So, I want to explain more about something that I mentioned before; otherwise, some people may misunderstand. It’s not that arhats, higher bodhisattvas and buddhas don’t see what we see; they see what we see. It doesn’t mean that they don’t see this table, this flower or this house; it doesn’t mean that they don’t see the world that we see, that we experience. You shouldn’t think in that way. Of course, there are phenomena that arhats cannot see because they don’t have omniscience. Why don’t they have omniscience? Because they haven’t completed the merit of wisdom and the merit of virtue. (The merit of virtue can also be called the merit of fortune.) It can be said that the merit of wisdom causes the dharmakaya and the merit of virtue causes the rupakaya. There’s a dedication prayer that relates to this: “Due to these merits, may all living beings complete the merit of wisdom (the merit collected by meditating on and understanding emptiness) and the merit of virtue and achieve the two holy kayas (dharmakaya and rupakaya).”

Even though arhats have skies of inconceivable qualities, they don’t have omniscience because they haven’t completed the two types of merits. Arhats have clairvoyance, miracle powers and many other realizations, and they can benefit sentient beings in many different ways; however, they haven’t abandoned the four causes of unknowing. One thing is that they aren’t fully able to see subtle karma, for the reason that I explained before. Also, they cannot see things that are at an unbelievable distance or happened an inconceivable time ago. The capacity to see that they have is unbelievable, but there is something much beyond even that. They also cannot see the secret qualities and actions of the buddhas. The secret qualities and actions of a buddha can be seen only by a buddha’s omniscient mind. Even a tenth bhumi bodhisattva, who has inconceivable qualities, far more qualities than an arhat, cannot see them.

I’m not sure whether the following story is related to these four causes of unknowing; it could be connected to not being able to see things at an unbelievable distance or after a great length of time and not being able to see subtle karma. With his psychic power, Maudgalyayana went to the preta realm or to one of the hells (I don’t remember which) to see and benefit the teacher of a Hindu called [Kundegyu], who was still in the human realm. When Maudgalyayana met the teacher, he sent a message to his disciples in the human realm, saying, “Please don’t circumambulate my stupa.” After this teacher had passed away, his Hindu disciples had built a stupa containing his ashes, and each time they circumambulated it, his suffering in the hell realm would increase.

When Maudgalyayana returned to the human world and passed this message to the Hindu guru’s followers, the followers all got upset and angry and told Maudgalyayana that he was lying. They then asked him, “Where is your mother?’ Somehow, at that time, he couldn’t tell them where his mother was, either because she had passed away a long time before or at a great distance. [Kundegyu] and the other Hindu disciples then didn’t believe the message that Maudgalyayana had brought. They got very angry and beat Maudgalyayana so much, like chopping plants. So, this story might be related to the four causes of unknowing.

Those of you here who have read the lamrim text Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand will remember the extensive story there about the arhat who, because he couldn’t see subtle karma, made many mistakes when trying to benefit others. That story encourages us to look for enlightenment and not just arhatship, not just liberation. With enlightenment, there is cessation of all the gross and subtle defilements, the faults of the mind, and completion of all the qualities of realization. We should look for that full state of omniscience, so that we can do perfect work for sentient beings, without any mistakes, forever, until everybody is brought to enlightenment: every single hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human being, asura and sura.

It was only when Jinpa Pelgye was eighty years old that he began to practice Dharma, but he then achieved the arya path, with the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, in that life. There are five paths (the path of merit, preparatory path, path of seeing, path of meditation and path of no more learning), and he achieved the third path, the path of seeing, even though he began to practice Dharma only after he was eighty years old. So, that’s very good. Do we have anybody who is eighty years old here? Compared to his age, everyone here is very young. It should make you realize how fortunate you are to have begun to practice Dharma so much earlier. It also gives you inspiration, because he began to practice Dharma only after he was eighty years old but he still achieved the exalted path in that life before he died. The exalted paths, or phag lam in Tibetan, start from the third path. It inspires us to think that if we practice Dharma correctly, we can achieve even the arya path, the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, which directly ceases the defilements, and achieve liberation.

Anyway, when he was at home Jinpa Pelgye was teased by many children every day. He got fed up with being at home, so he then thought, “If I went to a monastery and became a monk, there would be so much peace.” He then when to the monastery where Shariputra, one of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s two heart disciples, was the abbot. Buddha had two heart disciples: Shariputra, who excelled in wisdom, and Maudgalyayana, who excelled in psychic power. Among Buddha’s numberless disciples, these two were the sublime disciples.

When Shariputra checked whether the old man had the karma to be a monk, he couldn’t see that he had any karma to be a monk. Shariputra said, “You can’t study Dharma, you can’t offer service to the monastery and you don’t have the karma to be a monk,” and didn’t accept him.

The old man put his head on the threshold at the gate of the monastery and cried. He then went into the park and cried. At that time, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha was in India. Buddha’s omniscient mind sees sentient beings all the time and whenever there’s a need for guidance and the karma has ripened for someone to receive guidance, Buddha appears there without even a second’s delay. Being able to be there without delay is a special quality of the Buddha. When the karma ripens, without the delay of even a second Buddha is there and then guides that sentient being.

So, Buddha suddenly appeared in the park and asked the old man what had happened. The old mad told the whole story about his problems at home and how the abbot hadn’t accepted him. Buddha then said, “That arhat hasn’t completed the merit of wisdom and the merit of virtue, but I have completed them, so I can see that you have the karma to be a monk.” Buddha then explained that an inconceivable length of time ago, that old man was born as a fly. There was a stupa, and a cow had dropped dung around the stupa. A very kind cow did kaka around the stupa. The fly then followed the smell of the cow dung around the stupa. The fly had no idea that the stupa was a holy object and no idea about the benefits of the circumambulation. With a motivation that was simply attachment to pleasure, the fly followed the smell of the cow dung, and because there was cow dung around the stupa, it became a circumambulation.

That action became a small virtue not because of the motivation, which was nonvirtuous, but because of the power of the holy object. In our daily life, in order for us to achieve happiness, our actions have to become virtue. In order for an action to become virtue, the motivation for the action has to be virtue. It has to have a motivation of non-ignorance, non-anger or non-attachment. In relation to non-attachment, this is not talking about non-attachment to future-life happiness, to future samsara and samsaric perfections, but non-attachment to the happiness of this life. If the motivation is attachment clinging to this life, the action becomes nonvirtue. Attachment seeking the happiness of future lives, seeking future samsara and future samsaric happiness, is virtue. That is attachment but it’s still virtue. Here, the attachment that is totally nonvirtuous is the attachment clinging to this life.

How do you feel when your mind is under the control of attachment clinging to this life? How do you feel when you’re seeking fame, power, health, wealth, a good reputation, a long life and other pleasures of this life? Is your mind peaceful or tight? What is the effect on your mental continuum? It’s not peaceful. It’s the opposite to peace; it disturbs your mental continuum. There is tension and so forth. It is disturbing to your mental continuum, which becomes more unpeaceful.

Now, when the motivation is one of attachment seeking future-life happiness—you want the happiness of a human or deva rebirth—that happiness is samsaric pleasure, so it’s still attachment, but it’s not the attachment clinging to this life. I think that if you analyze the nature of those two types of attachment, you find that the attachment clinging to this life, is much more unpeaceful, much more disturbed. The attachment clinging to this life is pure nonvirtue. But when the motivation is one of detachment to this life and attachment to future-life happiness, to future samsara and samsaric perfections, I think that even though the motivation is still one of attachment, because there is detachment to this life, there will be more peace, more inner happiness. There will be a different effect on your mental continuum. There will be much more inner peace, something that the other one doesn’t have. It would be good to analyze, to check, how you see these two and the difference in their effects on your mind.

The motivation that is detached to this life and attached to seeking the happiness of future lives is virtue; that’s Dharma. That’s kind of the lowest or very last Dharma.

Anyway, what I’m saying is that to create happiness, an action has to be virtue, and for an action to become virtue, the motivation of the action has to be pure virtue, or Dharma: non-ignorance non-anger, non-attachment. So, you have to understand all these details when it says non-attachment. It’s not necessarily total non-attachment; it means non-attachment to this life.

As Nagarjuna explained in either Letter to a Friend or Jewel Garland, “Actions born from ignorance, anger and attachment are nonvirtues, and all the evil transmigratory beings arise from that.” Ngen dro, evil transmigratory being, could have the meaning that what causes rebirth in the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms is creating evil deeds, evil karma. It could have that meaning.

Nagarjuna also explains, “Actions born from non-ignorance, non-anger and non-attachment are virtues, and all the happy transmigratory beings arise from that.” Happy transmigratory beings refers to rebirths in pure lands or as humans or devas. The general evolution of how we create happiness is as follows. The root is your mind. Here the motivation of your action has to be virtue, Dharma; your action then becomes virtue, Dharma. You then have the result of happiness. This is referring not only to when you do meditation or prayers or read Dharma texts, but to even your normal activities of walking, sitting, working for many hours or sleeping for many hours. It applies to every activity you do. This quotation shows that if you can transform your motivation for all the activities in your daily life into the pure mind of Dharma, of virtue, all your activities become pure actions of Dharma, of virtue, and they all become the cause of happiness. The result is then only happiness. This quotation shows that.

Therefore, it’s up to us, to how we take care of our mind; it depends on what we do with our mind. In our daily life, we have to constantly watch our mind and transform our motivation into Dharma: into non-ignorance, non-anger and non-attachment, as well as, of course, into non-ego, which means transforming it into bodhicitta. When you transform your motivation into non-ego, into bodhicitta, all your activities—the many hours of sleeping, doing your job, eating and drinking chocolate, playing golf and so forth—become the cause of highest success, enlightenment. Your actions becoming virtue doesn’t apply only to reading Dharma texts, doing prayers or sitting in meditation. All your normal activities become causes to achieve enlightenment and to bring happiness to all sentient beings. After you achieve enlightenment, you do perfect work to benefit every single sentient being, to cause them happiness. And what is it that causes them happiness? Bringing them to enlightenment. Even before you achieve enlightenment, when you are a bodhisattva, as you go higher and higher on the path, you bring benefit as deep as the ocean to sentient beings. With all the qualities you have, the benefit you can bring others is just unimaginable. It’s beyond our concepts; it’s difficult for us to imagine.

Take the examples of an eighth-bhumi or tenth-bhumi bodhisattva. There are five paths and ten bhumis in the Paramitayana path to achieve enlightenment, and the qualities of the bodhisattvas on the eighth, ninth and tenth bhumis are especially beyond our imagination. It’s difficult for us to understand what they can do. It’s not only that they can manifest trillions and zillions of bodies. I mean, a bodhisattva on the first bhumi can manifest one hundred bodies, each one of which can do a different meditation, can go to a hundred different pure land and make extensive offerings to the buddhas, and can also teach different Dharma subjects to sentient beings. I think there are eleven different things they can do by manifesting a hundred bodies. A second-bhumi bodhisattvas can manifest a thousand bodies, so they can make even more offerings to the buddhas in the pure lands and give even more teachings to sentient beings—it’s just unimaginable. With their numberless bodies, those higher bodhisattvas can do prostrations to the merit field. It’s difficult for our mind to understand the unbelievable things that bodhisattvas on the eighth, ninth and tenth bhumis can do for sentient beings. I don’t remember the exact number of bodies they can manifest, but it must be trillions or zillions of them. For our mind, what they can do is inconceivable. In accordance with the karma of sentient beings, they can also manifest as a bridge, a mountain, water or anything else that those sentient beings need. Not only a buddha but even a bodhisattva can do that. Even each pore of their holy body is a kind of pure world. Their qualities and manifestations are as deep as the ocean and completely beyond our understanding. They’re just unimaginable. As a bodhisattva, the higher you are on the path, the deeper the benefit you can offer sentient beings.

What I was saying? I’ve forgotten. That’s right. Buddha told the old man, “I have completed the two types of merit.”

So, before going through that, I just want to mention here that there is maybe a difference between Buddhism and other religions. You can check for yourself. In other religions, spiritual practice is regarded as the way you dress, going to a church or temple to worship in front of a figure of the founder of your religion or reading scriptures. Only those activities are seen as spiritual, and your normal activities of eating, walking, sleeping, working and so forth aren’t recognized as spiritual, as part of your religion. For example, some Hindus change their clothes and hairstyle, and if they do that, their practice is spiritual. It has nothing to do with transformation of the mind; there is just some physical change.

Now, in Buddhism, the main thing is not anything external; the main thing is your mind, because all the problems come from your mind. All your own problems and all the problems you cause others come from your mind. Peace and happiness also have to come from your mind. Your peace and happiness has to come from your mind and your giving peace and happiness to all living beings has to come from your mind. Therefore, in Buddhism the main practice is taking care of your mind, subduing your mind. “Do not engage in unwholesome actions; engage in perfect wholesome actions….” How can you abandon the cause of suffering, nonvirtue, and practice the cause of happiness, virtue? It is only through transformation of your mind that all your activities become only the cause of happiness and never the cause of suffering. “Subduing the mind is the teaching of the Buddha.” So, everything, the entire practice, has to do with your mind.

Of course, when you take a certain level of ordination, it involves wearing robes, but they are to remind you to protect your mind. The robes are to remind you of your vows and enable you to protect your mind and to live in virtue, in morality.

The significance of the robes is explained in the texts, but I’ve forgotten most of them. I think that the fold in the robes at the back signifies renunciation of samsara, and the front folds might signify the path to liberation, the path of method and wisdom. It’s something like that, anyway. This one is explained as being like the fangs in Yama’s mouth.

There’s a thangka of the Wheel of Life upstairs. It should be brought down and put where everybody can see it.

So, these are the fangs of Yama, the Lord of Death, to remind you that you are in the mouth of the Lord of Death. The real meaning is that life is impermanent in nature. It is to remind you of impermanence and death. You are inside the mouth of the Lord of Death, and it can close down on you at any time. It is to remind you that death can happen any day, any moment. The mouth can close down on you at any time. It is to remind you of the nature of your life.

[Someone has brought down the thangka of the Wheel of Life, which is then hung on a pillar.]

This Wheel of Life is a little different from what Buddha has explained in the sutra text. It’s not exactly according to that.

In the very center there is a pig, and in the pig’s mouth are the tail of a pigeon (though it’s usually drawn as a rooster) and the tail of a snake. Sometimes it is drawn with the rooster coming from the pig’s mouth and then the snake coming from the rooster’s mouth. But this one has both tails coming from the pig’s mouth, which is more in accord with Buddha’s teaching. Many artists don’t draw it like this, but this is more correct according to Buddha’s teaching.

The pig signifies ignorance, especially the ignorance that is the root of samsara, which we have been talking about during the last few days. This ignorance is of two types: the ignorance that holds the self, or the I, to be truly existent and the ignorance that holds the aggregates to be truly existent. These two are the root of samsara. The pig also signifies the ignorance not knowing Dharma, the ignorance not knowing karma, the cause of happiness and the cause of suffering.

From the mouth of the pig come the tails of the snake and the rooster. The snake signifies anger, hatred. Many artists draw a rooster, but I have yet to see the teaching that says it’s a rooster. It seems in the sutra it is a pigeon. Some artists, those who understand the teachings, draw a pigeon. In Geshe Sopa Rinpoche’s teachings on the Wheel of Life, Rinpoche quotes the sutra, Buddha’s teaching, in which it is a pigeon. The pigeon signifies attachment, desire. Pigeons have unbelievable attachment; it’s said that a pigeon is incredibly attached to its companion. Of course, it’s not common that they’re able to stay together. Even if it finds human snot thrown on the ground, a pigeon picks up the snot and gives it to feed its companion. Pigeons are inseparable, and they have unbelievable desire, performing the sexual act over and over, many times a day. That’s why a pigeon is used to signify attachment. I haven’t seen a rooster mentioned, though it might be in other texts. I’m not sure whether Buddha explained it. It seems a pigeon is the correct one.

Anyway, these three signify the three poisonous minds, the delusions, the cause of samsara.

The black around this side signifies negative karma and the white around this side signifies good karma. The people who have created negative karma are being led by Yama to the lower realms. This signifies that those who have created negative karma are reborn in the lower realms. Their bodies are going down upside down. The people who have created good karma, who have created much virtue, are well-dressed and happily going up. It means they are taking higher rebirth. There’s nobody dressed for the beach, going up with a surfboard. Maybe the next Wheel of Life….

It is talking about the cause of samsara, delusion and karma. Negative karma, nonvirtuous actions, is the cause to reincarnate in the lower realms, where you have to suffer for an unbelievable length of time; and good karma makes you to be reborn in the deva or human realm.

Down below are the hells. I don’t have to go through them as I did it already at the beginning. Just down below are eight major hot hells, eight major cold hells and the sufferings of four or six neighboring hells.

Above the hells is Yama. It said that Yama shows a mirror in which are reflected all the negative karmas and virtues you have done. After everything is shown in the mirror, it is then decided whether your karmic appearance will be that of the lower realms or the deva realms. The top part on this side shows the animal realm with the animal sufferings, and the other side shows the hungry ghosts and all their sufferings. On top, I think sometimes one part of the human realm is shown, and because it is a realm of the happy transmigratory beings, all the happiness and enjoyments are drawn there. The bigger part is the deva realm, with the suras and asuras fighting each other over wealth and women. I’m not sure, but I think the suras want the asuras’ wives or something like that. The asuras are very miserly and very attached to their wives; their suffering is that they are always fighting and always being killed. The suras aren’t killed unless their throats are cut.

However, it shows the six realms there. This one may not have it, but some paintings of the Wheel of Life have the seventeen categories of the form realm, which is a samsaric realm. Within this circle there are two parts, with most of it taken up by the deva realm, with the suras and asuras. Then above this is the form realm, but it doesn’t mean that the form realm is out of samsara. It’s above and outside because it can’t fit inside with all those other samsaric realms. It doesn’t mean the beings of the form realm are free from samsara. They’re part of samsara; they’re samsaric beings. There are then the four categories of the formless realm. With some Wheels of Life you have the seventeen categories of the form realm, with the four categories of the formless realm above that.

So, these six realms are held by the two hands of Yama, which shows that you’re not free from true suffering and true cause of suffering (or it might be that you’re not free from karma and delusion). Being held in Yama’s two hands shows that you’re totally under the control of that. Being held in Yama’s mouth shows that your life is of the nature of impermanence and death. It means not only that there is death, but that death can happen at any time. Yama’s mouth can close at any time. It is to remind you of that and to persuade you to practice Dharma. Because this is the nature of your life, you must practice Dharma all the time.

Anyway, I’ll mention this here…. What exactly does it mean to practice Dharma? There are so many things to do, so what exactly should we practice? Guru devotion is the root of the path to enlightenment, of the lamrim. It’s very important to know the meaning of the term lamrim, which means the graduated path to enlightenment. There are so many different things you can do to practice Dharma; there are billions of mandalas and so many things you can read and recite and meditate on. The whole answer is to practice the antidote to all the oceans of suffering of samsara and its cause, karma and delusion, and the negative imprint, or seed of delusion, which is the cause of delusion. Buddha taught 84,000 teachings, the essence of which is the three baskets of teachings, but the essence of that is the lamrim, which comes in three levels: the graduated paths of the being of lower capability, middling capability and higher capability. And the very heart of even that is the three: renunciation, bodhicitta and right view. So, this is what we have to practice. It’s very important to know the term lamrim, because this is what we have to realize, this is what we have to actualize.

It’s extremely difficult to say that we will be able to practice in future lives. If we don’t practice in this life, it will be very difficult to practice in the future. When we are trying to practice Dharma for one day, even though we might think, “I’m practicing Dharma,” if we actually check our motivations from morning until night and see how many of our actions became virtue, Dharma, and how many became nonvirtue, non-Dharma, and the cause of suffering, we find that our actions become nonvirtues because they are mostly motivated by attachment clinging to this life, and sometimes by anger. So, all our actions become nonvirtues. Since all our motivations are nonvirtuous, attachment clinging to this life, all the actions we do, even praying and meditating, become nonvirtues. It looks as if we did many virtuous things, such as prayers and meditation, but if we really examine our motivations from morning until night, we find very few of our actions that became Dharma. Most of our actions are nonvirtues. Even the actions that look like Dharma, that look spiritual, did not become virtues; they become nonvirtues.

When your motivation and actions become Dharma, become virtue, become spiritual, it protects you from negative karma and from reincarnating in the lower realms and experiencing those most unbearable sufferings for an unbelievable length of time. It also protects you from the suffering of engaging in negative karma and experiencing sufferings in the human realm in the future when, due to another good karma, you are born as a human being; you don’t then experience the many problems that are the result of that past nonvirtue. Here, when your mind and your actions become Dharma, become virtue, become spiritual, it protects you from all these sufferings. Not only that, but it protects you from the entire suffering of samsara and its cause, delusion and karma, and from even the subtle defilements; and it enables you to achieve enlightenment. It becomes the cause to achieve the happiness of future lives, liberation from samsara and enlightenment. So, to be free from all this suffering, the whole answer is the lamrim. Buddha taught 84,000 teachings, but the very heart of those extensive teachings that you have to actualize in your heart is the lamrim, the stages of the path to enlightenment, and the very heart of the lamrim is renunciation, bodhicitta and right view.

Now, here, on the right side where Yama’s head is, though you can’t see it because it’s covered by the yellow cloth, is Buddha. Buddha is pointing to the moon; above the hand is the circle of the moon. So, Buddha is showing the cessation of suffering: cessation of all the unimaginable sufferings of the hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras and suras. Each of the six realms has an ocean of suffering. There are the general sufferings of samsara and the particular sufferings of each realm.

Sorry, I left out the evolution of samsara, of how you reincarnate in samsara. It’s shown by the twelve drawings around here. The twelve dependent-related limbs show how we reincarnate in samsara. So, I left out the evolution of samsara, but that’s extremely important to understand.

I mean, this just happened. I wasn’t planning to talk on the Wheel of Life. I was talking about the story of the old man, Jinpa Pelgye, and it got scattered. It got elaborated. So, it’s my style at the moment….

Many of you have been studying and might know about all this, but it’s important, especially for those who haven’t heard much Dharma. However, this is the reason we take refuge. We take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha to get out of this, to be free from all the oceans of suffering of each realm and the general suffering of samsara and its cause, karma and delusion. So, anyway, it’s good that it came out. The more we understand the Wheel of Life, the more we understand the need to practice Dharma. Dharma becomes more and more important, as well as, of course, relying upon Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and practicing refuge vows. You see how that foundation is very important.

So, how does samsara evolve through the twelve links? The old, blind man walking with a stick shows ignorance, the root of samsara. This ignorance is the concept holding the I and the aggregates to be truly existent; this ignorance believes something that appears to the hallucinated mind but is not there to be true. So, this ignorance is signified by an old, blind person walking with a stick.

Next is a person making many pots. That shows creating karma out of ignorance. From the ignorance that is the root of samsara come anger, attachment, ignorance of karma and so forth. With those, you then create various karmas: negative karma, virtuous karma and immovable karma. Immovable karma, which is part of virtue, causes you to be born in the four levels of firm contemplation in the form realm. The four levels of the firm contemplation are samten zhi, in Tibetan. Sam means contemplation and ten means firm. It is like when you close a door in Tibet or in Solu Khumbu. When my uncle-teacher and I would travel to another place in Solu Khumbu, we would close the door, but behind the door you would have huge beams to keep it firm. Since what causes you to be born in the first level of firm contemplation doesn’t cause you to be born in the second, third or fourth levels, the karma is immovable. So, the potter making many different pots signifies those karmas.

The next one is a monkey jumping from one tree to another. After the karma is created, it leaves an imprint on the mental consciousness. Not all of the consciousnesses go from one life to another. The consciousness of the mind is the one that goes from one life to another; there is continuity of the consciousness of the mind from life to life. So, this is signified by the Mexican monkey jumping from one tree to another. I haven’t seen a Mexican monkey yet….

After that there’s the boat traveling. That shows after conception, when you are the fertilized egg in your mother’s womb. It signifies name and form. I think the boat is used because it’s something you have the temporary use of, something you don’t have all the time, just as this body is temporary, not something you are going to have forever. So, it shows the aggregates, the body and mind. Name refers to the mental factors and form to the body.

After that the six sense bases, or six sources, are actualized. After that, there’s contact of the senses with the objects of the senses: forms, sounds, smells, tastes and tangible objects. After contact comes feeling. Feeling is shown in the drawing of somebody with an arrow shot through their eye. Then come craving and grasping. Craving is shown in the drawing of people drinking wine, which they are probably enjoying with strong attachment. From the three poisonous minds, that’s attachment. After that, for grasping, there’s a monkey taking fruit from a tree. Craving and grasping are both forms of desire, but the difference between then is that when craving becomes so strong that you actually decide to get an object, it becomes grasping.

After that there is a pregnant woman to show birth. For old age and death, which are not separated but counted as one, there is a drawing of an old person carried as a dead body.

Now the way the twelve dependent-related limbs are presented there in the Wheel of Life is in relation to three different lives. The evolution starts with ignorance, the root of samsara, then comes karma, or karmic formation, with the imprint left on the mental continuum, which throws the future rebirth. Then near death craving and grasping arise.

Sorry, I made one mistake—becoming is also one of the actions.

So, the imprint is left on the mental continuum by the past karma, then craving and grasping makes ready the taking of the future rebirth, which is becoming, which is the one shown by the pregnant woman. I think birth is the drawing of the baby coming out. Becoming is when the imprint left by past karma on the mental continuum is made ready by craving and grasping arising to produce its result of future rebirth. Relating to our present life, we could have created the karma out of ignorance in the life before this or in a life billions, trillions or zillions of eons ago. But the craving and grasping and becoming happened in the life before this, whether it was an animal life or some other type of life. The craving and grasping and becoming that are part of the twelve dependent-related limbs of this present human being happened in the life before this. No matter what that past life was, the craving and grasping happened near the death-time of that life. But the ignorance and karma could have happened in the life before this or numberless eons ago.

You then experience seven results in this life: the consciousness takes place on the fertilized egg, name and form, the six sense bases, contact, feeling, birth, old age and death. So, seven things are experienced in this life.

This is a very brief explanation. When you go through the twelve links, there is a much more detailed explanation of each one. However, in essence, it all shows the four noble truths: true suffering, true cause of suffering, true cessation of suffering and its causes and true path, the method to cease suffering.

Since I have mentioned the twelve links, I must mention this. From the twelve dependent-related limbs, you are experiencing seven in this life, and as you are experiencing old age, all that’s now left to be experienced from the twelve dependent-related limbs is death. You have to remember this for meditation, for meditation on reality. From the twelve dependent-related limbs of this present human rebirth, you have already experienced some of the seven results—some of them while you were in your mother’s womb. So, while you are experiencing this result, this present human rebirth, in one day, in one hour and even in one minute, there’s ignorance, the root of samsara, except for the times when you meditate and don’t hold on to the I and aggregates as not merely labeled by mind, which is the way they appear to your hallucinated mind. We normally let our mind hold on to this, and at that time we are creating ignorance. You constantly believe the I and aggregates to be something that is not there, something that doesn’t exist at all, not even in the slightest. We constantly do this because we have been habituated to it during beginningless rebirths. Now it is only when you meditate on emptiness that you think in the totally opposite way. You then see that the way the I and the aggregates appear to the hallucinated mind as totally false. Instead of holding this to be true, you hold it to be totally false, totally nonexistent.

Or the other way is to think that the I is a dependent arising: the I exists in mere name, merely imputed by mind, because there are the aggregates. Thinking of dependent arising then makes you think that the I is empty, empty of existing from its own side. When you think that the I is merely imputed by mind, it gives you the understanding in your heart that it doesn’t exist from its own side.

When you meditate on and see this, at that time your actions do not become the cause of samsara. With this understanding, with this realization, whatever you are doing—visualizing the deity in tantric practice or eating, walking, sitting, sleeping, playing golf or soccer, hang-gliding—doesn’t become the cause of samsara.

However, in one day and in even one hour we constantly let our mind hold on to this I and these aggregates as if they really exist, as if they’re a hundred percent true. With that ignorance, we constantly create karma. As I already mentioned before, much of our motivation, even when we’re trying to practice Dharma, is attachment clinging to this life, so all the activities of our body, speech and mind then become negative karma, which leaves imprints on our mental continuum that produce rebirth in the lower realms, where we have to experience suffering for an unbelievable length of time, many billions and zillions of human years. Also, the lower the hell realm, the longer the suffering.

Here you have to understand that out of ignorance those poisonous minds constantly arise, especially attachment, and constantly leave negative imprints on the mind, which cause future rebirth. Here in the case of negative karma, rebirth is in the lower realms. We are constantly doing this. It happens so many times within each minute. So, in one day, in this way we start so many twelve links. Within one hour, one minute, we initiate so many twelve links. That means that while you are experiencing this result, the twelve dependent-related limbs of this present human rebirth, in one day you are tying yourself in the prison of samsara by starting so many twelve dependent-related limbs. You start so many in one hour, one minute. This is what is happening as the seconds go by. You have fastened yourself in many prisons. This is how the weeks, months, years, the life goes by. Can you imagine how many times we have created the cause of samsara from birth until now? Can you imagine how many times we have initiated the twelve links to take rebirth in the six realms one after another? It’s amazing.

But we have been talking just now about this life, not about previous lives. During beginningless rebirths, out of ignorance, we have started so many sets of the twelve links. There’s so much, so many sets of twelve links, that we haven’t yet finished experiencing. So many causes for samsara to evolve, for us to die, be reborn and experience all the suffering. It’s unimaginable how we are fastened by the chain of karma and delusions.

Now here you can see how important Dharma practice is. It’s so important! Without Dharma practice there is no way to get out of this, to be liberated from this. You have to cease karma and delusions, especially with the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness. Without talking about the five paths to enlightenment but just about the five paths to liberation, you have to cease the true cause of suffering, karma and delusion, and even the cause of delusion, negative imprint. You have to completely cease all of them. It is only then that you don’t have to die and be reborn, circling in the six realms.

Therefore, you have to practice Dharma. You can chant mantras and so forth; of course, mantras contain the whole path and leave positive imprints on your mental continuum. In this life, if you don’t try to study the path, if you don’t try to really learn, meditate and have realization, of course, chanting mantras will have the long-term effect of enabling you to meet the Dharma, actualize the path and slowly achieve liberation and enlightenment. But as I mentioned just now, in one day we start so many sets of the twelve links and fasten ourselves in samsara. In one year, from our birth and in our past lives, we have started so many sets of the twelve links of which we haven’t yet finished experiencing the resultant rebirths. It’s unimaginable. You can’t bear it. You need to be free from samara right this second. You can’t wait! In reality it’s like this if you understand what samsara is and the whole evolution of samsara. It’s the most unbearable thing. It’s so unbearable that you can’t wait even a second: you must be liberated from samsara.

Therefore, you now understand why you need to practice Dharma, to achieve the path to liberation. It’s not enough to spend your whole life just watching your breath, doing walking meditation or chanting mantras or prayers. You have got to really learn Dharma, really understand the path and really actualize its essence, the lamrim, the stages of the path to enlightenment in your heart. Over the last few days we have talked a little bit on emptiness, and you can now see how important emptiness is. We did touch on something very important. So, we need to actualize the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment. To realize bodhicitta, we first need to realize renunciation; we can’t realize bodhicitta before renunciation. But you can actualize right view any time if you have lots of merit and imprints from past, receive correct, unmistaken teachings and meditate correctly.

Now, success in actualizing the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment and the two stages of tantra, for quickest enlightenment, depends on the first thing, the root of the path of enlightenment, guru devotion. First you search for a guru and when you find one, analyze them; when you find that they’re someone to whom you can devote yourself, you then make the connection with them and determine to follow them. You then have to understand the entire teaching on guru devotion; otherwise, you will make many mistakes. Then, instead of achieving realizations and enlightenment, you will create many heavy negative karmas, causing you to experience so many problems in this life and then rebirth in the lower realms for an unimaginable length of time. You have to know the teachings on guru devotion: its benefits and shortcomings and how to do the practice. That’s why Lama Tsongkhapa put guru devotion at the very beginning of the lamrim. You then have the whole idea from the beginning, and don’t make mistakes. From the beginning of the path to enlightenment, you become successful.

Now, those who are taking refuge….

Here, taking the actual refuge vows, or precepts from a preceptor in a ceremony means that you are seriously involved in the practice of refuge.

You need to rely on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha not only not to be reborn in the lower realms after death and to have a higher rebirth, but to be free from the whole of samsara, to completely cease reincarnating again and again, You need to rely on all three; one is not enough. A patient with a serious illness needs to rely on a doctor, on medicine and on a nurse; they need all three. Here, to be totally free from the whole of samsara, from all the oceans of samsaric suffering and its cause, and achieve total liberation, one must rely on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha; one needs the guidance of all three: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

That is the foundation. On top of that, you have a higher purpose: to achieve enlightenment, great liberation, the nonabiding sorrowless state, for sentient beings. You can then liberate the numberless sentient beings in each realm from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment. So, that’s the purpose of taking refuge.

Those who are taking refuge should do three prostrations to the Guru Shakyamuni Buddha statue, thinking that it is the actual living Buddha. If there’s no space to do prostrations, you can visualize doing prostration. After that, do three prostrations to the lama who is giving the refuge vows.

After you have done the three prostrations to the lama, you can sit down, but keep your palms in prostration at your heart. You can sit on a chair. Those sitting on the floor who can kneel, should kneel down. As long as you’re not having a good time sleeping, it’s okay….

So, I left out the last part about the Wheel of Life. I mentioned the Buddha, who is to the right of Yama’s face. Buddha is standing and is supposed to be pointing to a moon circle above his hand. That shows the cessation of suffering and its cause, or total liberation.

On the left side (though many Wheels of Life don’t have it because the artists haven’t read the sutra where Buddha explains the Wheel of Life) there should be a verse. On the right side is the white circle of the moon, which signifies true cessation of suffering; and on the left side, is a verse of instruction that shows true path. Many Wheels of Life don’t have this verse and instead have a drawing of the Amitabha pure land, but it’s missing the meaning. Since it’s actually related to the four noble truths, the verses that show true path should be there. Otherwise, it means that true path is missing. I mean, being born in the Amitabha pure land doesn’t mean that you have totally ceased the defilements, the disturbing-thought obscuration. Rebirth in a pure land, such as that of Amitabha Buddha, doesn’t happen by gross delusion. You are born there by prayer and by the effort of subtle defilements. Being born there doesn’t mean you have completely removed the disturbing-thought obscuration, that you are free from that. Of course, once you are born there, delusions don’t arise and you don’t have all the negative, emotional sufferings—there’s not even the name “suffering” there. You have a spiritual body, and everything, such as the trees, is wish-fulfilling.

So, most Wheels of Life are not exactly according to how Buddha explained it in the sutra. There should be a verse saying, “With the foundation of morality, attempt the path and renounce delusion and karma. Don’t be like an elephant drowning in mud. (This is the example Buddha often gives for the way we are stuck in samsara.) Abandon death. The one who is extremely conscientious in engaging in this vinaya practice will abandon the samsara where they have been reborn. All the suffering of samsara will be ended. This will be the last.” So, it’s talking about the benefits of practicing vinaya, of living in the vows.

To achieve total liberation from samsara, the fundamental path is that of the three higher trainings: higher training in morality, higher training in concentration and higher training in great insight. These three are the foundation for achieving liberation from the oceans of samsaric suffering and its causes. Now, the very base is the higher training in morality, in moral discipline. By taking vows, according to the number of vows you take, you collect that number of merits all the time. Your body, speech and mind abide in that many good karmas, in that many moral disciplines, and you abstain from that many negative karmas. Of course, the aim is not only for you yourself to achieve liberation, but, as a practitioner of Mahayana Buddhism, you do this to liberate the numberless hell beings and bring them to enlightenment, to liberate the numberless hungry ghosts and bring them to enlightenment, to liberate the numberless animals and bring them to enlightenment, to liberate the numberless human beings and bring them to enlightenment, to liberate the numberless asuras and bring them to enlightenment, to liberate the numberless suras and bring them to enlightenment, to liberate the numberless intermediate state beings and bring them to enlightenment.

Now think, “If I don’t get liberated from samsara, I will be constantly tortured by the suffering of pain; the suffering of change, which means the temporary samsaric pleasures; and pervasive compounding suffering, which means the aggregates, which are under the control of karma and delusion and also contaminated by the seed of delusion and pervaded by suffering. I constantly experience pervasive compounding suffering, and because of that, the two other sufferings happen. I’ve experienced this during beginningless rebirths, I am now experiencing it, and if I don’t get liberated from samsara by practicing Dharma and actualizing the path, I will experience it endlessly.

“Now, the very initial, foundation practice is taking refuge. I must achieve enlightenment for sentient beings; therefore, I will take refuge, relying upon Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. I will rely on Buddha as the founder of the actual refuge, Dharma as the actual refuge and Sangha as the helpers who help to actualize refuge within me.” Think in that way. Rely on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha just as a severely ill patient relies on a doctor, medicine and a nurse. You must rely on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha a billion times more than a patient relies on their doctor, medicine and nurse. Even if you recover from your sickness, it’s only temporarily, not forever; but here Dharma ceases suffering forever.

Now, with a greatly happy mind, think, “Today my life has become most productive, very beneficial not only for my achieving liberation and enlightenment, but for my liberating and enlightening the numberless sentient beings.” Feel great happiness that your life has become so beneficial for all sentient beings.

[Rinpoche begins the refuge ceremony (only the parts below have been transcribed).]

This means “Until death I go for refuge to Buddha.” When you hear “sang gyä la kyab su chi wo,” it means that you are taking refuge in Buddha with your whole heart. With “chö la kyab su chi wo,” you are taking refuge in Dharma with your whole heart. With “gen dün la kyab su chi wo,” you are taking refuge in Sangha with your whole heart.

In regard to Buddha, there’s absolute buddha and conventional buddha. Absolute buddha is the dharmakaya, a buddha’s holy mind and the ultimate nature of a buddha’s holy mind. The conventional buddha is the manifestation, or rupakaya, which comprises the sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya. The conventional buddha, or buddha for the all-obscuring mind, is the form that is taken, the rupakaya. Dharma also has two. Absolute Dharma is the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness and conventional Dharma is the three-basket teachings, the words that reveal the path. Sangha also has two. Absolute Sangha is anyone, ordained or lay, who has realization of absolute Dharma, the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness. Absolute Sangha doesn’t have to be four in number or an ordained person. Conventional Sangha is four fully ordained nuns or monks who do not have realization of the absolute Dharma. You have to understand that when we are taking refuge we are taking refuge in both the absolute and conventional aspects.

As mentioned in the refuge vows, there are three precepts related to things to be abandoned and three precepts of things to be practiced, and there’s also the showing of respect. Whenever you see a Buddhist ordained person—it doesn’t mean someone from only the Tibetan tradition; it could be someone from the Hinayana or Mahayana tradition, the Chinese or any other tradition, and it doesn’t matter what color or style of robes the person has—you should think, “This is the person who liberates me from samsara and brings me to liberation.” Thinking of the function of that ordained person, you then respect them. Because that person is living in the vows they are a powerful object, so you collect inconceivable good karma by respecting them, making offering to them or serving them. It is the same with Dharma, and there is no doubt that it is the same with Buddha.

[Rinpoche continues the refuge ceremony.]

You take refuge in Buddha, who is free from all faults, all defilements, and complete in all qualities.

[Rinpoche continues the refuge ceremony.]

With your whole heart rely upon Dharma.

[Rinpoche continues the refuge ceremony.]

With your whole heart rely upon Sangha.

[Rinpoche continues the refuge ceremony.]

Now here there are the refuge-only upasaka vow and the complete upasaka vow, which means the five lay vows. But if you can’t take five lay vows, you can take four, three, two or one. But I don’t think you can take half a vow—I haven’t heard that one yet.

Usually, I emphasize taking one from the five, and I usually talk about taking the vow not to kill. Of course, you don’t want to be killed by anybody, except if you’re suicidal, but that is a totally blind way of thinking. Because there’s some problem in your relationship or something else, you can’t bear it, so you then want to kill yourself. You never think about how there is reincarnation, about how the consciousness doesn’t stop at the end of this life but has to continue. You never think of how there is reincarnation and you never think about how there are the lower realms, with all those unimaginable sufferings for eons. You think, “I will kill myself, and I will then have peace. The problem will be finished, so I’ll have peace.” That’s totally blind, totally wrong. How can you have peace? You’re killing yourself out of anger, attachment, self-cherishing thought. There’s no bodhicitta; there’s self cherishing thought, anger and attachment behind what you are doing. Your motivation is nonvirtuous. There’s some problem that you can’t bear, and you think that if you kill yourself you will have peace, with no problems at all. That’s totally silly. You completely cheat yourself.

There is continuity of the consciousness, and you will be born in the lower realms. You’re just creating extra negative karma to be born in the lower realms and to suffer for a long time. It doesn’t help you to be free from samsara, it doesn’t help you to achieve enlightenment, and it doesn’t help you to get even a higher rebirth. It doesn’t benefit other sentient beings. There is no benefit. Therefore, it is totally blind. You will then have to experience all the unimaginable suffering results of this negative karma. And when you’re born as a human being in the future you will also experience further problems. It’s totally foolish.

Now here, you don’t want to be killed by others, and it’s the same for others: they don’t want to be killed by you. I usually emphasize that killing others is very harmful; one should not kill others. But if taking that vow is very difficult for you, you can take the vow to abstain from sexual misconduct, from telling lies, from stealing or from taking alcohol. Take whichever vows you think you can.

When you take refuge in Dharma, what you should abandon is harming others. Therefore, taking as many lay vows as you are able to take helps your refuge in Dharma, your abandoning harm to others. It’s extremely practical because you are practicing the abandoning of some harms to others in your life. Here, taking all five lay vows or however many you can is your real contribution to world peace. It contributes not only to your good rebirth in future lives, avoidance of rebirth in the lower realm, liberation and all that, but to world peace. By living in the vow not to harm others, by taking as many of the five vows as you can, you are making a real contribution to world peace, and not only the peace of this world. When you make vows to stop harming others, you are actually stopping that many harms to all sentient beings. When we make a vow, such as “I won’t kill,” we make the vow on the basis of all sentient beings, so it’s of unbelievable benefit to sentient beings.

There is no doubt that this makes your parents’ lives really meaningful. When you were conceived, it would have been very simple for them to arrange an abortion. You would have been gone. You wouldn’t now have this human rebirth, and it would have been impossible for you to practice Dharma. You would have no opportunity to achieve the happiness of future lives, liberation from samsara or enlightenment, nor to bring all other sentient beings the happiness of this life, the happiness of future lives, liberation from samsara or enlightenment. If they had had an abortion, that would have been it—you wouldn’t have had any of these opportunities. Or if they hadn’t taken care of you well, that’s it—you would have been gone. So, because your parents didn’t arrange an abortion and kindly gave you this body and then took care of you, including your mother taking care of you for the nine months you were in her womb, it has allowed you to practice Dharma and to have so much happiness. The main thing is that they’ve been able to make their lives most meaningful by giving you the opportunity to practice Dharma, to meet a guru and the Buddhadharma and to actualize the path. All this comes from the unbelievable kindness of your parents. They also protected your life every day from hundreds of dangers, even if they hired other people to look after you. Think, “If they hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have all these opportunities. I could be in a hell realm or a hungry ghost or an animal. By now, I could have been a lobster or a snake or a bird eating so many worms every day.”

Your parents also educated you; they taught you how to walk and talk. They made you into a complete human being. That is another example of their kindness. They also bore so many hardships for you, for your well-being and happiness. They experienced worry and fear, day and night, always concerned about your health and your education. They gave you the best that they had. They used the money they earned for all your many years of study from kindergarten to primary school to high school to college. They found jobs, worked very hard and saved money so that they could use that money to take care of you. They bore so many hardships. When you were a child, you cried and only disturbed them. Even at night they couldn’t have peaceful sleep. You always demanded so much and never gave your parents any peace. It’s unbelievable. All you did was make lots of peepee and kaka. I don’t know whether or not you can remember all this, but if you can’t remember how your parents looked after you, look at how other parents sacrifice themselves for so many years to take care of their children.

Your parents created so much negative karma for your happiness, for your education, by harming others, telling lies to others, killing, generating ill will. They will have to suffer the results of all these negative karmas they have collected in the lower realms for an unbelievable length of time.

This is not the first time they have done this. They have done this for you numberless times during beginningless rebirths. They have created so much negative karma for your happiness, for your well-being, and they have already suffered numberless times in the lower realms. I’m talking about the past lives of your present parents, and there is also so much that will have to be experienced in the lower realms in the future. They not only created negative karma but bore so many hardships for you.

Therefore, what I’m saying here is that your taking as many of the five lay vows as you can gives so much meaning to their lives. It makes it so worthwhile that they suffered so much for you and created so much negative karma for you, for your health and long life. It gives meaning to their protecting your life from hundreds of dangers each day. It makes their life so meaningful. It gives meaning to what they suffered for you and the negative karma they created for you. Every time you practice Dharma gives meaning to their life; it makes their life so worthwhile. So, feel great happiness, great joy.

[Rinpoche continues with the refuge ceremony.]

Here, it is okay for those who have taken higher vows, the getsuls and gelongs, to take refuge, just as we take refuge every day before any practice that we do. However, you shouldn’t think that you are taking any of the five lay vows, because if you take a lower vow while you are holding a higher vow, you lose the higher vow. But you take refuge all the time anyway….

[Rinpoche continues with the refuge ceremony.]

At the end of the third repetition, when I say, “Ge nyen tö” very loudly, without a wandering mind, you must generate the thought that you have received whatever number of vows you have taken, whether it is the refuge-only upasaka vow or five or fewer of the upasaka vows. You must generate the thought very strongly.

I then become your lopön, which means leader, the one leading the disciple in the path to liberation by giving the vows. From that time I become your lopön, or preceptor.

[Rinpoche continues with the refuge ceremony.]

Those who have taken any of vows should think in their heart that they have received that number of vows. Then think, “Just as the previous arhats changed their mind and changed their actions of body and speech, today and until my death, I will change my mind and my actions by taking and keeping this vow.” Think that in your heart.

When I then say, “Tab yin no (This is the method),” you reply, “Leg so (Yes).”

[Rinpoche continues with the refuge ceremony.]

It’s very good to learn the words—you spoke very well in Tibetan.

René has already explained to you all the general refuge advice, so I don’t need to go through that. There is a refuge card, so you must read it and study it well. It’s very important. Otherwise, the practice won’t happen.

Now dedicate in this way:

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, may I be able to complete the paramita of morality by keeping it purely and without pride.

“Thrim kyi tshül thrim kyön me ching….

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, may I, my family, all the students and benefactors, all those many people in different parts of the world who sacrifice themselves to the organization to offer service to sentient beings and to the teaching of Buddha, those who rely upon me, for whom I have promised to pray and whose names have been given to me, everybody in this world and all sentient beings meet Lama Tsongkhapa’s teaching, which is living in pure morality, having the brave heart to do extensive deeds for sentient beings and the yoga of the two stages, the essence of which is the transcendental wisdom of nondual bliss and voidness.”

These four lines contain the very heart of the special qualities of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teaching. This is a very special prayer composed by the Fifth Dalai Lama. You pray for this for yourself and for all sentient beings. Dedicate the merits in this way.

“Mä jung nam thar tsang mäi thrim dang dän….”

[Students recite the short mandala offering.]

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, including the bodhisattvas and buddhas, from now on in every second of all the lifetimes, may I, like Lama Tsongkhapa, be able to offer limitless skies of benefit to sentient beings and the teaching of the Buddha by having the same qualities within me as Lama Tsongkhapa has.”

Make this strong prayer.

That we have the unbelievable opportunity to learn and practice Dharma, to purify our negative karma and collect merit and achieve all happiness—the happiness of future lives, liberation and enlightenment—and cause this happiness to all sentient beings is by the kindness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and also of Lama Yeshe. So, we will pray for His Holiness’s long life.

“Due to all the merits of the three times collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, may His Holiness have a long and stable life, and may all his holy wishes succeed immediately, and may whatever wishes Lama Yeshe had be actualized. May Lama Ösel Rinpoche become a dynamic (not dynamite) teacher in this world, the quickest way to awaken the sentient beings in this world and bring them to enlightenment.

“Gang ri ra wäi khor wä zhing kham dir….

“Tong nyi nying je zung du jug päi lam…..

“Je tsün la mäi ku tshe rab tän ching….

“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits of the three times collected by others, which exist but do not exist from their own side, may the I, which exists but does not exist from its own side, which is totally empty, achieve Lama Tsongkhapa’s enlightenment, which exists but does not exist from its own side, which is totally empty, and lead all the sentient beings, who exist but who are totally empty from their own side, to that Lama Tsongkhapa’s enlightenment, which exists but which does not exist from its own side, which is totally empty, by myself alone, who exists but who totally does not exist from its own side.

“I dedicate all the merits to be able to follow the holy extensive deeds of the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Manjugosha, as they realize.

“I dedicate all the merits in the same way the buddhas of the three times dedicate their merits.”

These two verses that I just recited are a very condensed version of King of Prayers, and are contained within King of Prayers. When you are unable to recite the King of Prayers, you can do this short version. Or if you don’t know how to dedicate merits, by reciting this you dedicate the merits in the best way.

The lamrim dedication….

[Rinpoche and the students chant Final Lam-Rim Prayer in Tibetan.]

“Due to all the merits of the three times collected by me and collected by others, may Lama Tsongkhapa’s teaching, which unifies sutra and tantra and is like refined gold, be completely actualized in my heart and in the hearts of my family members, all the students and benefactors, all those who give their lives to the organization to offer service to sentient beings and the teaching of Buddha, in the hearts of all those who rely upon me, for whom I have promised to pray and whose names have been given to me and in the hearts of everybody in this world.

“Chhö kyi gyäl po tsong kha päi….

“Dag dang zhän gyi dü sum dang….”

[Students chant Rinpoche’s long-life prayer in Spanish.]

Good morning, good night. Thank you.