His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – Jan. 30, 2022

His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche ascended the Dharma throne and, in a meditative state, chanted the Great Six-Syllable Mantra for quite a while to purify the minds of believers and disciples in attendance of the puja. He then expounded on “Scroll 19, ‘Immovable Tathagata Assembly’ (Chapter 6, Section 1)” of the Ratnakuta Sutra.

“The Great Six-Syllable Mantra is definitely useful for our karmic body, our practices or being liberated from birth and death. If your health does not get better after having chanted the Great Six-Syllable Mantra for some time, there are several reasons for it. They are these: 1. You do not have a sense of repentance; 2. You have no faith in the Dharma; 3. You do not have the ability doing meditation; 4. You have no respect in your mind, including the respect for your guru, yidams or all sentient beings; 5. You are not perseverant in your learning.

Why has the Great Six-Syllable Mantra been called the king of mantras? It is mentioned in sutras that all sounds in the universe are divided into vowels or consonants. These two sounds encompass all sounds emitted by all humans or sentient beings. Why are the Buddha and Bodhisattvas able to communicate with sentient beings in the Six Realms? It is because in the ‘trichiliocosm’ of the universe all sounds are either in vowels or in consonants. This is not indicated in the practices of Exoteric Buddhism. However, in Tantra, for the practices of Tantric mantras, vowels and consonants are recited first in many Dharma texts, and then the chanting of mantras starts. The reason for this is that sounds emitted by different races or nationalities are more or less different. If you can recite the vowels and consonants first, your voice of chanting mantras will not be too different from the original sound of the chanting.

In Tantra, it is mentioned that all sounds in the trichiliocosm are derived from these three characters: ‘Om Ah Hung’; any sound originates from one of these three words. There are many explanations on them. On the basis of your root capacity, it is of no use for me to talk about them with you because all of you implore blessings and protection or a good health; you seek this or that. Thus, I will not explain these three characters to you.

Why are there six characters in the Great Six-Syllable Mantra? Actually, when the one for ‘shri’ is added, there are seven words altogether. The ‘Om mani padme hung’ can seal the doors of the Six Realms for one’s rebirth in there. The ‘shri’ is to open the door of the Western World of Utmost Bliss to make one being reborn there. Many people, to this day, do not understand why Shakyamuni Buddha trod on the lotus for seven steps, instead of five, or eight, or nine, steps, when he was born. There are totally no explanations on this in sutras. Why is it not explained? Because it is in Tantra. It is of no use to explain this phenomenon because people will not believe it. You definitely will say, ‘Why didn’t Shakyamuni Buddha mention it clearly? If He did, I would then understand it and learn about it.’ Contrarily, the Buddha did not want to let you know it distinctly. It is like this situation. Will a Ph.D., who teaches at a university, explain clearly his or her teaching contents to an elementary school pupil? The Ph.D. will not, and why not? Because the pupil will not understand those contents. You are just like this pupil. Do not think that because you are a Ph.D., or a person with a master’s degree, or a professor, or a university student, you can understand sutras when you listen to them expounded. In fact, there are many things concealed in sutras that you do not know.

At that time, after Shakyamuni Buddha walked for seven steps, He pointed one hand to the sky and the other hand, to the ground, and He said, ‘Between the heaven and the earth, I am the only one being dignified.’ Non-Buddhist religions have been using this quote to criticize Buddhism offensively. Actually, once Shakyamuni Buddha had shown these two mudras, those who understand the meaning of the mudras have understood it, and those who do not understand the meaning have not understood it. The phrase, ‘I am the only one being dignified’, does not mean Shakyamuni Buddha was most dignified of all. If He thought there was only one, Himself, being most dignified, He would not have introduced Immovable Tathagata and Amitabha to the world. Why had they been introduced? This was not about respect but was about ‘dignity’, meaning only the Dharma can transform and change the future of all sentient beings. Such a future is not to get one’s luck becoming good or to improve matters; rather, it is to transform and change your next lifetime. For that purpose, there are no other methods that can accomplish it except those in the Dharma. Hence, many expedient Dharma methods have been produced. Chanting mantras is also such an expedient Dharma method.

If you are able to chant ‘Om mani padme hung’ and pronounce the syllables correctly, you can have your diseases treated and karmic hindrances eliminated. At the beginning of this puja, on the Great Six-Syllable Mantra I chanted, what kinds of feelings did you have when hearing it? (A monastic, who has been ordained for 30 years, answered this: ‘When Rinpoche chanted the mantra, the earth vibrated slightly and I felt my body quivering too.) You also quieted down a lot. Today is the last day of the Year of the Ox (a year in Chinese calendar), and as I do not have much time remaining on this earth either, I will talk to you a little about what have been mentioned.

In Tantra, it is indicated that there are seven chakras in a human body. Some people have seen that this has been mentioned in some practices of Hinduism or yoga. Those practitioners know that there is such a thing as ‘chakra’ but they are not aware of what the functions are on the seven chakras. All sentient beings – not just humans, but including animals – have seven chakras. These seven chakras encompass all the karma that sentient beings have created in the past lifetimes and in this one. Each of these chakras has a different bodily channel, clinging to a body’s central channel, which every sentient being has. In medical science, there is no central channel in a body, and such a channel cannot be seen or detected. However, if one is able to master one’s practices to get the central channel opened up, the person is then different. From this practitioner’s pulse conditions, the differences will be shown. (A Doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine then reported this: ‘In Rinpoche’s body, there are two sets of systems of bodily channels. In general, only one set can be felt when a patient’s pulse has been felt; for another set of channel system, there should be no ways that it can be developed.)

This other set of channel system has the seven chakras clinging to it. How has this other set been developed? It is very simple – by practicing ‘kindness, compassion, joy and giving’. If these are thought of deliberately, they will not be there; if they have not been considered, they will appear. Besides that Doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine, other Doctor-disciples of western medicine have also felt my pulse and said that I have two sets of channel systems. Ordinarily, people only have one set of such a system. You have not developed the other set and it is about bodhicitta. When it has been developed, the power of the central channel in the body will appear. Our so-called spirits or consciousnesses are ‘walking’ back and forth in our central channel. Generally, if you have not practiced, your central channel is ‘flat’. In addition, there is a ‘red bindu’, the blood given by a mother; another one is a ‘white bindu’, the essence given by a father. All these three things are inside a body and everyone has them. In Esoteric Buddhism, these are what practitioners practice on. If one is disrespectful of one’s guru, one definitely cannot master the practices.

The seven chakras rule all things that have occurred by our body, speech and mind. If we get sick or have bad luck, it is because we have wrong thoughts and have done wrong in words and actions. Chanting the Great Six-Syllable Mantra for a long time can get the bodily channels of the seven chakras straightened and opened up. In general, in people’s bodies, such channels are curved, not straight. Why do people have a lot of health problems when they get old? Old people should not have delusional thoughts, thinking that as you have made prostrations to the Buddha, you will be healthy. Well, that will definitely not happen because you have not practiced on the central channel of your body; you have only made prostrations to the Buddha! It is just that other old people can only lie in bed but you can still walk. If you say, ‘I implore the Buddha and Bodhisattvas for keeping me healthy so that I can chant a mantra a few more times’, you will probably chant a few times less instead, because you have threatened and intimidated the Buddha and Bodhisattvas.

If a guru cannot grasp the seven chakras and has not practiced on them, he or she is unable to help sentient beings either. Many people think that a blessing is a blessing; how can it be kept harping on like this? What you do not know is that if one’s central channel in the body is blocked, one cannot give blessings because they are bestowed with bodhicitta, not with the body of an ordinary person. If you are blessed by someone with the body of an ordinary person, and as both you and he, or she, are ordinary people, the blessing will be of no use. Why are there many people who get better once I have bestowed blessings on them? It is not that I am very amazing; rather, it is because I have already developed this other set of channel system, which can be attuned to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. They also use such a system to benefit sentient beings.

The seven chakras refer to crown chakra, eyebrow chakra, throat chakra, heart chakra, navel chakra, secret chakra and seafloor chakra. The seafloor chakra is usually not practiced on because it is sealed off. If those, who are to fall into the Hell Realm or the Three Evil Realms, and want to get out of these realms, they are to come out from this chakra. Who will practice the seafloor chakra? They are the ones who indulge themselves in passionate desires or have thoughts of hatred or the sense of greed. Generally, those who have practiced very well on the seafloor chakra will make it open. On the other six chakras, each syllable of the Great Six-Syllable Mantra has the functions of getting every chakra purified, strengthened and protected.

Many people think that by chanting the Great Six-Syllable Mantra they can get protection. No, they will not. Rather, when you chant this mantra, because it is a sound wave, it can make vibrations to your body. For example, in the first part of my chanting, when I chant ‘Om’, you will feel that your whole brain vibrating, and when ‘mani’ is chanted, the vibration is in the throat and the chest; then the chanting of ‘padme’ makes the vibration occur in the abdomen, and the sound of ‘hung’ lets you feel the vibration of the navel chakra. To train chanting these six syllables this way for a long time will get the central channel in your body opened up. Nevertheless, now, do not learn the way I chant because you will have internal injuries to your body. The reason is that you do not have compassion; you only wish that things will become good for you. When you have such thoughts, the sound wave from your chanting will harm your body; when you chant for sentient beings, then such a sound wave will not harm you.”

A symphony-conductor-disciple then said, “On Rinpoche’s chanting of the Great Six-Syllable Mantra, some of the frequencies are very low, and some of them are very high. I can hear these frequencies but you cannot.” (Rinpoche continued the teachings.) “He can hear the frequencies whether they are low or high; you cannot. Do not think that this mantra has only six simple syllables; the frequencies of the sound wave move continuously. All changes in the whole universe start with sound; only if there are sound waves, can energies or lights be generated. There is a saying in astronomy that the emergence of the universe is defined as the big bang theory. Why was there a ‘bang’, an explosion? Because it would produce the sound, ‘hung’. The ‘hung’ would rearrange many elements, which were either integrated with or separated from other elements, and generate anew the substances that we can see. If one has chanted the Great Six-Syllable Mantra very well, the chanting will definitely help oneself and sentient beings. This cannot be accomplished in one day though. You certainly need perseverance and are without seeking returns while you chant. Do you think you can change your destiny if you chant more of mantras? You definitely can – changing yourself from an ordinary person to a body of a future Buddha. You are not to seek this or that for small things of the mundane world. The matters in the world have all been done by you. If you wish them to become good, the Buddha and Bodhisattvas will teach you how and they will help you. Nevertheless, your determination will still need to be relied upon.

Whether it is in the teachings of Immovable Tathagata or in the Universal Gate Chapter, there is a mention that when the Buddha and Bodhisattvas saw that a criminal was about to be executed, they would save the criminal. Why would the Buddha and Bodhisattvas do that? In ancient times, when a criminal was put to death, the ‘lighter’ method was decapitation and the ‘heavier’ one is to dismember a body by five horses pulling limbs and head. Once a criminal was decapitated, this criminal’s consciousness would definitely not go upward, but would certainly go downward in that it would absolutely fall into the Hell Realm. It is surely the vow of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas that they do not wish seeing sentient beings falling into the Three Evil Realms. Some people will say, ‘This criminal had done things wrong. Why should this person still have been saved?’ It is not saving the person. Rather, it means all sentient beings are future Buddhas; even if the person is, at the present time, a criminal, he or she is still a future Buddha. It is just that this person will pass through much of karmic retribution from the wrong acts he or she has done. Only after such passages have been gone through, will this person be transformed into a practitioner. Thus, in Esoteric Buddhism, it is mentioned that when you receive empowerments, you regard all sentient beings as yidams. This is in accordance with the principle of saving sentient beings just described. There are no distinctions in practicing different yidams, like saying, ’I have practiced this yidam; he has not cultivated the same yidam. He and I are different.’ This kind of thoughts is not right.

Why do I chant the Great Six-Syllable Mantra 1,000 times first at the start of each puja? I do not chant it for myself. I do it because your karmic hindrances have been heavy that your body, speech and mind are not purified. You have listened to the Dharma but have not gotten it through your head, not remembered it, not wanted it or have forgotten about it. I hope that, through my chanting of the Great Six-Syllable Mantra, the seven chakras in your body can be made vibrating so that you can accept a little of the Dharma that you will be listening to. The chanting does not mean to bless you, to let your luck become good, or to get bad things not happening. If you are willing to listen, then your heart is good. If your heart is good, and if your negative thoughts have not been occurred, even when your negative karma becomes manifest, there will be much lessened effect. If you still have doubts about the Dharma, you will think, ‘I studied in schools before, and there were no teachings of these things there. It is only that now I am in bad luck so I need your help in giving me some blessings. On what you have spoken of, are they true, or are they wrong?’ What I have spoken of are not invented by me – they are from sutras. As long as you have the sense of doubts or the sense of choosing, you have negative thoughts. Then the pure Dharma is irrelevant to you because you have chosen the negative side. Could it be that you cannot choose? Of course, you cannot. If you even doubt what the Buddha had spoken of, what are doing here for? You do not need to come.

Why is there the saying that ‘faith is the mother of all merits?’ Faith is not superstition, but is ‘to believe’. The Buddha had told us the experiences of His practices. Since He had mastered His practices from the time when He was an ordinary person, and as He had spoken up such experiences, we should believe that we can also do our practices by following His methods. One day, in some lifetime, we will master our practices too. We are not to listen to the Dharma expounded for our little, selfish and self-serving desires. In this way, your thoughts are good thoughts. If your thoughts are good, and as the Dharma taught by the Buddha is good, such goodness will naturally coincide with and be attuned to the goodness in you. Then the occurrences of disasters to you will naturally be decreased, even eliminated. This is in accordance with the principle of following the Buddha’s methods just described. If you think that ‘I don’t want to listen to you about this principle. What I exactly want is to keel in front of you and ask you things, which you will just need to give me’, as these are not mentioned in sutras, what do you want me to do? I cannot change the methods taught by the Buddha. However, you have insisted upon that I make changes to them or to flatter you. Such things are impossible to happen.

When we recite the Buddha’s name, on a string of prayer beads, we move our fingers on the beads with our right hand, and hold the string with our left hand. Why did the Buddha even teach how to recite the Buddha’s name? Why did He not explain it clearly? It was because the listeners whom the Buddha spoke or taught to were not you; those in the audience were arhats and Bodhisattvas. Once the Buddha taught something, they would understand it right then and there. And you? No matter how much the Buddha would have taught you, you would not have understood the contents. When using prayer beads, one’s right hand represents Buddhist activities, and the left hand symbolizes compassion. Behind Buddhist activities, if there is no compassion holding and supporting them, they are not activities of the Dharma. People who usually like to recite the Buddha’s name or sutras or chant mantras with prayer beads in just one hand are to show that they are looking good in an action of reciting or chanting – which does not have compassion behind it to hold and support it. Some people move their fingers on prayer beads with both hands at the same time; this is of no use either. When you recite or chant, you must move your fingers on beads at one side of the string, and on the other side of it, you do not need to push; you just hold it. This means you move the beads to, say, chant, with one hand and when the ‘section’ of the beads you are moving is close to end, you pull the string for the next ‘section’ to chant. In this way, the speed of your chanting will be very fast. Now I am really admiring myself that I even need to teach you this.

Why have I always held small prayer beads in my hands when I chant a mantra that I have not used very large beads? I need to chant 1,000 times at one time; if I use large beads, how can I move my fingers on them when chanting? Large prayer beads are for adornments. If you conduct a retreat, and if you chant a mantra for 100 times with such large beads, your both hands will get sore and you will not be able to move your fingers on the large beads. Since you have been learning Buddhism, for all things that your guru does, and on whatever methods your guru uses, you just follow them in the same ways. Contrarily, you will find varieties of ways and do them. The Dharma in Taiwan had been spread from China. This is an existing fact. As such, the ordained will wear a string of prayer beads around their necks as a mark when they go out to meet people. Then, when the ordained do their practices, they will take off this mark. Hence, do not hold a string of large prayer beads in your hands; do not get varieties of things to do on the Dharma. In the Ratnakuta Sutra, it is not mentioned that practitioners are to hold large prayer beads when they do their practices. I told you before that Shakyamuni Buddha had taught about with what kind of materials that prayer beads were to make of. In learning Buddhism, one cannot get away from what have been contained in sutras, what the Buddha had taught and what practicing experiences one’s guru has had. If you do your practices in all these ways, you will be ‘safe’.

Sutra: ‘Sariputra, comparing the actions of practices done by Bodhisattva Jeweled-Banner with those of Bodhisattva Immovable, a few parts, even a ‘kala’ (fraction), done by Bodhisattva Jeweled-Banner, is also less than one tiniest part done by Bodhisattva Immovable. Sariputra, Bodhisattva Immovable has been covered with diligence as his armor of mail and helmet. On such an armor, all the thousands of countless Bodhisattvas do not have one like it.’

On many Dharma methods and things that Bodhisattva Immovable had diligently practiced and done, many other Bodhisattvas had not been able to be compared with him. This does not mean comparing practitioners to see who are more amazing in practicing the Dharma; rather, it is about issues of giving rise to aspirations. If one makes great aspirations or vows, one will naturally achieve great attainment. If you make vows all day long to fulfill some of your wishes on little things, you will not attain achievements in your future practices on the Dharma. You would say, ‘I have come here to listen to the Dharma expounded for my personal affairs; as they are still not solved, why do you still talk about other things?’ There is nothing to say against such a saying at the beginning of your coming here. However, as you have continuously listened to what have been explained, you should understand where, and what, the great compassion of the Dharma is. It is definitely not for personal matters, and is certainly for a great number of sentient beings – to help them. This quote does not mean to say that Bodhisattva Immovable is specially amazing; rather, it indicates that on his mindset with diligence, there had been no other Bodhisattvas whose mindsets could be compared with his.

Sutra: ‘Sariputra, Great Bodhisattva Immovable, with such firm vows, had attained Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhicitta (Supreme Enlightenment).’

Firmness here refers to this: the vows that had been made by Immovable Buddha will not be given up or be cut corners eternally. He was not like you that you have made vows but not acted on them. Here is an example of how you think: ‘Now, because of some reasons, I cannot do these things recently, which are in my vows. Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, give me time. Wait for me for a few years and let me solve my problems first.’ This means you are not firm about your vows. Do not make vows casually. Once they are made, you need to act on them. The simplest vow to make is to be reborn in the Pure Land. If you have made vows but not acted on them, the Buddha and Bodhisattvas will definitely not punish you. It is just that your karma cannot be transformed through lifetime after lifetime because you have deceived the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, sentient beings, your karmic creditors and your ancestors. Originally, once you have made vows, your ancestors have been waiting, thinking, ‘He has made vows; then we will have opportunities to be liberated by Rinpoche.’ Because you have made vows, that chicken or that pig, having its flesh eaten by you, will have a chance, at first, to be helped by the Dharma. Then, the outcome is that this guy – you – has, again, started changing. Thus, the safest vow to make is to be reborn in the Pure Land.

You definitely do not say, ‘I will make a vow to eat vegetarian for three years until my mom’s health gets better.’ What if she is still not well? Some people say,’ I will have my life span decreased for my mom to let her live longer.’ This is absolutely of no use because it is not mentioned in sutras. You can implore a longevity on behalf of your parents but your own life span cannot be ‘moved’ over to theirs. It is like the situation that when you eat a meal today and after you have eaten this bowl of rice while the other person has not eaten his or hers, can that person open up your stomach and take out the rice in it to eat? No, the person cannot do that. The example on longevity and this one about rice have the same principle. It is superstition. Some people will say, ‘After I have my wishes fulfilled by you, I will practice diligently.’ This is also intimidating and threatening. What will happen then if your wishes are not satisfied? Will you throw away a Buddha statue? There are indeed such people doing that.

The purpose of making vows is for doing practices to help sentient beings, and is not for fulfilling personal desires. Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha made vows to do practices through lifetime after lifetime in order to help sentient beings so that his mother would not fall into the Three Evil Realms forever. Such vows were fine because they were showing his filial piety. He had acted on his vows. How about you? Some people have made such a vow: ‘My mom has a poor health. I will make a vow to chant fully a mantra for the required number of times in a certain number of years; I will dedicate the chanting to her.’ This will be of no use. Is your mother the only mother in the whole universe that others do not have their own mothers? There are many people having made such a vow, including you. Or, you will make this vow: ‘Let me do my work well and smoothly so that I can take a little more time to chant mantras every day.’ What does that have anything to do with the Buddha and Bodhisattvas? They will not have one less piece of flesh on them if you do not chant mantras. Or, a vow like this: ‘Let my child pass some examination. When that time comes, I will tell him that it was because of blessings and protection from Bodhisattvas. He will then follow me to learn Buddhism.’ Do not say that, okay? This kind of a vow has been said by many people. A monastic will say, ‘Let the hindrances of my practices be eliminated quickly, and then I will be enlightened as soon as possible. When that happens, I can then liberate sentient beings.’ All these vows are intimidating and threatening. The safest vow to make is to be reborn in the Pure Land.

It is mentioned in the Ratnakuta Sutra that when one practices the Bodhisattva Path, one cannot be proud of oneself. You are exactly proud of yourself. You have made some vows which are unaccountable and cannot be acted on. After you have made vows confusingly, you will think that it is all right if you cannot act on them. All Great Bodhisattvas and all who have attained Buddhahood will act on their vows once these vows are made. You have made vows but you do not perform them; because you are used to deceive people since your childhood, you think you can deceive the Buddha and Bodhisattvas as well. On your deceiving the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, what does that have anything to do with them? They will not be angry at you. However, your own karma cannot be transformed then with any means. Through my practices in this life, why have I been able to begin as an ordinary person, not a reincarnated Rinpoche, and then to reach an attainment level that I can ascend a Dharma throne to expound the Dharma? It is because on vows I have made I have definitely acted on them. It is not like what you have said, ‘Rinpoche, bless me; the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, bless me. Let me be able to perform the vows I have made.’ Many people have said this to me: ‘Bless me. Let me make a vow to do the Four Uncommon Preliminary Practices or to make grand prostrations.’ This is not a vow; this is a talk of nonsense.

The term ‘firm vows’ means as you have made vows, you need to get them firmly and continuously acted on. In the processes of doing these deeds, no matter how many hindrances or sacrifices, or how much pain, you have encountered, you should act on your vows.

Now, the government has announced that one needs to get two doses of vaccine (for the prevention of Covid-19) first before attending religious gatherings. Why did I get two doses of vaccine last year? Some of my disciples have still not gotten them yet. Why have they not? There are several reasons. Firstly, they think they do not need the doses because they will not go abroad; secondly, they think they will feel unwell if they get the doses; thirdly, they do not believe in the Buddha, Bodhisattvas and their guru. I mentioned to you clearly when I was performing the Green Tara ritual and the Medicine Buddha that after these yidams had been performed, poisons would be transformed into nectar. These disciples still do not believe what I said and not get vaccinated. Obviously, I myself have already taken two doses of the vaccine; I foresaw the situation a long time ago that there will be a need for it later on. Because you do not have enough of faith, you are not allowed to come in here. I have taken the lead for getting the vaccine, but you are still procrastinating and not following the lead. Those of you who had been vaccinated got much lighter side-effects if you had them. For example, an ordained disciple did not have any side-effects at all. Why have there been no problems? Because this monastic believes in me. On the Dharmas I have performed, are they unreal? You just do not believe that they are so effective. If they are not, what have the efficacies been written in the Dharma texts for? This is exactly the situation that your vows are not firm. You have continuously made vows to believe in me, but when the time comes that matters are relevant to your own benefits, you will then be in complete disbelief in me – you only believe in your own feelings.

The phrase, ‘had attained Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhicitta (Supreme Enlightenment)’, means if you want to achieve attainment in bodhicitta, ultimate bodhicitta or the fruition of a Buddha, and if you do not have firm vows, you will be completely unable to attain it. You will say, ‘I do not want to attain Buddhahood; I only want to learn Buddhism.’ However, even if you just want to learn Buddhism, you still need to have firm vows.

Sutra: ‘At the present time, living in the World of Abhirati, he is named Immovable Tathagata, being attuned to right equality and right awareness.’

‘Currently’ (2,500 years ago), Bodhisattva Immovable ‘lives’ in the World of Abhirati. He should still be there now. The World of Abhirati is not our Earth and is not in our Milky Way Galaxy either. For part of the quote, ‘he is named Immovable Tathagata, being attuned to right equality and right awareness’, it means he is a Buddha.

Sutra: ‘Furthermore, Sariputra, when that Immovable Tathagata had been practicing the Bodhisattva Path before, there were people begging and imploring him for a head, eyes, bone marrow, a brain, hands, feet or joints. He did not oppose to their wishes and he did almsgivings, giving them all they had asked for.’

If we are required to do what are mentioned in this quote, we cannot do them. It is impossible for you to cut off your head or extract your bone marrow and give it to the person who asks for it. When the Chod is performed, the practitioner presiding over the ritual will visualize that his or her body is to be given away totally. It is written very clearly in the Dharma text that the head is to be cut off and the bone marrow is to be taken out; the practitioner’s hands, head, feet, internal organs, et cetera, are all to be made as offerings.

Why are we not able to do what have been described? If they can be done now, there is only one method to be utilized and it is attaining realization in Emptiness. It is like this instance. In one lifetime, Shakyamuni Buddha was a king. There were celestial emperors who wanted to test His compassion with one emanating as a pigeon, and one as an eagle. The eagle wanted to catch the pigeon and to eat it; the pigeon flew to the side of Shakyamuni Buddha, imploring Him to have it saved. The eagle then said that if the Buddha saved the pigeon, the eagle would starve to death; what should the eagle do? Then, Shakyamuni Buddha cut a piece of flesh from His thigh and gave the piece to the eagle to eat. Not only did His thigh not bleed but also new flesh was grown on the spot immediately.

From the concept of the Tantra that I have been practicing on, I can see that the king at that time had already attained realization in Emptiness. We know that He had a body but actually it had already not existed. If one’s practices have reached this level, one can give people all they have asked for, which have been mentioned in this quote. Once these things have been given away, they will immediately appear for this person to have. It is equivalent to the blessings I have given you. After I have done those, my energy will be regained very quickly. When I perform the Chod, I make offerings and do almsgiving with all of my body. After the performance is completed, there is not one less piece of flesh or one less hair on my body.

You will say, ‘Are visualizations real?’ Yes, they are. This is because that those sentient beings, who have passed away and who have ‘come’ here during the Chod puja, will ‘see’ these things – all parts of my body – in front of them. If there are no such visualizations, it is impossible for me to bear these deceased, who have ‘entered’ the Center, with my physical body to be relied on. You have often participated in a Chod Puja. If you are respectful of this Dharma and your guru, as long as I start performing it, you will feel very cold because those deceased have ‘come’ in. As they are not living people of this world, they do not have heat in them, and that is why they are cold. If they have ‘come’ up from hells, they will be even colder.

When a person dies, after half an hour, his or her body starts getting ice-cold because this person lacks the fire element of the four major elements in the body. All of you have felt very cold when the Chod is being performed, and once its performance has been completed, you will not feel cold anymore; that is because those deceased who had come in were liberated. You will definitely say, ‘There are Dharma protectors in the Center. Can ghosts still come in here then?’ On all Dharma methods, only the Chod does not establish the Dharma boundary. The Chod is open to all – all sentient beings can come in. For example, for today’s puja, before I started expounding the Dharma, I had established the Dharma boundary. For the Chod, there is no such boundary. Many people think that if a Buddha statue or a runic charm is attached to the door of an entrance, ghosts cannot go into the house. Then you are wrong. They can go in unless this Buddha statue or the runic charm has been consecrated by a great practitioner. When ghosts see this practitioner’s light, they will not dare to enter the place.

I told you before that you are not to think that if you hide under a blanket, ghosts will not see you. On the basis of what have been mentioned in sutras, there are only three places which ghosts cannot penetrate into. These are the treasured throne of Shakyamuni Buddha, a woman’s womb and a vajra. Besides these, no matter what kinds of materials things are made of, ghosts can pass into them. Even if the objects are in steel reinforcement, cements, reinforced concretes or in very thick materials, ghosts can still enter these objects. If objects are buildings, ghosts can also go into them unless these buildings get protected by the lights of Dharma protectors; then, when there are such lights in the buildings, ghosts cannot get in. This is the reason that you need to practice the Dharma Protector Achi ritual every day. If you do not practice it, your home will be in dark; then ghosts will come in.

As mentioned in the Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha’s Fundamental Vows, if one recites Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha’s name at least 10,000 times every day, the good ghosts and deities in one’s neighborhood will protect this person’s home. However, if you are instructed to recite ‘Namo Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha of Great Vows’ 10,000 times each day, you cannot finish reciting it fully 10,000 times a day, therefore, I have transmitted to you an expedient Dharma method, the Dharma Protector Achi ritual, for you to practice. Hence, if you are disrespectful of the Dharma Protector Achi or of your guru, the Dharma Protector will not come to you (to protect you). It is like this that for those disciples who have not gotten vaccines, the Dharma Protector will not go to them. Even your guru – I – have been vaccinated to show you what I have done, but you still take your time.

Sutra: ‘Sariputra, that Immovable Tathagata, from the start of his aspirations having been arisen, and even before attaining supreme bodhicitta, because of such causes and conditions, he did not have diseases of ‘wind, yellow and phlegm’ as causes and headaches, et cetera and comorbid situations.’ (Translator’s note: Comorbid describes two or more diseases or medical conditions that exist at the same time in a person.)

‘Immovable Tathagata, from the start of his aspirations having been arisen, and….before attaining supreme bodhicitta,’ because he had made firm vows, he would not ‘have diseases of ‘wind, yellow and phlegm’ as causes and headaches, et cetera and comorbid situations.’ If you have these types medical conditions or diseases, it indicates that you have not given rise to aspirations or you have not practiced the Bodhisattva Path.” (Rinpoche named a doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine and asked him to explain “diseases of ‘wind, yellow and phlegm’ as causes” and headaches. This doctor-disciple said that “diseases of ‘wind, yellow and phlegm’ as causes” should be diseases about emotions and intellect, meaning emotions and the mind being abnormal; there are irregular fluctuations in the mental state. From the viewpoint of Chinese medicine, if circulation of the body fluids is not good, phlegm will be produced in a sticky, stagnant form. Then one’s activities of the mind will be obstructed and there will be some symptoms for the person being manic and hot-tempered.)

Rinpoche scolded the doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine that what the Doctor had just explained were nonsense. Rinpoche said, “If there are ‘yellow and phlegm’ issues in the body, this should mean that there are problems with lungs. He just followed what had been mentioned before and then he explained it again later; that was all.” (The doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine then explained why headaches occur. He indicated that in general, catching a wind chill will cause headaches too. In addition, if one’s own bodily channels have irregular contractions with muscles being tense or in high tension, making vascular nerves constricted, one will also have headaches.)

(Rinpoche continued the teachings.) “If ‘brain tumors’ is directly spoken of, it will be easier for everyone to understand the subject. For modernists, a simple term of ‘headache’ includes medical conditions of strokes, brain tumors or brain diseases; mad cow disease is also in such a range of brain diseases.

The meaning of this quote is that as long as you have made firm vows, you will not get ‘diseases of “wind, yellow and phlegm” as causes and headaches, et cetera and comorbid situations.’ Although these medical conditions seem to be very mild, they will make all our organs become bad later, therefore, everybody needs to pay attention to them. If the elderly gentlemen or ladies are sick, they will have lots of phlegm and then they cannot get it out through their coughs. Thus, when you watch TV series, and if you see some characters in the stories getting sick, you will notice that they have such symptoms. Those screenplays have been written from well-founded facts.

As for phlegm, how does it occur? I am not a doctor; on the basis of my experiences, if one’s lungs are, or the heart is, inflammatory, there will be phlegm.” (A doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine answered a question from Rinpoche: “This is indeed true.” A doctor-disciple of western medicine then said, “Phlegm is something produced when white blood cells swallow up bacteria, viruses or foreign objects.”)

(Rinpoche continued the teachings.) “Why are there such diseases? Because there are negative thoughts in your mind. From the perspective of medical science, the causes of diseases are bacteria. However, according to the convergence of causes and conditions in the Dharma, it is your karmic creditors who have brought your medical issues to you. Such creditors are originally inside your body. If you have the sense of goodness in your mind, they will not act on you. A long as you give rise to negative thoughts, and are disrespectful of your guru or the Dharma, then your karmic creditors will come and do things to you.

Hence, the meaning of this quote is that Bodhisattva Immovable, ‘from the start of his aspirations having been arisen,’ had not changed his respect for the Three Jewels and sentient beings, so he did not have such diseases, and had been able to continue doing his practices. Bodhisattva Immovable had not implored things because there had been no need for him to do those acts. Why have you not granted what you have implored when you have sought these or those things? It is because you have implored wrong things and you have not amended yourselves. With the blessings of the Buddha, Bodhisattvas and Dharma protectors, I will be 75 years old in one day. To this day, I still have no such diseases; I do not know whether I will get them or not in the future. The reason that I do not have them is that I have been practicing the Bodhisattva Path. As you do not practice this Path, you will have these diseases. Actually, in the Dharma text of the Chod, this has been mentioned in it. The phlegm produced from inflammatory organs is very difficult to treat. (At this time, a doctor-disciple of western medicine indicated that such a situation is indeed very difficult to be treated; getting the phlegm out of the body is quite hard.)

How do headaches occur? From the viewpoint of Chinese medicine, if one’s blood and qi (flow of energy) are blocked, one gets a headache. From the angle of western medicine, when one has problems of the nerve and blood vessels in one’s brain, then there will be a headache for the person. From the perspective of the Dharma, it is that in each of your thought, you think of harming people, not helping them; in this way, you will have illnesses of headaches. In Chinese medicine, such a headache is called ‘head wind’. The doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine said it is ‘catching cold’, but it is not; it has nothing to with catching a cold at all. It is just that your thoughts are all selfish and self-serving. Even if you have recited the Buddha’s name, such acts are of no use to you. Because of your selfishness and self-interest, this ‘head wind’ appears then.

This ‘wind’ represents your thoughts of greed. The ‘wind’ already exists in your body, and it is not necessary that you get blown by natural wind to have a headache. In a human body, there are these four major elements: earth, wind, water and fire. If the wind is too strong, one will have pain in the head. (The doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine then said that this is indeed true.) I wish this doctor can be a little more advanced. In Chinese medicine, there is a mention of five elements of wood, fire, earth, gold and water. What element does ‘head wind’ belong to? (The doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine answered this: Wind belongs to wood.) If wind is in the element of wood, what is the organ that is not good so as to cause ‘head wind’? (The Doctor replied, ‘It is the liver that is not good.’) Then why didn’t you say it just now?

Although I am not a doctor, I have doctor-disciples of western medicine here. Also, I have a little common sense. This doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine should simply go through some examinations so as to get a doctor license in western medicine. Just a moment ago, he still pretended that he did not know the information and did not say it. What he said was that the causes of diseases we have been talking about were regarding tensions or emotions. Well, if one’s liver is not ‘tense’, will that person get ‘head wind’? (The doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine answered: ‘No.’) This doctor is unlucky today. It just happened that I have expounded this quote and he needed to answer my questions. Can a doctor muddle along or give me an answer casually?”

(Then, Rinpoche asked a doctor-disciple of western medicine what kinds of qualifications that one should have in order to go through examinations of western medicine. The doctor who was asked the question replied that such a person needs to have qualifications to be in a medical school, so the doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine in question can take those examinations. Rinpoche then told that doctor-disciple of Chinese medicine to simply go to take such examinations because what he had explained just now were about things in western medicine. As for that doctor-disciple of western medicine, he was honest because what he talked about were in western medicine.)

(Rinpoche continued the teachings.)

“‘Sutra: ‘Sariputra, when that Immovable Tathagata had been practicing the Bodhisattva Path before, he had obtained such Dharma methods that had never existed in the past. Sariputra, in places where his past birthplaces had been, he made offerings to and attended Buddhas and Tathagatas.’

Because Bodhisattva Immovable had been practicing the Bodhisattva Path, there were no causes and conditions for him to get these diseases. As such, when he practiced the Bodhisattva Path before, ‘he had obtained such Dharma methods that had never existed in the past.’ This also means there were no Bodhisattvas who had completely not gotten these diseases; Immovable Tathagata was the only exception. Thus, all of you have gotten them. You should do a self-review attentively; do not think that you are a practitioner while you have not done things rightly. This has been mentioned here very clearly. You have never thought that Shakyamuni Buddha would have spoken of such contents for us to listen to.

Also, before, regardless of where Immovable Tathagata had been born, ‘he made offerings to and attended Buddhas and Tathagatas’; he had never stopped doing such acts. Ask yourselves then. How have you behaved? You have taken leave of Dharma protectors and Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara all the time; that is why you cannot master your practices. There are nothings that can be done to help you.

Sutra: ‘In places of those Buddhas, he often practiced the methods of pure living. Because of such causes and conditions, in places where his birthplaces had been, he would still, again, have his original name as Immovable.’

The meaning of this quote is that after Bodhisattva Immovable having started making such vows, ‘he often practiced the methods of pure living’. After that life ended, in every lifetime when he was born, ‘he would still, again, have his original name’ as ‘Immovable’. The term of ‘being reincarnated’ does not exist only in Tibet. Here, what has been talked about is exactly ‘being reincarnated’. This means he had fulfilled such conditions in every lifetime, therefore, in the following lifetime, he would still have been called Bodhisattva Immovable. This was because for all the causes and conditions that had occurred to him, he would have mentioned them in his prior lifetime. Here, on this subject, the Buddha had not spoken of it in a very detailed account. In Tibet, if a great Rinpoche is to be reincarnated back to this world, before passing away, the great Rinpoche will definitely write down in clear details about which year and where this Rinpoche will be reincarnated after death, and his or her parents’ names will be written down too.

Even in Tibet, such information will be written down. I believe that Bodhisattva Immovable would have certainly done it too; otherwise, the Buddha would not have said that the Bodhisattva had the same name through lifetime after lifetime. It is like that the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang has been called ‘the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang’ from his first lifetime to the eighth lifetime. The Drikung Kyabgon Chungtsang has been called ‘the Drikung Kyabgon Chungtsang’, the same name, in his lifetimes. These kinds of situations have not been invented by Tibetans. Now, this is mentioned in the sutra. Many people thought that the term of ‘being reincarnated’ was created by Tibetans; it was not, actually. It had been spoken of by the Buddha. However, all the conditions mentioned previously need to be fulfilled first before the situation happens. If they are not met, a particular case of ‘being reincarnated’ is a false one.

From my understanding, a true occurrence of ‘being reincarnated’ is very complicated and is very auspicious too. It is not just simply saying that because one wants to come back to this world by one’s vows, one can then come back; rather, everything needs to be written down very clearly. For example, I have said that I will not come back to this world, and I will not. Hence, if there is a Rinpoche named ‘Rinchen Dorjee’ appearing in next lifetime, he is absolutely not I, unless I have said, before I die, which year I will be back. If I have not said it, and if anyone who is called this name, that person is definitely a false one. This should be passed down, and be told, to others because I have made my vows that I will not come back and I want to go to other places. It is too hard to spread the Dharma on Earth.

In the Long Life Prayer for Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche that His Holiness has written for me, there is a mention that I will go to whatever places if there are auspicious causes and conditions there. Thus, I do not necessarily have to come here. You will ask, ‘Then, what is our monastery being constructed for?’ It is for conducting retreats because if we want to master our practices to be able to get liberated from birth and death in this life, we must conduct retreats. Now, because of all various causes and conditions, there are nothings that can be done to let us go to a sacred place conducting retreats very smoothly. I can predict that this is impossible. Even if it is possible, as I am now already at an old age of 75, I cannot take you there; if I were 65, I would still have been able to. So, we surely need to find a suitable place to conduct retreats.

I dare not say that I have gained lots of good skills and abilities from my learning, but at least I have learned something. I hope that, in my lifetime, I can develop some disciples’ capability to let them be able to be liberated from birth and death in this life so that they will not rely on me entirely. Everyone of you depends on me; it is not that you are not allowed to do that but I will die. While you have been working on these kinds of practicing methods, if I am no longer around, I do not know what you should do. Do not think that I will live for a very long time. At most, I will live to the age of 86 or 88 years. What do I want to be still alive at that age for? I am also quick-tempered, so walking slowly when I am 88 years old will make me impatient. If performing a Dharma ritual will take a whole day for me to complete the performance, or when there is no physical strength in me to scold my disciples, I will be displeased too.

I want our monastery to be constructed and this is really not for myself. Honestly speaking, if I do not get it built, the money I have donated to the construction project would have been sufficient for me to live very comfortably, and I could have been not caring about you. Hence, everyone should truly listen.”

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Updated on December 27, 2022