His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – December 21, 2025

Attendees at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center in Taipei follows His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s instruction, reverently listen to the Dharma tape of Rinpoche’s teachings on June 29th, 2003. 

 
There were 37 disciples being punished not to make offerings; until now, it has already been 45 days. Among them, there were two disciples who can make offering starting from today. Some of these 37 disciples are newcomers who didn’t know why they were punished and not allowed to make offerings. You must feel very strange. Why could some start to make offerings, while others still couldn’t? The reason lied in one’s heart; whether they have a hundred percently accomplished the matters I instructed. During these 45 days, have they actually reflected on what they have done wrong? When you took refuge, I taught you to stay away from evil friends, yet now you are still approaching them, believing that you can keep yourself steady and not be influenced by others. During this period, there have been about seven or eight pujas which I did not allow you to make offerings, it was meant to tell you that if you do not follow the teachings, you will not even be given the opportunity to accumulate the good fortune—let alone to learn Vajrayana or liberate yourself from life and death. Learning Buddhism is not a simple matter, nor a complicated one, rather, one needs to practice down to earth and actually carry it out.

As a person who propagates the Dharma, I bear a very heavy responsibility—to let you have a true understanding of the Buddha Dharma. If I were to transmit the Dharma according to whether you feel happy or not, it would harm both you and me. The reason I have come again in this lifetime is because in past lives I didn’t fully guide you to liberation, and in this life I have been drawn back because of you. Therefore, now, if  disciples don’t listen, first, discipline; and second, kick out. I hope that since you have the opportunity in this lifetime to listen to the Buddha Dharma, none of you will take a wrong path, speak wrongly, or act wrongly. The Buddhist community in Taiwan all fall ill. Every Buddhist center is afraid that believers won’t come or don’t making offerings, and so they flatter the believers. In fact, during the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, he often sent people away as well. Don’t think that this is something I invented. This method has already existed in the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. At this moment, Rinpoche berated a disciple, asking what he was laughing at; and Rinpoche instructed that if he were seen again with a frivolous, joking attitude, he would be kicked out. 

In this chaotic world, a society filled with so many disasters, if one’s attitude of learning Buddhism is still ​​desultory—thinking that as long as having money, will, and time, is there anywhere that one couldn’t listen to the Buddha Dharma?  This notion is wrong. The Buddha Dharma is very difficult to hear, and even when it is heard, it is also difficult to be put into practice in daily life. Unless there is someone who continually supervises and urges you on, then you are able to put the Buddha Dharma in daily life; especially for us, lay practitioners. What is called ‘practice’? It is to correct one’s behaviour! Reciting mantras and prostrating to the Buddha aren’t practicing. If one’s behavior and way of thinking are not properly corrected, problems and difficulties will continue to arise. One must learn to train oneself, to discipline oneself, and to control one’s mind. When a thought first arises, it is essential never to give rise to resentment or hatred. If today you can feel resentment or hatred toward your guru, then you will feel resentment and hatred toward any sentient being. In that case, there will be no way to attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

The gurus in Vajrayana use more intense methods because our time is limited. Unlike the monastics, who have much time each day to live within the Buddha Dharma. The life of lay practitioners is full of temptations and obstacles. With just one wrong thought, you can be lured away by others at once—and once you are lured, it is very difficult to turn back. Never think that you are already practicing well. It is easy for us to see others’ faults, but very hard to see our own. When one’s dignity is hurt, one reacts immediately; yet when the dignity of others is hurt, one feels nothing. Therefore, the first method Bodhisattva Samantabhadra teaches us is: Be reverent to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the ten directions. This does not mean the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from ten directions or all the Buddhas; rather, it means that All the sentient beings are Buddha. Because all the sentient beings possess the condition to attain Buddhahood. Today, you look down upone one person, maybe he will be Buddha in future. You think you are higher, more capable, smarter and more competent than others, it is very naturally that you won’t respect others; you will naturally commit verbal karma first and violate thoughts of hatred.  

Why do you feel that learning Buddhism is so difficult? It is because you have set your goal on a Buddha whom you can’t see. Sentient Beings in the Age of Dharma Decline lack good fortune to see the Buddha, so the goal you set is unable to be seen; because you cannot see it, you then assume that you have already understood it. Why must Vajrayana asks us to be very respectful to the guru? Because the guru represents the lineage gurus,  the Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas in teaching the Buddha Dharma. Every word and action of the guru is for your benefit. ‘Benefit’ means to prevent you from falling into reincarnation in the future. Not falling into reincarnation can’t be achieved by merely reciting mantras or talking about it—it must be truly put into practice. Therefore, if you don’t accept the method the guru taught or not follow it, that is lacking respect to the guru. Will you respect others? If you do not respect others, how could others possibly respect you? You’ll accept anything, but you refuse to accept being at a disadvantage. Refusing to accept being at a disadvantage means you will never learn how to respect others; naturally, your body, speech, and mind will create evil karma. When others make mistakes, we should show understanding. We don’t need to use the word ‘forgive’ but we must be understanding. 

There was one male disciple who took refuge for 2 years and never respected me. It is when his father passed away that he started to change. If it were you, with your personality, you would have probably cut off all ties with such a disciple. But Buddhism never gives up on any sentient beings. As long as he stays under my guidance one day,  he still has a chance. Just like Venerable Milarepa, before he learned Buddhism, in order to take revenge on behalf of his mother,  he chanted mantras to bring down hailstorms, harmed and killed many people. When he realized that he possessed deep and heavy evil karma, he gave rise to a great Bodhicitta, and  sincerely practiced the Buddha Dharma; eventually became a great master and attained Buddhahood. Therefore, Buddha once said that people will certainly make mistakes; but to realize the mistake and change, one will still able to attain the level of a holy person. What is most frightening is when one constantly believes that one is never wrong, and it is all the fault of the guru; the guru doesn’t understand oneself, doesn’t empathize with oneself, and misunderstands. In fact, during our brief few decades in this world, we often misunderstand others and fail to empathize with them. These are all retributions and cause and effect. Think back about it: Not to mention that other scolded you, on the street, if someone merely bumps into you by accident, even if you do not lose your temper, at the very least your eyes will glare; that is a lack of empathizing, a refusal to allow anything to harm your sense of dignity.
 
The methods used at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center are stricter; because time is truly limited for all of us. It is not that we will die tomorrow or next year, but because everyone needs to work every day, the time we can genuinely quiet down and practice is really little. Out of necessity, Buddha Dharma must be strongly instilled into your daily lives. Practicing Buddhism takes place in everyday life. In every action, every word, and every single thought, the Dharma must be applied. If someone criticizes you today and you immediately give rise to the thought, ‘I am not wrong’, then you are already wrong. If someone criticizes you and you go home and take it out on your husband, then you are even wrong. Why? One person’s suffering is already enough—why pass that suffering onto others? What kind of Buddhism are you practicing? Where is the compassion (maitri and karuna)? Happiness should be given to others; suffering must not be passed on. Don’t follow the Western idea of ‘venting out your stress’ by telling others. You must understand that all suffering is the manifestation of karmic retribution. Therefore, the recording tape of The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattva I expound should be listened to repeatedly. I have also said before that even now I am still practicing The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattva. What right do you have not to practice it? What right do you have to think that you are practicing well? Among everyone here, not a single person has achieved even one percent of the capacity taught in The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattva. Some refuge disciples even say all day long that they have no time to listen to the recording tapes. If you truly have no time, then how do you have time to watch TV, to eat, to make money, or to spend time with your family? Learning Buddhism is our true and fundamental life.

The life one lived over these past decades is nothing but a dream. If you don’t believe it, think back to matters that happened ten or more years ago—it feels as if it happened just yesterday. Doesn’t it seem like a dream? If you still remain obstinated—spending your days being self-righteous, losing your temper with others, and saying that the guru is wrong—you will never learn compassion (maitri and karuna). His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang has also said: when a Buddhist practitioner thinks that what the guru says is wrong, it is your mind that is wrong, not the guru—because you have given rise to discriminating mind and evil thoughts. You listen to the Buddha Dharma with a mind of desire, rather than a pure mind, a mind that seeks liberation from life and death. From the time I began learning Buddhism until now, not once has a single thought arisen in me that my refuge guru in Exoteric Buddhism was wrong, nor that His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang was wrong. Examine yourselves carefully: how many times have you thought the guru was wrong? With such evil thoughts, how can you learn Buddhism? There’s no way! Vajrayana sets the rule and asks us to view the guru as father and as the Buddha, what is the reason behind this? It is not because I am the Buddha. Rather, it is because toward someone who can teach us Buddha Dharma and help us to be liberated from life and death, if we don’t even have a heart of gratitude, and instead give rise to though of hatred the moment we feel slightly displeased, how can we ever learn the heart of compassion (maitri and karuna)? No matter which sutras all tell us that without compassion (maitri and karuna), there is no Buddha Dharma.
 
The most fundamental condition of Bodhicitta is compassion. You even allow hatred to arise toward someone to whom you owe gratitude, how could you possibly be filial to your parents or give rise to a heart of gratitude toward all sentient beings? Without a heart of gratitude, what naturally replaces it are hatred, greed, and a discriminating mind. All of these are delusions and afflictions. If we don’t head towards this direction to learn to control our thoughts, then even if you were to read the entire Buddhist Canon, even if the His Holiness of the four great lineages were to bestow empowerments upon you, it doesn’t represent that you have learned the Buddha Dharma. Not only should we be grateful to those who have shown us kindness, we should be even more grateful to the enemies. It is through the appearance of enemies that we come to see places that we still haven’t done well. Why are there enemies and villain people? Because you have done such things before. You have once harmed sentient beings; you have once spoken ill of others. This is the karmic retribution, just accept it.

Never think that coming to learn Buddhism is for the sake of health or good fortune—those mindsets are wrong. Health is your cause and effect, and whether your luck is good or bad is also your cause and effect. Learning Buddhism is for the great matter of life and death. Whether one can prolong one’s lifespan or live longer is also not important. What truly matters is this: do you believe you have a direction, and do you have confidence that in this very life you are able to be liberated from life and death? The direction is given to us by the Buddha, and seizing depends on ourselves. Just as after His Holiness transmits the Dharma, if I do not practice, it is still of no use.

On the path of cultivation, you will experience many challenges and grievances, including pressure and objection from your family, and pressure from your teachers and elders. We must endure all of these. Among the Six Paramitas, there is the Dharma method of Kṣāntipāramitā (Puja Teachings Index 17); it is not that being scolded by others and without getting angry. Rather, it is that on the path of cultivation and on the path of liberating sentient beings, we must bear all temptations, face all pressures, and accept all grievances—only then is it true  Kṣāntipāramitā (Puja Teachings Index 17). The Buddhist community in Taiwan claims to practice Mahayana and to cultivate the Bodhisattva path. To practice the Bodhisattva path, one must cultivate the Six Paramitas, Dānapāramitā (Puja Teachings Index 15), Śīlapāramitā (Puja Teachings Index 16), and Kṣāntipāramitā (Puja Teachings Index 17), these three Dharma methods. These three Paramitas are for cultivation of good fortune; if you don’t achieve practicing these three, you aren’t practicing the Six Paramitas. If you can’t accept the pressure and scolds given by the guru, then can you endure the pressure given by the sentient beings? Everyone thinks carefully a bit. The Amitabha Sutra and the Five Sutras of the Pure Land School states very clearly that people who want to be reborn in Pure Land must give rise to bodhicitta. What is called bodhicitta? It is people who practice within the Six Paramitas. But you are reluctant to do it, thinking that by listening to Buddha Dharma, it can solve your problem. Listening to the Dharma belongs to the gate of understanding; the most important is the gate of practice. Cultivation requires actual practice—it must be carried out. Understanding without practice will sooner or later give rise to wrong thoughts, wrong views, and wrong actions. Therefore, after hearing the Dharma, one must apply it in daily life.

I often teach you to examine whether the rise of mind and movement of the thoughts today are for yourself? Whether the body, speech, and mind violates the teachings Buddha taught us. If you did, then you need to repent and don’t do it tomorrow. How many of you have done it this way? Watching television every day until you are tired and then going to sleep—have you ever thought about what you actually did today? Have you ever considered whether the life you lived today was the life of an ordinary person, or the life of a practitioner of Buddhism? If you do not practice using this method, then there is no way forward. You are unlike these monastics who have time; you do not have time. Therefore, when you return home and lose your temper with your wife, complain that your boss is wrong or that your supervisor is bad, it shows that the day you lived was one of greed, hatred, and ignorance—a day spent struggling within the Three Evil Realms. If, upon returning home, you can say to your wife, ‘I shouldn’t have acted this way today; I should change,’ then you have begun walking the path of learning and practicing Buddhism.
  
Don’t think that by beginning to do the grand prostrations means that you are practicing. Don’t think that by holding a Dharma text and reciting the Great Six-Syllable Mantra for one or two thousand times a day means you are practicing. Performing grand prostrations and reciting mantra are meant to help settle our mind a bit,  reduce delusional thoughts, and give us the space to reflect on ourselves. You come to me all day long to repent; you are not repenting, but for apologizing. What is to repent? It means that after one admits the mistake, one must not repeat it. What is to apologize? I slape you, and said, ‘Sorry.’, then turn back and slap you in the face again, and say ‘I’m sorry’ once more.  You are all like this now. After one comes to apologize, then, after a while you return again—greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt arise once more. It is always the same. The Vajayana said that a good guru is very hard to meet. But to a guru, a good disciple is even harder to meet. Why is it in such difficulty?  Because the heart of the sentient beings is unimaginable！ The meaning of unimaginable is: the delusional thoughts of the sentient beings is too much, many thoughts are without a notion of reverence, without sincerity. What is called ‘heart of reverence’? It is simply sincerity—one single mind. No matter what the Buddha teaches or what the guru says, it all comes down to one mind: to accept it with sincere devotion.
 Do not think that the guru has made you suffer many grievances. On my path of learning Buddhism, there have been many grievances, pressures, and situations. I endured them one by one. Endurance does not mean pretending not knowing what others say; it means not taking it to heart at all—completely accepting it, because it is one’s own karmic retribution. 
 
Around 1996, His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang came to Taiwan to hold an Empowerment puja of Thousand-Hand Avalokiteshvara. The organizer was another Drikung Kagyu Buddhist center. That day, I brought more than a hundred disciples to attend, and at that time I was sitting in the audience. About twenty minutes before the puja began, someone of the organizer came to me and said that His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang asked me to sit on stage. To sit on stage, one must wear the Dharma vestment, but since I didn’t know this in advance, I didn’t bring the Dharma vestment. I even went to the VIP room at the back to respectfully ask His Holiness. Once I stepped into the room, the first sentence His Holiness said to me was very strict, ‘Why haven’t you changed into the Dharma vestment yet?’ If it were you, you would explain that you didn’t know, and had just been notified. I didn’t explain; I turned to His Holiness and said: ‘I will change right away!’ This was how a person should behave. No need to explain; not knowing simply means not knowing.
 
No matter who framed me, whoever didn’t let me know, or who kept things from me, it was all my karmic retribution. It must be that in past lives I treated others in the same way;  I accepted it, and that is it—what is there left to explain?  Explaining didn’t mean that His Holiness would then view me differently. If I explain this to His Holiness, believing that someone’s failure to tell me, this equals to causing that person to be scolded by tHis Holiness, wouldn’t that mean I am creating negative karma? Were you able to do it ? The reason I am qualified to sit on the Dharma throne today is that I did it—I immediately went back to put on my Dharma vestment, rushed back right away, took my seat on stage, and said nothing.

In addition, there was another occasion when a puja was held in Taiwan, the Khenpo arranged for me to sit in the front. In Tibetan Buddhism, sitting in the front or in a higher seat signifies a higher fruition level. As a result, an elderly lama became very unhappy, he was originally supposed to lead the chanting, yet he pushed the microphone toward me, implying that I should recite instead. But I do not know Tibetan—how could I recite? All the Dharma texts were in Tibetan. If it were you, you would certainly have lost your temper. I said, ‘No, no. The Khenpo asked you to chant. I myself am sitting in the wrong seat,’ and I immediately moved to the back. Could you do that? Forget about being unable to do it during a puja—even in ordinary situations, if I merely show you a certain expression, you already say, ‘The guru is angry with me.’

As long as you have said such words, or as long as you have had such a thought, it is an evil thought, because evil has arisen in your mind. When we see furious yidams, we do not say that they are angry or that they look ugly. On the contrary, we feel joy when we see them, because they manifest a wrathful form to eliminate our karmic obstacles, and for that we feel deep gratitude toward them. But what about you? The moment the guru scolds you, you immediately give rise to anger and instantly say that the guru is wrong or bad.

A few days ago, I watched a television program that talked about an employee during the Qing dynasty. In order to help his employer do good deeds and not let him be distracted, he never mentioned any problems at home and never returned home, no matter what happened. You would surely say that only people in ancient times were foolish, having problems yet not asking for leave to go home. His reasoning was very simple: without the employer, I would not be able to survive. Troubles in my family are my own business and have nothing to do with my employer. Could you do this? Why was it easier for people in ancient times to practice Buddhism than it is for us today? Because they had less greed and higher moral standards. All of you here work for others. Have you achieved this? You make endless excuses even to come to learn and listen to the Dharma. Not to mention practicing Buddhism, you have not even fulfilled your role as a human. If everyone considers only their own family to be important, then society as a whole must bear the consequences. Why is Taiwan’s economy getting worse and worse? Because there is a group of people who constantly think only of their own problems, their own family issues, their own dissatisfaction. Why could people in ancient times do this? Very simply—one word: gratitude. They did not think that only due to their help, the employer can earn profit. They had only one thought: I have food to eat today because of my employer; therefore, I must repay him and pay back. Can you do this?
 
During the SARS outbreak, from the beginning until now, not a single nurse or doctor in Hong Kong said, ‘I will not go into the hospital to help patients.’ How about Taiwan? From SARS, it is observable that Hong Kong people were more united than the Taiwanese. Hong Kong medical staff have not protested. Hong Kong is also very democratic. How about you? Even though Buddhism is flourishing in Taiwan, with many Buddhist centers, many masters, and many Rinpoches, but the number of people who truly practice can be counted on ten fingers. Because you are too self-centered. How can such self-centered people truly learn the Dharma?

Today, we have a Drikung Kagyu Khenpo—Khenpo Namdol on the stage. He is from Yunnan, was ordained in Zhongdian, retreated at Drikung Thil Monastery, and later went to India to learn the Dharma. After imploring instructions with His Holiness, I invited Khenpo Namdol to come to Taiwan for six months to assist at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center with many liturgies, mandala arrangements, and the torma making technique. I will select a few people to be trained. Especially when autumn comes and the weather gets cooler, I will perform the fire offering liturgy and the Great Amitabha Dharma for Transferring Consciousness. As a member of Glorious Jewel, you must cherish this opportunity. Although I do not speak Tibetan, I have a especially deep fate with the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. That is why I received many Vajra Dharma transmitted by His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang to benefit sentient beings. If you have a fate from past lives to enter this path, do not give up. Do not let your own thoughts or small grievances cut off your path to Buddhahood in this lifetime. It is easy to cut off the opportunity to learn Buddhism, and no one know how long it will take to return to it. So, disciples who have taken refuge should still listen more to the recordings of my teachings. Do not think that after hearing them once or twice, you already know them, have listened to them, then say that you  don’t have time to listen again. Such thinking is inappropriate. If you have time to watch television, you naturally have time to listen to recordings. Reduce television by half an hour a day, and you will absolutely have the time.

At this moment, a female disciple was dozing off. Rinpoche scolded her and expounded: ‘All of you are unlucky to have taken refuge with a guru who has sharp eyes. You owed me in your past lives, so in this life you come to be scolded. You might think that because I wear glasses, I cannot see every action or movement of you. It just depends on whether I choose to see or not. If you had taken refuge with an old guru whose eyesight was weak, you could sleep down there and do whatever you want, and he wouldn’t see it. Why don’t I let you sleep? Because the sutras speak of the sleep demons. Never think that just sitting in a puja venue will be effective. Although the Dharma texts and sutras say that as long as you hear with your ears, your Dharma seeds—the seeds of the path to Buddhahood—will always exist, that ‘hearing’ does not count if you are dozing. The hearing requires being fully attentive and concentrated. It only counts as they embed deeply within the Eighth Consciousness, also known as the Alaya Consciousness. If you doze off, it’s useless! At most, you might feel refreshed later to eat out with others or talk on the phone. If the guru themselves were to doze during the pujas, you could do it too. 

Remember the Great Puja of His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang on June 30, 2002. The day before, I did not sleep at all. On June 30, from morning until the end of the puja, not a single person watching from the TV screens saw me doze off on the Dharma throne. Why could I do it, but you cannot? Very simple: because you lack respect. No matter how tired or exhausted I am, as long as His Holiness ascends the Dharma throne, I will absolutely not doze, because of respect. This respect is not for myself; it is for all sentient beings. Why do you doze when listening to the Dharma? Because you think you are listening to the Dharma yourself. If you have the mindset of listening on behalf of sentient beings, including your karmic creditors, then you will be able to go on with the puja with concentration. But if you listen for your own benefit, your karmic creditors will make you doze off, preventing you from liberation from birth and death. The sutras says clearly: Sleep Demons prevent you from hearing the Dharma, make you sleepy while chanting mantras, and cause you to yawn repeatedly during chanting. Do not think that your yawning or inability to chant the mantras is due to being tired from work. It is because your mind is not pure.

Where do the fruits of things (the effects of the causes) come from? They come from the causes. If you do not plant evil causes, how can evil fruits arise? That is why, when you take refuge, you are immediately told to cut off evil and practice virtue. No evil act is allowed, not even minor ones. Never think that committing a small evil deeds will have no consequences. A robber who ends up robbing banks also begins with small evils. At first, he takes others’ belongings and nothing happens; gradually he starts stealing, and when stealing brings no warnings, he  start to rob. This is how it always begins. So do not think that simply apologizing to me makes everything fine. If you repeat the evils,  there will be consequences.

In Exoteric Buddhism, learning Buddhism begins from causes. Your current root-capacity is still grounded in the exoteric level, so you must cultivate from causes, and cut off all evil. Vajrayana, however, works from the retributions; it is different from you. Once one truly understands, we transform retributions, not change them, but transform. That is why we often hear that the Five Sense can be transformed into the Five Wisdoms. It is not a change; it is a transformation. How to transform? One must listen to the Dharma and practice it correctly and genuinely to transform. It is not that the Buddha transforms for us, we must transform ourselves. The reason people do not know how to transform is because they continue to live with their greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt. So it has no energy to transform, and the transformation cannot be done.

Some people speak rudely when they receive phone calls from others. Why are they rude? Because they think it has nothing to do with them and feel the caller is bothering them unnecessarily. For example, I often receive calls in the morning, either from banks promoting credit cards or asking a bunch of baffling questions. I never lose my temper, I simply tell them politely, ‘Sorry, you’ve dialed the wrong number,’ and they will apologize as well. Often, when people dial the wrong number, if you hang up immediately as soon as you hear them, they will call again. They assume they dialed incorrectly and try once more, because they did not get an answer. You might say that you are not at any fault, that the caller is the one who is to be blamed for, and think, ‘Who cares? I don’t even know them.’ My approach is a little better than yours. I say a few more words. When they ask whether this is a certain number, I tell them the number is correct, but the person they are looking for truly does not live here, and convince them. Naturally, they will not call again.
 
When we spend a little more time and give others a little more opportunity, we are actually giving ourselves an opportunity. If we do not give others an opportunity, we are also denying ourselves one. Therefore, every moment of daily life is the Dharma. Something as simple as a wrong phone call, if handled with the Dharma, it naturally brings no annoyance. You have all experienced wrong calls late at night, calls from drunk people, or calls at six in the morning. With my temper before, I would have scolded them. Now I do not. I speak calmly and say a few more words, and they do not call again. Try it yourselves if you do not believe it. If you hang up abruptly with a ‘bang’, they will call again very quickly, especially now that phones have a redial button. Even if they do not know the number, they can simply press redial, and it will really irritate you.

So everyone should understand that learning Buddhism is actually this simple. If your personality can be transformed, you begin to move from the state of an ordinary person into the state of the holy ones, slowly changing, step by step. We unceasingly reincarnate in the Six Realms precisely because of our personality. What is personality? When someone says you ‘have a strong personality,’ in Buddhist terms, it means you are very stubborn, unwilling to admit your faults, and unwilling to repent; this is what is called ‘having personality.’ Are people with strong personalities necessarily liked by others? Not necessarily. So-called ‘strong personality’ means living through the Six Roots (Six Sense-organs). If you live with a sincere and honest heart, then you are living according to the Dharma. Take the example of the wrong phone call mentioned earlier. If you explain sincerely and patiently, unless the person is mentally disordered, no normal person will continue to harass you. They recognize your good intention, why would they keep bothering you? But if you do not give them a chance to speak and do not explain anything to them , they will certainly keep calling until you scold them.

Many people think that learning Buddhism means doing a certain number of full prostrations every day, one must sees Buddhas and Bodhisattvas appear, or experiencing spiritual responses, believing that this is what it means to learn Buddhism. That is not the case. Learning the Dharma is judged by whether the quality of your life has improved, not in a material or psychological sense, but by whether you have reduced karmic enmities and reduced opportunities for conflict with others. If conflicts have decreased, then your quality of life has improved. Conflicts may arise with strangers, acquaintances, or family members. If, after learning Buddhism, conflicts do not decrease but increase instead, then you are in a worse state than before, because you knowingly break the rule, and your sin is even greater.
 
However, if, after learning Buddhism, you can change and transform immediately, the degree to which your good fortunes increase will be many times greater than that of others who gain good fortunes through doing virtuous deeds. Why is this so? Because you practice in accordance with teachings. You are a disciple of the Buddha. Being a disciple of the Buddha does not mean that once you take refuge, you automatically become one. Rather, you must practice in accordance with the teachings and fulfill the taught by the Buddha. When you do so, you have good fortunes. Since you are a disciple of the Buddha, how could the Buddha not take care of you or be concerned about you?
 
Next, I will explain the faults and sufferings of the Asura Realm. One cannot be reborn in the Asura Realm without good fortunes. Where do these good fortunes come from? They come from having practiced during one’s previous lifetime. Asuras are also called ‘those without alcohol’; beings reborn in the Asura Realm do not drink alcohol. The males are very ugly, while the females are very beautiful. Their good fortunes of enjoyments are very close to that of the Heaven Realm. The only difference is that asuras hace extremely strong hartred. Why are such beings reborn in the Asura Realm? It is because during their cultivation they were constantly concerned with competing with others. Competing in what way? They believe they practice better than others, recite better than others, and think others are inferior to them. They feel themselves to be above others. For example, there is a disciple who believed that he (or she) recited the Great Six-Syllable Mantras better than others, this is the mind of asuras. We who learn Buddhism are especially prone to generate such thoughts. Many lay practitioners, especially after studying in a Buddhist monastery for several years, begin to feel that everyone who comes in is doing things wrongly and that only they themselves are correct. As a result, they often correct others or criticize them using very impolite language. As I have taught you before, before you have attained fruition level, you must not speak Dharma to others or correct others’ mistakes in Buddhist practice. This is because you are merely using your own consciousness to judge others, not your true heart. You are judging others with a mind of competition. Therefore, such people will certainly be reborn in the Asura Realm when this lifetime ends.
 
The suffering of asuras, apart from continuing to reincarnate, lies most importantly in the fact that they fight with beings in the Heavenly Realm all day long, because asuras are jealous of the greater enjoyment of those in the Heaven Realm. In fact, on Earth, we can observe that Catholicism often have conflicts with Islam, just as the fight between Heaven Realm and the Asura Realm. People in the Middle East are very wealthy; the men tend to be less attractive while the women are beautiful, and they do not drink alcohol, just like beings in the Asura Realm. Therefore, the Six Realms are not places one goes only after death; they can already be seen on Earth. These Middle Eastern people harbor very deep desire of vengeance and suffering,  they are even willing to blow themselves up just to kill their enemies. This is the mind of asuras.
 
Asuras possess extremely deep hatred, yet because they have practiced and made offerings, they also possess good fortunes. If, in your workplace or in the Buddhist Center for cultivation, your jealousy and hatred are very strong, then even if you cultivate good fortunes and some wisdom, you will still fall into the Asura Realm. Many asuras are born near the sea. That is why many Middle Eastern countries are located along coastlines, and the real realms of the asuras are also often near the sea. I often remind everyone to be cautious when visiting the seaside, if you inadvertently offend asuras, the trouble may never end.
 
In daily life, if you constantly jealous others, harbor hatred, or look down on others, then even if you learn and practice Buddhism, you will still fall into the asura realm. When chanting mantras, if you think that your voice or intonation is better than others’, this is the mind of asuras. When others make more offerings, you gossip on the side, saying things like, ‘They are offering more just to gain the guru’s favor,’ or you try to stop others from making offerings. For example, telling them they should not give so much, claiming it disrupts the ‘market equilibrium’ or preventing others from offering simply beacause you feeling embarrassed. If such people practice well, they will fall into the Asura Realm; if they practice poorly, they will fall into the Hungry Ghost Realm. Therefore, people here who have stopped others from making offerings previouly, even these more than thirty people who have changed their heart to make offerings. Both the Asura Realm and the Hungry Ghost Realm have a share for them. I refuse to accept their offerings precisely because I fear that they will fall into these two realms.
 
It is very easy to fall into the Asura Realm or the Hungry Ghost Realm. For example, if someone originally intends to offer NT$1000 and you tell them that NT$100 is enough, you are stopping others from making offerings. Therefore, when someone asks you how much to offer, do not give advice. The amount that arises in their very first thought is the correct one. Especially at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center, I have never stated how much money is required to perform a Dharma or how much is required to transfer one consciousness, there is no price for that; it is entirely up to you. Those who constantly tell others that NT$100 is enough or that NT$500 is sufficient are the ones preventing others from making offerings.

When I make offerings to His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang, I have never once thought about whether I would have money left afterward, or whether I would still have enough to live on. I am simply very clear that once the money is under His Holiness commands, he can do many things with it. In the same way, when you make offerings to me, I am able to do many things as well. You may think that you are offering me a great deal, but there are many things I still have to do many things behind the scenes. I do not tell you about them as well, in case you think that learning Buddhism with me is burdensome. Some people even say that they still have a mortgage to pay and therefore should not give a one-quarter offering. The one-quarter offering was not invented by me; it is stated in the sutras. Why is one-quarter mentioned? It was the Buddha arranged for us. It was said by Shakyamuni Buddha. The Buddha are very compassionate (Maitrī and Karuṇā) still left three-quarters for you to use, only one-quarter to be offered.
 
Among people who sit here, very few have met this standard. Do you think offering NT$100 or NT$200 truly counts as making offerings? Take myself as an example. This time, His Holiness’s was looking for people to carry things up the mountain so that His Holiness can complete a six-month retreat smoothly. His Holiness forgot to bring money to Nepal. He called me, asking me to withdraw funds from his Hong Kong account and remit them over. I immediately replied to His Holiness that there was no need to go through such trouble, I would simply remit the money directly myself.

This sentence meant US$10,000; those of you present probably don’t even offer this much over the course of the year, and this US$10,000 was accumulated from the NT$100 and NT$200 offerings you all made each time; I represented you in making an offering to His Holiness for his retreat. Many people regret their offerings afterward—had I known, I would not have offered so much; I could have kept it and used it myself. Wouldn’t that have been preferable? And this is the mentality of the Asura and Hungry Ghost Realms. By making an offering with such a mindset, one cannot expect any good fortune. This good fortune is not meant to make you rich; rather, it helps you liberate yourselves from life and death. 
 
For instance, Khenpo Namdol has no money; Tibetan Lhamas do not receive a salary from the Monastery, nor do anyone make offerings to them, nor do they recite sutras for others to receive offerings, they become monastics completely funded by their families, and when the family has no money, they are without funds. However, when I entered retreat this year, Khenpo Namdol continued to make offerings of fruit and incense to me; these are genuine offerings. This time, he offered me incense for Jambhala, in the hope that I would have more money to do more for the lineage. You must clearly understand that if you do not meet the criteria set forth in the Buddhist sutras, none of your offerings count. Let me do the math for you. Each puja you offer NT$100; with six pujas each month, along with transportation costs, this totals NT$1,000 per month. However, when dining out, a party of two will cost from NT$500 to NT$1,500. Do not misunderstand that I am being calculative about money with you; if I were to be penny-pinching, I could easily give a set price for consciousness transference; instead I am trying to tell you that if you are to make an offering, make it right, but if you cannot make it correctly, that’s also fine, but don’t be attached to the idea that ‘I’m making an offering’in your heart. Even if you do not have money to perform offerings, but you aspire to learn Buddhism, I would still be joyous. If you make offerings wholeheartedly and sincerely, I would also be joyous. For instance, a disciple came to make an offering before his father passed to plead for the Phowa Dharma on behalf of his father; he made the offering with his secret stash money, and that is a genuine offering, so his father passed after I finished my meal, and thus his father received the Phowa Dharma—this is true good fortune. Therefore, it is not the amount of money that matters; rather, the heart is most important. 

In future, when you see others make offerings, do not speak, criticize, or stop them; even if others make an offering of NT$10, it is a thought from his heart, do not ask why so little; when others make a large offering, do not fear that he will undermine the market, and make you lose face, and thus go about preventing others from making offerings, all must follow fate in order not to fall into the Asura and Hungry Ghost Realms. Do not think that having made offerings means that you will not fall into the Hungry Ghost Realm, if your mindset is incorrect, it can still happen, and the only difference will be that you might get more to eat and become the King of Ghosts, so you eat first and the others follow afterwards, or when others must consume excrement, you won’t have to. Therefore, as I talk about the Asura Realm, I must stress that you have to be careful about your thoughts; do not get jealous of others.
 
In Tibetan Buddhist Dharma texts, there’s the Seven Branch Offering, and one of them is to rejoice in the merit of others; to rejoice does not mean whichever amount you like in offerings, as you like. Instead, it means that when you see anyone perform any meritorious deed, your heart fully agrees with and praises them; that is what we call rejoicing. It isn’t that when you see others make offerings, you say that you rejoice with them; instead, you must praise others for any merit they perform, even if it is when others bring a cup of tea as an offering, we must praise them; this is what rejoicing in the merit of others means. If you do not have this kind of heart in you, you will easily fall into the Asura and Hungry Ghost Realms. Therefore, I have forbidden this group of thirty or so people who regretted making offerings, from making offerings in fear that they shall fall into the Hungry Ghost and Asura Realms because they make offerings with a distinguishing mind. 

Many people are like this: after placing NT$2,000 in a red envelope, they later thought, perhaps not, and withdrew NT$1,000. The matter of making offerings should be performed but not remembered in one’s heart; just as I have done many things but forgotten them all. The Three-Fold Wheel of Essential Emptiness isn’t simply to be devoid of the subject, object, and thought of offering; instead, it is to be unattached to the offering one performs in body, speech, and mind. Only then can one truly fulfill the Three-Fold Wheel of Essential Emptiness. To put it simply, after performing it, nothing remains. Don’t keep pondering about it in your heart; you don’t necessarily have to remember what you have done. Making offerings is our lifeline, just as we need to breathe. If we don’t make offerings, upon death, death will be horrible for us. 

Khenpo Namdul understands how to make offerings. When a practitioner is in retreat, to make an offering so meager as a strand of hair, a spec of sesame, as long as it is done sincerely, this merit will be greater than any other offering. Everyone must be clear: Do not fall into the Asura Realm carelessly. Those who prevent others from offering are those who are jealous of them, fearing that others will outperform them. If one does not repent thoroughly, the chances of one falling into the Asura Realm will be very high. It would be horrible to enter the Asura Realm, where they are fighting every day, either in fear that they will be killed or looked down upon by people in the Heaven Realm; therefore, they suffer greatly. Some wealthy people look down upon the poor—this is also the mindset of the Asura. Therefore, you should absolutely not go to the Asura Realm, since once you enter, it will be very difficult to exit. 
 
Lastly, I will speak of the Heaven Realm. Many people, especially the Chinese, including Catholics and Christians, all practice and enter the Heaven Realm in the end. In the Heaven of Forms, Heaven of Desires, and Heaven of Formlessness, each enjoys different levels of good fortunes and longevity, but whichever realm he resides in, even in the Heaven Realm, he still must reincarnate, be born, and die. Even if we practice chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) and reach the highest state in the Heaven of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Nerception, one still has to fall back into the samsara ocean of life and death. Chan (Puja Teachings Index 06) practitioners can very easily enter the Heaven Realm through cultivation because, whether one practices non-Buddhist beliefs or Buddhism, as long as they are willing to practice chan(Puja Teachings Index 06), they can naturally generate ding (Puja Teachings Index 06), with ding(Puja Teachings Index 06) comes good fortune, and with good fortune, one enters the Heaven Realm. 

The boundary between the Heaven Realm and liberation from life and death is very subtle. Many believe that sitting chan(Puja Teachings Index 06), or possessing great powers of ding (Puja Teachings Index 06), entails practicing the School of chan(Puja Teachings Index 06). It’s wrong, as this notion is incorrect; when you say that you’ve entered ding (Puja Teachings Index 06), it means that there will definitely be a day or a second when you are not within ding (Puja Teachings Index 06). What is ding (Puja Teachings Index 06)? It is not to have delusional thoughts. How can one prevent the rise of delusional thoughts? Apart from performing repentance rites, prostrating to Buddha, chanting mantras, reciting sutras and the names of Buddha to suppress our delusional thoughts, it is through sitting chan (Puja Teachings Index 06) that we quell our delusions, but to quell does not mean that the delusional idea won’t rise, as long as the power quelling the delusional thought disappears, it will rise immediately. Therefore, the true meaning of chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) is: through training in chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), view and reflect upon oneself, and see one’s true self, the so-called original nature, enlightenment, and only when one enters the state of neither birth nor death, does one enter the Dharmadhatu (Dharma realm). If we employ the method of chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), a method that requires one’s heart to be firmly fixed within ding (Puja Teachings Index 06) as the direction of cultivation, we can easily enter the Fourth Chan Heaven. After the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, the School of chan (Puja Teachings Index 06) never had another great practitioner like him because no one of such root capacity appeared. 
 
In the Drikung Kagyu lineage, we also have methods of cultivatin chan (Puja Teachings Index 06) to enable one’s own enlightenment. The Mahamudra method is divided into 4 levels, each with 3 stages, for a total of 12 stages. Each stage presents distinct phenomena of realization that require the guru’s supervision to determine whether you have attained the fruition level. The Mahamudra is divided into One-pointedness Yoga, the second being Simplicity Yoga, the third, One-taste Yoga, and the fourth, Non-meditation Yoga, and each level is comprised of three stages. Through actual practice of the theories and actions of Mahamudra, we will not mistakenly attain the Heaven Realm. Why have I not yet taught you how to practice sitting chan (Puja Teachings Index 06)?  Because it is not the right moment as you are still filled with greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt, and if one practices chan (Puja Teachings Index 06), one can very easily fall into the Heaven Realm. 
 
The people of the Heaven Realm are a bit proud in comparison, as you might see from those who practice chan (Puja Teachings Index 06), who all think that they practice very well, and when speaking to them, you feel that they are prouder. Some religions cannot accept other religions, and because those practicing in the Heaven Realm are more arrogant, they look down upon other religions, so they naturally go to the Heaven Realm. What is the scourge of being in the Heaven Realm? They must still go through the suffering of samsara. 
 
When people of the Heaven Realm are about to die, the five signs of decay will appear —it is incredibly excruciating. First, they know which realm they will fall into. Usually, when one’s lifespan in the Heaven Realm comes to an end, those with heavy karmic obstacles will fall into the Hell Realm, and those with slightly lighter karmic obstacles will fall into the Animal Realm. You might ask how someone could enter the Heaven Realm without good fortune. How come after going to the Heaven Realm, one would end up in such horrible places? First, the higher one rises, the faster one falls; one can see this in the world: those who climb high will experience great agony when they fall. Second, just because one enters the Heaven Realm does not mean that one has cleared up the evil karma from accumulated past lives— one still has karma left, and once one’s good fortune is all used up, karma will emerge to enable one’s fall into the Evil Realms. Third, particularly those who practice chan (Puja Teachings Index 06), when one arrives at the Fourth Chan Heaven, one believes that one has attained the state of neither life nor death, and when one realizes that one is about to fall into Hell, anger rises, one thinks that one has practiced incorrectly, and that the teacher has mistaught, and it is exactly this thought of anger that causes the being to fall into the Hell Realm. Why do they fall into the Animal Realm? Because life in the Heaven Realm is pleasurable every day, those in the Heaven Realm do not listen to Buddha Dharma, which is equivalent to why it is difficult to ask a wealthy person to listen to Buddha Dharma. Many people come to learn Buddhism because of their sufferings; without such sufferings, they would not come. Those in the Heaven Realm who refuse to listen to the Buddha Dharma when asked have committed ignorance; the ignorant, whichever Realm they reside in, will fall into the Animal Realm. The Heaven beings possess supernatural powers and know which exact realm they will fall in after this life ends; therefore, they suffer many times more than we human beings. 

Second, before death, one’s heavenly garments will fall apart, begin to reek, while their hair becomes disheveled, and all of one’s friends and family members will part from him and remain a great distance away, and even if they did want to help him, it would be from far away in fear of coming near one. Also, originally, Heavenly beings do not perspire, but because he is about to die, his armpits will sweat profusely and emit a stench. Therefore, the beings of Heaven Realm, as they use up all their good fortune, must still return, must still go through samsara. The final seven days of the Heavenly being’s life are most agonizing because he can see with his divine sight that he endures the sufferings of life and death. In the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, seven days are equivalent to seven years for human beings. Therefore, in his final seven days, to endure days that wear on like years further causes him to remember the good fortune and joy he enjoyed in the past millions of years, and he finds it even harder to let go. Thus, the moment Heavenly Beings pass away, the sufferings are manyfold more. 
 
Jigtien Sumgong once said that when he sees the suffering of life and death, the peace and joy of the Heavenly beings become lies. Suffering, joy, virtues, and possessions in reincarnation are not to be believed in; you must contemplate this thoroughly. This means that when we have the good fortune to enjoy things, we should not think that we are enjoying ourselves; such joy is illusory, not eternal. Venerable Milerepa emphasized that all Six Realms of samsara endure suffering. 
 
We must not let our hearts get blown by the eight winds. Because there is life, there is therefore the suffering of old age, sickness, and death; because there is life, all demons and evil have the chance to enter. We become attached to this body with shape and form because of sperm and blood, and generate greed, hatred, ignorance, and vexation, and because of vexation, we commit evil karma. Due to the power of evil karma, we endure all sufferings; due to vexations, we develop bad habits, which influence us and accumulate in our hearts, causing the vexations to increase continuously, and in the end, we endure the boundless sufferings of samsara, and because of samsara, we are born into the gates of casts. Therefore, the Drikung Kagyu Lineage once mentioned the practice of ‘ turning attachments into visualizing and practicing like legs,’ which means that when we turn our mindset towards authentic Dharma, it becomes as convenient as having two legs to walk with. This means that we should take all that we are attached to in daily life into Buddha Dharma as a means of living; if one turns things this way, it is equivalent to having two legs to walk with, which is convenient and will lead us to our destination. In simpler terms, don’t care too much about whether you are suffering or enjoying things; it is good to suffer, and it is also good to enjoy. Do not seek after, get attached, force your way, or think about it; all is a matter of fate, and with sufficient fate, things come about naturally. 
 
Any of our practices should be deposited into the authentic Dharma, and only if we can truly generate the correct heart that renunciates samsara, can we be liberated. Therefore, before practicing or learning any Dharma, the preliminary practices, the main practices, and the concluding practices must all be sufficient.  The preliminary practices are the motivations; the main practices are the execution, and the concluding practices are the dedications. Thus, in the Avalokiteshvara Dharma Method, one must express the motivations in the beginning, perform visualizations, recite the mantras in the middle, and lastly make dedications.  Many Taiwanese Dharma Masters teach others how to visualize; however, visualization is not merely looking at the Buddha’s appearance, but rather contemplating within consciousness. In fact, all the visualization methods taught in Tibetan Buddhism encompass the full meaning of Amitabha Buddha Dharma; do not think that they are merely annoying or overly simple, nor should one neglect the stages of visualization in the drama text; this is very important. True visualizations must be performed according to the Dharma methods taught by the founding gurus and great noble ones, following preliminary, main, and concluding practices; one must cultivate them stage by stage for them to count and yield results. The preliminary, main, and concluding practices encompass the meaning, essence, and key points of Buddhism. If one only recites the mantras without preliminary, main, and concluding practices, it would not be perfectly complete.  
 
Are the Ten Minor Mantras recited by the Exoteric School nowadays of any use? The only function is to prevent the mouth from speaking; one cannot attain fruition due to the lack of the preliminary, main, and concluding practices. In the past, I could recite the Great Maitrī Mantra very well, and recited two booklets of the Avalokiteshvara Universal Gate Chapter each day,  but no matter how I recited, I could not yield any results due to the lack of preliminary, main, and concluding practices. Therefore, the only benefit of holding a counter and reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name while counting is to slightly decrease your delusional thoughts. If you truly hope to cultivate the dual practice of good fortune and wisdom, you must listen to the recordings of me teaching the Avalokiteshvara Dharma Method, which explains the preliminary, main, and concluding practices. Unless you’re elderly, cannot understand my Cantonese Mandarin, and are illiterate, you may simply recite the Great Six-Syllable Mantra. If you can understand my Cantonese Mandarin, and are literate, you must do so and not be lazy. Don’t say that you don’t have time today, so you will only recite the Great Six-Syllable Mantra 3000 times today, that doesn’t count.
 
Drubwang Rinpoche will be coming. Drubwang Rinpoche has recited the Great Six-SyllableMantra for over tens of trillions of times. Anyone, if anyone, whether from the Exoteric School or as Tibetan Buddhist disciples, has the good fortune, merit and fate to follow this elder in reciting the Great Six-Syllable Mantra for two days, it would be more effective than reciting ten million times on one’s own because he has attained the correct (Samyak) fruition. This may be the last visit he makes to Taiwan, yet so far you have only invited around one thousand people to attend this puja; such a wonderful ordeal and yet you don’t inform others about it. Do not look down upon the Great Six-Syllable Mantra, the nectar pill I gave you, which saves lives and cures sickness, was a Dharma medicine created by the 250 Lamas of the Drikung Thil Monastery, by reciting the Great Six-SyllableMantra for 45 days uninterruptedly. Drubwang Rinpoche will come to Taiwan this time as he granted my implorement three years ago; I once asked this elder how many people did he hope could come to the puja, and he answered by saying, the more the better. These words are not because of arrogance, or out of desire for face and offerings, but because he knows that the more attendees there are, the more effective it would be for Taiwan, which will be able to liberate more Taiwanese people from suffering and attain joy. If one has the opportunity to follow this elder in reciting the Great Six-SyllableMantra for two days in this life, one will certainly not fall into the Three Evil Realms, but whether or not one is able to reach the Pure Land depends on oneself. Nonetheless, you would have fulfilled the good fortune, merits, and fate aspects of the Amitabha Sutra. You could all feel the power when I performed the Amitayus (Longevity) Buddha, let alone this elder of ours. 
 
Why is it going to be for two days instead of one? When such a great practitioner comes, if we only had one day to be in his presence, it would be such a waste. Tell your friends and relatives to come and recite the Great Six-Syllable Mantra with this elder for two days. Because this elder has always been promoting the recitation of the Great Six-Syllable Mantra in his entire life. When you listen to the recording of me explaining the Avalokiteshvara Dharma Method, you may find it to be very deep and complex, but it is much more effective for you than to recite the Buddhist sutras because one cannot recite every booklet from the Buddhist sutras well; at most you might be very focused when reciting one of the booklets in this life, but the Great Six-Syllable Mantra encompasses the wisdom and merit of all various Buddhas. If each one of you can recite ten thousand times, two days would be twenty thousand times, and with two thousand attendees, it would be over twenty million times, in addition, the recitations of Rinpoche, myself, and the other Rinpoches and Lamas, the number is no joke! Could you recite this many times in your entire lives?

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Updated on December 26, 2025