Generosity and Charitable Projects

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,
How are you? I hope your family is well. You gave a big donation to the center, by remembering and thinking of my kindness. That’s what one student told me.

I just want to send you these cards and tell you that I highly appreciate your kindness in helping the center. The purpose of the center existing continually is to help sentient beings, and what sentient beings need most is to be free from the oceans of suffering, which is what they have been experiencing from beginningless rebirths. That means to be free from the oceans of samsaric suffering—the sufferings of rebirth, old age, sickness and death, and so forth. This is the suffering of pain. Then there is the suffering of change—all the samsaric pleasures, which cannot continue.

When we achieve enlightenment, that is when Dharma happiness is completed. The nature of samsaric pleasure is suffering. The suffering of pain and the suffering of change come from the third suffering, which is pervasive compounding suffering.

To be free from these three sufferings forever, we need to cease the cause of suffering—delusion and karma. For this we can’t have an operation in the hospital, or have it taken it out by a doctor or take tablets so it goes away. We can’t do that, it’s impossible. The only method is Dharma, the Buddha’s teachings. The centers are for that. That’s why the center is teaching Dharma, providing qualified teachers, translators, a place to practice, to hear the teachings and so many things.

This is a most urgent thing for sentient beings, more urgent than anything else. Not only that, through this it brings sentient beings to buddhahood, the total cessation of all the obscurations and completion of all realizations. Therefore, the need for the center to exist and to continue is of utmost importance for sentient beings.

By helping the center, you are helping all sentient beings, because then people come to learn Dharma at the center, and to practice bodhicitta, as they do the practice for all sentient beings, to benefit all sentient beings. That is how the center benefits numberless hell beings, numberless hungry ghosts, numberless animals, numberless human beings, numberless sura beings, numberless asura beings and numberless intermediate state beings.

Thank you very much. I did some prayers and I will do more in the future.

With much love and prayers ...

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,
Billions, zillions of thanks from my heart to you, for your devotion to the teachings of the Buddha and compassion for sentient beings. That is really great. These are two good reasons why a Dharma center should be formed.

If we devote our life to a religion that is not logical or truthful, but is just based on faith or mere belief—or on someone's influence or belief—compared with the quality of the Buddha’s teachings, it is not worthwhile. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, many people just have faith and for the time being, that is OK. It’s difficult to say it is wrong, however, in Buddhism we learn, even if we don’t practice there are results. Buddhism is logical; it works, especially if we practice and have faith.

If we practice what the teachings say, we will achieve enlightenment, the highest, greatest benefit, so we will be able to free numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts and animals, those we see everywhere. We can free the ants, the insects and the beings in the ocean—even insects we cannot see with our eyes, but through a machine. All those beings that fly, the butterflies, and those on the ground and in the grass; even the tiny ones that fly in the sky and those that are under the ground, as well. Also, numberless humans, not just in this world, but in numberless universes, and asuras and suras. We are able to free them all from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to full enlightenment, peerless happiness, the total cessation of suffering; not just the cessation of suffering. Wow, wow, wow, that’s really great!

This is what happens by learning and practicing Buddhism and by actualizing the path—as each sentient being progresses on the path and achieves enlightenment.

Thank you very, very, very much your kindness, for this donation to help the centers. Why Buddhism? The benefit is for every sentient being—not missing out even one sentient being. Can you imagine!

Sincerely yours,

Lama Zopa

PS: I wish that Muslims, Christians and those of other religions have the compassion found in Buddhism. That will bring the whole world together.

My very dear brother,
I just want to express how unbelievably generous, compassionate, and brave-hearted you are for benefiting other beings who have a great need in this world, particularly for helping all those people in Tibet who are blind, to open their eyes. What incredible happiness you are giving them. This means hundreds and thousands and thousands of people over the years will benefit. So many people will receive unbelievable benefit from you.

First, you are creating a huge cause for achieving happiness and success in this life, future lives, and for hundreds and thousands of lifetimes, because that is the nature of the karma. From one cause you experience results for hundreds and thousands of years. Of course, your motivation is very pure, only for their benefit, for them to be free from suffering, particularly not being able to see, and to have the great happiness of seeing. That becomes the cause for full enlightenment, great liberation, peerless happiness, the cessation of all the mistakes of the mind—the gross and subtle defilements—and the accomplishment of all the realizations and qualities.

Second, of course there is inconceivable benefit for other sentient beings, for each person; you cannot imagine how much benefit they receive. Opening their eyes gives them unbelievable freedom, especially for them to be able to see holy objects, which purifies their mind and collects skies of merit and good luck.

I don’t want to write more, to waste your precious human life, which can do skies of good things for you and especially for numberless living beings.

With much love and prayers for you. Thank you very much again ...

My very dear wish-fulfilling jewels,
I want to thank you a zillion, billion times for your sincere heart offerings for rebuilding Domo Geshe Rinpoche’s labrang, especially for His Holiness the Dalai Lama to stay there. The incarnation of the past yogi completed his studies, became a geshe, and returned to his monastery when mainland China took over Tibet. He was put into prison but he was released because he was from Sikkim. He brought trucks of philosophy texts for the Sera Je monastery monks to learn in Buxa. That yogi passed away in America.

But the khangtshen’s elder monk, Gelong-la, asked His Holiness the Dalai Lama whether the incarnation would be beneficial to sentient beings, and if so to please check where he was. If not, then not to check his whereabouts.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama checked and said he would definitely be beneficial to sentient beings. His Holiness checked and found him in Bylakuppe, South India. This reincarnation’s actions are like the elderly Lama’s qualities. Even though he was very small, when the villagers came to see him, by blowing on them they would be healed. A monk with painful knees was healed by the reincarnation beating the knee.

I became a monk at Domo Geshe’s monastery in Tibet. That great yogi founded this monastery, and Lama Govinda, the German professor and author of The Way of the White Clouds, met Domo Geshe Rinpoche in Tibet.  Our very first Western student, Princess Zina Rachevsky, read this book and , went to look for Domo Geshe Rinpoche in Darjeeling, but met us at Domo Geshe Rinpoche’s monastery in Darjeeling.

I think it will be very beneficial to be able to continue the tradition. I think your help for him will be very beneficial. In the future, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama comes, you could visit.

With so much love, my prayers for your long life, and for success according to the Dharma.

Thank you very much, a billion, billion, billion times over, a zillion, trillion times, numberless, like the sky, from the bottom of my heart.

Your kind donation is causing and bringing all happiness and inner peace in this life, such as satisfaction. Even much more unbelievable, it is bringing continual happiness and peace in all future lives. This is unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable. What a great, most unbelievable thing.

Then, there is liberation from oceans of samsaric suffering and its causes, all the karma, delusion and its seeds. Wow! Wow! Wow! How unimaginable. Then, look, wait, one more wow! It is also bringing full enlightenment for so many people. For each year of the thirty-two years of Kopan Monastery, which is shining the Dharma light, Kopan sends numberless sentient beings, who shine too, to the numberless beings in the rest of the world. It sends so many people, as the months and years go by.

This happiness is for so many years. I hope you will live for zillions of years, be healthy, teach and guide meditation, and smile.

With bigger and biggest love, HA HA HA HA, and prayers for you from the Lawudo Himalayan yeti.

Here is a symbolic offering of a nice smiling bell from Dehradun. Tibetan people live their life by making bells. HA HA. Kopan brings so many many people inner happiness, peace, and Dharma happiness in their lives, the same unbelievable temporary happiness in future lives, and, most important, the cessation of samsaric suffering and its causes. This is most unbelievable—enlightenment. Wow!

There are various ideas for how to give away your belongings. For example, you can give to social services, like schools and hospitals for the poor, hospice services and soup kitchens, eye operations, or leprosy work.

You can sponsor retreats, such as nyung näs, or people doing individual or group retreats. You can sponsor people to make tsatsas (images) of Buddha, such as Medicine Buddha, Mitukpa, or stupas. You can make light offerings at home, in the center, or at the holy places of Boudhanath, Bodhgaya, and so on. You can sponsor pujas, either special pujas at your local center or at monasteries, or you can contribute money to the FPMT Puja Fund, which funds special pujas on special days of the year in perpetuity. You can contribute money to your local Dharma center to help with whatever beneficial projects it is currently doing, or to other projects, which are helping to maintain and spread the Dharma throughout the world. You can give money to liberate animals, or you can contribute to animal welfare projects, such as the Animal Liberation Sanctuary. You can give money to sponsor the construction of larger holy objects, such as prayer wheels, stupas, and statues in different parts of the world. And you can sponsor the translation of key Buddhist texts in different languages or the editing and free publication of Buddhist teachings.