So the minute, in the morning, say, the minute you wake up, immediately think, ‘May I achieve’, say, sorry, what I’m saying, I think this is the old habit, so I think, it’s not, say, you know, so anyway, ‘May all sentient beings, may all sentient being achieve holy body of Buddha’. So, the minute when you wake up, first thing, the minute when you wake up, remember that: ‘May all sentient beings achieve holy body of Buddha’.

Then when you dress, ‘May all sentient beings wear the dress of, say, shy and shameness’. So one thing is any unrighteous action that, that has, because it has a negative result, suffering to oneself and to others, so then that action, negative, you see, so then because reason of oneself, then [long pause] so _[Rinpoche speaks Tibetan] shy, I think _[Tibetan] maybe shame, I’m not sure.

So concerning oneself, then the shy _ [Tibetan]. Then the _[Tibetan] shame. Is there a difference in English? Shy? Shame? Huh?

Students: Yes.

Rinpoche: So, there’s shy and shameness, you see, then you don’t engage in the negative karma, able to practice morality and all these things. May all sentient beings wear the dress of the shy and shameness. So this way, dedicate it, when you dress, dedicate it for sentient beings.

Then it can be, say, it can be combined that, you see the, yourself, say, like the guru yoga practice, so offering, when you dress, guru in the heart, so like Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, or the Guru Puja, and the guru enter in the heart, so abiding there. So as it is explained there, in the guru yoga practice, so whatever sense enjoyment, whatever sense enjoyment one is having, then make offering to the guru, so that offering when you dress up, make offering to the guru, so this prayer can be done but also can do those meditations, guru yoga practice. Yourself, if you have received great initiation, then yourself generated into deity, so you’re the guru and deity, then make offering, make offering to the guru, so that.

So then one collects in this way, say, from the hat down to the shoes, anyway, so all the dressed, but if you make offering like that, yourself the guru deity, your main focus is guru, so in the pure form deity, so however, then collect merit than having made, collect much more merit than having made offering to numberless buddhas, numberless Dharma, numberless Sangha, numberless statues, stupas, scriptures, all the holy objects.

So all those merits small, even though itself is great but just unimaginable, but it’s small you compare to the offering to the guru. So here, yourself the guru, guru deity, one, you see.

So these practices becomes how to make life, even the break time from sitting meditation, life how to make most meaningful, most beneficial, how everything become Dharma, how everything become Dharma, and the cause of not just happiness in future life, cause to achieve liberation for oneself but cause for enlightenment, so, for sentient beings, so that.

So, in other words, every activity that you do, from the, in break time, break time from the sitting meditation, how to make it beneficial, useful for all sentient beings, so like that.

So when you put belt, then think, ‘May all sentient beings’ mental continuum be bound with three higher trainings’. So that, when you release the belt, and then, ‘May all sentient beings, the mental continuum, be liberated from the bondage of delusion and karma’. So that, when you take off the belt.

Here is mostly from sutra. But some, maybe, say, added when you translate, you know, the ones not mentioned there particular, see, then have to dedicate for sentient beings.

Then when you go to bed, so now the bed time so, except for those who have to drive back to home, or go to bed in the car, so in the bed, so after you lay down, go to sleep, you see, ‘May all sentient beings achieve dharmakaya’, think that. So we stop there.

Or maybe not, maybe getting up, so when you get up, then think, ‘May all sentient beings rise up from the great oceans of suffering of samsara. May all sentient beings, say, stand up, say, from the oceans of samsaric sufferings’. So it means, I think, meaning is, you see, liberate them.

So that’s it.

So to practice, to train, so during this retreat, then here become the training. Then, if you get can get habituated with the daily life, then doing practice this time, then so it’s very good to do this. Of course in daily life, but especially in retreat then you can use these things, that’s very good.

[Dedication prayers]

Due to all the past, present, future merits collected by me, three time merits collected by others, may the bodhicitta be generated in one’s own heart, in the hearts of all the sentient beings, one’s own family members, in the hearts of all the students, all the supporters and those who give up their life to the Organization, doing service to other sentient beings, teachings of Buddha and in the hearts of all the sentient beings without delaying even a second.

Then especially bodhicitta to be generated in the hearts of all the leaders of this world and especially in the hearts of all the terrorists, called terrorists, and anyone who has harmful thoughts to harm others, bodhicitta to be generated in all their hearts without delaying even a second. And in whose heart bodhicitta is generated, may it be increased.

Jang chub…

[Long-life prayer to His Holiness the Dalai Lama; other prayers in Tibetan]

Due to all the past, present, future merits collected by me, three time merits collected by others, that which exists but which is empty, may the I who exists but which is empty, achieve Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, that which exists but which is empty, and lead all the sentient beings who exist but who are empty, to that Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment which exists but which is empty, by myself alone, who exists but who is empty. [Long pause]

When we think of emptiness or meditate on emptiness, like space, absence of substantial phenomena, like looking at space. So that which is empty of substantial phenomena, and that’s not meditating on emptiness, that’s just watching, that’s just watching, say, the space or the absence of substantial phenomena, so not empty of truly existence. Either go beyond from space, the space, appearing space but you go beyond from space, beyond from that appearance, that real space, so emptiness of that real space, so that’s emptiness. Space appearing to you not merely labeled by mind, so real space, not the _[not clear Tibetan?] so go beyond from that, the absence of that, then that becomes meditation on emptiness.

However, there is no space, what appears space but somewhere there, there’s a real I, so that’s not, say, not absolute truth, that’s not absolute truth, that’s not, say, that’s not meditating on emptiness of the I.

So, the appearing space, but there’s real I, not merely labeled I but opposite to that, not merely labeled I. So that I, however, the best thing is who’s meditating that time, or who’s meditating, there’s I not merely labeled by mind is meditating. So that one, so you catch up that, so you grab, grab that. Anyway, so, then that one, say, what you find that one, then say, by thinking that is dependent arising, by thinking that is dependent arising, the subtle dependent arising, meaning of that, that I which appeared to, that I who is meditating on emptiness, who is trying to meditate on emptiness, so, that subject, that I who is trying to meditate, that which appears not merely labeled by mind, that’s hallucination, think that’s hallucination. That’s object to be refuted, which means, meaning this hallucination, meaning is totally non-existent there. That meaning, totally non-existent there. Not even the slightest atom of that exists. Then one just precisely meditate on that, that emptiness, that absence of that.

Then when you begin, after you recognize the I who is meditating, try to meditate on emptiness, the subject I, you see, the real I who is meditating, so that one, that’s the doer, the subject, so when you find out that, then looking that as object to be refuted, hallucination, so that is the start, so that’s very good sign, unmistaken the object to be refuted, so that’s what you have to realize empty.

So without recognizing that, then you have nothing there to realize empty, so then, whatever emptiness you think is wrong, that’ wrong emptiness, that’s not ultimate nature. That’ll be nihilism or the absence of the conventional truth, so just to start, able to grab that or looking like that, the real I who is meditating, so that’s object to be refuted, hallucinated, object to be refuted, that’s what it means.

So while you’re focused on that I, object to be refuted, without losing that, so that’s hallucination. While you’re focusing on that, there’s hallucination, then think of the meaning of that, non-existent, so that’s non-existent, then that time, that time, then you see it totally non-existent as it is totally non-existent, as it never existed before from beginningless rebirth, from time without beginning, it never came in existence and it will never come in existence. It never came in existence from time without beginning, and it will never come in existence in the future.

So the meditator I, that you, that real I, that one you keep it there, you keep that target, you keep the target, and you don’t destroy that, which is object of ignorance, that one you keep it there and you look for other target, you look for object to be refuted, false I, something, say, something else than that to see empty, then wrong meditation, that’s wrong meditation, say, then no result, wrong meditation, wrong meditation emptiness.

So, if one doesn’t get any idea of what emptiness is, if you don’t get any experience this way, to the right point, if it doesn’t happen that, so as some meditators they explain, so then you cannot see subject and object, meditator of the mind, the object emptiness, there’s no dual, like having put water in the water, dual, non dual, say, they become one taste in emptiness, nothing to explain, nothing to discriminate this and that, that time.

As I mentioned Tuesday [?] that’s good, however that time then, that time, say, no meditator, there’s no such thing as object, meditator, there’s no meditator. So in emptiness, there’s nothing. So, I guess, that might be quite, so anyway, however, it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t come out, the mind, then must rely on the word, you know, the, what Nagarjuna explained, what Milarepa explained, what Lama Tsongkhapa explained, this I is empty of existing from its own side, _[Tibetan ]. This I is empty of, empty by nature _[Tibetan]. _[Tibetan] this I is empty of true existence. So you should rely on those words, correct words, correct words from Buddha, Nagarjuna, Milarepa, those everything enlightened, then Lama Tsongkhapa, must rely upon correct words.

So, at least, if you just think the correct words, then it leaves positive imprint, it leaves positive imprint on your mental continuum. Even one is not actually meditating on emptiness, just thinking the words. But correct words, but rely on using correct words of emptiness, so it leaves positive imprint on your mental continuum, so that’s very good, because you’re not wasting time, you’re not wasting time, life.

Otherwise, how many hours you meditate, you know, think I’m meditating on emptiness, it never becomes meditation on emptiness, just meditate on space or something, then it might cause also, say like in Zen meditation, you know, nothingness and might cause dullness to the mind, you know, dullness, destroy the sharpness of wisdom, so like that, like in the text, lamrim meditation, you see, like His Holiness Zong Rinpoche says, meditate on nothingness, then you, highest thing, what you can achieve is the formless realm, the nothingness stage, so like His Holiness Zong Rinpoche said. You get reborn animal or the fool.

The other thing, highest what you can achieve is the state of nothingness in the formless realm, so that. So therefore, you spend hours, hours, so much of your life spent thinking you are meditating on emptiness, but nothing becomes, all those years of meditating, thinking ‘Oh maybe I’m meditating on emptiness’, but actually nothing becomes meditation on emptiness, because nothing touch, never touch to the object of ignorance, the truly existent I, never touch to that. The actual target didn’t recognize, so missed out. Then whole life, how much one believes doing retreat or doing meditation on emptiness, so did not become meditation on emptiness.

So there’s danger to waste the life, waste the, so much of the precious human life, so like that. So, then, one makes sure, if think, if there’s nothing experienced, rely on the words, so at least use the word, this is this, this is this, this is, you know, use those unmistaken words from Lama Tsongkhapa, see, at least it leaves imprint, positive imprint, rely on the words, so sooner or later then you realize emptiness, like that.

[Dedication prayers in Tibetan]

[Long-life prayer to Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, long version, but Rinpoche stops the chanting and says:] Otherwise it becomes too long. It becomes too long life, too much. Too long, then nothing can do. There’s only sleep.