Affiliated with the FPMT

Lecture 4

Dedication after taking the Eight Mahayana Precepts

Due to this, may the I, who does not exist at all from its own side, completely empty from its own side. [Meditate] like space.

Achieve Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, which also doesn’t exist from its own side at all. It is completely empty from its own side. Again, like space.

And lead all sentient beings who do not exist at all from their own side, even though they appear in that way, existing from their own side. They are completely empty from their own side. So again like space, empty like space.

To lead sentient beings to enlightenment by myself alone, lead the sentient beings, who are empty from their own side, to that enlightenment as quickly as possible, by myself alone.

Lastly, due to all the merits accumulated by oneself and by all buddhas, bodhisattvas and sentient beings, may the pure teaching of Lama Tsong Khapa, unified sutra and tantra, be actualized in one’s own mind and in the minds of the family members, and in the minds of all the students, and may the general organization and all the FPMT centres, and activities to benefit other sentient beings, succeed immediately. May the benefactors and all the students have a long life and be healthy and their worldly wishes succeed immediately according to Dharma, and all the sentient beings by spreading Dharma, may they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

So today what we are doing is a most practical thing, the most practical contribution to world peace. Not just only this world. As we stop the eight negative karmas, eight negative actions which harm others directly or indirectly. That means sentient beings do not receive eight harms from us, from oneself. Sentient beings do not receive eight harms from oneself, which means that much peace they receive from us, from each of us sentient beings receive that much peace and happiness. So that is what we are offering, the practical peace and happiness, by stopping these eight negative karmas. This is what we are doing. So this becomes, as I mentioned before, the most practical contribution to world peace, to all sentient beings’ peace and happiness.

Then, as I mentioned in the benefits of the eight Mahayana precepts, today, by taking the eight Mahayana precepts, by taking the vows, whether for a lifetime or one day, if it is one day, then that one day whatever merit we accumulate making charity, helping other sentient beings or making offering to the Triple Gems, the merit is much more. It increases a hundred thousands, much more than other times. Creating good karma, merit, without living in any vow, in the precepts, that merit is so small, almost nothing compared to the day when we are taking the vow, accumulating merit. There’s a huge difference, like between one handful of earth and the rest of the earth, or one drop of water and the rest of the ocean. Like that there’s a big difference in the amount of merit that one accumulates during those days when one has taken the vow. Or if one is taking the lay vow for the lifetime, then until the death whatever merit one accumulates, good karma, it increases many hundred thousands. It also depends on the number of vows. Therefore, I would like to tell you to rejoice.

Maybe sometime today we do light offering practice, since there are one thousand light offerings upstairs, but not sure when. Please do three prostrations with same visualization.

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