Thank you for Nyung Näs

Thank you for doing so many nyung näs. What you have accomplished is really unbelievable! I wish I could do this some time. I think I have to meditate more on impermanence and death, the lower realms, and karma.

If you can finish these 1,000 nyung näs, it will be unbelievable. Shi-nä (calm abiding) is just one small aspect of the path, but the nyung näs are a cause to achieve the path to enlightenment and to achieve all the qualities of Buddha, also so many eons of negative karma are purified. Forty thousand eons of negative karma are purified by just doing one nyung nä, then depending on how much compassion you generate and, of course, if you generate bodhicitta, then you can purify much more than that.

What you have done – the nyung näs, wow!! That is just amazing! It is a miracle and the most unbelievable gift to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas. You can’t imagine how many hundreds of thousands of millions of eons of negative karma have gone by doing this; so many eons of negative karma have gone.

I hope you don’t feel you are missing the negative karma, I hope that you don’t fall asleep at night-time and miss all those negative karmas. Sooner or later you will become a bodhisattva. Just like when someone wins at soccer, when tens of thousands of people jump up clapping their hands, in the same way all the buddhas and bodhisattvas are clapping their hands, from the ten directions, even from the pure lands, also from Switzerland, especially the buddhas and bodhisattvas from Switzerland.

This is your best offering, your best service to sentient beings; this is how you collect the most extensive merit. Doing all those practices and prostrations is unbelievable purification. By reciting the Thirty-five Buddhas, doing Chenrezig meditation and recitation, and by making offerings to Chenrezig, you collect the same amount of merit as having made offerings to all the buddhas, and then taking the Eight Mahayana Precepts on top. Wow! It is amazing, gorgeous! You create limitless skies of merit by taking them with a bodhicitta motivation. It is unbelievable purification, and you can achieve all the qualities of Buddha. It is just amazing.

It is extremely rare to die by practicing Dharma. Most of the time, from beginningless rebirths up to now, we have been only following attachment, anger, a jealous mind, pride, and ignorance. We have died following those minds numberless times; we have died following delusion numberless times; and we have died from creating negative karma numberless times. Those are the usual ways we die.

Please make strong prayers every day, dedicate every day for the Maitreya project, as well as all the projects in the organization, also all the projects at each center to benefit sentient beings, as well as the teachings of Buddha and world peace. I am sure you dedicate in this way.

On behalf of all the FPMT centers and study groups, I want to thank you, also on behalf of all the countries on this earth. I also want to thank you on behalf of all sentient beings.

You know that Buddha was always enlightened, numberless eons ago, but to show us how to achieve the path and to be free from all suffering and its causes, the disturbing thought obscurations and the subtle obscurations, and how to achieve the complete qualities of the realizations, Buddha manifested full enlightenment. This can happen only by bearing hardships, by practicing the Dharma. Therefore, one cannot achieve enlightenment with attachment, by just seeking samsaric pleasures, the pleasure of this life, such as being in a luxurious place, with luxurious foods.

This is why Buddha performed the twelve holy deeds. Descending from Tushita, he experienced conception, birth, and then followed what normal people do – youthful play, competition, marriage, then seeing true suffering, birth, death, old age, and sickness, leaving home: the king’s palace, where he had everything, all wealth and power, not just like an ordinary householder, but like a king. Then he lived six years as an ascetic. You can see this in the pictures, where all his ribs and bones are sticking out. Then, he subdued millions of maras when they came to attack him the night before he was going to be enlightened. He subdued all these demons, the maras, just by maintaining loving kindness no matter how much they threw terrible things at him. Also, an old woman and young woman tried to disturb him by showing him their sex organs and their bodies. After enlightenment, he turned the wheel of Dharma, the three types, and then showed the aspect of passing away.

He did not need to do this for himself. He was already enlightened numberless eons ago, but he did this to show us how we need to complete the qualities and achieve the realizations to reach enlightenment by bearing all hardships. Then we can liberate numberless sentient beings from each realm, from the oceans of samsaric sufferings, and bring them to enlightenment. It is unbelievable, unimaginable, what Buddha is doing, every second, liberating limitless sentient beings from the lower realms, from samsara, and from lower nirvana, and bringing them to enlightenment, in every second. You cannot imagine how amazing this is, and it is achieved by bearing these hardships now. Now, you can see all the benefits – this is how you achieve the path to enlightenment. Each path has unbelievable qualities; the Buddha has limitless skies of qualities: the holy body, holy speech, and holy mind. Buddha underwent limitless skies of hardships. The hardships we have to bear are almost nothing compared to what Buddha underwent. The Buddha gave up his life and body limitless times. He offered in charity his body, limbs, and eyes for three countless great eons. For three countless great eons he practiced morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, and wisdom. He practiced each one for three countless great eons.

Kadampa Geshe Kanglungpa said:  "I have never heard of great meditators dying from hunger and thirst before, and I will never hear of it in the future."

This is because if you seriously practice Dharma, this does not happen. If you do not practice seriously, just externally, looking like you are doing Dharma practice, but not really practicing, then those problems can happen, like dying.

Especially after doing 100 nyung näs, it is good to have a break. You can decide for yourself what to do.

Offering service in the FPMT does not only mean taking different jobs and doing different projects. Doing 100 or especially 1,000 nyung näs, as well as all those who are in retreat, for so many years, meditating on the lamrim, is the same as offering service by working.

The purpose of teaching Dharma is to practice, to have realizations; the centers are there to provide the teachings of the Dharma. Without practicing, how can sentient beings be liberated? Without realizations, how can they be liberated? Anybody who gives their life to Dharma, to attain the path, to achieve enlightenment, to liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment – this is what the philosophical teachings are for, what the Master’s Program is being given for. The conclusion is to practice and to have realizations.

Doing these nyung näs is the most unbelievable way to attain the path to enlightenment, especially to achieve compassion, and great compassion – bodhicitta; it is really incredible.

So far we have one nun in Colombia who has finished 200 or more nyung näs. I think she still is planning to complete 1,000. Now she is in Brazil helping the centers and also her mother, and then in a month or so she will continue the nyung näs.

Geshe Lama Konchog did 2,000 nyung näs. Geshe Lama Konchog did similar things to the Buddha, living six years in a cave, cutting his connection with people, and instead of looking for food, practicing taking the essence of wind (not pills). I saw his cave in Tsum, near Milarepa’s cave. It is really amazing to know his life story. Afterwards people found out, when he came down from the mountains. After he was in the cave, he did retreat under a tree for three years.

Also, there was another lama in that area who did 2,000 nyung näs and his disciple did 3,000. This lama benefited many parts of Nepal and the Solo Khumbu. He stopped people from hunting; he made a law so that people would not hunt animals, and this still exists in many parts of Nepal. He also influenced many people in those areas to practice OM MANI PADME HUM and to take the eight Mahayana precepts, which is so beneficial.

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for doing this practice. 

With much love and prayers...