Failure in Business

My most dear beloved Jimmy, 
I hope you are well. I wanted to send this message to you quickly. We will try what we can. It might be a little late. We should have done some pujas and prayers dedicated for you and your success earlier. It seems that making a four-foot high statue of Kurukulla can make a difference, especially if the statue is completed within two weeks. It seems that work and business can then become positive and successful.

If things don't succeed, you shouldn't let this make your mind unhappy and depressed, feeling great shame. From the Dharma point of view, it's nothing. Even if you don't succeed, this is nothing to worry about or feel concerned about. If it were something non-virtuous, like killing, stealing, and the other ten non-virtues, it would be something to worry about. It's just work, and you didn't succeed because people don't want to invest money. It's nothing to worry about from a Dharma point of view. Only from a worldly person's point of view is it something shameful.

Try as much as possible, but if it doesn't happen, then you shouldn't worry. Don't make your mind down. It's unnecessary and also causes you to be physically unhealthy. The important thing is that in your life you have collected so much merit and offered so much service to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the FPMT organization, because of me, our relationship in the Dharma.

A business failure would be shameful according to a worldly person's point of view, those with attachment clinging to this life, but it is not shameful. From a worldly person's view, if one is able to kill one's enemy, one rejoices. In Dharma, this is wrong rejoicing, and is very harmful to oneself and others. Why is it harmful to others? Because it becomes heavy negative karma, which means you can’t have realizations, and you can't benefit others.

Also, from a worldly person's view, to defeat others and win is regarded as the best thing. But from a Dharma point of view, from the Mahayana view, or in reality, to offer the victory to others and take the loss upon oneself is the most profitable, because by doing this sincerely you create the karma to win in all your future lives. You always create the cause for victory and no defeat. From a worldly point of view, you take the victory and give the loss to others, but that negative karma brings loss in so many future lives, so much unhappiness. With Mahayana Buddhism, with Dharma, you have happiness in all future lives, you achieve the victory, and because of that and because your practice is to benefit others, you take others' sufferings and experience them and give others all happiness, temporary and ultimate, including enlightenment. So, because of that, being able to offer the victory and take the loss, you are happy. It is very satisfying, very fulfilling.

As I have mentioned to you before, your victory is something that causes happiness to many sentient beings, offering great benefit to them. Taking the victory is not for you, but for all sentient beings. It is like His Holiness the Dalai Lama not creating violence but fighting for the truth, for the Tibetan people to have their own country and total religious freedom, to preserve and spread the Dharma in Tibet and in the rest of the world, for the Dharma to exist for a long time, and for it to flourish and spread all over the world. His Holiness is fighting for this because people are not happy. In China, there is no religious freedom and people are unhappy. One has to think of the benefit for sentient beings in the decisions we take. Which, taking the victory or the loss, has most benefit for sentient beings – you make your decision from that basis.

From the Dharma point of view, bearing hardships to create negative karma or to harm others is not perseverance. It is wrong perseverance. However, those who bear hardships to practice Dharma, for realizations, to achieve liberation and enlightenment so that they can liberate and enlighten other sentient beings, are practicing perseverance, one of the six paramitas, because the object is virtue.

Another example is a person living an ascetic life of renunciation in a cave, to achieve liberation and enlightenment so as to be able to enlighten all sentient beings. From a worldly person's point of view, they think this person living in a cave is an object of compassion; they see this life as suffering – having no material possessions and living in a cave instead of a luxury house. From the Dharma point of view, thinking that this person is pitiful is wrong compassion. This is the view of the worldly mind. Sentient beings not practicing Dharma and engaging in negative karma, creating the sufferings of samsara and the lower realms, are objects of compassion. That is unbearable.

It is good to think that in emptiness, there is no gain and no loss. It is very good to think in this way in case you don’t achieve your aim in business. You must think like this over and over. As I mentioned one morning, when I talked about emptiness to you, think of a truly existent “I,” truly existent company, truly existent business, and truly existent funds. In reality, these things have no such true existence, the true existence that appears and that we believe in, such as a real company and business.

Look at this situation as like a dream. Then, all this loss and gain is like a dream. Then, you get the feeling that it isn’t important, that it's nothing. That's what we should do. Try those methods in meditation. Don't bring yourself down and make yourself unhappy. I want you to have a very, very long life. Remember that the appearance of this life is very short; it can stop any minute, hour, or day. Think about this business loss as like a water bubble. Also, even if the whole world criticizes you, it's nothing. Even if people give you a bad reputation, it's nothing when you think of impermanence and death.

Overall, in this case, what seems to be needed is merit. My suggestion to you is to make many offerings. I have asked two people to buy prayer wheels turned by candles for you. It's important to replace the old candle when it burns down so that the prayer wheel is always turning. This is a very special method. I also have special dakini mantras and prayers and requests to help to eliminate obstacles.

So for now, thank you very much for all your generosity and support for me and the organization. It's wonderful.

With much love and prayer...