3. The Thirty-Five Buddhas

November 27, 1999

LINEAGE LAMAS PRAYER COMMENTARY: THE KADAMPAS

This time I’m going to try something! What I have mentioned over last two days, I’m going to try today, the Requesting Prayer to the Lineage Lamas!

Those who have copies of that can read in English.

[Rinpoche chants this prayer]

The lama makes requests to the lineage lamas of the profound path. 

[Rinpoche chants in Tibetan]

Now the prayer to the lineage Kadampas which began with all the extensive scriptures. Then, the next one is Män Ngagpa, those who achieved realizations and achieved enlightenment by the instructions, receiving the teachings orally from the guru, putting them into the practice and in that way achieving realizations and enlightenment. This group is called Män Ngagpa.³

This is how the Kadampa geshes, Lama Atisha’s direct followers and their followers, developed their minds, some by studying the extensive words of all the scriptures, some by studying the essence of the lamrim, some by studying the meditation techniques, the instructions that they received from the guru and put into practice, making it possible to have realizations.

This is an example for us. It gives us an idea of what we can also do as far as developing the mind in the path to enlightenment. Not everyone has the karma to extensively study the entire Buddhadharma, the whole philosophy, all the scriptures, sutra and tantra. Not everyone has the karma, the capacity or intelligence to learn all that. Those of us who are unable to do that can try to develop the mind in the path to enlightenment by studying the lamrim, by trying to understand not just some parts of the lamrim but the entire lamrim from beginning to the end, to have a complete understanding. Then to study the words and meanings well and put that into practice in order to transform our mental continuum into something different, different from the old mind that we have had from beginningless rebirths with all the old concepts. To have a change in this life to something new, that which not only liberates us from the entire suffering and its causes, but, with this new mind, with these realizations, we can create all the happiness up to enlightenment and be able to free all other sentient beings from all their suffering and its causes, even the subtle defilements, and bring them to the peerless, ultimate happiness, full enlightenment.

Then, even if we don’t have intellectual capacity for the entire elaborate lamrim, we can practice something shorter, something that has all the essence—the instructions received from the guru, or the meditation techniques. We can learn them and put them into practice, and in that way try to have realizations of the path to enlightenment. So, we can also do like the Kadampa geshes, according to our own capacity, our own level of intelligence.

However, the essence is the extensive scriptures. Whether we are able to study the extensive scriptures or the extensive lamrim or just something that is the essence, the meditation instructions received from the guru, something shorter than the extensive lamrim teachings, whichever way we do it, the main goal is to have realizations of the path to enlightenment, to achieve enlightenment in order to do perfect work for other sentient beings without the slightest mistake, to be able to guide other sentient beings without any mistakes. That is the ultimate goal, the reason we meditate, the reason we practice the Dharma. The ultimate goal is to be able to help others, to be able to do perfect work for others by having completed the knowledge, not just intellectually understanding but especially having the realization that also includes having perfect power and having completed the mind training and compassion for others.

If our mind has mistakes, if we have defilements, we cannot help others, we cannot benefit others, we cannot do perfect work for others without any mistakes. If our mind has mistakes, when we try to help others, there’s always the possibility of making mistakes. When we are not fully qualified with all the realizations, as I mentioned in brief, and we want to help others, without being an arya being with the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, we can make a lot of mistakes when we help others. We might think we are helping but actually we’re harming them. Different things can also happen, as we can tell from our past experiences. Therefore, if we really want to help others, there is no choice.

I’m not going to expand on this. I’ll finish the prayer first.

ATTACHMENT IS EXPENSIVE

As we just went through with karma, you can understand that of course we can help by giving money to other people, by giving a house, medicine, shelter, food, clothing to others. That’s good but even the pleasure and comfort they get from that is just temporary, for a very short time. It doesn’t really solve their problems, which are within their mind, because that help alone is external help. That we can do that, that alone is good because they are suffering—they are hungry, cold, hot or whatever, with many problems—but we cannot just be satisfied with that because it doesn’t really solve the cause of the suffering, the cause of all their problems. That alone doesn’t purify the cause of the problems now and in the future, which is their mind. The cause of their problems is within them; it is their mind, their wrong concepts, their wrong way of thinking.

There is ignorance, anger, attachment, self-cherishing thought, all these delusions. I think yesterday and this morning you went through the delusions, you went through the exhibition of the delusions! I think Venerable guided you in sightseeing the delusions! Normally, we only do sightseeing of the objects of delusions, but here, now, in the Kopan course, we do sightseeing of your mind, like we are making a pilgrimage of your mind. Anyway, this morning, we’re doing a sightseeing of the delusions, which is extremely important.

We have a museum. Our mind is a museum of delusions! A huge museum, a very old museum; it has a lot of antiques, antiques from beginningless rebirths. Attachment is very antique, very precious, attachment is from beginningless rebirths, and ignorance, anger, jealousy, pride—all these delusions! It’s a very big museum filled with antiques that have no beginning.

Other outside antiques have beginnings. No matter how old they might be, they began at a certain time. But these antiques, all these delusions, have no time when they began. These antique delusions and antique sufferings have continued from past lives, from time without beginning, so they are very, very antique sufferings.

These sufferings are very expensive. All these delusions are the most expensive because they have existed from time without beginning. From beginningless rebirths, they have been the most expensive, the most harmful. We think that antiques that have existed for many thousands of years cost more money. But here I’m saying delusions are the most expensive.

[A plane flies overhead] Again, the pilot is teaching patience.

Why is attachment very expensive? Because of attachment, there are so many things we need in life. “I want this, I want that, I want this….” There are so many things we need. The stronger the attachment, the more things we need in life. Buying all these things for our attachment is very costly, very expensive. Attachment creates problems in life, then that makes life very expensive. It causes sicknesses that make us have operations. Attachment causes us to do nonvirtuous actions and creates worries and fears, creating many negative karmas which result in many court cases and so much money. Court cases and operations make life so expensive.

Because it makes life so expensive, because there are so many things attachment needs, it makes life even busier; there are more jobs we have to do. All these things done for attachment are very expensive!

Anyway, maybe we’ll stop there. There’s the Requesting Prayer to the Lineage Lamas.

What I was trying to say was the way the three groups of Kadampa practitioners studied the Dharma and achieved realizations of the path was according to their capacity. Similarly, we can do it that way, according to our capacity.

I’ll stop the prayer there, then do the refuge, the short mandala and the bodhicitta prayer with the meditation.

[Rinpoche recites the prayers]

HELPING OTHERS MATERIALLY IS NOT ENOUGH

Regarding benefiting others, serving others, there are four levels. Before, when I was talking, I got lost. I was talking about this point, about helping others with food and clothing, money, shelter and so forth, those external things. 

That is good. They need that because they have problems, but it doesn’t do anything for the cause of life’s problems which is within them, which is their own mind. It doesn’t do anything to change their wrong concepts, that which causes all their problems, from where all these problems come. It doesn’t reduce or change anything from where the problem comes.

Disharmony, such as relationship problems, where a person doesn’t get along with others, where they always cause disharmony and problems for others through the self-centered mind, the ego, it doesn’t change that, it doesn’t do anything to that. That is always there. Anger is always there, jealousy, abusing others, killing others, destroying others’ wealth, stealing and so forth—harming others is always there. That doesn’t change.

It especially does nothing to change the negative imprint from where these delusions arise, the seed that is planted on the mental continuum. These external things might help somebody for a short time, bringing some comfort, some pleasure, but it does nothing to really change the root of the problem because it doesn’t do anything to their mind to reduce their delusions, to reduce those wrong concepts. It doesn’t do anything for the negative imprints that constantly give birth to the delusions, that produce delusions. It doesn’t do anything to the negative imprint.

External help alone doesn’t purify even their negative karma. As I mentioned last night, those external things alone don’t purify their negative karma. As long as nothing touches the negative karma, as long as the negative karma is there, the problems, sicknesses such as cancer, poverty, no food, no water, drought, earthquakes—all these problems will happen again and again and again and again, because nothing is done to destroy the negative karma, the cause of the problems. Without talking about delusions, without talking about negative imprints, nothing is done to change the negative karma.

Even with cancer, somebody can recover from cancer this time through surgery or by somebody with healing power doing healing, but it will come back again, because the cause is still there. That person’s negative karma to experience cancer is still there; it has not finished. Therefore, it comes back again, if not in this life in a future life. That’s why even though many people are completely cured of cancer through surgery or radiation or whatever, it comes back again and again. And that’s only talking about this life, so if you think about other lives, it can occur in their next life.

As long as we don’t do anything with the negative karma, the same problem will happen again and again, such as the floods that leave many homeless in places like Africa.

There’s a very good example in America. There are many well-developed cities but one day the bad weather, a tornado comes, the result of negative karma. It might be happening in other countries but when I watch TV it shows a lot about America, about the bad weather in America. I’m sure it’s happening in other places, but it seems to be happening so much in America. Those many well-developed cities are suddenly completely destroyed one day by a tornado or hurricane. What’s the other one? [Students prompt] Cyclone.

Anyway, weather reporters cannot predict much ahead of time that there will be a tornado in this place to tell them to run away. So the people are there, and then [Rinpoche snaps his fingers] just one day all the houses are blown away and so many people have to hide under the cupboard or die.

Suddenly there’s a total change in the city that looked so permanent, so inherently existent, so independent. It appeared like that but it’s not true. Due to another cause and conditions, it becomes nonexistent. Then, even if they survive or just some die or are in hospital, all the families become completely scattered.

So, it’s not only in Africa where these things are experienced; they’re even experienced in the wealthiest countries. Change suddenly happens because there’s a cause for it to happen, because there’s a cause in the mind of the people, there’s a cause on their mental continuum, because a negative karma—a cause—has not been purified. Now that it’s ready, it’s easy to experience, like a seed in the ground that is ready to sprout. Like that, it’s experienced out.

When things have already happened and things have been destroyed, the government has to spend many billions and billions of dollars. All this is a result of negative karma.

We should attempt, wherever possible, to help by giving food and money, shelter, medicine and so forth. Giving to others, causing them the happiness of this life, is good and whatever we can, we should attempt. Happiness is what they need. They need happiness that is not only for today, not only for this life, but also in their future lives. In all their coming future lives, they need happiness. So, causing others the happiness of all the coming future lives is a more important service than the first one, only giving them the comfort of this life. Causing them comfort or happiness of all the coming future lives is a much more important service. This is the second way to make your life beneficial for others.

THE BEST HELP IS TO EDUCATE IN VIRTUE

Then, the next one is to make it impossible for the sentient beings to ever experience suffering by ceasing completely the cause of the suffering, karma and delusion. To do that means causing them to attain ultimate happiness, everlasting happiness, because it involves ceasing completely the cause of the suffering including the seeds of delusion, the imprints. It becomes impossible for delusions to arise by ceasing the seed of delusions, the imprints. In that way, we can cause sentient beings to be free forever from the suffering, making it impossible for them to experience suffering again.

This service to others is extremely important; it is more important than even the second one.

Now, the most important service we can offer, more important than the others, is to bring sentient beings to full enlightenment, being liberated from even the subtle defilements and having completed all the qualities of the realizations—in other words, the completion of all the qualities of cessation and the completion of all the qualities of realizations. In that way, we bring all sentient beings to this peerless happiness, where there is nothing higher; there is no higher bliss or happiness to experience, it’s completed.

Bringing sentient beings to full enlightenment is the most important service among all the services; it is the one that gives the highest bliss, the highest peace, the complete peace.

How can we make all this happiness happen for all sentient beings, from the happiness of future lives all the way up to liberation from samsara and full enlightenment? It involves dealing directly with their mind.

To do this, we must communicate with their mind. All this happiness comes from them changing their mind. Even the Buddha cannot transplant his realizations into others’ minds. This is not the way the Buddha guides sentient beings. There is a saying,

The Great Ones do not wash away sin with water;
They do not rid beings of suffering with their hands;
They do not transfer realizations of suchness onto others.
They liberate by teaching the truth of suchness.

He cannot liberate sentient beings by washing their negative karma with water, not in that way. Water cannot wash away the cause of sufferings, all the delusions, negative karma. And it’s not like taking the thorns out of the body with the hands—the Buddha cannot liberate sentient beings from suffering and the cause of suffering in that way. He does not transplant his own realizations into others, like transplanting somebody else’s heart into a human being’s heart. The way the Buddha liberates sentient beings is by revealing the truth, only by revealing the truth, by showing the truth, by showing the path. Revealing the Dharma, teaching the Dharma to other sentient beings, that’s the highest guidance.

All this happiness—the happiness of future lives up to enlightenment—must come from their minds. Therefore, how we do that is to cause them to stop their negative actions; we cause them to change their negative mind, their delusions, their wrong concepts, by giving them education, Dharma education, by helping them to understand. By teaching them karma, we teach them what is the real unmistaken cause of happiness and what is the real unmistaken cause of suffering, because sentient beings have totally the wrong idea of what the cause of happiness is.

With no understanding at all of what the real cause of happiness and suffering is, they have totally the wrong idea, the wrong philosophy of what the cause of happiness and suffering is. Because of that, they constantly create the cause of suffering, believing with that philosophy that they will achieve happiness, but what they experience is only suffering now and in future lives. The result is only suffering, only to be born in samsara and to die, continuously, causing them to circle all the time, non-stop. It has no beginning; its causes have been endless and because of that, they must experience all the sufferings again and again in each realm. As the sentient beings reincarnate into each realm, they experience all the sufferings again and again. The philosophy they believe in as the cause of happiness is only the cause of suffering.

By giving them the education of the mind, by giving them the education of the Dharma, karma, by educating them in what is really the unmistaken cause of happiness and the unmistaken cause of suffering, from where all the problems come, by making them understand karma, the cause of happiness and the cause of suffering, the shortcomings of self-cherishing thought and the benefits of cherishing others—this is the basic education of the mind.

Then, we can cause them to live in the vows, in the precepts, which means not engaging in negative karmas, negative actions that harm others and that harms themselves. By living in the precepts, they engage in good karma that brings happiness to themselves, that causes happiness to others. And we can give them the education of the good heart, especially bodhicitta.

By showing them, by educating them in the whole path to liberation and enlightenment, by causing them not only to understand but practice and transform their mind into the path of method and wisdom, we are able to cause them happiness in all their coming future lives, we are able to cause them liberation from samsara, we are able to cause them to achieve enlightenment.

WITHOUT POSITIVE KARMA THERE CAN BE NO HAPPINESS

All this has to come from them. All this happiness has to come from their minds. That’s why, as long as we don’t educate them to change their actions and to change their mind, nothing happens. None of this happiness up to enlightenment happens, just as, from the ground where no seed has been planted, no seed has been cultivated, there are no conditions for anything to grow.

The crop that we want to enjoy doesn’t come just by having the ground alone. It doesn’t come without having cultivated the seed in the ground, fertilizing the ground, making the conditions come together. Then, we can get crops we can enjoy. We cannot get crops with just empty ground, without all this. Similarly, without dealing with their mind, without helping to change their actions and mind, none of this happiness of future lives up to enlightenment will happen.

For sentient beings to even receive help—to receive shelter, money, food, clothing, treatment and so forth—even to receive this help, to have these comforts, these pleasures of this life, even this has to come from their mind. Only if they have the merit, the good karma collected in the past to receive this help, will this happen. Only those who have created the karma will receive help because it depends on good karma. They receive that help because of their good karma, which is the positive intention, the virtuous intention they created in the past.

From their side, if they don’t have the merit, good karma, there will always obstacles, no matter how much we might want to help them. For example, some years ago when there were millions of people starving to death in southern Africa, people from many countries wanted to help and flew so much food into that country to give to the people. But what happened, the poor people themselves got little because it was taken away by others, by the leaders and powerful people. Even though there was outside support, with many people wanting to give, and even though everything was taken there, there were still obstacles for the common people to get it.

And then also there was no water due to drought. I don’t know which country this was, but airplanes brought water in, and by the time the airplanes arrived in that country, the water had become totally undrinkable. The water had completely changed, becoming totally smelly, undrinkable.

This is similar to the suffering of the hungry ghosts. From the distance, they see a waterfall or a water fountain, very nice water, blue or green. They feel so much desire because they have been unable to find drink, even a drop of water, even the wetness on the ground, for hundreds of thousands of years. The suffering of hunger and thirst is billions and billions of times worse than we could ever have. Due to their heavy negative karma, their suffering is much greater. This goes on and on and they don’t die, because of heavy negative karma. Their karma is to live for such an incredibly long time and experience such heavy suffering.

So, when they see this water, their desire becomes unbelievably strong. But then the karmic guardians stop them, blocking them from going to where the water is. And even if there are no karmic guardians frightening them, blocking them, their bodies must endure so much suffering, like a very old man whose body has degenerated and finds it so difficult to walk. Even leaning on a stick it’s extremely difficult to walk. His body feels very heavy; it’s even difficult to get up or sit down, not like us where it is very easy.

The limbs of the hungry ghost are so tiny and their belly is so huge, like a mountain range, due to their karma, so every move is so difficult, so exhausting, like an old man trying to walk. The idea that I have tried to give is that it is so exhausting because their limbs are so tiny and weak, then even if they finally reach the place after all that effort, there is no water. And even if there is water, it’s filled with garbage.

This has come from their mind. There is no inherently existent garbage or pus and blood; this has come from their negative karma; it’s a projection of their negative karma, their untamed mind, delusion. That is the similar to the people in the drought who got water from outside. As soon as it arrived at the airport, the water became completely undrinkable.

Because I talked about how all those other [situations] have come from their mind, by changing their actions into virtuous actions and changing their minds, such as living in the vows and abandoning negative karma, in that way all happiness up to enlightenment also comes from their own minds.

Because I mentioned that, I mentioned that even this life’s happiness—even receiving support in this life and having pleasure and comfort—even that has to come from their own minds, from the merit, the good karma, collected from the past.

The reason I was telling this story is, from their side if they haven’t created the cause, the merit to receive this support, to experience comfort and pleasure, if from their side they haven’t the merit, good karma, then it doesn’t happen. Even talking about receiving help and experiencing pleasure in this life, that has to come from the Dharma. Even this life’s pleasure has to come from their virtuous actions, from good karma, from virtuous thoughts, which is the Dharma.

FOUR THINGS NEEDED FOR SUCCESS

In order to offer service to others, from the happiness of this life and of all the coming future lives all the way to liberation from samsara and full enlightenment, to do perfect work for other sentient beings without any mistakes, first we ourselves should achieve enlightenment. For that, we need to actualize the steps of the path to enlightenment.

For that, we need to do the listening, reflecting and meditating on the graduated path to enlightenment, and then to have the realizations of the path to enlightenment.

For all these to be successful, that depends on four things:

1. The practice of purification
2. The practice of collecting merit
3. The practice of guru devotion
4. The actual meditation on the path

First, we need to do the practice of purification, purifying the obstacles, the defilements, the negative karmas, that interfere with generating the realizations of the path to enlightenment. We need to purify these negative karmas, these defilements, that block the realizations from happening. The need for purification is vital.

Then, we need the practice of collecting merits, that are the necessary conditions for realizations.

Then, there is guru devotion, single-pointedly requesting the guru with guru devotion by looking at the guru as a buddha, from our own side seeing the inseparability of the guru and buddha. Guru devotion causes us to receive blessings within our mind and those blessings cause us to have realizations, to experience the path to enlightenment.

Then, there is the actual meditating on the path, that plants on our mental continuum the seeds of realizations, the meditation making us familiar, transforming the mind into the path.

Therefore, for all this success we need to do these four things: purifying, collecting merit, single-pointedly requesting the guru with guru devotion and the actual meditation on the path.

In our daily life we should practice guru yoga, whether it’s a short version or a long one, a version that has all the important points of the practice. I think the Guru Shakyamuni Buddha Guru Yoga is excellent. I thought to give the lung of that today, but it’s not here.

Condensed in the preliminary practice, there’s a lamrim prayer that was composed by Lama Tsongkhapa, which has all the essence of the path. The guru yoga practice that is also lamrim prayer has the essential practices that I mentioned, with these four things. We should practice at least something short like this every day. Based on something like this, we can elaborate our meditation on the lamrim by using other texts, other longer versions or commentaries, by using our understanding of the lamrim, our own experiences. We can use that to meditate on, to transform our mind into the path to enlightenment like that.

THE FIVE TYPES OF DEFEATS IN BREAKING VOWS

Since the book is not here, I’ll just advertise it! Maybe I’ll go over the benefits of reciting the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names and maybe give some talk on prostration.

I mentioned that even for the fully ordained person there are five divisions or defeats, which, when they arise, make you fall down. There are five divisions.

If you receive a lighter defeat or vice, it is said that one result is the first hell realm, Being Alive Again and Again, where whatever you touch becomes a weapon and then other sentient beings who see you all become your enemy and you attack each other. Many hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of weapons go through your body in just one day. So many pierce the body and you die, but again become alive. This happens many times like this. This is the first hell realm, if you receive this vice.

The next one is the vice that makes you fall down into the lower realm. If you receive that vice, you are reborn in the next hell realm, the black line hell or the gathered and crushed hell. Here you are crushed between the karmic appearance of two mountains in the shape of the heads of the animals, the sentient beings, you have killed. This happens so many times for an incredible length of time. As I mentioned, it is an unimaginable length of time that you have to suffer.

Then, individual confession [?], if this vice is received it causes you to be born in the hell realm called crying. Then, for the remainder, if you received that, that makes you be born in the hell realms called hot and extremely hot.

Then, if you break the root vows and receive the defeat, you are reborn in the lowest hell, the inexhaustible hell, which has the heaviest suffering among the hell realms in samsara, and then you have to suffer for an inconceivable length of time, for one intermediate eon.

Those who are living in the thirty-six vows don’t actually receive the full defeat like that, but it is similar to that if they break the root vows. Breaking these vows, the result is the same in the hell realms.

And then, by having taken the bodhisattva vows, it is said that even if the secondary vows are broken, the negative karma is a hundred thousand times heavier than breaking the pratimoksha root vows. And if you break a secondary tantric vow, that is a hundred thousand times heavier than breaking the bodhisattva root vow. In regard to how heavy the negative karma is, it is like that.

It is mentioned that a person living in ordination, whether it’s as a monk or a nun, being careless of the vows, thinking, “Oh, it doesn’t matter,” even with a small vice, it’s much heavier than a lay person killing a hundred horses and a hundred human beings. 

I think this is explained by Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo. It relates to countries like Mongolia where there are a lot of horses. Everywhere there are horses, probably more than people in Mongolia! I think in Tibet, too, people use a lot of horses. I think it is related to that. So, if a monk or nun living in ordination commits even a small vice, if they think, “Oh, it doesn’t matter,” if they are careless, this is heavier than a lay person killing a hundred horses and a hundred human beings. That is to give an idea of how heavy it is, after having taken ordination, if you are careless about those small vices, not feeling regret, not feeling sorry.

As I explained last night, for a lay person, by thinking of the definition of negative karma, and those particular negative karmas from the ten nonvirtuous actions, if we analyze how many of those we have committed, analyzing them one by one, even just what we can remember in this life, then there are so many we can’t remember in this life and especially from past lives.

With a person living in ordination, by going over the vows and precepts that we have taken, we can understand how many of them we have broken and how many times they have been broken. Therefore, when we think about whether we will achieve a human rebirth in the next life or not, if we were to die now, if we were to die today, within this hour, would we definitely get a good human rebirth to practice Dharma to benefit others?

If we question ourselves, for many of us it becomes difficult to say that we will definitely achieve a human rebirth in the next life with full confidence in our heart. We cannot be fully confident that, were we to die now, today, this hour, we would definitely achieve a human rebirth. It’s difficult to tell. It’s difficult because it’s difficult to find a vow that has been kept purely.

Therefore, besides realizations, just even to be a human being again, if death were to happen this hour, most of us would have no confidence, it would be difficult to say. I think there would be more the feeling that we would be reborn in the lower realms because of all those additional causes, those negative karmas collected, that are the cause of the lower realms.

Therefore, the practice of purification becomes extremely urgent. It becomes very important in everyday life.

THE BENEFITS OF PROSTRATING TO THE THIRTY-FIVE BUDDHAS

It is said in the lamrim teachings composed by Geshe Gyaltsen that Lama Tsongkhapa, before he went to bed, recited the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names thirty-five times. Then, with a very comfortable mind, he went to bed.

It is said in that lamrim teaching that if a very pure ordained person does this practice before the day finishes and then goes to bed, in this way they have already purified the negative karma collected that day; it doesn’t continue into the next day. This is for a pure gelong practitioner, one living in the full ordination. Then the vows are pure.

Each year, in the hermitage cave in Wolka [Cholung] in Tibet, Lama Tsongkhapa did many hundreds of thousands of prostrations with this prayer, reciting the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names, and due to this, he had so many realizations of the path to enlightenment. It is very common in Lama Tsongkhapa’s tradition, in the lineage lamas’ practices, that many gurus including my own gurus, do prostrations with recitation of the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names, even when they have taken the aspect of old age.

Because this is very much the practice of the lineage lamas of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings on the lamrim, we can understand from the benefit of prostrating and reciting the Thirty-five Buddha’s names, how important this practice is, how extremely beneficial it is in our life.

In Lama Tsongkhapa’s life story, I didn’t see so much about practicing the Vajrasattva mantra, even though that is a very common practice in the four Mahayana traditions, but there is so much mention of Lama Tsongkhapa doing prostrations by reciting the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names. So I asked one of my gurus, Denma Locho Rinpoche, one of the high lamas who lives in Dharamsala, below His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Rinpoche said that’s because if we do this practice of the Thirty-five Buddhas just once, reciting this prayer just once, it has the power to purify even the very heavy karma of having killed our father or mother and those who have been very kind to us in this life, particularly our parents who, according to the Dharma, are extremely kind, precious, objects of respect. We can even purify having killed our father and mother or having killed a holy being, an arhat, somebody liberated from the cause of suffering, karma and delusion, or having harmed a buddha, causing blood to flow from the body of a buddha, or having caused disunity among the Sangha—even those heavy negative karmas. If we split the Sangha group into two, causing disunity among them, that is very heavy.

Normally, if we commit one of these heavy negative karmas, right after death, we immediately experience the result of this negative karma in the hell realms, such as the inexhaustible hot hell, the heaviest hell realm. But just by practicing this well, even just by reciting it once, it has that power to purify all these very heavy five uninterrupted negative karmas. They are called uninterrupted because, without the interruption of another life, we are immediately reborn in the hell realm. This practice purifies this. Rinpoche explained that that is why in Lama Tsongkhapa’s life story it says how he did this practice many hundreds of thousands of times.

THE MEANING OF THE NAMES OF THE THIRTY-FIVE BUDDHAS

As I mentioned yesterday, it is said in the texts that by reciting the first buddha’s name [Shakyamuni Buddha], it purifies 80,000 eons’ negative karma. Some texts say 40,000 eons’ negative karma. However, many eons of negative karma get purified by reciting the first buddha’s name. I would rather choose a big number, so we can say 80,000 eons’ negative karma are purified.

Then, by reciting the next one, De zhin sheg pa dor je nying pö rab tu jom pa la chhag tshäl lo, [To Tathagata Thoroughly Destroying with Vajra Essence, I prostrate], it purifies 10,000 eons’ negative karma.

Then next one is De zhin sheg pa rin chhen ö thrö la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Radiant Jewel, I prostrate]. [One of the commentaries is by] Gyaltsab-je, Lama Tsongkhapa’s elder disciple, who became the regent of Lama Tsongkhapa. With Lama Tsongkhapa’s statue, usually on the left and right there are his two heart disciples, one is called Khedrub-je Rinpoche, and the other, looking a bit older, is Gyaltsab-je. According to his commentary, reciting Rin chhen ö thrö la purifies 31,000 eons of negative karma.

Then, the next one is De zhin sheg pa lu wang gi gyäl po la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata King, Lord of the Nagas, I prostrate]. Reciting this purifies 1,000 eons’ negative karma. There’s one text that says 1,000 whereas another text, I think maybe Gyaltsab-je’s, says eight eons’ negative karma.

This one has so many benefits. I’ve seen in a sutra that this one has unbelievable benefits. Reciting this name twenty-one times, even the heavy negative karma that we are definitely going to experience in this life will be purified. The suffering that we will definitely experience in this life gets purified by reciting the name of the Naga King, Lu wang gi gyäl po, twenty-one times.

I don’t remember the whole thing but there are so many benefits, especially [protection against] leprosy and any epidemics and contagious diseases, the infections that spread throughout the body, those ones that are to do with nagas, those sicknesses where there is the additional condition, where other beings are conditions for these sicknesses. Cancer is also to do with the nagas; it is conditioned by nagas. We get so much infection in our body. Any problem with the skin, such as ulcers inside or outside infections, is to do with nagas. And also many times problems with the bones, such as in the arms or the back, are also related to the nagas.

Reciting this Buddha’s name is extremely powerful for healing because in the past, during the time [the Buddha was a] bodhisattva before he became enlightened, so many nagas were sick, and this bodhisattva benefited them so much; he healed so many nagas who were sick. Then, because of this truth that he benefited the nagas, he dedicated that when he became enlightened, anybody who recited his name could be cured of all these diseases caused by nagas.

Whether there is medicine or not, especially when there’s no cure, when a disease is caused by nagas, reciting this Buddha’s name, how much we get healed or how much we can heal others depends so much on how much faith we have. With full confidence, with trust in this Buddha, we recite this to heal others. By praying, we are also telling the nagas that this Buddha benefited them so much in the past, therefore they should now help, they should not harm this person.

We can recite the Naga king’s name, Lu wang gi gyäl po, many times. The person we are trying to help can recite—of course that is very good—but we can recite, in order to heal them. Of course, if the other person recites, that is very good, but here I’m talking about reciting the name of some sick person. It is explained in the teachings, in the sutra by the Buddha, that Lu wang gi gyäl po has so much benefit. It can definitely be used for cancer and all these life-threatening diseases, diseases like arthritis that change the whole body, that also have to do with nagas.

Next is De zhin sheg pa pa wöi de la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Army of Heroes, I prostrate]. This purifies all the negative karmas collected with the speech, I think. One text says 1,000 eons of negative karma is purified.

And then, De zhin sheg pa päl gye la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Delighted Hero, I prostrate]. One text says that reciting this purifies 2,000 eons of negative karma. In Gyaltsab-je’s teaching, it says the negative karma collected with the mind is purified.

Then De zhin sheg pa rin chhen me la chag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Jewel Fire, I prostrate]. This next one purifies 2,000 eons of negative karma as well as the pollution of the Sangha, the negative karma of using the things that belong to the Sangha, such as their food and things.

Even for the Sangha, by living in the monastery, even if they keep the vows purely, or study hard or do whatever service the monastery requires well, it’s OK; it doesn’t become a heavy negative karma. But without any of this, especially not keeping their vows purely, such as taking food that belongs to Sangha and so forth, it becomes great pollution, it becomes heavy negative karma.

Reciting this name purifies this negative karma, this pollution. Whoever has received these negative karmas, ordained or lay, including negative karmas like killing one’s father and mother or an arhat, or causing harm to the Buddha, even though that didn’t happen in this life, these various negative karmas have happened in the past lives. We cannot remember what karmas we have created from beginningless rebirths. Even so, because there is a possibility we have created them in many other lifetimes, we need to purify them.

Then De zhin sheg pa rin chhen da ö la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Jewel Moonlight, I prostrate]. This purifies 8,000 eons of negative karma. One text says 8,000 eons and another says 1,000 eons.

Then the next one is De zhin sheg pa thong wa dön yö la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Meaningful to See, I prostrate]. Reciting this purifies the negative karmas of having criticized an arya being, which means those beings who have the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, who have the realization of the true path and the true cessation of suffering, those arya paths.

And also, since we don’t have clairvoyance, we don’t have full knowledge to be able to read others’ minds, to be able to understand others’ level of mind, we cannot tell who is a buddha and who is not a buddha, who is an arya being and who is not an arya being. Since we cannot see the realizations that are in others’ minds, it is difficult to tell. So, there’s always a possibility when we criticize other people, we are criticizing holy beings, even though to society they are not known as holy beings.

Then, the next one is De zhin sheg pa rin chhen da wa la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Jewel Moon, I prostrate]. In general this Buddha purifies all those very heavy five uninterrupted negative karmas and in particular having killed your mother.

De zhin sheg pa dri ma me pa la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Stainless One, I prostrate]. This one purifies not the actual five uninterrupted negative karmas but the five near uninterrupted negative karmas, which are a little less heavy, but it also purifies having killed your father. 

And then next one, De zhin sheg pa päl jin la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Bestowed with Courage, I prostrate], purifies the negative karma of having killed somebody, particularly an arhat. It also says it purifies negative karmas created with anger.

Then next one, De zhin sheg pa tshang pa la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Pure One, I prostrate] purifies the negative karmas collected with attachment. Any negative karmas done out of attachment are purified. It says in the Gyaltsab-je’s commentary that it purifies having killed an arhat, which was already mentioned in the previous Buddha’s name.

Reciting De zhin sheg pa tshang pä jin la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Bestowed with Purity, I prostrate] purifies negative karmas collected with the attachment. In the commentary of Gyaltsab-je, it says it purifies negative karmas that cause disunity among the Sangha. This is regarded as a very heavy thing to do.

In Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand it is mentioned that having criticized the Sangha or causing disunity among the Sangha is very, very heavy negative karma. It says that for whatever the length of time [you have created the negative karma], you have to be born in the hell realm due to these karmas created with the Sangha. Those who have read Liberation of the Palm of Your Hand [pp. 138–143] by Pabongka Rinpoche completely might remember. It’s mentioned there.

Reciting this Buddha’s name purifies misdeeds like using things that belong to the Sangha without permission, using them for your own purpose. An example is sometimes using even the ashes from the kitchen fire or brooms from the Sangha kitchen, using them for your own purpose without asking permission. So, there is no question about using money that belongs to the Sangha. This is talking about not using it for the benefit of the Sangha but using it for yourself without permission.

That’s why when I do the refuge prayer—not every time but usually—I add an additional mala of taking refuge in the Sangha than in the Buddha and Dharma, because the karma is very heavy so during refuge practice we can purify by counting more “Namo sanghaya” or “Ge dün la kyab su chhi o.” The purpose is that. 

Of course, anything negative done in connection to the Guru is the heaviest one.

I’ll just go straight from here. De zhin sheg pa chhu lha la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Water God, I prostrate] purifies 10,000 eons of negative karmas as well as the negative karma caused by harming a buddha, by drawing blood from a buddha. That gets purified.

De zhin sheg pa chhu lhäi lha la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Deity of the Water God, I prostrate] purifies a particular heavy negative karma, talking about the mistakes of an arhat. It purifies 5,000 eons of negative karma and the particular negative karma of having killed a bodhisattva, those heavy negative karmas. 

If we look at somebody who has a bodhicitta realization, who not even for one second has the thought of seeking happiness for themselves, but only ever has the thought of seeking happiness for others, of working for others, only the thought of cherishing other sentient beings, who has that realization, constantly, naturally, spontaneously feeling it from the heart, who has totally transformed the mind, we call that person a bodhisattva. So, we can understand just how heavy the negative karma is of killing a bodhisattva.

If we look at a bodhisattva with a negative, disrespectful manner, what’s the word, glaring—if we glare angrily at a bodhisattva like this, the negative karma is heavier than having taken the eyeballs out of all the sentient beings of the desire realm, the form realm and the formless realm. I think that means looking with a negative thought, I don’t think it’s just in a joking manner but seriously doing it with a negative thought. Anyway, this negative karma of glaring at a bodhisattva in that disrespectful manner is much heavier than taking out the eyeballs of all the sentient beings of the three realms—the desire realm, the form realm and the formless realm—so if we actually killed a bodhisattva, there is no question how heavy that would be.

Why is it so heavy? Because it is extremely rare to generate this bodhicitta, this selfless non-egoistic attitude that leaves behind seeking happiness for oneself. This attitude is something so precious; it is most wish-fulfilling. It gives happiness to all sentient beings.

The next one is De zhin sheg pa päl zang la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Glorious Goodness, I prostrate]. This one purifies 5,000 eons of negative karma, particularly the negative karma of having killed the guru, your own spiritual master. There is no question how heavy having killed your own spiritual master is, but that very heavy negative karma is purified by reciting this Buddha’s name.

De zhin sheg pa tsän dän päl la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Glorious Sandalwood, I prostrate] purifies 7,000 eons of negative karma, it says.

I don’t know whether I mentioned before or not but chhu lha la is 10,000; chhu lhäi lha la is 5,000 and päl zang la is 5,000—all these numbers mean eons, not years. 

Tsän dän päl la purifies 7,000 eons of negative karma. The particular negative karma it purifies is that, if you are a manager of a monastery, a manager of the Sangha, you don’t offer whatever people offer to the Sangha—offerings, food, money, clothing, whatever—due to miserliness. You stop the offerings getting to the Sangha. Say, somebody wants to offer something to the Sangha, you tell them that they don’t need it, that the Sangha are too rich, or you say something like, “This Sangha doesn’t practice” or “This Sangha is lazy so don’t make an offering,” or something like that. Anyway, I’m just making up a story. The other person had already decided to offer something but you stop them. That is very heavy negative karma.

Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand mentions that the benefactor is offering butter because in Tibet they make tea with butter. Tibetan tea means with salt and butter, so usually benefactors make lots of butter offerings to the monastery. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo, the great enlightened being, used the example of the benefactor offering butter to the Sangha, then cutting one slice of the butter, like when you cut cheese, thinking, “Oh, they don’t need this.” The benefactor has already offered to the Sangha in their mind, but then you say, “This is too much. They don’t need that much.” Even stopping the benefactor offering one slice of butter they have already mentally offered to the Sangha becomes a very heavy negative karma.

Normally managers or the head of monasteries, if they don’t know karma well, especially all these details in the section on refuge, how all these negative karmas can be created with the Sangha, for them there is great danger of committing so many heavy negative karmas, either wanting to take away [what belongs to the Sangha] or stopping benefactors making offerings to the Sangha they have already [mentally] offered. With this Buddha, these heavy negative karmas are purified.

With De zhin sheg pa zi ji tha yä la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Infinite Splendor, I prostrate], 7,000 eons of negative karma are purified. The particular negative karma purified is destroying a stupa. Stupas represent the Buddha’s holy mind, so whether it’s big or small, making one stupa directs your life toward enlightenment. Building one stupa becomes unbelievable purification and you collect unimaginable merits. The particular negative karma of destroying this holy object is purified by reciting this Buddha’s name.

Then De zhin sheg pa ö päl la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Glorious Light, I prostrate] purifies negative karmas collected with hatred. We get infinite benefit, merit.

Reciting De zhin sheg pa nya ngän me päi päl la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Sorrowless Glory, I prostrate] purifies negative karma collected with attachment. There are so many actions done out of attachment. That’s where most of our life goes. We live our life with attachment and, because of that, most of the actions are done with attachment, which create negative karma. Those negative karmas are purified by reciting this Buddha’s name. Another text says it also purifies negative karma collected with ignorance. 

De zhin sheg pa se me kyi bu la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Son of Non-Craving, I prostrate] purifies 10,000 eons of negative karma and, as well as that, the negative imprints are purified.

WHAT’S MORE TERRIFYING, HELL OR CREATING NEGATIVE IMPRINTS?

I sometimes ask what is more terrifying, hell or creating negative imprints? From my analysis, the most terrifying thing is not hell, not the suffering of hell, but the negative imprints we have on our mental continuum. If this is there, hell comes from that. All the problems in the six realms, all the sufferings of samsara come from this negative imprint. All our human beings’ problems come from this negative imprint.

If there’s no cause, if there is no negative imprint, how is it possible in this life to experience the suffering result created in a previous life? How is it possible? No way.

Even though physically there’s a break from the past life’s body and this life’s body, there’s a continuation of the consciousness. Why do we have to suffer in this life? Why do we have to experience problems in this life? Since birth, why do we have to experience suffering, pain and undesirable feelings?

There are the negative imprints left on the mental continuum. A child can have a naturally compassionate attitude, without having been taught by anybody how to develop compassion. Without being taught by anybody, the child has so much compassion for people and animals. When somebody beats another person or kills an insect, the child can’t stand it; they cry so much.

This happens because in their past life they practiced compassion. Their mind became habituated to it, it became trained in compassion. Then, the positive imprints left on the mental continuum mean that in this life, their mind naturally does the same thing, feeling compassion for others. Even from birth, from childhood, they naturally do that, without being educated by somebody to do it. It comes from the side of the child.

It's the same with a child who is so impatient or so selfish from early childhood, who immediately wants to kill when they see insects or who wants to harm others, who has a very angry nature or is very selfish. In their past life they have become habituated to that attitude and the negative imprints are left on the mental continuum. The mental continuum carries these imprints in this life, which are experienced out. From these negative imprints arise jealousy, anger, selfishness, all these things.

That’s why I say that the negative imprints are much more terrifying than the hell realm. We experience the hell realm once and then it is finished. Its duration is according to karma; there’s a certain amount of time, and then it is finished. It’s not forever.

Even though Christianity mentions forever, logically it’s not forever. We experience the karma, then by experiencing it, the karma finishes. When the karma finishes, we are over that suffering.

Then if another virtuous karma is stronger, we experience that. Then we have happiness. If another negative karma is stronger, we experience that, and another suffering is experienced. But if there are negative imprints on the mental continuum, that’s what is produced, that’s what is projected. That’s what produces hell again and again, again and again.

With negative imprints, all the difficulties are produced from those negative imprints again and again. If the negative imprints are there, if they are not eliminated by the remedy, by the path, if they are not purified, [we must experience them]. That is why I say negative imprints are much more terrifying than the hell realm, whose name we can’t even bear to hear.

This is a good technique that we can apply. For example, in our daily life, if we habitually do things with attachment or with anger, if we do nonvirtuous actions, if these delusions arise uncontrollably, then we will repeat these nonvirtuous actions again and again with the body, the speech or the mind. These delusions arise so strongly that no matter how much we dislike having this particular problem, somehow we go under their control, somehow we have to follow the delusion again and again. Then all these bad habits, these nonvirtuous actions, happen again and again, whether it’s stealing, sexual misconduct or killing, whatever it is, we have to do it again and again.

So, taking the example of anger, we should think at that time, “I should not get angry because it leaves a negative imprint on my negative continuum, and that makes me become angry again in the future.” Leaving the negative imprint on the mind makes it possible for anger to arise again.

We should see this danger clearly, how by leaving the negative imprint even once on our mental continuum now, it is so harmful to us, to our life, how it is dangerous, destroying our happiness, our chance to attain good qualities, realizations, liberation and enlightenment. It harms us not only today, not only in this life, but in all our coming future lives. Becoming angry again and again harms us; it destroys us. And it is the imprint of anger that makes this arise.

If we think like this, it’s very helpful. It gives us some courage to not get angry or to not allow desire to arise, this strong desire that controls us by leaving the negative imprint again and again, so that in the future again and again it gives birth to desire. Desire arises again and that completely controls us. It takes us over and we have no freedom, no choice. We are completely overwhelmed by attachment, and so it goes on, polluting our mind, obscuring our mind from having realizations, from realizing emptiness, the ultimate nature of the phenomena, and so forth. Not only that, it causes so much confusion. It gives so much harm to other sentient beings.

Thinking of the harmfulness of the negative imprint, how even this one time it can harm us in so many lifetimes in the future, is a very good technique to defeat the delusions. Normally delusions defeat us, so this time we can defeat the delusions, we can control the delusions.

THE MEANING OF THE NAMES OF THE THIRTY-FIVE BUDDHAS (BACK TO)

The next one, De zhin sheg pa se me kyi bu la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Son of Non-Craving, I prostrate], purifies 10,000 eons of having created negative karma.

Then De zhin sheg pa me tog päl la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Glorious Flower, I prostrate] purifies 100,000 eons of negative karma.

It also says this buddha’s name purifies the negative karmas of body. And if you recite it twenty-one times and you have flowers and you offer them, sprinkling them on stupas and holy objects, all your wishes get fulfilled.

Then, De zhin sheg pa tshang päi ö zer nam par röl pä ngön par khyen pa la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Pure Light Rays Clearly Knowing by Play, I prostrate] purifies a thousand eons of negative karma. One text says a thousand eons of negative karma and another one says it purifies negative karmas collected with speech.

By reciting De zhin sheg pa pä mäi ö zer nam par röl pä ngön par kyen pa la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Lotus Light Rays Clearly Knowing by Play, I prostrate], this purifies seven eons of negative karma and the negative karmas collected with the mind are purified. 

De zhin sheg pa nor päl la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Glorious Wealth, I prostrate] also purifies negative karmas, negative imprints. Another text says when the mind is contaminated by pollution of the Sangha, which means using the Sangha’s things, it purifies this. With devotion people offer things to the Sangha—food, clothing, money and whatever—and you receive this from the Sangha.

De zhin sheg pa drän päi päl la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Glorious Mindfulness, I prostrate] purifies negative karmas of body. In Gyaltsab-je’s commentary, it says it purifies negative karmas collected with the body and in another text it says it purifies negative karmas of having criticized other people. Maybe sometimes also criticized for other people! I’m joking a little bit!

De zhin sheg pa tshän päl shin tu yong drag la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Glorious Name Widely Renowned, I prostrate] purifies the negative karma collected through jealousy. Another text says that one particular negative karma that it purifies is being unhappy that the Buddha has descended to this world, the mind disliking that. If we have collected those negative karmas they are purified.

With De zhin sheg pa wang pöi tog gi gyäl tshän gyi gyäl po la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata King Holding the Victory Banner of Foremost Power, I prostrate], Gyaltsab-je’s commentary says the negative karmas collected through jealousy are purified, whereas another text says the negative karmas collected with pride.

The next one, De zhin sheg pa shin tu nam par nön päi päl la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Glorious One Totally Subduing, I prostrate], the negative karmas collected from slandering are purified. Another text says causing other sentient beings to commit negative karma, these negativities are purified.

Then De zhin sheg pa yül lä shin tu nam par gyäl wa la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Utterly Victorious in Battle, I prostrate] purifies negative karmas collected with pride. Another text says all the delusions are purified.

De zhin sheg pa nam par nön pä sheg päi päl la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Glorious Transcendence Through Subduing, I prostrate] purifies the negative karmas collected by slandering as well as causing others to create negative karma. According to Gyaltsab-je, it purifies slandering whereas another text says it purifies causing others to commit negative karma.

De zhin sheg pa kün nä nang wa kö päi päl la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Glorious Manifestations Illuminating All, I prostrate] purifies the negative karma of wrongly rejoicing. This is rejoicing in our own negative karma.

REJOICING IN NONVIRTUE AND IN VIRTUE

For example, if we insult or harshly provoke an enemy, somebody we don’t like, if we harm them and then afterwards we feel happy about it, that is wrong rejoicing. Or if we kill an animal or a human being we don’t like, and we feel happy, that is wrong rejoicing. Also, if somebody we don’t like has a problem, if they die or get sick or some problem happens, and we feel happy, that’s wrong rejoicing.

This is also very important to know. Perhaps there’s a country that we don’t like. For example, in the case of Tibetans, it’s the Communist Chinese, Beijing. When there is hatred there, say, somebody killed a million Chinese, whether it’s in Tibet or in China, if the Tibetan person rejoiced while they were sitting on the meditation cushion, thinking how good that is and feeling happiness in the heart, even though they didn’t do the killing, even though they have never killed one person, by rejoicing that these million Communist Chinese were killed, that Tibetan person collects the same heavy karma as having killed one million people, exactly the same. So, this is very dangerous. If you don’t know the details about karma, it’s very, very dangerous.

Just while we are sitting on the meditation cushion, where we are supposed to be practicing virtue, we can create mountains of negative karma, the size of this earth. As much negative karma as there are atoms of this earth we can collect very easily.

So now the positive way! For example, let’s say somebody comes to Kopan and whole-heartedly rejoices in this monastery and all these temples, thinking, “How wonderful this is, that these people who built this monastery collected so much unbelievable merit. How wonderful this is.” If we rejoice that other people built these monastery buildings, thinking how wonderful it is, even though we didn’t build them, we didn’t put any effort into the building, in the sense of merit, if we simply rejoice in those people who built them, we collect so much merit just by thinking how wonderful it is building these temples.

Even though we didn’t put in one single effort or offer one single rupee to build this monastery, we collect so much merit. If the level of mind of the person who is rejoicing is higher than the people who built this monastery, they collect even more merit than the people who actually built it. If that person’s level of mind is the same as the people who built the monastery here, they get the same amount of merit. If their level of mind is lower than the people who built this monastery, they get half the merit of the other person who built this monastery.

For example, with the Boudha stupa, the huge stupa, if we rejoice, thinking how wonderful it is that this family, the mother and her four children, built this stupa, how they collected unbelievable merit; if we rejoice, thinking how wonderful is this, even though we didn’t put one single effort or any money at all to build that stupa, we collect the same amount of merit that they collected.

It’s the same if somebody has built a very large statue of the Buddha or something, we collect unbelievable, incredible merit. I’m not going into details, talking about the benefits of statues. If I’m going into that, then the sun might rise and it might be morning! Anyway, I’m not going to go on that trip! If we know the points, the practice of rejoicing is really the most profitable practice, in the case of collecting extensive merit within a minute, within a second, just like that.

When we see beautiful monasteries, statues or stupas, so huge, so beautiful, that have been built by somebody, especially when we make pilgrimage and go to see the temples, when we rejoice in those people who built these, how they have collected unbelievable merit, how wonderful it is, in that minute, in those few seconds, we collect the same amount of merit.

Somebody else worked so hard to do the fundraising, to make the organization, so many people put so much effort for years to build this and to do fundraising and have so many worries and all these things. They went through so many hardships to build this to preserve the Dharma, to build these holy objects for sentient beings, to purify their minds, for them to collect extensive merit and allow their minds to have realizations, to be able to change their minds due to the existence of these holy objects, these temples, these monasteries, these facilities to learn the Dharma, for the Sangha and lay people to practice.

So many people put so much effort, they worked so hard and went through so many problems and hardships for so many years to build all these holy objects including the temples, monasteries and so forth. But here, if we rejoice in all the extensive merit they collected, thinking, “How wonderful that is,” in that minute, in that second, we collect that same extensive merit that they’ve collected by building these holy objects, this monastery. We collect extensive merit without any material expenses, without any effort.

So especially, when we go on pilgrimage or when we go to see temples, monasteries or holy objects, it’s very good to practice rejoicing. It’s one of the limbs of the preliminary practice of the seven limbs, which are how we can make our meditation successful, how we can make realizations possible. What seven-limb practice does is these three things: purification, collecting merit and increasing the merit collected by dedicating them, which is the last limb. Because this makes it possible to have realizations in our mind, it is very good.

Generally, in our daily life, we should practice rejoicing, not only when we do the prayer in the Guru Puja, or where the sadhana has the seven-limb practice. Even at other times, when we read a newspaper or watch TV, when we see people who are successful, who have a beautiful house, a limousine or any good thing [we should rejoice]. In daily life we should practice rejoicing, not only when we do prayers, sitting in meditation, but even at those other times. It’s very important, even if somebody has a lesbian—not a lesbian, a limousine!—we should rejoice, thinking, “How wonderful it is.” If somebody has a beautiful house we should rejoice, “How wonderful is this person’s beautiful house.” When somebody has found a wonderful, beautiful friend, we should rejoice, thinking, “How wonderful that this person has found a wonderful friend, a very beautiful friend.” And if somebody has success in business, we can rejoice, “How wonderful is that.”

Any good thing that happens to others, we can rejoice, “How wonderful it is,” because this is part of the deeds of the bodhisattvas, those holy beings. They are always very happy at others’ happiness and they feel unbearable when others are suffering. When they see some good thing happening to others, they feel so happy. Just as a mother feels for her beloved child, when there’s even a small problem, the mother feels it is so unbearable, and when even some small good thing happens, she is so happy.

If we rejoice, besides the extensive merit we achieve, it does not just stop there. Say, somebody has built a very beautiful temple or something, and we rejoice. By rejoicing, we create the karma to build the same kind of thing in the near future, to do the same extensive works that the other person did to benefit others.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama gives peace and happiness to so many millions of people in the world, awakening many millions of people, giving light to the darkness in the mind and the darkness of ignorance. If we rejoice in His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s activities, in his qualities, we not only collect so much merit, but what happens is we become like that in the near future. We are able to benefit so many sentient beings; we are able to enlighten so many sentient beings.

When we see thangkas of buddhas or bodhisattvas, when we put our palms together and rejoice, especially if we know their life stories, their deeds, their qualities, if we rejoice, thinking, “How wonderful it is”, and we pray, “May I be able to offer infinite benefit to all sentient beings like you by having the same quality within me as you have.” When we see statues or paintings of buddhas, like Lama Tsongkhapa and so forth, and we rejoice and pray like that, sooner or later we will become like that. We can offer skies of benefit to numberless sentient beings by having the same qualities. This is the way to create the cause.

It is said in the teachings that the whole Dharma is like the condition, it is up to the tip of the wish. That means, as we intend, as we generally wish, everything that happens is due to the power of the mind.

The heaviest suffering of hell is due to the power of the negative mind and, conversely, enlightenment, the greatest bliss, also happens due to the power of the mind, but the virtuous mind, the positive mind. Everything that happens in our life, everything that exists, happens due to the power of the mind. So, if we generate the wish like this prayer, that creates the result. It means the result will happen.

It is also mentioned that in the sutras that the wishes of a person who has merit will succeed; this destroys the multitudes of maras and will lead to enlightenment. For one who has collected extensive merit, because there’s a cause, merit, all our wishes are fulfilled. The most important wish is that all the delusions are destroyed and we achieve enlightenment. That’s the highest, most important achievement in life.

I’m talking about the benefits of collecting merit. Maybe, I won’t go further than that.

Anyway, there is some emphasis on mind coming maybe tomorrow when I explain about prostrations.

THE MEANING OF THE NAMES OF THE THIRTY-FIVE BUDDHAS (BACK TO)

Now there are only two or three names left. 

De zhin sheg pa kün nä nang wa kö päi päl la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata Glorious Manifestations Illuminating All, I prostrate], This Buddha purifies the negative karma or wrong rejoicing.

By reciting De zhin sheg pa rin chhen pä mäi nam par nön pa la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata All-Subduing Jewel Lotus, I prostrate], it purifies the negative karma having abandoned the holy Dharma. This one is another heavy negative karma.

What is avoiding the Dharma? One way to understand is that, because we are practicing Mahayana Buddhism, we criticize the Hinayana teachings, saying that while they might be the Buddha’s teaching, they are no good. That’s avoiding the holy Dharma.

[Someone sneezes] Recently somebody asked me what we should say when we sneeze! I just remembered after sneezing. I think I said, “You can say, ‘empty!’” That reminds us of emptiness. When we say empty, it helps the other person. If they know the meaning of emptiness it is helpful; it reminds them of the emptiness of inherent existence. It becomes a meditation. Even if it’s just a second, it’s still a meditation, thinking of the meaning.

So anyway, while we accept that the Hinayana teachings were taught by Buddha, if we criticize them, saying they are no good, that’s avoiding the holy Dharma.

Another example. We believe we are a Mahayanist, but we criticize the Vajrayana teachings, saying they are not Buddha’s teaching. We look at them as negative, while they are the Buddha’s teachings, taught by Buddha. The Vajrayana teachings are also part of the Mahayana.

In some places, like in Hong Kong or in Taiwan, Buddhism seemed to be divided into three: Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana. When you divide like that, the Vajrayana Tantra teaching do not seem to be Mahayana teachings. That is totally wrong. Within the Mahayana teaching taught by Buddha, there are Sutra and Tantra.

Therefore, in Singapore, Hong Kong and especially in Taiwan, when I introduce it, I always say “Mahayana Vajrayana.” I always bring in the Mahayana when I mention Vajrayana or Tantra, to make people understand that it’s Mahayana, that the tantric teachings are not separate from Mahayana.

While it’s a teaching taught by Buddha, some abbots in Taiwan accept Vajrayana, but they also assert that there is pure Vajrayana and not pure Vajrayana. Maybe some don’t have the knowledge. Maybe because it has the name “tantra” and Hindus also call it tantra, they think this is a Hindu practice and it’s not taught by the Buddha. While the Mahayana Tantra teachings are taught by the Buddha, by thinking that they are not the Buddha’s teaching and rejecting them, that is also avoiding the holy Dharma.

We must not avoid the holy Dharma. When we take refuge in the Dharma, that means any teaching. If we see even a torn page from a Dharma book, even a few lines of Dharma, if we see it on the floor, in the garbage, we should pick it up and think, “This is the actual Dharma. It will liberate me from samsara’s sufferings.” And then we respectfully put it on the head and place it in a high, clean place. This is a part of the practice.

Therefore, respecting the Hinayana teachings and the Vajrayana, teachings taught by the Buddha, of course, it becomes the basic refuge practice. Even though we are not doing that practice right now, we respect it.

For example, some Theravadin monks say the Mahayana teachings are not taught by the Buddha. They look at them negatively or think they have been made up by Tibetan lamas, or just made up by Nagarjuna. Some who are a little better say they came from Nagarjuna not from the Buddha. Looking at them negatively like that is also avoiding the Dharma.

Then there are certain scriptures, like philosophical texts, while they are the Buddha’s teaching, we might think “These don’t help my mind. What use are they?” That’s also avoiding the holy Dharma. Some philosophical texts we don’t understand, we find too difficult, when we think they are useless, rejecting them in that way, not respecting them, that’s avoiding the holy Dharma. In that kind of case, what we should do is think that we don’t understand them now, but we put them aside and determine that in the future we will understand them. We should respect them like that.

It’s the same with the four Tibetan traditions: Sakya, Kagyü, Nyingma and Gelug. While they are all the Buddha’s teachings, if we think one is bad because it doesn’t come from whatever tradition we follow, we are also avoiding the holy Dharma.

So, reciting this name purifies this heavy negative karma.

The last name is De zhin sheg pa dra chom pa yang dag par dzog päi sang gyä rin po chhe dang pä ma la rab tu zhug pa ri wang gi gyäl po la chhag tshäl lo [To Tathagata, Arhat, Perfectly Completed Buddha, King of the Lord of Mountains Firmly Seated on Jewel and Lotus, I prostrate]. I normally try to recite this one—not in every case but normally—three times because it is very important. It purifies the negative karmas of criticizing the guru. If we have criticized the guru either verbally or mentally, not just the gurus in the world but our own guru, we have broken samaya with the guru, all these negative karmas get purified by reciting this last name.

This is the heaviest negative karma and the heaviest obstacle for realization, so normally I try to recite this three times, but not in every case.

Why does reciting the names of these Buddhas have so much power? Why do they carry so much power to affect the mind? This also comes from the mind of each of these Buddhas, from their intention, from their bodhicitta, from the compassion. All these powers basically came from the compassion they generated for us sentient beings before they became enlightened, when they were bodhisattvas following the path.

Lama Atisha said that when these Thirty-five Buddhas were bodhisattvas doing the bodhisattva deeds, they each made a prayer: “When I become enlightened, anybody who recites my name, who thinks of my name, and who does prostrations, may that sentient being purify such and such a negative karma.”

So, each Buddha dedicated himself so that when he became enlightened his name would be so useful, so beneficial. Remembering, reciting their names purifies all those different negative karmas. They made a prayer, “For anybody who recites my name and does prostrations, may this negative karma be purified.”

I think you have already gone through this, but one of the ten powers that buddhas achieve is the power of prayer. As they made the prayer before they were enlightened, achieving the power of prayer makes their names work like an atomic bomb. It has all the potential, all the power, to destroy the delusions the minute it is used. The minute we recite the name, with prostrations, it affects our delusion, it purifies our negative karma, just as an atomic bomb destroys the country or the world. Basically, the very root came from the compassion that they generated for all us sentient beings.

I think I’ll stop here tonight. Then maybe tomorrow I’ll explain how to do the meditation with the prostrations.

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Notes

³ See this verse: To the Kadam Män Ngagpa Lineage (Pith Instruction) in the FPMT Retreat Prayer Book. [Return to text]