December 9, 2005

THE ORAL TRANSMISSION OF THE PRAISES TO THE TWENTY-ONE TARAS

[Rinpoche chants in Tibetan]

I didn’t do the oral transmission of the Twenty-one Taras yesterday, so, since many people would like to recite the Praises to the Twenty-one Taras, I thought to do the lung, the oral transmission. In case I forget at the end of the initiation, I thought to do it before. Or in case you fall asleep! It goes on and on and then you fall asleep!

It’s good if you can recite this praise. In the monasteries, wherever there is an assembly of Sangha, they recite the Praises to the Twenty-one Taras every day. There are many other prayers but this is one they always recite, sometimes for the success of the activities of the monastery or other people request that they do the praises one hundred or two hundred thousand times for the success of their projects or for health or for their business or many things. It’s very common. It is very effective to recite this and the common experience is that it is successful.

When there are a great number to do and you need to recite them in a short time, such as when a person is very seriously sick, if you need to finish like one hundred thousand Praises to the Twenty-one Taras but it will take time, there is also a short prayer you can say.

Once, one of Lama Atisha’s disciples, I think a Kadampa geshe, was very, very sick and needed a lot of Tara Praises recited. I think Lama Atisha or Tara gave this short praise which I just mentioned before, where you can finish a big number in a short time. It’s a replacement for the long praise.

When you need success very urgently, when you have something urgent to request, you grab Green Tara’s feet on the lotus and put your head under the feet, and then you recite the praise with your whole heart relying upon Tara. It’s advised like that, to make this very strong prayer when there’s some very urgent thing you need to succeed in.

Then, if there’s a very important thing to complete, the day before you do the Four Mandala Offerings to Chittamani Tara puja, you should recite this, which contains the Praises to the Twenty-one Taras within the Four Mandala Offerings to Chittamani Tara puja. It’s very effective if you, the day before you do this puja.

There are a few things that makes the puja and your prayers effective. Whether you are a lay person or an ordained person, living in pure morality, living as purely as you are able to, makes your prayer, your puja, very effective. When other people ask you to pray, you have great success. The protectors and deities listen to you because you have done something from your side, practicing pure morality, samaya. It’s very easy for them, and because of that, they pay attention to your request. It has power for them to obey you, to listen, to act. Also, keeping the commitments, living in the pure samaya vow, they have to help. The other thing is having a good heart. The more compassion you have, the more you think of benefiting others. Of course, if you have a bodhicitta realization, that’s the purest heart, that’s the best, but even if you don’t have an actual realization, with strong compassion, with the thought of benefiting others with a sincere heart, that also has value. With that attitude, if you recite the prayer, it carries weight. That helps because of your good heart, your sincere heart, the thought of benefiting others.

I mean, there’s no question that the best one is a realization of bodhicitta. And another one, of course, is having the right view, but the best is bodhicitta. It’s what pleases Tara, what pleases the Dharma protectors, even if the prayer is not done much, it carries big weight, it helps.

Then, of course, if you have attained the realizations of the generation stage and the completion stage, the clear light and illusory body, there is no question, because you are really a yogi. Even the bodhisattvas and the protectors become attendants, servants, to those who have a realization of bodhicitta, especially on the basis of that then having the unification of clear light and illusory body; [they are like servants] to those who are very high yogis, even though they are still unenlightened beings. The protectors are like servants to them, fulfilling all their wishes, giving them support. Whatever they pray for is very powerful.

Think to listen to the oral transmission to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings and for the success of works for teaching of Buddha, and for sentient beings.

[Rinpoche continues the oral transmission]

THE ORAL TRANSMISSION OF THE KING OF PRAYERS

I did the lung of the Heart Sutra before. So, I will do the oral transmission of the Buddha Samantabhadra prayer called the King of Prayers. When you recite this, it becomes an extensive dedication, the ten numberless hundred thousand prayers of the bodhisattvas are contained in this. If you are able to recite this bodhisattva prayer, the King of Prayers, it’s an unbelievably powerful purification.

As it’s mentioned here in the part talking about the benefits, anyone who keeps it, reads it or recites it to somebody, either to themselves or other sentient beings, only the Buddha can understand the result of this. That means it has like limitless skies of unbelievable benefit. With the ripening aspect results, only the Omniscient One can fully understand all the benefits. So definitely, by reading this, you will achieve enlightenment. Therefore, it says here, “Don’t have a two-pointed mind, don’t have any doubt.”

There is the very common dedication,

Just as the brave Manjushri and Samantabhadra, too,
Realized things as they are,
I too dedicate all these merits in the best way,
That I may follow their perfect example.

All that I mentioned before, the ten times numberless one hundred thousand prayer, what is contained in the King of Prayers, all that is contained in this verse. When we dedicate, this is usually always done. Even though we might do other dedications, this is always done, even if the whole King of Prayers is not recited but just the condensed one.

Many practitioners at the end of the day dedicate all the merit collected that day for sentient beings by reciting the King of Prayers. That is a very extensive way of dedicating. If you recite this every day, it becomes a preparation itself for when you die. Amitabha will guide you and you will be reborn in Amitabha Buddha’s pure land, the blissful realm. Once you are born there in that blissful pure land, you can complete the path. The definition of a pure land is a place where there is no suffering, not even the name “suffering.” There’s no such thing as old age, sicknesses, rebirth and death and all these things caused by karma and delusion. You complete the path and then, as it’s mentioned in the prayer, you manifest in numberless emanations, in billions and billions and billions of emanations to work for sentient beings.

It’s said that the infinite worlds of the ten directions are completely adorned with jewels, which you offer to the buddhas. Then there is also the supreme bliss of the devas and human beings, which you offer to the buddhas. For how long? For eons. For how many eons? Equaling the number of atoms of the worlds of the ten directions. For that many unbelievable eons, you offer to the buddhas and collect that much merit. But just by listening to this King of Prayers and generating the wish to achieve enlightenment, just once generating devotion, you collect far greater merit than offering all those infinite worlds of ten directions decorated with all the gold, silver and all the precious jewels, offering to the buddhas as well as all the supreme bliss, all the supreme happiness and pleasure of the devas and human beings, of offering all that to the buddhas, for how many eons? Equaling number of atoms of the worlds of ten directions.

So, I will give the lung of this.

[Rinpoche gives the oral transmission]

The best way to take an oral transmission is to hear the words, which means the words are able to leave a positive imprint on your mental continuum. In that way, you can see the benefit in the near future. In your next life, you will be reborn as a human being and you will hear the words of the Dharma teachings. Either later in this life or in the next life, you will meet the Dharma again and hear the teachings, but then, the difference will be like sky and earth. It will be unbelievably easy to understand the words and the meanings, and to be able to practice and then actualize the path and cease the defilements. Then you will be able to achieve liberation and enlightenment. Then you will be able to liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to full enlightenment; you will be able to enlighten them. That’s the whole advantage, the benefit, of listening to each word of the oral transmission. Each word leaves a positive imprint on the mind. So, it has all these skies of benefit.

By understanding this, with great joy take the oral transmission. As much as possible, pay attention to every single word.

[Rinpoche continues the oral transmission]

VAJRASATTVA INITIATION MOTIVATION: PURIFYING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

The purpose of taking the Vajrasattva permission to practice is to allow you to do the meditation and recitation. As I mentioned before, Lama Tsongkhapa asked Manjushri what was the way to achieve enlightenment. And Manjushri explained the necessary conditions: collecting merits in order to achieve realization of the path to enlightenment; and (the other one) purifying the obstacles, which means the negative karma, the defilements.

So, this Vajrasattva practice meditation and recitation is according to Manjushri’s second advice, purifying the obstacles. Then the third one was making single-pointed requests to the guru. That’s the guru devotion practice, which means looking at the guru as the Buddha and, as a result, you see the Buddha. With that devotion, seeing that the guru is only the Buddha, free from all mistakes and having all the qualities. With that guru devotion, you make request to be granted blessings and realizations within your heart, your mental continuum. Then, the fourth advice is the actual body, the mind training, and the graduated path to enlightenment.

I mentioned the other day that the one complete negative karma of sexual misconduct has four suffering results, with the ripening aspect result being rebirth in the lower realms, and then the other three we experience in the human realm. Much later, if due to another good karma we are born in the human realm, in that life we will experience all these three types of suffering. In the family, we are incompatible with our partner; they always go against our wishes. We don’t get along; the relationship is not harmonious. Even physically living together in the same house, we always quarrel; there’s no real peace and happiness in the relationship. Then, there is also the divorce, the separation. Other people in the office or in the family go against our wishes, and we don’t get along. There’s no harmony, no peace. That is experiencing the result similar to the cause, as I mentioned.

Then, with creating the result similar to the cause, again we engage in sexual misconduct in that life, because there’s a karmic imprint left on the mental continuum by the past negative karma of sexual misconduct. In that life, we engage in it again.

The possessed result is to do with the place, which for sexual misconduct means we live in a very dirty, filthy, unhygienic place. Somehow we have to live in such a place. Even when we normally live in a clean place, sometimes there’s karma that we still experience for even five minutes where we have to go through such a terrible place. That is the result of the past negative karma of sexual misconduct.

Then, creating the result similar to the cause. Because of that completed negative karma, we again produce the four suffering results, and one of them is creating the result similar to the cause, doing the act again, engaging in the same negative karma, which again produces the four suffering results. So, like that, it is endless. From this negative karma, sexual misconduct, the suffering becomes endless: we create it again and again, because of the imprint left from this negative karma of sexual misconduct. That makes our suffering endless. We never purify it, we never take the vow to not commit it again, we don’t practice morality and we never purify, we don’t do any Dharma practice.

To stop experiencing all this, the solution is to purify continuously, very strongly, with the remedy of the four opponent powers until we get a sign that it has been purified. However, if we purify that negative karma, but then we engage in it again, we will again have to experience the suffering result of that. Even though the other negative karma is purified, we create it again. That is because of not living in morality, not abstaining from creating negative karma again. Then, we have to experience the ongoing suffering result from that negative karma that we have done again. Therefore, if we don’t want to experience all these ongoing sufferings, the solution is to purify the previous one and then live in morality, abstaining from those actions in the future. Together, that is the solution.

To stop experiencing all these kinds of sufferings in samsara, the only solution is practicing Dharma, nothing else. There’s nothing else. There are no scientific machines that can stop it, no computers that can stop it. Computer technology cannot stop it, only Dharma practice can stop it. It is very clear; the only solution is that. Therefore, practicing Dharma is universal. You understand? It’s universal. It’s something everybody has to practice. Anybody who is suffering and who wants happiness has to practice it.

VAJRASATTVA INITIATION MOTIVATION: PURIFYING COVETOUSNESS

Now, the negative karma of covetousness. When we go shopping, there’s attachment to things. When we decide to get something, at that time, the karma of covetousness is completed. For example, when we go shopping, how many actions of covetousness do we experience? Shopping is just one example.

Of the ten nonvirtues, we think “I don’t create any of the ten nonvirtuous actions. I’m pure. I don’t create any of the ten nonvirtuous actions.” Actually, we create so many every day. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo said that when we go shopping, we come back with a huge mountain of negative karma. We return home with big piles of negative karma. It’s very true. While we are shopping, we don’t have lamrim in our mind. If our mind is living in renunciation, renouncing this life—there’s no question about the renunciation of future lives—we don’t create negative karma, the ten nonvirtues, and from the ten nonvirtues, covetousness, we don’t create that.

Because we have realizations, the realization of the renunciation to this life, the realization of impermanence and death, knowing we may die even today, even before we get home, with no thought that we are going to live for a long time, for many years—with that realization, if there is something we have to buy, we only buy it for Dharma reasons, to practice Dharma. Because of the realization of impermanence and death, because of that uncertainty, that death can happen today, there is no attachment clinging to this life. Even if we have to buy something, we only buy it for a Dharma reason, to practice Dharma. Even if there’s no bodhicitta, it’s still for others. Then, it doesn’t become negative karma.

Buying with the attachment clinging to this life, because the motivation is nonvirtue, the action becomes nonvirtue, as Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo explained. Then, the result is only rebirth in the lower realms. Without the lamrim, the motivation can only be attachment clinging to this life. Therefore, when we go shopping, we are shopping for the lower realms, because that’s the result of the action. Shopping is just one example; there are many others. When we get back home, we bring so many things for the lower realms. We have created big piles of negative karma to be born in the lower realms.

When we are shopping, if our mind is in lamrim, if there is right view, we look at everything as empty—ourselves, the things we bought, the people and so forth. We look at the I like this, not the merely labeled I but the real I, the one that appears to us. Our real I, the material things, the people, all this appears as not merely labeled by mind, as real in the sense of existing from their own side. With right view, we look at all of them as hallucinations, seeing the hallucinations as the hallucinations they are. Which means in our heart the understanding comes that they are empty. That also helps to not have attachment arise; that helps to not create the negative karma of covetousness. The meditation on emptiness protects us from delusions arising.

And then of course, the best one is bodhicitta, the thought of benefiting others, having the good heart. With the previous motivation, we are buying something with renunciation, we do it for the Dharma, to achieve liberation from samsara; the need is for that. But now here, with bodhicitta, it’s for all sentient beings. Whatever we have to buy is for the benefit of sentient beings. So everything for our survival—food, drink, clothing, shelter, whatever—all these things we buy are for all sentient beings; our own Dharma practice is to benefit all sentient beings. Our life is to benefit all sentient beings. Because whatever we do is for sentient beings, there is no covetousness. Maybe it sounds like there’s no coffee! Not coffee, covetousness. There’s no attachment because what we do is for other sentient beings with a bodhicitta motivation. There is a huge difference when we buy something for the benefit of sentient beings, to practice Dharma for sentient beings, instead of buying it with the attachment for our own happiness. The other one is such a great joy, bringing a very healthy, peaceful mind, but buying with attachment to this life’s happiness is a very obscured mind. It’s not an enlightened mind, it’s not an awakened mind, the attitude itself is kind of tight or obscured, obscuring. The Tibetan means “disturbing attitude” but I’m adding one more word, “obscuring.”

What is the nature of delusion, how does delusion affect our mental continuum? It disturbs and obscures. Attachment to our body, for example. The body is the nature of suffering, but attachment blocks us from seeing that. The nature of this body is suffering, but attachment makes us believe something else, that it is not in the nature of suffering. When there’s attachment to this body, even though its nature is impermanence, while attachment is arising to this body, it doesn’t allow us to see how the nature of this body is impermanence. It blocks that, it obscures that. Then, attachment blocks us from seeing how the nature of the body is empty; it obscures us from seeing that this body does not have true existence; it obscures us from seeing selflessness, the ultimate nature of this body. It makes us see the opposite to reality, which is impermanence, suffering, emptiness–with no self. There is this constant concept of clinging, apprehending that this is truly existent.

And while the nature of the body is dirty, attachment to the body blocks us from seeing this. It obscures us from seeing that the body’s nature is dirty, and then we cling to the wrong idea. As Nagarjuna explained, the body is a container of thirty-six dirty things, like the body is a machine making dirty things. Before we eat food, it is clean, but afterwards, when it comes out, it has become dirty. Before going in it is clean but what comes out is dirty. Whatever comes out of the ears, the nose—everything—is dirty, so there is no question about what comes out down below. Why does clean food become dirty by going inside? That shows this body’s nature is unclean, dirty, that proves that. Not discovering it is dirty, clinging [to the idea it is clean], being attached to that makes us circle in samsara.

Similarly, whatever feeling we experience is only in the nature of suffering. Not only the suffering of pain but even the pleasures we experience, the temporary pleasures, are only suffering. The attachment obscures us from realizing that feeling is the suffering of change. The feeling is only suffering but it blocks us from seeing that as suffering. It causes us to have the wrong concept, thinking that it’s pure happiness. Clinging to that ties us to samsara, to be continuously reborn in samsara. As I mentioned before, while the body is impermanent, attachment clinging to this body obscures us from seeing its nature of impermanence. Then, the concept of permanence arises that doesn’t allow us to practice Dharma, to continuously experience the suffering of samsara; it does not allow us to be liberated from samsara by practicing Dharma and actualizing the path.

So, when we are attached to something, it not only disturbs us, never giving us peace on our mental continuum, it also obscures [our mind]. It makes us totally hallucinated, blocking us from seeing all these natures–not only the conventional nature but also the ultimate nature of this body. Here, I’m using our own body, but it’s also very good to [apply to] the body of somebody else, somebody we are attached to. Mindfulness of that is a very important meditation. Meditating on and discovering the conventional nature and the ultimate nature of the body helps us stop attachment from arising. That helps us get out of samsara; it helps us to become liberated from samsara. The other one only ties us to samsara and particularly causes us to be reborn in the lower realms and the upper realms without end, to experience all the sufferings over and over, like that.

I translate “delusion” as obscuring and disturbing. It doesn’t matter which comes first. Anyway, it is the obscuring, disturbing negative attitude. When we mention that, it gives the overall negative effect, the harm it does us.

So, what I was saying? Covetousness in our daily life, from the ten nonvirtues, the complete karma of covetousness has four suffering results: rebirth in the lower realm, and then three other suffering results that we experience later when we are reborn as a human being. Experiencing the result similar to the cause that we experience in the human realm is not having success. Although we have wishes and plans, they do not succeed. That’s experiencing the result similar to the cause. Then, the possessed result is similar, I think, in that the produce of the country [we live in], the desirable things, the treasures or the things we need do not happen. Other people in that area are able to find things like water but for us the water disappears or dries up. This is an example.

Then, creating the result similar to the cause. Because we previously engaged in covetousness, then due to the karmic imprint from past covetousness, we commit covetousness again. And, again that completed action produces the four suffering results, one of them being creating the result similar to the cause, which again produces the four sufferings. So, it is endless. From one negative karma of covetousness, the suffering is endless. If we don’t purify it with the remedy of the four opponent powers and if we don’t live in morality, abstaining from that nonvirtue—if we don’t do these two practices—the suffering from that negative karma is endless.

That is why the Vajrasattva practice is so important. I’m not talking about gaining realizations. Just for a good rebirth in the next life, just for happiness, to stop all these sufferings, the Vajrasattva practice becomes so essential. We can’t wait for even a second. If we think of just one negative karma that will cause us suffering on and on, endlessly, it’s so scary—much scarier than bird flu, much scarier than SARS, much scarier than cancer or AIDS. Even when we die, that is just the separation of the consciousness from the body of this life. It doesn’t cause AIDS or cancer in all the future lives. So, that is not frightening, that’s only the end of this life. Death doesn’t cause us to have cancer or AIDS on and on, endlessly.

Death seems the most frightening thing in the world, but in reality it’s nothing compared to one negative karma of covetousness or gossiping. (I mentioned covetousness, but gossiping is the same.) One negative karma of gossiping, if it’s not purified well and if we then don’t practice morality and abstain further from that, it will cause endless suffering. This is much more frightening, much scarier [than death]. When we know this, we can’t wait; we can’t fall asleep, we can’t eat food without doing something right away to purify this negative karma. It becomes so serious. If we really think about karma, if we really understand, it’s so serious. However many Vajrasattvas we have to do, however many millions, we have to start immediately. This is without talking about the need to purify all the defilements in order to achieve realizations. This is how serious it is. The great need to practice Vajrasattva is like that.

I’ve only mentioned one or two or three karmas, but there are so many. In one day, we have completed many negative karmas of covetousness and gossiping, so many. Then, there are others. From time to time, there could also be heresy. If we really watch, we will see there can also be heresy about the Buddha’s teachings, like doubting that the Buddha’s teaching on karma could possibly be like this. For example, with karma, in a sutra the Buddha talked about a golden elephant making golden kaka. There are quite a number of stories on karma that Buddha himself explained. Most of the karmic stories are in the sutra teachings, but some are mentioned in the lamrim. These stories can be hard to believe, especially the stories brought there in the lamrim.

There are books in the West that show all kinds of people; some have very small bodies and very big faces. There are all kinds of humans being born, unbelievable, you can’t imagine. In India you see people like that on the road. There are books that show pictures of all these people. The title is [Ripley’s] Believe It or Not. Whether you believe it or not, I had a copy in Tushita. I think Dr Adrian brought one from France.

Anyway, whether you believe it or not, it’s similar to those karmic stories the Buddha explained in the sutras that are included in the lamrim. [We can mistakenly] think that karma is nothing, that it is something not fixed, but karma is fixed, definite, and just as there are unimaginable, unimaginable, unimaginable good things that can happen by doing good karma, there are also unimaginable bad things that can happen from negative karma. The bodies these people have come from negative karma. This is the result of having lived an unethical life, whether or not you believe all these pictures of people born in all kinds of unbelievable, unimaginable ways. It is basically from negative karma, from not practicing morality. It’s similar to the stories mentioned in the sutras and the lamrim.

I lost my path! Now I remembered. I was taking about heresy. If we watch our mind, sometimes there’s heresy for the Buddha’s teachings, heresy for the guru and heresy for the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Heresy happens, but if we don’t watch, it looks like we haven’t done anything. In particular, when we hear those stories about karma, sometimes it can happen, and we start to doubt that enlightenment is possible. Maybe this thought doesn’t last long, sometimes just a few minutes, but it can happen like that. “Maybe liberation’s not true.” Due to past negative imprints, this can happen, even for a few seconds.

Here, I’m just talking about one negative karma, but we have to think about how many times today we have done that one from the ten nonvirtuous actions. From the many, even just that one, how many times have we done it today, for example, covetousness or gossiping? And usually there is ill will as well. Depending on the individual person, for somebody, this [negative karma] is much more in daily life; and for somebody else that [negative karma] is much more in daily life. However, in one day there are so many other negative karmas, even from the ten nonvirtues. And in one week there are so many, and in one month there are so many, and in one year there are so many. From birth up to now, we have collected so many. Now if we add next—sorry! Not next, I meant past lives—if we add all the past lives we have had, from beginningless samsaric rebirths up to now, it is unimaginable. There are so many negative karmas from beginningless rebirths we haven’t finished experiencing; there are so many we haven’t purified. Even just from today with one kind of negative karma, there are so many. Now you can see! If we think about karma, there can be no way we can fall asleep! When we think about karma in detail like this, we might vomit or have a heart attack!

You can see why we need purification, which means the Vajrasattva practice. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo explained that if we kill one tiny insect today, unless we purify with Vajrasattva at the end of the day, the negative karma becomes double the next day. Then, on the third day, that doubles again, increasing to four times, and the next day it becomes eight times. So, like this, it increases. Recently, when Kyabje Choden Rinpoche was teaching the Lamrim Chenmo section on karma, he said after five days it has increased, how much? Thirty-two times? [Student: Sixty-four.] Sixty-four times after five days? And the third day, it becomes? [Student: A hundred and thirty-two.]

A hundred and thirty-two. OK, thank you very much. So, after five days, if we don’t purify by doing the Vajrasattva practice at the end of the day, after five days Venerable George said a hundred and thirty-two. Right? Oh, he said sixty-four!

That’s very frightening. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo said that, having killed a tiny insect without purifying with Vajrasattva at the end of the day, by increasing, after fifteen days it becomes as heavy as having killed a human being. Even though we might not have a reputation for killing human beings, in reality we have the same heavy karma! Then I think Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo said after eighteen days it had increased one hundred thousand, I’ve forgotten now, one hundred and thirty-one thousand and seventy-two. [Pabongka actually said 16,384. (Liberation, p. 194.)] That’s what in the Jorchö commentary and in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand.

Anyway, if you recite the Vajrasattva mantra even twenty-one times, it stops negative karmas multiplying the next day. You need to recite the long [hundred-syllable] mantra twenty-one times. There is also the short mantra OM VAJRASATTVA HUM. There is also OM VAJRASATTVA AH, but when I asked my root guru, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche, he explained it is better to say OM VAJRASATTVA HUM. Even saying the short mantra stops negative karma multiplying the next day, but you have to recite the short one at least twenty-eight times. If you are reciting the hundred-syllable mantra, it’s twenty-one times. This has the power to stop the negative karmas multiplying the next day. Not only that, it purifies today’s negative karma, it purifies yesterday’s negative karma and the past negative karma. You should also understand that.

There are fourteen root falls in the tantric vows, and then there are the secondary vices and the eight heavinesses, within the mother tantra, the vices, the degenerations of breaking these. If we have received a root fall, by reciting 100,000 Vajrasattva mantras, we can purify even these very heavy negative karmas. That might be the same with the root bodhisattva vows we have received or the root pratimoksha vows. I guess it could relate to all those.

Otherwise, even though we might not have the reputation of killing a human being or anything like that, one negative karma of having killed a tiny insect, or covetousness or gossiping or whatever, because karma increases, by increasing, that one small negative karma, like a speck of dust, becomes the size of a mountain, like the size of this Earth, by the time we die. It becomes so heavy that [we will have to endure] the lower realms for numberless eons. It is difficult to see when we will finish experiencing all this negative karma, the ripening aspect result of rebirth in the lower realms; it is difficult to see when we will finish and when we can come back to the human realm.

Doing the purification practice is not just for our own happiness, not just to achieve a rebirth as a god or human in our next life. It is not just to have temporal happiness or even to achieve liberation for ourselves. It’s not even for that. The purpose of doing the purification practice, the main purpose of life, is to benefit other sentient beings. The highest benefit is to free them from all the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment. For that, we need to achieve the state of the omniscient mind, and for that we need to actualize the path. Therefore, we need to purify all the defilements, all the negative karma.

Therefore, taking the Vajrasattva initiation is for the benefit of all sentient beings. Think that your motivation is that. I thought to go over Pabongka’s Calling the Guru from Afar, to chant that in English and in Tibetan, so that becomes a very profound motivation, but I think that’s enough now.

So, to do the jenang, there are the graduated activities from the side of the lama—self-generation, front generation and blessing the vase—and the general activities from the side of the disciple—washing the mouth, prostration, distributing flowers and the mandala offering. But before that, torma is to be given to the interferers who interfere with granting and receiving the jenang.

Maybe you need to go to pipi? Because George got up, it reminded me of a pipi break. If you need to go pipi, you can go.

VAJRASATTVA INITIATION MOTIVATION: THE FOUR OPPONENT POWERS

What I mentioned before was based on the ten nonvirtuous actions, but they are not the only negative karmas we commit. They are just some examples of the negative karmas but not all. When we do the Vajrasattva practice or any other purification practice with the remedy of the four opponent powers, one power is the power of reliance or dependence. Because negative karmas are collected in relation to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, we first purify the negative karmas collected with sentient beings by depending on the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and by depending on the sentient beings.

The next one is called the power of regret. The first one is ten gyi tob in Tibetan. If you want to learn Tibetan, it’s ten gyi tob. This one, the power of regret is nyejé sünjin gyi tob. We think about the shortcomings of negative karma, like having degenerated the pratimoksha, bodhisattva or tantric vows, and the shortcomings of having committed negative karma. Then, we feel strong regret, strong repentance.

According to Western psychology, if you have done something wrong that has harmed others, it is regarded as bad to feel regret, to feel sad about making a mistake, about having committed negative karma. That’s what I hear anyway. That’s something to abandon. But here in Buddhism, with the practice of purification, we use this as a medicine, we use this repentance, feeling sorry for having committed negative karma, to heal. We use it to purify our negative karma, so we don’t have to suffer, and also so we can benefit others. We use the meditation practice as a medicine, but, in other words, it’s psychology that helps us purify the negative karma so we don’t have to suffer from it from life to life. Then, we not only achieve realizations, which is the most important thing, but we also have all this happiness and are free from having to experience all those suffering results of the negative karma.

It’s like when we meditate on impermanence and death. We generate fear of death, but it should be useful fear, fear we can use to meditate with, to practice Dharma, fear that persuades our mind to practice Dharma. As Milarepa said, 

I fled to the mountains because I feared death.
I have realized emptiness, the mind’s primordial state.
Were I to die now, I have no fear.

Meditating on how samsara is in the nature of suffering, Milarepa used the fear to realize the nature of the primordial mind, emptiness. Then. he overcame death; he had no more death after realizing that. Therefore, what he’s saying is, “Now, even if death comes to me, I have no fear.” After we have overcome death, there’s no danger of death. After we have actualized the clear light and illusory body, we have overcome death. So, you have to understand this kind of fear is totally different.

Usually there is a lot of misunderstanding about meditation on impermanence and death and the lower realm sufferings, but actually it’s incredibly skillful. We can use that fear we generate by meditating on these things, but when we think about impermanence and death or when we think about death, we don’t have to be afraid. Whether we are afraid or not is an individual thing, depending on the individual level of mind.

This is a great thing. I met this father yesterday during the long-life puja, an old man who is the father of Pemba, the resident teacher of our Hong Kong center. His father came and I was very happy to meet him. I met him on the road when I was coming from the airport. Why I was very happy to meet him was because I heard the father constantly chant OM MANI PADME HUM. When guests came to his house he would go outside because he said it was a waste of his life, just chatting. So, he just keeps on reciting OM MANI PADME HUM and he doesn’t care, because the thought of death is there. Because death can come at any time, at any moment, he keeps chanting OM MANI PADME HUM, which is the mantra of compassion, the mantra of Compassion Buddha. [Thinking of death] does not just mean thinking that we are going to be reborn in the lower realms and suffer, that we are not going to have a good rebirth. It’s not just that. When we chant the mantra so much, we receive great blessings.

I have seen many people, all those old fathers and mothers, who chant it naturally. They know nothing about philosophy; they have no intellectual understanding of the Dharma, but because they chant OM MANI PADME HUM with faith, with so much devotion, they receive the blessings of Chenrezig, the blessings of the mantra, and because of that, they naturally generate a warm, compassionate heart, with so much loving kindness for others.

Even in my home in Solu Khumbu, there are many old people like that, so good-hearted but they know nothing, they can only chant OM MANI PADME HUM all day and night. I think this father definitely has a realization of impermanence and death. I think this old man only very rarely goes when a lama gives teachings. I don’t think it’s normal. And even if he did go, I don’t think he would understand much, maybe just some simple stories or something, maybe some few words but, like my mother, I don’t think he could understand the actual teachings. Still, I think this old man must have a realization of impermanence and death. When people come to chat, he says it’s a waste of life, so he goes just outside and keeps chanting OM MANI PADME HUM. He doesn’t want to waste his life just chatting. He’s like this all day long. That’s a sign that there is definitely some progression there. I think definitely a realization of impermanence and death.

Yesterday, during the long-life puja, he came and what he told me was this. He looked at my face very strongly and said, “Lama” or something, “Now even if death comes to me, I have no fear.” That’s what he wanted to express to me very strongly. He was not lying. I could see from his face he was telling the truth. He has confidence that he will never be reborn in the lower realms.

I don’t know why this story came. I’ve forgotten. [A student prompts]

Huh? Ah, fear, yes, that’s right. Before he would have been afraid, with a lot of fear, now there’s no fear, but he has no interest in the teachings, just faith, just strongly chanting OM MANI PADME HUM all day and night. If we could all be like that, when death comes, we would feel total confidence, we would be totally unafraid. I was very happy to hear the story and was actually thinking of visiting his home. Pemba, his son, the resident teacher of Hong Kong, told me about the father. That’s great.

It’s the same with my mother. The mantra has the blessing, with no intelligence, nothing. My mother went to Tibet to attend the teachings of Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, a very high lama of the Nyingma tradition, who was the guru of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s guru and my guru, but I think she couldn’t understand the actual teaching. Between the teachings, he gave some simple instructions, such as how to sit when you are in front of the guru. Rinpoche’s guru mentioned during the teachings that you must put your hands in such a way and sit sort of respectably. She understood things like that. Or the lama told her once, when you chant a mantra, you don’t recite one mantra and pass two beads. She understood these simple instructions, but when the lama went back to the actual teaching, she kept on chanting, OM MANI PADME HUM, OM MANI PADME HUM, OM MANI PADME HUM, and was unable to understand any of the actual teachings.

Of course, she was so incredibly good-hearted. Because she chanted OM MANI PADME HUM so much, even though she had no real intellectual understanding, by the blessings of the mantra, she became so compassionate and warm-hearted. Even if I do have a little compassion, hers is thousands and thousands of times greater. Maybe I have a little bit more intellectual understanding and she has nothing, just devotion, but her heart is much purer.

She was a nun, ordained by His Holiness Ling Rinpoche at Bodhgaya with many other Western Sangha. I don’t know which year, but then she passed away and reincarnated. And I think maybe not enough pujas and things were done to pacify life obstacles, because her reincarnation didn’t live long. He went to Penor Rinpoche’s Nyingma monastery in South India, and after fifteen days he fell down and injured himself. There were many operations, but he passed away in Nepal. My sister checked with someone, and I heard that the reincarnation’s reincarnation is in the Chenrezig pure land. Not the Potala, Tibet, but the pure land Potala.

What was I saying? Oh, yeah. That’s right. The fear of death in Buddhism is like this. We use the fear. What I was trying to say is that not everybody has fear when they meditate on impermanence and death. For those who have overcome death, there’s no fear, like Milarepa said. It’s not necessary, it depends on each individual. It’s not necessary that there is the fear of death. Like that old father, who has no fear of death because he has full confidence that he won’t be reborn in the lower realms.

However, what I was saying was, the general thing is that we use the fear to overcome fear. By meditating on impermanence and death, on the nature of samsara, fear arises, which persuades us to actualize the path. Then, we don’t reincarnate in samsara, we overcome death and we no longer have fear. We have overcome fear. Fear is like surgery. We wouldn’t have surgery if we didn’t have a sickness or snake bite. Usually, we wouldn’t like to have surgery but it becomes useful to heal that heavy sicknesses so we can have a long life. Similarly, we use the fear that arises to overcome fear.

It's the same thing with repentance, regret, in Buddhism. Of course, if we hadn’t created the negative karma, how could we generate regret? If we have engaged in negative karma, then we feel sad or we feel regretful, thinking we should not have done that. Because the result will be suffering, that makes us sad. Doing this practice, eventually, by generating regret, our negative karma becomes thinner. The stronger our regret, the thinner our negative karma becomes. If we can generate very strong regret, our negative karma becomes that much thinner. From the four remedial powers, this is the most important one to purify negative karma. By practicing this, we are able to purify our negative karma. Having completely purified it, we will not experience the suffering result, so then there will be nothing to be sad about. It will only be the cause to rejoice, to be happy. There’s nothing to feel sad about or to regret, because that karma is purified already.

After we have achieved the exalted Mahayana path, the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, and have become a bodhisattva, when we have completely abandoned the suffering of birth, old age, sicknesses and death, when we reach the third Mahayana path, the right-seeing path, there is no reason to feel sadness or regret; we have overcome all these sufferings. It’s not that even after we become a buddha we still have regret, it’s not like that. We are beyond the reason to regret. So, we have to understand that it is used here as medicine to heal our suffering; it becomes psychology.

I think what I was going to say was that negative karma is not only about the ten nonvirtuous actions. Actions done with anger, ignorance, such as ignorance of karma, and attachment clinging to this life or the thought of the eight worldly dharmas—any actions done with any of these poisonous minds are nonvirtue. We should especially think of this when we do the purification practice, when we practice the four remedial powers, and especially regret. The first thing is the ten nonvirtuous actions collected in one day, in this life and then from beginningless rebirths. Then, we need to think that the suffering result of one negative karma is endless. And there are ten nonvirtuous actions done so many times in one day, in this life and from beginningless rebirths.

On top that, even if we have not taken pratimoksha, bodhisattva or tantric vows in this life, we have taken them in the past lives, and we have broken and degenerated them. If we have taken them in this life and broken them, we should think of those specific ones—the broken pratimoksha, bodhisattva and tantric vows in this life, and then from beginningless rebirths.

There is general negative karma. What is negative karma, what is nonvirtue? It is an action done with ignorance, anger, attachment clinging to this life, which results only in suffering. That is definition of “nonvirtue.” We should check from the morning for twenty-four hours what motivation we had. When we got up, when we got dressed? If it was with attachment clinging to this life, it becomes nonvirtue. What motivation did we have when we had breakfast? Again, if it was attachment clinging to this life’s happiness, eating breakfast becomes nonvirtue. What was the motivation for washing? Again, if it was done with attachment clinging to this life, all the washing, cleaning the mouth, everything—it all becomes negative karma.

Then, going to work, what motivation was there? Again, with attachment, when there is no bodhicitta, no renunciation, no right view, as well as no guru devotion, doing service for the guru, none of those, if there is attachment clinging to this life, all the many hours doing work only becomes negative karma, nonvirtue. Then, eating lunch, if again the motivation is attachment, everything becomes negative karma. And dinner, again checking the motivation—if there is attachment clinging to this life’s happiness, eating dinner becomes negative karma. With sleeping it is even more difficult to keep a pure motivation. By that time, we are exhausted. Just like now! So again, what is the motivation? If the motivation is attachment clinging to this life, however many hours we sleep—eight hours, fifteen hours, twenty-four hours—it all becomes negative karma. For so many of us, it’s like that.

So, negative karma is not just the ten nonvirtues. It is very important to think of the definition of negative karma, of nonvirtue. After thinking about that, we examine our twenty-four hours—one week, one month, one year, then from birth up to now, and then from beginningless rebirths.

Negative karma is like the dust of this earth. If we do not analyze like this, we think that we are perfect, pure. We think we have done nothing wrong. We have never killed a human being. We don’t steal, but actually stealing is an extensive subject. There are many details. Normally, people think, “I didn’t kill a human being. I did nothing wrong. Why should I get sick? Why do I have this trouble? Why does this person give me trouble? Why did I get cancer? I didn’t do anything wrong.” People usually think like that. If we examine like this, we can generate a wide view of negative karma. Then, generating regret becomes very powerful. Then, when we chant mantras or do prostrations, whatever we do, it’s really very sincere, it’s very powerful. Then, reciting mantras, generally any virtue becomes the antidote.

I did enquire about the meaning of the next power, which people call the power of the remedy. It might be the remedy, for example, reciting mantras. By practicing the remedy, such as reciting mantras, the result is always happiness.

Then the last one is the power of resolve. That is the power to not commit again. There are a few different explanations. If we practice the four remedial powers, we are able to stop experiencing the ripening aspect result [and be reborn] in the human realm and we can stop the three results there. These three are the possessed result to do with the place, the environment, and experiencing the result creating similar to the cause [and creating the result similar to the cause]. That’s one way of explaining it.

 The explanation about Vajrasattva is the same as I explained yesterday about Tara. Who is Vajrasattva? Here it says Vajra Sattva. In Tibetan it is Dorje Sempa. The definite meaning is that Vajrasattva is the absolute guru, don dam lama, all the buddhas’ holy mind, the dharmakaya, the primordial mind. For those who haven’t received a highest tantra initiation, it is kind of secret to mention transcendental wisdom of nondual bliss and voidness. The strict way of talking becomes secret. However, this absolute guru, the dharmakaya, binds with infinite compassion for us sentient beings. It pervades all phenomena and is nondual with the emptiness of all the phenomena forever. Because it is bound with infinite compassion, whenever a sentient being’s karma is ripened to receive guidance, it manifests right there without delay of even a second. The minute our karma is ripened to receive guidance, it manifests and we receive guidance in any aspect—in a pure aspect, an impure, ordinary aspect, in an animal form, even in the aspect of rocky mountains or a bridge or whatever, besides in the aspect of a buddha. According to the karma of the sentient beings, it manifests exactly as that. Then it guides the sentient being from happiness to happiness, to enlightenment. It guides us from happiness to happiness to enlightenment. The ultimate guru is the definitive meaning of Vajrasattva.

By doing particular actions to purify our negative karma, it allows us to achieve the complete path, the path of merit and of wisdom and achieve the dharmakaya and rupakaya, which means achieving enlightenment. For that it manifests into interpretive meaning, Vajrasattva, Dorje Sempa. Here is the highest tantra aspect, with the father-mother embracing. In the lower tantra, Vajrasattva is solitary, just the father without the wisdom mother. The highest tantra aspect is one being; it’s not like an ordinary couple, it’s not like two separate people embracing, this is one being. It’s just the dharmakaya, the ultimate guru, manifesting like that. It manifests like that for our meditation, for our practice.

Doing that visualization, with the deity, the father-mother embracing, helps to actualize the direct cause of the dharmakaya, to actualize the clear light, the primordial mind. It actualizes the great bliss. By continuing, by developing that, it’s like an atomic bomb, it’s the quickest, most powerful way to cease the dualistic view and the negative imprint, the delusions. That’s how we achieve enlightenment, the unified state of Vajradhara, not only within one life but within a brief lifetime of these degenerated times, within a number of years. That is why Vajrasattva shows this aspect of father-mother embracing. It has a very profound purpose to allow sentient beings to quickly achieve enlightenment. So now you understand what Vajrasattva is, and the purpose.

[Rinpoche confers the Vajrasattva initiation]

DEDICATIONS

“Due to the three-time merits collected by me, the three-time merit collected by others, may the bodhicitta be generated in my heart, in the hearts of my family members and all of us here, in the hearts of all the students, the benefactors of this organization and all the supporters and those who give up their life for the organization, doing service for sentient beings and the buddhas. There are so many. May bodhicitta be generated in all their hearts, in the hearts of all those people who are doing service, all the directors of the centers, then each center has many members and all the staff doing hard work, then the board of FPMT, so everyone, and then in the hearts of all the sentient beings.”

[Rinpoche and students chant dedication prayers]

“May the bodhicitta be generated in the hearts of everyone, especially in the hearts of everyone in this world.”

[Rinpoche and students chant dedication prayers]

“May the bodhicitta be generated in the hearts of everyone, especially in the hearts of all the leaders of the world.” If bodhicitta is generated in the heart of leaders, then all the millions of people in one country would have so much peace and be led into the correct path, the path of peace. That makes a huge difference.

“May bodhicitta be generated in the hearts of all the terrorists, all the people who have vicious thoughts to harm others, without delay of even a second. And in those whose hearts bodhicitta is generated, may it increase.”

[Rinpoche and students chant dedication prayers]

We have this incredible opportunity, me to grant and you to receive the jenang, which allows us to do the purification practice. As I mentioned, there are all these benefits from doing the Vajrasattva practice. We have this opportunity and we have gained much Dharma understanding during this month, then in this life. Those who are here for the first time, please understand that. All this is by the kindness of the Buddha of Compassion, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Therefore, we dedicate the merits, “May His Holiness have a long and stable life and may all his holy wishes succeed immediately. And may the Mainland China’s officials, immediately without delay of even a second, be able to devote to His Holiness, to realize His Holiness is the embodiment of the Buddha’s compassion and to do everything exactly as His Holiness wishes. May they invite His Holiness to Mainland China and may the billions of people there be able to receive teachings from His Holiness and enjoy the happiness of Dharma, like the sun shining. Also, may the people in Tibet have total freedom and be continuously guided by His Holiness, and receive teachings and preserve and spread the Dharma. May there be even more bodhisattvas and buddhas in Tibet than before, and may Buddhism be able to spread in the rest of the world and flourish forever.”

[Rinpoche and students chant dedication prayers]

Then in particular, as I mentioned before, Lama Yeshe, who is kinder than all the three-time buddhas, all this also came from Lama. “May whatever holy wishes Lama Yeshe had before be actualized for the students, for the organization and for the sentient beings. And may Lama Ösel Rinpoche have a long life and be able to show the same qualities as Lama Tsongkhapa and offer extensive benefit to sentient beings and the Buddha.

“Due to all the three-time merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by others, may I be able offer limitless skies of benefit to sentient beings, to the teachings of Buddha, like Lama Tsongkhapa did, and may I have the same qualities within me as Lama Tsongkhapa has from now and in all the lifetimes.

“Due to the three-time merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by others, may I and all the students in this organization, all the supporters, those people who give up their life to this organization, doing service for others, and all the rest of the sentient beings, may we meet only perfectly qualified Mahayana gurus in all the lifetimes, and be able to see only enlightened beings from each sentient being’s side and from my own side; may we do only actions most pleasing to the holy minds of the virtuous friends and be able to fulfill the holy wishes of all the virtuous friends, from each sentient being’s side and from my own side in all the lifetimes. May I never rise heresy for even a second in the actions of the virtuous friend. With devotion, may I see them as pure all their actions. And may the blessings of guru enter my heart.

“Due to the three-time merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by others, may all conditions for all the funding, all the necessary needs and conditions be received without delay of even a second and may the five-hundred-foot Maitreya Buddha statue be constructed as quickly as possible. May it continue to abide in this world, and may it be most beneficial to sentient beings, bringing them to enlightenment as quickly as possible and especially actualizing bodhicitta in their hearts. May it bring perfect peace and happiness to everybody in the world, offering service to all the Sangha, the monasteries, the monks and nuns in different parts of the world, preserving and spreading the Dharma, and building various stupas in different parts of the world, and doing social services for the happiness of sentient beings. May it help the centers and all the projects and may all the centers be most beneficial for sentient beings and be the cause for sentient beings to generate faith in karma and refuge, and the cause to actualize bodhicitta in the hearts of sentient beings, and especially to spread Lama Tsongkhapa’s teaching, the unification of sutra and tantra, in the hearts of all the sentient beings.

“Due to all the three-time merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by others, by having generated bodhicitta in everyone’s heart in this world, may war, famine, disease, torture, the dangers of fire, water, air, earthquakes that are happening in any part of the world be stopped immediately and may nobody in this world experience all these undesirable things forever.

“Due to the three-time merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by others, those who rely upon me, those I promised to pray for, those whose names were given to me, those numberless beings who died, all the students up to now who have passed away, then the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, all those who have unimaginable suffering now, may they immediately be liberated from all the sufferings and reincarnate in a pure land, where they can be enlightened or receive a perfect human body. May they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

“Due to the three-time merits collected by me, the three-time merits collected by others, may all the organizers of the course here, including the Lama Lhundrup, the abbot of the monastery, and all the Sangha here, the monks and nuns, have a long life and be healthy. May they be able to complete the practice actualizing the graduated path to enlightenment in this very lifetime, the common path, the wisdom path, and particularly the two stages in this very lifetime. And may all the rest of the Sangha in this organization have a long life, be healthy and be able to complete sutra understanding, the realizations, the path to enlightenment, in this very lifetime by living in the pure vinaya. And may all the students and all the supporters and those who give up their life to the organization, doing service to benefit sentient beings, may everyone have a long life and be healthy. May all their wishes succeed immediately according to holy Dharma and especially actualize Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings, the unification of sutra and tantra, in this very lifetime without delay of even a second.

“May any students who rely upon me, who I promised to pray for, whose names have been given to me, those who are sick, those who are devoted and always helping the Sangha and helping the organization, especially Henry. May he have a long life and be healthy and immediately recover from all the cancer. Then, may all other students in this organization have the most meaningful life.

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

“I dedicate all the merits to be able to follow the holy extensive deeds of Samantabhadra and Manjugosha, as they realized. I dedicate all my merits in the same way the three-time buddhas dedicate their merits. May the general teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa flourish forever and spread in all the ten directions in this world by completely actualizing them in my heart and in the hearts of all the students and supporters and in the hearts of everyone in this world.”

[Rinpoche and students chant dedication prayers]

Thank you very much, for all your patience and all your pains, for everything. So, please leave. I still have to do a few prayers.