The Benefits of Dharma Centers

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.

The director is like the flower, the geshe is like the honey, the bees are like the students.

I prostrate with my body, speech, and mind to the Three Jewels who are the object of Refuge for all of us pitiful, suffering, numberless sentient beings.

My dear students, sisters and brothers, and benefactors,
From the bottom of my heart I would like to welcome everyone here for this special event, a great opportunity to create extensive merit, which is the cause of peace, happiness, and success in this life and future lives, liberation, and enlightenment.

I am very sorry I can’t be with you all today, I do apologize, even though it is my wish to be with you all to enjoy this function.

Compassion learned and practiced in your center is the source of all sentient beings’ happiness, because one person’s happiness, peace, and success is a mind without anger, ill will, etc. On top of that it benefits others. As a result of these actions, that person does not receive harm from others in the future, only help. Therefore, this individual has satisfaction and fulfillment and numberless others receive happiness and peace from this person. It is the same for a couple in a relationship – the harmony and success of it comes from the compassion of the individuals. It is the same for the family – the peace, happiness, and success depend on the individuals’ practice of compassion. The country’s and world’s peace also depend on the individuals’ practice of compassion.

This is why our temple is so important. We need this place for training in meditation on compassion. It is also a place to have many holy objects. Making offerings to them is a source of extensive merit, the cause of this and future lives’ happiness, peace, and success.

Look at the situation in Bosnia now, there is so much killing and torture, there is no compassion. The best way to help others is to inspire and educate others in compassion, besides practicing oneself. This helps with similar problems, such as famine, disease, poverty, homelessness, earthquakes, economic difficulties, etc. These all depend on causes and conditions and negative karma. Negative karma can wipe out a whole city in a few minutes! So, we need to educate people on how to purify negative karma and not to create the cause again. This can be done by developing compassion and understanding karma.

Why is there a need for a larger place to listen, reflect, and do meditation practice on the kind, compassionate Buddha's path? One can understand by analyzing how the need for Buddha Dharma is much more important, many billions of times more crucial, than going to the emergency room in the hospital when the heart stops. Why? Because suffering and happiness do not come from outside. They come from the mind.

For example, by following attachment there is only dissatisfaction, discomfort, and unhappiness. The minute one stops following attachment by reflecting on the nature of life, impermanence, and death, immediately there is contentment, satisfaction, peace, and happiness; there is no problem.

Similarly, when somebody is angry with you and harms you, you can see how that person is suffering, completely controlled by anger; how that person has no freedom at all, is completely overwhelmed and possessed by the spirit of anger; how he is creating so much negative karma by giving a lot of harm to you; how he is not only creating so many causes for the heaviest sufferings of the lower realms after this life, but has no peace or happiness even in this life; and how he is making his life unhappy and creating many problems.

If one uses it like this, the harmful action that would usually make the mind angry becomes the cause to develop compassion toward that person. Instead of getting angry, looking at that person as the enemy and harm, that person becomes only the object of your compassion. That person becomes only an object who has to be helped by you.

From these two examples, one can see the way the person thinks of you and behaves doesn't matter. How the person appears to you, the attitude and action, is totally up to your mind, how you interpret, how your mind labels. So what is called “friend” and “enemy” is coming from one's own mind. What is called “harming” and “helping” is coming from one's own mind, and the effects of happiness and unhappiness are coming from one's own mind. It depends on the way you think.

Everything, success and failure in business, wealth and poverty, a long life and short life, good health and bad health, good relationships and bad relationships in the family, all come from the mind, that which is good karma and negative karma. It is the same with liberation (the sorrowless state) and samsara (suffering), enlightenment and hell; all come from the mind.

How do we eliminate the evil mind that is the creator of everyday problems, including hell, and the karma causing suffering, and have only a pure mind producing day-to-day happiness, including enlightenment. That is only through holy Dharma. By developing method and wisdom shown by Buddha, we cease completely the root of all the suffering, delusion, and karma, including the imprints and even the obscurations, and we achieve liberation from samsara and full enlightenment, in order to lead all sentient beings away from all suffering and obscurations and to peerless happiness: enlightenment. The happiness of future lives, of this life, a long life, good health, wealth, and reputation also happen along the way.

Therefore, sentient beings need to learn how to practice listening, reflecting, and meditating on the teachings of Buddha. For that they need a teacher, translator, and all the necessary facilities. So, there is a need for a larger place, with more rooms, so it allows for different Dharma activities and other public services. This would also be the place for the Sangha to live and practice. The more space, the more it can benefit sentient beings. There can be more holy objects and places to make offerings, so it allows sentient beings to create more extensive merit and do more purification.

The particular function of this center is not only presenting philosophical teachings in a clear way, but especially lamrim; to give a deep and clear understanding of lamrim and meditation experience.

There are many enlightened beings and bodhisattvas in your country, but most of the people, even the Buddhists, who spend life studying and reciting one or two sutras, which explain only a small part of the path to enlightenment, have no idea where to begin the path, and how to go about practice, which is the steps of the path to enlightenment. The center can especially help by clearly teaching how to proceed on the gradual path to enlightenment through meditation practices.

The center also has a group which translates Dharma books, both philosophical teachings and teachings that different classes of people can relate to their lives. This way the center benefits Chinese communities all over the world.

Another special feature of the center is having well qualified teachers who know Mahayana teachings, not only sutra but also the tantra taught by Buddha (not Hindu tantra). This is a difference like the sky and earth.

What differentiates Buddha Dharma from other religions in the world is compassion toward every living being, without discrimination of religion, nationality, race, and so forth. A Mahayana Dharma center is the place which provides education on how to develop great compassion toward all living beings, and which causes others to practice and actualize this compassion in their heart.

Compassion never allows harm to be given to others, and besides that is only to benefit others. A Dharma center such as this becomes a very important tool to bring peace in the world, and peace in numberless sentient beings’ minds. So, whatever you are able to contribute benefits not only peace in this world but for all sentient beings. You can see how the Dharma center, which offers these practices and education, is an extremely important need. Therefore, I would say it would be an extremely practical thing to help this Dharma center so all these facilities exist and flourish.

It is said in the Sutra of Essence of Earth, Tenth Wheel:

In the world, comfort, happiness, peace, all those are received from making offering to the rare sublime ones [Triple Gem]. Therefore, those who like to have comfort, happiness, and peace always attempt to make offering to the rare sublime ones.

Generally, all the collections of goodness of samsara and nirvana are the result of having made offering to the Triple Gem. Especially by doing service with the various particular offerings, one receives different benefits individually. Buddha, the fourth guide, whose holy mind is enriched with the ten powers, announced in the Tune of The Brahma Sutra, clarifying karma, that there are ten benefits of making light offerings.

1. One becomes like the light in the world.
2. One achieves the pure flesh eye, and
3. One achieves the devas’ eye.
4. One receives the wisdom of knowing what is virtue and what is non-virtue.
5. One eliminates the darkness of ignorance, the concept of inherent existence.
6. One receives the illumination of wisdom – even while one is in samsara one never experiences darkness.
7. One receives great enjoyment and wealth.
8. One gets reborn in the deva or human realm, and
9. One quickly becomes liberated.
10. One quickly attains enlightenment.
11. Those devas or humans who have accumulated this merit from making one light offering or just a handful of flowers will see the fully enlightened Maitreya Buddha.

Then there are the ten benefits of prostrations to holy objects:

1. A perfect body, golden in color.
2. A beautiful body.
3. A sweet, enchanting voice that others can comprehend.
4. One can be in a public place without being shy.
5. Devas and humans like you.
6. You become very glorified.
7. You achieve a good rebirth.
8. You achieve great wealth.
9. You achieve liberation.
10. You achieve enlightenment.

There are ten benefits of offering flowers to holy objects:

1. You become like a flower (expression of beauty).
2. Your sense of smell does not degenerate.
3. Your body does not smell and always smells scented.
4. You spread the scent of morality in all directions.
5. You become the first among others.
6. You achieve all beautiful objects.
7. You achieve wealth.
8. You have a good rebirth.
9. Liberation is achieved.
10. Enlightenment is achieved.

Incense and other offerings also have many benefits. Even putting one’s hands together in the mudra of prostration (young or old) to the temple and its holy objects, just for one second, achieves eight very important benefits:

1. A perfect body in your next life.
2. Perfect helpers in your next life, fullfilling all your wishes.
3. You are able to live in morality.
4. You have devotion.
5. You have bravery and a courageous heart.
6. You achieve rebirth as a deva or human.
7. You achieve the Arya path, with no death or rebirth.
8. You achieve enlightenment.

From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank all of you for your generosity in actualizing our temple, which is enables all sentient beings to accumulate merit.