Working at the Dharma Center

There is a need for organizations in order to be able to help others, to be able to help more sentient beings. As an individual we can't do much. We need to be organized. The hippie attitude, from the 1960s or 1970s—to live in the mountains or on a farm and be free to do what you want—would, of course, reject organizations, rules, and formal discipline. Of course, rules that don't benefit the mind and which harm others are good to be rejected. It is wise to reject organizations that are harmful to the minds of oneself and others. But the statement that individual people can create their own religion needs to be analyzed. If the religion has no meaning or is harmful, then it is wise to reject it.

The purpose of Dharma center organizations is for you and your friends to learn more, to deepen your understanding, to help each other, to inspire each other, and, most importantly, to develop realizations of the path to enlightenment. Then you can overcome the sufferings of samsara by ceasing the cause: delusion, by practicing together the Buddha's teachings, especially the three principle aspects of the path to enlightenment: renunciation, bodhicitta, and correct view.

You can achieve enlightenment by ceasing the subtle defilements when you practice the Mahayana path. By practicing the Mahayana path you achieve both freedom from samsara and full enlightenment. If you are looking for the best, longest-lasting, highest quality happiness, then look for enlightenment—especially to benefit others.

Another thing—and this is extremely important—as a group, you can educate other beings. You can teach them Dharma, introduce the path, and also introduce them to the idea that there is more than happiness just in this life. There is happiness in future lives, in all coming future lives, as well as the ultimate happiness—freedom from samsara and fullest enlightenment.

So, to help many people you need organizations. As a group, it's easy to help many others in many ways. Even for teaching Dharma, you need organizations. You need a place, facilities, and funds for many things, including teachers, to be able to help others. You need a director, a cook, a bookkeeper, an accountant—so many things to be able to do it efficiently. As you want to do more to benefit others more extensively, there is social service. Of course, the best social service is giving Dharma, which removes the root of others' sufferings.

So, that's the purpose, that is why we need organizations.

Dear one,
Thank you for your letter. I have heard your thoughts and your situation, and also your background. In essence, what I want to say is that the center has limited finances. It can’t feed the whole world. That is the background of the center. In the world, there are so many people who need help: homeless, hungry people, etc. People think only of this world, but there are numberless worlds. I heard there are volunteers who do their work as agreed and do get pocket money. So, I would like to request humbly of you: it is very important for you to take responsibility and fulfill the offer of service to the center, to sentient beings, and to Buddha's teachings. The center is there to provide what is needed to educate sentient beings in Dharma, liberate them from samsara, and bring them to full enlightenment.

Please think many times during the day: “The purpose of my life is to free others from suffering; I'm here to serve others. All sentient beings are the source of my realizations and enlightenment. They are very kind, most kind.”

There are different ways to meditate on this. An extensive way is to think that all your happiness of the three times come from your good karma. Your good karma is something you have been able to generate due to the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhas comes from bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas come from bodhicitta. Bodhicitta comes from the existence of obscured suffering sentient beings.

With much love and prayer, and please, with this positive mind, please enjoy your life at the center.

Dear ones,
For protection you need the White Umbrella Tibetan text (this is mantra, prayers, and benefits). I will send it to you. Along with this is the mantra for protection from fire—the Mantra Heart of Vairochana.

Regarding the White Umbrella Tibetan text, this should be printed and pasted onto big billboards at the four corners of the retreat land, also in retreatants’ own retreat houses and boundaries. It should at least be in the four directions (or monastery, city, and town, area).

The mantras and texts that are to be posted around the land should be blessed. If there is a very good practitioner or a high lama, then ask him or her to bless them to make them more powerful. Otherwise you can bless them yourselves, or ask one of the retreatants.

Method for Blessing

Refuge:
In your mind, make a strong request to Guru, Buddha, and Sangha to absorb into the texts. Make a strong request and think they all absorb into the texts. Recite the mantra of dependent arising 21 times. It is important to have strong faith in this method and protection.

By having White Umbrella mantra, one is unable to be harmed by contagious disease or from the elements, such as water, fire, wind, and earth. It provides protection from wars, enemies, and people wanting to harm.

Each person at the retreat land should take it in turns to recite White Umbrella prayer. Each person does it for a week and rotates like that, so it is always being recited by someone on the land. There is great benefit for the retreat land and also for the individual.

The Mantra Heart of Vairochana just needs to be displayed around, in people’s houses, also at the four corners of the land.

My most precious brothers and sisters,
In order to be able find and buy a retreat center, please recite the Sanghata Sutra 108 times and the Golden Light Sutra once.

You can also organize a special day where you offer drinks, food, snacks, English food, mashed potato…just joking!

You can see in the world that so many people get an education, then wealth, power, and so forth, and then they use it to harm others, harm the world, and harm themselves. What you are doing is the opposite, bringing joy, freedom, happiness, peace, now and also in the future, forever, to so many sentient beings, not just for yourself, your family, England, the rest of the world, but for all sentient beings.

This is the total opposite to what most people do in the world. Your aim is not only for temporary peace and happiness, your main aim is for ultimate peace and happiness, total liberation from the suffering of samsara, great liberation, peerless happiness, and full enlightenment.

So, therefore, develop compassion and wisdom and enjoy, be happy! Thank you very much.

With much love and prayer from the Mickey Mouse from the Himalayan Mountain who is currently at Osel Ling.

Also, zillions of thanks to Geshe-la, and billions of thanks to all the rest – the director, education manager, house manager, bookshop manager, cook, book-keeper, Geshe-la’s attendant, all the students, and everyone who comes to serve and practice.

People come to the Dharma center for purification, to achieve liberation and enlightenment, so such an easy way to help them is to have a sutra playing so they can hear it as they are resting or working.

You can play the Sanghata Sutra or other sutras. Hearing the sutras can purify not only the ten non-virtuous actions, but also the five extremely heinous non-virtues and prevent rebirth in the lower realms.

It is very good to have a sutra recited by a holy being (such as the recording of Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche reciting the Sanghata Sutra) so that there is a stronger effect from the blessing of their speech. Or you can have the sutra recited by someone whose voice is enchanting, and who flies like to listen to.

My very dear fortunate ones, whose hearts are opened for liberation and to bring others, who are countless, to liberation and full enlightenment.

I am very happy to hear that the group is stable, continuing to learn the path to enlightenment and practice.

Please continue to learn from the geshe as much as possible while he is there. Later, you will rejoice so much. Even after you have achieved enlightenment and after you have enlightened all suffering beings, still you will enjoy the Dharma. Even at that time, there is nothing in life better than meditating on and practicing the lamrim. This is the best life, because it is not suffering, and you attain everything from this. You can give all happiness to all suffering beings.

With much love and prayers for all you to have meaningful lives ...