Benefactor Building a Statue
A student wrote to Rinpoche about the statue he was sponsoring. This is his response.
My most kind wish-fulfilling benefactor,
I am extremely happy with your help and service. Thank you for very kindly taking this responsibility and taking such strong interest in building this most exciting, most glowing, most liberating, most powerful statue.
This statue not only brings peace, happiness, and freedom but also it will affect the whole world. Already His Holiness the Dalai Lama gives so much guidance and compassion to the world. He has an immeasurable impact on the rest of the world, especially through the education he gives about Buddhism, which has the complete path to enlightenment and offers complete wisdom, understanding, what brings happiness and what brings suffering, as well as understanding the ultimate nature of phenomena and the “I.” This wisdom relieves all sufferings, such as the suffering of birth and death, of never being satisfied, as well as all the fears that arise around desirable objects. When the mental continuum is free from delusion and karma and their seeds, then we are totally free from all suffering. This is what Buddha has shown in order to benefit all sentient beings, who are as many as the stars in the sky at night. So, it is right now that we can practice the path and attain enlightenment. Our own experience is that when we meditate correctly all the negative emotional thoughts are freed – this is the proof that we can be free of all suffering; it is not just blind faith.
Buddhism says you are the creator, you are the guide, you are your own enemy, in essence you are your own guide to enlightenment, you are also your own enemy creating problems and suffering. So, the need is to change one’s own mind. Sorry I am talking for a long time; this is a bit of a side talk on Buddhism. The main thing is that your help with this project makes it possible to accomplish this and be of unbelievable benefit. I would like to mention here how we could also create a Pure Land temple – this would be fantastic.
If you can accomplish this project it would be so, so, so pleasing to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Buddha of Compassion. For yourself, there would be incredible purification and in all your lives you would be guided by Chenrezig, you would be under the care of Chenrezig, so this is an unbelievable opportunity. What else is there to do in this life? This would be an incredible legacy that you would leave behind and that would exist for at least 1000 years. Over time, millions, perhaps billions, of people would come to this place, and there would be incredible benefit for them – so much negative karma and defilements would be purified. Millions of people would have the opportunity to create unbelievable merit. When you think about it, this is such a great thing. It is incredible!
Wherever you are in different lives in the future you would continue to receive the benefit and you would be continuously bringing peace and happiness to others.
My prayers to you and your family and my deepest heartfelt thanks and appreciation.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
PS: If there is going to be a restaurant, I would very much like it to be vegetarian. This is my request. I don’t want animals to suffer in this situation, and I do think the people who visit the park will understand and it will be suitable for them. They will respect this philosophy and we can, I am sure, offer the most delicious vegetarian food. Again, from my heart, I thank you.