Kopan Course No. 25 (1992)

By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 1992 (Archive #944)

These transcripts are of teachings given by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche at the Twenty-Fifth Kopan Meditation Course, held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 1992. Lightly edited by Gordon McDougall.

You may also download the entire contents of these teachings in a pdf file.

Section Nine: Lectures 33 - 34

LECTURE 33: 18 DECEMBER 1992 AM

TANTRIC RITUALS ARE MORE THAN DEVOTION
[Rinpoche continues reading from Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand.] [p. 367] “The Black Line Hell" [gap in recording]

It seems that sometimes that maybe the person, I wouldn’t think the person is dead but I think somehow maybe the subtle mind maybe experiences hell or, it’s a little bit difficult to say but however seems there are experiences like this. I think this monk may not be the only one, there may be others; maybe it’s the experience of some people. What I heard is just one but I think there may be certain people have these experiences. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, a great master, who I received teachings from after Lama passed away, I have seen Rinpoche before, in Darjeeling I think, but I didn’t know him. Rinpoche didn’t live much at Buxa. I think he lived in Kalimpong and Darjeeling, in those areas, because there’s another very high lama of Amdo, called Kirti Rinpoche who lives in Dharamsala, and Rinpoche, I don’t know now whether Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche whether he’s the teacher or not, that I don’t know, but Tsenshab means those high lamas, for their quick progression of the study or learning the Dharma, debating subject. So besides the actual gurus, besides the teachers with the recognition of guru and disciple it’s like those people who could afford to have private teacher at home, for children, besides them going to school. So those high lamas, like His Holiness, probably it means substitute teacher, not the actual teacher, but helping in the education.

So His Holiness chose one from I think maybe from each college, I’m not sure, one from Gaden, one from Drepung Monastery, one from Sera Monastery, I don’t know, within each one there are two. Within Sera there’s Je and Me, so the college where Lama Yeshe and myself belong to is Sera Je. Then Gaden has also two colleges, Drepung has also two colleges. So, I don’t know whether it’s from each college or just from Sera, Gaden, Drepung, so among those top learned ones, then they choose, they check and they choose one from each each college, monastery, to help, because even Sera, Sera Je and Me, each of the colleges has different author who wrote the text, so it’s not the same. Basically the philosophy is the same, but as regards to the path there are different ways, there are certain points that have different answers. All these colleges they don’t have the same answer, exactly the same, not like that, exactly the same answer. Each of these colleges have different authors, their own author who wrote all the philosophical texts.

Of course it’s all based on the root text, it’s not just like that somebody made completely new, his own philosophy, to start his own group, completely new, nothing to do with the others, it’s not like that. So, it’s all based on Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching, first those root texts of sutra and tantra. I mean here, mainly sutra, in these colleges, the extensive tantra, is, after you complete the study in these monasteries then you go to tantric college, to do extensive study, in art, building a monastery or drawing a sand mandala, then all the chanting. Then one has to study all the meanings of all the different methods and rituals, one has to know all the commentaries, the verses, pacifying action, wrathful action, increasing action, and controlling action—all the different methods. If it is put in simple terms, the various methods to purify one’s own negative karma and accumulate extensive merit within one’s mind, in the lam-rim and the tantric path, especially maha-anuttara tantra. These are also methods, skillful means to benefit other sentient beings, extensive ways to benefit other sentient beings, for other sentient beings to accumulate extensive merit, to purify, to develop their mind in the path. It’s the same, as its result, the effect to oneself, benefit what you get for oneself, through these different practices then one can cause all those towards other sentient beings. To preserve, to develop, to keep the teaching pure, not to be degenerated, so the purpose is to benefit sentient beings, that is the purpose. It’s not without having any aim to benefit for other sentient beings, something which does not become means to benefit for other sentient beings, then because it is their culture so then you preserve. That’s not the motivation, that’s not the aim, because it’s the culture then you must preserve, that is not the thing. The main thing is because it can benefit, it can offer extensive benefit for sentient beings, to lead, to bring them to enlightenment, so therefore for that reason then there’s need to preserve these things, to develop and spread and preserve pure.

But again all these things, not enough just with intellectual understanding and not enough just able to do the physical things, the physical decorations or art, able to chant, it’s just not that, one has to meditate in the meaning of the subject, in the meaning of the prayer, all the profound, extensive path, part of the tantric path. And all that practice, meditating, practicing the tantric path and doing all these, as well as the external, symbolic things that accumulate unbelievable merit for oneself, for other sentient beings, which causes other sentient beings to accumulate so much merit and become cause of enlightenment—all these things have to be done on the basis of keeping the pratimoksha vows, all those precepts and then on the basis of that the bodhisattva vows, on that basis tantric vows. So by keeping all these vows, practicing, then one do all those meditations of tantra, then doing all those external things, art, those things, so it involves completely sacrificing one’s life. It involves having a pure life and it’s not just building temples and doing rituals. It’s not just reciting the words and playing the bells and cymbals. [RL] It’s not just that, it’s very involved. The whole thing is done with a lot of discipline of the body, speech and mind, morality, with all these things.

So on the basis of these foundations, these fundamental practices, then ones listens and reflects on the meditations on the tantra path. Then by studying all these tantra arts, all these external things, there is all the texts and chanting and all the different methods, as I mentioned before those four things, those four actions, this way then you really become fully qualified and then you have power, you have potential to really benefit other sentient beings, sincerely. So this is general like introduction of this, this is how it is, this is how the education, practice or education is. This is how they make themselves qualified to benefit other sentient beings, with all these Dharma education, practice, so like that.

So it’s not just praying with devotion, it’s not just using only devotion, it’s not just only that. It’s not just a devotional thing, somehow for your own happiness. From the lam-rim you can understand that doing some devotional thing purely for your own happiness, you can see even from the very beginning of Dharma, even by hearing lam-rim teachings you can understand that it’s wrong motivation. So this is without talking the very high level, practicing tantra. Just even practicing only sutra, even from the very first teaching, the lam-rim, the graduated path of the lower capable being, even by hearing the first level of teaching, one can understand that is the thought clinging to this life’s happiness and the thought just living the life for this life’s happiness that is something to be renounced. That is the basis of all the problems, all the obstacles, which makes the mind stuck, unable to develop in the path and to develop the mind, to develop good heart, to develop method and wisdom. That is the basis of all the problems of life and so that is also obstacle to see the nature of one’s own life, the reality of life, that obscures the mind to see the reality of the life, reality of the self. It obscures the mind to see the nature of the life.

You can see that how doing some devotional thing with that motivation, the motivation is wrong, so the devotion it depends on the object. It depends on the way of thinking. If it is correct way of thinking or wrong way of thinking towards the object, as far as the object.

THE VALID BASE
For example, there are three things. I meant to mention before but I think twice I tried to mention this but somehow got distracted then didn’t happen. [RL] Another explanation of what makes things exist is having a valid base. That is one. Then the other one that it is not harmed by the valid conventional mind, the unhallucinated, conventional mind, the unhallucinated all-obscuring mind. It doesn’t receive harm. Then also that it is not harmed by the absolute mind. (Did I remember correct? Do you remember? These three things.) [Student: Not harmed by the conventions....] Commercials? Not harmed by commercials? [GL] Not harmed by conventional people. Huh? Not harmed by conventional people - I’m joking! [RL] Not harmed by lawyers or judges. No, I am joking. [RL, GL]

So one thing, if it doesn’t have valid base, then it is not, it doesn’t exist, it is wrong. While one doesn’t have all the qualities of a buddha, that the mind is free from all disturbing-thought obscurations and subtle obscurations and because of that then mind is completed in all the qualities, in all the realizations, so if one’s mind is in that nature, in that quality, completed in all the qualities of cessation and realizations, then you have the valid base to label yourself buddha. [GL, RL] I am Buddha George [RL, GL] and Buddha Jeff Nye, [RL] Buddha Mrs So-and-So. [RL]

So, if one’s mind doesn’t have these qualities, even if we labeled ourselves “buddha” we are not a buddha. Even we label ourselves a buddha it is not true. [RL] Then you see, just by using this example you can understand.

THE VALID MIND
Then, also other valid mind, other living beings’ valid mind can see that you don’t have the valid base, that your mind is not completed in all the qualities of cessation and realizations, others valid mind can see that. A buddha’s omniscient mind, valid mind, can see that.

A buddha’s omniscient mind is a valid mind, the highest valid mind, the most pure. That is the highest valid mind, which has not the slightest ignorance, which doesn’t have the slightest ignorance, any obstacles to see directly all the things that exist.

So a buddha’s valid mind sees that your mind doesn’t have all those qualifications, the complete qualities of cessation and realization. So, a buddha’s valid mind sees that you are not an enlightened being, that you are not a Buddha A buddha’s valid mind sees that you are a sentient being. So that is how it receives harm from a valid mind.

But even a sentient being’s valid mind sees that your mind doesn’t have those qualities, so the sentient being’s conventional mind or the all-obscuring mind, the unhallucinated conventional mind can see that you don’t have these qualities, so that means you don’t have this valid base to call yourself a buddha. Even the sentient beings’ unhallucinated conventional mind can see that you are not a buddha. What they see is that you are a sentient being. So without the valid base, even you label “buddha” to yourself, then not only it that view harmed by the omniscient valid mind, but it is even harmed by the sentient beings’ unhallucinated conventional mind, all-obscuring mind. Even sentient beings’ mind can see that you don’t have the valid base to label yourself “buddha.” So even if one labeled but without the valid base, without the qualities, then it is harmed by other sentient beings’ valid mind. Sentient beings can see you are not a buddha, you are a sentient being, therefore [your self view of being a buddha] receives harm even from other sentient beings with the unhallucinated, conventional or the all-obscuring mind.

So, the third thing is that is shouldn’t be harmed by the absolute mind. If your understanding is harmed by the absolute mind, the mind which sees absence of true existence, the emptiness of true existence, then it is invalidated. For example, [if you believe you are a buddha] because that doesn’t have the valid base—you don’t have the qualities of the a buddha, having ceased all the mistakes of the mind and having all the qualities of the realizations—you are therefore still a sentient being. If, being a sentient being, if it receives harm from the absolute mind, I think it means what is regarded as sentient being is a hallucination, so you are not a sentient being. If you are a sentient being then if you receive harm from this, because of this reason that you don’t have a buddha’s qualities, then one is a sentient being—but if you receive harm from the absolute mind then I would say regards yourself as a sentient being is hallucination. It is harmed by the absolute mind, [which shows] that it is a refuting object and it has to be a hallucination, something which doesn’t exist. For example, you the merely-labeled sentient being are not harmed by the absolute mind, but you who are appearing as a truly-existent sentient being, that one is harmed by the absolute mind, because absolute mind realizes that sentient being is empty of true existence. If being a sentient being is harmed by the absolute mind then it would be a refuting object, oneself being sentient being would be refuting object or a hallucination, which means it doesn’t exist.

The appearance of the hallucination, seeing the sentient being as truly existent, that doesn’t exist, this object does not exist. The appearance of true existence exists. For example, similarly, if the philosophy of one’s life, is something somebody made it up, that there is no karma or reincarnation, then the philosophy exists, but that doesn’t mean that what it believes, the ideas made by people, exists, it doesn’t mean that it is true. The appearance of the hallucination exists, but during that time, while one is having the appearance, what appears or what one sees, believe, that which is truly existent sentient being, so forth, that doesn’t exist. Similarly, the dream exists, but what you see in the dream doesn’t exist. It’s the same as that.

I mentioned the word “valid mind” or the “valid all-obscuring mind.” That has a meaning like this. For example, there are three categories. When a magician with the power of material and power of mantra hallucinates people’s senses and transforms a piece of rope or stone or wood into something, like beautiful, jeweled palace, or a Mercedes car, or anyway, [RL] billions of dollars, or a handsome man or beautiful woman. Now, among the people who are watching at it, among the audience, there are people who do not know that this is transformed by a magician. These people believe what they see is true. They don’t see the illusion as an illusion, they see the illusion as true. It is illusion, but they see it as true, they believe it is true. For the magician, him or herself, it has the appearance but he or she doesn’t believe this is true. The magician person, him or herself, has the appearance but doesn’t believe it is true. This is one category, the people who are aware that this is a transformation, that the magician has transformed this. So, they have the appearance but don’t believe that it is true.

Then, there are people whose eye senses are not defected by the mantra power. These other beings don’t have all these illusions. Those whose eyes are not defected by the mantra power, don’t have these illusions, but they see that piece of wood or whatever material the magician is using as a base to be transformed. So there are three categories or three different views. Now, this is an example.

With the worldly beings’ conventional, all-obscuring mind, there is the right all-obscuring mind and wrong all-obscuring. The worldly being’s wrong all-obscuring mind, how is it translated? Wrong conventional mind? Yeah? Then? Other one? So there’s worldly being’s wrong all-obscuring mind. Maybe put it this way. The Tibetan terms are jig-ten kun tsob and yan-tak kun tsob, yan-tak is correct, pure, kun tsob is all-obscuring. You can’t just leave it as “all-obscuring,” you have to have something else there. Maybe put it this way—the phenomena of the right all-obscuring mind and the phenomena of the wrong all-obscuring mind.

For example, by taking drugs, by eating datura, you see all the ground you see as worms, all the dust you see as worms. So eating datura affects the mind, it makes the mind hallucinate. While the affect is there, when the mind is affected by the datura, [RL] you see all the sand grains, everything as worms, moving, and even though there is nobody around you, you hear people talking. Things like that, you see.

The mind is affected by the drug and sees these things that are not true, that do not exist. Even other ordinary people, who are not meditators, who do not understand Dharma, worldly people, they can see, they can realize, that what that person’s mind sees is a wrong, mistaken thought. This is with the all-obscuring mind of the worldly beings. The mistaken all-obscuring mind of the worldly beings. Instead of saying it this way, I think more clearly, for the worldly beings. Worldly beings, ordinary people, even those who do not understand Dharma, do not meditate, even they can discover this phenomenon, that this person whose mind is affected by the drug sees, is wrong; it doesn’t exist and that thought is wrong, mistaken. So this is a wrong all-obscuring thought for the worldly beings.

So now there are many hallucinations, similar hallucinations that common, ordinary people can realize that it is wrong, that it doesn’t exist.

THE OBSCURING MIND
Then, the second thing is that the phenomena and the all-obscuring mind which is true for the common, ordinary worldly people in reality it is wrong. It is still wrong, but it is true for the ordinary, worldly people. The magician, him or herself, there is appearance but doesn’t believe that it’s true and also view other people who know this is transformed by magician person, that they don’t believe in this, even though they have appearance. Their eye sense is defected by the power of mantra and material. Similarly, those who have realized emptiness and see things as an illusion, especially the arya beings who have wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, they have a concept of true existence, merely labeled things appearing as truly existent due to the imprint left on the mind, mental continuum, by the past ignorance, concept of true existence.

So then the concept which believes in that appearance it’s true, so this concept of true existence, this ignorance, in the view of common ordinary people, the worldly people, in their view there is nothing wrong with thought. In their view this appearance is correct. In their view, they think that this appearance is correct, that things appear as something real, existing from their own side. In ordinary people’s view, common people, the worldly people’s view, those who do not know what is false, those who cannot differentiate what is false and what is reality, in their view the view of true existence is correct and that concept of true existence is correct. Believing in this appearance, believing in this truly existent appearance that if things exist then there should be something, not just merely labeled by the mind, that there should be something from its own side, it should exist from its own side. So, what appears as real, phenomena which appears as real one, it is there, real in the sense that it is there on the base or in the sense existing from its own side, so that is true. So, the ordinary people who cannot differentiate what is the false view, the view of true existence, that is wrong, who see things, the appearance things exist being merely labeled by the mind—that is the correct one, and things appearing as a real one, in the sense existing from its own side, that is wrong. So, those who can’t differentiate the false view and the view that accords with reality, who do not know the subject of the two truths—ultimate truth and conventional truth—in their view, all these phenomena which appear as truly existent are correct and then thought that which believes that is true is correct. They don’t think it is wrong.

According to the worldly, ordinary beings there are two ways an object appears, a wrong way and a right way. In regards to appearance, there is a wrong one and right one, and the all-obscuring mind which believes in these appearances is either right or wrong. But in the reality, in the view of those who know the subject of two truths, who have realized emptiness, even the higher beings, the arhats and bodhisattvas, sentient beings’ all-obscuring minds all are mistaken, even the things appearing as truly existent, for sentient beings until they become enlightened, which means until they are free, until they cease this subtle obscuration, the imprint, the subtle imprint left by the concept of true existence, the ignorance, the delusion, the concept of true existence, until sentient beings become enlightened or until they cease this subtle obscuration, the subtle imprint left by the concept of true existence, the ignorance. Until then, they have the truly-existent appearance, except when higher beings realize emptiness directly. When those beings’ mind is in the equipoise meditation, meditating on emptiness like putting water into the water. After you put water into the water there is nothing to differentiate this one is the water which was there and this is the water which you put later, there is nothing to differentiate. After you put a drop into the ocean you cannot differentiate, this is the ocean water and this is the drop of water that you put it. There is nothing to differentiate after you put it inside. So like that, it becomes non-dual.

So, like that, in the view of these arya beings, when they do equipoise meditation, at that time, the dual view sinks, it is absorbed. The dual view, the truly existent appearance, that there’s the subject and the object, is not completely cut off. In the view of that wisdom, during that time there is no appearance of subject and object, only emptiness. So it is absorbed. Not by completely cutting the dual view but during that state of equipoise meditation then that view is sunk or absorbed. In that way there is no appearance of this subject, this mind meditating, I the meditator and this is object meditating on, this is emptiness, object to meditate on.

When arya beings are in equipoise meditation, at that time for that wisdom of equipoise meditation which is concentrating on emptiness, in the view of that wisdom, during that time, there is no truly existent appearance. But when they stop the equipoise meditation, then there is a truly-existent appearance again. So, until one becomes enlightened, until one ceases the subtle imprint left by the concept of true existence, there is always truly-existent appearance. Anything appears as truly existent because the subtle imprint left by the concept of true existence, this projects true existence. This imprint decorates true existence on the merely-labeled things.

In the view of those who know the subject, the two truths, who have realized emptiness, especially those arya beings, both the things appearing as truly existent and those ordinary beings’ mind, worldly beings’ minds which believes that it is true, those all-obscuring minds, both are mistaken. For the worldly, ordinary people, they hold that one appearance is correct and one appearance is mistaken. Appearances affected by drugs, by power of mantra and so forth are mistaken but the rest of the truly-existent appearance for worldly people is correct. That mind is correct, that all-obscuring mind which sees this, believes in this, is correct.

Buddhas do not have this hallucination, buddhas do not have the truly existent appearance. Why? Because they have completely removed the subtle imprint which projects the hallucination, the true existence.

So, this is like the example, the third one, people whose mind are not hallucinated, not defected by the power of mantra or power of substances so cannot see the hallucination, they don’t have the hallucination. Buddhas don’t have truly existent appearance, buddhas don’t have this hallucination. Buddhas, for their own senses, for their own mind don’t have hallucinations, but they see our hallucinations. They see sentient beings’ hallucinations. They see because sentient beings’ appearance of hallucination it exists.

Yeah, so didn’t get to read. [GL]

[Dedication prayers]

[End of Discourse]

LECTURE 34: 18 DECEMBER 1992 PM

HOW THE BUDDHA AND THE SANGHA GUIDE
[RL] This morning I forgot to go back to where the topic came from. I was talking about the devotional object. Then start from that, that which has valid base and is not harmed by the conventional valid mind and is not harmed by the absolute mind, then it exist. So that topic came from that, the devotional object.

If the object doesn’t have the power to save, to liberate oneself from the whole entire suffering of samsara and causes, then it is the wrong object to be devoted to. It is the wrong object of devotion, if the object doesn’t have that power. Then, if the object doesn’t have the power to save you from the lower realms then it is the wrong object to be devoted to for that purpose, it’s the wrong object to devote, to take refuge to that, which cannot save you from the lower realms. Even if one takes refuge with that purpose, it cannot save you from the lower realms. It cannot hold you from falling down to the lower realms. The object which you have devotion for must have those qualities, those powers.

So that’s why it is important after having taken refuge, in a ceremony, from the abbot or from the leader, lopon—the master who leads the disciple in the path to liberation, by giving refuge, by giving precepts—after having taken refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, by taking refuge in Buddha then you should abandon following the wrong founder who shows the wrong path, who doesn’t have the power or qualities that can guide you, to liberate you from samsara, the whole entire samsara. Showing wrong path is like giving the wrong medicine, it doesn’t make it better, it only makes you create more cause of samsara, and more cause of the lower realms, by following the wrong path. So by taking the wrong medicine, instead of getting better from the disease you have now then it only makes you worse.

Also, taking refuge in the Sangha makes you not follow the wrong guide, somebody misleads you rather helping or inspiring you. What the Sangha does is liberate you from the lower realms by letting you practice Dharma, which purifies the cause of the lower realms, and then inspirse you to practice Dharma, which is living in the morality, living in the vows, by understanding the shortcomings of ten nonvirtuous actions and so forth. Understanding the benefits of living in the morality, the Sangha inspires or helps you to live life in Dharma, to practice virtue and morality. So this way you don’t create the cause of the lower realms again. So the Sangha protects you, inspires you, become example an example. Also the Sangha helps by explaining the Dharma, by being an example, by inspiring.

THE BUDDHA’S PAST LIVES
So, like Guru Shakyamuni’s past lives as a bodhisattva, there’s one hundred stories how the bodhisattva’s life practiced charity for other sentient beings. He gave his holy body for other sentient beings, his eyes, hands, limbs to other sentient beings, numberless times, so many lifetimes like that. So first he made a connection with that sentient being, by giving body, blood, by making charity. Even being born, sometimes beings born as a king, bodhisattvas, by taking birth as a king then giving everything to others—food, clothing, materials for other sentient beings, the whole thing, wife, children, possessions, everything, whole family—making charity when the Buddha was on the path, the bodhisattva, practicing the six paramitas in order to accumulate extensive merit, in order to achieve enlightenment for the sake of sentient beings. So those Bodhisattva lives, practiced for three countless eons the six paramitas, so many times being born, reincarnated as a king, having everything then you make charity, you even give away your family to other sentient beings, wife, children, possessions, like that.

There are so many stories how he practiced morality, perseverance, patience and so forth. So these Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s past lives bodhisattva how it become incredible inspiration, unbelievable inspiration to practice Dharma, to renounce ego, to sacrifice oneself for other sentient beings, to cherish other sentient beings, give inspiration to cherish other sentient beings and to renounce oneself for the happiness of other sentient beings.

The thought just came in my mind. [RL] One time I was traveling in India, maybe from Calcutta or maybe Bombay, I don’t remember [RL, GL], one of those places. [RL] Indian people really like so much the Swiss Army knife. Somebody gave me this knife, I don’t remember who, but I had this knife, and when the customs people checked, they saw this knife and they really liked it so much. [RL, GL] But I didn’t say anything at that time. Then I sat on chair and I thought, well, the Buddha gave his holy body to other sentient beings, I should be giving this knife to that person. [RL, GL] I mean this is nothing compared to the Buddha giving his holy body to other sentient beings. So that, by remembering that, it really inspired me, so the customs people were checking, the luggage was already taken outside of the building where the people were waiting. I was sitting on the chair. I saw the person. They were outside ready to put in the airplane. So I told Roger, so this person somehow looking through the window, so I said, is it okay, so we went out and opened the luggage on the way to out in the airplane, went out and opened but there were many other people so it was not so comfortable, there were many other same people working. So anyway I opened the bag then gave it to him, then I thought to tell him to do the service well, with the good heart.

I think he was very surprised to receive the knife. Then he was the same person who was going to check the body, before entering the airplane, so then I wasn’t sure whether he was going to check the body or not! [RL] Yes, I think negative thoughts coming. So he just checked the feet. [RL] Something like that. It would be good to remember all the time but I think it’s very rare to remember Buddha’s life-story. It would be good to remember it every day, so that we can practice.

THE ACTIONS OF THE BODHISATTVAS
Maybe I’ll mention one of the Buddha’s life stories, as the bodhisattva Metog Datse, the bodhisattva beautified with a flower and moon. The bodhisattva knew that if he went to the king’s palace to give teachings to the sentient beings there, there would be incredible, unbelievable benefit, for them to not be reborn in the lower realms, and to be able to directly perceive emptiness, to achieve liberation and enlightenment. So even those it doesn’t happen in this life but can happen in next life or that can achieve this in next lives. So bodhisattva saw so much benefit, by revealing Dharma, but also the bodhisattva knew that if he went there to give teachings he was going to be killed by the king. So daytime giving teachings, nighttime practicing Dharma, nighttime meditating then daytime giving teachings to other sentient beings.

So anyway the bodhisattva sacrificed his life giving Dharma. There was so much benefit that beings could receive from his teaching, even though he knew that he would be killed if he went there to give teachings. So, without any thought of difficulties, without fear, without being upset, like drinking nectar, even you get killed by others, by working for other sentient beings, by benefiting other sentient beings, for a bodhisattva, even if you get killed by others, it’s like nectar, it’s like enjoying nectar. For the bodhisattva who renounces him- or herself, cherishing other sentient beings, it’s like enjoying nectar, doesn’t matter how much you have to suffer in order to benefit for other sentient beings, it becomes great enjoyment for them. It’s like enjoying nectar for a bodhisattva, no matter how much hardship, difficulties or problems, or how much they have to go through in order to benefit for others. Because they have renounced themselves and only cherish other sentient beings, because of this attitude, no matter how difficult it is or how many problems there are, for a bodhisattva it is like drinking nectar, only happy mind, only incredibly happy mind. Like swans, it is said in the sutra teachings, “like swans entering the swimming pool,” but maybe it can be applied also to people [RL, GL], not only swans. After working so hard, being so exhausted, tired, feeling so hot, then going into the swimming pool to relax or to enjoy.

There are so many stories like that, many Buddha’s past lives as a bodhisattva. There are so many like this.

It seems that the whole point of life is to cause happiness to other sentient beings. By making it simple, even though there are so many things to do in the life, hundreds of thousands of things, the whole essence is to cause other sentient beings to be happy, even if it is just one sentient being. You use your life to make that sentient being happy. Without using the term enlightenment, these things, however, that is the very ultimate aim.

First of all, what the bodhisattva cherishes is only other sentient beings. What the bodhisattva cherishes, and how much a bodhisattva cherishes us sentient beings is so much more—there’s no comparison to how much we cherish ourselves. It is nothing comparing how much the bodhisattva cherishes us sentient beings. The bodhisattva’s concern for us is many hundred thousand times much more than how much concern we have for ourselves, than how much we cherish ourselves.

Every time a bodhisattva sees a sentient being having success or happiness, even a small happiness, it becomes a great enjoyment to the bodhisattva. He is so happy to see this, even having a small comfort, enjoyment, even a temporary happiness, even a small comfort one is able to cause. The attitude is seeing the sentient beings so precious, regarding the sentient beings so precious, at one’s own heart, more precious than one’s own life. Us ordinary beings, being overwhelmed by this worldly life, being a slave to the self-cherishing thought, ego, we regarding our own life as so precious. Our own life is so much more important than anybody’s life. “I am the most important. My life is most important, I’m most important among all the buddhas, among all the sentient beings, I’m the most precious, the most important.”

Bodhisattvas regard other sentient beings as unbelievable, so precious, they regard them as more precious than their life. So bodhisattvas, for their mind, oneself is the only object to be renounced. In order to free others from suffering and to obtain happiness for others, oneself has to be announced, [RL] to be renounced, [RL] oneself to be advertised [RL, GL], and then others to be cherished, only objects to be cherished.

The three countless eons accumulating merit, practicing the six paramitas with much hardships, no matter how long it takes time, how hard it is, in order to achieve enlightenment, even one has achieved full enlightenment, the state which has ceased all the mistakes of the mind and completed in all the qualities of realizations. So, all these in numberless lives, one practices Dharma, accumulates merit, practices purification, even before entering the path, so many lifetimes, practicing Dharma, step by step, developing the mind in the graduated path to enlightenment. All these things up to enlightenment are achieved in three countless great eons, accumulating merit, purifying obscurations, practicing the path, the Mahayana path, the six paramitas, even before that so many lifetimes practicing Dharma. The purpose or the aim of doing all these things is to benefit other sentient beings, so that you become fully qualified to do perfect work for other sentient beings, to benefit other sentient beings, to cause happiness to other sentient beings.

HOW THE BUDDHA GUIDES
Even though sentient beings are not ready to receive the teachings, which lead to the happiness of future lives, liberation and full enlightenment, even if sentient beings are not ready to receive guidance, Dharma teachings, according to the karma. If a sentient being’s karma is ripened that, even temporary happiness, to receive material support, food and clothing, even to receive advice, even consultation or whatever, even if it doesn’t fit to hear Dharma, but whatever other karma has ripened to receive other help, guidance, temporary happiness, even to cause that, for that purpose, achieve enlightenment, worked for so many lifetimes, even during the path accumulated merit, practice of purification for three countless great eons. That’s why buddhas manifest in the form of beggars to cause other sentient beings to accumulate merit by practicing charity. To cause other sentient beings to practice charity, they manifest in the form of a beggar. However they can help others, according to the level of their mind, karma of their mind. So if there is a way to help by manifesting as a beggar, to practice charity, they do that. Also manifesting as a king giving wealth, by having power then guiding other sentient beings, giving wealth and so forth. Nothing is definite in the way a buddha guides sentient beings, nothing is definite.

For some beings who have strong attachment, they can also manifest as a prostitute. Whatever can fit according to the karma, the nature of the mind of the other sentient being, whatever method can fit to bring to happiness, so then gradually to bring to enlightenment, even manifesting as a prostitute, even manifesting as a spirit, as a blind person, a lame person, manifesting as a Dharma teacher or manifesting as the abbot, giving vows, or in some even manifesting as a butcher, manifesting as a judge, manifesting as children. There are various forms, whatever method that can fit the minds of sentient being.

It is mentioned in the sutra teachings: “In the future I will manifest as having attachment even though I don’t have attachment, I will manifest as having ignorance even though I don’t have ignorance, I will manifest as having anger towards sentient beings even though I don’t have anger.” There is a quotation like that Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Meaningful to Behold. Buddha said that for those who don’t have the karma to see Buddha in the aspect of Buddha, he would manifest in the future in whatever form helps ordinary beings. “Even though I am not blind I will manifest as blind, or as lame, as old age and so forth.” Or as a spiritual teacher or an abbot.

I’m not saying that I’m a manifestation of Buddha. I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is, for those who have the karma, then Buddha manifests as the spiritual master, the Dharma teacher and guides them in Dharma. However, even a small comfort, even some temporary happiness, if the sentient being has the karma, Buddha will manifest in some way to find the chance to obtain that for the sentient being.

So for bodhisattvas the real happiness, the real enjoyment, is working for other sentient beings, benefiting other sentient beings, causing happiness for other sentient beings. The only thing they think about is other sentient beings; the only thing they work for is other sentient beings.

As it is mentioned in the Bodhicaryavatara, “As we respect the Buddha, as we respect the Victorious Ones, why can’t we respect the sentient beings?” If we respect sentient beings, that is like respecting the buddhas. If we help sentient beings, that is best offering for the buddhas. If we help sentient beings, that is the best offering, that is the best puja, to the buddhas and bodhisattvas. If we take care of sentient beings, that is taking care of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. If we work for sentient beings, it is like working for the buddhas and bodhisattvas. So it’s the same thing. If we cherish sentient beings, it’s the same as cherishing the buddhas and bodhisattvas, because this is the only thing the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas are thinking about all the time, non-stop, constantly. This one sentient being, this one insect, this one biting insect, this one flea, this one mosquito, this one person, this one person you hate, who you don’t want to see, who you don’t want to help, who you give up, this one mosquito or this one flea, this one person is like the heart of all the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas. This person is like their heart. All the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas cherish this person more than themselves. So therefore this person whom we hate, whom we have one renounced, given up, if we make offering to this sentient being, that is the best offering, the best service. If we do service even to this one sentient being. that becomes the best service to all the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Whether is it is a creature or human being, giving them happiness. For example, giving blood to this one mosquito, to this one flea, just one tiny flea, giving blood, even it’s one sentient being, one human being, giving even a small pleasure, a small comfort, this is giving happiness and comfort to all the numberless the buddhas and bodhisattvas.

GESHE JAMPA WANGDU
I think now about six or seven years ago, Gen Jampa Wangdu completed this realization, these nine levels of tranquil abiding, calm abiding at Dalhousie. Gen Jampa Wangdu was one of the ones who has completed this realization among the meditators there who were guided by one very high lama, one ascetic lama, from Drepung Monastery called Tiwo Kyoerpen Rinpoche. After he finished his geshe study, after he did the examination, the topmost learned geshe degree, lharampa, after he did the examination, he left the monastery and went to a very, very high mountain somewhere near Lhasa to meditate, to actualize the path. While he was in the monastery, he was a great meditator, while he was studying, when he was teaching others, he was a meditator but after he finished the examination he left the monastery and went to mountain to live in hermitage.

So he was carrying a few things, just Lama Tsongkhapa’s commentary on the graduated path to enlightenment, these texts, and just some of the monks needs: the robes and so forth. With just these few things he left for the hermitage, the cave to practice and actualize the path, to complete the path.

While he was looking for a cave in the very, very high mountain, it was usually foggy because it was very high, and no question that it was very cold. Although he couldn’t see anybody, stones were being thrown in front of him from time to time. Stones were being thrown in front of him, but couldn’t tell who was throwing them, so he just followed them, letting wherever the stones fell lead him on. Finally, he saw a cave, and inside the cave he saw a complete skeleton sitting in meditation position. [GL, RL] He sat down and offered a mandala. He was carrying a mandala set because that is part of the preliminary practices, to create the cause for realizations, that’s one important practice for to have quick realizations. After finishing offering the mandala, the skeleton that was sitting like this in the cave, collapsed. [GL, RL]. Then he decided that this was the place to practice the path. He decided to live in that cave, and did so until he had to escape to India, maybe just a few years.

So this Tiwo Kyoerpen Rinpoche lived in Dalhousie which is near to Dharamsala. Dalhousie is also a very nice place, but extremely cold in the wintertime, because I went to school there for six months. One of the tantric colleges used to be there, the upper tantric college and some of the monks from Sera lived there. This was before there was a Tibetan settlement there, but now maybe there are still many more.

So Rinpoche became the main guide in Dalhousie. There were quite a number of other followers, meditators living ascetic life and actualizing the path, many of them are very learned geshes. So they were experimenting on the path.

So Gen Jampa Wangdu was there. He was at Buxa and I remember I was studying inside the house. I was living inside the house, then at that time I didn’t know Gen Jampa Wangdu. We just meet each other I don’t remember even having a talk. His room was outside, on the courtyard, what’s it called? Outside the door, then like a balcony? It’s just one story, with bamboo, the monks they go in forest and cut the bamboo then crush, then you make house, like that. So Gen Jampa Wangdu lived outside and I don’t remember even talking to him, just rarely seeing him , from time to time. When he went outside he didn’t speak, he just went straight to do his practices. He had already been there after escaping Tibet two or three years earlier, so for a long time he had practiced the lam-rim, all day long, all day. I think Geshe-la did lam-rim practice in Tolungpa’s cave, one of the Kadampa geshes. Gen Jampa Wangdu he told me that he spent all day long doing this preliminary practices of the Jorcho, the morning prayers that you do here. Here you do them on the basis of the Guru Puja but it is basically a similar practice, the preparatory practice doesn’t have some of those subjects, Highest Tantra practice. Some of the practices which are in the Guru Puja don’t happen there, like those extensive offerings, the different types of offerings, the secret offerings inner offering and so forth. There is a sutra way and also a tantra way one can do the preparatory practice. This is how to meditate on the lam-rim. This morning prayer you have been doing here is the Guru Puja, which is related to Highest Yoga Tantra practice. So by combining it, this way of doing the requesting prayer to the lineage lamas and integrating it with the preparatory practice, one is practicing the Guru Puja. However, the preparatory practice itself one can practice with sutra or according to tantra.

So this is how to meditate on lam-rim, this preparatory practice, the morning prayers, as I mentioned day before yesterday or one of the nights, what Manjushri advised Lama Tsongkhapa, the answer to what one should do to quickly realize the graduated path to enlightenment—the very important question—the whole answer what Manjushri advised is contained in this preparatory practice. So, this is how to meditate on the lam-rim, how to meditate on the graduated path to enlightenment. By doing this preparatory practice or Lama Chöpa, Guru Puja, then one meditates on the lam-rim, then one meditates on the path, trains the mind. This is the way how to do meditations on the graduated path, how to practice the graduated path to enlightenment.

So Gen Jampa Wangdu told me that all day long he practiced the preparatory practice, this practice of what you do in the mornings, not the Guru Puja but the preparatory, basically similar, there’s some things not there, some of the highest tantra practice is not there, not in the preparatory practice. So however, he did very elaborately, with much meditation, with a lot of prostrations. He did this very elaborately with meditation, all day long.

Then did the taking the essence, the flower pill. With this, one doesn’t have to outside all the time to look for food, which saves much time and also which helps the mind, making it very fine, very clear, and then that helps with the concentration. So Gen Jampa Wangdu did those practices there. In Dalhousie he accomplished calm abiding, which has nine levels. This was before I made the connection, before I took teachings from Gen Jampa Wangdu. Gen Jampa Wangdu became the best friend of Lama and myself, when we went to Dharamsala. When he comes to Tushita, it is the best time to, best enjoyment, because mostly what he talks about is his own stories. Gen Jampa Wangdu was telling us how naughty he was in his early life in Sera Je monastery, how he was not studying but dop-dopdop-dop means fighting or competing who’s braver—and not following the monastic program. They have to do service, they have to offer tea, when there’s a puja which has tea served, then the dop-dops offer tea. I don’t know whether that’s part of monastic regulations or just because they like to serve the tea. [RL, GL] I think, Gen Jampa Wangdu was telling us that dop-dops serve tea and food like the very buttery rice or rice with fruit they serve one special times. So anyway, Gen Jampa Wangdu said, serving tea, there is butter on top of the tea so if you pour straight, and you start from the beginning of the line, with the old monks, then when you serve straight this way they don’t get much butter. So when it comes to his bowl, then more butter. [RL, GL]

So anyway, then Lama said “dikchen” which means heavy negative karma, but Gen Jampa Wangdu said, “Oh, not heavy karma but a little bit is created. Not heavy karma but little bit!”

However, in his later life he lived an ascetic life and renounced completely the attachment clinging to this life, and generated all three principals of the path, the lam-rim teaching, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, all these lam-rim teachings, he has all this in the mind, in his experience, and also reached very high tantra, Six Yogas of Naropa, completion and generation state and even reached high level of tantra, completion path, clear light and illusory body, where you are free from death caused by delusion and karma, where you are free from death which is caused by karma and delusion. He reached this stage in this life and became a real yogi, an unbelievable, extremely fortunate being. Just having this realization of bodhicitta is in itself unbelievable, without talking about tantra. Just having that realization of bodhicitta is an unbelievably successful person, to be able to become bodhisattva in that life is an unbelievably successful person without talking tantra realizations.

As I mentioned, those stories show how sacrificing life even for one sentient being with unbearable compassion purifies so much negative karma and accumulates unbelievable merit. Asanga, and this great yogi Ngagpa Chöpawa’s disciple, Getsul Tsimbulwa, as I mentioned those stories, who sacrificed the life even for one sentient being, how unbelievable, incredible negative karma, incredible purification, so many obscurations were purified, inconceivable merit was accumulated. So there is no question if you have actual realization of bodhicitta, every for hour there is infinite merit. If you have unbearable compassion towards all sentient beings, every action—walking, eating, sleeping, every action—is purely without any stain of self-cherishing, every action is done purely for other sentient beings, every action becomes unbelievable purification. So all those benefits of the bodhicitta, all those benefits of bodhicitta mentioned in the first chapter of the Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life by the great bodhisattva Shantideva. One who has bodhicitta, every day, every hour, every minute, incredible purification, accumulates merit, talking about the benefits of bodhicitta, the bodhisattva receives all this profit, all this benefit, purification and accumulate merit within every minute, so much, inconceivable. So this is still without talking about the powers, benefits of the wisdom realizing emptiness, this is without talking that.

There is no question about who has actualized the clear light, who has actualized the subtle wisdom, clear light, then unbelievably powerful for purification, for purification it’s unbelievable powerful.

Gen Jampa Wangdu used to tell us about his early life stories in the monastery, not studying, being naughty and fighting, teasing other monks, young and old. One time, when he was dop-dop, one of the things that Gen Jampa Wangdu explained that he did was, he was standing above the gate of the monastery, with his hand full of spit and the nose [GL], full of spit and snot, [GL] so he was carrying in the hands like this and anybody who comes through the gate to hit [GL, RL]. So he was waiting like this. Then one old monk came with a bald head and he hit on that, went chak! like this on the head.

Then he said, “Look at who’s that monk is. It’s a teacher of Geshe Rabten.” [GL] Geshe Rabten is one of Gen Jampa Wangdu’s guru, Geshe Rabten is was my first guru, who started to teach me philosophy and debating. So for so many years in Tibet, Geshe Rabten was Gen Jampa Wangdu’s long time, main teacher. Then lately, the later part of life, Gen Jampa Wangdu received guidance from His Holiness, on his practice. So, Gen Jampa Wangdu can go to see His Holiness whenever he has some questions, to check his practice or to offer his realizations, to make offerings of his realizations to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He never has to make an appointment, he never has to go through the secretary, every time he can go straight to see His Holiness. The only time he had to go through secretary was to request His Holiness to give the Gyalwa Gyatso initiation, The secret aspect of Chenrezig, the Compassion Buddha. Chenrezig has three aspects, outer, inner and secret, so this the secret aspect, so he requested His Holiness for this initiation. I think there’s a big area of Tibet called ?Tiwo Kampa. So this is Geshe Rabten’s teacher, this old monk, who came out, who got all the spit on the head, Geshe Rabten’s guru. I don’t know whether Gen Jampa Wangdu had a connection with Geshe Rabten at that time or not. Maybe there was a connection. Then there was Geshe Rabten’s guru from home monastery, this Geshe Jampa, something anyway, I don’t remember. Geshe Rabten’s home teacher, home monastery teacher, very important teacher, the first one who guided Geshe Rabten Rinpoche, the first teacher who took care of Geshe Rabten from home.

So anyway, so the old monk didn’t get upset, no sign of being upset. He just went straight on very peacefully and after some time wiped off his zen, his robe. It didn’t affect, it didn’t even shock him, it didn’t affect his mind. [RL] So Gen Jampa Wangdu, when he saw this was Geshe Rabten’s teacher, the old monk, then he just ran away. [GL, RL] Then he ran away to the other side of the gate. Geshe-la said he was so scared. [RL, GL]

So anyway, so Gen Jampa Wangdu said that, so one time, thieves came in his house at Dharamsala. I think there was a time that many thieves coming to steal things from different parts of [RL], mainly Tushita and different places around there. There was one time that a lot of thieves coming to, taking things away.

So one day, Gen Jampa Wangdu went for teachings or something outside. I think maybe were teaching from His Holiness, maybe we were together, one of those teachings. So he came back. At that time Geshe-la already had connection with Western people. Usually he never taught Dharma, he never accepted disciples. One of his relatives was a nun who belonged to one rich family in Nepal. She came there with lots of offerings, butter, with many big rounds of butter, she brought, because these monks were living in hermitage, what they need is to make Tibetan butter tea, so they needed butter and things like that. So she came with lots of offerings like this. She went in the cave and asked for teachings. So Gen Jampa Wangdu said, he said, “I don’t know any Dharma. I only know how to do prostrations.” So Gen Jampa Wangdu told this nun, “Only what I know is how to do prostrations. So you do like this. You lay down and then you put your forehead on the ground, then you should get up as quick as possible, that means getting up from the samsara, which means being free from samsara.” So Gen Jampa Wangdu said, “That is all that I know. So then you take all these offerings and you go away.”

Anyway, but there was one German girl who had been studying for a long time in Dharamsala in the Medical Center. Somehow she has been staying in one room built near. So she was able to read Tibetan text. So after Geshe Rabten left from that house in Dharamsala, built by Geshe Rabten himself. At that time Lama was building Tushita, the room there. So Lama offered, he saved the stones or the boards, a room, something anyway. So after Geshe Rabten left for Switzerland then Gen Jampa Wangdu was asked to stay in Geshe Rabten’s house. Before that Gen Jampa Wangdu was living on the mountain. There was one house up there on the mountain. I don’t know who built it. Anyway, so at that time she was staying in one of the rooms behind somewhere, close, behind to Geshe-la’s house. So because she was studying Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, she came down every day, one page, two pages, like that, to go over and discuss. Then it reached, from beginning it reached to the guru devotion that part already, all the preliminaries are gone. So reached the excellent meditation on guru devotion.

So up to that they didn’t make their relationship as guru and disciple. So they just discussed, going over the text. So when it comes to the point, guru devotion, that subject, because she was very impressed with Geshe-la’s explanations, all the help, the teachings, she came and did prostrations and requested him to be her guru. So somehow she must have very strong karma from past lives, even though usually Gen Jampa Wangdu he didn’t accept disciples.

One time, quite some time ago before that, we requested Geshe-la if he could come to the West. At that time, Gen Jampa Wangdu mentioned what is called the Kadampa’s teaching, the ten innermost jewels. Geshe-la said that the Kadampa’s ten innermost jewels is the basic practice that ascetics, renounced beings, practice. This is how they live their life, using the ten innermost jewels, the Kadampa geshes’ advice. The aim that you have in your heart is Dharma. In other words, in your life what you do with the life, the main thing you have in your heart is the Dharma. The aim in your heart, what is in your heart, is relying upon the Dharma. Then the aim of the Dharma, it relies upon the ascetic, the literal translation is the beggar, but here what ascetic means is being renounced. The real meaning, as I mentioned before, is renouncing attachment to this life. So then the aim of the beggar is to rely upon the dry cave.

And the three vajras, that you cannot be caught by others, do you remember? Three what? Convictions?- “Convictions” means what? [Response inaudible] By others influencing you. You are unable to be influenced by others, that you cannot be caught, you can’t get caught, do things due to others influence.

So anyway, Gen Jampa Wangdu mentioned just that, this Kadampa, the ten innermost jewels. So he just said that, the answer, so he didn’t accept to go to the West.

So at that time, when she asked him then somehow already quite a lot of teachings were given. So Geshe-la said that it happened to be that he had to accept. Then he taught her the whole lam-rim. I think maybe there was also another Austrian, German or Austrian. Maybe there were others, I don’t know, later. Then somehow, old students received commentaries on the Chakrasamvara, the higher Heruka. So some old students received teachings from Gen Jampa Wangdu.

During the First Dharma Celebration, Lama asked Gen Jampa Wangdu to teach this pill retreat. Then many Sangha and also lay took these teachings from Gen Jampa Wangdu and then many of them did retreat, which is twenty-one days. Somehow some could not even do it. They get very sick. Some even got sick on the first day, maybe one monk. A few could not continue, but I think mostly they were able to complete twenty-one days, this pill retreat. This is the length of time for the first retreat, then after that, then you can do it any time, for however long you like.

One day, when we were taking teaching from His Holiness, Geshe-la came back to his room to find his watch which was on the table had been stolen by a thief. Gen Jampa Wangdu said he felt so happy that his watch was stolen by the thief. He felt so happy. I was talking about bodhicitta before, how a bodhisattva cherishes sentient beings so much, much more, a hundred thousand times more than we cherish ourselves. So this story becomes long but actually the point is this. Geshe-la felt so happy when he found out that his watch was stolen by a thief.

When he was with Lama and me, he told us for seven years that he had never gone to anybody’s house for his own purpose. That means that Gen Jampa Wangdu for seven years ago had done no actions for himself, no actions were done for his own happiness. It means that seven years ago that he actualized bodhicitta. It means that seven years ago that Gen Jampa Wangdu has actualized bodhicitta.

It didn’t mean that he had never been to other people’s houses in seven years, he is not saying that. So for seven years ago that he went to nobody’s house for his own happiness. So it means it has been seven years that no actions are done for himself, for his own happiness. What it means is that every single action of body, speech and mind, every single action that was done is purely to eliminate sufferings of other sentient beings and to obtain happiness for other sentient beings. That’s what this implies.

THOGME ZANGPO AND THE THIEVES
Similarly, the bodhisattva Thogme Zangpo, who wrote this incredible, very effective teaching, The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, was invited to a monastery somewhere to give teachings where people made a lot of offerings. On the way back to his hermitage from the monastery, he met thieves, who stolen all the offerings, clothing and so forth. They beat up Thogme Zangpo’s servants and bound their hands. That part I’m not a hundred percent sure. Then bodhisattva Thogme Zangpo asked the thieves to beat him rather than beating the servants. Anyway, what Thogme Zangpo did is, as the thieves took the things the bodhisattva Thogme Zangpo dedicated and made offering to the thieves. What the thieves took, he made offering, he dedicated, he offered to the thieves.

In this way maybe the thieves didn’t create negative karma. If somebody is trying to steal, then if you let it go, if you offer it to the person, then they don’t create the negative karma of stealing. If you don’t let go, if you think, “This is mine,” then for the other person who took it, it becomes stealing because it belonged to others. So that person didn’t let go his mind, so then the other person was stealing, taking away, then taking it away, it becomes stealing. So it also helps the other being to not create complete negative karma of stealing.

Not only did Thogme Zangpo offered his things to the thieves, because he also did dedication, dedicated the merits of giving these materials to the thieves. He also advised the thieves, “Don’t go this way towards the monastery because otherwise you will be beaten [GL]. So you go this way.” So he also guided the thieves where to go. [RL]

It becomes a long story but the main point was bodhicitta, that we were talking about before.

THE SANGHA AS OBJECTS OF REFUGE
So this talk came from the Sangha [RL], original talk from the Sangha, [RL]the devotional object. Like that again [RL], that how the Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s past lives as bodhisattvas are so inspiring to a develop a good heart, to practice bodhicitta and the paramitas, charity and so forth. Stories such as Lama Tsongkhapa’s life story or Milarepa’s life story, who became enlightened within a few years by practicing the graduated path to enlightenment, especially with maha-anuttara yoga tantra. By hearing the stories of the lineage lamas, how they practiced Dharma, then how they withstood many hardships, or how they practiced, how they achieved realizations, all these things. So that inspires us and we receive blessings and then it makes us to practice the path, actualize the graduated path to enlightenment. Then we can become like those great saints, the holy beings, bodhisattvas, then we ourselves can become a buddha, a fully enlightened being.

So the point was, by taking refuge in Sangha then one should not follow the wrong guide who misleads.

So, if the object does not have power to save oneself from the samsara, from the lower realms’ sufferings, then the object that one devotes to is the wrong object, is a wrong guide, especially if he only leads one, only makes one create the cause of samsara and cause of lower realm in particular. So therefore, before one generates devotion towards somebody, before one relies upon somebody, one has to analyze whether this is a worthwhile object or whether it has the power to help, to lead oneself to achieve enlightenment, liberation, full enlightenment, like this.

So this morning’s topic goes back to Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche. [RL]

So I think I’ll stop here. [RL] This is where it started from, to the hell realms [GL] and that’s the original one. So I’ll stop here.

HOW NEGATIVE KARMA INCREASES
Then maybe one hour, around that break, then do retreat, with sessions at one place, or one can also do it with work. It doesn’t become strict but may take some time because of working in the daytime. So one can do retreat at home, one or two sessions at home, in the morning or evening and working in the daytime. One can also do that, or before going to bed, then recite a number of mantras.

So as I mentioned that before, one or two times, then this will be the third time. [RL, GL] Every single negative karma, even the tiny negative karma that is done today, if it is not purified before going to bed, if it is not confessed, then it increases. It becomes double next day, triple the third day. It’s like planting one small seed, and from that a tree grows, then many branches and then so many millions of seeds from one big tree. Then all that is coming from one small seed. So like that, that is the nature of the phenomena. From one seed so many seeds are produced, growing into so many trees.

Similarly, inner karma expands but it is much more expandable than outside phenomena. So it increases, double the next day, triple the third day, so that one tiny negative karma becomes like the Earth. As the years go, after some time it becomes like the Earth. Like from one atom it becomes the Earth. Like from one drop is increases to becomes the Atlantic Ocean. So like that, one tiny negative karma, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, it increases. It becomes like the Earth, uncountable in number, like atoms of this Earth. And when death comes, at the time of death then karma becomes like a mountain, like the Earth, so increased and having become so heavy. So, at the death there is also a very heavy death.

Even if the person doesn’t have a story, didn’t do anything criminal, isn’t regarded as having broken the law of the country and killed human beings so forth—even if he didn’t have a reputation as a criminal, in the reality the negative karma is much more worse than that, much more, by increasing it becomes so huge. So therefore, the more negative karma there is, the more obstacles there are, and so it is more difficult to actualize the realizations of the path to enlightenment, to achieve liberation and full enlightenment. So there are more obstacles to do perfect work for sentient beings, to help other sentient beings.

So therefore, as Pabongka Rinpoche, this great enlightened being, mentioned in his lam-rim teachings, having killed one tiny insect today, after fifteen days without purifying before going to bed, the negative karma becomes as heavy as having killed one human being. This is after only fifteen days, but even after that they keep becoming heavier and heavier. Here we are just talking about one negative karma, but there are so many negative karmas with the mind, accumulated through the mind, speech and body that I mentioned earlier. Any action that is done with anger and ignorance, the ignorance of karma, not knowing Dharma, becomes nonvirtue, and especially the actions done with the attachment clinging to this life, which happens constantly. When we do not practice Dharma, this is the way of our life. This is the way of our life, instinctively, according to the scientists or psychologists, the subconscious or whatever.

When we do not practice Dharma, when we do not apply the lam-rim meditations in our daily life, then all the rest of the time, when it left up to ourselves, when it is left up to the mind, to the delusions, our mind gets overwhelmed by attachment clinging to this life. From the beginningless rebirth, one has been addicted or habituated to delusions, so controlled by delusions, so habituated, so addicted, such as attachment. So when we leave it up to ourselves, or the mind, without applying the meditations, our mind gets overwhelmed by attachment clinging to this life. This is our everyday life’s normal attitude when we do not practice Dharma, when we do not remember impermanence and death and so forth. So therefore, in our daily life actions, none of the actions become Dharma, but they become nonvirtue, negative karma, which results in rebirth in the lower realms.

So therefore, in one day, in this week, month, year, from birth, from beginningless rebirth, there is so much that we have created that we have not yet experienced. And they have been increased so much. So, there is so much to purify. That’s why realizations are not easy. For a few people, just one or two months, just a few months doing retreat, it is possible to have realizations, to realize emptiness, bodhicitta, renunciation. For a very few people who has accumulated a lot of merit, did a lot of purification already and whose negative karma is very thin and who did a lot of practice in the past life, in this life, even within a few months, even doing retreat, even doing the practice even within one week, a few days, this person can have experiences, even by just listening to the teachings the person get experience, the person is able to have realizations of the path. So those few cases, those whose mind is ready, already prepared like that from the past, it is possible. Generally, however, just a few months doing retreat can’t easily achieve all these realizations. So why is it hard to realize, why it is not easy to realize, that is because as I have just mentioned, all those negative karmas, all these obstacles from beginningless rebirth. There is so much to purify. Without that, the realizations don’t happen easily.

So how easy it is to generate a realization of the graduated path to enlightenment, how easy it is to get experience of the meditations, all these things depend on how few obstacles, obscurations one has. So therefore, the purification becomes an extremely important answer, a solution for attainment of realizations of the graduated path to enlightenment for the sake of other sentient beings. To stop multiplying past negative karmas, to purify the past one and to stop them multiplying again, continuously. So for that reason, practices such as the Vajrasattva practice become extremely important.

So in the way, practicing Dharma means two things: purifying the past negative karma already created, the cause of suffering, the cause of the life’s problems which we already created in the past. Practicing Dharma means purifying all the past negative karmas. So that is one solution, to purify the past ones, the cause of the life problems, the cause of the sufferings.

Then the other very important Dharma practice is to stop creating negative karma again. So that one is one very important Dharma practice, to stop creating the negative karma again. Otherwise, the practice of purification has no end, because one continuously creates negative karma, so the practice of preliminaries, doing prostrations and purification, Vajrasattva, has no end. So one has to do it again and again, again and again. So it goes on and on like that. So in all the lives it goes on and on like that, so there is no end. There is no end for creating negative karma, so therefore there is no end for purification. So there is no end for Vajrasattva retreat. [RL, GL] Also there is no end for the initiations. [RL, GL]
So the other Dharma practice is to stop creating negative karma again.

So Dharma practice contains these two extremely important answers, contains these two extremely important solutions. What to do in order to not experience the problem again in the coming years and the future lives, the solution is to not create the cause again. And the other solution is to purify the cause already created in the past, this life and past lives.

THE NEED FOR PURIFICATION
Therefore, even if one’s own aim to practice Dharma is not for the happiness of this life, even if one has renounced this life’s happiness, even if one doesn’t seek the happiness of this life, but only the happiness of future lives, liberation and full enlightenment, practicing Dharma involves purifying past negative karmas and to stop creating again the cause of the problems. This way naturally, automatically takes care of this life, automatically, by the way, it’s taken care of. Dharma practice takes care of this life. Even if the happiness of this life is not one’s own aim, even if this is not what you are looking for, even if one doesn’t have attachment clinging to this life’s happiness, but by practicing Dharma, naturally, by the way, this life is taken care of—health, long life, everything is taken care of. Because all the obstacles, untimely death, cancer, AIDS, so forth, all the, unhealthy, relationship problems, everything comes from negative karma, all, any undesirable thing we experience comes from negative karma, so practicing Dharma purifies the past negative karmas, so it becomes an extremely important solution.

So even if somebody want to have very successful business, if you don’t have negative karma, those ten nonvirtuous actions, such as stealing and covetousness and telling lies, if one has purified those negative karmas, then there’s nothing, then there’s no cause for oneself to experience obstacles, blockage, somebody interfering, somebody doesn’t let you have success. Somehow all these things are the result of stealing and telling lies and covetousness and so forth—not receiving people to buy, clients, not receiving people, so whether it’s a hospital, doctors not receiving patients or business people not receiving clients, buyers, customers or if you are running a restaurant, not receiving people to eat, all the chairs are empty [GL], no people come, or hotels, so all these things, even businesses not becoming successful. All these things come from nonvirtue, from covetousness, not coughing [GL, RL]. Not cough, covetousness [RL]. I didn’t mean coughing interferes with business [GL], maybe it does sometimes. Anyway, everything—all the obstacles, not having success, wishes not being fulfilled—is related with negative karma. All these obstacles come from one’s own mind, and one’s own mind the negative karma, the negative intention. So therefore, so if one does not purify, then the negative karma’s there, so therefore then one experience the result, the obstacles.

Then, if one purifies, as much as one is able to purify then one doesn’t experience that result, the obstacles. Then, if there are no obstacles there’s success.

Then also, stopping creating negative karma again, which means living in morality, abstaining from stealing, covetousness, telling lies and so forth, living in those ten virtues, abstaining from the ten nonvirtues, this brings the success, this brings all the success, the complete opposite of nonvirtue—receiving plenty of people, so many people that one has to expand the business, one has to develop more. Therefore the real answer is Dharma, to any life problems, to whatever kind of problem. The answer, the solution, to any kind of problem is only Dharma; the real solution is only Dharma. Any kind of success is dependent on good karma, therefore, it’s only Dharma. Success only comes from Dharma, virtuous actions. Dharma becomes the answer in every situation, to have success or to be free from problems, obstacles. If you don’t want to experience these problems, to continue these problems, because everything comes from one’s own mind, happiness, suffering, everything comes from one’s own mind, the attitude, that depends on the attitude, so all the sufferings come from one’s own negative attitude, one’s impure mind. All the happiness comes from the positive attitude, the virtuous attitude. Therefore, because of this, all the solutions, the real solution for everything is only Dharma.

Otherwise, no matter how much a person has education, from university, the economic study, then how many degrees the person has, how high that degree is or how smart or clever the person is, if the person doesn’t have good luck—which means merit, good karma—if the person doesn’t have merit, no matter how smart the person is, he cannot have success in business or whatever. No matter how much education the person has, having studied from books or from other people with professional education, even if he becomes a professional person, that does not necessarily mean he will be successful all the time, forever, it doesn’t mean that. So there are people who were millionaires yesterday and beggars today. Today the whole business has completely collapsed, then although he has never had to worry about taking care of family, the expenses of the family, and even paying rent for the house, all of sudden everything is changed, the whole business collapsed and then everything fell, even the things that we never have to worry then now become great concern, even how to pay off those day-to-day living expenses.

Just having an education, just having studied at university is not enough; that alone is not the answer. It helps, it becomes a condition, but it’s not the main cause. The main cause is your own the positive intention, the virtuous intention, good karma. Good karma, good luck, that is the main cause. Your own mind, the positive attitude, is the main cause. Those external factors, education, degrees, cleverness or the means, the policy and all these things, these are conditions, not the main cause. But in the view of the ordinary people, they never talk about success coming from one’s own mind. They don’t understand that it has to come from one’s own positive mind. They don’t know that the main cause is one’s own mind, the main cause of the problem, main cause of success. Therefore, since they don’t understand about reincarnation, karma, only thing they think of is that these outside things are the main cause of success—education, degree, cleverness and so forth. But they are just conditions; they help but they are not the main answer. They are not the only answer; they are not the main solution.

The main solution is good karma. Dharma practice is the main solution, that is the main answer. So without that you can’t have success. So therefore that is the main answer, the main solution. Then on the basis of good karma if you have those other experiences, they becomes conditions. Only then they can help to have success; they are secondary things. So your own mind, positive attitude, the good heart, thought of benefiting others, that is the main cause of success.

So therefore, anyway. [RL, GL] Dharma practice, the practice of purification, for realizations it’s the most important one, most important project. Then, by the way, it takes care of many other things such as health. It is the solution for so much negative karma that is already created, which is the cause of AIDS, the cause of cancer, the cause of arthritis, the cause of all these things. By thinking of achieving enlightenment, by actualizing the lam-rim path, and for that purpose doing purification practices, by the way, it purifies the negative karmas of AIDS, cancer, all these various diseases that we are experiencing, that we will be experiencing, it purifies the cause. And so, by the way it takes care of this life. It purifies the cause of problems of this life, by the way. So itself becomes cause of long life, everything, to not receive harm from other people, black magic or whatever. That is also taken care of if we practice Dharma, if we do purification that also doesn’t happen. So this life is taken care of by the way. All the answers in that, Dharma, purifying past negative karmas and to not create the cause again.

So yeah, we stop here.

[Dedication prayers]

[End of Discourse]

[End of Entire Teaching]