Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling

Teachings
Teachings by Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche
Hosted by Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark

24-25 July 2015

These transcripts were typed by Joan Nicell

simultaneously with the teachings.
They were NOT checked against the audio recordings.
They are meant to be read in conjunction with watching
the videos of Rinpoches teachings.
All errors are the fault of the transcriber.
A checked word-for-word transcript will be available in the future.
FPMT Inc., 2015

Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015

An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings by Joan Nicell

24 July 2015, 8:00 PM Medicine Buddha Preparation

Good afternoon, good evening. Before the talk we are going to pay homage to our kind
compassionate to us sentient beings, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, and then Buddha, Dharma, and
Sangha, paying homage to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, then maybe we will recite the Essence of
Wisdom,
a believer or non-believer it is the most important thing to actualize ultimate wisdom, it is the
most important thing, to eliminate the root of samsara, to eliminate directly the root of samsara,
the root of all suffering, not just cancer, not just diarrhea, not just a headache, the entire suffering
or rebirth, old age, sickness, death, if you dont want to die then you have to actualize, if you dont
want to be reborn, if you dont want to get old or fall sick you must actualize ultimate wisdom
realizing the ultimate truth, you have to know what is the I, we have been believing in I from
beginningless rebirths, not only from this morning, not only from the time of conception, no, from
beginningless rebirths we have been believing in I, doing everything for the I, doing everything for
the I, to get power, to get happiness, to get power, to get everything for the I, but we dont know
what the I is, it is very, very strange that we dont know what the I is but we do everything for the
I, can you imagine? You spend a billion dollars, zillion dollars, those who have dollars you spend
everything, also those who have one dollar, everything, you are slave to the I, kind of like that, but
you dont know what the I is, you have no idea of the I, very strange, completely strange. If you
have power in this world you kill millions of people, if you have power so somebody you dont like,
you want everybody to have blond hair and blue eyes, you have a particular interest, if you have
power you kill all the other people, you put children in the fire, in so many ways, if you have power
you kill many millions of people, it happened in this world many times already, if it were new you
wouldnt believe it, if somebody were to tell you this will happen you wouldnt believe it but it
already happened, if somebody has power you do that, for the I, not for the world, not for world
peace, no, for the I, but you dont know what the I is, it is very strange, so strange, really strange, it
is very interesting subject, you do everything, we go to kindergarten, primary school, college,
university, get highest degree, get a job and make money, it is all for the I, for the happiness of the
I, to get known in the world, if you want to be known in the world, not only by old people but also
by young people known in the world, all this for this I, but you see, like me, I have no idea what
the I is, all you worry about is the I but you dont know what is the I, all your worries, in the world
things went down, after the two towers were blown away by the Muslim, Bin Laden, the two
towers were blown, people this I is going to suffer, this I is going to get difficulties but you dont
know what the I is, you dont know where the I is, my idea is that this is very, very strange. The
whole life worried about the I, can you imagine? The whole life work for the I, can you imagine?
Inner science, if you look for, if you check where it is, where it is if you check, you cant find it, the
minute you check you cant find it, but you spend the whole life worried about it, is it going to get
sick, this and that, the I wants to get comfort and happiness, so much grasping, so strongly
grasping to that then you dislike discomfort, the more you are attached to the happiness of this I
when discomfort comes anger comes and so much dislike, so life is up and down, the other one is
attachment, also anger, or dislike, unhappy, life down. Because so much attached to the happiness
of the I, to comfort, then when that happens so much pain and discomfort, the mind is so down,
so both are suffering, no peace in the mind, no inner peace, no peace, no Dharma happiness, no
peace, when you by realizing this is suffering in nature, that is why temporary happiness, why it
is temporary is because it is suffering in nature, therefore it cant continue and increases whereas
Dharma happiness can continue and increase. When there is no grasping to that, when discomfort
arises it doesnt bother you much. So you equalize those two things for your mind, so you have
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Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015

An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings by Joan Nicell

inner peace, Dharma happiness, inner peace, then also so much grasping to a reputation, so much
want a reputation, then when there is a bad reputation or not a good reputation, a bad
reputation, then again your mind falls down, so much suffering, no reputation, because so
attachment to reputation, grasping mind, not peaceful mind, no peaceful mind, believing this is
real pure happiness while it is not pure happiness, while it is not, so this strong attachment to
reputation, so much longing for that then you have so much dislike for not having a reputation, if
you dont have expectation, no attachment, then not having reputation you are free, you dont
suffer, you dont have strong dislike so you are free and have Dharma happiness, in the heart,
there is no attachment so equalize for your mind, so there is Dharma happiness and peace, real
peace and joy come. Somebody who is so attached to praise, then because of that, that tortures
you, then somebody criticizes you there is so much anger and dislike, you suffer so much, you go
down with the suffering due to believing this is real happiness, pure happiness, while it is not.
Then somebody has so grasping mind to material things, like birthday presents, birthday presents
or, I only had one birthday since I was born, this year, this year somebody figured out my age, they
just made up my birthday, some students made up my birthday this year, it was kind of funny. For
me it is not a happy thing to have a birthday, it is strange, I mean you are born every day, every
hour, previously, your old one yesterday is gone, then today and tomorrow come, then previous
hour old one is gone, now next hour to come, now present hour, so every hour, every minute,
every second from birth, it wasnt pleasant thing, it wasnt a happy thing for me, but I thought well
the only way is, in the world people, there are numberless people, so many people without food,
no house, sick, so many people suffer, for example, not thinking as Buddhists of building holy
objects, statues, stupas, scriptures, offering to sangha who are studying, learning Buddhism, really
preserving Buddhism and spreading Buddhism in the world, all the happiness they give chance to
yourself and sentient beings to have happiness in all the next lives, then liberation from samsara,
ultimate happiness, then sang-gy, the total elimination of all obscurations and the completion of
all the realizations up to enlightenment, so they give opportunity to know and to awaken yourself
and sentient beings, sentient beings to wake up who are sleeping in ignorance from beginningless
rebirths to wake up and you educate them, help them to see all these levels of happiness you can
achieve by following the correct path, the essence of course is to develop compassion for all
sentient beings and to develop ultimate wisdom, there are so many ways to collect merits, more
than skies of merit with bodhichitta, there is so much you can do, even a non-believer so many
sentient beings are suffering, they need, can you imagine, wow, wow, wow, so much they need
help, so to make yourself useful to help them, it is so good to help them, that is very good, very
practical. There are so many sentient beings with so much suffering, so to be able to help them
then there is no regret, so many suffering sentient beings got happiness or you reduced their
happiness, that is incredible, it is good, it is fulfilling your life, your mind, your heart, not only
satisfied but feeling worthwhile, but of course people in the world, there are some with good
heart but most people even they are billionaires, zillionaires, trillionaires, then what else?
Trillionaires, I dont know, they dont know how to use material things, they have them but dont
know how to make them beneficial, no idea, no education, even though you study in university, all
these things, you finish but you received no education how to make one hundred dollars beneficial
for sentient beings, you have no idea, so sad, terribly sad. No matter whether billionaire,
zillionaire, trillionaire, very sad, then what you can do? You try to achieve happiness that you see
in the world, flying there and here, you try, try to buy, the more you have the more
dissatisfaction, the more you try to get the more dissatisfaction, you build up dissatisfaction, not
building up satisfaction but building up dissatisfaction, very sad, that is why many are suicidal, they
dont know the meaning of life, so many are suicidal because they dont know the meaning of life,
they haven't met Dharma, haven't met Dharma, haven't met Buddha-Dharma, dont know the
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Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015

An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings by Joan Nicell

meaning of life, so many people in the life kill themselves even though they have everything, even
though they are billionaires, zillionaires, trillionaires. This is simply because they dont know
Dharma, they dont know what life is for, they have no idea at all, this is very sad, even though
they have finished university, studied for this and that degree, so much education in economics,
psychology, blah, blah, blah but there is no meaning in their life. There is no meaning in life, so
many people even though they have wealth that they can use for many lifetimes, for six or ten
lifetimes they have enough wealth to reincarnate and use for ten lifetimes or a hundred lifetimes,
but they haven't met Dharma, dont know meditation, haven't met Dharma, dont know the
meaning of life. Then some people have met Dharma, but didnt get to practice it, you dont
practice, you just learn intellectually, like feeding a computer, like a tape recorder, no practice so
no change in the mind, then when problems come, no Dharma. No Dharma. When a problem
comes, then suicidal thought comes, without taking much time, the problem is too much, kind of
exaggerated by your wrong concept then suicidal thought comes, when your mind is like that, your
good luck is down, there are of course external beings connected with that, there are external
beings who harm, but they harm you without cause, without reason, without cause, it is not that.
they harm you, those spirit beings harm you which you harmed in the past, because you harmed
them in the past, because of that, you made a mistake, you harmed them in the past so as a result
they harm you, not only spirits, but everything. I will just mention here. I will just mention here, it
is very, very important introduction. Of course this is the essence of Buddha-Dharma, essence of
Buddha-Dharma, yes, but for a non-believer even if it is not called Buddha-Dharma but that is the
real, real, real practice, method for happiness, if you want happiness, if you want happiness for
yourself, if you want happiness for others, especially for others. If you harm others, that is the
cause, if you harm others, others suffer, that is one, then you suffer, but also the result of that is
that others harm you. By harming others the result is that you receive harm from others. So you
suffer on and on, then others suffer, others who are numberless, like that. so if you dont want to
suffer now, if you dont want to suffer in the future, you dont want to receive harm from others
you should never give harm to others, not only people but even insects, never harm others, if you
dont want to suffer, if you dont like suffering you shouldnt harm others, even if you are nonbeliever who doesnt believe in reincarnation and karma, you should do like that. that is the
essential method to achieve happiness for yourself, even as a non-believer it is so important. by
not harming and benefiting others, if you dont stop harming others you cant benefit others,
cause happiness to others, you cant do that, so you cause happiness to others then others are
happy and you are happy. When others become happy you become happy. And also from that you
receive benefit from others. You receive help, not harm but receive help and benefit from others,
your wishes get fulfilled, your wish is to not experience suffering and you want happiness, so your
wishes get fulfilled by helping others now, from that cause, others are happy and you are happy,
and the result is that others will help you, they wont harm you and will help you, they will cause
happiness to you. That is just mainly thinking of your own happiness. but of course when you
dont harm and benefit others, others who are numberless, numberless human beings,
numberless suras and asuras, worldly gods, numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals,
even the ants, there are numberless universes, scientifically mentioned and buddha mentioned,
there are numberless ants and numberless fish in all those universes, can you imagine? Just to get
an idea, there are numberless of each type of animal we can see. So to not harm and to benefit
others is really, before I was talking about mainly thinking about your happiness, then the most
correct one is to not harm, even if you are thinking of your own happiness you should not harm
and should benefit others, then your wishes succeed, that is the best way to not give rise to
problems. Otherwise trying to achieve happiness for yourself by harming others then problems
arise to achieve your happiness, even the happiness of this life, not talking about future lives,
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Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015

An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings by Joan Nicell

ultimate happiness or enlightenment, even day to day happiness, even if you are a non-believer,
even doesnt believe in reincarnation and karma, in Dharma, to not harm others and to benefit
others is the most important practice if you want happiness, if you dont want suffering and want
happiness that is the most important thing to do, then all your wishes get fulfilled.

A little bit I can say, I think it is not completely telling a lie, it is from my own experience of
benefiting others, it is not Im just talking blah, blah, blah, it seems my own experience is like that,
what I was talking about before. I have been meditating for 30 years, for a long time, but if you are
not careful with others, to not harm them and to benefit them, if you are not doing that
meditation but just close your eyes, oh, Ive meditated for 30 years, for my whole life, then what is
that? if you are not careful meditation can make your mind if you are not careful with meditation
you can make your mind dull, yes, that happens, if you are not careful with your meditation you
can make your mind dull, destroy your intelligence, cause forgetfulness, many dangers can arise if
you are not careful with your meditation, your meditation becomes another cause of samsara,
continuously to reincarnate in the six realms, hells, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, suras
and asuras, continuously reincarnating toooootally under the control of delusion and its action, in
Sanskrit karma. so totally no freedom, totally under the control of that. so that is samsara. Not
only reincarnate but suffer, oceans of suffering of hells, of human beings, suras and asuras,
worldly gods, oceans of suffering of, of animals, you experience, for example, for human beings,
suffering of rebirth, old age, sickness, death, meeting undesirable objects, separating from
desirable objects, not finding desirable objects, or no matter how many you find you dont get
satisfaction in your life, like the Rolling Stones, what do you say, Rolling? Rolling Stones said I
dont get much satisfaction,
I cant get no satisfaction, that is very right, it is the best song! That song is very intelligent, a
believer and non-believer, both, can understand it. short words but that is the biggest problem of
us in the world, the biggest problem for the billionaires, zillionaires, trillionaires. The biggest
problem.
I forgot what I was saying. Then five sufferings of the aggregates are explained by Lama
Tsongkhapa in Lam-rim Chenmo, it explains six sufferings and eight sufferings related to human
beings. those are the suffering of pain, dug-ngal kyi dug-ngal, even animals can recognize that, if
you bring a stick like this the animal knows it will suffer and runs away, not only human beings but
animals recognize this. suffering of change, not only in Buddhism but in Hindu religion they can
recognize, samsara divided into three, the desire realm, we are in the desire realm, we are
attached to the five sense objects, we are attached to them, desire them, also devas and animals,
then there is form realm and formless realm, those worldly gods, beside the desire realm devas
there are the form realm and formless realm devas. By achieving samatha, nine stages of calm
abiding, by achieving that you achieve the firm contemplation, the four levels, so you get born
there through meditation. We have done that numberless times from beginningless rebirths, we
have been born in the formless realm, we have been born there numberless times, form realm
and formless realm, we have been born there numberless times. Even the form realm, got bored,
see nature of suffering, then look for the formless realm, equanimity, there is Limitless Sky,
Limitless Consciousness, Nothingness, Tip of Samsara, even Hindus can realize desire realm and
not only that but form realm and not only that but even formless realm is nature of suffering, only
the last one, Tip of Samsara, there are four, the Tip of Samsara there is no higher, but the way to
meditate looking at the nature of suffering is different how the Buddha explained, the Buddha
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Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015

An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings by Joan Nicell

taught different, they are able to see nature of suffering and able to renounce even the form
realm and formless realm, those worldly gods, but the Tip of Samsara because there is no higher
realm to compare it to and realize that it is nature of suffering and the higher one is nature of
peace, otherwise they can see the rest are the nature of suffering, even Hindus can do that.
Panchen Losang Chokyi Gyeltsen, His Holiness mentioned that Panchen Losang Chokyi Gyeltsen,
the fourth Panchen Lama, there is incarnation of Panchen Lama, so in Tibet the Panchen Lama is
regarded as Amitabha Buddha and His Holiness as Chenrezig, the compassionate buddha, in Tibet
it is like that, so Panchen Losang Chokyi Gyeltsen, who composed the Lama Chopa, the Guru Puja,
and mahamudra, many sutra and tantra texts, who completed the path to enlightenment, so he
said (Tibetan) thinking of the shortcomings of samsara, so many but the suffering of pain even the
animals know, even the animals know that, so His Holiness said if you hold a stick a dog will run
away, a dog is hungry it looks for food, even they know that. for the suffering of change, second
suffering of samsara, all the temporary pleasures, the pleasure of playing or listening to music,
eating, sleeping, the pleasure of sex, the pleasure of all those things, they are temporary because
all those happiness are in nature suffering, we look at them as pure happiness but they are not
pure happiness, they are suffering, suffering of change, we hallucinated looking at them as pure,
they are not pure, suffering nature, so the happiness and pleasure doesnt continue and doesnt
increase like Dharma happiness which through meditation can continue and increase and can be
completed when you achieve enlightenment, they are not like that. when we are hungry and eat
the first spoon of food, then your suffering of hunger stops from great but begins the suffering of
discomfort of the stomach starts from small, so after you eat the first spoonful of food, the hunger
stops from great and the discomfort of the stomach starts from small, so that change is labeled
pleasure by the mind. you really believe, because it is labeled pleasure by the mind, it is labeled
pleasure by the mind, even to check more, further more check, it is merely labeled by the mind as
pleasure, the change, suffering stopped of hunger from great and discomfort of the stomach
started from very small after eating a spoon of food, so your mind labeled, in reality it merely
imputed pleasure but you dont know that, you are not aware of that, so you are creating your
world, you are creating your suffering but you are not aware of that. so, you see, we have a total
hallucination, a total hallucination. Due to past ignorance, ignorance holding phenomena as truly
existent, as existing from their own side, as existing by their nature, in the common language as
real, while it is not real, it does not exist from its own side, it does not truly exist, it does not exist
by their own nature, they are not real, so the ignorance that believes this, that entrusts, the
ignorance that believes, that entrusts, that past ignorance left a negative imprint on the mind, and
then the mind merely imputed pleasure, pleasure, then in the next second, the change of feeling
happened, then your mind merely imputed pleasure, then the next second you dont see at all this
is merely imputed by the mind in the just before second, we dont see that relating to us, you
dont see that, you dont see that, completely not aware AT ALL, not aware at all, not aware at all,
what happened in the next second, even merely labeled by the mind you have no idea at all, that
is very subtle, that is going to the very subtle, not aware. Then the next second after your mind
merely imputed then comes, the previous ignorance left a negative imprint on the mind so that
projected pleasure, that pleasures is merely imputed, so what you labeled has to appear back to
you, it has to appear back to you but it should appear as merely labeled by the mind, that is what
happened just the second before but for us, that doesnt happen, for me that doesnt happen,
what happens is that seeing it in mere name, seeing it is merely imputed generally that is only an
omniscient one who has no negative imprint left by the past ignorance, the subtle negative
imprint which projects dualistic view and dualistic mind, which projects, the ignorance holding
true existence, existing from its own side, existing by nature, the concept holding that, then there
is dual view, the concept, that wrong concept, ignorance, and the object of ignorance are
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Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015

An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings by Joan Nicell

projected, only a buddha has no ignorance so doesnt have dualistic mind, also doesnt have
dualistic view, true existence, existing from its own side, existing by its own nature, existing as
real, he doesnt have that so he sees it is merely labeled by the mind. exalted beings, arya beings,
who have a direct perception of emptiness, who has bodhichitta and a direct perception of
emptiness, a bodhisattva arya beings when they are in equipoise meditation at that time, when
their mind is in equipoise meditation on emptiness only at that time they do not have dualistic
view, things appearing as truly existent, or existing from its own side, by their nature, as real, they
dont have that during that time. Then when their consciousness rises from that then there is that
hallucination until they achieve enlightenment, until then there is dualistic mind and dualistic view
arises. ordinary beings, those of us who are ordinary, like me, we have no idea at all, completely
not mindful, dont understand, no idea at all that just the second before it was merely labeled by
the mind as pleasure, so when it appears it appears as real, truly existent, existing by itself, by
nature, real in the common sense, so when what your mind merely imputed appears back to you it
does not appear as merely imputed by the mind, even though the second before it was merely
imputed by the mind, so the previous ignorance holding or entrusting things as real, truly existent,
that projects right away the pleasure what is merely imputed by the mind, next second it projects
the hallucination, then it appears real, it projects the hallucination which is that it appears real,
existing from its own side, it projected that, totally tooooooooooooooooooooooooootally made a
hallucination, sorry I should make it longer but it didnt happen, after my stroke my voice became
shorter, even when Im chanting I cant make full length chant. Then you see, not knowing, total
hallucination projected but no knowledge AT ALL, no awareness, no knowledge, no awakening
mind at all, then the mind totally trusts the ignorance, the ignorance totally trusts this is real
happiness, then after that attachment comes, after that it becomes an object of attachment, first
it is an object of ignorance, ignorance trusts it is real, then the next moment, on the basis of
believing it is real happiness, real from its own side, from that oh then attachment comes,
attachment arises, then on the basis of that anger arises. there are many delusions, many
delusions arise on the basis of that. that is why the Bodhicharyavatara says by eliminating I dont
remember the words well, by eliminating ignorance then you eliminate aaaaaaaaaaaall the
delusions, by eliminating ignorance, timug dendzin marigpa, the ignorance holding phenomena as
truly existent, oh by cutting that then all the delusions are cut. That is why the meditation on
emptiness is like an atomic bomb, it is so powerful, it is antidote to all the delusions, otherwise
antidote to anger is practicing patience, to attachment is by looking at it as suffering in nature or
ugly, that stops attachment, but emptiness covers all delusions, by meditating on that all delusions
are stopped from arising. I dont remember the verse. then attachment arises, then.. when
ignorance arises trusting this is real happiness, oh, that time we are creating the root of samsara,
we are creating the cause of samsara that time, when we create that ignorance. How we create,
like the I, the pleasure is totally wrong, it is same for the false I, totally entrusted by the ignorance,
oh, that is the root of samsara, so the attachment to that pleasure causes samsara. So that is why
when we take refuge in the Dharma, ch la kyab su chio, it is mentioned particularly the cessation
of attachment, the sublime Dharma, the cessation of attachment, why attachment? The root is
ignorance, but attachment is sort of every day all the time the cause of samsara. So when you take
refuge in Dharma, I take refuge in sublime Dharma, the cessation of attachment. How we suffer
in samsara, how we circle in samsara, how we suffer in samsara is like that. so like that all the
temporary samsaric pleasures are all the suffering of change, everything is like that which is
suffering, a previous suffering stopped from great and the next suffering started from small, we
call that pleasure. So there is nothing when you know it is merely labeled there is no reason to
cling to it, to grasp it. so those two came from kyabpa du-je kyi dug-ngal, pervasive compounding
suffering, that is my own translation, usually in English only half is translated, not complete, as
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Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015

An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings by Joan Nicell

pervasive suffering, just that, but it is so important to translate it completely to get the whole idea.
When we learn Dharma from Tibetan language, those great pandits, not just scholars with
intellectual knowledge but they were great holy beings who translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan,
they were great holy beings, not like people who finished university and translated, like the
present day translators, Im not saying they are all normal, but the past ones were great holy
beings, wow, wow, wow, so to translate complete then you can learn, then you can get a general
complete idea from that, even just knowing the title, it is so, so important to know just the title,
even just two or three words in Tibetan, kyabpa du-je kyi dug-ngal, the aggregates, we have five
now, aggregate of form, aggregate of feeling, aggregate of cognition, compounding aggregate, 49
mental factors, two, feeling and cognition, are there, so the rest, the 49, are the compounding
aggregate, it is a result, so compounded, (Rinpoche spells in Tibetan), it sounds the same but the
letters are different so compounded aggregate, then the aggregate of consciousness, at the
moment we have these five, so they are totally under the control of karma and delusions, so they
are pervaded by suffering because of that, pervaded by suffering, pervaded by suffering.
So the whole samsara comes in the three, desire realm, form realm, formless realm, all are
pervaded by, all are under the control of delusion and karma, all are under the control of that so
all are pervaded by suffering. also it is used, it is said by Panchen Losang Chokyi Gyeltsen, (Tibetan)
I dont remember one word, these aggregates actualize suffering, they are the container that will
actualize suffering later, in the future, it is the container that has actualized suffering and will
actualize suffering later, if you meditate them as like a disease, an infection, pain, by thinking that,
if you meditate, focus, on this, I think, the attraction thinking real pleasure, truly existent, real,
having this hallucination and then trusting in that, I think, it goes away. Think like that. this is
what I think. Having these aggregates, which are the nature of suffering, under the control of
delusion and karma, the nature of suffering, these aggregates that we have, so look at them as a
disease, like leprosy disease, like leprosy disease, when the infection, the leprosy disease, if you
put salt water on that, there is pain, it brings pain, but if you put cool water on that, it brings
pleasure, but without those two, there is indifferent feeling, but the indifferent feeling you have is
under the control of, it is indifferent feeling but the basis is the leprosy disease, the basis is leprosy
disease, infection, so even if you dont put salt water or cool water, there is indifferent feeling, but
its basis is the leprosy disease. These aggregates when there is no suffering of pain and no
suffering of change, indifferent feeling, because these aggregates are totally under the control of
karma and delusions, so indifference came from that so it is the nature of suffering. all pleasure,
suffering, indifferent are all the nature of suffering. similarly, here these aggregates, pleasure,
suffering, the suffering of pain, indifference, all are the nature of suffering, all three are pervaded
by suffering, because the aggregates are completely covered by delusion and karma, so they are
the nature of suffering. these aggregates caused by karma and delusions contain the seed, they
contain the future suffering and delusion, so they are compounding the suffering, so they are
pervasive compounding suffering.
So I will stop here. So this is the main suffering that Buddhists have to meditate on, realize,
discover and realize that it is the nature of suffering, the suffering we want to be free from is this
one, if we become free from this one we become free forever from the suffering of pain and
suffering of change, so the main one that a Buddhist looks to be free from is this one, then you
achieve nirvana, ultimate happiness, liberation from samsara, only then if you are free from this,
oh, then you achieve ultimate happiness, liberation from samsara, forever, not just for a few years
or a few days then you change again, not that. therefore, to practice Dharma, to achieve this

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nirvana no matter how difficult it is, it is sooooooooooooo worthwhile to attain, it is one time. Half
Im playing, joking, but half Im serious. Half joking and half serious.
So now, I should end this and talk a little bit about Medicine Buddha before the preparation, there
is so much, so much, so much benefits there is a book from the Medicine Buddha retreat at Land
of Medicine Buddha, at that time I explained the extensive benefits of Medicine Buddha, what is it
called? Ultimate Healing. So please read it then really you can see how it is so important to
practice Medicine Buddha. So just before talking about that. I began that, unexpectedly I began
that, our life generally is suffering life with attachment, pleasure, all the material things, then
where there is not receiving material things, there is so much dislike, depression. Both are
suffering life, so you see, before the attachment, before the attachment, what causes attachment,
by knowing that it is merely labeled by the mind, when you know that attachment doesnt arise, it
makes to not arise attachment, it makes to heal, great peace, by knowing that attachment doesnt
arise, but without knowing that as I described in details what your mind merely imputed as
pleasure, including your body, that to which we have attachment, believing it is real, existing from
its own side, existing by its nature, real body, similar to the pleasure as I described, then the
ignorance holding the body to be a real one existing from its own side, trusting in that, after it
appeared then trusting completely in that, then on the basis of that oh then attachment arises. on
the basis of that attachment not arises, you see? Not when you think, not when you are aware it is
merely labeled by the mind. for example, when you get angry at somebody, immediately if you are
able to think the I here, or that person, suddenly you think it is merely labeled by the mind, it does
not exist from its own side, it is merely labeled by the mind, that person is existing as merely
labeled by the mind, or the I is merely labeled by the mind, whenever you think the I is merely
labeled by the mind anger stops, anger doesnt arise, even though there was anger before but
suddenly you think the I is merely labeled by the mind, when you touch that reality then aanger
disappears, there is no place for the anger. Oooooh, same when you are aware it is merely labeled
by the mind there is no space for attachment, attachment is gone. Oh like that, when attachment
arises it is on the basis of a hallucination, on the basis of hallucination then there is attachment. So
it is totally wrong. The hallucination obscures the mind, the hallucination obscures the mind, the
hallucination obscures the mind to see the reality of the object, it obscures the mind to see the
reality of the object, that it exists in mere name, so it is empty of existing from its own side, to see
that ultimate reality. Then also the attachment, while it is impermanent in nature, there is the
hallucination that it is permanent, believing that it is permanent, it causes that.
So the essence, even a non-believer who doesnt believe in reincarnation and karma and so forth,
it is very important to learn meditation, to learn Dharma, to practice Dharma even if you dont
believe in reincarnation and karma. for example, in America nowadays the army after fighting in
Iraq and other places, those who are alive and able to come back to America, those army men
because they saw so much war and violence when they come back they cant figure out their life,
they think life has no meaning so they go kind of crazy, so now the government in America
introduced mindfulness meditation, because mindfulness, we have mindfulness meditation,
mahamudra, you dont think of past and future, only now, that is the basic technique then
gradually meditate on emptiness, that is sutra mahamudra, so nowadays the army men when they
arrive back in America because there is danger of them going crazy they introduce mindfulness
meditation to them. why I came to know this is because one army man came, I think he might be
quite intelligent, he worked at high techniques in charge of the army, technology or something, I
dont know exactly, because he was introduced to meditation he checked in computer and saw in
Nepal in the Himalaya the retreat place, Lawudo, that is what made him come to Nepal, first he
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was at Root Institute then he came to Lawudo, I called him into my cave and asked him some
questions, I gave him quite a number of years of practice, although I dont know how long he will
live, so the most important, the most important thing is to learn Dharma and to meditate, to
practice, to learn, that is more important than anything else in life then you can benefit yourself
and numberless sentient beings. I think that is all. Thank you very much. A break, short break.

(The transcript of the actual initiation ritual is not available)

25 July 2015 Medicine Buddha Great Initiation

Praise to Shakyamuni Buddha

LA MA TN PA CHOM DN D / DE ZHIN SHEG PA DRA / CHOM PA YANG DAG PAR DZOG PI
SANG GY / PL GYL WA / SHA KYA THUB PA LA / CHHAG TSHL LO / CHH DO KYAB SU CHHI WO
(3X )

TADYATHA OM MUNE MUNE MAHA MUNEYE SVAHA

This prayer is called Few Syllables of the Prajnaparamita, this is its name. all that the Buddha
taught, all the teachings, and to actualize wisdom, even the method, so in regards the
Prajnaparamita of wisdom there are 12 volumes, then the shorter one in three volumes and the
one volume, the very condensed is the Essence of Wisdom, what we call Heart Sutra, which
directly reveals wisdom and indirectly reveals method. Even much more shorter is:
LA MA TN PA CHOM DN D / DE ZHIN SHEG PA DRA / CHOM PA YANG DAG PAR DZOG PI
SANG GY / PL GYL WA / SHA KYA THUB PA LA / CHHAG TSHL LO / CHH DO KYAB SU CHHI WO
(3X )

OM MUNE MUNE MAHA MUNEYE SVAHA

OM MUNE MUNE, many texts have that but it is wrong, this was said by Kyabje Kunu Lama
Rinpoche from whom His Holiness received commentary on Bodhicharyavatara, he taught us
during his teachings it is not OM MUNE MUNE but OM MUNI MUNI, Rinpoche said the other is a
mistake, I checked with one scholar in Sanskrit, but he didnt say the same as what Kyabje Kunu
Lama Rinpoche commented, OM MUNI MUNI MAHA MUNIYE SVAHA, we should recite it like that.
it is good to know what is correct and not correct, like English in the world, Sanskrit did not spread
in Tibet so some small syllables are missing, even though there is the actual mantra some small
syllables are missing, it did not become a common language in Tibet, only some great lamas knew
it, those ancient lotsawa translators, the great holy beings, mantras are not necessarily all the
same, sometimes a syllable is missing, there are different things, but the most important thing is
faith, the most important is faith for the mantra to work, it is not because it is recited correctly but
because you have faith. In India there was a mother who used to recite, I forget the name of the
deity, we received the initiation, it is not commonly practiced in Tibet but the Chinese do it for
business, it seems when famine happens and you recite this mantra stones become soft and you
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are able to eat them, this mother was able to cook stones and eat them, her son, a monk with 36
vows came and told his mother she was reciting it wrong, om tsali tsali the deitys name is Tsali,
so he thought the correct way but the mother used to say om bali bali when she heard the
correct mantra taught by her boy, the monk, and recited it, the stones didnt get cooked but when
she recited it her way they did get cooked. So mantra is not so much that it is correct but it is good
to know it the correct way if possible, but generally the effect depends on faith. Sorry, one more
story, in Tibet one lama was very busy and someone came and asked him to give teachings, the
monk who asked for the teachings had a big nose like raksha, which the saddhus make into mala,
so the lama said your nose is like a raksha, he thought he received a teaching and recited your
nose is like a raksha and became a very famous teacher. One time the lama had an infection in his
throat, the attendant said there is a famous healer in the area and should we invite him. When he
came he recited your nose is like a raskha, the lama laughed and laughed and the infection broke,
pus came out, and the lama was healed. This was faith, he said your nose is like a raksha but
because of his faith that the lama had given him a teaching, he didnt understand what he was
saying but he had faith, you understand this is the power of the mind, mind power. He became a
very famous healer. So faith it seems, sorry, a very bad example, in Buxa where I lived for eight
years, where Mahatma-Ji and Prime Minister Nehru were imprisoned, I stayed there eight years
after I came from Tibet, it was extremely hot, we had to sleep on a platform, many monks sit
down and do meditation and puja, he rubbed on his body the dirt, because it was so hot, the black
dirt he made into a pill and gave it to the next monk beside him who was sick, there are so many
monks in the puja, so he made a pill and gave it to the next monk who was sick, had a fever or
something, Im not sure, so he gave it to him as a pill and the monk recovered. It is the same as the
example of your nose is like a raksha, the monk believed he had been given a blessed pill and ate it
and got cured, that is the power of faith, of the mind. by developing devotion looking at the guru
as a buddha, seeing only qualities and not looking at mistakes, then developing devotion, as much
devotion as you develop that much blessings you receive from the guru, from that comes
realizations. realizations come. The one who knows Kangyur more than hundred volumes of the
Buddhas teachings and the commentaries by the pandits and yogis, more than two hundred
volumes, you can know by heart but dont have faith, but someone who knows lam-rim and has
faith, doesn't know much Dharma but has so much faith, he isn't and expert but has so much faith,
then realizations come from that, he receives the blessings of the guru and realizations come. It
depends on that, it doesnt depend on intelligence, how smart the person is, but depends on how
much devotion the person has, how much faith, so it depends on the power of the mind.
If you recite
LA MA TN PA CHOM DN D / DE ZHIN SHEG PA DRA / CHOM PA YANG DAG PAR DZOG PI
SANG GY / PL GYL WA / SHA KYA THUB PA LA / CHHAG TSHL LO / CHH DO KYAB SU CHHI WO
(3X )

OM MUNE MUNE MAHA MUNEYE SVAHA

the benefits I have seen in the Buddhas teachings, the Kangyur, if you recite this one time it
purifies eight, not just a trillion, in Tibetan tra-trig chenpo, tra-trig is one hundred billion, tra-trig
chenpo means one trillion, tra-trig chenpo, when you add chenpo it means one trillion, so eight
trillion eons of negative karma get purified if you recite this mantra one time. It is unbelievable,
most unbelievable power it has. In the Kangyur I have seen that, in the Buddhas teachings, you
must know that, dont forget it. it is so worthwhile to recite that, to chant that every day. If
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possible you have a statue or beautiful picture of the Buddha, look at it, dont distract your mind,
look at it, the Buddha looking at you with loving compassionate mind to you and all sentient
beings, recite a mala if you can, then nectar comes out from the Buddha and purifies you and all
sentient beings, sicknesses, spirit harm, the condition is spirit harm, the cause of those, negative
karma and delusions collected from beginningless rebirths, are purified, you can think yours and
those of the six realm sentient beings. then chant this. if you can do one mala, if you can it is very
good, if you can, do even more, or 21 or half a mala. When suffering comes, when we encounter
problems, relationship problems, sickness, cancer, especially when you die, time is gone, then
worry about I should have done this and done that, there is no time no matter how much you
regret, that is foolish because when you have healthy life, everything good, okay, but you didnt
use your time in the best way, you didnt use it for yourself, you didnt use your healthy time,
when you had everything, best way for others, you didnt make it beneficial for yourself or for
others, now the time is gone, finished, it is time to die, then to have regret is very foolish, you
didnt take care of your life, you didnt think of the inside, your mind was always distracted to the
five senses, always busy with outside objects day and night except when sleeping, then when
death comes I should have done this, then there is incredible fear of what is going to happen after
this, unbelievable, something most amazing, even though intellectually you believe there is no
incarnation, there is no other life, you believe that intellectually, in the country, the people who
commit suicide, the government only accept one life, but many people naturally from their side
they feel fear, after their breath stops they feel something very heavy, unbelievable heavy thing is
going to happen, they feel this naturally, not by the intellect. Even though intellectually what you
are taught is there is one life, there is no life after this, but naturally from your heart, your natural
experience is not like that. what Kyabje Pabongka said in Heart Spoon, so much about emptiness
and tantra, but this one is most practical, you think of your life and your death, it is most
important. as the Kadampa geshes said you know a hundred things, you have a hundred things to
know but the big mistake is not knowing one, this means you know so much, like somebody who
knows whole Kangyur, more than hundred volumes of the Buddhas teachings and the more than
two hundred volumes of the Tengyur, the commentaries, and then the commentaries by the
Tibetan lamas, even you know these, are a great scholar and can explain them by heart, that is one
example, but of course there is knowing science, Western education where you know this and
that, but there is one thing that cheats your life, to not have a thought of your death, to not have a
thought of your death. life is very busy and you know so much but you haven't thought about your
death, about this reality, then all that you do, even retreat, even teachings, whatever you do,
action of walking, eating, sitting, sleeping, doing your job, nothing becomes Dharma, nothing
becomes holy Dharma, yes it is worldly dharma but it doesnt not become holy Dharma, it
becomes cause of suffering and doesnt become cause of happiness, holy Dharma. So the
Kadampa geshes said even if you know a hundred things, this is an example, but you make one
mistake, your life is cheated by one thing, not thinking of your death. that is huge. Then Dharma,
holy Dharma, not only doing retreat, studying Dharma, but also eating, sleeping, sitting, walking,
and doing your job dont become Dharma, become worldly dharma, attachment clinging to this
life, there are three kinds of worldly dharma, black, white, and mixed, this becomes black wheel of
Dharma, done with attachment and ignorance holding I to be truly existent while it is not, to be
real while it is not real, oh, that teaching of Pabongka is real advice, practical, coming down to the
point, instead of talking about high things from that you can understand what you have to think to
make your life meaningful, even if you have one day, one hour, five minutes left to live how to
make if of best use, if you know Dharma, then with bodhichitta, thinking to benefit sentient
beings, to benefit numberless sentient beings, to free them from oceans of samsaric sufferings
and bring them to enlightenment then oneself has to achieve enlightenment. for example, you
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take the death of all sentient beings, since you experiencing death, you take the death of all
sentient beings on yourself, you take that, you take numberless sentient beings suffering of death
on yourself as you have to die, you use that experience to benefit sentient beings, so that is
unbelievable, that is the best death. that is the best antidote to the lower realms. Even if you are
praying to be born in the hell realm for sentient beings, sentient beings who get reborn in the hell
realm and suffering, you pray to get born in the hell realm and suffer for sentient beings, how
strong, how real you think that it becomes that much antidote to be born in the lower realms, how
much you pray that it becomes the best antidote to the cause to be reborn in the lower realms
and becomes the best cause to be born in the higher realms. Kadampa geshe Chayulwa had been
praying all his life to be born in lower realms but when he was dying the appearance of a pure land
happened around him, so he told his disciple, a getsul, that he didnt succeed in his wish to be
born in hell, he said set up an altar, my wish to be born in lower realms didnt succeed, he will be
born in pure land, that is the result of good heart benefiting others, even if your wish sincerely is
to be born in hell for sentient beings it only causes you to be born in a pure land, even though for
the mind hundred percent, not political, saying that but back of your mind your wish is something
else, for your own happiness, not that but very sincere. Then also by reciting this prayer you meet
the tantra teachings in next lives, it causes to meet tantra teachings the quick path to
enlightenment, as I said it purifies eight trillion eons of negative karma so wow, wow, wow, it is
like that. so while you are reciting dont be distracted, going to New York, going to market, going
to a restaurant, look at the Buddha, a very beautiful picture or statue, and concentrate on that,
the reason I say to concentrate, this will take time so just the quotation, Shantideva mentioned
not in Bodhicharyavatara but in Well Condensed Instruction, there it is mentioned you collect
numberless greater merit just by seeing a statue of the Buddha, means a painting or statue of the
Buddha, just by seeing it, whether believer or non-believer, just by seeing a statue or painting of
the Buddha you collect numberless greater merit than somebody who every day offers one
hundred times of devas food, worldly gods nectar, which is nectar not for buddhas but is nectar
compared to human beings food, so hundred devas food means nectar, and hundred devas
dress, that is something unbelievable, if all the human beings wealth is put togetehr it is not
enough to buy one necklace of the devas, so hundred devas dress is so precious, you offer that
not to buddhas but to arhats, there are two types of arhats, hearer-listeners and solitary realizers,
the solitary realizers arhats have twice as much merit as hearer-listeners arhats, so not just to one
arhat, if you put in your hand sand, the number of arhats equal to the sand grains in your hands,
that is unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable, beyond concepts, every day you offer hundred
devas dress to arhats equalling the number of sand grains in your hands. But here the dust of the
universe, that many number of solitary realizer arhats, every day you offer a a hundred devas
food and a hundred devas dress to them, wow, wow, wow, even the number of atoms of your
house, that number of arhats is beyond our concept, now here they equal the number of dust
particles of the universe, that many solitary realizer arhats you offer a hundred devas dress and a
hundred devas food for one hundred eons, oh, compare that, it itself is most unbelievable, most
unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable merit but you compare that to seeing a statue or picture
of the Buddha for a believer or non-believer you collect much greater merit, the other one
becomes small compared to this, you understand? The bodhisattva Shantideva explained this
quoting a sutra, the Buddhas teachings, Mudra of Developing the Power of Devotion, Mudra of
the Sutra Developing Power of Devotion Mudra of Sutra, the Buddhas sutra, he quoted that. you
have to understand that. so the holy objects that we ask to be blessed and so forth, so today, Im
not finished, the purpose of my giving so many pictures of deities and mantras as a present to you
is for you to understand this incredible purpose of just seeing them, for you to understand that. it
is unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable. Therefore, then it says numberless greater merit you
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collect by offering lights, by offering incense, by doing prostrations, and so forth, if you do that,
now even numberless greater merits than that before of just seeing, now there is much more
numberless greater merits, even that is numberless by offering light, incense, doing prostrations,
and so forth. So you have to know this, otherwise we dont think it is important, kind of take it for
granted, then of course when death happens life is gone, most precious human life, this
opportunity, is gone, almost one time we have this incredible, incredible, incredible opportunity,
what freedom you have, what an opportunity you have. So that is why to read Dharma books, to
read those great pandits, the great enlightened beings books, to study their life story is very good,
for example, Milarepas life story, the great yogis life stories, they give advice about how to
practice Dharma. So to learn, to read them, so you come to know that, otherwise this short very
precious opportunity that you have just about one time but you dont get to learn this and waste
it, then suddenly death comes and it is gone, that is no help for you and no help for sentient
beings, life is wasted. So to meet tantra teachings again need to collect merit, it has so much
benefit, but then if you make a statue or painting for other people, many sentient beings see that
painting or statue that you made, then that is your best gift to sentient beings, all that merit, wow,
wow, wow, amazing, unbelievable, numberless greater merit by seeing, then the next one is
offering or making prostration is even more, greater merits than before, that is what you are
causing so many other sentient beings who look at it. we Westerns make funny drawings of the
Buddha, we make paintings but they are funny ones which make it difficult for other people to
generate faith, also you create negative karma if you make thin and all kinds, not as is explained, if
you make the Buddha thin and make mistakes you create so much negative karma to be born like
that, therefore you must learn professionally what the best artists do then you copy that, you
must learn the proportions, painting and drawing should be easy, by looking at them you learn, it
becomes easy. After this, one syllable of the Prajnaparamita is AH, the Sanskrit A, that is a
negating word, in the Heart Sutra no nose, no tongue, in Sanskrit no is A, what it says is that no
phenomenon, I, action, object, no phenomenon has true existence, no phenomenon exists from
its own side, it means all the phenomena that exist exist in mere name, because of that the
phenomena that exist are empty, empty from their own side. So emptiness and existing,
dependent arising, emptiness and existence, the two are unified with each other. Without existing
in mere name, that is dependent arising, subtle one, without that it cannot be empty from its own
side, ultimately empty. Without that, without emptiness from its own side, tongpa-nyi, without
that it cannot exist in mere name. like without two wings a bird cant fly, so without being empty
from its own side it cannot exist in mere name, without existing in mere name it cannot be empty
from its own side. If you realize that, that is the correct realization of emptiness. So A, one syllable
of Prajnaparamita, has great meaning. we have a lot of meditations on A in the Nyingma tradition
and also during initiations. I thought to do one or two questions but there isnt time.
I often say. Kyabje Pabongka mentioned in degenerate times what is most important to practice
from tantra is Heruka and from sutra it is Medicine Buddha, as the time is more and more
degenerated, to get more and more power from sutra it is Medicine Buddha and from tantra it is
Heruka. So normally I say, therefore even mosquitoes, even frogs, they make a lot of noise, even
mosquitoes, frogs, crabs, even they should recite Medicine Buddha mantra since they want
happiness. why? Because they want happiness and dont want suffering they should recite OM
MANI PADME HUM, Chenrezig mantra, and Medicine Buddha mantra, but they cant because they
dont have a human body, but we have a human body, because they dont have a human body
they cant recite them, what a pity, what to do? If you want happiness and dont want suffering
you must recite OM MANI PADME HUM, Chenrezig mantra. Even without bodhichitta you recite
OM MANI PADME HUM you collect merit more than drops of Pacific Ocean, and the number of
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the grass in the world, you collect more merit than that, the number of sand grains on the beach
you collect more merit than that, but if you recite it with bodhichitta you collect more than skies
of merit.
As I mentioned in Bodhicharyavatara by the great bodhisattva Shantideva, Engaging in a
Bodhisattvas Way of Life, even mere thought to benefit sentient beings, it doesnt have to be all
sentient beings but just even one sentient being, the mere thought to benefit somebody, this is
much more special, extraordinary than making offerings to the buddhas, even you fill the universe
with gold, diamonds, sapphires, you fill the whole universe with jewels and offer it to the buddhas,
of course the merit is unbelievable, like I explained before, but if you compare that to the benefit
of not even actually helping but the mere thought to benefit somebody, even not all sentient
beings, but even just to benefit somebody, that collects more merits of offering to the buddhas
even the whole universe filled with jewels, that is unbelievable but compared to thought to
benefit others it is small. So of course if you actaully work for sentient beings there is no need to
say how much merit you collect, it is much more than offering whole universe filled with jewels, if
you actually work to cause happiness to sentient beings. you should think this if you are working
to take care of old people, to take care of a child, taking care of a child is like taking care of a frog,
remember this, you are causing happiness to one sentient being by taking care of one old person
or someone who is deformed or blind, whether it is your child or other peoples children, when
you do this job, if your mind, if you dont know kindness of sentient beings in different ways, if you
dont know how they are precious, how they are most dear, normally dear is only your friends or
somebody who helps you, not those who harm you, who are angry with you, you call them enemy,
you try to kill them, you do bad things to them,
Im forgetting what I was talking about.
If you dont know how sentient beings are kind in different ways, what is explained in lam-rim and
in Bodhicharyavatara in the teachings, how precious, most dear, my wish-fulfilling, if you dont
know that, at the beginning when you do this job you think I want to help, but when you get into
the job perhaps it conflicts with your ego, self-cherishing thought, then ignorance, then you have a
lot of attachment and problems, problems cause you to suffering, problems in your job, so no
enjoyment, so if you know these teachings then you see your service is sooooooooooooo
precious, your work, your service to others, you dedicate, it is sooooooooooooo, it is most
unbelievable important, because you feel, whether it is child, blind person, old person that you are
taking care of, when you know the different ways of kindness, not only kindness of the mother,
not only that, as I think I explained yesterday, last night, so then this, even Buddha, Dharma, and
Sangha came from this person, this child, this blind person, so we always take refuge to become
free from lower realms and have happiness in future lives, to be free from samsara, to be free
from lower nirvana, and to achieve enlightenment, but even buddha came from sentient beings,
buddha came from bodhisattva, bodhisattva came from bodhichitta, bodhichitta came from great
compassion, great compassion comes from kindness of obscured suffering sentient beings, from
this person who I label enemy, who doesnt like me, who is angry with me, the numberless
Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha came from this one, oh, this sentient being is most precious, most
precious, wow, wow, wow, most precious. so then, sooooooooooooo precious, so then your
service, even a small happiness, the old man or old lady is carrying a heavy load and you carry
some to make it lighter, or you offer your seat in the bus to somebody, old or young, even a small
benefit becomes sooooooooooooo important for your mind, this service. It becomes the most
important for your mind, your service is something you can do, something you can offer, it is the
most, most pleasurable, the greatest happiness, the greatest happiness because they are
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sooooooooooooo precious, ah, whatever you can do, then that is what brings you the greatest
happiness. whenever we help free somebody from suffering, dont harm them and whatever
service we do for others such as teaching Dharma, or an animal who has fallen into the water and
is suffering we try to help, or one that is being attacked by another insect, whatever we can do,
even a small service, that is the best offering to numberless buddhas and numberless
bodhisattvas, it is your best offering. It is your best offering to them, because this sentient being,
this insect, this person who abuses you, who is angry with you, is cherished the most by one
bodhisattva, cherished most, a bodhisattva doesnt have self-cherishing thought, totally
abandoned that and only cherishes others, numberless sentient beings, like a mother her own
child how much she cherishes him, does everything best for him, does everything the best, so if
somebody praises the child, the mother is sooooooooooooo happy, somebody criticizes the child
a little bit the mother is sooooooooooooo upset, because she cherishes the child so much,
because of that. now here a bodhisattva cherishes all sentient beings, you understand?
Numberless sentient beings, hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, suras, and asuras,
numberless fish, numberless chickens, everything, you understand? So a bodhisattva cherishes
them the most like a mother cherishes her child the most. Therefore if you offer a small service to
somebody to free them from suffering that is the best offering to that bodhisattva, to numberless
bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas actualize the path, collect merits of wisdom and merits of virtue to
achieve dharmakaya and rupakaya for sentient beings, for this sentient being who abuses you,
who is angry with you, who doesnt like you, for this mosquito, this ant, so that is best offering.
Now a buddha who is totally free, pacified obscurations and completed realizations, there are
numberless buddhas, one buddha like Shakyamuni Buddha cherishes most this one person who
abuses you, this mouse, this chicken, the Buddha cherishes him the most, for this sentient being
the Buddha practiced six paramitas for three countless great eons, paramita of morality, charity,
made charity of his limbs and whole body numberless times to sentient beings, to this person who
is angry with you, who doesnt like you, who abuses you, he did that for all sentient beings which
includes that person, this mosquito. Then practiced morality for three countless great eons,
practiced patience for three countless great eons, for sentient beings, for this person who doesnt
like you, who is angry with you, who abuses you. Therefore, even if you say nice things to make
the person happy that is the best offering to the Buddha and best offering to numberless buddhas,
even if you say nice things although the person harmed you, wow, wow, wow, so meditation,
meditation, Dharma, Dharma, Dharma, you live in a mountain and see nobody but meditate on
selfish mind thinking I want power, I want to be famous, you meditate, but this, to serve sentient
beings, this is the best meditation, the best Dharma practice. of course to take care of others you
need to take care of your mind, so there is no confusion, if you practice lam-rim there is no
confusion when you work for others, especially if you have lam-rim realization. I explained the
purpose of life, the real, real purpose of life to not harm and to benefit others, as I mentioned, in
Bodhicharyavatara, I was supposed to mention it yesterday but I forgot, if you dont give up the
fire in your hand the burning of your hand doesnt stop, as long as you hold the fire, like that as
long as you dont renounce the I, you dont drop the I, dont give away the I, dont renounce the I,
the suffering cannot be stopped, suffering cannot be abandoned. Therefore, in order to pacify
your suffering and pacify others suffering, others are numberless, you are one but others are
numberless, so you give up yourself for others, you cherish others as yourself. Oh, practicing this is
the best Dharma practice. this is the best meditation, the best Dharma practice. that is the answer
to everything, the best preparation for death, the best protection to not be born in the lower
realms, the best cause of enlightenment.

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Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015

An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings by Joan Nicell

I will do the lung (oral transmission) of this and then do the initiation very quickly. those who want
to make their life meaningful not only for yourself but for numberless sentient beings, numberless
animals living in the water size of mountains and size you cant see with the eye but only with
machines, even the animals, the worms living in the ground, those tiny insects living in the grass,
when you walk so many of them run away, then in the sky, in the trees, to every single animals,
human beings suras and asuras, for your life to be useful, to make your life useful, I will do the
lung of this. from the morning when you wake up to read this, to think this when you know it by
heart, if you dont know it by heart you read it (Daily Meditation see your package of materials)
(Rinpoche reads Daily Meditation)
When you read this in the morning you transform your kaka life into gold or into a wish-fulfilling
jewel, like iron being transformed into gold.
Devote means only with thought, so I think to be able to correctly follow the virtuous friend with
thought and action.
To do this meditation you need to have received a highest tantra initiation.
I already explained this before but this is more specific.

That lung I did but I didnt get to give the explanation, this is so, so important, this is how to lead
your life.

Rinpoches Presents to Participants

So here this is Tara and Guru Shakyamuni Buddha picture and stupa in Bodhgaya, His Holiness
offered gold to the pinnacle, this Chenrezig is very good, when you recite the mantra look at it,
nectar flows and purifies you and all sentient beings, while you recite OM MANI PADME HUM. This
one you can put inside or outside the house above the door, there is bodhisattva Kshitigarbha it
stops bad feng shui in the house, harm to the family, it stops that. it stops spread of disease, this is
explained here. It is very good. This one is for death, it is meant to be put near a person who is
dying, on the pillow, so when you see the different deities to whom you pray, this is bodhgaya
stupa, seeing this mantra purifies one hundred thousand eons of negative karma, this mantra
purifies the five uninterrupted negative karma of killing father or mother or an arhat, criticizing
sangha, like I said during the picnic if you recite chomdende rinchen tsugtor chenla chag tsel lo
when somone is dying in the ear so they hear it, it makes it impossible to be born in the lower
realms. This is Mickey Mouse. Something who has nothing to do. This one is about compassion.
There is one missing, I wrote this, the ten importances of compassion, this can be given to
business people, to generate good heart to others, to bring happiness to others and not harm, this
means you never get harmed and receive happiness, this is thinking of your happiness but
especially think of others happiness. this is Namgyelma protection, those who are leaving before
the initiation can take these. If you have Namgyelma protection in your house, your house
becomes holy and anybody who dies in the house doesnt get born in the lower realms, even
insects. Then the shadow touches people or insects, their negative karma gets purified. If you put
it on a mountain, anybody who climbs the mountain gets purified. If you have this large one in the
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An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings by Joan Nicell

car, anybody who touches the car their negative karma gets purified, also those inside the car,
when we drive cars so many insects and ants get killed but if there is Namgyelma mantra in the car
they dont get lower rebirth and get higher rebirth, if you wear Namgyelma mantra in case insects
die under your feet, similar to the car, or in your hands, because your body becomes holy by
wearing Namgyelma mantra they dont get born in lower realms. This is the best one if somebody
dies, a family member or your beloved dog or cat, if you put it above the body, doesnt have to
touch the body, they dont get born in lower realms and get higher rebirht. This is Lama Atishas
stupa, I saw it many years ago but it wasnt clear but one nun from Singapore went to Wolka
Cholung in Tibet where Lama Tsongkhapa did prostrations, and the abbot there gave her a picture
that was clear, so this is a copy of that. if someone has broken samaya with the guru, if you go to
the place where they were you get pollution, so your realizations get lost and your mind gets
harder and harder, so difficult to rise devotion, compassion, all these things, then you go to the
lower realms, when you get pollution even if you read lam-rim it is difficult for it to benefit your
mind, this stupa protects the mind from this pollution which is not known in the west, pollution
from people who broke their samaya and from the place where they were. If you wear it, cover it
with plastic so it doesnt get damaged. So this one has OM PADMO USHNISHA VIMALE HUM PHAT,
I was telling you about it before, this has five hundred thousand of these mantras, then four
dharmakaya mantras, so by putting it on your body, I didnt have it before, it is a new thing I made,
it purifies several trillion eons of negative karma each time it touches your body. So I think that is
it.
If we want success then do Medicine Buddha practice, recite the seven Medicine Buddhas names
seven times and the mantra that becomes so, so, for anything, for any project, any obstacle, family
members who have died, you do Medicine Buddha puja for everything, the extensive one by 7th
Dalai Lama, and the short one by Panchen Losang Chokyi Gyeltsen who composed the Lama
Chopa, and the shortest one by Kachen Yeshe Gyeltsen, there is another one, I translated the
shortest one, not the healing one from Padmasambhava, the shortest one I translated into English,
it was a black book so many years ago when Doctor Adrian, not oldest sangha but one who is still a
monk, then there is another one but I dont remember if it is all in English, for anything Medicine
Buddha can be used. It is unbelievable, unbelievable, so much, when we finish, even if I were to
come back I couldnt finish explaining the benefits. There was a person in Taiwan, he was not
particularly Buddhist, I didnt meet him, he was sick, his medicine was in the bathroom but he
couldnt get up, he was slowly trying to move, there was a Medicine Buddha statue next to his
pillow, that Medicine Buddha was holding the medicine that had been in the bathroom, it was
supposed to be in the bathroom, so then he took the medicine. When he died, I dont think he was
somebody who studied Dharma, he died like this, with his hands in prostration, so definitely he
got a higher rebirth, maybe in a pure land. then in Hong Kong, codirector, the other director is my
relative, Pemba, the codirector, Ester, looks after the money, she had to have a big operation on
her head, she always had headaches, when she was having the operation she saw Medicine
Buddha during that time, she was totally amazed, normally she recited only one mala of Medicine
Buddha mantra but during the huge operation she was able to see the Medicine Buddha. I think
Geshe Lama Konchog, somebody who was in a coma Geshe Lama Konchog said to put Medicine
Buddha on the pillow, after doing that the person woke up from the coma, that happened, it
seems maybe for coma maybe more to do Medicine Buddha. There are so many stories but that is
enough. I think if you totally trust the Medicine Buddha and pray, recite the seven names and
seven times the mantra, it definitely helps, even though in Western hospital it is considered
impossible to get better, but because these things are dependent arising, it depends on karma,
amazing things happen, people recover. Of course, it depends on karma, everything depends on
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Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015

An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings by Joan Nicell

karma. there are several people who through meditation and also Tibetan medicine recovered
from cancer, that happened, however even one lady, a student, who has leukemia, she recited
Namgyelma mantra and got better. Then one Mongolian, one lady in the Mongolian center,
Hulans son, what was his disease?
A rare form of leukemia, they need to change the blood two times a week in Canada, it took one
year but couldnt find a donor for a marrow transplant. They asked me a question so I had to
answer, it is not that I know, you remember my answer? I replied no medicine, maybe MANI pills
and what else? I sent water or something, after that he got better, it was very surprising. For the
west it is impossible but he got better and now he is in Mongolia. We have mother in Japan who
took care of the monks in Kopan like a mother, she had a rare disease, do you know what it was?
One very rare disease, in the west there is no cure. I gave her Tibetan medicine, not precious one,
very common one, I dont remember if I gave blessed water, I gave a practice, then she got
completely better, but in the west it was considered impossible. There are things like this. for
example, you must totally completely rely on the Medicine Buddha, that can help. That is enough.
There might be other stories.
Those who have to leave then there are these presents, okay. After that I will do the initiation.
(The transcript of the actual initiation ritual is not available.)
Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by me, all the three time merits collected
by numberless sentient beings and numberless buddhas, which do not exist from their own side,
may the I, who does not exist from its own side, achieve full enlightenment, which does not exist
from its own side, and lead all the sentient beings, who do not exist from their own side, to that
full enlightenment, which does not exist from its own side, by myself alone who does not exist
from its own side.

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Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015

An extremely rough, unedited, first draft transcript typed simultaneously with the teachings by Joan Nicell

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