Buddhism and Christianity

Rajesh, my physiotherapist in Nepal asked me if I had to be Christian, would I be Christian. In essence, this is my reply:

Christianity doesn’t have the four noble truths, which are:

1. True suffering
2. True cause of suffering
3. True cessation
4. True path

Concerning the first noble truth, true suffering, Christianity doesn’t explain true suffering well. It almost doesn’t mention true suffering or the suffering of suffering. It does not mention how samsaric rebirth is in the nature of suffering. It does not mention how samsaric death is in the nature of suffering. It does not mention the suffering of sickness and old age. Maybe it mentions the suffering of some poor or sick people but it does not really mention the suffering of sicknesses. Then the main suffering in life, dissatisfaction, is also not mentioned; nor does it explain how the aggregates are in the nature of suffering. However, these are all explained in the lamrim and sutra teachings of the Buddha.

For instance, the Buddha’s teachings contain extensive explanations of the five aggregates (form, feeling, cognition, mental formations, consciousness) in the samsaric realms: the desire, form and formless realms. Beings in the formless realm only have mind, no form, so they have only the mental aggregates and they are in the nature of suffering. We have gone through these three realms numberless times from beginningless rebirths, caused by karma and delusion. There are also teachings that explain the shortcomings of the aggregates.

There are three types of suffering:

1. Suffering of suffering
2. Suffering of change
3. Pervasive compounding suffering

The suffering of change refers to how temporary samsaric pleasures are in the nature of suffering and how they are temporary. This is what people in the world refer to as “happiness.” This is also only in the nature of suffering. However much samsaric pleasure we have, still we are never satisfied and we always want more. The suffering is wanting more but not being able to get more; also that it is not guaranteed to last. All of this is suffering. Then, of course we die, death can happen in the meantime, so we never achieve satisfaction.

It is very true what The Rolling Stones said in one of their songs, singing along with their guitars: “I tried and I tried and I tried, but I can’t get no satisfaction.” Actually this is exactly the same as what the Buddha said, but this is The Rolling Stones’ own experience, and they have put it in a song. This is how samsaric pleasure is in the nature of suffering.

Regarding the suffering of change, there is an explanation in the Lamrim Chenmo by Lama Tsongkhapa where he says when we feel hot due to the sun and then go into cool water, initially, we feel pleasure. That pleasure comes from being out in the heat and then going into the cool. The suffering of heat stops being great and the suffering of cold starts from small. If we stay too long in the cold water, the suffering gets greater and greater and gradually becomes suffering of suffering. Initially, the mind labels that feeling pleasure.

Pleasure does not come from its own side; it is labeled by the mind. This is one example of how samsaric pleasure is only in the nature of suffering. Like this, all samsaric pleasures are only in the nature of suffering. This is how we can understand that samsaric pleasures are in the nature of suffering of change.

Then there is pervasive compounding suffering. Our aggregates are pervaded by suffering because they are under control of karma and delusion. If they were not under the control of karma and delusion they would not be in the nature of suffering.

Why do our aggregates experience the sufferings of birth, sickness, old age, death, separating from desirable objects, meeting undesirable objects and not finding the things we desire? These sufferings are because of pervasive compounding suffering. If we press our flesh we experience pain, not bliss; also, when an ant or mosquito bites us we feel pain, not bliss.

Pervasive compounding suffering comes from ignorance, anger and attachment. The root of all suffering is ignorance, not knowing the “I,” that which is totally empty from its own side. There are also imprints from the past that arise.

When we meet beautiful, ugly or indifferent objects we generate attachment, anger and ignorance, and this leaves imprints (seeds) on our mind. These imprints are the cause of future samsaric rebirths, which are also in the nature of suffering. In this way it goes on and on, compounding future lives’ suffering and causing this life’s suffering as well. This is how our five aggregates are pervasive compounding suffering.

To be completely free forever, not only from the suffering of suffering but also the suffering of change and pervasive compounding suffering, we have to realize emptiness, and not just realize emptiness but also directly perceive emptiness. Only then can we directly cease the seed of delusion, which creates suffering. This is why in Buddhism it is very important to realize emptiness (shunyata in Sanskrit and tong-pa-nyid in Tibetan). This is so essential; without this, then no matter what other realizations of sutra and tantra we have, we still cannot be free of the suffering of samsara forever.

Christianity says that suffering came from God. If this is the case, then God becomes the root of the suffering and in order to be free forever from suffering, then wouldn’t it be better to eliminate God? Wouldn’t it be better that God didn’t exist? If you think like this then you may attempt to destroy God, make him nonexistent, but there is no way to destroy God as God cannot be destroyed, God is inherently existent.

My other big question is, if God created the world, then didn’t God also create suffering? Wouldn’t it have been better if God hadn’t created the world at all? Adam ate the apple and then suffering started. Didn’t God create the apple and also Adam? If God did not create the apple and Adam then there would not be any suffering.

We can go through more analysis.

What is God? The ultimate nature of phenomena is emptiness. Emptiness is not God. The nature of phenomena, which are impermanent, is not God. The nature of phenomena is not God; phenomena are not God.

Does God have mind or not? Does God have compassion for sentient beings or not? If God has compassion for sentient beings, who are suffering, then God has mind. If God has mind then God is a living being. Then where is God?

Regarding the second noble truth, the true cause of suffering, in Buddhism, suffering comes from the mind, not from God or Buddha. Suffering comes from the mind but not from renunciation, bodhicitta and right view; suffering does not come from wisdom. Wisdom knows Dharma and ultimate wisdom, which realizes emptiness. This wisdom can be developed to directly realize that all phenomena are empty.

Suffering comes from ignorance. What is ignorance? Not perceiving the “I” and the aggregates to be empty, as they are empty. Suffering comes from believing them to be truly existent. Suffering does not come from generating compassion for sentient beings; compassion helps to eliminate suffering.

ULTIMATE WISDOM causes us to be free from samsara, from continuously taking birth with defiled aggregates. COMPASSION for suffering sentient beings causes us to be free from liberation for ourself alone, to not get caught in liberation for ourselves. With wisdom and compassion together, we are able to achieve enlightenment, which means ceasing the gross and subtle defilements and achieving full enlightenment.

The true cause of suffering is karma and delusion. In Buddhism, all suffering comes from our own mind. Therefore, the most important thing is to cease karma and delusion, including their seed. This is liberation, ultimate happiness, the total cessation of suffering and the cause of suffering, which is karma and delusion. This is nirvana, everlasting happiness, and in Buddhism we are able to achieve this.

What makes it possible to achieve liberation is explained by the fourth noble truth, the true path, which is the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, directly ceasing the cause of suffering, the delusions. This is why it is so important to learn the Madhyamaka teachings, the teachings on emptiness only, which is the ultimate nature of phenomena. These teachings explain how things are empty in reality. Everything that appears to us is a hallucination. What we believe is real is actually wrong belief, not right belief. Right belief is that everything is empty, and while everything is empty, it exists in mere name, merely labeled by the mind. That is right belief. While everything exists in mere name, merely labeled by the mind, everything is totally empty from its own side; nothing exists from its own side, it is totally empty. That is why the phenomena that exist are unified in emptiness and dependent arising. That is the way they exist and that is how the “I” exists.

Besides realizing this we also need full renunciation of samsara in order to achieve ultimate liberation.

Here is a quote from Panchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen, who was like the sun shining on this earth and wrote many sutra and tantra teachings and benefited the Buddha’s teachings and sentient beings like the sky:

The way of reflecting on the hundreds¹ of shortcomings of samsara:
Even though many beings are frightened by suffering of suffering,
And wish to be free from it, even the animals want this.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama said:

Suffering that you know is suffering,
And having the wish to be free from this,
Even animals have this wish.

For example, if you threaten a dog with a stick the dog runs away because the dog knows you’re going to hit him and he will have pain. This is because the dog has experienced it in the past and suffered. The dog is frightened, thinking he will suffer, so he runs away. When a dog is hungry he runs to look for food because he knows the suffering of hunger and wishes to be free from that. This shows how even animals are frightened of the suffering of suffering.

Even the outer beings² have renunciation
Of deluded happy feelings.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama says that there are enlightened happy feelings that buddhas have. Also eighth, ninth and tenth bhumi bodhisattva have happy feelings of liberation from samsara. Also arhats, who have achieved lower nirvana, have the happy feelings of liberation from samsara. So these are happy feelings that we should try to achieve.

Any other kind of delusional happy feeling comes from the root of suffering, ignorance. All those happy feelings that we experience numberless times with our aggregates are completely under the control of karma and delusion. The root of that delusion is ignorance.

The second suffering of samsara is the suffering of change. Even outer beings (mutekpa) recognize the suffering of change and the deluded happy feeling, which is actually suffering.

Outer beings who seek concentration, who meditate with firm contemplation, have renunciation and see desire realm, which includes some deva realms³, happiness as only in the nature of suffering. They are totally detached from the desire realm and try to achieve the form realm, thinking there is more happiness there. The desire realm has so many sufferings, it is short, rough and only suffering in nature. They achieve the happiness of the form realm through meditation. Later, through meditation, they see the form realm happiness as only suffering in nature and look for the formless realm. The formless realm has four stages: limitless sky, limitless consciousness, nothingness and the tip of samsara. They gradually achieve the first three stages but they are unable to renounce the fourth stage because there is no higher samsaric realm that they can compare it to. That is why even those who have achieved renunciation of the previous realms cannot be free from samsara. This is why Buddhists, inner beings, meditate on the sufferings of these realms, including those of the formless realm, which is also only in the nature of suffering.

Panchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen also said:

These aggregates, closely taken through
The nature of compoundedness,
Contain established suffering and the one yet to be.
If one meditates viewing them as
Barley, rice or pain, then sinking thought dissipates.⁴

The meaning of this quote is: The aggregates of closely taken (Tib: nyer-len) means karma and delusion. The main cause of the aggregates is karma and delusion. The aggregates are caused by impure causes, karma and delusion, so that is why the aggregates are in the nature of suffering.

These aggregates, with the seed of delusion, compound the suffering of this life and create the suffering of the future, and this is the basis of suffering. If this third suffering, pervasive compounding suffering, is recognized as suffering, then the wish to be free from it will arise.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that when the thought to be free from this suffering arises, then at that time the thought to be free from the suffering of change and the suffering of suffering arises. This comes by the way.

Liberation from the third suffering, pervasive compounding suffering, is called liberation, or nirvana. According to Buddhists, real liberation is forever, it is not temporary, and we attain everlasting happiness, forever; we are free from suffering forever, not temporarily. So even though non-Buddhists (mutekpa) and other religions talk about liberation, they do not have this level of liberation, as it is explained in Buddhism. Buddhist liberation is liberation from I-grasping through recognition of it as a delusion. While we are under the control of this we can’t achieve everlasting happiness. In Buddhism, liberation means victory over the enemy, delusion. That is the real liberation, freedom from the enemy, delusion. Otherwise when we say liberation maybe we’re thinking of heaven or a pure land, but that is not liberation. Heaven can be samsaric, like the form and formless realms—they can be thought of as higher heavens compared to the desire realm. In Buddhism, freedom from suffering refers to freedom from pervasive compounding suffering. That is the real meaning of seeking liberation and that is why Buddhists have to meditate on suffering.⁵

Renunciation of samsara is not mentioned in Christianity. But without this renunciation there is no way to achieve liberation from samsara.

Just like us, all samsaric sentient beings are suffering. By thinking of this we generate compassion for all, and then from that we generate bodhicitta, the wish to free them from suffering and bring them to full enlightenment. In order to cause this, we have to become fully enlightened, to be fully qualified to bring all beings to full enlightenment. The special principal conscious, that which has the five similarities⁶ with the wish seeking to do all the work for others and to achieve enlightenment for that, that realization is called bodhicitta. This is missing in Christianity. Without bodhicitta we cannot achieve full enlightenment and cannot enlighten all sentient beings.

Christianity talks about compassion but it is mainly for poor people. There is no compassion for rich people. However, rich people also have many sufferings, particularly mental ones. Compassion is only mentioned for a few people, like poor and sick people, and there is no mention of compassion for animals, such as pigs, sheep, goats, fish and so forth. The bible even says that goats, sheep, fish and so forth are given by God for people to eat, which is completely wrong.

Whether God has compassion or not is a big question. If God has compassion, then why doesn’t God have compassion for animals? Is it that God has compassion only for some people, for those who believe in him, but does not have compassion for those who don’t believe in him?

Buddha has compassion for everyone—those who criticize Buddha, give up Buddha and do not believe in Buddha—Buddha has compassion for all. Buddha has compassion for every single sentient being, not just those who like him. So in Buddhism there is compassion for all living beings.

Buddhism has three levels of teaching—Hinayana, Mahayana Sutra and Mahayana Vajrayana. There are three levels of teaching because sentient beings have different levels of mind: some lower, some middle and some higher.

By practicing Hinayana we can become free from samsara and reach nirvana but cannot attain full enlightenment.

By practicing the Mahayana Sutra path we can achieve full enlightenment, but it takes three countless great eons collecting the merits of virtue and the merits of wisdom. These are the causes of the dharmakaya (Buddha’s holy mind) and the rupakaya (Buddha’s holy body).

By practicing the Mahayana Vajrayana path we can achieve full enlightenment in one lifetime without taking three countless great eons collecting merits, which are the cause for the dharmakaya and rupakaya. This is because the Mahayana Vajrayana path has greater skillful means of collecting the merits that take three countless great eons to collect on the Mahayana sutra path. Here we can collect these merits in one lifetime.

Specifically, the Mahayana Vajrayana path has four levels: kriya tantra, charya tantra, yoga tantra and maha-anuttara tantra. By practicing the maha-anuttara tantric path we can achieve full enlightenment in not just one life but in one brief lifetime of degenerate times. Since this has the highest skillful means, we can achieve enlightenment most quickly because we can stop the gross mind and utilize the subtle mind, and through this achieve full enlightenment. This is the highest and quickest path.

This is how the Buddhist teachings relate according to the different levels of sentient beings’ minds.

What differentiates Buddhism from all other religions is that Buddhism has compassion for all living beings. No other religion has this compassion for all: people we like, people we don’t like and people who don’t like us, as well.

From the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment⁷ we can realize all the paths of Buddhism. We can achieve not only temporary happiness but also the happiness of future lives and ultimate happiness: liberation from samsara and full enlightenment. We are so lucky that we have met these teachings.

Being a Buddhist doesn’t depend on being able to explain Buddhist philosophy or knowing the sutras and tantras by heart. Nor does it depend on being able to chant well or recite many mantras. Being able to do all this does not necessarily mean you are Buddhist.

Being a Buddhist is in the mind, the mind of refuge: firstly, having beneficial fear towards our own samsara. We don’t want to continue in samsara, particularly the animal, hungry ghost or hell realms. We want to be free from that. Then secondly, knowing that Buddha, Dharma and Sangha have the power and all the qualities to guide and liberate us from samsara.

Having complete trust in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is the Hinayana way of taking refuge.

Mahayana refuge is firstly, having useful fear for ourselves to be free from samsara, and secondly, knowing that Buddha, Dharma and Sangha have the complete qualities to guide us and then on top of that generating compassion for all sentient beings, wishing them to be free from the suffering of samsara. With that in mind we go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

If our mind does not have this and from the outside we are only reciting mantras, doing prostrations or even explaining texts by heart, like many scholars do, then that does not really mean that we are Buddhist. This is very important to understand.

Therefore, studying Buddhism is very important, and studying what is correct, so that we can clarify what is wrong. If we have intelligence, then we can study Buddhist philosophy extensively, including the four schools of Buddhism that existed in India when the Buddha was teaching. These four schools have four ways of thinking about the “I.” Of course, in reality there is no “I” that we can find; there is only the “I” that is merely labeled. That “I” creates the cause of samsara and the cause of enlightenment—freedom from samsara and the ability to achieve enlightenment.

Of course, there are many religions in the world, such as Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and so forth. These different religions are needed. It’s like having different clothes or different kinds of food in a restaurant; we need variety for different people. Christianity is needed for people who have the karma to devote themselves to Christianity and Hinduism is needed for those who have the karma to devote themselves to Hinduism and so forth. We must respect other religions but that doesn’t mean we have to practice them. But we must have respect for them because many people in the world need Christianity and the other religions for their happiness. Therefore we must respect that. There are some Christians whose aim is not to convert other people to Christianity but to take the suffering of others, like leprosy and so forth, onto themselves, wishing others to be free from these sufferings. There are some very sincere Christians.

Also as a Buddhist one can act as a Christian if there is a special purpose, or if there is special benefit to sentient beings.

Thank you very much.

With much love and prayers,

Lama Zopa

Notes

¹ This doesn’t mean just one hundred but countless. [Return to text]

² Mutekpa (Tib); tirthika (Skt). An outer being, a proponent of a non-Buddhist system of beliefs with tenets that assert either eternalism or nihilism, views which bind them to samsara. Includes Hindus, Muslims, Christians and so forth. Other translations are non-Buddhist, extremist, realist or heretic. [Return to text]

³ That have sense pleasures. [Return to text]

⁴ Translated with the kind help of Ven. Fedor. [Return to text]

⁵ Much of this commentary is based on a commentary from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. [Return to text]

⁶ These are the five similarities shared with the main mind and the mental factors: time, aspect, substance, observed object and basis. [Return to text]

⁷ Renunciation, bodhicitta and right view of emptiness. [Return to text]

My most dear Julie,
Thank you very much for your kind letter and for doing everything I told you, such as the practices. I am extremely happy about this.

According to my observation, it comes out best for you to continue as a minister for another three years, but, of course, you can check and see how it goes and stop before then if you feel like it, but generally what comes out best is to continue for three years.

I think basically it means that your karma to be born as a Buddhist ripened in this life. In your early life there was more karma to benefit others by being Christian. By being a minister, so many people are able to connect with you and like you; I think this is very good. Also, I am extremely happy to hear about all the practices that you have been able to do; it is great.

Somehow, like a miracle, like a dream, we have received this most precious human body with eight freedoms and ten richnesses (endowments). This perfect human body gives us the greatest opportunity to achieve every happiness in this life, also one’s happiness in future lives. Even the ants and mosquitoes are able to achieve happiness in this life, so aiming for that is not special. But being born a human being, we have the capacity to achieve liberation from samsara, and not only that, to achieve enlightenment, which is the total cessation of suffering, the cessation of gross defilements, even subtle ones. We have the capacity, with this human body, to achieve all the realizations. One has the capacity to never be reborn in the lower realms again, to achieve perfect compassion for all living beings, and to achieve perfect power to benefit all living beings. Here, I am only mentioning a few basic things that one can achieve, but of course one is able to achieve the holy body, holy speech, and holy mind, having skies of qualities. Even just one of these qualities is amazing, amazing, amazing. There are no words to express it. Not only that, one can liberate all the oceans of sentient beings from every realm and bring them to full enlightenment. Being born in this life as a human being with all the opportunities means we can achieve this. It is unbelievable, unbelievable. We must do it!

Buddha taught 84,000 teachings. There are 100 volumes of the Buddha’s teachings and 200 volumes of the great Indian pundits’ commentaries on Buddha’s teachings, explaining the path to enlightenment, both sutra and tantra. From all the teachings, the lamrim—the stages of the path to enlightenment – is the very heart, the integration of all the teachings of Buddha, including the lesser vehicle teachings, as well as the greater vehicle teachings. By practicing lamrim it is like you are practicing all the Buddha’s teachings.

In three years you can check how it is going. If you feel that you can benefit others by living another way, then you can stop. However, here you are able to benefit the Christian people, by them coming in contact with you, meeting you, and it offers great meaning for them. The very heart of things, to always be emphasized, is compassion, also that one is responsible for one’s own happiness. This is why one can achieve liberation, enlightenment, and freedom from suffering forever. This is essential Dharma, but you don’t need to call it that. However, we have the capacity to totally change this life, because our mind is the creator of happiness. Everything depends on one’s mind, not God. Our mind is the main thing, everything depends on it, so you can see it is a big responsibility to use this situation, our precious human life, to benefit sentient beings, to bring peace to all, starting with just one person. This is the cause of world peace, peace for your parents, peace in your heart, peace for one’s country, region, area, and the whole world. We must use this opportunity now to develop compassion, and to bring peace to everyone, from life to life, to all living beings now, not only in this world, but in other universes too. This is how you can guide people. The main thing is to bring more compassion, a more correct way of thinking, and for you to practice; these are the most important things. Be an example. Loving kindness and compassion are what bring the most happiness within you. This is the best offering, because it causes and brings happiness and peace to all living beings. Also, one does not give any harm. In this way, from your loving kindness and compassion, from you, one person, all living beings receive all happiness, not only in this life but in future lives, liberation from samsara, and ultimate happiness—enlightenment. This is what you are giving all beings. Then, along the way, you receive everything, all happiness, from your loving kindness and compassion. Besides that, you can achieve all happiness, including liberation and enlightenment. This is unbelievable. From your loving kindness and compassion, all living beings are able to receive all happiness, up to enlightenment, from you.

I hope I can meet you again. I am sending you some presents. My assistant will mail them to you next week. She is also sending you some cards I picked out for you. I hope you enjoy them.

What makes your life most meaningful is meditation on the lamrim, then to live your life with a bodhicitta motivation. This is the best.

With much love and prayers...

From the student’s original letter:

“When I met you two years ago, I felt an immediate connection. I have felt you guiding me in many ways since that time, including in dreams. I am so appreciative of your kind and generous help as I struggle toward becoming enlightened for the benefit of all sentient beings. Recently, you asked FPMT centers to recite the Sanghata Sutra and dedicate it to the Maitreya Project. I decided to do this—recited it twice for that purpose, but I continue to recite it now in my daily practice because I just love it. I find it very useful in helping me have a good motivation during the day, and having a more peaceful state of mind. My cat is usually with me when I recite it, and I keep my window open so as to benefit all the creatures in my garden. So, I am extremely grateful for your guidance in asking us to recite this amazing sutra. I have a goal to some day actually write it out as well. I have previously memorized the Heart Sutra, and enjoy reciting that as well.

"I am a minister in a Christian church. This is not a traditional church, and I am not a traditional minister. Most people in my church are happy that I am also a Buddhist, and I often include Buddhist readings and ideas in my services. I imagine you will wonder if I believe in or teach about a ‘creator God,’ because that would go against my Buddhist precepts. I do not believe or teach about that kind of God. My emphasis is on Jesus’ teachings about love and compassion. When I refer to God, I almost always just use the word Love, because I don’t believe in a God that is an entity. A Buddhist monk and I have many conversations about this. I don’t know how long I will remain as a Christian pastor, but for now, I am happy to be the spiritual guide in this community. I believe my Buddhist practice helps me to be a better teacher and pastor for this community.

"I am writing to you to ask if you will consent to give me help and advice on my path to become a bodhisattva, on my way to becoming fully enlightened for the benefit of all sentient beings. I know I have been a Tibetan monk in other lifetimes, and I look forward to continuing that in future lifetimes. This time, I am a mother, wife, spiritual guide, and so late in remembering my Buddhist path! Maybe that is why I am so eagerly reading, practicing, and listening to teachings now—to catch up, to make up for lost time!

“As I said earlier, I have felt you were my precious teacher from the moment I met you. I have your picture all over my house, my office, and on my cell phone. In fact, my cell phone ring is your laughter! The monk I know has encouraged me to write to you to ask if I may formally be ‘under your wing’ as a student. Since the time I met you, my practice has steadily gotten much, much stronger, though I do still have a very long way to go. I have seen some little progress in my mind, in becoming a calmer, perhaps a little bit kinder person. My mind still becomes quite agitated sometimes, but much less anger arises than it used to. So, I do need someone to help me on this path, and I would be so grateful if you would agree to guide me. I will continue to hold you as my very precious guru, and I will perhaps be able to begin to learn guru yoga.”

Rinpoche replied as follows:

My Most Dear Jean,
Thank you very much for your great, inspiring story, which touched my heart. That you immediately felt a connection with me definitely shows a past life connection between us. Billions of thanks for reading the Arya Sanghata Sutra for the success of the Maitreya Project. I highly appreciate it. You read it two times, and now you want to continue as a daily practice. That is even more incredible and mind blowing.

I am so happy that you have found reading the Arya Sanghata Sutra very useful in helping you to have good motivation during the day and a much more peaceful state of mind. If you are able to do this, all your wishes will be fulfilled—all the heavy negative karmas are purified, and you will achieve all happiness –of future lives, all temporary happiness, and the ultimate happiness of liberation from samsara and full enlightenment.

Probably I don’t need to tell you what the text says about how much merit you collect each time you hear this sutra. Each time you hear it, how much merit do you collect? One buddha has completed the merit of wisdom and the merit of virtue—there is nothing more to collect. The merit you collect by hearing the Arya Sanghata Sutra is equal to the merit of the number of buddhas equaling the number of grains of sand in the Ganga River, multiplied by 12. And these grains of sand are not the ordinary type. It is explained in the teachings, in the great enlightened Pabongka Rinpoche’s notes, that these grains are made of extremely subtle atoms. There are seven kinds of subtle atoms: water atoms, earth atoms, and so forth. These sand grains are much, much finer than the normal kind.

In addition to that, when it comes to talking about the benefits of bodhicitta, or the benefits of the Arya Sanghata Sutra, the Ganga does not refer to the Indian River Ganges but to the Pacific Ocean. The merit of just one set of buddhas equaling the number of sand grains in the River Ganga is beyond words, unimaginable. Even just the merit that one buddha has collected is beyond words. So, beyond that, the merit that you collect every time you hear the Arya Sanghata Sutra is equal to 12 times the merit of the number of buddhas equal to the grains of sand in the River Ganga. That is just through hearing it. That means anyone—animals, frogs, birds—no question about your beautiful cat, your darling cat—or even spirits, outside or inside—collect so much merit. Can you imagine? It is like an impossible thing in life that happens. When those animals, your cat and other animals, hear you recite Buddha’s teachings, it definitely enables them to receive a higher rebirth and to meet the Dharma.

The minute you hear it, the five uninterrupted negative karmas—the extremely heavy negative karmas that send you immediately after death to the lowest hot hell, which has the heaviest suffering of the lower realms, with a lifespan that lasts for one intermediate eon—are completely purified. Therefore, in the past, when I was in Washington, I played a CD of the sutra in the car on the way to do shopping, which is a 40-minute drive. I was sitting in the front of the car, so I kept the window down. Sitting behind me were two nuns. The weather was not sunny; it was a bit foggy and cold. The wind was going back through the window and making them cold. But if I had cared only for them, then all those people living in the houses along the road and all the animals would not have heard the CD. There is a big difference. So, I kept the window down and played the CD very loud, like young people playing music in a car.

So, just while going to do shopping, you are liberating so many sentient beings on the way there—just one way. During that drive there was a deer in the road, so the car stopped and then the deer had the opportunity to hear a little bit of the sutra. So, if the five uninterrupted actions are purified, there is no question about the ten non-virtuous actions—they are also purified. I thought that was a great thing to do. Also, the people in the car are purified of all those negative karmas and collect incredible amounts of merit. It is such an easy way to make life meaningful. You just put the CD on in the car and play it, that’s it. As long as you are not deaf and can hear, you don’t need to use much effort. It’s the easiest way to purify negative karma and collect vast amounts of merit. It is the quickest, easiest way to achieve liberation from samsara and end all the oceans of samsaric suffering that one has experienced over and over, countless times, without beginning. It is a quick way to achieve enlightenment for anyone who hears it. Also, more merit makes it easy and quick to realize the emptiness of the “I,” the aggregates, and phenomena; it is a quick way to eliminate the root of samsara, ignorance, and a quick way to actualize bodhicitta. You need so much merit to actualize bodhicitta. If you have bodhicitta, you are a bodhisattva. In that second, you become the spiritual son of all the buddhas; you become the supreme object of offerings of all sentient beings. They collect so much merit when they make offerings to you—when they see you, hear your voice, touch you, or offer something to you. Even if some sentient beings harm you, after you have the realization of bodhicitta, then from your side, you only benefit in return. You pray for good things to happen to that person. There is a saying regarding bodhisattvas, “If you can’t make a good connection by doing good things, then by doing some harm, make a connection with a bodhisattva.”

This does not mean that you must harm a bodhisattva, but that in case that happens, it is saying it is worthwhile. In return the bodhisattva only benefits, only prays, so in return that sentient being is guided by that bodhisattva from life to life. For example, the Buddha, during his time as a bodhisattva, sacrificed his blood for the five yakshas; they drank his blood. Then, due to that connection, in the next life, they became his disciples as human beings—they became the first five disciples and Buddha gave them teachings at Sarnath. That was the first turning of the Dharma Wheel. They drank his blood, but the bodhisattva made a prayer for them in the next life to be his direct disciples, to be able to receive teachings and so forth. Of course, they then go on to liberation and enlightenment. There is incredible benefit for sentient beings if one is a bodhisattva. Only with bodhicitta can you complete the two types of merits and achieve the two kayas. Without bodhicitta, even if you have wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, you cannot achieve the two kayas. The highest you can achieve is arhatship, liberation from samsara—eliminating the delusions and karma.

If you read the Arya Sanghata Sutra, you collect far greater merit than just through hearing it, and if you write it, there is even more merit. Remember the merit of the buddhas equaling the number of grains of sand in the Ganges River multiplied by 12? The amount of merit if you write it is eight times that (eg, 96 x one set of buddhas).

The last time I went to South-east Asia, because of my little advertisement about how much more merit you collect if you write it, many people had written it and had finished already. This is wonderful. The director of a Dharma center there told me that when they recited it incredible things happened, for example, somebody offered $100,000 to build a school. In another country, a student read it one time. When he read it, he thought, “Buddha wouldn’t lie,” and he read it with that strong faith. He then won the lottery and built a large house with the money to sell and use the money for Dharma projects. Also, when a woman who had been smoking her whole life read the sutra the first time, she was able to stop smoking just like that. This means that Buddha is really working and blessing through this text. Buddha is really in action.

Through the merit you collect, you are able to fulfill all the wishes of all sentient beings. You are able to liberate the countless hell beings and bring them to a higher rebirth, liberation from samsara, and to enlightenment. You are able to help the countless hungry ghosts, animals, humans, sura beings, asura beings, and intermediate state beings. Please remember each time you begin to recite the Sanghata Sutra these incredible advantages you can offer yourself and others from collecting so much merit.

Of course, naturally, you can dedicate the merit to all the projects I intend to do, as you have done already, not only to complete the Maitreya Project but for the statue to last a long time on this earth, until Maitreya Buddha descends to this earth, and for it to be most beneficial for all sentient beings, to purify sentient beings’ karma, enable them to collect extensive merits, and cause them to actualize bodhicitta, bring perfect peace and happiness to them, and bring them to enlightenment quickly. Also, another urgent project is in Tibet, a Padmasambhava statue, also an eye operation hospital in Kham, then to build as many holy objects as possible in different parts of the world, for the same purpose—1,000 Maitreya Buddha statues—one story or two stories—around that size, in different parts of the world—some bigger than that. This helps to shorten the eon of famine, the eon of war, the eon of weapons, and the eon of sickness that are going to occur in this world. It makes them shorter and for the teachings of Maitreya Buddha to come sooner. Then, there is building monasteries and nunneries in different parts of the world, and providing education for the Sangha, fulfilling their needs. Also, there is preserving Dharma, spreading Dharma for sentient beings and continuing what has already been done, serving the Sangha in the large monasteries and Sanghas of different nationalities, providing many social services, like hospices and so forth, and establishing more projects like this, helping the centers who have financial difficulties, and for all the projects in all the centers to be most beneficial for all sentient beings. Of course, the very first thing is to fulfill His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s wishes immediately and for His Holiness to have a stable life.

Not only you, but so many people who have recited the Arya Sanghata Sutra have received so much benefit to their mind and heart, becoming more and more in the Dharma. Writing even a few lines of the sutra every day is extremely good. When you write it, of course you don’t finish many pages, it is quite slow, but when you write, also you read, so that is the benefit. If you only read it, you can finish it that day, in hours. One can do a few lines of writing and then read the whole text. Like that then, gradually, you can finish writing it. I am extremely happy that you enjoy it so much. You see the benefit for your mind and you see that it is an amazing sutra.

You said you have memorized the Heart Sutra. That is unbelievable. You must have a lot of good karma already because you are also enjoying reciting the Heart Sutra. I didn’t properly memorize the Heart Sutra. I don’t remember if I purposely memorized it, usually it is recited in the pujas. If I had to recite it from heart, I wouldn’t be able to recite it. I might jump around here and there. I don’t remember it exactly, only some number of years ago I got it right.

A few years ago, many students and I did a Mahamudra course in Adelaide, Australia. I thought I got the Heart Sutra right. I was leading the prayers and meditation. Someone corrected me because I left out the section counting the five aggregates at the beginning, the part after “form is emptiness emptiness is form, there is no form other than emptiness, no emptiness other than form.” After that, I jumped to the sense objects—no eye, no ear, etc. Since that person corrected me, I try to make sure, but still sometimes I miss it out, like slipping over the ice, and slip out to the next part where there is no form, no sound, no smell. I thought I would share my story about the Heart Sutra with you.

You are going to take the bodhisattva vows from the geshe at the Dharma center. That is incredible. That is like taking on a new life, you are newly born into a new life which leads to enlightenment, and you can bring sentient beings to enlightenment. That is like having zillions of birthdays. In the West, people regard birthdays as very important. This is like having much more than zillions of birthdays. That is how important it is. You are acting as a minister in a Christian church, but you present Buddha’s message or teachings and present Christian religion in that way. That is incredible. That is exactly what I would try to do if I were talking to Christian people. I would do the same thing if I were the minister of a church. It is all Buddha’s teaching, actually it is universal. When you talk about compassion, loving kindness, and patience, it is universal. When you know that, when you know the meaning, there is no problem, it is all universal, it is the same. Without the Sanskrit label, “Buddhist,” if you put it into English, it is universal.

In Tibetan “Buddha” is sang gye. Sang means purified, gye is developed, so “purified, developed”—fully purified of all the gross and subtle defilements and, because of that, having fully developed all the understandings. So, here again, it becomes universal. It is like when you say “professor” or “doctor”—it is universal. It means those who have that education, someone who is able to diagnose problems, and knows all the medicines to be given. The name is given on the basis of education and the work that is being done. With Buddhism it is the same. If you don’t use the Sanskrit name “Buddha,” if you just say the meaning, there is no confusion; it is universal.

It is extremely good that you emphasize loving kindness and compassion when you talk about God and all those things. When you emphasize God, emphasize love and compassion. Everything comes from that, all happiness for yourself and others. That is what you say in normal life: the essence of religion is loving kindness and compassion. Without that, you can’t really help or solve people’s problems. World problems can’t be solved.

One can call “God” compassion—your good heart. The other thing is, in Buddhism there is the Dharmakaya. The transcendental wisdom of omniscient mind is the Dharmakaya—that pure mind is Dharmakaya. The very nature of that, the emptiness of the Dharmakaya is the Svabhavakaya, the body of true nature. So, you can make the meaning of God very profound, very deep. I am not saying that you must talk about it this way. I am not saying that. I am just chatting with you.

As you mention in your letter, definitely the more we learn Buddhism, the more we can explain Christianity in a better and deeper way. Also, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has mentioned this. There used to be a meeting of His Holiness with priests. The priests talked about Buddhism and His Holiness spoke about Christianity. They did this in Bodhgaya under the Bodhi tree. One time, His Holiness chose the FPMT Root Institute to host the two or three days of meetings. That is the perfect place for such a meeting. It doesn’t have a very heavy Tibetan monastic culture. It is a little bit Indian—it fits the Indian country—with more space, kind of easy. Of course, there are Buddhist statues there of the Kadampa geshes and Buddha, and other thangkas.

I think it is very to good help as much as possible while you are a minister. We have another student, a lady, who is a minister of a church. Now she has become a nun.

I am extremely happy that since you met me your practice has steadily gotten much, much stronger and you are becoming a calmer and kinder person, with much less anger arising. Those things are the best signs of spiritual development, of Dharma within your heart, in your life, the best Dharma. It reminded me that during the Kalachakra initiation, His Holiness the Dalai Lama talked a lot about how to practice patience, how bad anger is for you and for others. My brother, who is called “Sangye,” was there, and while there he made a vow to never get angry. When I met His Holiness, I informed him of this. That made His Holiness very happy. His Holiness gives a lot of advice before the initiation and teachings, also practical advice. It benefits so many people, who come from all over India, Nepal, and especially from Tibet. The people get so much incredible benefit. They are able to change their minds and abandon bad thoughts. That is His Holiness’ main goal. Of course, the initiation makes them come. I just thought I would chat with you about this.

Definitely, of course, I agree to guide you, to help in whatever way possible, and accept you as a student.

So, I am going to give you some advice. In the future, when your responsibilities with family are not so great, then it is more beneficial to become a nun than to be a lay person. I think it is more beneficial to be a nun in the future when the children are OK and can take care of themselves. This is just a general idea from my divinations.

For your quickest enlightenment, to be able to enlighten sentient beings most quickly, you need a deity of highest yoga tantra to practice. For you, that is Guhyasamaja. The other one is Yamantaka. You can practice both, but the main one is Guhyasamaja. It doesn’t mean you can’t take other deities’ initiations and practice them, but this is the main one to practice being one with day and night. Then, through this practice, you actually become the deity (which means enlightenment, which means your body, speech, and mind become the deity’s body, speech, and mind) and then through this, you can enlighten all sentient beings. Through this practice, you bring all sentient beings to this deity’s enlightenment. You are able to free all beings from the ocean of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment.

If you haven’t taken this great initiation, then in the near future, when the opportunity comes, you can take it. I, myself, have done the retreat, but I am not satisfied enough with that to give the initiation. I will have to check. I guess if I am giving any of those, like Yamantaka, in the future, you are welcome to take them, or if another high lama, like Chöden Rinpoche gives it, then you are able to take it. You can do the practice of the deity after the initiation. You can do retreat and daily practice and study the commentary.

However, now, especially now, before practicing tantra, even after you receive the initiation, until you realize bodhicitta, I would emphasize putting most effort into lamrim. You must have realizations of renunciation, bodhicitta, and right view, and, of course, the root—guru devotion. That makes for successful practice of the lamrim and the uncommon path of tantra. The tantric practice is second. Spend most of your time on the lamrim, then a little bit on tantric practice. Then, when you have the bodhicitta realization, you put more effort into tantra. Sometimes the person can do both, lamrim while also there is some development in the first stage of the tantric path.

Lamrim Meditations
Graduated path of the lower capable being—11 months
This means from precious human rebirth up to karma. It doesn’t mean you have to finish all the meditations in one day, you can do them in brief. What I am saying here is you should go through the details of these meditations. When you reach karma, then go back and practice them again. Try to achieve the realizations of these meditations. That is the main object that you are looking for.

Graduated path of the middle capable being—7 months

Graduated path of the higher capable being—7 months (this means on bodhicitta)

Right view—10 months

This does not mean you can’t meditate on other things, but this is the main focus. Of course, you should meditate on emptiness a little bit every day. Since you have memorized the Heart Sutra, recite the Heart Sutra and then meditate. The emptiness meditation analysis is looking at the real “I,” that which is appearing to you, in the sense of existing from its own side, as a hallucination. Looking at it as a hallucination because it is a hallucination. Another way of thinking is looking at it as empty because it is empty, because that real “I,” in the sense of existing from its own side, is the object of ignorance, is the object to which self-grasping is grasping and in which it is believing. Because there is no such thing as reality, self-grasping is a wrong concept, a hallucinated mind. It is the same when we cherish the “I.” For us, that real “I,” existing from its own side, is cherished. On the basis of believing that it is true, through self-grasping, then that “I” is cherished as the most precious thing among sentient beings, including the bodhisattvas and the buddhas. You can see there is no such thing. First of all, there is no such “I”. Second there is no such “I” that is more precious than others. Therefore, that selfish mind is a wrong concept. It is also a hallucinated mind.

In the future, also, another possibility is a three-year retreat on the deity, when the causes and conditions come together. What makes one’s life very profitable for the time being, as a lay person, is to take lay vows. You have taken refuge already, but there are also the five lay vows, if you haven’t taken them already. Why take them? Because the lay vows are taken until death. You are always collecting merit from having taken the vows, the precepts—however many hours you sleep, while eating, walking, even lying down at the beach. I am not sure whether you lie down at the beach, I am just giving you some idea. Even during those times, you collect the merit of having taken those vows. Even during many hours of work, you always collect merit. So, it makes life so meaningful, incredibly meaningful. Then, after taking vows, whatever merit you collect increases so much. It multiplies it by hundreds and thousands of times. It makes life so meaningful. The bodhisattva vows are a very high level of vow to take because of the many numbers of vows taken with bodhicitta. Whatever merit and virtue you collect once you have taken the bodhisattva vows increases millions of times. That is incredible, making your life so fruitful. After you have taken the bodhisattva entering vows, then every second you collect merit as vast as the sky. If you cannot take all five of the lay vows, you can take any number of those: one, two, three, or four. Generally, the more vows you take, the more merit you collect. You collect merit all the time and whatever virtues you collect also increase much more.

I will say that living in the pratimoksha lay vows helps also to be able to practice the bodhisattva vows. If you can’t practice any of the lay vows, it makes it difficult to practice the bodhisattva vows. The pratimoksha vow is the foundation for the bodhisattva vow. The bodhisattva vow is the foundation for the tantric vows, and from these three vows you are able to achieve liberation from samsara and enlightenment. Even within one life, by practicing tantra, and by practicing highest yoga tantra, you can achieve enlightenment within some number of years in a brief lifetime of these degenerated times.

Generally, in life, there are some practices that are good to do. One practice that is very good to do is Medicine Buddha. If you can chant one mala of the mantra each day, that is good. You can recite the names of the Medicine Buddhas. There is one small booklet that is a very good practice, very powerful and short, not the healing one (The Healing Buddha), but the Medicine Buddha Sadhana—this is very powerful purification, but also it brings success. Your wishes are fulfilled for attaining enlightenment, as well as for helping others and enlightening others. It is very good to pray to Medicine Buddha every day and do that practice. After you recite each name seven times, then you pray: “Whatever prayers, you, the Medicine Buddha, made in the past, may they be received by me and all sentient beings. Whatever prayers I make, may they be actualized immediately.” When you do that, then make a strong request to be able to complete the path to enlightenment as quickly as possible in this life and to be able to offer extensive benefit to others and be able to bring all sentient beings to enlightenment as quickly as possible. When you do this, if you want to make specific prayers for somebody who has passed away, is sick, or whatever, you can do them when you make this request “Whatever prayers I make, may they be actualized” At that time, you make the prayers, whatever you want to happen for a person.

The other practice to do is the Chenrezig meditation and the mantra OM MANI PADME HUM. That is extremely important in life to develop compassion—the root—then bodhicitta, the whole path, and to achieve enlightenment. The practice of bodhicitta, the Compassion Buddha (Chenrezig), is to take full responsibility onto oneself to free sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment. You can recite the mantra OM MANI PADME HUM for one mala or whatever—six malas or ten malas. Even if you have not received the Chenrezig great initiation (and so cannot generate yourself as Chenrezig), you can visualize Chenrezig in front of you and visualize that beams of nectar are emitted, enter your body and mind, and you are purified of all sickness, spirit harm, negative karma, and defilements—these four things. So, if you are reciting one mala, then do half of the recitation to purify yourself and half to purify sentient beings. Then, make prayers to Chenrezig and dedicate the merits:

Due to all the three times merits collected by me and by others,
May (name) generate the bodhicitta which has not been generated,
And may the bodhicitta which has been generated,
Never decline but always increase. (three times)

The first time you recite it, recite it for yourself, your family members, and all sentient beings; the second time recite it to generate bodhicitta in the hearts of all the leaders in the world; and the third time to generate bodhicitta in the hearts of all the terrorists, anyone who has harmful thoughts toward others—that they generate bodhicitta in their hearts without the delay of even a second.

Then recite “Gang ri wa rai…”—the dedication prayer for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Then recite:  

Due to the three times merits collected by me and by others,
May I become only like you, Chenrezig, Buddha of Compassion;
Whatever your holy vajra body, retinue, lifespan, and pure land,
May I and others attain only these.

And:

Due to all three time merits collected by me and by others, that which exist but are empty, may the “I” who exists but is empty, achieve Chenrezig’s enlightenment, which exists but is empty; and may I lead all sentient beings, who exist but are empty, to that enlightenment, which exists but is empty, by myself alone, who exists but is empty.

You should recite this last dedication after you finish each practice. By dedicating to enlightenment, your merit becomes inexhaustible; it cannot end until you achieve enlightenment. By sealing it with emptiness, looking at it as empty, it protects the merits; if anger or heresy arises afterward, not only can it not destroy the merits completely, but it cannot make the merits weaker or less.

It is extremely important to know how to dedicate merits. Even a short dedication prayer like this is very unique, very powerful. So, this is what you should do each time you create merits, each time you recite mantras, or offer charity to the Triple Gem—whenever you finish a practice. After each practice, you should do this. For example, you sit down and begin a practice. Then, before you get up after finishing the practice, after the whole practice is done, then you make this dedication. Usually, with any practice you do there is a motivation, actual body, and completion. The completion is the dedication.

For the time being, maybe this is enough. I was telling the scribe that you are not here, but your letter is here in front of me, and it is like having an interview with you, chatting with you, it is the same.

As you always think of me and rely on me, you are always in my prayers. So, I am sending you a photo of my thangka of 1,000-Armed Chenrezig that was blessed by His Holiness and has his handprint, and a White Tara thangka for long life. That will be sent to you. I hope to see you soon.

With prayers for the most meaningful life, to achieve enlightenment quickly, and with much love...