Chapter 5. Saturday, October 27: Medicine Buddha Session
Simple visualization
In the center, you yourself, Medicine Buddha, are seated. Around you there are eight petals. In the south-east is Shakyamuni Buddha. In the south is Medicine Buddha Tsen Leg (Renowned Glorious King of Excellent Signs). In the south-west is Dra Yang Kyi Gyäl Po (King of Melodious Sound). In the west is Ser Zang Dri Me (Stainless Excellent Gold). In the north-west is Nya Ngän Me (Supreme Glory Free from Sorrow). In the north is Chhö Drag Gya Tshö Yang (Melodious Ocean of Proclaimed Dharma). In the north-east is Ngön Par Khyän Pa (Clear Knowing, Supreme Wisdom of an Ocean of Dharma). And in the east, which is in front of you, Medicine Buddha, is Mother Prajnaparamita.
This doesn’t mean that all these buddhas are separate from you. The whole mandala is constructed from wisdom understanding emptiness, wisdom nondual with emptiness. The wisdom understanding emptiness manifested in all the different parts of the mandala, including Medicine Buddha and the other deities. It’s all your (Medicine Buddha’s) holy mind. That’s what you should recognize or feel. It is not that you are Medicine Buddha and the rest has nothing to do with your mind.
Outside of that is a sixteen-petaled lotus. In the east there are four petals with the bodhisattvas Manjugosha, Chenrezig, Vajrapani and Nyi Nang. In the south there are four petals with the bodhisattvas Da Nang, Lodrö Chenpo, Maitreya and Kyab Dröl. In the west there are four petals with the bodhisattvas Pobpa Tsegpa, Nampar Nonpa, Tenduk and Munpa Thamchä Ngepar Jompa Lodrö. In the north there are four petals with the bodhisattvas Sampa Legpar Sempa, Lhünpo Tseg, Sang Sangpö Yang and Lhünpo Chenpo Tse Dzin.
Outside of this are twenty-two petals. Starting from the east, there are the ten guardians of the directions. It is the same as in the Yamantaka sadhana, with Brahma, Indra, fire deva, Yama, cannibal, water deva, wind deva, harm-giver, Wangdän (which is for control) and the earth goddess.
Starting from the east and going round anticlockwise are the twelve leaders of the hosts of nöjin.
The main thing is just to generate faith that they’re there.
At the four doors of the mandala are the four guardians, one in each door.
That’s the very simple visualization.
You are already generated as Medicine Buddha. Now visualize all the deities with OM, AH, and HUM at their three places. We will start from there.
The power of mantra
The power of a mantra mainly depends on your faith in the mantra. How much negative karma you can purify or how many activities you can accomplish by reciting the mantra comes from your faith in the mantra, not from how you recite it. In other words, it doesn’t depend on whether or not you recite it correctly according to Sanskrit. Most Tibetans don’t learn Sanskrit; in Tibet, they recite mantras in their own way.
The power comes from having strong faith in the mantra and its benefits. Those of you who have heard lamrim teachings many times will know the story of the old woman who was able to cook stones by reciting the deity Chunda’s mantra. The mantra is actually OM CHALE CHULE CHUNDE SVAHA, but she recited OM BALE BULE BUNDE SVAHA. One day her son, a monk living in thirty-six vows, came home and heard his mother reciting OM BALE BULE BUNDE SVAHA. He corrected her, and she then changed to reciting OM CHALE CHULE CHUNDE SVAHA. This mantra is used when there’s a famine; you recite this mantra and are then able to cook and eat stones. She was able to cook the stones with the mantra she used before, OM BALE BULE BUNDE SVAHA, but when she changed to the correct mantra, the stones didn’t cook. When the correct mantra didn’t work, she changed back to the incorrect one, which again worked.
The power of mantra comes from faith, not from how you recite it. Because they don’t know Sanskrit, many Tibetans recite mantras in a way that is not correct according to the Sanskrit. This might also be the same in the Chinese community. With those who don’t know how to recite in the Sanskrit way, the pronunciation changes. But I’ve met some Chinese who can recite mantras according to Sanskrit. One Chinese woman in Taiwan saw Chenrezig, Compassion Buddha, who then taught her the long Chenrezig mantra. She is able to recite it perfectly in Sanskrit.
You can recite the root mantra three times. It says here to recite it as many times as possible, but I think we’ll recite it just three times. It’s only three times, but for us it’s many times....
There is then Buddha Ser Zang’s mantra:
TADYATHA / SIDDHI SIDDHI SUSIDDHI MOCHANI / MOKSHANI MUKTE BIMUKTE / AMALE BIMALE MAM GALYEY HIRANYE GARBHE RATNA GARBHE / SARVA ARTHA SADHANI / PARAMARTHA SADHANI / MANASE / MAHA MANASE / ADBHUTE / ADYA BHUTE / BHITE BHAYE SUBANE BRAHMA GHOKE / BRAHMA KHITE / SARVVA...
[There is a discussion with students about how the mantra in the sadhana is different.]
... ARTHE KHU APARATZITE / SARVVA TRA PRATI....
The Tibetan word is pronounced “trati” but the actual Sanskrit word is “prati.”
... SARVVA TRA PRATIHATE....
There are two ways of reciting this, but it has to do with the Tibetan letters. All the syllables that are put together don’t come out in the English pronunciation, just the total sound. The next word is either “satu” or “satus,” with just a slight sound of “sa” at the end.
... TZATUS KHASTHI BUDDHA KOTI BHAKHITE NAMA SARVVA TATHAGATE NEN SVAHA.
Counting mantras
In regard to counting mantras, the tantric text Well-Accomplished Tantra mentions that for a mantra with up to fifteen syllables, you recite the mantra one hundred thousand times the number of syllables. For example, if you’re going to do Compassion Buddha retreat and recite OM MANI PADME HUM, you have to recite OM MANI PADME HUM six hundred thousand times. But if you recite the long Chenrezig mantra, the one in the nyung nä text, which has many more syllables, reciting ten thousand mantras is enough to fulfill the retreat enabling actions. This tantra explains that for a mantra with up to fifteen syllables, one has to recite the mantra one hundred thousand times the number of syllables to fulfill the retreat enabling actions. For a mantra with more than fifteen syllables, one has to recite the mantra three hundred thousand times; and for a mantra with more than thirty-five syllables, one recites the mantra ten thousand times. After that, you’re then allowed to do the fire puja, consecrations and various other activities to benefit other sentient beings.
If a mantra has more than thirty-five syllables, it’s enough to recite just ten thousand mantras. This is mentioned in Well-Accomplished Tantra. This is according to the lower tantras; it doesn’t apply to Highest Yoga Tantra. In this text there’s no TADYATHA. When I counted here, TADYATHA OM BHEKHANDZYE BHEKHANDZYE MAHA BHEKHANDZYE RAJE SAMUDGATE SVAHA has only twenty-six syllables (when the fourth BHEKHANDZYE is not included). The long Medicine Buddha mantra, OM NAMO BHAGAVATE BHEKHANDZYE GURU BAIDURYA PRABHA RAJAYA TATHAGATAYA ARHATE SAMYAKSAM BUDDHAYA OM BHEKHANDZYE BHEKHANDZYE MAHA BHEKHANDZYE RAJA SAMUNDGATE SVAHA, has fifty-seven syllables. Therefore, if you recite the long mantra, you have to recite it only ten thousand times. It then becomes an enabling action retreat, and you can then do the fire puja.
So, you have a choice. If you recite the mantra with twenty-six syllables (you usually recite TADYATHA OM BHEKHANDZYE... even though there’s no TADYATHA in the text), you recite it 300,000 times to complete the retreat. But if you add the extra syllables of the long mantra, you have to recite it only ten thousand times. I think it might be the same time-wise whether you recite the long or short mantra, because you are familiar with reciting the short mantra. This is the main mantra that you count.
At the end, when you stop the mantra recitation, you recite the hundred-syllable mantra one time.
You can start counting mantras from tomorrow. Since tonight is just the beginning, we’ll chant the short mantra.
[The group recites the short Medicine Buddha mantra.]
In either Rinjung Gyatsa or Sukha Gyatsa, which are texts with a hundred initiations, the mantra is written as TADYATHA OM BHEKHANDZYE BHEKHANDZYE MAHA BHEKHANDZYE RAJA SAMUDGATE SVAHA, but in this text and in the text of the long Medicine Buddha Puja (and maybe also in the middle-length version by Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen), the mantra is written as OM BHEKHANDZYE BHEKHANDZYE MAHA BHEKHANDZYE BHEKHANDZYE RAJA SAMUDGATE SVAHA. Different texts have different ways of saying it. Some texts have an extra BHEKHANDZYE. I think it can be recited either way.
When you’re too excited, you can recite the extra BHEKHANDZYE. When you’re not too happy, you can recite the shorter mantra. I’m joking.
[Rinpoche continues reciting the Medicine Buddha mantra, then recites the hundred-syllable mantra.]
The main point
This is a quick way to purify and to have realization of lamrim: guru devotion, the three principal aspects of the path and so forth. The quick production of realizations is the main purpose, not completing the number of mantras. Of course, if we can, we should do both: have effective practice of lamrim and also finish the number of mantras. If we are able to complete the retreat, we can do the fire puja, and we are then qualified to give initiation and do other activities of Medicine Buddha. Finishing the number of ten thousand mantras is not the main point. The main point is to purify and to have more feeling of guru devotion, renunciation and bodhicitta. The main purpose is to reduce ignorance, anger, attachment and our other delusions and to have more good heart. That’s our main goal. To do that we need to collect a lot of merit and do much purification. The aim of the retreat is to purify a lot of negative karma and to collect as much merit as possible.
That’s why in the sessions each of the seven limbs is recited seven times, and not just recited but meditated upon. Each of the seven-limb practices is done seven times with meditation. This is like in the Medicine Buddha Puja, where you make prayers to each Medicine Buddha with the seven-limb practice. Here, when you do the seven limbs, if you do each one seven times and then recite the names seven times, it’s shorter, but the same as the Medicine Buddha Puja. That’s the essence. We collect unbelievable merit and perform so much purification if we do the seven-limb practice seven times, not just repeating the words seven times but doing the actual practice.
I think that’s enough for tonight. During the sessions I will explain the things that need to be clarified.
So, good morning and another good morning. Thanks so much.
Chapter 6. Sunday, October 28: Discourse Before Medicine Buddha Initiation
[Rinpoche leads recitation of the Medicine Buddha mantra.]
Geshe Lama Konchog’s story
I thought to mention a little about Geshe Lama Konchog, who recently passed away, so that we can see the result of practice and that we can achieve the same thing.27
I heard stories from Geshe Lama Konchog himself and from others that when he was in Tibet in Sera Monastery, he went to receive a lot of lamrim teachings. He didn’t stick to just studying philosophy. While he was studying philosophy, his style was to go to receive lamrim teachings or commentaries on Guru Puja from Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, Pari Dorje Chang, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche and other high lamas who were Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo’s disciples. He often went to receive such teachings. He also did a lot of pilgrimage in Tibet, even while he was in the monastery. I don’t mean that while he was in the monastery at the same time he manifested in all the pilgrimage places. I’m not sure about that one. His style was to do a lot of pilgrimage and practice. I don’t think he particularly wanted to be a scholar but wanted more to practice and actualize the teachings.
When he and some friends were escaping together from Lhasa, since Chinese soldiers were on the roads and watching the borders and planes were flying over, it was very dangerous and not easy to escape. I think Geshe-la did a protector puja, which caused clouds to gather and snow to fall. The Chinese army vehicles were there in the road, covered by snow, and they escaped by passing right by the vehicles. Nobody bothered them. I don’t remember exactly which route he took to the border.
At some point Geshe-la arrived in Nepal. He didn’t live in Buxa, in West Bengal, where the Gelug monks from Lhasa and also some Kagyü, Nyingma and Sakya monks from other places lived together in one place. In the mornings and evenings the monks from Sera, Ganden and Drepung and those from the other traditions would do puja together on a platform. But when it came time for debate, though some of the other monks, those who were studying, would stay and later engage in debate, most of them would just go back to their rooms, because their monasteries didn’t have that style of study. Their main form of study was to receive a commentary then memorize it, not so much to debate the subject. Some of the Sakya monasteries might have had debate, but it sounds as if the others didn’t.
After he came from Tibet, Geshe Lama Konchog lived for many years in Tsum, high in the mountains of Nepal. I don’t know exactly how you get there, but from Kathmandu, you have to go by bus for a certain number of days and then go on foot for fifteen days. It’s very far away. Geshe-la spent his time doing a lot of practice in caves of Milarepa. For many years he also lived in a hermitage. I think he had a very successful life.
Each time his food ran out Geshe-la would have to go to a nearby village. Going down to the village, getting the food and coming back took a lot of time. While he was staying there at the hermitage, he decided one day that he would never go to the village again, that when his tsampa finished he wouldn’t go to the village to get more food. On the day he decided this, he had a dream of his root guru, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche, who is also my root guru. His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche made pak, tsampa mixed with butter tea, and gave it to him. To make the pak more elaborately, after you mix the tsampa with the tea you can add cheese and sugar. However, the basic ingredients are tsampa and butter tea. His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche was eating this tsampa very blissfully and then gave some to Geshe-la. The next day a man brought Geshe-la a huge load of tsampa, and from that time he never had to go out to get food. Geshe-la said that when his food was about to finish, somebody would bring him more. I think that’s the power of renouncing the eight worldly dharmas, of deciding not to go out for food.
It’s mentioned in Chen-nga Lodrö Gyaltsen’s thought-transformation teaching, Opening the Door of Dharma: The Initial Stage of Training the Mind in the Graduated Path to Enlightenment, which contains many pieces of advice from the Kadampa geshes on how they practiced, that once you renounce the eight worldly dharmas, it is natural that things just come to you.28 You don’t starve, you don’t die. Dying of starvation happens when you don’t renounce the eight worldly dharmas. When you renounce the eight worldly dharmas, due to the benefit of Dharma practice, it doesn’t happen. It never happened in the past to any pure meditator, to anyone who had renounced the eight worldly dharmas.
Here I want to say this. Of course, from the meditator’s side they should practice like that, but from the side of the FPMT organization, we should offer service to meditators. We shouldn’t think, “This is the way they must practice. We shouldn’t help them. We shouldn’t give them food or money.” That’s wrong. A meditator should practice like that, and other people should offer them service. Other people also collect merit by serving them. It’s similar to the guru-disciple relationship. From the guru’s side, there is a responsibility and from the disciple’s side, there are also responsibilities.
A proof of what is said in the teachings is that from the time he renounced the eight worldly dharmas, Geshe-la never had to go to town for food. One Kadampa geshe (I think it might have been Ben Gungyal) said, “Before, my mouth looked for food but could not find it. Now it is difficult for the food to find my mouth.” It means that before he practiced Dharma, before he renounced the eight worldly dharmas, attachment clinging to this life, he worked hard to look for food but still couldn’t find it. After he renounced his desire, however, so much food came that it had difficulty finding his mouth.
Also, Lama Yeshe used to tease Gen Jampa Wangdu, who was one of the most successful older meditators in Dharamsala and Dalhousie. After starting to meditate on the path in Tibet quite a few years before, he then achieved calm abiding in Dalhousie. At one time His Holiness was saying in teachings that people should put effort into experimenting with, or meditating on, calm abiding. His Holiness sent Geshe Rabten Rinpoche to check in Dalhousie, where there were many meditators. Geshe Rabten Rinpoche had been at Buxa, and he was the first teacher to introduce me to dura, the initial stage of philosophy, which is like learning the ABC. Later, after Geshe Rabten had finished the lharampa geshe examination, His Holiness’s office invited Geshe-la to come to Dharamsala to help His Holiness. I think Lati Rinpoche was invited at the same time. Geshe Rabten Rinpoche had been living in Dharamsala for a long time when His Holiness sent him to Dalhousie.
In Dalhousie, a group of meditators, geshes and incarnate lamas who had studied well in monasteries in Tibet were being guided by the great lama, Trehor Kyörpon Rinpoche, who became a geshe with Serkong Dorje Chang, the great yogi who was like the past great yogis Marpa and Milarepa. Serkong Dorje Chang later lived in a Gelugpa monastery in Swayambhunath in Nepal. The monastery is down below where people park their cars before walking up to the top of Swayambhunath hill. Before living there, Rinpoche lived in a Nepalese house right on top of the hill.
I had heard stories at Buxa about Serkong Dorje Chang, so I had a great wish to meet this great yogi. One day I went to see him with Lama and Zina, the Russian woman who was our first Western student. Because her family was royal, her name was Princess Rachevsky. At that time I think we were staying in the house of one of the sons of Chini Lama, the old caretaker of Boudhanath Stupa. Chini Lama’s son had two houses, and we stayed in both of them at different times. I don’t think the one that was next to the road and had a double vajra exists now. We stayed in that house for almost a year, I think. We stayed in a green house for some time then moved to the house with the double vajra.
Anyway, the three of us went to Swayambhunath Stupa. There must have been some karma because as soon as we arrived outside Serkong Dorje Chang’s house, a very simple monk came down the steps. I think he asked us what we wanted. We said that we wanted to see Serkong Dorje Chang. The monk then said, “Wait.” I think he then went to the bathroom. After we went upstairs, we found that that monk was Serkong Dorje Chang. We hadn’t recognized him.
Because of Zina, we also went to see many of the high lamas of the other Tibetan traditions. Sometimes she had her own questions and sometimes Lama would help her to compose questions to ask.
There were some texts piled up next to the bed, so Zina asked Serkong Dorje Chang, “Can you read some of those texts?” I guess that’s an unusual question.29 ... He used to talk like this. I wouldn’t say it was arrogance, but an expression of having those realizations.
My stories are like a spider’s web, with one strand connected here and another one connected there. I don’t remember how I came to this point from Geshe Lama Konchog’s story.... That’s right! I was talking about Gen Jampa Wangdu.
Of course, some of you here have heard the story of Gen Jampa Wangdu many times and have also received teachings from him. He had great success in calm abiding, then also achieved realization of bodhicitta in Dharamsala. Geshe-la would sometimes come to talk to Lama and me in the evenings or at lunchtime. He usually fasted at night, but sometimes he would eat dinner with us. One time he told us that it had been seven years since he had been to anyone else’s house for himself. It didn’t mean that he hadn’t been to anyone else’s house for seven years, but that he’d never gone for himself. What he was saying was that he had realized bodhicitta seven years before. It is mentioned that sometimes the bodhicitta of a new bodhisattva can degenerate, but generally once you have the realization of bodhicitta it is impossible for the thought of seeking happiness for yourself to arise for even a moment. There is only the thought of seeking happiness for others once you have the realization of bodhicitta.
Gen Jampa Wangdu also realized emptiness—I think while he was in a cave down below His Holiness Ling Rinpoche’s house. Geshe Rabten Rinpoche used to always praise Gen Jampa Wangdu as being very fortunate. When I went to my first teaching on mahamudra from Geshe Rabten Rinpoche, Geshe-la praised Gen Jampa Wangdu and told me to ask him any questions I had. I think it was a sign that around that time Gen Jampa Wangdu had realized emptiness. He also had great success in the Six Yogas of Naropa and other high tantric paths.
After we had received teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Gen Jampa Wangdu would come to my small room at Tushita and we would discuss the teachings. He would then talk from his own experience. It was my great hope to bring Gen Jampa Wangdu to the West as the lama to guide those doing serious retreats and meditating on the lamrim. That was a great loss. I think if I had requested him, Geshe-la would have listened.
After Lama passed away and before Geshe-la passed away, I received from Geshe-la the lineage of the teachings on chu len, the pill retreat, as I thought it might become rare in the future. It’s not a rare teaching at the moment, with many lamas having the lineage, but I thought it might become rare in the future.
I then asked Gen Jampa Wangdu about the quickest way to have lamrim realization. His essential advice emphasized purification. This is the way it generally is. A teacher who is a great scholar usually emphasizes study, saying, “You must do extensive study.” An ascetic teacher who has spent his life meditating and has not been involved in extensive study emphasizes meditation. Of course, some emphasize both. When a teacher has been very successful in actualizing the path, his main emphasis is purification. I think it’s true, because without purification nothing works. The mind is stubborn, and nothing happens. Even if you can recite by heart all the 84,000 teachings of Buddha, the entire Kangyur and Tengyur, and can explain them without reading the text, that alone is not enough to change the mind. Transformation of the mind, realization, is something else.
When I asked that question about the quickest way to have lamrim realization, Geshe-la also said that in daily life, rather than following self-cherishing thought, you have to always practice the remedy to self-cherishing thought. Rather than being a friend of self-cherishing, you have to stay away from it, just as you keep away from a dangerous enemy who can harm or kill you. You have to practice the antidote to self-cherishing thought. Although the words aren’t exactly the same, this is the meaning of Geshela’s advice. This is the way to cut through obstacles and have successful lamrim realization.
That was Geshe-la’s answer to my question. He didn’t use many words, but his answer came from his own experience. In Seven-Point Thought Transformation, there is the outline, “Put all the blame on one.” It means that in daily life you should act toward the self-cherishing thought, the great enemy that doesn’t allow you to have temporary or ultimate success and happiness, as the United States military does in Afghanistan: always being where the enemy is and attacking it continuously, day and night.
Anyway, Geshe Lama Konchog did many years of practice in a few different caves. When he came to Kopan, he said, “I have completed Vajrayogini and Lama Chöpa.” When you say that you have completed a practice it normally means that you have achieved enlightenment. This is what the expression “I have completed Vajrayogini practice” or “I have completed Lama Chöpa practice” means. The time you don’t need to practice is when you have achieved enlightenment; until then, you need to practice. Geshe Lama Konchog told us that, and the usual meaning of those words “completed the practice” is that the person has achieved enlightenment.
As I have also mentioned at other times, after Lama Yeshe had passed away, Lama Lhundrub and I needed somebody to help us at Kopan. I had met Geshe Lama Konchog a few times before. I think I met him for the first time in Bodhgaya, and he then came to Kopan and stayed for some days. That was a long time ago, when Lama was there. I wished very much for Geshe Lama Konchog to be at Kopan. During those times, we were practicing the protector, so I made a few prayers for Geshe-la to come down to Kopan. After some time, and I don’t think it was very long, Geshe-la came to Kopan, even though I hadn’t sent him a letter. Geshe-la told the story that one day he just came down from his hermitage to his benefactor’s house in the village. There was no letter, but when he was at the benefactor’s house, his mind was drawn to come down to Kopan. So, without picking up all his things, he rushed down to Kopan. After he had been at Kopan for quite a few years, he went back up to Tsum, packed up his things and then came down again.
Geshe Lama Konchog has been of incredible benefit to Kopan Monastery. He gave teachings to the nuns on the preliminary practices and gave them Vajrayogini commentaries. Ten or so of the nuns started a three-year Vajrayogini retreat quite some time ago. I think they have already finished the preliminary practices and quite a number of nyung näs. The idea was for them to do one hundred nyung näs before the Vajrayogini retreat. I would like all the Kopan nuns to do this, besides the other preliminary practices. Doing the hundred nyung näs was Geshe Lama Konchog’s idea, and I thought it was a very good one. The three-year retreat would then be incredibly successful and go very smoothly, with no obstacles, because they would already have collected a lot of merit. Quite a number of years ago I thought the nuns should have some plan for their life, so I had this idea for them to do the preliminary practices. They also study philosophy and debate, the same as the monks, as well as learn grammar and the other subjects that the monks learn, apart from extensive study of the vinaya, as they don’t have those vows. They also study tantra and Tibetan medicine. I think in the early times the monks also learned about Tibetan medicine.
However, the specific plan is for every nun to do the nine preliminary practices, then do a three-year Vajrayogini retreat. They then just wait for death and departure to the pure land of Khachö or to have a perfect human rebirth and develop their mind in the path and further benefit other sentient beings. The first group of nuns has already started, with Lama Lhundrub’s guidance. When this group of nuns finishes, other nuns will then take their place, and it will go on like that. Sangye Khadro and some other people from Singapore are supporting the nuns who are doing retreat.
Geshe Lama Konchog also taught and guided Western students, not only in Kopan but also in Australia. Geshe-la was supposed to stay at Chenrezig Institute in Australia for one year. When I came there, I tried to inspire Geshe-la to stay by telling him that His Holiness the Dalai Lama was coming to Australia. Geshe-la didn’t say anything to me, but after six months he returned to Kopan. Geshe-la taught Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, then left for Kopan. It was only when I came to Kopan that Geshe-la told me about all the difficulties he had with the translator. When I was there he didn’t tell me anything. He just kept quiet. I thought that was very smart.
Geshe-la bore many hardships for Kopan Monastery, helping with the fundraising for the buildings and also with teaching. He also spent a lot of time in the centers in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, giving initiations and teachings and doing pujas. He gave his life to me, to the FPMT centers and students, and to sentient beings. Even though he had physical problems with sickness, he was very heroic in his work for others, whether doing pujas or giving teachings.
One time at Kopan, it had been raining and the steps to the old gompa were slippery. Geshe Lama Konchog slipped and fell very heavily down the steps; I think he banged his head on the cement. He felt very happy that it had happened. Why did he feel so happy? Because he immediately thought that he had experienced my life obstacles on himself. That’s what he told me and that’s what made him so happy. Even when things like that happened, that’s the kind of attitude Geshe Lama Konchog normally had.
In Tibet, when we went on pilgrimage with seventy-three people, we went to the Palden Lhamo Lake, the lake that gives predictions, though not everyone sees something. Many people have gone there to search for the reincarnations of high lamas, with the hope of seeing the town where the child would be born, his family or the child himself. The lakes of the protectors are Tibetan TV. There are many lakes around there. Besides the Palden Lhamo Lake, there are Mahakala lakes and the lakes of many other protectors. There’s also a Twenty-one Taras lake. Some of the lakes are very wrathful and people are scared to go to them.
We hired horses to go to the Palden Lhamo Lake, and Geshe Lama Konchog was probably the only one who didn’t ride the horses. He walked. He never rode, despite his age, going or coming back. I thought that showed his bodhicitta. He didn’t want other sentient beings to suffer; he didn’t want to use other sentient beings for his own happiness. He never used a horse.
Geshe Lama Konchog was somebody who practiced sutra and tantra and really sacrificed his life for others. When he was in his hermitage he read by himself the whole Kangyur, which is more than one hundred volumes, as a puja for the long life of His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche.
While he was living in the mountains in Tsum, there were many people who went crazy. People would go to get blessed strings, which have a special knot, from other more famous lamas there, but the crazy person wouldn’t get better. In the end they would come to Geshe Lama Konchog, who would give them just a simple thread—nothing elaborate, nothing elegant. They would then recover. This happened many times, due to the power of his practice.
I’m not sure when Geshe-la took the aspect of cancer, but it might have been a long time ago. Hot places didn’t suit him much and I had asked Geshe-la to go to Taiwan to teach for a long time, to Hong Kong and to various other places. I don’t know when the cancer started. When he was in Singapore, I wrote Geshe-la a letter to thank him for sacrificing his life for the organization and sentient beings. I told him that I was very grateful for his service to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Yeshe and me. I said that even if he passed away, his life had benefited others so much. I also told him that his incarnation must come back to Kopan.
One time I sent Geshe-la a singing fish. When I was taking a course at Geshe Sopa’s place some of the nuns gave it to me as a present, so I sent it to Geshe Lama Konchog, who was either at the Singapore center or in hospital. I heard that Geshe-la went to bed with the fish, like a child going to bed with his toy. Tenzin Zopa said that Geshe-la slept holding the fish next to his head. Then in the middle of the night, at one or two o’clock, Geshe-la played this singing fish. Normally when the Chinese students came, Geshela would be in bed and everything was very sad. But after the fish came, Geshe-la would play it for them. Each time the students came, Geshe-la played this fish to them and made everybody happy. They would burst into laughter.
During his life Geshe-la also sponsored many monasteries and built statues everywhere, not only at Kopan. With the money offerings that he received from the many pujas he did for people, he built statues for monasteries in many places. He dedicated himself so much, even up to recent times.
It seems that when he was dying Geshe-la was able to recognize the twenty-five absorptions, which we’re supposed to meditate on when we do sadhanas in Highest Yoga Tantra practice. A few days before he passed away Geshe-la told Losang Jamyang, one of the Kopan geshes and now resident teacher of the Kaoshiung center in Taiwan, that the vision of the mirage and the vision like smoke were happening. That means he was able to recognize the clear light and all those other things, and on the basis of that he was able to apply the meditations of the Highest Yoga Tantra path.
I’m not sure how long he was in the meditation state, but it wasn’t for just three days. I think it was for about a week. At Kopan they planned to read the Guhyasamaja root text, but if you read the Guhyasamaja root text when someone is in the meditation state, it causes the meditation to finish, so it wasn’t read while Geshe-la was meditating. Instead they did Guru Puja, Vajrayogini self-initiation and other practices. I think that first they did Yamantaka self-initiation; second, Vajrayogini self-initiation; then Thirteen-Deity Yamantaka self-initiation.
I think the day they were doing the Yamantaka self-initiation I tried to speak to Geshe-la. He was still able to speak but there was some obstacle with the telephone. I could hear his voice, anyway, and again I thanked him. Since Geshe-la had already done the work by himself during his life, he didn’t need to do powa or anything like that. Powa, transferring the consciousness, is only for ordinary people. Somebody who is in the meditation state doesn’t need powa because he can guide himself. There is no danger of being born in the lower realms. He can go to a pure land or, according to the person’s wish, take a perfect human body to benefit others. I asked him which way to pray, Amitabha or Vajrayogini powa, and I think he answered Vajrayogini. But when I did my Mickey Mouse mo it didn’t come out to do powa. Actually, I think he was beyond the need for powa.
I then sent all the guidance about what to do with the body, because we had done all that with Lama Yeshe. We didn’t offer fire in an ordinary place where other people’s bodies are burnt but behind the hill at Kopan Monastery. In such cases, the cremation stupa has to be opened after a few days and somebody pure has to look at the relics. I suggested that Charok Lama be the first person to look at the relics, so that’s what happened. Anyway, the story is here in this letter from Tenzin Zopa, which I haven’t yet read.
On Thursday, 22nd October, at 4:30, Geshe Lama Konchog’s cremation stupa was opened and from 7:30 onward, under the guidance of Charok Lama, Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrub and myself [which means Tenzin Zopa],30 relics were taken out.
So many relics were found.
Lama Lhundrub told me that when the holy body was offered fire, relics were jumping out. It’s usually said in the texts that relics come from the holy body if you have the completion stage realization of clear light.
So many relics were found that what was supposed to be a two-hour job turned into eight hours. We found incredible items in the ashes. All different types of relics: two or three hundred white relic pills; one golden and a few black-colored relic pills; three pieces of red relics and between ten and twenty gray-colored relic pills. We also found Geshe-la’s heart. [High tantric practitioners’ eyes, heart and tongue don’t usually burn.] When we first found the heart it was still soft, like fresh.
Usually after a person’s breath has stopped, they don’t open their eyes. But after Geshe-la’s breath had stopped, it seems he opened and closed his eyes a few times. I guess it is different for someone who has overcome ordinary suffering death by having the Highest Yoga Tantra realization of clear light. The last time, he had one eye closed and one open or something like that. Anyway, that’s very unusual.
After a few minutes it became hard, like resin. We also found an eyeball. And we think we have found the tongue. Geshe-la had white hair but we found a bunch of black hair, and I am convinced it is Vajrayogini hair. We also found a bunch of red-gray hair like wrathful deities or so people say. Also one handful of silver, thin, wire-like hair, quite a few relics that look like pearls, also something looking like turquoise. Some relics looking like mud pills, very hard. We also found a lot of bones. When cremating a high lama usually a plate turned upside down is put under the seat with smooth sand in it. We also did that. And we found something looking like lotus petal in the sand mandala, one or two inches high under it, with two footprints pointing towards the gompa...
When you take out the container, there’s usually a pattern in it and it’s quite common to have footprints. At the Thamo nunnery down below Lawudo, they had an abbot who was a very good monk, a very good practitioner. He was in the meditation state for eight days, a long time. He was somebody who was doing practice; he was very humble and did pujas for other people. I think he was a very good monk. He was in the meditation state for many days, then after the cremation they kept the cremation stupa closed for some days. They saw the Vajrayogini mantra on the ashes and many other incredible signs, including footprints. The footprints face the direction in which the reincarnation will be found.
... exactly like Geshe-la’s feet. We then covered this one up again, on Lama Lhundrub’s advice. Then when we looked again, the lotus petal was higher, up to two inches high. [It was still changing.] There was a crown on top of the lotus. The footprints indicate that Geshe-la will definitely return.
The other day I mentioned an 80-year-old Tibetan woman who is very, very spiritual and could be a dakini. According to her, Geshe Lama Konchog has already incarnated somewhere in lower Dharamsala. She gave the names of the parents and even the child’s name, Dorje or something like that. We just have to check and to wait for a few years. What I mean is that we’re still analyzing whether it is right or not.
At 2:30pm we invited Geshe-la’s relics to the gompa with music and auspicious banners and flowers. In the gompa the request for Geshe-la’s incarnation to come quickly was repeated. Then the relics were taken in procession to Geshe-la’s house. In the entrance of the house there was a table with three types of food prepared—bowls of milk, tsampa mixed with the three white and three sweets and six medical substances, and also auspicious sweet rice. This was offered to all coming into the house.
All the monks and nuns and many lay people came to look at the relics. There is still one big container with ashes and relics that need to be looked through and we are working at it every day. Lama Lhundrub said it is like Geshe-la’s whole body was a precious jewel. We will keep all the relics here till Lama Zopa [Mickey Mouse] comes. He can decide what to do. The relics will be kept in Geshe-la’s room together with a large picture of Geshe-la and many of his holy objects, and this will be accessible to everyone.
This morning there was a meeting with Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrub, Gelek Gyatso Rinpoche and Denpa Chöden, in which we discussed the building of a huge stupa...
Geshe-la wanted to build a large stupa at Kopan—for him to reincarnate and to benefit sentient beings, I think. This was probably with the idea of coming back to Kopan. Usually when a lama passes away, quickly building a stupa, either an outside stupa or an inside one made of copper or some other material, helps to quickly find the reincarnation. That has been my experience with Lama Yeshe’s incarnation and with others.
... in the space where the cremation stupa was. The stupa will be around twenty feet high and surrounded by the statues of the five Dhyani Buddhas. There will be beautiful gardens surrounding it. The motivation for building the stupa is to fulfill all Geshe-la’s wishes and for his incarnation to come to Kopan, to be able to help Lama Zopa Rinpoche, to serve all FPMT students and all sentient beings. So we dedicate it to Geshe-la’s students and to those who knew him and those who didn’t. Just by seeing the stupa extensive merit will be accumulated and so much negative karma will be purified. It will be there for everyone to meditate and to make offering there. The building of the stupa will start on 13th of December.
It is very sad that Geshe-la has left his body and is now away from us. He gave us the opportunity to feel fortunate to have met him and to rejoice in his great realization, which he manifested in his relics. Definitely Geshe-la will come back as soon as possible. His prayers and blessings are always with us and our prayers make us never to be separated from him. For me he’s without doubt right now Buddha. He did convince us of this at the end of his life by taking on the aspect of Buddha. He tried to show that while he was alive, his humility and simplicity and our own extensive delusions prevented us from seeing this while he was alive. However, there is no doubt now.
I am planning to make a book about Geshe-la’s life story as well as a video that will be a one-year project. I am going to show Geshela’s activities to all his disciples, students. Thank you for all your messages and special thanks to those who did prayers and things and offered money to do pujas for Geshe-la and so forth.
So, this is the result of somebody who practiced. Geshe-la himself said that in his life he did two thousand nyung näs. And, of course, there were many other practices.
So, I think that’s the motivation for the initiation!
Perhaps you need a short break? Ten or fifteen minutes for chai, chai garam.
* * *
I didn’t have the merit to invite this great meditator, Gen Jampa Wangdu, to the West to guide people doing retreat and meditating on lamrim. However, we have the merit to now have Kyabje Rilbur Rinpoche, who is the actual Heruka. Rinpoche’s simply being in this area is a great blessing, and not only that, but Rinpoche is here to guide students from here, Vajrapani Institute and other centers who want to do retreat. Rinpoche has dedicated his whole life to meditating on the lamrim. We are unbelievably fortunate, and we should also pray for Rinpoche to have a long life and for us students and other sentient beings to be able to continually receive his guidance and teachings; to receive his guidance not just at this time but for it to continue. In general, this is the antidote to world problems and the cause of peace and of the enlightenment of all us sentient beings.
The root of samsara
Yesterday I made a mistake when I was talking about the very specific ignorance that is the root of samsara. This is not just any kind of ignorance. There are four schools of Buddhist philosophy, and this is not the ignorance from the point of view of the Vaibhashika, Sautrantika, Cittamatra or even Svatantrika Madhyamaka schools. What they see as the ignorance that is the root of samsara is not actually the root of samsara. Even though these schools talk about the root of samsara, the types of ignorance they talk about are not really the root of samsara. It has to be the specific ignorance I introduced last night, which is a subtle wrong concept compared to all those others.
The I is merely labeled by mind, but when it appears back to you it doesn’t appear to be merely labeled by mind; it appears to be not merely labeled by mind. There is a very subtle hallucination there on the base, and you allow your mind to hold on to that as true. The moment you allow your mind to hold on to that as true, that’s the very specific ignorance that is the very root of samsara. You can cut that root only by realizing the Prasangika view of emptiness, or ultimate nature. The other schools talk about emptiness, and, of course, understanding their views of the root of samsara and emptiness is helpful. Their views become progressively more and more subtle and help you to understand the Prasangika school’s extremely subtle view of emptiness and of the very subtle wrong concept that is the root of samsara. However, realizing emptiness according to those other schools cannot cut the root of samsara.
I said yesterday that from this ignorance the other three poisonous minds arise and karma is created and then all this samsara, the body and mind, which is suffering in nature, is produced. This is what I said, but if you analyze it, there are some mistakes, of course. I wasn’t careful in what I said. We have the body of a happy migratory being; even though it’s suffering in nature, it’s a product of good karma. There is good karma motivated by attachment. There are two types of attachment: attachment clinging to this life and attachment clinging to future-life happiness. This body could be the result of the good karma from practicing morality with attachment seeking to have a precious human body in the next life, and that would be produced on the basis of the ignorance that apprehends inherent existence. Of course, in regard to the delusion that produces this human rebirth, the body of a happy transmigratory being, it wouldn’t be anger or ignorance of karma. I’m just trying to clarify what I said yesterday.
However, this also doesn’t mean that all the rebirths as happy migratory beings are products of attachment. For example, last night your motivation for the preparation was seeking enlightenment, but even though your main goal is enlightenment, by the way you achieve liberation from samsara, a good rebirth and the happiness of future lives. And, for example, when you make offerings or do prostrations your goal is to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, but by the way you receive the benefit of a good rebirth in future lives, wealth, long life and so forth, in dependence upon which particular offerings you make. You made the offering, did the prostration or made charity to others to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, not with any intention to receive a good rebirth. However, even though you didn’t look for the happiness of future lives, it comes by the way. It’s like planting a seed in the ground to get fruit. Your main aim, of course, is to get the fruit but leaves and stems come by the way. Before you plant the seed, you never think, “I want the leaves.” When you plant a seed, the main thing you want is the fruit, and the leaves and stems come by the way.
You do many practices only to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, but liberation from samsara and the happiness of future lives then come by the way. So, that happiness of future lives doesn’t come from attachment. This is one example, and there might be others, where you receive the happiness of future lives without depending on attachment. And, as I mentioned before, there’s the happiness of future lives where you have created good karma with attachment seeking that.
I just wanted to clarify what I said. From ignorance come the three poisonous minds, which then motivate karma, and you then receive this rebirth, which is suffering in nature. There is a possibility that this rebirth came from attachment, but not from the other two poisonous minds.
Bodhicitta motivation
Since I, action, object and all other phenomena are merely labeled by mind, everything is empty; everything is empty of existing from its own side. Nothing has an inherently existent nature. Even though everything is totally empty, we are unable to realize this; we apprehend that everything exists from its own side as it appears to do. We apprehend that which is hallucination as reality. That ignorance then produces the three poisonous minds. The three poisonous minds then motivate karma, and we then experience the oceans of samsaric suffering of the hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras and suras.
During beginningless rebirths up to now, we haven’t been liberated from all these sufferings. And it is very difficult to say whether we will have the opportunity to do this in our future lives. This life, the life we have now, is our only chance. From our side, we have received a perfect human rebirth and have met not only Dharma but Mahayana Dharma, as well as tantra, the quick path to enlightenment. (Even if you haven’t met tantra before, by taking this initiation, you will meet tantra.) And you have met not just me, a Mickey Mouse guru, but many other gurus, including the actual living Compassion Buddha, His Holiness the Dalai Lama; the actual Heruka, Rilbur Rinpoche; Denma Lochö Rinpoche; and many other highly qualified gurus. You have met and received teachings from many great gurus with every single good quality of a teacher. Therefore, you shouldn’t miss the chance you have at this time to liberate yourself from the oceans of samsaric suffering. At this time you have all the opportunities. You’ve met Buddhadharma, which is the unmistaken path to liberation and to enlightenment. Your next life is uncertain. Therefore, before what is called “death” happens, you must take this opportunity to liberate yourself from the oceans of samsaric suffering.
However, just that alone is not sufficient. All the sufferings and all the obstacles come from the I. (We normally say that they come from the ego, the self-cherishing thought, but to say they come from the I is the same, because the ego is the mind cherishing the I as more important than all other sentient beings.) All the happiness, all the good things, come from others. We receive everything—all our temporary and ultimate happiness, all the realizations of the path and enlightenment—by the kindness of every single sentient being. Even the happiness of this life—a good reputation, food, clothing, shelter, money, a job—is given by other sentient beings. We receive all the good things by the kindness of sentient beings.
Also, every single happiness, every single collection of goodness, comes from bodhicitta. Bodhicitta comes from great compassion, and great compassion is generated in dependence upon every single sentient being. Therefore, we receive every single happiness of the past, present and future, including enlightenment, and every single comfort and pleasure in our daily life by the kindness of every single sentient being. We receive this happiness by the kindness of each and every sentient being.
Therefore, if you cherish even one sentient being, even the one who criticizes or provokes you and whom you call “enemy,” you can achieve enlightenment. There’s enlightenment. But if you don’t cherish that sentient being whom you call “enemy,” you can’t achieve enlightenment. There’s no enlightenment. You can’t achieve any realization of the Mahayana path. You can’t achieve the bodhicitta realization, which is the door of the Mahayana path. But if you cherish one sentient being, even this sentient being whom you call your enemy, you can achieve all the realizations of the Mahayana path, including enlightenment. You are then able to free the numberless sentient beings from all their sufferings and bring them to full enlightenment. But if you don’t cherish that sentient being, you don’t achieve all those things.
This is besides your daily pleasures and comforts. For example, because a cook makes food, you have the pleasure of drinking tea or eating food, the pleasure of stopping feelings of hunger. You can relate in this way to many other pleasures: this pleasure comes from this person, this pleasure comes from that person.
Here you can see that if you don’t cherish this sentient being, you have no enlightenment; if you cherish this sentient being, there’s enlightenment. Therefore, every single sentient being is the most precious one in your life. This is without talking about how sentient beings are precious because they are numberless. Here we are talking about how every single sentient being is the most precious one in your life. Every single insect, every single person, is the most precious one in your life.
Shakyamuni Buddha sacrificed his life to make charity and practice morality for three countless great eons. To sacrifice your life isn’t easy, but Buddha did it for three countless great eons. For us it’s difficult to do even one time. It’s difficult for us to practice morality for even a day, let alone a year or a lifetime. Buddha did it for three countless great eons for sentient beings. Buddha practiced charity, morality, patience, perseverance and the rest of the paramitas for three countless great eons, then completed the two types of merit and achieved enlightenment.
After achieving enlightenment, Buddha worked to benefit sentient beings, to help sentient beings. There was no other activity. There was nothing to do except to benefit sentient beings, to work for sentient beings. All this effort in sacrificing his life to do all this practice for three countless great eons was only to complete the collection of merit and actualize the path for sentient beings. All this was done for you. Buddha did all this for you and for all other sentient beings. For you and all sentient beings, Buddha made an unbelievable sacrifice to practice charity, morality, patience, perseverance and so forth and then achieved enlightenment and revealed Dharma. It was all for you, for you and all sentient beings. The 84,000 teachings of Dharma that Buddha taught are for you and all sentient beings. Even after Buddha achieved enlightenment, all he did was work for others.
Working only for others doesn’t apply only to the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas. In our life there is nothing better than working for sentient beings. There’s nothing better in life than cherishing others, benefiting others, working for others. There is nothing better. Think,” Therefore, I must free all the sentient beings from all their suffering and its causes and bring them to enlightenment by myself alone.” Think, “By myself alone.” Remember the hell beings and hungry ghosts and their suffering, then think, “I will free them by myself alone.” Think of the animals, be aware of their sufferings, then think, “I must liberate them by myself alone.” Then think of human beings and all their problems, “I will liberate them by myself alone.” Think of all the asuras and suras and of all their sufferings, then think, “By myself alone I will liberate them from all their suffering and its causes.” Think in that way with all sentient beings.
Then think, “I must achieve enlightenment quicker and quicker, which means quicker than the sutra Paramitayana path; therefore, I’m going to take this Medicine Buddha initiation to have success in doing extensive works for sentient beings and for the teaching of Buddha.”
[Rinpoche then gives the Medicine Buddha initiation.]31
Dedications
As I mentioned yesterday, this retreat is dedicated for His Holiness’s long life, to which there are many obstacles. Our practice of retreat is dedicated for that, as well as to pacify as quickly as possible all the terrorist attacks, which harm so many people, as well as all the wars. So, it is for world peace.
“May the numberless sentient beings who are suffering in the lower realms immediately be liberated from those suffering realms and reincarnate in a pure land of buddha where they can achieve enlightenment or receive a perfect human rebirth as quickly as possible. (This includes those people who have died who relied upon me, for whom I promised to pray and whose names were given to me.)
“May you, your family members, all the students and benefactors of this organization, especially those who sacrifice their lives for the organization to benefit sentient beings and the teaching of Buddha, and those who are living who rely upon me, for whom I have promised to pray and whose names have been given to me and those who are offering service to me have long lives and be healthy. May all our wishes succeed immediately according to the holy Dharma.
“May we be able to completely actualize Lama Tsongkhapa’s pure teaching, which unifies sutra and tantra, in this very lifetime.
“May all the Sangha in this organization be able to completely actualize both the scriptural understanding and realizations of the path to enlightenment in this very lifetime by receiving all the necessary conditions. May they then be able to live in pure vinaya.
“By receiving everything they need, may all the social service centers and meditation centers be most beneficial for all sentient beings and spread the complete teaching of Lama Tsongkhapa in the minds of all sentient beings. May all the projects at every center succeed immediately by receiving everything they need. May all the projects here at Land of Medicine Buddha benefit sentient beings. (There is to be a temple with 100,000 Medicine Buddha statues and a place for Sangha to live, as well as 100,000 stupas to help sentient beings to purify and to collect merit and quickly bring them to enlightenment.) May the hospice, school, Universal Education and every other project here succeed immediately by receiving everything they need, and may all these projects be most beneficial for all sentient beings.”
Here I would like to say that when Land of Medicine Buddha was going through a very difficult time and there was nothing here, I asked Dr. Chiu Nan Lai to be the director of LMB. She worked very, very hard and developed LMB. After that, many other people have put effort into developing LMB. It has now become very beautiful and developed because those original people, including Chiu Nan Lai, put in effort when it was very difficult to work here. It has developed from the efforts of those people and has now become very beneficial for sentient beings. There are now many holy objects here, making this place meaningful to behold for anybody who comes here. Simply coming onto this land and looking at these holy objects makes their life meaningful, purifying their mind and planting so many seeds of enlightenment. Simply coming on this land and seeing these holy objects purify so much negative karma. And hopefully we can do more. All this came from those early people, including Chiu Nan Lai, who did a lot of work and sacrificed their lives. It also includes Angela Wang and Harvey Horrocks, as well as all the other benefactors, who helped to build the beautiful Ashes Temple. They are also helping with the Medicine Buddha Temple.
There has been a lot of destruction in this world, including that of the buildings in New York and the two large buddhas in Afghanistan, but hopefully the holy objects that we have here can quickly liberate and enlighten sentient beings without words, without needing to say anything. When sentient beings come on this land and see and go around the stupa and temples and see all the numberless holy objects, they will go back home with so much merit, with so many seeds of enlightenment planted in their minds, and with less negative karma. It is the quickest, easiest way to liberate sentient beings. The teachings together with all these holy objects will quickly liberate sentient beings.
I would also like to thank Tom Flynn. Tom isn’t here—he’s gone to the pure land. I can’t think of the words for which one....32
Ven. Sarah: New Zealand pure land, Rinpoche. Tom went to New Zealand pure land and Ecie came here.
Rinpoche: Anyway, I would like to include Tom and all the artists, cooks and other people who worked hard here to beautify the place. I would like to thank everyone.
The negative karma of even the insects that come to LMB and touch or go round the stupa will be purified. When butterflies and other insects land on the stupa their negative karmas will be purified. With all these holy objects, you can liberate sentient beings without needing to say anything. In silence, you can benefit sentient beings.
In Australia there is going to be a large stupa similar to the one at Gyantse in Tibet. They’re going to start to build it next year.
“May this and all the other projects—building monasteries and nunneries and holy objects and the social service projects—succeed immediately. Especially, may the 500-foot Maitreya Buddha statue be able to be completed immediately by receiving everything that is needed. May the construction be completed peacefully and without any obstacles. May this statue be able to liberate sentient beings as quickly as possible, especially causing loving kindness and bodhicitta to be generated in the minds of all sentient beings.
“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and the merits collected by buddhas, bodhisattvas and others, which are empty, may the I, who is empty, achieve Medicine Buddha’s enlightenment, which is empty, and lead all sentient beings, who are empty, to that enlightenment, which is empty, by myself alone, who is also empty.
“I dedicate all my merits to follow the bodhisattvas’ deeds, and I dedicate my merits in the way that the buddhas of the three times admire the most.
“May Lama Tsongkhapa’s teaching spread and flourish forever.”
Notes
27 The story of the search for and discovery of his reincarnation is told in the 2008 film Unmistaken Child. [Return to text]
28 Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book The Door to Satisfaction is based on this text. [Return to text]
29 At this point about ten minutes of the teaching were not recorded. See The Heart of the Path, pp. 58–63, for more on this story, Zina and Serkong Dorje Chang. [Return to text]
30 The bits in square brackets are Rinpoche’s asides. [Return to text]
31 The Medicine Buddha initiation was not transcribed. [Return to text]
32 Tom Flynn, a former director of Land of Medicine Buddha, passed away in 2008. [Return to text]
