Daily Practices for Success

My very dear Lauren,
Thank you very much for your kind letter. It is extremely important to practice Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga every day. There are many special benefits. There is a guru yoga practice with every deity: Manjushri, Chenrezig, Tara, and so on. But here, there are special advantages: whatever listening, reflecting, or meditating practices we do it is very effective for the mind, to transform the mind to achieve realizations. Also, it protects from dangers caused by the spirit king crises that you experience on a certain day, when you might experience certain sicknesses. Of course, that’s not the main benefit of practicing Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga. You develop six wisdoms by practicing Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, but the main advantage for meditation is clear, quick, profound wisdom.

Also, if you practice Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, when you die you will be born in Lama Tsongkhapa’s pure land: Tushita. Then you come back to the world manifesting billions and billions of emanations with all good qualities.

The other advantage is that you are able to meet with Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings in future lives. That’s the most important thing, even more important than going to the pure land and never being reborn in the lower realms. Meeting Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings is even more important than being reborn in the pure land.

Why Lama Tsongkhapa? Because the teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa happened later, after the other traditions had developed: Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya. Lama Tsongkhapa studied thoroughly Buddha’s teachings, the pandits’ and yogis’ commentaries, the Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya, and examined everything, so therefore in his teachings there is nothing missing in the path to enlightenment. Especially, his teachings have the clearest explanation of emptiness, the right view, the Prasangika view. It is explained more clearly than the other views. That means there is the opportunity to realize as quickly as possible, without taking much time, the right view of emptiness according to the Prasangika Madhyamaka schools. By developing that, you have the opportunity to have direct perception, to directly eliminate the causes of samsara – the delusions and karma – even the seeds of delusion, the imprints. Then, it’s impossible to reincarnate and to experience suffering in samsara again. This can happen quickly. As you achieve this path, liberated, then you know how to liberate others: countless sentient beings. By developing bodhicitta with wisdom, and wisdom with bodhicitta, you eliminate even the subtle defilements and achieve enlightenment. Lama Tsongkhapa also gave the clearest explanation of the Highest Yoga Tantra path and the illusory body and how to achieve shamatha (calm abiding) by releasing the subtle sinking thought that some great meditators believe is correct meditation. If you don’t achieve shamatha, you can’t achieve great insight, which derives from great ecstasy of the body and mind by meditation on emptiness unified with shamatha. Without that you can’t achieve the arya path of wisdom realizing emptiness, liberation, and enlightenment.

For your quickest enlightenment, I suggest Heruka. To meditate on the path of Heruka you need to receive a great initiation of Heruka. Only then are you empowered to receive the commentary and do the retreat.

Please meditate on the lamrim as follows:

• three months on the lower path, the gradual path of the lower being
• one month on the middle path
• two months on bodhicitta
• three months on emptiness

Every day, please read the Arya Sanghata Sutra. It doesn’t mean you have to finish reading it every day, of course that would be very good, but if you don’t have time just read some of it every day.

You asked about what practices can be done to achieve success. Bodhicitta and right view generate vast amounts of merit and help you to develop quick realizations. They are the most important things for realizing the path – that’s the best success. Then, in other activities you will have success. Read the Sanghata Sutra until you die, and in future lives, if you remember. In daily life, you must perform Compassion Buddha practice; recite OM MANI PADME HUM to develop compassion and bodhicitta, and to achieve enlightenment for all sentient beings. You must also practice Medicine Buddha.

For success, you need to create a lot of merit and good karma, so there are other things you can do. If you can, practice the short English version of Medicine Buddha puja: perform the seven limb practice and praises, then recite the name of each Buddha seven times. This is very good. As much as possible, you can set up offerings, very clean and neat, without breathing over the offerings, making them dirty. Perform as many as you can at home. When you make offerings to Medicine Buddha or to the merit field, when you practice Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, you can think of all the offerings at my house in Aptos – there are so many flowers and lights outside and inside, so many hundreds of water offerings, food, and tea. Also, in Washington at Amitabha Buddha Pure Land retreat land, there are many offerings that you can visualize. You don’t have to see each offering clearly. Just think of them in your heart: “I’m making all the offerings there: flowers and lights outside and inside, water offerings, food, and tea, which generate great bliss.” Then offer them. Each time you do the seven-limb practice, there are offerings to make. At that time, think that Medicine Buddha is all the gurus, buddhas, Dharma, Sangha, and offer all the holy objects in the ten directions – statues, scriptures everything. You can also offer all the extensive offerings in all the FPMT center gompas. I can allow you to offer them because I am the spiritual director of the centers.

After you have made offerings to Medicine Buddha by thinking of all of this, then make offerings immediately after that to all the buddhas, Dharma, and Sangha in the ten directions, who are the essence of the guru. After that, make offering to the statues, stupas, and scriptures in the ten directions, who are the essence of the guru. If you do this, then with each light, water bowl, tiny flower, and the rest, you create countless causes of enlightenment, liberation, happiness in future lives, happiness in this life, and success.

So, what greater happiness is there in life to enjoy than this? It is an incredible opportunity. It is so easy to create causes for happiness, liberation, and enlightenment. There’s no point in being depressed. While life is so full of opportunity, if you don’t take it, then you are making a big mistake. You are cheating yourself.

You can perform Medicine Buddha puja every ten days. If you can perform Medicine Buddha practice/puja every day, that would be wonderful.

The purpose of our meeting each other in this life is to practice, to liberate yourself, to liberate all those sentient beings from the oceans of sufferings and bring them to enlightenment. This is the happiest life.

At other times, while you are doing jobs, when there’s a break from sitting meditation, then live your life with bodhicitta as much as possible. Also, watch your mind, what it’s doing. Is it creating negative karma or virtue? Whatever you’re doing, do it with bodhicitta as much as possible.

With much love and prayers. Take care of your life.