Advice for a Homeless Man Practicing Tong-len
When Rinpoche was in France, a monk brought one of his friends, a homeless man, to meet Rinpoche. The man lived on the streets in Lavaur and was spontaneously practicing taking other homeless people’s sufferings onto himself, without having heard about Buddhism. Rinpoche wrote him this letter.
My very dear Jean,
I’m very happy to have met you, especially knowing that you are helping other people by taking their pain and sickness upon yourself. In Buddhism this is called exchanging yourself for others. It is one of the most important practices of Mahayana Buddhism.
All the sufferings, obstacles and problems come from cherishing the I. All unfortunate things come from the I, from the selfish mind, from cherishing the I, even the discomfort of a mosquito buzzing, making a sound in your ear, resting on your nose, flying in front of your eyes and then biting you, or a tiny ant that bites your foot or your small toe. All bad things come from the I, so we need to give that up and throw it away immediately.
It is from the good heart, bodhicitta, and cherishing others that all the collection of goodness comes, peerless happiness—enlightenment, the cessation of all the gross and subtle defilements, of all the mistakes, the completion of all the realizations, and liberation from the oceans of samsaric suffering and its causes: karma and delusion. All of these are ultimate happiness. From these also comes temporary happiness, all the happiness of future lives, and even this life’s happiness and comfort, even the comfort when you feel hot and there is a cool breeze. Bodhicitta and the good heart come from cherishing others. All happiness up to enlightenment, every single comfort in this life, comes from others. Others are the most precious ones. Cherish others.
This is what made Shakyamuni Buddha achieve full enlightenment, cease all the gross and subtle defilements of the mind, which has no beginning, continuing during beginningless rebirths, and complete all the realizations—bodhicitta, the ultimate good heart, renouncing the I and cherishing others.
Every second, you are able to liberate numberless sentient beings from the sufferings of the lower realms (hell realm, hungry ghost and animal realm). Even in one second you are able to liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and their causes: karma and delusion. Even in one second you liberate sentient beings from lower nirvana, the lower blissful state of peace for oneself, and bring them to enlightenment. Even in one second you are able to liberate numberless sentient beings from the extremely subtle defilements and bring them to enlightenment. Like this you are able to offer inconceivable benefit to all sentient beings, skies of benefit, in each second.
What you are practicing—exchanging oneself for others—is unbelievable, great, something in which to rejoice. I rejoice in you. This is what makes your life most meaningful and beneficial for numberless sentient beings, for every sentient being, and makes it the happiest life for you. You will have no regrets in the future, after you die, and you will have a most happy death.
Each time you do this practice you purify those very heavy negative karmas collected during beginningless rebirths. Each time you do this, many eons of negative karma from past lives are purified and you collect inconceivable merits.
Thank you very very much.
I checked what practice you should do. I am sorry, it may be a little long for you, but I think it’s most beneficial for you.
1) Calling the Guru from Afar. I think your friend, the monk, can give this to you in French. You can make your own tune for this and you might like to chant it. Maybe you can also play it on the flute in the streets. If you play a nice tune, other people will listen and then you are liberating them from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bringing them to enlightenment; it leaves a positive imprint on their hearts. Each time you recite it mindfully it becomes a direct meditation on the whole path to enlightenment.
Sooner or later you will understand the meaning and achieve the realizations, then, wow! What an unbelievable success in your life—to achieve guru devotion, renunciation, for your mind to become pure and so have a pure life. This allows you to have all the realizations, the realization of bodhicitta, of the ultimate view, emptiness, then the two stages of highest tantra. Then you achieve the two kayas and are able to do perfect works for all sentient beings without the slightest mistake, bringing them from happiness to happiness until enlightenment.
If you are able to do this, it also makes each day of your life so meaningful. Your meditation makes your life meaningful, for your parents who looked after you and gave birth to you, for all the people who bore so much hardship to bring you up, created so much negative karma, and suffered so much for your wellbeing and happiness. This makes all their efforts and hardships meaningful and worthwhile.
2) The other practice it would be so good for you to do is Medicine Buddha practice (the monk can give this to you in French). Even if you don’t understand it, just do it. This practice is amazing! Then all your prayers will succeed. Any prayer you make for others who have problems will succeed. All your wishes will be fulfilled, and especially your wish to help other people. All the prayers you made before in the Calling the Guru from Afar prayer will be achieved.
If you can do this every day, you will have an amazing life. The most difficult problems will become so small. Even achieving the cessation of oceans of samsaric sufferings of each hell, hungry ghost, animal, human, asura, sura, and intermediate state being is so easy to achieve. Achieving enlightenment for all sentient beings, liberating numberless sentient beings from each realm, then bringing them to enlightenment is so easy. Without question, temporary happiness will just come along the way without your even praying for it.
If you can practice Medicine Buddha every day—wow! You are the most fortunate person in the world, the most fortunate person in Toulouse. Your friend Charles will faint and you will have to take him to hospital (just joking).
Thank you very much.
With much love and prayers...