Advice and Practices for Various Countries

My dear one,
I had difficulty finding the quotations, but after Holly found them in English, then I also found them in my book, only after that. So, this is the quotation for you to know by heart, to know the meaning by heart. This verse from the bodhisattva Shantideva is incredible, unbelievably logical.

In A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Bodhicaryavatara), the great bodhisattva Shantideva taught the most unbelievable technique for getting rid of anger. So, please concentrate on this.

Shantideva said:

[6: 73] If I am unable to endure
Even the mere sufferings of the present,
Then why do I not restrain myself from being angry,
Which will be the source of hellish misery?

This is incredible logic. It is unbelievable. It means that if we can’t bear this present suffering, if we can’t stand it—for example, just some bad words—and we get angry, this becomes the cause of our hell suffering. Therefore, why not put all our effort into getting rid of anger, the cause of our hell suffering?

There are more meditations in the Kadampa geshes’ advice on patience, and there is an extensive explanation of patience in chapter six of A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. You should study these texts and meditate on them.

Basically, the idea in Buddhism is that everything comes from the mind. “I” comes from mind; action comes from mind. All phenomena—I, action, object—come from the mind.

So, all the objects, all the appearances, all the objects of the eye sense, come from the mind. All the objects of the ear sense come from the mind. All the objects of the nose sense come from the mind. All the objects of the tongue sense come from the mind. All the objects of the body sense (soft and hard), everything comes from the mind. Even the sixth one, the objects of mental consciousness, their existence come from the mind.

I don’t think there’s another religion that says that. This is special, very basic Buddhism.

So, our enlightenment comes from our mind; our hell comes from our mind; our samsara comes from our mind. Our nirvana comes from our mind and our happiness comes from our mind. Every day, every hour, happiness comes from our mind. Every day, every hour, all the problems come from our mind. 

This is a healthy way, a positive way, a correct way, a virtuous way of thinking, all that, then the result is happiness and peace in the life, now and in the future.

Then, you see, we are reborn as a deva or human in the next life, and even higher than that is liberation from samsara, everlasting happiness. Even higher than that is great nirvana, enlightenment, the total cessation of obscurations and completion of realizations. So it all comes from that.

When the mind is thinking in a wrong way, a mistaken way, an unhealthy way, a negative attitude, all that produces is suffering. It produces suffering for ourselves and also suffering for others.

The positive mind, especially the good heart, creates happiness for others up to enlightenment.

Buddha said in the Heap of the teachings (Tib: Tsom; Skt: Dhammapada),

All existents are created by the mind.
The mind is principal and goes before actions.
For example, if with the thought of benefiting others, you talk to somebody,
Happiness follows after that, like a shadow follows the body.

Actions of body and speech also come from the mind; that means the motivation.

In another verse in the Dhammapada,

Phenomena are created by the mind,
The mind is principal and goes before.
If, with the thought to harm, you talk to somebody,
The result of suffering follows after that, like a heavy cart follows an ox.

In India, oxen carry such heavy loads like iron bars, then people sit on top of that. Then they whip the oxen, [forcing them] to pull the cart and carry the load, no matter how heavy it is. There is not one single freedom, no matter how much the oxen suffer or are tired. Even if they can’t walk or stand up, they still get beaten.

In Letter to a Friend, Nagarjuna said,

Actions born from non-ignorance, non-anger and non-attachment are virtue;
From that, all the happy transmigratory beings arise.

“All the happy transmigratory beings” means rebirth in the next life as a human being or deva, also in a pure land, and from there, up to everlasting happiness, freedom from samsara and full enlightenment.

Actions born from ignorance, anger and attachment are nonvirtue;
From that, all the suffering of transmigratory beings arises.

We have to understand these things, how everything comes from the mind. From our good mind all the happiness comes, beyond this life. From our bad heart, all the suffering comes, up to death and even in this life.

The great bodhisattva Shantideva said in A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life,

[6:42] Previously, I must have caused similar harm
To other sentient beings.
Therefore, it is right for this harm to be returned
To me, who is the cause of injury to others.

[6:47] Having been instigated by my own actions,
Those who cause me harm come into being.
If by these (actions) they should fall into [the hole of] hell
Surely isn’t it I who am destroying them?]

All that we experience, happiness and suffering, comes from our mind. Anything good that happens up to enlightenment, all happiness comes from our mind. This is the basis of Buddhadharma.

So, you can see there is no point in getting angry with God or Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. For those who believe in God, there is nothing to be angry toward God, and for those who believe in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, there is nothing to be angry toward Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. We can get angry about karma; we can get angry with that, but this means we created the negative karma, and the result is rebirth in the lower realms for eons and eons.

If we plant poisonous seeds, then they grow into poisonous plants and poisonous fruits. If we plant medicinal seeds, then they grow into medicinal trees, with leaves, flowers and fruits.

This is my gift to you and to other people in Russia. Practice using this situation. You can get the whole idea of where this situation came from, or anything pleasant or unpleasant.

It came from your mind, so you have to change your mind. You have to change your mind. You have to keep your mind healthy, virtuous, correct, a good heart in Dharma. So that’s the answer.

With much love and prayers ...

Recite the Arya Sanghata Sutra "quite immediately" for the democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong.

Also recite the prayer of the eight goddesses [Verses for the Eight Noble Auspicious Ones.]

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,
I was very happy to have met you again and to be able to speak more to each other and to be able to express my wishes for what I would like to achieve that would be beneficial for the people for healing and purification.

I thought to mention it again—my wish is to build a structure like what they have in big parks, like a rotunda or room, where people go and sit when it rains, or where they can sit together under a roof and have tea. The idea is to have a nice roof and a room for small groups of people. My thought was to build one like this in Garsha, not far from the road, so there is very easy access for many people to gather and to come inside.

Then for the inside ceiling of the building, the most important thing is for it to have lots of protections on it. One is the mantra of the long-life deity Namgyälma. This mantra is extremely powerful for purifying negative karma. The plan would be to cover the ceiling with that mantra, making it very big. By having this on the ceiling then even insects that come inside, even mosquitoes and flies that come inside and go under the protection also get purified of all their obscurations and negative karma collected from beginningless rebirths. This is where all the sicknesses and spirit harms come from.

Regarding spirit harms, there is one called landlord or naga that is living under the earth, then in the middle there is the spirt harm called king or tsen, and in the sky or space there is spirit harm called day or za, so they give life problems, as well as catastrophes and sicknesses, etc.

In this way, by going under the mantra all the obscurations get purified, just by being inside this room and under the ceiling where the Namgyälma mantras are.

I would like also to put big mantras of the Stainless Pinnacle Lotus mantra, to completely cover the ceiling. Just by going underneath this mantra, it purifies one thousand eons of negative karma. This is the same mantra that we usually put above doors, but here there would be many, not just one, that cover the ceiling. The mantras can be on top of each other or in the ceiling, they don’t have to be exposed. By having this mantra there is great purification from sicknesses and spirit harm that comes from human beings and non-human beings. All this gets purified. This is the main solution when we practice Dharma; this is what happens.

There’s another mantra to have inside nice cloth bags or brocade, to have the bags filled with mantras. The idea is so that a person can sit under the mantra-filled bags on a chair or bench. The mantra to have inside these bags is the special mantra that liberates from bondage from these beings, [the harmful spirits] which I mentioned above, the three types of beings. This mantra causes us to be free from the harm and sickness that comes from the bondage of these spirits. [Find links to the Dharani Extremely Conquering from Bondage in the FPMT Catalogue.]

Many sicknesses that people have come from or are related to conditions of spirits. So by somebody sitting underneath this mantra, it liberates them from the bondage caused by the spirits.

I thought to do this in Garsha because there are many sick people there. When I stayed there, near the end of my time there were so many sick people with headaches or feeling suicidal who came to see me.

Usually when someone is suicidal it is actually connected with spirit harm. In the West they don’t know this yet, they haven’t discovered that the mind can be influenced by spirits, that it is a great danger. There are many things not discovered in the West, especially those that are caused by the strong condition of spirits and so forth. Of course, the main cause is karma and delusion. There are some psychologists and doctors who are starting to see the connection of the mind and health. One couple wrote a book that said cancer comes from an unhealthy mind, from a sick mind. Nowadays many more people are discovering this.

It was very kind that you expressed to help with the land, in order to build this. I was not expecting this, I was mainly thinking to build this by myself. I did meet a Buddhist family in Garsha, and I had dinner at their place before I left. They said if I wanted to build a monastery there then they would help me. One of their daughters is a doctor and their son is running a hospital in Kullu. I haven’t talked to them yet. But if you can help to find land, for sure I thank you very much. I would need to come to Garsha to find the place and then to arrange to build the structure, and for that I would first have to talk to architects and builders and make a plan.

As time goes on, if this one in Garsha becomes beneficial for many people then I would build similar ones in other places, but I thought to build the first one in Garsha since many people there are sick.

Then I wanted to send you the practice, The Method to Transform a Suffering Life into Happiness (Including Enlightenment). It is a meditation, not only a prayer. This is actually the best psychology, the best protection for our life, to be saved and liberated from bad transmigrations, from being born in the hell, hungry ghost or animal realms, and then experiencing the heavy suffering that comes with that. This is to protect from that, which we have already experienced numberless times from beginningless rebirths, all these different sufferings.

If we don’t have the opportunity to learn Dharma, to practice and actualize the path and the four noble truths, to realize true suffering, the true cause of suffering, the true path—the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness—and the true cessation of suffering. Until then, we have to reincarnate in the six realms without end. The other three rebirths as a human being, asura and sura are still suffering, still in the six realms of suffering, which are not only beginningless but also endless. Wow, wow, wow! This is the same for us and for all sentient beings. Even many Buddhists do not understand this, besides the numberless sentient beings who are not Buddhists. They have no idea at all, but this should be the greatest fear.

So we need to help the sentient beings, besides helping ourselves. We have an incredible responsibility not only to help ourselves but to help others, who are numberless, the suffering sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and to bring them to the total cessation of obscurations—the subtle ones not only the gross ones. In Tibetan the gross obscurations are nyön drib, the disturbing-thought obscurations, and the subtle obscurations are she drib, obscurations to the fully knowing mind.

So we need to bring them to the total completion of all the realizations, which in Tibetan is sang gye. Sang is elimination and gye is developing. This is so important, the most important thing, so urgent. What ordinary people think is important is to complete their education, make money and get a good job, but this is much more important than that. This is transforming the mind into a positive, virtuous, happy mind from a negative, unhealthy, impure mind. This is what causes us to be reborn in the lower realms and to experience the heaviest suffering and depending on the karma, that suffering can be for eons.

Thinking [with a] positive, pure, Dharma, healthy mind, brings a good rebirth, a happy life and success in the next lives. Then to transform into even more positive thoughts of renunciation, contentment, inner happiness, real happiness, ultimate happiness, liberation from the oceans of samsaric sufferings forever, and to protect from the negative mind, the impure, unhealthy mind that is attached to samsara and which brings continual suffering in samsara, the deva and human beings’ suffering, and even the general sufferings of samsara, such as the suffering of pain and the suffering of change—which is what all samsaric happiness is; it is temporary and in the nature of suffering—and the all-pervasive, compounding suffering.

The next thing is to transform the mind into bodhicitta, the precious thought of enlightenment. With that mind not only when we meditate, listen to teachings, study Dharma, but even when doing normal activities such as eating, walking, sitting, sleeping, doing our job, it all becomes the path to enlightenment, buddhahood, and not only that, it becomes the cause of happiness for numberless sentient beings to achieve full enlightenment.

So with this bodhicitta motivation, going somewhere, for example, from here to Tibet, or from Delhi to Garsha, each step becomes the cause for us to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, the peerless happiness and each step becomes the cause of happiness for all the sentient beings—the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, suras and asuras—and not only happiness but most importantly full enlightenment, the peerless happiness, which means to cause all sentient beings to be free from the oceans of samsaric sufferings.

This can be the motivation to generate before we recite mantras, such as OM MANI PADME HUM. So generate bodhicitta and then recite one mala of OM MANI PADME HUM, then, for example, each recitation of each mantra becomes the cause to achieve enlightenment for each sentient being and becomes the cause for numberless sentient beings to achieve enlightenment, Buddhahood, freedom from all the obscurations, gross and subtle, and completion of all the realizations, the peerless happiness. It is unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable! What is a more happy, joyful life than this?

So then by reciting OM MANI PADME HUM, each mantra becomes the cause to free the numberless sentient beings from each realm, from the oceans of samsaric sufferings.

In our daily life to begin like this, with this bodhicitta motivation, then every action that we do, such as eating food, however many spoonfuls of food that we eat, every spoonful of food becomes the cause of happiness for numberless sentient beings, for them to be free from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and so forth. It is so amazing, amazing, amazing! Like this whatever we do, every day, in the beginning by generating bodhicitta motivation and at the end dedicating for sentient beings, then all our activities, everything becomes so meaningful, so beneficial, a happy life not only for us but for numberless sentient beings. It brings us and all sentient beings to full enlightenment. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! Each time we talk, if it done with bodhicitta at the beginning, then each time we talk, we collect merit more than the sky, to bring ourselves and numberless sentient beings to enlightenment, to sang gye.

From this you can understand when you read this practice [Method to Transform]. This is what I tell many students to do in the morning when they wake up, to think of this, then after this to think about the gradual Dharma motivation. There is the first verse that is praying to cherish every sentient being, every human being and so forth, to cherish them more than wish-granting jewels filling the whole sky. [See Method to Transform, p. 10.] Then with that mind to live the life serving others with our body, speech and mind.

Then there is the next verse from the Prayer in Seventy Stanzas by the hero Lobpön Pawo [Aryasura]. He was a famous Hindu pandit in the beginning, but then by going to Mount Kailash and seeing Mahasura and Vishnu washing the Buddha, he became a famous Buddhist pandit. So by praying for yourself to be like a wish-granting jewel or a wish-granting tree, so that whatever is wished for is granted immediately—to be like that for the numberless sentient beings.

The next part of the practice is elaborating on how to live the life for others, making the life most happy, most meaningful, most positive, a most wise life.

Then at the end there is blessing the speech, so that even gossip becomes like recitation of mantra. Then there is the mantra that increases your recitations of mantras millions of times, then blessing the mala and mantras for success, and some other powerful mantras are mentioned there.

Thank you very much. I hope you don’t mind I wrote quite a lot. Please write if you have time or if there is anything I should do.

With much love and prayers ...

Please tell the student, of course I will pray, no question. I will request Kopan nunnery and monastery, and maybe also Ganden and Drepung monasteries to pray.

You and others should recite the Padmasambhava prayer Sampa Nyur Drupma. You will probably need four hundred million recitations to solve the problems in Hong Kong. Of course, also pray for Tibet, where in many parts the people are suffering so much. This is besides the suffering in the evil-gone realms, the lower realms. Pray for them to be free from suffering right away, there’s no time to wait.

Please tell the Hong Kong students to pray hard from the very depths of their hearts to Padmasambhava, to totally rely on Padmasambhava. Maybe you can send a very nice picture of Padmasambhava to the students in Hong Kong.

If you have a picture of Padmasambhava in His Holiness’ temple in Dharamsala that is clear, they should pray as if this is the real Guru Padmasambhava.

This is for all the FPMT centers. I felt that today, on the day of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing away into the sorrowless state, we should do something for Tibet and for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s holy wishes to succeed and to not take so much time. We should do something quickly for some change to happen, so that some great change will happen in the mainland Chinese government officials’ minds—those who control the politics—for freedom of Tibet, freedom of the middle way, whatever is the best. I did my Mickey Mouse checking, and this is what comes best:

• Mantra Promised by Tara: 50,000 times
• Four Mandala Offerings to Tara: 500 times

In regard to the Mantra Promised by Tara, I translated that a long time ago into English. It is for success; this is for anybody who wants to have success. So, to recite this 50,000 times in total and for this to be done by all the FPMT centers.

With bodhicitta motivation, we are doing this for Tibet and to offer strong devotion to His Holiness, to offer service and to fulfill His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s wishes. Then for the mainland Chinese government to change its mind and as quickly as possible for them to realize His Holiness the Dalai Lama is Chenrezig and to be totally devoted and to do exactly what His Holiness the Dalai Lama wishes. Also, to invite His Holiness to China, to totally devote and appreciate him, so that those billions of people can see His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s face and receive teachings and enjoy the unbelievable happiness of Dharma.

Then for there to be total freedom, the middle way, whatever is best for those Tibetan people in Tibet and outside Tibet as well. And for His Holiness the Dalai Lama to come to Tibet and meet the people there. That would be unbelievable, they would enjoy that and it would bring them unbelievable happiness. Probably a few people may die from being so, so happy to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama (joking).

By spreading the stainless Dharma, for it to happen more, so that there are more bodhisattvas and buddhas, more than before when Tibet was free, so they can help spread Buddhadharma in the world. And for Buddhadharma to last a long time and to spread in the ten directions and for more sentient beings to meet Buddhadharma and achieve enlightenment.

So that is the purpose. Then for the Chinese government officials, those who make political plans, to change their mind into total devotion. Also for Tibet to be free and for there to be more bodhisattvas and buddhas than before.

As it takes longer for Tibet to be free, then more and more Tibetan people who are in Tibet can’t stand it. They can’t wait, they can’t wait; they can’t stand it, they can’t stand it, but what can they do? Nothing. So they burn their bodies in the fire. That’s the only thing they can do. Individually, this is all they can do to expose the situation to the world. This is all they can do. So the longer it takes [for change], the more people burn.

In this way, with this motivation, recite the Mantra Promised by Tara, with total devotion to Tara. Also the Four Mandala Offerings to Tara puja should be done 500 times in total by FPMT centers, with this same motivation. That also came out good.

In the Mantra Promised by Tara there is a place where you put in a name or wish, so here in this place you can say: “For the mainland China government to change their mind, to give total freedom to Tibet, the middle way, and for there to be more bodhisattvas and buddhas to come, more than before.”  

This would be very, very good. This is something to do for FPMT, what we can do.

We didn’t get to offer a long-life puja to His Holiness the Dalai Lama recently. In the past we have offered long-life puja, but recently we didn’t get to offer separately a long-life puja. Many monasteries offered this, like in India, also nuns and different sects, but FPMT didn’t get to do it separately. In the past, many times we did this.

I was thinking one time to offer a long-life puja on behalf of all FPMT to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to actually offer a real elephant with great decorations, then maybe the king or minister or a princess and the people would kind of dress up, something like that, and to offer like that. I was thinking to do a very elaborate long-life puja. I am thinking to do this in Bodhgaya or maybe in Kushinagar.

So that’s all. This is the time we should do something. We need to hurry; we should do something. Thank you and good night.

With much love and prayers ...

Note: FPMT students subsequently completed 340,941 mantra recitations and 7,298 Four Mandala Offerings to Tara pujas. Read more and watch the video of Rinpoche thanking students here.

Rinpoche checked on what is best to be done in Nigeria, where so many people are dying of starvation. It seems this is due in part to extremists preventing food and aid from reaching people in need. Initially Rinpoche wanted to make a donation to the area, to help the starving people.

While Rinpoche considered making a donation to help the starving people, he then did a divination to check what was best. The result was that students of Rinpoche who are concerned about Nigeria should do the Extensive Medicine Buddha puja, making strong prayers to Medicine Buddha for those affected to be free of hunger and oppression.