The Benefits of Dharma Centers

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling ones,
My thanks, first of all, that you have taken a human rebirth, from many lifetimes of practice, praying and dedicating to receive a human body and especially a perfect human body, and now you are able to practice the Dharma and meet the Mahayana teachings. From that, any practice you do always begins with bodhicitta.

The main purpose of our life is to free the numberless sentient beings in each realm from the oceans of samsara suffering and bring them to buddhahood—the peerless happiness. Therefore we need to achieve buddhahood in order to be able to do the perfect works for the sentient beings, without the slightest mistake.

Any Mahayana practice that we do begins with bodhicitta, to benefit all the sentient beings in the six realms. That means any practice we do with this motivation is helping the numberless sentient beings in every realm—every single hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human, sura, and asura in the numberless universes, so all the numberless sentient beings, everyone.

Your center is not only helping people by giving them the opportunity to come to the center, but also by coming there they find out about all the meditation subjects and the path to enlightenment.

By meeting Buddhism and finding out about meditation and the path to enlightenment, this is what helps them to purify past negative karma and stop rebirth in the lower realms, by practicing morality, charity and so forth. This creates the cause for higher rebirths in future lives, not even just for one lifetime. By practicing morality, keeping even one precept, and by practicing charity, this helps for many hundreds and thousands of lifetimes. So the results are amazing, amazing.

In the Arya Sanghata Sutra the Buddha said, “The result of making charity to sentient beings, even the size of a single strand of hair, will be unbelievable wealth for eighty eons.”

Therefore in everyday life, practice charity with a healthy mind. I am saying this in a Western way for those who don’t believe in reincarnation and karma, so I say “a healthy mind, a positive mind.” Practicing charity with a mind without attachment—this is a peaceful mind. A mind with attachment is a disturbed mind, a contaminated mind, contaminated with suffering. Therefore, practice charity with a mind without attachment. Whether it is big or small charity, it is always helping, especially if it is for those in need. Giving anything, whatever you can give, is the most important thing, and this is creating a healthy life. From charity comes wealth and success in this life and next lives.

Pure morality leads to a good rebirth, being able to meet Dharma and practice Dharma. Not only that, the next thing is be to free from samsara by practicing the three higher trainings—the higher training of morality, the higher training of concentration and the higher training of wisdom.

So now you can see that by coming to the center people learn how to be free from the oceans of samsara suffering. Not just for a few hours or a few days, but forever. Can you imagine?

No matter how hard it is, it is so worthwhile because you are creating the cause for them to be free from death, free from suffering, free from birth, old age, sickness, and so forth, to be free from the suffering of depression and dissatisfaction. Even the dissatisfaction of billionaires and zillionaires is worse than the suffering in the hell realms.

There are three kinds of suffering. There is the suffering of pain. Then, the suffering of change—which refers to all the samsaric pleasures, such as the pleasures of music, surfing, jumping out of an airplane with a parachute, sex, drugs, alcohol and so forth. All the samsara pleasures are in reality in the nature of suffering, but they appear as pleasure to begin with. This is what is called the suffering of change. The third suffering, pervasive compounding suffering, means being under the [control of] the contaminated seed of delusion and karma. So it is pervaded by karma, the seed. There is no worse suffering than pervasive compounding suffering.

We can be free from all of this forever by learning Buddhism, meditation, the three higher trainings, the five paths to liberation, and so forth. It is from this that we can know how to be free from samsara forever.

Not only that, [people coming to the center] meet the Mahayana teachings, learn bodhicitta on the basis of generating compassion for all sentient beings, practice the six paramitas, the sutra five paths and ten bhumis, and then they are able to meet Mahayana tantra. And by practicing Mahayana tantra, they are able to achieve enlightenment in one brief lifetime of degenerate time.

By practicing the eight Mahayana precepts, the eight pratimoksha precepts, the five lay vows, or even less than five, like four, three, two or one, even just for one day, this helps for five hundred lifetimes to have a human or deva rebirth and so forth.

Practicing charity brings the success of wealth and so forth, all the enjoyments, for many hundreds or even thousands of lifetimes. This can come from giving charity just one time. This is the real cause of success in our life.

Practicing the good heart is the most important thing and the best cause of success in our life. However many times we are born in samsara—until we achieve the ultimate wisdom directly perceiving emptiness that ceases delusion and karma, which are the causes of the oceans of suffering in samsara—practicing the good heart is the real cause of happiness. Then there is no nonvirtue, only virtue. The good heart is the best way to create virtue.

Of course, people think that it is from education, but there are so many uneducated people in the world, in less developed countries, who are very happy, whose wishes get fulfilled, who have wealth and all their wishes succeed, but they have no education. Education can help, but it is not the main cause; it is the condition. Many times, if you have education but don’t have a good heart, then having education causes problems such as ego, pride, nonvirtuous thought, the thought to harm others and destroy the world, and so forth. 

Some people have high degrees and very good education, but still they cannot find jobs or it takes a long time. Of course if the person’s mind is open then I would suggest reading the Arya Sanghata Sutra and Golden Light Sutra in order to collect unbelievable merits and the causes of success. Also my general advice is every day to help insects, people, animals, and especially those who have problems, to help them in any way possible.

The ultimate conclusion is to practice the good heart. This is the best Dharma. With the good heart everything happens, especially enlightenment—the total cessation of all the obscurations and completion of all the realizations—not only to achieve enlightenment, but to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsara sufferings and bring them to enlightenment.

So this is what you are doing and what the center does. All of you who are helping the center and working at the center, you are helping every sentient being, every animal, every ant in the different universes, every mosquito, all the different kinds of fish, every slug, every mouse, every maggot and every tiny flea.

Thank you very much. Please enjoy life with the good heart. That is the best way to enjoy your life. With a good heart, this causes inner happiness that goes up to enlightenment.

Thank you very much, see you soon.

With much love and prayers

I want to say hello to everyone. I pay homage to Geshe Sonam Gyaltsen, who is the holder of the whole entire Buddhadharma and propagator of the Buddhadharma, from where sentient beings receive all their happiness and peace. And as well as to the presiding teacher at Maitreya Instituut Amsterdam, Ven. Kaye Miner. To any Sangha I pay homage, thank and offer my greetings.

I want to say hello and offer my greetings and thanks equaling the number of atoms of this earth to past and present geshes, resident teachers and directors of Maitreya Instituut. Especially I want to thank Paula and all the other past and present organizers of Maitreya Instituut. I would also like to thank all those who have offered sincere service and dedicated to Maitreya Instituut so it could continue to develop.

Up to now, spiritually and with the present facilities, how much the conditions for ourselves and other sentient beings to practice Dharma, to develop the mind in the path to enlightenment—how much these conditions have been developed depends on the kindness and offerings of all the previous organizers and directors. I would like to thank everyone—all those people who bring benefit, who help with their time and energy, who teach programs at the center and make the center beneficial to be able to spread Buddhadharma.

I’d like to take the opportunity today, on the 10th birthday anniversary of Maitreya Instituut, to thank everyone, as well as all the students, who can hear Dharma from the past and present teachers due to this most precious opportunity.

I’m going to mention briefly how the Dharma center is so important. We can see more and more how much of an emergency it is to have such a center, because this is where we can learn the whole path to liberation, the unmistaken path to happiness, the unmistaken cause of happiness. Not only that, the unmistaken cause for the path to liberation; and not only that, the unmistaken cause for the path to great liberation, full enlightenment, how to be free from suffering; to understand the cause of suffering and how to get rid of that. This is never explained or taught in schools, colleges and universities.

These things are missing in the education facilities in the world. The most important teaching is missing, the most practical thing—the education of a good heart, compassion.

Why is there so much killing and war even among religious people? It is because of the lack of this practice, this education. So practicing the good heart develops from this education, this practice.

If we guard our mind then we don’t need guns. We don’t harm others and in this way we don’t receive harm back from others—shooting, atomic bombs, whatever. We don’t receive all this harm. This education is not brought up in schools and colleges, even though it is the most important thing for world peace.

So what can bring peace and happiness to the world generally, to all different religions? It is compassion, loving kindness. This is the only answer for world peace. For young and for old, to bring peace and unity among religions, there is one thing—compassion, the good heart.

The essence of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism, the essence of Buddhism is not to harm any sentient being. What differentiates Buddhism from other religions is compassion, not only towards human beings—not only to poor human beings, not only to homeless human beings, not only to the poor or the rich—but compassion to all. Not only compassion to your friend, stranger, enemy, but compassion to everyone. Compassion to every animal—every insect, pig, fish —to everyone, to all the sentient beings whose minds are obscured and suffering. So, compassion for everyone.

The teaching of the Mahayana path includes the bodhisattva’s deeds—living with bodhicitta, and all the bodhisattva’s path, then how to achieve enlightenment to give extensive benefit to sentient beings; then the tantric teachings, how to quickly liberate numberless sentient beings from the cause of suffering and bring them happiness, especially full enlightenment. So, how to do that quickly as taught by the Buddha.

The essence of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism—at the center that teaches Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism—the very essence is compassion. So the existence of the center becomes a solution, because it offers this education and lots of practice in the good heart. This is the real solution for the cultivation of world peace—peace and happiness for all sentient beings—not only in different countries and this world.

Normally when somebody comes to the center for one or two days for a course, that person hears about karma—that if we harm others there is a consequence, a result; from the nature of the action we receive harm back. Like us, other sentient beings also want happiness and do not want suffering. Similarly, if we benefit others, then the karmic result is that all our holy wishes get fulfilled. So we can see that other sentient beings are so precious, so kind, and we receive all our happiness from them.

If someone comes to the center for one or two days' teaching —even for one day's teaching—with this as the main emphasis, that person stops killing other beings, or stops fishing; that person stops harming others. If this one person stops killing and harming others, then an uncountable number of sentient beings—insects, fish, worms —don’t receive harm from this person. All these numberless beings receive peace and happiness from this person. So, this comes from the center.

There are so many people coming to this Dharma center where everyone practices that, therefore over the last 10 years, from one person who comes to the center so many sentient beings have peace and happiness. If this one person practices compassion and stops giving harm to others; if he makes a vow and tries to do that, so many numberless sentient beings don’t receive harm from this one person. This is the benefit to all sentient beings. All sentient beings receive benefit from this one person, and this is due to the center. As I mentioned before, so many people have come to the center through the years since it started, so then numberless sentient beings get benefit, peace and happiness from them.

Numberless sentient beings receive benefit from each person who meets the Dharma at Maitreya Instituut. All the benefits for each sentient being come from the geshe, the director, the secretary, the interpreters and the whole community. So, numberless sentient beings receive happiness from this person [who comes to the center.]

My main emphasis is that the center plays a most important role in world peace, so this is our offering of service. We are offering service to the center and trying to develop the center, to have teachings and office facilities so that more sentient beings can have contact with Dharma.

This is the most important, urgent emergency. It is a billion times more urgent than an emergency in a hospital. So you can see now how your service to this center brings incredible benefit to sentient beings.

There is certainly no question that the center liberates sentient beings from the lower realms and brings them to liberation, to freedom from all the oceans of samsaric suffering. It also brings peerless happiness and enlightenment. So these are the general benefits, the skies of benefits of working for sentient beings and working for the center.

Now you can see how unbelievable it is, so I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all your great service and dedication. Thank you very much. Everyone, thank you so much.

This is saying happy birthday Maitreya Instituut. I hope to see you soon. I will pray for everyone, for all of you, to have a meaningful life. Thank you very much.

My most dear, most kind, most precious one, and everyone helping and supporting the center,

Those who began the center and guided for so many years, and then all the rest who are studying, practicing and those who come from time to time and those helping the center mentally and physically. What else is there worthwhile doing? That can bring a most happy life!

Practicing Dharma—even if it is for oneself, or even for one or two sentient beings—it’s so beneficial. Then if one practices Dharma for all sentient beings of the six realms—wow wow wow! Unbelievable benefits! Awakening yourself and others, freeing yourself in order to free others. Even reciting mani mantra for numberless sentient beings for their enlightenment—wow wow wow wow wow!!!! Reciting the mani mantra even one time with bodhicitta—wow wow wow wow wow! So meaningful! Reciting mani without bodhicitta, the merit you create is like the sky. So reciting with bodhicitta—wow wow wow wow wow!!!

This is the reason you need a center, a place to learn Dharma and practice, where you provide a teacher etc. So you can see the unbelievable kindness of the people who make this happen, like the teacher and the director. You can see the benefits of such a place! A place where you learn the Dharma, where the causes for inner happiness and how to abandon the causes of suffering and eventually to remove all the sufferings are explained - so a place doing this: how important that is, a place providing this. And the people who help in it—wow wow wow! So meaningful. That is the happiest life.

Thank you very much from my heart to each and every one of you. I will pray for everyone to quickly end the suffering of samsara and achieve enlightenment. Thank you very much and please enjoy...and see you soon.

With much love and prayer...

My very dear brothers and sisters, who have come here to celebrate the tenth anniversary. This is something to rejoice in so much, because the center is able to be of benefit to many sentient beings and the teaching of the Buddha. 

Reason to Practice Dharma

Here is why we need to practice Dharma besides doing ordinary work.

Even non-believers of reincarnation and karma, as a result of actions, need to practice Dharma because they want happiness and do not want suffering. To have happiness in life you have to change your mind, casting away negative thoughts and attachment to this life—clinging to the ‘I’, clinging to the body, clinging to possessions, friends, surrounding people and family—the delusion which harms oneself, which harms others, which makes you suffer, which makes others suffer. Cast that away and establish a healthy, positive and happy mind, virtuous thoughts.

For example, you want to have a long-lasting happy relationship with your husband or your wife. That’s one thing. Usually, you have lots of worries that the husband or wife might lose their love for you and leave you.

So, there you need to practice patience. If you are full of anger you think of negative reasons, you think bad thoughts then anger arises and then you fight. You are not happy with him or her, then that manifestation comes and the other person sees that you are angry, and then their mind is not happy. Then you fight with words that hurt the other’s heart , also affect their mind, make their mind upset or angry.

Then come the actions of the body, such as frowning at him or her, throwing things, beating or even killing, the biggest danger, or breaking arms or legs or even maybe the nose!

Maybe you get angry through a very small thing, such as the bread or tea being cold, say some words and finally end up in a court case, spending millions of dollars for nothing— not for virtue or helping somebody, it doesn’t get used on that. In America, in the Aptos home, one day I went to the sea with the house monks and nuns. We were sitting on a bench, using the table for eating and drinking. A car drove by and then came back. The driver told us she was so happy because she had built the bench after her husband died, to help people. So, for example, that wasted money could have been used to help in such a way.

So unbelievable, the delusion anger. If you are not careful with your anger or other delusions such as jealous mind, they can cause huge unnecessary expenses in your life. Maybe even you can’t pay the other person or the court fees because you don’t have the money.

One delusion, anger or jealousy or another, makes life so miserable and then causes the other person to separate, to end the relationship. Then you are depressed; everything is dark for you. However much sunshine or light there is, your mind is dark.

It’s good to know what makes life so difficult, the puzzle of how much suffering is caused by one delusion. One attachment creates such an unbelievable experience, so much difficulty just from one delusion. It’s good to know that.

However much you gain in business, from ten dollars you might make $100, from $100 you make $1,000, from $1,000 you make $10,000, from $10,000 to a million, to billions and zillions, there is no end. I have seen in the world many billionaires go to prison because of their unsatisfied minds. You want more and more and so you do something illegal, then a person in your company becomes angry with you and brings out all the illegalities, and you go to prison. Then you become famous in a different way, in suffering.

Even if you are a non-believer you need to have a satisfied mind, contentment. You need to practice having a satisfied mind and contentment; that is renunciation. As much as possible have less attachment, then life becomes happy. A simple life is a happy life; happiness comes from within. That is Dharma, contentment and satisfied mind; renunciation of attachment brings peace from within.

As I mentioned about relationships, you need to practice patience. It’s most important to keep the mind in happiness, with patience and tolerance you can enjoy life with your partner. You don’t find the partner harming you, disturbing you, because you are practicing patience. This brings incredible peace and happiness. Patience is Dharma, and contentment and a satisfied mind are Dharma, pure Dharma.

Historically, many times, due to not practicing patience, an influential and powerful person became extremely threatening, killing many millions of people, like Mao Tse-Tung, Hitler or Stalin. This one person of influence and power didn’t practice patience, so millions of people got killed and suffered.

On the other side, a person practicing the good heart and patience brings happiness to millions and millions of people, like Shakyamuni Buddha and great compassionate people from different religions, such as St. Francis and Mother Teresa.

So here, this is just a drop. If you want happiness and do not want suffering you have to practice Dharma—even non-believers. Therefore you need someone to teach and so you can see the need for Dharma centers. There are other centers, but we need as many as possible, to offer the education and practice that are necessary for happiness. That is the function of the center; not only teaching Dharma but also healing and so many things, giving food, having the temple open in the day and at night. The organizers here are unbelievably kind; their minds are so sympathetic to the people in need.

The FPMT organization has a kind of education, besides Buddhist teachings of sutra and tantra, Universal Wisdom Education (UWE), which teaches the very basic things; the first is to learn and practice for life’s happiness. In reality, happiness not only in this life but happiness from life to life for hundreds of lifetimes and thousands of lifetimes, just from one act of kindness to anyone—friend, enemy, stranger, even animals, any sentient being.

These are: rejoicing (at others’ happiness); patience; forgiveness; apologizing sincerely from the heart; contentment and courage in a positive sense. In reality, this is all Dharma.

This is the very first thing, then after that you can practice the sixteen human dharmas and so forth, securing your future happiness. Then you can study the extensive philosophy.

Now, regarding the world situation, there are three questions.

Firstly, one of the benefactors in Delhi told me recently that a big question in the world is that more and more people don’t trust their government any more.

Without Dharma, without compassion, there is self-cherishing thought, no compassion for other sentient beings’ suffering and happiness. Working in government with self-cherishing thoughts and I-grasping ignorance, the mind is selfish so the motivation is selfish. Ultimately you are working for yourself and your own happiness, but with a selfish mind there is not even success in the happiness of this life.

As the great saint Shantideva said in the Bodhicaryavatara: If one doesn’t exchange oneself for others, full enlightenment cannot be achieved; even in samsara there is no happiness.

To stop the problems, people need Dharma education. Buddhism is differentiated from other religions by compassion to all living beings—hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras and suras—every single being. As well, in Buddhist practice you develop wisdom, knowing what is right or wrong—what is the right or wrong decision and what is the right or wrong lifestyle.

What is wrong and what is right? That is a huge question. In the world, what people believe is right, is wrong and what they believe is wrong, is right. So we need right wisdom. The more Dharma we learn, the more and more wisdom we develop. That becomes complete when we achieve full enlightenment. It is not endless, we can complete it. That brings more and more peace and happiness in the world.

That is why we need a Dharma center, which offers the opportunity to learn Dharma. You can see, establishing more and more Dharma centers is the most important help for sentient beings, for this world, for this country. It is of the utmost need.

Then the second question: global warming and lots of disasters, which are called "natural." International global warming experts understand and some people explain it scientifically, such as former US vice president Al Gore in his movie. Yes, they happen, but whether good or bad things happen they come from the mind, as the delusions come from the unsubdued mind. Many disasters of the elements of fire, water, earth and air are happening, which are called natural. That is Western way of talking by those who don't believe in karma and delusions as the main cause. They don’t understand inner and outer causes.

Since it is causative phenomena, it is born, it exists and it ceases. Everything, all these have to happen by causes, karma and delusion. So, all these so-called “natural” disasters happen due to no or little understanding of karma. To understand things, one has to understand Dharma, and karma—action and results. Then there is more possibility for somebody to have inner knowledge of why disasters are happening and what method to apply to stop those disasters.

Let me give you an example. There is a young lady from Tibet who is believed to be a dakini, a sky-goer. When she was going around Tashi Lhunpo, Panchen Rinpoche's monastery, Milarepa appeared to her and she found she had a connection with Milarepa from some thousand years ago. Milarepa gave her a bunch of money and advised her to go to India to serve His Holiness the Dalai Lama. That is how she was able to come to India. Now she has been in Dharamsala for many years.

She serves and protects His Holiness the Dalai Lama in a most amazing way. She saw thousands or millions of people dying due to a big volcanic eruption and earthquake in the Himalayan regions, not only in Dharamsala but the whole region. She saw very clearly the danger, from inside her heart or mind, which is beyond ordinary peoples’ minds. So she built many stupas around His Holiness the Dalai Lama's palace and also at Nechung Monastery and Norbulingka, close to Dharamsala. Due to these, the huge volcano and earthquake did not happen, but a small earthquake happened, in which nobody died except one cow. Also, we asked what should be done to prevent a big earthquake in California and she advised to build a completely different stupa. She predicted like a waterfall, nothing false, no doubt.

Somebody like that can help a hundred percent to stop such disasters, but due to karma some disasters have to be experienced; they cannot be stopped completely. She is like a star in the daytime, so rare.

So again, the more you develop wisdom and compassion, the fundamentals of Buddhism, by putting it into practice, the better the world can become, including economically.

Now, the third question: when there are more and more demonstrations against the government, the king and so forth, usually they are against dictatorships, which don't help people because of selfish thought, seeking their own happiness. It is intelligent, wise and clever to cherish others, to serve others. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama always says, if you want to be selfish, be intelligently selfish. For that you must know Dharma, you must know karma and how to practice.

So even for this, the best answer is to learn Dharma, to meditate, especially how to develop wisdom and compassion towards other sentient beings. Therefore, we need a place where there is a teacher, the Dharma and facilities to practice.

The center is able to offer these facilities to everyone, as much as it can do.

The most important purpose is Dharma, it is more important than food, clothing or having a job; understanding, practicing Dharma, understanding karma (Tib: ledre) and developing wisdom and compassion for numberless sentient beings.

The reason is there is no-one in the world who has discovered only one life; no past or future lives. Of course, there are theories about one life. Due to not understanding, they may believe and teach such religion as Gyangphenpa and so forth. But none who have discovered, realized, who see through karma, like devas or asuras. Devas know when they are going to die and they see where they will be born, so they have lots of suffering, more than physical suffering. This is due to karma, seeing past and future, but there are numberless beings who, through meditation and Six Yogas of Naropa, can see your and others’ past and future.

Like murky water, we can't see through the heavily obscured mind. A fully awakening, completely purified mind like Buddha's omniscient mind, of course directly sees all the numberless sentient beings, knows their every single action of past and future. Even a bodhisattva abiding in the pure grounds, such as the eighth and tenth bhumis, having purified the gross obscurations but not the subtle, can see. The bodhisattvas who dwell in the first bhumi see a hundred eons past and a hundred eons in the future. The second bhumi bodhisattvas see a thousand past and a thousand future eons; on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth bhumis they see more and more. Generally, on the paths of merit and preparation it also might be possible to see past and future. So there are numberless beings who discovered and realized past lives. There are also old and young children, not only Tibetan but in the West, who remember their past life.

So definitely now you have to make preparation for the happiness of the next life and the life after that and so forth. The cause of happiness and good rebirth is through Dharma, and good karma, pure morality. Therefore, you have to practice Dharma and for this you have to learn Dharma.

By taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, by renouncing the ten non-virtues and practicing the ten virtues, living in five or less upasaka vows, you can receive higher rebirth. There are also eight upasaka lay vows, 36 vows and intermediate ordination, renouncing the householder life. Then there are the 253 bhikshu vows and the bhikshuni with 364 vows. Then there are also the bodhisattva and tantra vows.

The happiness of higher rebirth and rebirth in a pure land comes by the way, it’s not the main goal. You need to achieve ultimate happiness and liberation from samsara’s suffering. For this you have to achieve realization of the four noble truths. For this you have to know true suffering and the true cause of suffering. In other words, you have to actualize the five paths—the path of merit, the path of preparation, the right seeing path, the path of meditation and the path of no more learning. Free from samsara’s suffering and the cause of suffering, delusions and karma, you will have everlasting happiness, a blissful state of peace in oneself. Then you actualize great compassion to all sentient beings, the great bodhicitta, to free sentient beings from oceans of suffering.

In order to bring the numberless sentient beings to full enlightenment one has to achieve enlightenment. For this one has to enter the Mahayana path, of which there are five paths as I mentioned, and ten bhumis, starting from the right-seeing path, to remove gross and subtle defilements.

Of course, that takes three great eons to achieve enlightenment, but by practicing the lower tantric path one can achieve complete enlightenment in one lifetime. If you practice Highest Yoga Tantra you will be able to complete the merit quicker and achieve full enlightenment in a brief lifetime in the degenerate age. For that, one has to have all the realizations that depend on meditation, reflecting and listening, the foundation sutra, and uncommon tantra, the secret mantra. One cannot achieve enlightenment with only practice of sutra, without practicing uncommon tantra.

We each have full responsibility to free all sentient beings from suffering and bring them to full enlightenment. Therefore, we need to achieve full enlightenment and so we need to practice Dharma. Now we can see how important the Dharma center is. We should know how fortunate and lucky we are having different Dharma centers with teachers.

With much love and prayers...

 One of the benefits of the FPMT is to help people—people's health, people's problems, their practice. I regard it as important.  

The centers offer the very basic teachings: compassion for all sentient beings and educating them in the wisdom of understanding the very essential points of Dharma, such as karma.

Everybody is seeking happiness and does not want suffering. Suffering and happiness do not come from outside, but from one’s own mind; this is the main cause. Even if it looks like something comes from outside, that is only the condition, the main cause is not external at all. It is like a poisonous plant comes from a poisonous root and a medicinal plant comes from a medicinal seed or root. Like that, sufferings come from sentient beings’ own minds. Each individual suffering comes from each individual sentient being’s mind, from ignorance, anger, attachment, and the root of ignorance – not knowing the nature of the “I” is emptiness and that the nature of the aggregates, which is the association of body and mind, is emptiness.

The teachings on karma are that from beginningless rebirths we have been like a person who ate poison – following ignorance and only committing non-virtuous actions, harming oneself and others, therefore constantly suffering. We have followed the three poisonous minds, non-virtuous thoughts, committed non-virtuous actions, and have thus been unable to achieve enlightenment, not even liberation from samsara.

Isn’t that shocking? Isn’t that incredibly, unbelievably shocking! You can see we have been sleeping, have not woken up. Here, Buddha’s teaching about karma is to awaken sentient beings’ minds from this incredible deep sleep, from beginningless rebirths, from suffering again and again, without choice and control.

Teaching about karma to sentient beings so they can understand it is giving them incredible freedom. Providing a center gives sentient beings a place where they can go, day and night, whenever they want to, to create the cause of happiness; they have the freedom to do this. If they don’t like to always be suffering, they have the freedom to abandon suffering by abandoning negative karma. From that freedom, they can achieve happiness in future lives, liberation from samsara, and enlightenment, everything, by purifying their negative karma, as well as also stopping obstacles and suffering in this life. Isn’t that amazing!

Another example is that in the centers people learn and do the practice of the 35 Confession Buddhas. Each time someone recites the 35 Buddhas’ names, it purifies two, six or seven eons of different negative karmas, for example, the negative karma of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, telling lies, speaking hurtful words to others, slander, ill will, covetousness, heresy, etc. Also, you can purify all the five uninterrupted karmas by reciting the 35 Buddhas’ names, such as killing your father or mother, killing an Arhant, causing harm to a Buddha, and causing divisiveness among the Sangha.

By purifying this heavy negative karma, you don’t get cancer or a heavy sickness in this life. Also, you get incredible, unbelievable inner peace and happiness, many eons of negative karma are purified, and you don’t receive suffering results, such as serious illnesses, relationship problems, etc. One has to think this way, and how important and useful it is to do purification practices. The 35 Confession Buddhas is one practice that is performed at the centers, which causes incredible freedom for sentient beings, liberation, freeing them from sufferings, and making it so easy for them to achieve happiness. These things come from the center.

Just one prostration creates inconceivable merit. However many atoms the body covers as it touches the ground as you do prostrations, that many karmas to be born as a wheel turning king for 1,000 lifetimes are created. So, you can see, you create inconceivable merit. All these things happen because of the center, which you are helping.

The Dharma center is an emergency rescue operation, like when police go in with sirens blaring, red and blue lights flashing, helicopters whirling, to rescue people in distress. Like that, the meditation center plays a very important role in the emergency rescue of human beings, using the seat belt and life jacket of the lamrim. Meditation on refuge and karma immediately saves you from falling into the lower realms again.