Offering Practices and Requesting Ordination

My very dear Vince,
Thank you very much for your kind letter and for all your practice that you dedicated to me; it is incredible what you have been able to do.

It is very good to be ordained, but now is not the right time. It comes out for you to be ordained in six years’ time. So, you can think about how in the future it will be good to be ordained. That is according to my observation now, we can check again later. Maybe it will be possible before the six years.

You can do retreat at your place from time to time, but for longer retreat it came out more beneficial to do it in the Pyrenees in France.

Here is my advice for your practice:

Lamrim:  

• The graduated path of lower scope: three months
• The graduated path of intermediate scope: five months
• The graduated path of highest scope: bodhicitta: four months, emptiness: one month

If, after having practiced the meditations in this cycle you do not have realizations, then start again. No matter how long it takes to have stable realizations, continue. Once you have stable realizations on the lower path, then move on to the middle path, then once you have stable realizations on this path, move on to bodhicitta, until it is stable. Putting all your effort into having realizations of the lamrim is more important than tantra.

The main part of your preliminary practices is to have stable realizations. This is the main practice to do to purify defilements, collect extensive merits, and have quick realizations.

Your main practice is the lamrim and nyung nä. These are the places to put most of your effort and later, after you have realizations, you can put more effort into tantra.

See if you can do 1,000 nyung nä retreats. This would be unbelievable, and a great inspiration to others, the whole FPMT, outside the organization, and the whole world. Actually, you should do more, but I didn’t want to cause you to develop heresy, or frighten you. Just try and do what you can. Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean that you have to do them all at once, you can have break time. For example, do 50, take a break, and then do another 50. Or, if you need to, you can have a break after 20, etc.

If you are able to do nyung näs with the lamrim, then it is unbelievable. Geshe Lama Konchog did 2,000 nyung näs. There are a few lamas in Tsum who also did 2,000 nyung näs and disciples of Geshe Lama Konchog in Tsum who did 3,000.

The place where you do them depends on where you can have more experience of the lamrim. You can test that out, and you will be able to find which is a better place to practice. Another place that came out as good for you to practice is New Zealand.

I wanted to check – have I told you your main deity before?

With much love and prayers...