The Dharma Center is an Emergency Rescue Operation
Rinpoche made the following comments about the positive things that Dharma centers offer.
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.