes higher and higher and closer to enlightenment, we are always around buddhas and bodhisattvas. That is a very short [explanation]; there are extensive benefits. I’m telling you this is very short, but it’s important just to hear it, even if you don’t recite it every day.

I’ll do the lung.

There are five paths to achieve nirvana but there are also five Mahayana paths to achieve enlightenment: the Mahayana path of merit, the Mahayana path of preparation, the Mahayana right-seeing path, Mahayana path of meditation and the Mahayana path of no more learning. The second Mahayana path of preparation has four parts: heat, tip, patience (zopa) and sublime Dharma, and when we achieve zopa, we are confident that from then on we won’t be born in the lower realms at all from that time. When we achieve the fourth one, sublime Dharma, at the time however many oral transmissions we have received in the past, we will remember everything by heart. Kyabje Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche explained that.

In the Sutra Requested by Sagaramati, it says,

[12:37] Perfecting the mind of awakening, upholding the Dharma,
Practicing the Dharma, and having compassion for beings—
These four qualities bring infinite merit.
The Well-Gone One cannot describe their limit.¹²

Generating the thought of enlightenment, bodhicitta, upholding the Dharma, which means practicing the Dharma, listening, studying, memorizing, actualizing, everything, and generating compassion for sentient beings, the benefit of that is limitless. Even though Buddha has omniscience, he doesn’t see the limit. So, there is limitless benefit from generating bodhicitta.

“Upholding the Dharma” can mean just taking a lung, an oral transmission, of any of the Buddha’s sutra or tantra teachings, even taking an oral transmission to not degenerate, to not lose the Dharma.

To receive the lineage of the oral transmission, to not let it degenerate, to not lose it in the world, you are taking the lung with this thought. The benefit is limitless. I don’t remember the exact words but the meaning is that even the Buddha doesn’t see the limits. It’s unbelievable, unbelievable.

With oral transmissions, I’m telling both old and new students, you must write down what you receive, otherwise you’ll never know what you received. It is not only for yourself, but sometimes you need to pass the lineage to others. You never know, people may have to rely on you to receive the lineage, so write it down. It can be very useful to know what oral transmissions, commentaries and initiations you have received. You must write it down and then you’ll clearly know what you have and haven’t received. Then, you can help other people.

The motivation to receive the lung is to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings. That means you are taking the lung for the benefit of every single sentient being in the numberless universes: every single ant, every single one of the tiniest insects, every animal you can see—I talk more about animals—every single hell being, every single hungry ghost, every single human being. There are numberless universes where there are human beings, and you are taking the lung for everyone; there is no discrimination, “This one is beautiful, I like. This one is ugly and bad, I don’t like,” there is no such thing. Without discrimination, you are taking this for everyone, to free them from suffering. You must know this.

[Rinpoche gives the oral transmission of the long Namgyalma mantra]

[Long Namgyalma Mantra

OM NAMO BHAGAVATE SARVA TRAILOKYA PRATIVISHISHTAYA / BUDDHAYA TE NAMA / TADYATHA / OM BHRUM BHRUM BHRUM SHODHAYA SHODHAYA / VISHODHAYA VISHODHAYA / ASAMA SAMANTA AVABHASA SPHARANA GATI GAGANA SVABHAVA VISHUDDHE / ABHISHINCHANTU MAM / SARVA TATHAGATA SUGATA VARA VACHANA AMRITA ABHISHEKARA / MAHAMUDRA MANTRA PADAI / AHARA AHARA / MAMA AYUS SAMDHARANI / SHODHAYA SHODHAYA / VISHODHAYA VISHODHAYA / GAGANA SVABHAVA VISHUDDHE / USHNISHA VIJAYA PARISHUDDHE / SAHASRA RASMI SANCHO DITE / SARVA TATHAGATA AVALOKINI / SHAT PARAMITA PARIPURANI / SARVA TATHAGATA MATE / DASHA BHUMI PRATISHTHITE / SARVA TATHAGATA HRIDAYA / ADHISHTHANA ADHISHTHITE / MUDRE MUDRE MAHA MUDRE / VAJRA KAYA SAMHATANA PARISHUDDHE / SARVA KARMA AVARANA VISHUDDHE / PRATINI VARTAYA MAMA AYUR / VISHUDDHE SARVA TATHAGATA / SAMAYA ADHISHTHANA ADHISHTHITE / OM MUNI MUNI MAHA MUNI / VIMUNI VIMUNI MAHA VIMUNI / MATI MATI MAHA MATI / MAMATI SUMATI TATHATA / BHUTA KOTI PARISHUDDHE / VISPHUTA BUDDHE SHUDDHE / HE HE JAYA JAYA / VIJAYA VIJAYA / SMRARA SMRARA / SPHARA SPHARA / SPHARAYA SPHARAYA / SARVA BUDDHA ADHISHTHANA ADHISHTHITE / SHUDDHE SHUDDHE / BUDDHE BUDDHE / VAJRE VAJRE MAHAVAJRE / SUVAJRE VAJRA GARBHE JAYA GARBHE / VIJAYA GARBHE / VAJRA JVALA GARBHE / VAJROD BHAVE / VAJRA SAMBHAVE / VAJRE VAJRINI / VAJRAMA BHAVATU MAMA SHARIRAM / SARVA SATTVA NANCHA KAYA PARISHUDDHIR BHAVATU / ME SADA SARVA GATI PARISHUDDHISHCHA / SARVA TATHAGATASHCHA / MAM SAMASHVAS YANTU / BUDDHYA BUDDHYA / SIDDHYA SIDDHYA / BODHAYA BODHAYA / VIBODHAYA VIBODHAYA / MOCHAYA MOCHAYA / VIMOCHAYA VIMOCHAYA / SHODHAYA SHODHAYA / VISHODHAYA VISHODHAYA / SAMANTANA MOCHAYA MOCHAYA / SAMANTA RASMI PARISHUDDHE / SARVA TATHAGATA HRIDAYA / ADHISHTHANA ADHISHTHITE / MUDRE MUDRE MAHA MUDRE / MAHAMUDRA MANTRA PADAI SVAHA]

I think I recited it but to make sure I’ll go back a little bit.

[Rinpoche gives the oral transmission of the short Namgyalma mantra]

[Short Namgyalma Mantra

[TADYATHA] OM BHRUM SVAHA / OM AMRITA AYUR DADE SVAHA]

This is short one. If you are going to recite it, if you can, recite the long one three times or one time, and then a mala of this short one or you can recite it twenty-one times. You can recite however many times you want, but if you can, recite one mala of the short mantra.

The Oral Transmission of the Mantra of the Sutra of Great Liberation

The mantra from the Sutra of Great Liberation (Tharpa Chenpo Do) is a most powerful mantra. If you hear it even once, you won’t get reborn in lower realms and your life always goes up to enlightenment.

[Rinpoche begins the oral transmission]

When I recite it quickly it is OK, but when I recite it slowly it stops.

[Rinpoche gives the oral transmission]

[The mantra from the Sutra of Great Liberation:

NAMO BUDDHAYA / NAMO DHARMAYA / NAMAH SANGHAYA / ADANTI DHARAṆI / TADYATHA / AKASHANI VAVINI / SARVA DHARMA NI VANI / ISHAMANA / VIPASHANA / VIMALA SUPARI / DHARMA NI KHANA / VARUNI CHAYA TAMALE / CHALE / HULU HULU / SHIVITE / MANTRA MANTRA MANTRAH SVAHA]

By the way, I did this Stainless Lotus Pinnacle mantra. This mantra is very powerful. How powerful is it? If because a fully ordained monk has received the four defeats—killing a human being, committing sexual misconduct, telling a lie that he has realizations and stealing—and is reborn in hell, if somebody remembers him and recites this mantra, he gets liberated from the hell realm. It is that unbelievably powerful.

It is very good to recite this mantra for animals and people. It’s been two or three days [since Thanksgiving]. I don’t know how many hundreds of millions [of turkeys were killed] in America. Somebody started that [tradition] in early times, a long time ago, killing and eating turkey meat. Then, at Christmas, so many millions get killed. We can pray together for those who have already been killed and for those who will be killed, to free them from samsara and to achieve enlightenment.

Then, five hundred thousand people died from the disease from Africa [Ebola]—an unbelievable number. And some time ago so many animals were sacrificed in Nepal. Think it is for all of them.

Reciting the Five Powerful Mantras

I suggest [you recite] the five powerful deities’ mantras. The Namgyalma mantra is one, then the Kunrig mantra, the Stainless Pinnacle deity mantra, the Lotus Pinnacle [of Amoghapasha, and the Mitrugpa mantra].

Then OM MANI PADME HUM and Medicine Buddha. At that time, I suggested to recite seventy or seventy-seven Stainless Beam mantras. Then the beings who were killed and were reborn in lower realms would be liberated. Because that came out [in my observation], I suggested to the students to recite that. There are methods to recite to purify our negative karma, so why don’t we do it? Why don’t we use it? Why don’t we help them?

That is the thing, we have the opportunity, so why don’t we? Not only by reciting this mantra, even just by seeing it, reading it, touching it, remembering it, even if they are not Buddhist and don’t have faith, by seeing it they get liberated from the lower realms. Anyone by seeing, touching, remembering or reciting it, so easily gets liberated from lower realms. It purifies negative karma to get reborn in the eight major hot hells.

They are the hell of being alive again and again and the black line hell, where we are used like a carpenter uses wood. We suffer for an unbelievable length of time; there is so much suffering until the karma is finished. Then, the gathered and crushed hell, where any sentient beings we killed in this life, the shape of their face appears in the mountains and we are crushed between them, our blood coming like a waterfall. And it goes on and on; we revive and then are crushed again. It goes on and on until the karma is finished. Then, the hell of crying and the hell of great crying, where we are oneness with the fire. The hell of great crying is twice as hot. Then, in the hot hell, we are burned in a huge pot. I forgot the name of the liquid iron. What is it called? [Student: Molten iron.] What did you say? Lava? Yamas stir the liquid iron, and as we are pulled up, we revive and all the meat, the flesh, is separated again from the body. Then, the extremely hot hell. These hells are not truly existent; they come from the negative mind.

It is similar to earthquakes or wars or certain things that happen in this life that we never expect. Earthquakes destroy everything, but we never expect them to happen. And wars too, certain times things happen that we never expect, but they still happen. This all comes from the mind, the negative mind. Similarly, hell comes from the negative mind. It is a projection of the negative mind. [Our body] is sort of a mountain of bones, and we are crushed, like mashing salt and chili in a pot. I don’t know if you mash them in the West or not like that. It’s endless, until our karma finishes. Unbelievable, unbelievable. Or like the brown sugar tree [sugar cane?] that is pushed through a machine and pressed out. The machine presses it and the stuff comes out. Or like noodles are produced [by the dough being pressed] through a machine. Our body is totally wrapped up in barbed wire until our karma finishes. We don’t die until our karma finishes. There are all these kinds [of suffering] due to negative karma. They happen because we didn’t meet Dharma and didn’t purify. If we are wise, we can purify before we die and this [won’t] happen.

That is why Vajrasattva is very important. Doing a Vajrasattva meditation every day and then doing a Vajrasattva retreat is so important, so important, so wise, so wise! Then if it is done, [the karma is] finished. Otherwise, we have to suffer so much negative karma.

Then, in the inexhaustible hot hell realm (Nyalwa Narme) where our body becomes one with fire, like a burning log becomes red in the flames. In all four directions, unbelievably hot fire comes. The only way we can be recognized as a sentient being is not by the shape, only by the noise, by the voice screaming. The length of life is one intermediate eon. I’m not going to go through the details. Then half an intermediate eon. If our negative karma is not finished, even if this universe finishes, we get reborn in another hot hell and we still suffer. Therefore, we must purify in this life, before we die. There is no time to wait; we must purify today, even today, even now.

It is so wise to purify our negative karma. We can purify past negative karma. Whatever we have already collected we can purify. It is all collected by our mind, so our mind can purify it. Our mind can make us suffer in samsara from beginningless rebirths, but our mind can also make us free from samsara. We must know that. It is not only negative karma. It can make us achieve enlightenment. It can purify all the negative karma to be born in lower realms.

Even just reciting one mantra OM PÄDMO USHNISHA VIMALE HUM PHAT [the Lotus Pinnacle of Amoghapasha mantra] is so powerful that we never get reborn in the lower realms. Then, for a hundred thousand eons we achieve the status of a wheel-turning king. Only one wheel-turning king ever happens in this world; two never happen. [As a wheel-turning king] everybody’s mind is able to stay in the ten virtues. It is so powerful. By thinking of sentient beings, if we recite this mantra seven times a day, we will be reborn in Amitabha Buddha Pure Land.

There are different pure lands. I must tell you. If we are born in Amitabha Buddha Pure Land, there is no suffering of pain, such as the sufferings of rebirth, old age, sickness and death. Depression doesn’t happen. None of these sufferings happen. On top of that, there is no suffering of change, which are the temporary samsaric pleasures that, because they can’t continue, becomes the suffering of pain later.

Pleasure itself is in the nature of suffering because it doesn’t last, unlike Dharma happiness which lasts and can develop. Samsaric pleasures cannot continue and be completed but Dharma happiness can continue and it will be completed when we achieve enlightenment.

People in the West try to fly by tying on wings and running [over cliffs] but they either hurt themselves or kill themselves. Or people jump out of an airplane with everybody holding hands. Sometimes, the parachute doesn’t work and they drop down and die. All those are in the nature of suffering. All samsaric pleasures are in the nature of suffering, including the pleasures of food, of clothing, of houses, and of all the sexual pleasure, everything. The pure lands don’t have this.

Then, the third level of suffering is pervasive compounding suffering, which is where the other two sufferings come from, under the control of karma and delusions, the contaminated seed that arises and produces the suffering of pain and suffering of change. The pure lands don’t have pervasive compounding suffering. We are not born there due to karma and delusions but due to the merits, due to the prayers we have made. Otherwise, we have to generate the whole five paths to nirvana, we have to actualize the true path of the four noble truths: true suffering, the true cause of suffering, true cessation and the true path. We have to actualize the true path, and of the five paths, the direct perception of emptiness.

If we are born in Amitabha Buddha Pure Land it is easiest. There are other pure lands like Tushita, but we need very pure morality [to be born there]. We ordinary beings are full of delusions, but it is still easy to be born in Amitabha Buddha Pure Land. Lama Tsongkhapa praised Amitabha Buddha Pure Land so much because it is easy for us ordinary beings full of delusions to be born there.

That is something special. Even if we recite OM MANI PADME HUM we can be reborn there. By reciting mantras, by generating bodhicitta, by dedicating [our merits] we can be reborn there in the pure land of Amitabha Buddha.

If we are able to recite [these mantras] every day, we are very wise. I’m talking like a crazy person. I’ve already apologized to you about becoming crazy sometimes. Nobody speaks like a crazy person like I speak, but I am emphasizing that. When I speak like that I am emphasizing something. You have to know what is best to do in the life. You have to know that! This present human life has incredible freedom, incredible freedom. You must know that!

The incredible freedom we have is unbelievable. It’s incredible what we can do in our life with this human body.

I still want to mention one or two words on emptiness. Sorry, I left out doing the lung of the last mantra.

[Rinpoche gives the oral transmission of the Lotus Pinnacle of Amoghapasha mantra]

OM PÄDMO USHNISHA VIMALE HUM PHAT

I received the oral transmission of these. OK. That’s all.

Being Aware of the Illusion

How much time is there to go? [Ven. Robina: Thirty minutes to go.] Thirty minutes! I’ll do the Kangyur and Tengyur! Or the Bible. I’ll read the whole Bible. If there is still time, I will read all the Bible!

As you go out for lunch, as you go around, you can practice this while you are here. Everything that appears—the I, the action, the object, Kopan, the buildings, the trees, the sky—everything that appears appears as real. What appears as real, all this is a production, a projection, a creation of your delusion, your ignorance, timug dendzin marigpa. The ignorance holds the I as real; it holds everything as real. Everything appears real—the I, action, object, food, everything. Practice the awareness of that, the awareness that this appearance is due to the negative imprints piled on the continuation of the consciousness from beginningless rebirths. All this is projected, decorated, so it all comes from your mind, from your ignorance. It is not there. The real I is not there. It’s like a dream.

A dream is a very good example. After you wake up, it’s not there. In the dream, you don’t recognize the dream as a dream. In the dream you see everything as real. You get married; you have a hundred children; you become the president of America. But when you wake up—nothing. So, all this is like a dream. It has all come from your ignorance, from your negative imprint. Practice this awareness.

On top of that, your ignorance believed it is true. What appears as real, you believe is real. “All this is real.” Like that, it’s exactly the same as in a dream. While you are dreaming you believe everything is real. It’s exactly the same. It’s totally wrong! Totally wrong! Do you understand?

For example, after you have crossed the sand, although there is no water, when you look back you have a vision of water. But you know there is no water. It’s exactly the same. Exactly the same! Do you understand?

Practice this awareness. It is such an incredibly profound meditation. Therefore, deep in your heart happiness arises. There is no longer attachment or anger. It’s like your life is boiling water, bubbling away, causing your life to be up and down, up and down, up and down. But now, like pouring cold water on it, your emotional life becomes like this, very quiet and peaceful. Practicing this awareness meditation is very profound.

This is one of the best walking meditations. Just being mindful—“Oh, I’m walking,”—even planning the best robbery, you have to have great awareness of the right time, how to steal from the bank, how to escape and everything. If you don’t have awareness, you’ll have problems. But the mindfulness like in this meditation is excellent; it is so profound.

Like that, you can go to the market or a department store from here and you don’t even have to buy anything. You go for the meditation. You have nothing to buy but you go for meditation; you walk up and down with this mindfulness, being aware that everything that appears to you seems real—all the people, all the makeup shops, (there are a hundred thousand things to sell for makeup), clothing shops—you don’t even have to buy anything when you go there to meditate. [Although it appears as real], you see that nothing exists from its own side. Everything appearing real is a creation, a projection, a decoration of your ignorance. You go up and down the steps, the electric ones, [the escalators] like that. Even if you are shopping, you the buyer, what you buy, [the seller], it’s the same: the real one from there. What you buy, which seems the real one, is not there; the person you pay, the seller, who seems the real one, is not there. That is the meditation.

If you are going for pilgrimage, do the same meditation. If you go for pilgrimage, that is great! Don’t just go for the external pilgrimage but do your side meditation on emptiness. If you go to the beach, the ocean appears to you as the real one, the hundred thousand naked people lying down all appear as the real one, but they are a decoration or a projection, a creation of your own ignorance, of the negative imprint. With that mindfulness, you walk around the beach.

That is one way—looking at that which is a hallucination as a hallucination. When you do that, your mind has great peace. Whatever appears, everything is empty. One meditation is looking at everything as empty: the I, the action, the object.

Another meditation is seeing it is merely labeled. The I walking is merely labeled, the action of walking is merely labeled; there is the merely labeled road, the merely labeled beach, the merely labeled people, the merely labeled ocean. Here, there is the merely labeled Kopan, the merely labeled food, the merely labeled trees, the merely labeled sky. In the supermarket or the department store, everything is merely labeled. Practice the mindfulness of subtle dependent arising.

Meditating on the Suffering of the Beach

Since I mentioned the beach, I want to mention this. You can also do it with bodhicitta, practicing the mindfulness of bodhicitta. This is the most profound meditation, bringing incredible benefit to sentient beings, not only to yourself. I’m using the beach as one example, but it can be on the road, in the city, in the cinema. Wherever people gather you can meditate. You develop compassion for all those thousands of people who love water so much, who have so much attachment to water, and for the many animals who, due to attachment, are already born in the water as animals.

People have received a human body but they are creating the cause to be born as animals. Develop kindness for them. They don’t know at all that they have been suffering. The oceans of hell being suffering, the oceans of hungry ghost suffering, the oceans of human being, sura and asura suffering, from beginningless rebirths, they have been suffering numberless times but they have no idea at all about this. They are totally ignorant, like the night sky. They have no idea about past and future lives. They don’t have the karma to meet the Dharma, the karma to practice the Dharma, so again they have to be reborn in samsara and again experience oceans of six-realm sufferings numberless times in the future without end.

You’ve heard about the Wheel of Life and the twelve links. They have to suffer endlessly in the six realms. While you are walking on the beach, you develop compassion for all those people. You have met the Dharma; you can practice the Dharma, but they can’t. In reality, they have no idea, so develop compassion for them. You really don’t want them to suffer for even a day, even an hour or a minute or a second. You want them to be liberated from samsara, so you develop compassion for them. There are a lot of people [on the beach], so while you are walking, you can meditate on compassion like this and at least recite OM MANI PADME HUM or whatever benefits them, whatever purifies them, like these mantras that I mentioned.

The other thing is to think of their kindness. As you walk on the beach, think of their kindness. All your past, present, and future merits from beginningless rebirths, all the merits up to enlightenment have been received from them, from the numberless sentient beings of the six realms, from all the animals and all these people. Meditate on their kindness. They have all been your mother from beginningless rebirths and have been kind numberless times in the four ways I mentioned. The food, shelter and clothing you have comes from the numberless sentient beings. They were killed and had to suffer for it. You can meditate on their different kindnesses as you walk. This is an idea, an example.

What is the time now? Fifteen minutes? [Ven. Robina: Fourteen minutes.] Thirteen minutes.

Look at Unharmonious Situations as Like Illusions

OK. I just want to mention to you that that meditation is very useful.

The bodhisattva Thogme Zangpo said in Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva,

[24] All forms of suffering are like a child’s death in a dream. 
Holding illusory appearances to be true makes you weary. 
Therefore when you meet with disagreeable circumstances, 
See them as illusory— 
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

You must write that down and apply it in your life, doing a practice of mindfulness. Especially when you have relationship problems, use this meditation! Practice this mindfulness! Or if you have cancer, use this meditation to see its emptiness. Of course, this is also to generate bodhicitta, but do this one for emptiness if you have cancer or anything like that. Apply this verse for any problem you have.

The great bodhisattva Thogme Zangpo, the holy being, said the various sufferings are like the death of our child in a dream. First of all, in the dream, we get married and are so happy. Then, we have a child. Wow! We are so happy, but then the child dies. As I mentioned yesterday, we have several children but one is taken by river, one is taken by animals, one is burned by fire, so we get upset; we get wrinkles and white hair. When our child dies like that, there is so much suffering, but it’s not true. Thogme Zangpo says the various sufferings in the life are like our child dying in a dream. The Tibetan, thrül nang, means it’s not true; all these are “illusory visions.” In a dream, we hold everything as real, exactly the same as in the daytime—all this is real. Thang chhä means “exhausted,” “tired.” We become tired and then we suffer. We get mountains of problems by believing it is real. We get into trouble. Therefore, he said when we encounter unharmonious, undesirable conditions, we should look at them as illusions.

As I said about practicing mindfulness, we should look at that which is a hallucination as a hallucination. That is the practice of bodhisattvas. The mind attains great peace; anger and attachment do not arise, and ultimately we become free. By realizing emptiness, we become free from samsara.

Now finished? [Ven. Robina: Ten.] Ten minutes. Not finished. Still!

Write it down, you must practice it. Otherwise, what? Otherwise, just here then gone. You never get free from all the problems, from the anxiety, from all the depression. Then, the human life we have is uninteresting.

I’ll tell you one more thing and then finish.

This is a very profound teaching by the Seventh Dalai Lama. [Jewel Garland (Norbu Threngwa) says:]

Every single phenomenon of samsara and nirvana
Is an illusion created by your conception.
By holding them to be true, they cheat you.
Therefore, don’t grasp at hallucinated appearances and look at them as empty.

It is the same advice, just said a little differently. This is so important; it is a very rich practice. “Every single phenomenon of samsara and nirvana” also includes enlightenment, not only nirvana. It includes great nirvana, enlightenment.

It is “an illusion created by your conception.” I mentioned to you how the I is created by the mind. The mind, focused on the valid base, labels the I. All the labels are merely imputed by the mind. Like that, the I is merely imputed by the mind by focusing on the valid base, and in the same way all the phenomena of samsara and nirvana are labeled by our mind. Therefore, nothing exists from its own side.

What exists is extremely, extremely, extremely subtle. It exists but it is like it doesn’t exist. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, but it is like it doesn’t exist; it is so subtle, like the I. Our own conception merely labels it, so it exists. It is good to think about that.

Then it appears, as I explained before for the I. All the imprints collected on the continuation of consciousness project or decorate “real,” seeing the I as real, not as merely labeled; it is projected as real. All phenomena are made “real” in this way, projected or decorated as real. Then, our concept holds onto that as real, “Oh, it is real!” Like the example of I, we believe all the phenomena of samsara and nirvana are real.

The second line says it is an illusion created by our conception. It all appears real but it’s not true, so it’s like an illusion, like a dream, like a mirage. “By holding them to be true, they cheat you.” In that way, we have been cheated from beginningless rebirths. We have cheated ourselves; our ignorance has cheated us, from beginningless rebirths up to now. It is most unbelievable. Now what to do? The Seventh Dalai Lama says don’t grasp at hallucinated appearances. Don’t hold on to illusory appearances. As I gave you advice on how to meditate with mindfulness, when we do that meditation, we don’t cling, we don’t grasp. “Don’t grasp at hallucinated appearances and look at them as empty.”

I’ve said that before. I’ll stop here.

Nagarjuna wrote in Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way:

[24:14] For him to whom emptiness is clear.
Everything becomes clear.
For him to whom emptiness is not clear 
Nothing becomes clear.

This is good to hear. Because of emptiness, everything can happen. I explained how the I is empty, how the real I is not nonexistent. Because it exists in that way, everything is clear, everything can happen. If it were not empty, nothing could happen.

What am I saying?

Tomorrow Khadro-la will speak in the morning. I requested to Khadro-la to speak so she very happily accepted. She came from Tibet only recently to protect His Holiness from obstacles. So many times, when His Holiness took the aspect of very heavy, very dangerous sicknesses, when the doctors gave advice, she could see their mistakes. When His Holiness went to Delhi, the doctor was very surprised. This hasn’t just happened once but at different times. She only came to make His Holiness’ actions successful in the world.

Once, there was huge eruption in the Himalayas and many people died. She could see this. Then, His Holiness gave her a project and she has built many stupas around near His Holiness, one at Norbulingka, and TCV school [the Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala].

At that time, when I met her, it seems she was able to see there would be a small earthquake that could not be stopped. It happened, but I heard only a cow died. All this happened a long time ago. Then, in Taiwan there was going to be a typhoon, but she was able to pray and stop it from happening. She has all the ten qualities of the guru mentioned in the Lama Chöpa, the ten inner and outer qualities in lower and highest tantra. She has all those qualities. She has all the guru’s qualities mentioned in Lama Chöpa. She looks like a very humble human being, a girl, but in reality [she is very different].

There is a prayer that I have written for her, a long-life prayer. She is Tara; she is Vajrayogini; she is Machig Labdrön; she is Lama Marpa’s wisdom mother [Jetsun Dagmema]; she is Padmasambhava’s wisdom mother, Yeshe Tsogyal. Hearing her teachings, you’ll want to recognize her as a guru. There is no question of mistakes; it is completely OK. If you are lucky, you can regard her as a guru. This is what I want to express. I have taken her as a guru. I have many gurus, but she is the one lady guru that I have taken.

[Dedications]

Thank you very much.

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Notes 

¹² See The Questions of Sagaramati (Sagaramatipariprccha) at read.84000.co/translation/toh152.html [Return to text]