My most dear, most precious, most kind, wish-fulfilling one,
I am sorry for the long delay. Thank you very much for your kind letter. You said in your letter that you have met a perfectly qualified Mahayana virtuous friend. Sorry, I am not a qualified Mahayana virtuous friend, but  I can do an observation about what is best for you, among your decisions. So, you try and I try.

First, I want to say thank you. A billion, zillion times thanks from the bottom of my heart for studying Dharma—the Basic Program and the Masters Program—that is so good. Of course, you need to practice by integrating lamrim, so the more you study the Masters Program and the Basic Program, which is like a commentary on the lamrim, the deeper and deeper you will understand lamrim.

I checked your questions about doing retreat and actualizing lamrim. The first thing in one’s life is always to actualize the path, but the second thing is to see if there is something better to do, like doing something else to help the centers. Not only doing retreat and meditation, because sometimes nothing happens when trying to get realizations in retreat, so then it’s better to do something else, like working for the center and then meditating on lamrim to develop realizations along with that.

Please make your life most meaningful with the thought of bodhicitta day and night and in every action you do. This is what makes your life most meaningful.

With much love and prayers ...