Practices for Newly Ordained Sangha

My very dear Dolma,
Thank you for your kind card. It’s so good that you became a nun, not only to wear robes, but to practice living in the vows and then lamrim: practicing guru devotion, impermanence and death—anytime things can change—also bodhicitta and emptiness.

I checked regarding what comes out best for you to practice in this life and what to focus on. Please see my advice below and also additional information on how to do the practices.

The essence is: to make your life most useful you must study the lamrim, meditate on the lamrim and actualize the lamrim, develop guru devotion and live your life with bodhicitta as much as possible.

There is one more thing I would like to add. The conclusion is this, from the Kadampa geshe's advice:

1. Looking with the eye at a great distance
The eye looking for long-term enlightenment, what is to be achieved.

This is like when we are travelling and looking far into the distance to where we will reach; like looking at enlightenment—the aim is to achieve enlightenment in the heart. This is the purpose of practicing meditation.

2. The mind should not be very small; the mind should be very extensive.

This is like when we are making airplanes, boats, houses, shopping centers, swimming pools, cities, countries, etc. We have to plan the many rooms and parts, and all the things needed to develop them.

Similarly, we should plan like that in terms of learning all the different Dharma subjects, for example in sutra and tantra.

3. At the same time the mind is relaxed, not attached (this is the opposite of attached mind).

For the mind to be a very relaxed mind, inside the heart is very relaxed. Otherwise if we don’t do that, then it is easy to get lung, because we are short of merits and due to past negative karma, maybe from disturbing the guru’s holy mind and so forth.

If you look at Pabongka’s commentary on the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, you may find these exact quotes, as well as more commentary on them.

This is the general conclusion on how to practice Dharma. If there is something difficult, you can ask Geshe-la or you can write to me.

With much love and prayers...

Practices:

• Prostrations by reciting the Thirty-Five Buddhas: 10,000 times. Also, if you are able to do 100 prostrations every day, that would be so good.
• Vajrasattva: 300,000 times. Mainly do the meditation. Please follow my book on Vajrasattva, as well as the commentary by Lama Yeshe, Becoming Vajrasattva.
• Eight Mahayana precepts: if you can, take them twice a week; if not twice, then at least once a week for your whole life. This is a most unbelievable practice; you create skies of merit and purify mountains of negative karma. This is your way to achieve liberation from samsara and enlightenment. You need to receive the lineage first, before the first time you take them. Maybe go during the Lamp of the Path.
• Dorje Khadro (burning offering): 3,000 times
• The Golden Light Sutra: Recite this so you finish one full recitation within three days. (This means what you don’t finish on the first day, you continue the next day and finish the whole text within three days.) If you can, do this for one year.
• Tonglen: 300,000 times. The main thing is to focus on the meditation, not counting the words.
• Tsa-tsas:  Your deity—divide between Amitabha, the Thirty-five Buddhas and the three long-life deities (on one mould). Number: 3,000. This means you should do 1,000 of each.

It’s very important any tsa-tsa you make does not have air bubbles in it, as it is not good to make holy objects with many holes or damaged. That creates negative karma. At my house in Aptos there is an air compressor machine that shakes the tsa-tsas as they are setting and in this way there are almost no bubbles. So maybe if you are ever in California, you could do some of your tsa-tsas at my house, if that works out.

Effortful Lamrim Experience

• Guru devotion: two months
• The graduated path of the lower capable being: four months
• The graduated path of the intermediate capable being: two months
• The graduated path of the highest capable being:
  • Bodhicitta: five months
  • Emptiness: one month

After that, continue with guru devotion until you get realizations, no matter how many months or years it takes; continue until you get stable realizations, seeing your guru as Buddha from your own side, without any question—stable, not just for a few hours or a few days. The aim to have realization of the graduated path of the lower capable being, from perfect human rebirth up to karma, so practice in this way step-by-step, no matter how many months or years it takes. Then meditate on the graduated path of the intermediate state being, then bodhicitta, then emptiness. Also, you should meditate a little on emptiness every day, even if it is just for five, ten or fifteen minutes.

Please read the lamrim completely. The first three times, this can be the Middle Lamrim or the Lamrim Chenmo.

My very dear one,
Thank you very much for your kind letter and for your practice, for taking the initiation and doing retreat. The only thing left is enlightenment! It is gigantic, I can’t believe it! I fainted, but not on the cement floor, on the spring bed, so I could jump up again. It is unbelievable to continue with the preliminary practices. That is what purifies obstacles to achieving realizations of the path to enlightenment—the negative karmas collected during beginningless rebirths—and collects merit and the conditions to achieve realizations of the path to enlightenment.

Recite the Heart Sutra, the most powerful teaching, the heart of the 84,000 teachings that come in three levels—Hinayana, Mahayana Sutra, and Mahayana Tantra. Also, meditate on emptiness, because this is what directly cuts ignorance, the root of samsara. During beginningless rebirths we dedicate our lives and offer service to ignorance. As a result, we are suffering in the six realms, but we can’t stand to be in samsara for even one second. Whatever samsaric happiness we experience is nothing new—we have experienced it numberless times and when we analyze it, it is only suffering. That is why it cannot continue and completely develop. Samsaric happiness cannot increase the more we work for it, because this pleasure is only in the nature of suffering. It is not ultimate happiness—liberation from samsara—and it is not enlightenment, which is the complete cessation and complete realization of the path to enlightenment.

We cannot imagine being reborn in samsara again; it is unbelievable. We cannot eat, sleep or even have a heart attack, even if we are reborn just once. The practice of Dharma is just once, and when we achieve enlightenment, we don’t come down or lose it. We don’t have to repeat this over and over, so, it is unbelievably important in life. Even if we have only one second left, we must practice Dharma. Then we will have happiness at the time of death and in our future lives, and we will achieve liberation and enlightenment. Not only that, we will also liberate all sentient beings and bring everyone to enlightenment. When everyone is brought to enlightenment by us—when nobody suffers—our purpose for practicing Dharma is complete. No matter how long it takes or how difficult it is, it is most important and most worthwhile to achieve realizations, no matter how many eons and lifetimes—not just years—it takes.

If your deity is Vajrayogini or Heruka, keep that as your main deity and tantric practice, but that is second. In daily life, the first thing is meditation on the lamrim, laying out the foundation in your heart for renunciation, bodhicitta and right view. Our project in life is to accomplish this, and of course, the root of success is guru devotion. By meditating on these in this life, we can achieve all the realizations; even three, two or one realization makes our life very worthwhile and our life is not wasted every day.

If we live with a bodhicitta motivation, this makes our life most beneficial for sentient beings every day. Then all practices—walking, eating and sleeping—become a cause of happiness, not just temporary happiness, but enlightenment.

I don’t remember whether I have given you the whole package. Please meditate on the following:

• Renunciation of this and future lives: seven years
• Bodhicitta: three years
• Emptiness: six years

The idea is to do as much as you can every day. Of course, the lamrim doesn’t have to be practiced only in the meditation room or on the cushion. It can be done even at work or outside, when you are traveling. Meditation is action of the mind, so you can meditate anywhere. I am not sure if you are flying, but if you are, you can still meditate. I do not mean flying with the two wings on an airplane, but flying without those, with mental powers or realizations.

Do guru devotion every day, as much as you can. The length of the session is up to you. Make it shorter if you are busy and longer if you have time. I am not saying you can’t meditate on other things, but this is the main focus during these years, in order to have realizations in this life. At least it brings the potential for having realizations in future lives closer. Please understand that the more you listen to and meditate on the lineage lamas and how they practice correctly, the more you will achieve realizations, because mind is a dependent arising—it depends on causes and conditions. Due to another cause, the mind suffers, and when conditions change, the mind becomes virtuous, and you achieve happiness from that.

If we live our life this way, meditating on the lamrim, we will have no regrets now and no regrets in the future when death comes. We can rejoice all the time. Tonglen brings us closer to enlightenment and closer to enlightening sentient beings. Maybe try shiné in the future. The most important thing in life is pleasing the guru.

With much love and prayers...

My dear Ven. Nuns,
Sorry for the delay. You have asked me about training for nuns. The most important training is the pratimoksa vows, the bodhisattva vows, if one has taken them, and then the tantric vows. The most important training is knowing these well and living according to them. This is the essential training.

Then, there is respecting the elder Sangha members, as well as the teacher.

In the Lamrim Chen Mo, there is an explanation on how to go to bed in order to have a light sleep so that one can wake up early to practice. If you have a highest yoga initiation, there is a much more profound meditation you can do when you go to bed. It is more profound than the sutra method.

At the end of the nyung nä text published by Wisdom, there is a meditation for eating and for preparing for sleep at night.

You have instructions on how to practice each deity, and there are also practices to be done in break times. Then, in the Guru Puja practice, there is the explanation of how everything can become guru yoga practice.

However, the essence is this, from the Bodhicaryavatara:

What is the need for so many activities except that of protecting the mind? If the mind is protected, what is the need for other activities?

and:

If the elephant mind is fastened with the rope of remembrance, all suffering ceases and all virtues come to you.

Our training is watching the mind. Our training is not like being in the army: eating together, walking together, finishing things together, everything happening together, shooting together, and running together.

Of course, I don’t mean that you can be lazy and not follow the program together. That is important.

With much love and prayers always...

My very dear Chokyi,
Thank you very much for your very kind letters and I am sorry it took so long to reply. I read your letters a few times. Thank you also for the thangka that you offered, which is in my house in California.

Regarding ordination, I think you should take ordination as quickly as possible, if not from His Holiness the Dalai Lama then from Denma Locho Rinpoche, Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, or Jhado Rinpoche, whoever is available, so that you can take ordination as quickly as possible.

It is very good for you to do three-year retreat. Did I suggest Hayagriva before? If so, there is another nun doing this same deity retreat in Solo Khumbu, near Lawudo.

You do need to receive teachings on how to do three-year retreat. Hayagriva is usually done as a one-year retreat, but of course you can do it for three years. The main thing is to do lamrim meditation to achieve renunciation, bodhicitta, and emptiness, all based on guru devotion. Then within that you can do the Hayagriva tantric practice.

According to my observations, the best places for you to do three-year retreat are Mahamudra Center in New Zealand and Kangaroo Island in Australia. There is a retreat center there called Detong Ling—both these places would be very good. It would also be good for you to do retreat in the retreat center in France. Did you have another place in mind?

The main deity for your quickest enlightenment is Gyalwa Gyatso. I may have told you your main deity before. If so, then this means that it is also good for you to practice Gyalwa Gyatso now.

Try your best to study and practice lamrim. Here is some guidance for your practice. Try to study the teachings as much as you can and do lamrim meditations. Any service you can offer is also good. My main advice to you is to do lamrim meditations wherever you are, including if you are studying or offering service. So, this is practice for you for life, for your quickest enlightenment:

• 100,000 prostrations to the Thirty-five Buddhas
• 400,000 Dorje Khadro fire practices
• 10,000 mandala offerings
• 200,000 tsa-tsas—divide them between stupas and the three types of deity: Manjrushri, Chenrezig, and Vajrapani—these are the essence of all Buddha’s compassion, wisdom, and power
• 20,000 recitations of the Diamond Cutter Sutra
• 2,000 guru yoga practices based on Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga. You need to do this practice daily, this is a very important practice. Sometimes you can do Lama Chöpa (Guru Puja), but daily you do need to do Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga.

Please study my commentary on Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga. Also, you need to receive the lung (oral transmission) for Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga. When I meet you I can give this to you, if you don’t receive it from another lama first. If I am unable to do it, then you can request it from Denma Locho Rinpoche.

Every day you need to meditate on the lamrim. You can do this on the basis of six-session guru yoga, Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, or Lama Chöpa. At the part before the guru enters your heart, you stop and do the lamrim meditations. Because you do six-session guru yoga in the morning and evening in this way, you can meditate on the lamrim in the morning and evening.

It is very good if you can get instructions particularly on the teaching of shi-nä and try to study this. Take the teachings and then later you can do retreat to achieve shi-nä. By having that realization it makes it very easy to achieve all the other realizations of the lamrim and tantric path.

You can plan to do three or four-year retreat. According to my observations the best place for you to do retreat is Mahamudra Center in New Zealand. There is a monk who has been doing retreat there for a long time there. New Zealand would be very good for your shi-nä retreat. Also, there is some retreat land in France.

Most important is your guru devotion practice. You have to be most careful with this practice. It is the foundation of all the qualities and realizations on the path to enlightenment, so that you are able to benefit all sentient beings, to liberate and enlighten them. All of this depends on correct devotion to the virtuous friend.

This means that anyone that you have taken vows from, including refuge vows, bodhisattva, tantric vows, and ordination vows, also anyone that you took oral transmission from, even a few words, mantras, verses, now you have to regard them as your guru. That means to obtain advice and follow it, seeing the guru as Buddha. This is the greatest commitment in one’s life, the most important one. You can’t just take initiations and teachings here and there and not think that the teacher is your guru. Also, there is not only one guru in your life, you should not think like that. Of course, there is your root guru, who benefits your mind most, who is the most kind to you, who is the kindest among all your gurus.

You cannot think like you are shopping in a market, taking anything from anybody and not regarding them as your guru. All the lamas that you take initiations, transmissions etc. from become your guru; you have to regard them as your guru. This doesn’t mean anyone that you hear Dharma from then becomes your guru. You can study at a university and learn about Buddhism from a professor without regarding him or her as your guru, but you can’t do that with initiations and taking vows.

During the initiation you visualize the guru as the deity and take blessings from that person, who then becomes your guru. If you are asleep during the initiation and you didn’t do the visualization receiving blessings from the lama visualized as the deity, then the lama doesn’t become your guru. If at the beginning you visualize the person as your guru then even if you fall asleep for the rest, still the connection is made, because at the beginning you had the recognition, and made the Dharma connection—the guru-disciple relationship is created. Even if you spaced out for the rest of initiation, only heard a few words at the beginning and then spent the whole initiation thinking of nothing, with no thoughts, like being asleep, and didn’t hear any of the initiation, but at the beginning you had the recognition of a guru-disciple relationship, then the connection is made.

If someone teaches you the mantra TADYATHA OM MUNÉ MUNÉ MAHAMUNAYÉ SOHA, or even just one word of the mantra, such as AH, which negates all “I,” action, object, phenomena, samsara, nirvana, happiness, suffering, hell, enlightenment, all that appears to one’s hallucinatory mind as existing from its own side, whereas in reality nothing exists and everything is totally empty of existing from its own side, you have a Dharma connection.

So, if you receive the lung of even one syllable such as AH, one makes a Dharma connection of guru-disciple. This is a huge commitment to have, and means having devotion from your side and that you have to obey that person’s advice, have to put that person above your head or crown as a wish-granting jewel, as the most precious one in your life, more precious than countless buddhas and bodhisattvas. Why? Because without the guru there are no buddhas, Buddha, bodhisattvas, Dharma, Sangha, holy objects, statues, stupas, or scriptures. We don’t see Buddha directly, instead we see holy objects such as statues, stupas, and scriptures. We can collect merit from them by doing prostrations, making offerings, and circumambulating them. Even if one’s mind is not pure, is deluded by ignorance, anger, non-virtuous thoughts, clinging to this life, with holy objects your actions become virtuous by the power of the holy objects. Even if you are having non-virtuous thoughts, still you can collect merit. The guru is the source of all one’s past, present, and future happiness from beginningless rebirths, including enlightenment and enlightening all sentient beings—every single suffering hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human, sura, asura, and intermediate state being—bringing them to enlightenment. Not only achieving all realizations, but also every single pleasure there is in samsara comes from the guru’s kindness. Because of this the guru is more kind than all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and due to these reasons one must cherish most and obey the gurus.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that in special guru and disciple relationships, like Marpa, Milarepa, Tilopa, and Naropa, the disciple does everything that the guru says, puts it into action. However, for most people it means to act according to what the scriptures say regarding guru devotion and to obtain advice.

If one is unable to follow the guru’s advice, in order to not create very heavy negative karma, one should humbly, respectfully, without disturbing or upsetting the holy mind, obtain permission, and continue with devotional thoughts, looking at the guru as Buddha.

So, please study the lamrim, especially guru devotion, very well. You must read Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand and the Lamrim Chenmo very well and become familiar with the all the subjects. Here is some guidance in regards to lamrim meditations:

• Meditate for three months on guru devotion.
• Meditate for two months on the graduated path common to the lower capable being.
• Meditate for four months on the graduated path common to the middle capable being.
• Meditate for three months on the graduated path common to the higher capable being: bodhicitta.
• Meditate for three months on emptiness.

Meditate on each subject for the certain amount of time, making it your main focus during that time. Meditating for three months on guru devotion means that is your main meditation during that time. Even when you have finished the whole cycle three times, it is still very good to continue this meditation over and over again, until you have stable realizations.

After completing the cycle three times, if you still do not have guru devotion realizations, then you should take that as your main focus and continue until you have realizations. Then do the same with each subject and continue until you have stable realizations of the whole path. You should also do your preliminary practices. After realizing the lower path then put effort into the middle path, bodhicitta, and then emptiness.

With much love and prayers...

My very dear Tenzin,
Thank you very much for your kind letter.

According to my observations, the best place for you to go to live as a monk and study is Drepung Monastery. Regarding your question as to what kind of Dharma practice is beneficial, the goal of your life is to actualize bodhicitta in this life (in case you don’t have that realization already). Why bodhicitta? Because the objective of your life is to achieve enlightenment. Not just to achieve liberation for oneself, but to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings. Why? Because the ultimate objective of our life, the real purpose, is to benefit others, to free the countless sentient beings—the hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, suras, asuras, and intermediate state beings—from samsaric suffering and to bring them to full enlightenment. Therefore, one needs to achieve full enlightenment.

To benefit others, to bring them to enlightenment, is the ultimate objective of our life, the purpose of our life, so that is the direction in which we have to go, if possible, 24 hours a day. We should direct our life toward causing happiness for all sentient beings, not just temporary happiness, but the happiness of future lives, liberation from samsara, and enlightenment. So 24 hours a day, whatever we are doing, even sleeping, eating, going to the bathroom, should be directed toward that.

For example, when you go to the bathroom, you can recite Vajrasattva mantra, visualizing Vajrasattva on the top of your crown. Nectar emanates from Vajrasattva and purifies all the sentient beings in your heart, including yourself. Then, all your negative karmas come out in the form of kaka and pipi, or you can visualize black liquid coming out, like a waterfall or flood. In this way, we can use our precious human body even when we go to the bathroom. You can do a very valuable meditation like that, benefiting sentient beings. You recite Vajrasattva mantra, purifying all sentient beings, who are in your heart, with nectar, and think that all the negative stuff is coming out. The toilet itself is Yama’s mouth, and all the negative stuff goes inside his mouth. When it goes inside his mouth it becomes nectar. When you are finished, the mouth is closed, sealed with a golden double Vajra. This causes your long life. Think that Yama is completely satisfied and then goes down under the earth.

So, dedicate everything: studying Dharma, taking teachings, making prayers, toward sentient beings receiving ultimate happiness and enlightenment. For sure, you must have read lamrim, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, so you have some idea how to generate your motivation as well as doing one’s daily activities with the correct motivation, such as bodhicitta motivation. Then, dedicate the merits to sentient beings achieving enlightenment.

In the Wish-Fulfilling Golden Sun, there is more explanation on how to make all your daily activities beneficial, like opening, going through, and closing a door, when you get dressed, etc. Everything is based on benefiting sentient beings.

It is very important that you practice guru yoga in the morning. Sometimes, if you can, do Guru Puja. If not, then practice Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga every day. That is an essential practice, because without guru yoga, there is no devotion, no seeing the guru as enlightened and as Buddha. All the explanation for this practice is taught in lamrim. Without that devotion, you can’t receive the blessings of the guru and thus you can’t achieve realizations. That means you can’t achieve the objective of your life, achieving enlightenment for all sentient beings. Without this, you can’t enlighten other sentient beings. So, this is the ultimate practice. It is so important to do guru yoga practice in your daily life.

Every day, on the basis of guru yoga practice, do some guru devotion meditation. You can work through the section on guru devotion in the lamrim outlines. What you don’t finish one day, continue from there the next day. When you have finished, you can work through it again until you achieve a stable realization of guru devotion, seeing the guru as an enlightened being, from your side.

Then, after guru devotion, meditate on a perfect rebirth up to the section on karma (the lower path) for two months. Train your mind in this. When you finish the section on karma, go back and do guru devotion meditation. Then, spend four months on the middle path—meditate on how samsara is in the nature of suffering, then meditate on the twelve links, and then on the general sufferings of samsara—the six, four, three, and deva/human realms and how they are in the nature of suffering. Meditate on the shortcomings of delusions and all these things. Then, meditate on how delusions come totally from the hallucinated mind and superstition and are completely wrong. That is very important. See how you create a totally wrong, non-existent world, a hallucination. Spend the next five months on bodhicitta and the following three months on emptiness. Then, you work through the subjects again in which you did not have realizations.

The preliminary practices you should do are as follows:

• 100,000 water bowls, using the extensive offering practice
• 300,000 tsa-tsas: of Thousand-arm Chenrezig and Guru Shakyamuni Buddha

It doesn’t matter when you do these, whenever it is suitable for you. Also, it doesn’t matter where you do them, wherever is more suitable. You could go to one of the meditation centers or Nalanda Monastery in France, or the Tsa-tsa Factory in San Francisco where lots of tsa-tsas are produced and all the tools you need are available. You could either make the tsa-tsas there or you can get molds and make them at home. You can give people the tsa-tsas for their altar, to put around the house to purify the mind and to collect merit, to plant the seed of enlightenment and to liberate others. The tsa-tsas can be put outside or inside the house, even in the shrine room, but respectfully and very nicely. Or, if someone is building a large stupa, the tsa-tsas can go inside the stupa. There are many ways you can use tsa-tsas.

A stupa has different levels, made of wood or with stone or cement. First, you lift it high up from the ground. Then you have different layers—five, six, or seven layers. You can put all the tsa-tsas around inside it. You can fill up the whole stupa with tsa-tsas inside. Also, on the edge of the first, second, or third level, in this inner space, you can also put water-bowl offerings to Buddha. Otherwise, you can just fill up the stupa with the tsa-tsas. That is such an easy way to build a stupa, and then people can circumambulate it to purify negative karma and achieve enlightenment quickly. Since the world and individuals have so many problems, it’s a way to quickly get out of samsara.

Please also recite 60,000 Vajrasattva mantras.

Recite the Diamond Cutter Sutra every day. That would be great. That is one of the best preliminary practices, the most powerful, quick way to realize emptiness, get out of samsara, and be able to liberate others from the samsaric prison which has no beginning.

You asked, “Shall I engage in highest yoga tantra?” Yes, when you have the opportunity, take it. Chenrezig Gyalwa Gyatso (Secret Chenrezig) came out as your special deity to practice in everyday life to achieve enlightenment quickly so you can enlighten sentient beings.

If you meditate on lamrim every day, that can be like a retreat, then you use the other time to study Dharma. In this way, you keep your mind in the Dharma, especially bodhicitta. Everything you do, do it with bodhicitta.

Each year, try to do something more intensive, alone, like a fifteen-day or month-long retreat. This could be a deity retreat, after you have received the initiation. Or you could do the lamrim and preliminary practices. You can do a little bit each day of the preliminaries while you are learning and studying Dharma. Meditate on lamrim, do some preliminaries, and study Dharma. Sometimes you can do more preliminaries, sometimes more lamrim, a deity retreat, recitations, meditation, but it should always be done with some lamrim. Lamrim is always there, whichever practice you do, whether you are doing deity retreat or preliminaries. Even if you are just relaxing on the beach, the lamrim should be there. Without lamrim your life is empty, like an empty container.

Regarding your lung (wind imbalance), according to my observations, it looks like you need a vacation. Walking on the beach, looking at the water or mountains, something to distract the mind would be most beneficial for your lung. Staying in your room alone and intensively practicing and studying may increase the lung. So, you need to be skillful with your mind. From time to time you need to go out just to refresh yourself.

You need to look after your mind. You become the doctor—your mind is the patient, you are the psychologist. You are the parents and your mind is the child. You are the guru and your mind is the disciple. So, you have a child to take care of: your mind. That’s your biggest responsibility. If you are able to take care of that, you can take care of sentient beings, others’, minds.

This is how to prevent yourself from getting lung, Also, some exercise may be good. Try the Six Yogas of Naropa Exercise, the four main exercises. Also the Five Tibetans can be helpful for lung.

You asked how strictly to take the vows of not eating after lunch. I eat many snacks because I have diabetes. It’s best to observe the vows as much as you can, including fasting. It’s the best. Of course, when you are sick or have no energy, then there’s permission not to fast. Then, the food becomes medicine. But generally you should attempt as much as possible to fast after lunch—that’s the best. Try to keep all the vows well.

In short, the more purely you can live in the pratimoksha vows, then the more purely you will be able to live in the bodhisattva vows and tantric vows. That helps you to achieve enlightenment. If these different levels of vows are kept purely, then that means you are able to quickly achieve realizations of the path to enlightenment. Also, your prayers have a lot of power. If your vows are pure, your prayers to the protectors and the triple gem will be powerful, and they will protect you. Even the worldly protectors, nagas, and landlords will protect you. Then, because you are sincere, you are truly living according to the vows, your words have power and they will quickly achieve success for you, to actualize what you need. Your wishes are fulfilled easily, such as for things that you need or to benefit other sentient beings. When you are praying for others’ healing, long life, and freedom from problems, your prayers have much more power. If there is some danger in the world, then the more purely you are living according to the vows, the more power your prayers have to attract even the elements and avert “natural disasters”, so that many people don’t have to suffer. Many people think natural disasters don’t depend on karma, but this is a wrong view. There is no experience which does not depend on karma.

With much love and prayers...

My very dear Jemma,
Thank you very much for your letter. Sorry it took a long time to answer.

According to my observations, it comes out best for you to go to one of the following places to practice:

• Vajrapani Institute, USA
• Land Of Medicine Buddha, USA
• Tse Chen Ling, USA – it has a resident geshe and a strong teaching program
• France – attending teachings at Nalanda and Institut Vajrayogini – a geshe teaches at both places, so you can study at both.

It comes out best for you to study and meditate and also to help at the center. You can help by offering service and also you can offer reiki. Where you can go depends on your finances. It is best if you contact the directors of the centers and find out from them what is possible.

Regarding financial support, you can apply for the Sangha Fund. I can tell you how to apply for this.

Out of the four places I mentioned, France would be the best place for you to spend some time. After a while, then you can do more retreat, and then after that more study. Each year you can try to do two to three months of retreat.

You always need the lamrim, every day: for meditation, study, and practice; you can combine this with your study and service. Do everything with your mind abiding in the lamrim. When you offer service or study, do it with guru devotion, renunciation, or bodhicitta, and from time to time, remember emptiness. In this way, during the day, when you are cooking, working, etc, see the subject, action, and object as empty, as a dependent arising. According to the Prasangika point of view, they are an extremely subtle dependent arising, that exists in mere name, merely imputed on the mind. Or look at them as a hallucination, existing in mere name, merely imputed by the mind, appearing to one’s hallucinating mind. They do not exist from their own side. Whichever way it is done, it leads to emptiness. The other way is to practice awareness of this hallucination – the meaning of this is that things are empty.

Please make your life most meaningful with the thought of bodhicitta.

With much love and prayers...