His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – August 30, 2026

The Mahayana Sutra of the Bodhisattva Treasury of the True Dharma Taught by the Buddha 
 
His Eminence Vajra Guru Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche ascended the Dharma throne and expounded on “Scroll 33,‘Chanding Paramita’(Chapter 10, section 3)” of The Mahayana Sutra of the Bodhisattva Treasury of the True Dharma Taught by the Buddha.

Rinpoche ascended the Dharma throne and recited the Great Six-Syllable Mantra for a long period. Under the compassionate (maitrī and karuṇā) Dharma voice, the assembly felt as if they were in the Western Pure Land. A gentle breeze arose, and an incomparably wondrous, miraculous fragrance filled the air. Currents of coolness arose, and suddenly cleansed away all afflictions and defilements. Faint, melodious birdsong could be heard in the void. The assembly felt light, at ease, and unimpeded in body and mind, and was thus able to concentrate fully on receiving Rinpoche’s  incomparably wondrous, pure Buddha Dharma teachings.
 
Rinpoche bestowed precious teachings on the Buddha Dharma:
 
Let me explain what chanding(Puja Teachings Index 06) is once more. Simply sitting still cross-legged cannot be called chanding(Puja Teachings Index 06). The correct definition of chanding(Puja Teachings Index 06) is to be simple at heart—to bear no other distractions or delusions, and to remain continuously within the state of cultivating ding(Puja Teachings Index 06). If simply sitting cross legged, attending one-day or seven-day Chan(Puja Teachings Index 06) sessions were practicing Chan(Puja Teachings Index 06), then these are not the chanding(Puja Teachings Index 06) taught by Buddha, but simply contributing fate—the kind of fate to help one practice sitting Chan(Puja Teachings Index 06). True chanding(Puja Teachings Index 06) occurs after practicing the Six Paramitas, when all delusions, distractions, evil and virtuous thoughts that should not exist have dissipated immensely, and that is when the heart cannot be easily moved. 

This recalls what the Sixth Patriarch Huineng said before he left the mountain — ‘It is the mind of the noble one that moves.’ Some monks saw a banner fluttering and said, ‘The banner moves with the wind.’ The Sixth Patriarch replied, ‘It is your mind, noble ones (indicating those monastics), that moves along with the banner’— meaning: you see the banner moving, but in truth it is your own mind that is moving. If your mind did not move, the banner would not be moving either. This concept is like mythology to ordinary Buddhists, and can never be achieved because all of you have incorrect concepts about learning Buddhism. If you do not abide by Shakyamuni Buddha and the guru’s words and teachings, and instead employ your own thoughts, common knowledge, and life experiences to learn Buddhism and make judgments, you will never attain chanding(Puja Teachings Index 06) even if you appear to be a monastic because you are incapable of achieving these two words—‘let go’.
 
The term ‘letting go’ is clearly translated in the Buddhist sutras—in this life, we carry evil and virtuous karma, and there is more evil than virtuous karma. Furthermore, since we ceaselessly form karma throughout this life, our burden only gets heavier. Buddha Dharma teaches us to let go—to let go of the mind of greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt. It doesn’t teach us to make it disappear since when ordinary human beings begin to learn Buddhism, there is no way to eliminate greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt, but you must let go. This is equivalent to carrying something heavy—after taking a few steps one will become very fatigued and if one doesn’t let go, one might not be able to go any further, and one might even fall over. Just as an old lady forced herself to carry a heavy load and ended up breaking her bones. Human beings must learn how to let go.

Recently someone came to plead for taking refuge, but I don’t think I will grant him permission because he loves and depends too much on his wife—so much that he feels that the world doesn’t exist when he can’t see his wife—how can someone like this learn Buddhism? Although he had not yet come to implore me, I have already prepared myself to reject letting him take refuge because Buddha teaches us to let go. It doesn’t ask you to abandon, listen clearly—letting go and abandoning are two matters. As we are living a human life currently, it is impossible to abandon something like this, but we must learn to be able to pick things up as well as let them go. One picks things up when one needs to use them, and lets them go when there is no use for them. If you never want to let go, you will bear the load forever, and you’ll have to be responsible for this, for the children…..you will always be under the load, and never be able to see things clearly and resolve one’s own problems.
 
The Buddhist sutras also state clearly that all sentient beings possess the Eight Types of Suffering. The most fundamental of the Eight Types of Suffering are birth, aging, sickness, and death. Shakyamuni Buddha is a Buddha, therefore he was born from his mother’s arm-pit, and thus did not go through the womb and birth canal, unlike us. The Buddhist sutras describe that when a child is born through the womb and birth canal, it feels as though he or she is forced to be born through two pressing mountains. You may dispute this by saying that there’s the C-section operation that replaces virginal birth, but it’s actually the same! Whether one gets a C-section or not one has to be taken out of the womb. If one is taken out of the womb, one must experience the sensation of being pressed against two mountains, therefore, being born is very painful. 
 
Also, because during the ten months in the mother’s womb, we’ve habituated ourselves to the warmth and all nourishment—lying there, there was always food and one slept without needing to do anything—thus is the kind of life you envy most. In the mother’s womb, it was pitch-black and one could not see anything. During my generation, babies didn’t open their eyes upon birth, in even earlier times, babies didn’t even open their eyes until the first month. Nowadays, infants open their eyes immediately after birth because no one wants to be at a disadvantage, so even children open their eyes to see immediately after birth. 
 
In the past, when children were born, they didn’t open their eyes immediately; it would take at least a week, and some even waited a month to open their eyes. Unless I have blessed the child—after my blessings, it would take at most three days for them to open their eyes because the child’s wisdom has opened up. Why is it that upon birth, the medical staff would hang the babies upside down and spank them? From a medical point of view, it is out of fear that the baby still has a mouthful of water and might choke on it, so one spanks the child to make him or her spit out the water. In fact, one gets spanked right after birth, and no one is spared. Furthermore, when the afterbirth peaks off of the body, it feels like the pain of peeling off a layer of skin. Once separated from the afterbirth, and wrapped into a towel, why do the babies cry? Because it feels as though there are needles piercing all over their bodies. 
 
Of course, we have forgotten about these things. Those who have seen the newborn ward know that no child goes without crying. It isn’t that the child must cry, but rather even if they don’t cry, the doctors will spank them until they do in fear that something would happen if they didn’t cry. Therefore, we are tortured by others upon birth. Under the guise of not letting the baby choke—this is a debt we owe from a previous life, thus we get beaten upon birth in this life. Why are some of the Vajrayana Buddhist statues naked? It isn’t for you to see their nakedness, but to remind you of equanimity because you were born naked, too. There are many people in the delivery room, men and women, and they all see you clearly. As we grow older we learn about moral and culture, and gradually many problems emerge. 
 
So, birth is great suffering — and if we trace it back even further, in that very instant when we are about to choose our rebirth, before we know where we will be born, there is tremendous fear and anguish. And when we are about to enter the womb, there is also great fear, because we do not know what the future holds. So birth, aging, sickness, and death — every sentient being passes through these; not only humans, but animals as well. When one grows old, the suffering of age arrives: movement becomes difficult, and a whole host of illnesses comes. Many people hope that when they are old they will not fall ill — an impossible thing. Your machine has been used for several decades, how could it have no problems? So old age necessarily brings illness, necessarily brings discomfort. Everyone who has ever been sick knows that being sick is a great deal of hardship.

Death—even Shakyamuni Buddha demonstrated illness before reaching nirvana—he became sick on purpose, to show that because he is sick, he has to die. Many people implored him, including all of the Eight sections of Heavenly beings and Dragons from the Heavenly Realms, and many Bodhisattvas; they all beseeched Shakyamuni Buddha not to enter nirvana. However, he possessed a human body and had to go through this process. Also, while Shakyamuni Buddha was alive, he did not practice a special Vajrayana Dharma to prevent the destruction of the physical body, so he followed the path that all mankind must follow—birth, aging, sickness, and death. Because he is Buddha, he did not experience any of the suffering of death, but death still occurred. Therefore, we call Shakyamuni Buddha a Sugata (the well-departed one) to mean that Buddha did not go through the suffering that mankind normally does when they die. Anyone who dies must undergo the decomposition of earth, wind, water, and fire.

Before a person dies, all deluded thoughts will arise — every resentment, every grudge, every entanglement of love and hatred will be walked through once more. If one has not practiced, if one’s attachment is heavy, then one follows those entanglements of love and hatred into the next life. So what we cultivate in this life is not cultivation for the sake of comfortable, easy days. One hundred percent of Buddhist practitioners hope that after taking up the Buddha Dharma they will be able to live comfortably and at ease. There is only one way to achieve that — take rebirth again, keep taking rebirth. Inside the womb it is quite comfortable: there is food, there is drink, there is sleep. Comfortable enough, isn’t it? That is precisely what you are all pursuing right now. Why are you unwilling to recite a little more each day? Because you want to live comfortably. You feel tired and fall asleep on the sofa; you have time to scroll your phone and watch television, but no time to recite more — because of your mentality of pursuing ease and comfort. The Dharma will not help you live comfortably and at ease — the sūtras say this very clearly. When one is cultivating practice, to pursue ease and comfort is to fall into the path of Māra (demon). 
 
Whatever good fortunes that you deserve— there will definitely be time, space, and material to enjoy these good fortunes, but this is not a pursuit of comfort and ease. Your mindset for coming to learn Buddhism is ‘I suffer, stop my suffering; I have a lot of problems, and I take refuge under him today in hope that all my problems may disappear.’ This is what we call the pursuit of comfort and ease, and which denotes your disbelief in karma and causal conditions. Buddha stated very clearly that there are three things that he cannot do: He cannot liberate people and sentient beings without fate; Buddha cannot liberate all sentient beings completely; Buddha cannot change the karmic fruit of sentient beings. As a human guru, on what basis can I change your karmic fruit? Even I have karmic fruit of my own, and even Shakyamuni Buddha had karmic fruit of his own during his lifetime. During his time in this world, Shakyamuni Buddha often had headaches because he was once incarnated as a child in a village in which all the villagers dried up a pond and scooped out all the fish, which they butchered, and ate. One of the fish was enormous, and Shakyamuni Buddha thought it was fun to grab a stick and smack its head; that is why he endured headaches in this lifetime. Shakyamuni Buddha was once slandered by others because he slandered someone in a previous lifetime. 
 
When Shakyamuni Buddha was passing by a cliff, a person who did not believe in the Buddha hurled a great boulder intending to crush him to death. As a result, the Vajrapanibalin shattered the boulder — yet Buddha’s toe still bled. Even a Buddha must still repay this karmic fruit, but he repaid it very lightly — what was originally destined to cause death was discharged with just a little bleeding from the toe, and then it was done. So if you think that by learning  Buddha Dharma no bad fruit will occur to you — wrong! If you think that by relying on the guru everything will be made right — wrong! If that is what you believe, then go prepare your money for those so-called charitable religious organizations and go to them. A person who teaches the true Buddha Dharma is precisely one who tells you the honest truth.
 
Recently there was a news story — you may not have noticed it. An elderly woman spent her whole life as a street vendor selling non-vegetarian food, and had saved up 330 million. A Buddhist monastery took the full 300 million, and when her son inherited the estate only 300,000 remained, so he sued the monastery for fraud. I do not dare to say whether that monastery was right or wrong — but by the ordinary way of thinking, it is always ‘spend money to avert disaster,’ and they would have told her: you have spent your whole life dealing in non-vegetarian food, so your money must be used to build such-and-such — only then might this disaster be averted. When I was building my Buddhist Monastery, did I ever say anything like that? (The assembly: No.) When I was building a Buddhist Monastery, did I ever say that your earnings were ill-gotten, and that if you donated them to us we could help you dispel disaster and resolve your problems? (The assembly: No.) When I was building a Buddhist Monastery, did I ever invent various pretexts, saying that if you donated to such-and-such we would do such-and-such for you in return? (The assembly: No.) This Monastery is so large — is there anywhere a list of donors’ names engraved? (The assembly: No.) Why not? Because the sutras do not say to do so. Our Drikung Kagyu founding lords — and Thil Monastery as well — never did things that way. When you donate money to a Buddhist Monastery, the merit you thereby accumulate is certain — it is intangible, residing in the asaka, inexhaustible.
 
When you engrave your name in a monastery, you will be in that monastery eternally, and the merit will be meager and insignificant. Many people like this but I refuse to do so since the Buddhist sutras do not speak of such ways. It is no crime to have money, but money must be used in the right places; one mustn’t fabricate various pretexts for the money; one must be very careful when using the money from sentient beings. Why did I shut down the account for donating to the Monastery? First of all, we have completed construction on the Monastery, and we no longer need so much money. Secondly, I don’t want people who are not willing to practice Buddhism think that they can solve their problems with money to donate to my Monastery. Does this mean that everyone needn’t practice? Will things be fine if you donate money? You might say that one needn’t make offerings to Rinpoche, but that is another cause since I teach you the Buddha Dharma. Donating to the Monastery is another case, when you donated money during the construction period I accepted the money. Once there’s enough money I will stop accepting. I could have kept accepting donations, but in my understanding, one must help all sentient beings by following fate. When fate arises, I will do everything in my power to help them, but when fate doesn’t arise, why should I force myself for some fame and reputation? 
 
Apart from the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death, there’s also the suffering of parting with loved-ones. As I mentioned earlier, the man who says, ‘I love my wife and I don’t want to work when I can’t see her.’ The most loving couples must part from one another some day. In the past, many women came to ask me, ‘Will there be any outcome between myself and this man?’ I would say: Yes, separation in life and death. When I said these words, fewer people seem to ask this question nowadays—no one dares ask. In the beginning they didn’t understand—separation in life and death? Indeed! Separation when alive, and farewell after death—that’s the result.
 
Foolish people would say that this is my wife, I truly love her, so much that I can’t help myself; therefore this wife also bears a severe burden of having someone who loves her too much. To love in this way is to ‘want beauty and forsake the kingdom’. This is not called love — this is called possessiveness. Such a person does not believe that separation with loved ones will come. As practitioners of the Buddha Dharma, we must understand that this kind of thing will certainly happen in our lives. No matter how wealthy you are, your children, your parents, your wife, your husband — there will inevitably come a day when they leave. If you hope to avoid the parting of death, then just keep divorcing — once everyone has divorced, no one owes anyone anything anymore. What you owed her from a past life has been repaid in this one.

When one separates at death, or thinks that I love you and you love me, you and I are intermingled and inseparable—this is the most foolish person in the world. We have all heard the phrase— ‘to respect one another as guests’, right? You should treat your other half as courteously as your guest instead of being glued together as if in that very old song— you and I are intermingled in mud—very few young people can sing it today. Therefore, parting with loved ones will definitely occur, just as Rinpoche’s grandson died—he was the only male heir in our family, if it were you, you’d be desperately miserable. You might ask if I think of him? Once in a while, but I don’t feel upset. Each person has their fate, and this is the fate between him and myself. The length of this fate is unimportant, having had this fate means good fate—instead of thinking that everything must last forever till all the seas go dry, and the rocks melt with the sun. 

Look at how the rotting of one rock next to Tibet killed over a thousand people. Nowadays the drying of seas and rotting of rocks don’t take one or two hundred years—the severe climate changes crack rocks and cause landslides—is that what you want? If you want to wait for a rock to rot, there’s Su-Hua Highway in Hualien where rocks are destroyed each day. If you talk about the drying of seas and rotting of rocks, I recommend you two to go there and stand under the cliff to let one of the rocks drop down on you so you can die at the same time, how’s that? Even if a rock hits the two of you at the same time, you can’t stop breathing at the same moment because each person had their karma and longevity—perhaps when the rock falls, one of you will be smashed in the head and die immediately while the other is hit in the chest and will have to be in pain for an hour before dying, thus it’s absolutely impossible for people to die at the same time. Therefore the ancient people spoke well—even if we cannot be born on the same day of the month in the same year, let us die on the same day of the month in the same year. Did they mention the hour? Don’t let the ancient people trick you. The statement only talks about the same year, month, and day. Did they say the same hour, minute and second? (The assembly replies: No.) 

In ancient times there were the double-hour divisions — they should have really added one more vow: ‘to die in the same double-hour.’ Why didn’t they say that? An ancient double-hour is two of our current hours — two hours is one hundred and twenty minutes. Which exact minute will it be? Will you go first, or will he go first? When the moment comes, it will certainly be: ‘you go first, I don’t want to go.’ And still saying ‘husband, don’t die’ while holding his hand. Shall I act this scene out for you? So — loving your wife so passionately that you are beside yourself with it, and in the end this is where it comes to. What severe suffering!

Apart from being apart from loved ones, there is also not getting what you want. Throughout our lives, we all seek for some things, hoping that our wishes can be fulfilled. I have lived to the age of eighty, I realize that whatever I seek that is related to practicing and liberating sentient beings, my vow can be fulfilled. As for everything else, there is no way. Because that is a matter that follows my own causes and effects, and karma. No matter how hard I work, and how much time I spend, it still can’t go as I want or fulfill my aspirations. Unless I make arrangements for a long time beforehand, certain matters may perhaps succeed. What is meant by not getting what you want? Hoping that everything you want to do can be accomplished. In fact, we don’t get things we want every day. For example, waiting for a bus, hoping it will arrive on time. As soon as it goes a few seconds late, you begin crying out and complaining. This, too, is not getting what you want. Not getting what you want occurs in our lives almost every single day.
 
Therefore, I teach you to be at ease with whatever circumstances you encounter, and adapt to fate to pass through life. Because we don’t live in this world solely, there is much shared karma around us that is constantly operating and turning. Therefore, at any time, we encounter things that we could not have anticipated, also, at any time, certain fates arise that you were not prepared to accept. So why does one need to learn Buddhism? Learning Buddhism enables us to stop all evil and to accumulate many virtuous fates and virtuous causes. Even if the evil fruit ripens, because you have accumulated many virtuous causes, the evil fruit can be greatly reduced, or even not appear at all. Many people are unwilling to work in this direction, hoping that bad things can immediately turn around and become good. No, you must spend a great deal of time.
 
Being together with those you hate; meaning that those who have enmity and hatred toward you gather together. Therefore, when your children do not listen, ask yourself instead, it must be that you have not practiced well enough. If your husband loves you too much, you must ask yourself, you have not practiced well enough; rather than thinking because he loves you, you feel, ‘How happy I am! There is a man who loves me so much, I have no regrets in this life.’ When the time comes, you will regret it. If you are dying and he keeps shaking you, you will absolutely fall into the Three Evil Realms. This is because when people are dying, people are extremely sensitive; even the slightest movement or disturbance can give rise to hatred. As long as the heart of hatred arises, one will go down. Even if, in this lifetime, one has taken refuge, learned Buddhism, gone vegetarian, and recited mantras, he or she will still go down. Therefore, being together with those you hate certainly exists in our lives. When colleagues treat you badly, when siblings do not get along, and even when husband and wife are overly loving and attached to each other, it is also being together with those you hate. Therefore, I have always said that even if a child does not do well in school from childhood to adulthood, as long as he is healthy and does not break the law, he is a good child. Some children study very well from a young age and are admitted to university, but then suddenly die in an accident. The hearts of the parents feel as though being split open, because I have seen this. All of you pray to gods and prostrate to Buddhas, asking to let your children study well and bring honor to the family,  these are all incorrect concepts. If he is able to study well, then naturally he will be able to do so, there is no need to implore the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, that is his own good fortune.
 
The final one is ‘ The raging blaze of the Five Aggregates.’  The five aggregates are the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body, as well as sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. We, in order to pursue these five kinds of sensations, continuously give rise to afflictions. For example, in order to eat a good meal, we can spend a great deal of time preparing for it. For example, because we hope to live a comfortable and easy life, we spend a great deal of time making money, and then forget about practice. As long as one is in the reincarnation, no matter which realm one is in, one will certainly possess these eight kinds of suffering. Therefore, Shakyamuni Buddha then taught us that in this lifetime, we must practice the Buddha Dharma and attain eternal joy. What is called eternal joy? It is the joy in which there is no longer the suffering of life and death. Shakyamuni Buddha introduced many Dharma methods and approaches. There are those who practice the Hinayana and Arhat. If the Arhat path is cultivated successfully, then after coming and going through seven lifetimes, one will definitely enter Nirvana With Residue. If one practices the Bodhisattva Path and attains the fruition of a Bodhisattva, then after cultivating for seventeen lifetimes, one will certainly attain Buddhahood. If one does not have the capacity to practice any of these, then one must practice the Pure Land properly, truly believe in Amitābha Buddha, observe the precepts properly, and firmly resolve to go to the Pure Land. Every action and every practice all dedicated to the Western Pure Land of Utmost Bliss, instead of those tiny matters in worldly life. 

Many people think that if they practice Amitābha Buddha, they will definitely die. Originally, we die anyway, who does not die? It is only that we prepare ourselves ahead. Just like the analogy that I often give: if one wants to go abroad, you must prepare many things before you can leave. It is not that you can casually say you are going and then immediately fly there. To go to Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land, one has to do many preparations. Not simply by going vegetarian, reciting a thousand times every day, and attending pujas, and you may definitely be able to go there. Therefore, I have promised all refuge disciples that I will not let you fall into the Three Evil Realms, but I have not promised that you will definitely go to Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land. Because the Amitabha Sutra says very clearly that virtuous men and women must have no lack of good fortune, merits, causes and conditions. In practicing the Pure Land Sect, the first virtue is respectfully honoring the teachers and elders. The meaning is that whatever your teachers and elders say, and whatever arrangements they give you, you must listen to them, comply with them, and carry them out. Only then is it called respectfully honoring the teachers and elders. If one does not respectfully honor the teachers and elders, then the first good fortune in practicing the Pure Land Sec is absent. How, then, could you go there? Do not think that you can accomplish this through your own practice. Otherwise, the great masters of the past would not have written that ‘by cultivating the Three Good Fortune, one will certainly go to Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land’, and that the first good fortune ensures one’s rebirth there. Respectfully honoring the teachers and elders, compassionately(maitrī and karuṇā) refraining from killing, and being filial toward the parents. With these three, as long as one continues to practice Amitābha Buddha’s Dharma method, one will certainly be reborn in Amitābha Buddha’s Pure Land in this lifetime. It is only that the time before the lotus flower opens and one sees the Buddha may be relatively long.
 
Therefore, when the guru speaks, if you do not listen, but instead have your own ideas and arrangements, thinking that the guru does not understand you and that this is not how you practice.  Based on what the Buddhist sutras teach, I can guarantee that nothing you do in this lifetime will enable you to go to Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land, this is not a curse, but because you do not respectfully honor your teachers and elders. You may say, ‘I did not take refuge under Rinpoche. My tonsure master is not Rinpoche.’ That is correct, I am not qualified to tonsure monastics. However, I am qualified to accept disciples from the fourfold assembly. Since you have become my disciple, if you do not listen to the Buddha Dharma I teach, how can this be called respectfully honoring your teachers and elders? Without respectfully honoring your teachers and elders, on what basis could you go to Amitābha Buddha’s Pure Land?
 
Having spoken to this point, chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) is absolutely something that must be cultivated step by step according to these methods of practice. Knowing that one has suffering, and not seeking a comfortable and easy life. When we do not seek a comfortable and easy life, we will then regard all suffering as something that helps our practice, and this will cause the fate of suffering to continually diminish. Many people feel that going to work is very painful, think about it: if you do not work, who will give you money? When you feel that going to work is very painful, it shows that you are someone who wants to live a comfortable and easy life. Even if someone were to give you money, there still has to be some way for that person to hand the money over to you, does there not? If you obtain it through deception, you will definitely fall into hell. If you do not obtain it through deception, then you must give something in return. How could money possibly fall from the sky? Even if you were to win the grand lottery, you would still have to go and buy the ticket, choose it back and forth, and scratch it back and forth. If you do not win, is it suffering? It is suffering! There is no worldly matter that is not suffering. Everything is suffering, yet you are very willing to accept this kind of suffering. It is just like Rinpoche: every day I get up at six-thirty and keep working until I go to sleep at night. And what about you? Since you refuse to endure suffering and hardship and hope to live a comfortable and easy life, this completely goes against all Dharmas spoken by the Buddha, so you continue to reincarnate. 
 
The Buddhist sutras mention that there was a time when Shakyamuni Buddha was walking through a forest with his disciples; he saw a nest of ants on a tree stump. Shakyamuni Buddha looked at it briefly and then smiled. The disciples knew that whenever Shakyamuni Buddha smiled, there must be some matter. So they asked the Buddha why did the Buddha smile upon seeing these ants. The Buddha said, ‘These ants have remained in this nest, reincarnated for five hundred lifetimes.’ Ants have very short lives, in less than a month, they are dead. Yet they kept reincarnating back, why? There is another question you would certainly ask: Why didn’t Shakyamuni Buddha liberate them? He should have performed a Dharma to liberate them. Why didn’t Shakyamuni Buddha liberate them? It is very simple: only after these five hundred lifetimes had come to an end could they leave the bodies of ants!
 
Why is it that, in the monastery, Rinpoche has made a rule that chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides are prohibited? It is because they pollute the soil and cause insects to be unable to survive. When insects cannot live, plants cannot live; when plants cannot live, insects also cannot live, and human beings likewise cannot survive. This is a cycle. Therefore, many things must be done according to the Buddha Dharma. We cannot do anything according to our own feelings. Shakyamuni Buddha saw that these ants would have to pass through five hundred lifetimes before they could be liberated from life and death. On what basis, then, do you think that by reciting a thousand times every day, assuming the appearance of a monastic, and making several hundred full prostrations each day, you can leave reincarnation? Without the blessings and support of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the guru, and without the guru’s help, it is impossible. This is because human beings inevitably have scattered thoughts and attachments.
 
In this lifetime, we cannot cultivate the chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) spoken of here. We know that chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) exists, but we can’t cultivate it to attainment, because we are in this Age of Dharma Decline, and the sentient beings who have come here are all filled with karma. Since we know this, and since our own ability and the time we have for practice are both insufficient, therefore  only faith and vow—make the vow to go to Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land. As for practice, we must do our utmost to correct and change every action that can cause us to reincarnate, do not leave not even the slightest bit for yourself, do your utmost to carry this out, do as much as you are able to do, do not be afraid that you have not done it well enough, or that you have not done enough. As long as you begin to do it, and continue doing it without interruption, then when you begin carrying out this matter, the power of chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) will gradually appear. This requires a very long time, it is not something that arises immediately.
 
Sutra: ‘Moreover, in chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), constantly at ease and going alone with the joy in the Three Jewels.’
 
When a person cultivates to the point that chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) appears, he feels very at ease. What at ease is it? It is not comfortable and ease, it is not living a pleasant and comfortable life. Speaking of comfort and ease, let me explain this matter briefly. When I was young, one year I went to the Gold Coast in Australia. The Gold Coast has very beautiful beaches, and the temperature was very pleasant, probably around twenty-something degrees Celsius. At that time, I was young, and I went there imitating others, sitting beneath the shade of a tree, the sea breeze blew gently, and on the beach there were many beautiful women running back and forth. (The assembly laughs.) It was truly very comfortable! A paradise in the human world. There were beautiful women, the weather was not hot, the sea breeze was gentle, and everything was there. I sat there, and it was truly too comfortable!! Then, the second thought, I said that I am finished! ’ As long as I lived there, I would be finished. It was too comfortable. At that time, I could have obtained Australian immigration status, but I did not want it. I would rather return to Hong Kong and strive there. I am very afraid of comfortable days, because I know very clearly that when a person lives too comfortably, one goes indulgent and lax. ｎｏwhether one is a layperson or a monastic. At that time, I had not yet learned Buddhism. Perhaps this was something innate in me. Why is it now so popular to say that one must exercise every day in order for the body to be healthy? It is because you cannot allow the body to be too comfortable. You must train it, make it move, and make it suffer. Only then can your karma be resolved.
 
Why are people on tropical islands comparatively lazier? It is because they feel very comfortable. When the breeze blows over them, their whole body becomes languid and relaxed. You have never experienced this feeling, it is like a scene from a movie. Then my second thought arose, warning myself that I had to leave immediately. I could not live that kind of life, because I knew very clearly that I was phái-miā (the meaning of
ill-fated in Taiwanese), I do not regard myself as someone blessed with an easy life, I have never expected myself to become someone with an easy life. I have always regarded myself as someone whose life is very hard, so I cannot allow myself to relax, I must work hard to face my own life, I will not allow anything to defeat me. By ‘defeat,’ I do not mean that I refuse to admit being defeated. I will admit being defeated. If I lose in a fight, I would admit it. What I mean by not being defeated is that this fighting spirit of mine, this mind that keeps moving forward, this mind that continually helps myself accumulate knowledge and learning, will not be defeated by anything. No circumstance and no matter can defeat me. If my wife says tomorrow we are getting divorced, I will still sleep normally tonight. I will not be unable to sleep; on the contrary, I will sleep even better, because I am preparing to sign the papers tomorrow. (The assembly laughs.) If the company collapses, I will still sleep very well that night, because the next day I can wake up a little later. Because of this kind of character, I have learned Buddhism faster than you. Every one of you hopes for comfort and ease, thinking that learning Buddhism should simply make you feel more and more comfortable.
 
For example, some elderly people come to implore Rinpoche for their good health, I say, ‘What do you still need health for?’Now, as long as you still have one breath left, you should be imploring Amitābha Buddha and imploring to go to Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land, rather than seeking health. Being so old, what else can you still do? Even when you stand to urinate, your legs tremble, what else can you do? If you have the ability, then learn from me: sit here early in the morning and keep scolding. Just now, in the room, I scolded at great length. If it is not for the sake of sentient beings, what are you seeking health for? I have never heard any of you men implore by saying, ‘Rinpoche, I have made a firm resolve to be reborn in Amitābha Buddha’s Pure Land.’ Every one of you is afraid of death. You call yourselves men of courage, yet you cling to life and fear death! What is there that is worth your attachment? Have you accomplished some great enterprise, or what? In this lifetime, you have had the opportunity to learn Buddhism. You must clearly understand what the purpose of learning Buddhism is. You should constantly contemplate impermanence, yet you do not, you think that you will not die. Learning Buddhism is not about cursing you to die sooner. If you have practiced well, even if you want to die, you will not be able to die. Just like me: I am already seventy or eighty years old, and all of you keep troubling me, yet the Bodhisattvas do not let me go, they allow me to continue living.
 
‘Constantly at ease.’ What does at ease mean? He will not let the life, aging, illness, death, or virtuous and evil karma to bind his mind of practice. Therefore, whether one is in a favorable environment or an adverse environment, he can all practice. For example, one year when I was in retreat in India, it seemed to be around May or June, when the weather there was extremely hot. The room I stayed in had no air conditioning and no fan, and it also faced the western sun. In the afternoon, the temperature reached 45 degrees Celsius. I could not open the door or the windows. It was so hot that I had taken off all my clothes and had only a pair of underwear left on. What could I do? I still had to remain in retreat. I could not open the door, nor could I keep rinsing myself with cold water just because it was too hot. So through Buddha Dharma, I immediately entered chanding(Puja Teachings Index 06), entered ding(Puja Teachings Index 06),  and visualized myself in the hell of fire, suffering on behalf of sentient beings. In an instant, it was no longer hot. From that instant onward, until I came out of retreat, the entire retreat room was no longer hot. This is called being free and at ease. The more intense the suffering is, the more I use it. The suffering of heat is extremely painful. You can try it yourselves: 45 degrees Celsius, no air conditioning, nothing at all, and every day you still have to complete the required number of recitations. A person who practices the Bodhisattva Path naturally uses this suffering as part of practice. I visualized myself in the hell of fire because I knew very clearly that I had definitely been to the hell of fire in some lifetime. You do not believe that you will fall into hell, thinking that after taking refuge and reciting the Buddha’s name a little, you are just like those people who have not taken refuge but come to attend pujas. I tell you: falling into hell is far too easy. As long as hatred and anger arise, and as long as attachment arises, one will go down.
 
When I visualized myself sitting in the hell of fire and practicing, the entire temperature began to have no effect on me whatsoever; moreover, it became cool and refreshing. Therefore, His Holiness found it very strange: Why didn’t this person complain about the heat? The room was so hot. Even without applying sunscreen, one would still become tanned, because ultraviolet rays would still come in. Therefore, Rinpoche’s practice is a matter of actual cultivation. It does not rely on merely speaking a few words of the Buddha Dharma, saying this and that, and that and this. It is not like that. It is something cultivated in a real and solid way. What is spoken of in the Buddhist sutras, I have accomplished: the mind can transform circumstances! I simply practiced in this way. The mind can transform the surrounding environment. Why is it that when everyone enters the Monastery, you can smell fragrance and feel that it is cooler and more refreshing? It is because my mind has transformed this environment. What kind of mind is it? It is Bodhicitta. As long as you have Bodhicitta, this environment can be transformed, it can be changed. But if you do not have Bodhicitta, then even if you rack your brains, you will still be unable to transform it.
 
Therefore, here it speaks of being at ease, constantly at ease. Because when someone is a practitioner of the Bodhisattva Path, he is already very clear about cause and effect and karma. Whatever happens, his mind will not be moved, and he will accept it with a joyful mind. For example, when karmic retribution occurs— it’s good to have repaid another karmic debt. When something good happens, he will not become extremely happy. Instead, he will feel that this is the manifestation of good fortune, and that he must be even more careful with himself and practice even more. It is just like when you are promoted or receive a raise, and you say that this is because you have practiced well. Then you are wrong, you’re finished, because this is a mind of comfort and ease. Learning Buddhism will certainly bring good fortune, it is impossible for there to be no good fortune. This good fortune will bring you some help in worldly matters, but that does not mean you have attained accomplishment in practice. Therefore, making offerings to Rinpoche will certainly bring good fortune, but this does not mean that you have attained accomplishment. To attain accomplishment, one must truly practice step by step, just as taught in the Buddhist sutras.

Rejoicing in the Three Jewels means that whenever anything happens, one willingly follows the Three Jewels in his/her body, speech, and mind. Take the example of the retreat hut that I just mentioned. If I rejoice in the Three Jewels, then when the Buddha tells me to do something in a certain way, I simply do it accordingly. I do not implore, ‘Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, please keep this hut from getting hot so that I can continue my retreat.’That is not rejoicing in the Three Jewels. You would surely implore, ‘Rinpoche, please bless me so that my hut will not get hot, only then can I continue the retreat.’ That is the mindset of an ordinary person, not that of a practitioner. Rejoicing in the Three Jewels, the Three Jewels taught us to have profound faith in cause and effect and benefit sentient beings. If you do not believe in cause and effect, how can you benefit sentient beings? Take that husband who loves his wife so desperately that he has even stopped working. Would you say that he believes in cause and effect? He does not! And he still wants to implore to take refuge in me? Keep on waiting! I am not against him loving his wife, but his love should not become so excessive! His wife is also very pleased, thinking, ‘A man loves me this much. The more he loves me, the less he will dare to rebel against me.’
 
In short, remember that nothing should be taken to excess. Look at how I eat: if something tastes good, I may take one extra bite, but I will not eat all of it, nor will I insist on having it at every meal. I go along with fate. If you love someone so much, you should give that person space and freedom. If you know that someone loves you so much, you should encourage him to have his own space and freedom. Why must the two of you bind yourselves together? What is that song called?
(The assembly replies: You and I are a Lovey-Dovey Couple.) Indeed, I really do not understand it.
 
Sutra: ‘For this reason, one obtains the inexhaustible merits of Tathagata.’
 
Do you understand? In this way, you are constantly at ease. Because you have chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), you are constantly at ease and rejoicing in the Three Jewels, following the Three Jewels joyfully. The Three Jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. The Sangha refers to your guru, a practitioner. You must willingly follow him and put his teachings and instructions into practice. Only for this reason can you obtain the inexhaustible merits of Tathagata. Why did the hut immediately become cool when I visualized myself in the Fire Hell ? It was because I had obtained the inexhaustible merits of Tathagata. I sacrificed myself for sentient beings, taking on the suffering of all the beings in the Fire Hell. There are innumerable beings in the Fire Hell. Would you dare to do that? Do not imitate me, because you have not attained chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06). Those male disciples, especially, should not hear Rinpoche say this and then go home and try it themselves. Your liver fire would immediately flare up.  (The assembly laughs.) That would not be the fire blazing forth. There is a prerequisite: you must have attained chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06). How can you tell whether you have attained chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06)? I am the one who decides. Seeing how deeply you cling to life and fear death, how could you possibly have chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06)? Since you do not have it, no matter what realm you visualize, it will not manifest.

At the beginning, I visualized the Pure Land. Did everyone feel it? Tell me.  (The assembly replies: Yes.) What did you feel?  (The assembly replies: There was a fragrance.) What else?  (The assembly replies: It felt very cool and refreshing.)
What else? Let the monastics speak. (The first monastic replies: The entire place felt very cool and refreshing, and there was also a sense of ease and lightness.) What else? Let the second monastic speak. (The second monastic replies: Reporting to Rinpoche, I felt my body becoming warm, and I also experienced a feeling of great joy.)
 
Sutra: ‘Furthermore, in chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), one attains the highest and most sublime state.’
 
Here, high and sublime do not mean becoming taller or achieving victory. They mean that when a person has attained chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), whatever Dharmas they practice are the highest. The so-called ‘highest’is what benefiting oneself to be liberated from reincarnation and eventually attain Buddhahood, and helping sentient beings become liberated from reincarnation and ultimately attain Buddhahood as well. The most incomparably wondrous aspect of this Dharma is that it leaves no adverse consequences and produces no side effects whatsoever. Therefore, chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) is not practiced only in Chan (Puja Teachings Index 06) Buddhism. Reciting mantras without giving rise to distracting thoughts, that is chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) as well.
 
Sutra: ‘For this reason, one constantly abides in samahita and furthermore attains transformation at will in chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06).’

What is samahita?  (A monastic replies: It means ‘balanced induce,’ ‘balanced’ as in equality, and ‘induce’ as in drawing and guiding.)
(Disciple Li replies: Reporting to Rinpoche, samahita refers to the physical and mental equanimity brought about by chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06). It is therefore translated into Chinese as ‘balanced induce’, with ‘inducing’ having the meanings of something being guided or brought forth.) Balanced induce means that through the practice of chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), you are drawn and guided toward the path to Buddhahood and the path of helping sentient beings. It does not mean that you merely obtain the happiness and peace of chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) and then forget sentient beings and the attainment of Buddhahood. So, practicing Hinayana Buddhism is after attaining chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06). As I mentioned earlier, you must not become immersed in that kind of joy in chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06). Therefore, what the second monastic just described was wrong.

Attains transformation at will in chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) means that once you have attained chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), and it has guided you to help sentient beings and to attain Buddhahood yourself, you can freely use chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) to shift from one state to another. As I mentioned earlier, while I was in retreat, I transformed an extremely hot hut into a cool and refreshing one through chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06). For example, when it snows and the weather becomes extremely cold in winter, we do not wear many layers of clothing or cover ourselves with many blankets. What do we rely on? We practice tummo ding (Puja Teachings Index 06). This also comes from chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), and it can change the temperature. Such ability comes from chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06). Likewise, when I perform a Dharma for transferring consciousness, without chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), it would be impossible to turn sentient beings away from evil and toward virtue, nor would it be possible to help them leave the reincarnation’s sea of suffering and reach Amitabha’s Pure Land. This also arises from chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), you can transform it at will. Merely reciting sutras is not enough to liberate sentient beings. It can be done if one attains great chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) through reciting sutras, but very few people can make it. Therefore, in Vajrayāna, one begins with chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06). In the Drikung Kagyu, this is Mahamudra.
 
Sutra: ‘For this reason, one is able to bring all activities to perfect completion.’
 
This is very clear. As long as you have attained chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), you will, for this reason, be able to bring all activities to perfect completion; that is, you will be able to perfectly complete all Dharma activities.
 
Sutra: ‘Furthermore, in chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), there is nothing to be received. For this reason, one obtains great wisdom.’
 
In chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), there is neither giving nor receiving. This means that you should not assume that, after attaining chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), you will acquire some extraordinary ability. Many people think that attaining chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) means acquiring great supernatural powers, but this is mistaken. You neither receive anything nor give anything away. To explain chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) in simpler terms, it is to abide within śūnyatā (Puja Teachings Index 21). Within śūnyatā (Puja Teachings Index 21), there is nothing whatsoever—not even sound exists. Therefore, while abiding in chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06), since there is nothing to be received and you do not receive anything at all, you consequently obtain great wisdom. The wisdom unfolds śūnyatā (Puja Teachings Index 21), enabling you to see through all phenomena throughout the Ten Directions and the Three Times.

Sutra: ‘Shariputra, this is the chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) of Bodhisattva-Mahasattva.’

Only this kind of chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) can be called the chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) of the Great Bodhisattva. Otherwise, it is Wild fox chan (Puja Teachings Index 06), worldly chan (Puja Teachings Index 06), or chan (Puja Teachings Index 06) of tirthika (non-Buddhism). As I mentioned earlier, even within Buddhism, there are chan (Puja Teachings Index 06) of tirthika (non-Buddhism), because they are not based on this. If any one of you today, whether monastic or lay, could do what I did, transforming a hut at forty-five degrees Celsius into a cool and refreshing one, you would have attained the chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) of Bodhisattva. Rinpoche asks a monastic disciple: Have you attained it? (The monastic disciple replies: No.) No? I thought you had practiced very well! Since you have not attained that ability, you have not attained the chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) of Bodhisattva-Mahasattva. This is stated in the sutras, I am not deliberately showing off. When the Buddha teaches the Dharma, he explains it layer by layer and, at the end, gives you a conclusion.
 
Therefore, none of you has accomplished what was described earlier. That is all right, you will certainly make it after reaching Amitabha’s Pure Land. In this world, you are entangled in too many mundane affairs. You cannot let go of them; you carry a heavy burden every day. I taught you this sutra today not to compel you to accomplish all of this within this life, but at the very least, to plant this seed in your Alaya Consciousness, your eighth consciousness. Then, one day, during your practice, you will make it. How did I know to visualize myself in the Fire Hell during retreat, taking on the suffering of sentient beings? It was because I had planted this cause in previous lifetimes. Someone taught me this in a past life, and in this lifetime, His Holiness opened the gateway of my practice. So, everything from my past lives has come forth again in this lifetime.
 
When His Holiness first came, if I had not gone to see him, I could have continued living a comfortable and easy life! Yet somehow, with no particular reason, I ended up meeting him. At the time, I had only made a donation. One hundred thousand NT dollars was quite a considerable sum more than thirty years ago! I said, ‘There is no need to meet him. There is no need.’ But my good friend kept saying, ‘Go and meet him! Go!’ Once I met His Holiness, he hooked me, and I could no longer escape. Therefore, when fate comes, even if you do not want to meet someone, another person will push you to meet him; even if you do not want to receive something, someone will make you receive it. This is because the fruit of fate has ripened.

Today, your fruit of fate has ripened, and you have begun learning Buddhism, but why do you learn it so haphazardly? Because you are disobedient! Every one of you wants to use the Buddha Dharma to get a comfortable and easy life. Yesterday, I just scolded a person. Is it because things here of mine are so cheap, and you may make whatever offering you please, that you do not value the Buddha Dharma? Suppose I told you that imploring the Buddha Dharma would cost you one million NT dollars. Let us see how you would practice then. You would undoubtedly practice the entire day, from beginning to end, because you had paid for it. Do not belittle the Buddha Dharma, the sin of this is extremely heavy. If your guru transmits the Dharma to you but you fail to practice them, what did I tell you when you took refuge?  (The assembly replies: It is slacking off.) What happens after you slack off? Let a monastic answer. (A monastic replies: One will not receive the guru’s blessings.) Still expecting blessings? You will no longer be taught! If the Dharma has been transmitted to you, yet you do not practice, and instead you slack off, the guru will no longer teach you, will not share the same room with you, and will not grant you opportunities to do virtuous deeds. I have already been lenient with you.
 
For example, the last time I announced that we would raise funds for the Monastery, some disciples were slow to make donations. I immediately stopped accepting donations from them. Why? When they were granted an opportunity to perform a virtuous deed, they did not act immediately but continued to delay. This showed that they were not listening, they were disrespectful toward their guru and slacking off. When I let you donate to the Monastery, did I say how much each person had to give? No! Yet you kept thinking it over and trying to determine whether Rinpoche was genuinely building a monastery or intended to use your money for something else. Let me say this once again. When the Monastery Foundation was established, its initial funding was donated by me. (Disciple Shih reports: Yes. The foundation’s initial fund of thirty million NT dollars was donated by Rinpoche.) Which one of you here has donated thirty million NT dollars? I donated thirty million NT dollars to establish the foundation, and that is not even to mention the other several hundred million NT dollars.
 
From the very moment I established the foundation, I have never used a single cent of its money, apart from living and eating there. I keep these matters clearly separate. Therefore, no one can criticize me for driving a nice car, because I bought it with my own money, not with money from the foundation or the association. Theoretically, it would be reasonable for the association to provide me with a car, right?  (The assembly replies: Yes.) It would also be reasonable for the foundation to provide me with a car, right?  (The assembly replies: Yes.) Have I accepted one? (The assembly replies: No.) Therefore, if anyone again talks nonsense about Rinpoche driving a nice car, remember that I did not use sentient beings’ money to buy it! You may say that I used the offered money. Yes, if I use your offerings to buy a car, you also share in this good fortune! (The assembly replies: Thank you, Rinpoche.) There is no need to thank me. I drive a supercar, it cannot carry so many of you. (The assembly laughs.) Besides, you would not dare to sit in it, I am afraid your hearts could not take it.
 
I will end here today. The final conclusion is this: unless chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) is practiced in the manner described here, it is not the chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) of Bodhisattva Mahasattva. It is merely chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) of tirthika (non-Buddhism), wild-fox chan (Puja Teachings Index 06), or dead-tree chan (Puja Teachings Index 06). Therefore, when reading a sutra, you must pay attention to the Buddha’s final statement. That statement is the conclusion of the entire discourse. The Buddha introduces all these points in order to explain continually and thoroughly what you should do. Shakyamuni Buddha’s heart is exceptionally incisive. He revealed the most penetrating truths, the very things that ordinary people are unable to tell, he explained them completely for us. He taught later generations of practitioners that they would not go wrong if they practiced according to the states described in the sutras. By explaining this to you again today, I am also admonishing you that you must not practice the Dharma according to your own ideas, interpretations, or opinions. Some people implored the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Dharma text because they hope to become physically healthy. I scolded them: whose disciple is Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara?  (The assembly replies: Amitabha Buddha’s.) Then where does Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara help us go? (The assembly replies: To the Pure Land.)

Although the Universal Gate Chapter states that Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara helps us resolve many worldly affairs, what is the crucial point? You must first make a vow to be reborn in the Pure Land, only then will Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara come to help you resolve things. If you merely implore one thing, he will not come. This is my own experience in practice. If every day, every word you speak, every practice you perform, every prostration you make, and every chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) enter is dedicated toward Amitabha’s Pure Land, then when you implore Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, you will attain with him. But if you implore, ‘Do not let my wife die. Let me die first, she must not die,’ you will certainly not attain, because that has nothing to do with going to Amitabha’s Pure Land. If you say, ‘I have come to learn Buddhism so that I can make myself happy,’ then do not come, because this place will not make you happy. Why? Because what I teach here is that you must clearly recognize where your suffering lies. Only when you can accept and deal with the suffering will you eventually attain lasting happiness, not merely the happiness of the few decades you spend in this world. Those few decades are not enough.
 
Today, I taught this passage on chanding (Puja Teachings Index 06) is not to pressure you into believing that you must accomplish all of it. I merely wanted to show you how clearly and incisively Shakyamuni Buddha taught the Buddha Dharma. He analyzed everything very clearly: only when you have accomplished what he described can you claim to have attained such a state. If you have not accomplished it, you cannot call yourself a Bodhisattva; you cannot even mention it. Even if you have received the Bodhisattva Precepts, you still cannot make that claim, because you haven’t accomplished it. Even though I have accomplished it, I still dare not call myself a Bodhisattva. At the very least, I truly have accomplished these things. I have spent more than three months in a retreat in the big Snow Mountains at ten degrees below zero, with nothing but a travel sleeping bag for warmth. How did I survive? Those were conditions no ordinary person could endure. I was sixty years old during that retreat. I had no nutritious food each day, only one bowl of plain noodles and one bowl of plain water, twice a day. You monastics live too comfortably nowadays; you don’t live like a monastic. You lead comfortable and easy lives while thinking this and that, things that benefit you. What did you become monastic for? You are wasting your body. Learn from me. Although I am a layperson, I am genuinely capable of relinquishing everything for the sake of practice. I could even relinquish my life; try it yourselves.
 
The reason you are able to practice today is certainly not from empty words. You must practice sincerely, advancing one solid step at a time. Whether you have done well is not for you to decide. It is not determined by how you feel, nor by whether you see some good phenomena. All these things are mistaken. As long as you continue to do it diligently and ceaselessly, one day things will certainly turn around; they will definitely change. It is merely a matter of time. That timing is not decided by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, nor will they decide whether to help you based on how well you practice. It is determined by your causes and effects, your karma. If the karmic causes and forces you have carried through lifetime after lifetime have not been properly dealt with, how could your things possibly improve? However, because we are learning Buddhism, we have faith that, as long as we continue practicing, all evil causes and their evil effects will one day be fully repaid. What appears afterward will all be virtuous, and eternal happiness will naturally come. You will not even need to pray for it. It all depends on your own resolution.
 
We need to work, get married, and study. These are all the lives of worldly people, things we do to fulfill our worldly roles. But once you say that you have begun practicing, you cannot merely rely on the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to protect you and make you live a comfortable life. There are definite stages, and you must proceed through them step by step. Even to reach Amitabha’s place, you must advance step by step; it will not happen instantly. No miracle will suddenly appear to help you achieve everything immediately. It will never happen. I will conclude here. I hope that after returning home, all of you will reflect carefully on this and stop continually wasting your time. Now we will practice the Dharma Protector Liturgy.

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Updated on September 2, 2026