His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – November 30, 2025

At the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center in Taipei, the attendees followed His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s instruction and listened with reverence to the Dharma tapes recording  Rinpoche’s precious Dharma teachings on June 15, 2003.
 
More than 2,500 years ago, there was no anatomy, so how could anyone know the changes of a fetus month by month? But at that time, Shakyamuni Buddha had already described the development of the fetus in the mother’s womb over ten months: at each stage of change, whenever the hands, feet, and sense faculties formed, the fetus feels pricking, darkness, and nausea, as if imprisoned. The mother will also experience headaches, vomiting, swelling, and feeling unwell in her body. Whatever the mother eats—spicy, cold, hot, whether she is full or hungry, whether she is walking, sitting, or lying down—the fetus feels it. Therefore, as mentioned last time, when the fetus moves, it does not mean it is healthy; it could be expressing discomfort. If the mother eats something spicy, the fetus reacts as if it were burned and punches back twice; if she drinks something cold, the fetus feels chilled and retracts its hands as if pushing her. Whatever the mother eats, the fetus also feels. It senses cold and heat, wind blowing, the feeling of floating, and even as if it were about to fall from a cliff.
 
At birth, the fetal vitality causes the hands and feet to invert—meaning that before birth, the head is positioned upward, but during birth, it must turn upside down. This feels as if someone were grabbing both feet and throwing the baby downward. Passing through the birth canal feels like being forcefully pulled out through an iron pipe. During childbirth, mother and child may both die, or one may survive while the other may die. Even if neither dies, both must endure the suffering of a near-death experience. Padmasambhava said that mother and child take half a step into the Realm of Yama. For the mother, aside from her lips and teeth, all the bones and joints in her body feel as if falling apart. When stripping off the afterbirth, the newborn feels the pain of skin being peeled off. This is why infants cry immediately after being born: first, because the consciousness carried from past lives remains and recognizes his misfortune that it has once again come to suffer; and second, because shedding the afterbirth feels like having a layer of skin peeled, causing them to cry out in pain.

From the day we are born, we begin to move steadily toward death. Throughout our lives, we are busy striving for our livelihood, and many actions in this world are connected with negative karma. From birth to death, we have essentially never truly enjoyed any pleasure; the material pleasures we chase are transient and impermanent, and material possessions and wealth are also temporary and unreal. Over the course of a lifetime, people work nonstop just to get by—going to work, coming home, eating, cooking, raising children, teaching children. Some people stay busy until old age and lose their temper every day. As a result, their vision becomes unclear: constant anger damages the kidneys and the liver, and naturally, the eyes deteriorate. 

Some people do not listen to my advice and insist on buying a house for their daughters. Now their money is gone, and they suffer! They simply do not understand suffering. They think their children belong to them, and who should they help if they do not help their children? Yet beings in this world are so foolish. The suffering of old age forms gradually; if all the suffering of old age were to appear at once, it would be unbearable. There is even a disease in which a child suddenly ages overnight—you can see how miserable they are, and they themselves are in great pain. The Venerable Milarepa said: When a person becomes old, standing up feels as laborious as pulling a wooden stake out of the ground; walking becomes shaky and shamble like the steps of a chicken; sitting down feels like a rock collapsing downward. When these three signs appear, the body of the elderly begins to decline. Then comes ‘skin dried and wrinkled, essence and blood depleted, the body hollowed’. No matter how good the cosmetics, no matter how fine the food, or even injections of placenta extract, one must still go through these three stages. For example, there was a singer in Hong Kong who got an injection every year, yet still looked old. The foundation of men is sperm; the foundation of women is blood. When a woman reaches menopause, it marks the beginning of aging, because her blood has been depleted. When a man’s sperm is depleted, it does not refer only to semen, but also to hormones and the entire endocrine system. Therefore, people who overuse their brains often age earlier than others.

‘The essence and blood depleted, the body hollowed.’ Look at a newborn child—their little feet are full and plump, because that is the moment when sperm and blood are most abundant. The feet of the elderly gradually become flat; it is not that the flesh has disappeared, but that when sperm and blood are depleted, only bone and thin skin remain. So if you want to know whether someone is aging quickly, just look at their feet—there is no way to hide it. ‘Numb, blind, confused, and dull’—this is why we say someone is senile and muddle-headed, and there is good reason for it. The brain can function continuously only when sperm and blood are sufficient. This is why in Vajrayana, one’s appearance and body can seem to age more slowly—the circulation of sperm and blood is different from that of ordinary people. Someone who overuses their brain for long periods, or someone overly indulgent in sexual desire, will age faster than others, because their sperm and blood become depleted. Parkinson’s disease and dementia are manifestations of this exhaustion of sperm and blood. Even practitioners find it difficult to cure these illnesses, because the person’s energy has already been consumed very much; from old age toward the state approaching death, the rapid depletion is because too much negative karma has been made.

The Venerable Milarepa’s observations were remarkably detailed. He said that when people grow old, ‘clothes are sloppy and they have no interest in changing them; they cannot distinguish hot from cold in food and drink; and even four layers of bedding feel insufficient for rest.’ Look at the elderly: when their clothes are messy, if you ask them to change, they refuse, not because they are unwilling, but because old age has dulled their sense, and they are too lazy to move as well. Even changing clothes becomes an exhausting task, because they are too old to even go by, how would they even find the energy to change? ‘Cannot distinguish hot from cold in food and drink’ means that demented elderly people cannot sense the temperature of what they eat or drink. If this begins to happen—if, for example, they burn their tongue but claim it is not hot, you should start to bear in mind. ‘Even four layers of bedding feel insufficient for rest’indicates that even a very thick mattress feels hard. As bones stiffen, hard bones press against hard bones, causing discomfort. The Venerable Milarepa said that if all three of these signs appear, the elderly person becomes as if an old dog gradually slipping into unconsciousness, entering a state of stupor.

The suffering of human illness: when a person is sick and bedridden, food becomes tasteless, pain continues day and night, they toss and turn in sleepless nights, and their mind becomes confused, and operations that open the abdomen are among the many unbearable hardships that follow. Lying in bed when catching a cold, taste noting whatever you eat. When one suffers from discomfort such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, or cancer, the pain is beyond what words can describe. Everyone has experienced the suffering of illness, sometimes to the point of being unable to sleep at night.
 
When death suddenly comes, it is terrifying, and one suffers many kinds of hardship, such as using up all one’s wealth in the search for medical treatment. That is why I often say many people are ignorant: they can spend several million, even ten or twenty million, on medical treatment, buying equipment and medicine, yet they do not understand that this money could be used to make offerings and do good deeds. Such people will not die quickly—because they still have money. They continue suffering until the very end; when the money is gone, and they realize they are penniless, another kind of suffering arises, and only then do they die—very painful! Therefore, many people who understand the Dharma give away all their wealth when they fall ill. They give it up—not to exchange money for a longer life or for happiness, but because they know that even if they spend it, the illness will not be cured; so they might as well give it away to make offerings and benefit others. Doctors, don’t scold me and say that no one will come for treatment. Don’t worry, people with such wisdom are truly rare.

Lord Jigten Sumgon said that the four elements of the body gradually weaken; a body that seems healthy can, in an instant, turn out to be nothing but a deception. Time is like the flowers of autumn; whether one believes this or not requires deep reflection. Do not assume that your body will always remain healthy. In truth, all of these are lies. Old age, death, and illness arrive suddenly, just like autumn flowers that fall without warning. This is how we should reflect on human life. The suffering of death is something everyone fears. In life, many things can be shared with others, but death is the one thing that must be faced alone. This means death is death; no one can share it with you. Not your partner, family, Bodhisattvas, or your guru. When the time comes, you must face and accept death by yourself. Before death, the inner fear and the wheeze are things even doctors can’t do anything about. All the courage and pride you once possessed will vanish. All the chaotic appearances begin to manifest gradually. 
 
I often say that when a family member is diagnosed with cancer, you must tell them. Many people like to hide it at first, thinking they are sparing the person from suffering, but this is wrong! If you hide them from pain now, they will definitely experience that pain before death—and when that moment comes, they will certainly blame you: ‘It’s all your fault!’ If they lack authentic faith in the Dharma, they will resent you. If you had told them earlier, they might have found another doctor or taken some action that perhaps they would not be dying now. Therefore, we have no right to conceal someone else’s illness. Many people think, ‘Don’t tell Dad—if he knows, he will suffer.’ This is pure ignorance. When a person is nearing death, they are absolutely aware of it. Even if you see them lying there unconscious, they still know they are about to die.

I have blessed many patients in a vegetative state. Whatever they were thinking in their hearts, I spoke it out, and their family members all confirmed it was accurate. You may think that a person in a vegetative state has no feelings, no thoughts, nothing to say—but that is wrong. Their consciousness is still active, and before their final breath, they absolutely know they are about to die. It is like being deeply asleep in the middle of the night; you may think that you are unconscious, but if someone suddenly suffocates your mouth and nose so you cannot breathe, you immediately know what is happening. The moment before death is exactly like this: being unable to breathe, feeling extreme suffering. Do not assume that someone who is in a vegetative state, unconscious, or brain dead knows nothing. Brain death does not mean that consciousness has left the body. This is why Buddhism absolutely does not support euthanasia—euthanasia is murder! Only practitioners like us can perceive whether a person’s consciousness has actually left their corporeal body. Sometimes the consciousness has already departed, but I still call it back and guide it to re-enter the body. Because if the consciousness is not in the body before death, performing the Dharma or chanting for them has no effect. Without knowing what happens to the sentient beings, it is impossible to transfer their consciousness.
 
There was once a disciple whose one of the twin sons died. His consciousness had already departed, but I summoned his consciousness back in order to understand what the child was thinking. He passed away a few days later. Why is it that sometimes the consciousness has already left, yet the corporal body does not die? In some cases, it is because the person is taking revenge on family members, making them suffer. In other cases, their karma has not yet been fully repaid, so the body remains in order to keep repaying these debts, causing the consciousness of him or her to be in great pain. The consciousness knows that the body is essentially dead and cannot move, yet it cannot leave the body and can only stand beside it, watching—this is extremely painful. This is why some people who ‘come back from the dead’ report seeing their own bodies lying there. This is correct: their consciousness had already left, but the physical body was still there, causing them to suffer greatly.

If one does not have the ability to truly understand what happens to the sentient beings, yet thinks themselves to be very compassionate and impulsively attempts to help transfer others’ consciousnesses, all of these cause the opposite effect. Therefore, when I bless the deceased, I do not do it to give them a good afterlife, but to help them hear and accept the Dharma. Because with my power of chanding (Pujas Teachings Index 06), I can steady the wandering, unsettled mind of the deceased. Only after calming and stabilizing their consciousness through my own capability from practice can they accept the words, the mantras chanted, and the Buddha’s name. We enter retreat and practice chanding (Pujas Teachings Index 06) not for our own benefit but to help sentient beings. Today, using my experience in practice, I am explaining to you the process of dying, and I am telling you not to conceal illnesses. Because a person always knows when they are about to die before their death. Even in a sudden accident, in the 0.0001 second before the breath stops, they still know they are dying. Therefore, matters concerning death must be told truthfully. If you hide the illness, they will resent and hate you. But if you tell them, even though the first few days may be painful and difficult for them to accept, after some time—when they see the situation cannot be changed—they will come to accept it.
 
Cancer patients suffer greatly during the course of their illness. Because their families hide the truth from them, they keep believing the doctors will cure them. With every treatment, they hold onto hope, but each time they only end up in pain. Through experiencing suffering repeatedly, their hatred grows stronger and stronger, and this inevitably leads them to fall into Hell. Once we understand the truth of death, we see that the dying process is the same for ourselves and for our relatives. It is the same for practitioners. The only difference is that practitioners are able to control the fear in the mind — the loss of all courage, and the fear of death. Learning the Dharma means understanding where this fear comes from. When we understand it, fear naturally diminishes. When we no longer fear death itself, what in this world could still frighten us? What we fear is not the loss of wealth or loved ones, but the fear is because we all know death deep in our hearts. Yet no one wishes to speak of it, and everyone hopes it will never come.

To pacify the heart full of fear, one grabs fame, wealth, and relatives, and desires continue to appear, hoping that these can replace the heart filled with the fear of death. 
 
Why is it that those who have attained achievement in practicing the Powa Dharma are not frightened by death at all? Because when he succeeded in practicing, he already experienced the process of death, and he knew how easy it is! You are all afraid of death because you don’t know it; it’s like I can tell you how delicious this bowl of soup is, but you must drink it yourself to understand. Many people claim to have listened to the Buddha Dharma, thinking that hearing it means you know, but that is impossible; you must act on it. Having learned the Powa Dharma and through practice, attain achievement, one will know what the matter of death is about, and will be able to break many attachments, but do not think that having learned the Powa means that you are very impressive and can practice the Powa for others; practicing the Powa Dharma for oneself and for others are two separate Dharmas, without the right mindselt, the Dharma will not be transmitted because one could harm oneself as well as others. Someone once sent his disciple to learn the Powa Dharma; once he received the Dharma texts, he believed he could practice on his own, but it was futile. One cannot attain results in practicing the Powa Dharma just by receiving the Dharma text and performing the visualizations; one must have a guru to lead one in person to practice for at least 108 days in order to attain results. Without the guidance of the guru, one cannot achieve anything. In the past, I also practiced under a guru’s guidance to achieve results; therefore, the guru is very important. Because the guru will lead you and prevent you from going down the wrong path, and the guru must first attain achievement before he can help you do the same. 

There is an entire passage of prayers to the guru in the Powa Dharma, and the guru includes the guru transmitting the Dharma now; if you have the slightest bit of irreverence towards the guru, or the slightest notion of taking advantage of him, even if you can learn the Powa, it will undoubtedly be unsuccessful. Therefore, you must not think that having learned the Powa Dharma means that you can separate yourselves from the guru and never see each other again. Do not come if you don’t want to learn Buddhism. Vajrayana Dharma is not publicized for fear that learning it incorrectly may harm sentient beings; thus, it is not spoken of publicly, not because there are many secrets, or because it is worth a lot of money. Buddha Dharma cannot be measured with money.

I can progress so quickly because I attained achievement in the Powa; I was one of 42 people in the group who learned the Powa, and only two of us could open up our crown chakras, and I was the only one who could practice the Powa Dharma for others. Currently, across Taiwan, many in the Drikung Kagyu have learned the Powa Dharma, but very few have opened their crown chakras, let alone be able to practice Powa to help others. To be able to open one’s crown chakra does not mean one can practice the Powa for others; in ancient times, those who could practice the Powa for others were greatly respected by people because this Dharma is difficult to encounter, challenging to practice, and hard to attain achievement!

Before we die, all the courage we have in this life will disappear, and the karmic creditors of the accumulated past lives will come to seek repayment; the feeling after death feels like one is being blown by the winds (of karmic forces) in the darkness, in a place where one is utterly alone in a deserted place. One becomes longing at heart and reluctant to leave when one remembers that one’s wealth has not been properly sorted out. The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha’s Fundamental Vows states that upon death, one should take the deceased’s most cherished treasures, antiques, and wealth to make an offering because one must cut away the deceased’s heart of remembrance and longing. 
 
Someone’s father died twenty days ago, and he hired people to recite sutras and perform the seven-day ritual after death for his father; he came to seek an audience and implored about whether his father had left. I asked him if there were four sons in the family. He said, ‘Yes.’I told him that his father had instructed me to inform him now that the four sons should not fight over the inheritance. He also confirmed that the four brothers were indeed fighting over the inheritance. Afterward, this person reported to me that he had told his brothers that their father had appeared to him in a dream and seen them fighting over the wealth. I berated him on the spot because his manner of speaking was, first, unfilial. After all, it was his father who asked me to tell him that these were his father’s exact words. Second, this was an act of false speech because he slandered the guru. Many people behave this way: after asking, they hear but remain in disbelief, so they choose to proceed their own way. This deceased person was angered by his descendants’ unreasonable arrangements of his wealth, and even if his offspring hired people to recite (sutras) on his behalf, the deceased would not leave, no matter how they recited the sutras. 
 
If you did not make offerings with your wealth before passing, unless you made arrangements ahead of time, you would definitely get upset, especially if people you despise wear your beloved jewelry and antiques, and you would definitely curse the matter. Therefore, if one does not understand the deceased’s heart and goes to recite on their behalf, it will be unnecessary because you have received the red envelopes from them; even if you did not give a set price, you would still have to bear the karmic forces because you did not solve their problem. In the past, before His Holiness granted permission, I did not dare transfer consciousness for others because I saw many things as a child learning Daoism from my father, who taught me not to transfer consciousness for others casually; one should not think that one possesses the heart of compassion, one could harm others without even knowing. Therefore, even if monastics have gone to recite on behalf of the deceased, the deceased may still get angry. Still, they have already taken the red envelopes, which are equivalent to owing a debt to the deceased’s family, a debt that they will have to repay in the next life. 
 
We must read the sutras clearly, even before attending recitation groups to help others. We must first assess whether the household has any issues, and we may also ask whether the inheritance has been appropriately divided yet; if not, don’t recite for them. You should only recite if the inheritance has been properly sorted out. When I recited on behalf of my friend’s father, the deceased was worried about his wife and would not go, let alone if it were about money. Therefore, those who are money-oriented, greedy, unwilling to give, and who regret after making an offering will end up with this kind of problem; even after death, they are still unable to let go of these matters and still want to control them. This way, they will end up in the Hungry Ghost Realm. 

People with severe evil will beat their chest and stamp their feet, blame others, and be unreconciling; these are the people of massive evil karma, and who habitually lose their temper; they will fall into the Hell Realm for such behaviour. Do not think that having listened to the Buddha Dharma means that you will not fall into the Hell Realm, as it all depends on your own behaviour. Those who have listened to the Buddha Dharma may be more fortunate and become a ghost pawn, especially those who have listened to the Buddha Dharma and still berated and blamed others; these kinds of people go down even faster because they broke the law knowingly, particularly those who criticized the guru—they go down faster than anyone else. If you see that your friends or relatives have these issues, you must quickly find a virtuous friend to bless him and help him sow good fortune and make offerings—only then can his karma be eliminated before death; otherwise, one will go down undoubtedly. 

Some people get constant convulsions in their limbs before dying, which means they have committed severe crimes of killing or received ill-gotten wealth. Before dying, their karmic creditors are reckoning with them from within their bodies by pulling on their tendons. There is a hell where one gets the tendons pulled out of one’s body. If you encounter such matters, stop giving the dying person tranquilizers because it’s useless to inject them. The next stage will be delirium and disorientation; some people will wave their hands before dying, trying to chase something away, which some may think is an illusion, or it may be because there are ghosts in the hospital, but no! In one’s delirium, one sees that the karmic creditors of accumulated past lives have come, hence the waving to drive them away. Some people see that ‘Grandpa has come to fetch me, I’m so happy.’ Be cautious! This may be the karmic creditors taking the form of the dying person’s most dear relative to bring him or her to the Three Evil Realms. If you see any of these phenomena, you must immediately seek the help of a virtuous friend. 

At the end of one’s final strand of breath, one’s mouth opens slightly, and the eyes turn upwards, and one dies; this happens to those who have committed numerous evils! Venerable Mileripa states that the extremely evil people will exhibit karma like a teacher before their deaths. No matter how well one claims to have practiced during their lifetime, when you watch them die, you will know whether or not they have acted upon evil in this life, and from death, we can deduce whether the evil karma before death was severe or not. Therefore, when performing Buddhist-related matters, reciting sutras or mantras, one must not lose one’s temper; this kind of evil yields karma that is even more severe than killing other beings, because at that moment, many sentient beings are waiting in anticipation. If your heart is fixed on the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, it will benefit the sentient beings; however, if you lose your temper or give rise to thoughts of hatred to complain about the wrongdoing of others, this is the heart of the Three Evil Realms, and will cause the deceased to go to the Three Evil Realms, and the deceased will not let you go, so I often urge others not to recite on behalf of the deceased. Reciting for the departed was initially a good deed. Still, there are criteria to be met, unless the departed had learned Buddhism before death and understood that your recitations are intended only to strengthen their faith and enable the deceased to go with the Buddha Amitabha. 

Some people attend recitation groups for the departed for prestige or merit, or feel ashamed of not participating, while others genuinely believe they possess compassion. Some people keep reciting while their fear continues to grow, and they keep their eyes shut in fear of seeing the deceased’s appearance; this kind of recitation is useless. The authentic recitation on behalf of the departed is for their Dharma brothers (fellow practitioners) who learned Buddha Dharma at the same  Buddhist center alongside the departed before their passing; upon hearing that he is about to die, these Dharma brothers come to recite Buddha’s name or mantras on behalf of him. It is useless to recite after death! Unless it were a Vajrayana practitioner who goes to perform Vajrayana Dharma. Do not believe superstitiously that the recitation group can undoubtedly help him with his afterlife, as it is not stated in the Three Pure Land Sutras. Furthermore, neither did Master Yin Guang, a practitioner of the Pure Land School, state that reciting the Buddha’s name after death can help the departed be reborn in the Western Land of Sukavati; he only said that, before dying, one must be clear-headed and have been a Buddhist practitioner, and only by reciting this way can there be any effect. Many Buddhists are busy daily reciting for others, but instead, they are ineffective and even harm themselves and other sentient beings as a result; being ignorant and acting on one’s own accord, in the belief that one is acting upon compassion, is wrong! 
 
It is not that all is lost after death; if you are not a practitioner and haven’t acted upon great virtuous karma, the attendants of the Yama (King of Hell) will be right in front of you, displaying all sorts of phenomena to frighten you and bring you into the Three Evil Realms. The time of death is uncertain, and in that moment, only the authentic Dharma can be of any benefit. The Venerable Potowa Rinchen Sel said that he hoped you will often be mindful that ‘death is impermanent’ and ‘death will definitely come,’ and that you must be sure of this in your hearts. Do not hypnotize or lie to yourselves in thinking that you will live long. 
 
Cutting off evil entirely is not difficult; act with compassion often, do not tire of benefiting sentient beings, and later in the day, later on, frequently visualize  Śūnyatā (Puja teachings index 21) and its true nature. Cutting off evil entirely is not difficult; what is difficult is that one doesn’t admit to committing evil. The definition of evil is: not acting to benefit the sentient beings, but instead to satisfy one’s own personal desires, being selfish, and benefiting oneself. The above are all evil; to not accept, or further, refuse the teachings and admonitions of the guru; to not accept the influence of Buddha Dharma, and to not employ Buddha Dharma in one’s daily life are also evil. In simpler terms, to follow and act by the teachings is to cut away all evil, and the beginning of all virtue. Therefore, learning Buddhism and ending all evil are not difficult; the difficulties lie in disbelief in karma. One thinks that speaking or acting as one pleases will cause nothing, but something will come about. Those who truly believe in karma will absolutely be able to stop acting upon evil. To practice compassion frequently and tirelessly benefit sentient beings are deeds you can yet accomplish; you may only make offerings. It is not that the guru needs so much money. 
 
Many people believe that the guru speaks casually when stating that the sutras require one to set aside one-fourth of one’s income for offerings, and they refuse to listen, thinking that money is the most important thing they cannot live without. If Buddha and the guru lie to you, you needn’t come to learn Buddhism. His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon has also publicized that making offerings is the most essential Dharma method for learning Buddhism, and I have also seen this with my own eyes: His Holiness asked the Kempo to make a Mandala Offering on his behalf to listen to the Buddha Dharma. One must accumulate good fortune to listen to the Buddha Dharma, and good fortune comes from making offerings. Working diligently and tirelessly each day benefits sentient beings, as everyone in society, in every job, may directly or indirectly influence them; thus, to do one’s job well can benefit many people, but if one focuses only on promotions and wealth, one can harm many sentient beings. Before you can learn how to make offerings through Dharma, you should do your job conscientiously, which is one of the means of benefiting sentient beings. Later on, frequently visualize Śūnyatā (Puja teachings index 21) and its true nature requires learning the nature of Śūnyatā (Puja teachings index 21), which I will teach in the future. 
 
If we are not mindful of death, our hearts will be in a state of disarray, and give rise to the three poisons: greed, hatred, and ignorance towards our relatives, ancestors, and strangers. Without mindfulness of death, one will try to exert control over certain things, and give rise to a scattered mind, thereby not being able to listen to anything said by the guru, and give rise to greed about family members, friends, and spouses—greed for filial piety of one’s children in hope that they will treat one well, be obedient, or wanting the wife to listen to one’s words, these are all the beginning of the poison of greedy thoughts. Toward one’s enemies, one may develop hatred, believe that malicious people surround one, and feel compelled to speak a few vengeful words to cause the other person pain; toward strangers, one may adopt a mindset of complete disregard. Some public bathrooms are very filthy because users assume the next person is a stranger and will never know what one has done, which gives rise to the poison of ignorance and a refusal to accept the truth; do it first, regardless of whether it is right or wrong. 
 
Those who are not mindful of death are not Buddhist practitioners; their hearts will be fixated on the mundane dharma, which gives rise to the three poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance. One will be insatiable about wealth, food, drink, and bhogas (pleasures), and to gather, protect, and increase these three matters, and day after day, one’s mind will be scattered without interruption, and be worried and pained endlessly by the fear of losing everything. You have all performed and experienced these few sentences above. 

In order to protect oneself, one becomes insatiably greedy; for the sake of nourishment, one kills living beings and eats meat. In pursuit of a little more wealth, teachers participate in rotating savings schemes or speculate in the stock market; doctors sell medicines for profit; civil servants engage in corruption. All of these give rise to fear and suffering. The Venerable Milarepa also said: when will wealth ever be enough? In striving for wealth, one becomes stingy and greedy in the process, binding one’s own mind, and unwilling to perform wholesome deeds. These are all signals that summon demonic adversaries. There are two explanations for such adversaries. One refers to worldly adversaries. Why are so many people in Taiwan deceived? Even when they know it is a scam, they still transfer the money—because of greed. They do not believe they themselves could be so unfortunate, and thus others take advantage of their vulnerability. Because they seek to accumulate wealth, they naturally become stingy and unwilling to make offerings; therefore, their virtuous karma is limited.
 
Even though one deligently accumulates wealth for others to use, in the very last, only death is left. Therefore, one needs to be clear that wealth and family members are all bait of reincarnation; to be reincarnated, one can’t leave these two matters. There was an old lady who gave rise to hatred toward her son’s unfilial behavior and her poor relationship with her husband. Without receiving my Phowa, this old lady would certainly have fallen into hell. If you do much for your children and yet they fail to meet your expectations, your thought of hatred will certainlybe strong; and you will definitely fall into hell first, and in the next life, you will seek them out to collect the debt. I often expound that whether children are being filial or not is a matter of cause and effect; it cannot be bought with money; it is not that giving them money, helping them run a business, or buying them houses will make them filial. If it could, then you might as well spend a few million to buy someone to be filial to you! Why suffer so much for it? Because they’re your own flesh and blood? Getting people to be filial is actually very easy— just take some money, sign a contract, and state how much you will pay each year—there will be plenty of people willing to come and show filial behavior toward you. With so many unemployed people in Taiwan today, why insist on relying on your own children? People are ignorant, believing that wealth and family members are of utmost importance, and this is the bait of reincarnation.
 
Lord Jigten Sumgon also said that when you see all your wealth being exhausted, no matter how greedy you are in this life, how hard you try to save, all are like bubbles and shadows, wealth is like the dew on the tip of grass; you should think carefully about this! Do not let wealth harm you or deceive you any longer. If one doesn’t think about death, their heart will be scattered among the mundane world, attached to the family members, enemies, and strangers, and given rise to the three poisons: greed, hatred, and ignorance. We will cling to peace and joy, happiness, fame, and thus waste this life. What Buddha said about wasting this life is that you don’t learn and accomplish anything in Buddha Dharma, don’t liberate from life and death, then you have wasted this life! Do not assume that simply having a career, children, a family, and good health in this lifetime means that you have not lived in vain. From the Buddha’s point of view, these are all fake, can’t last forever; as if they are illusions, bubbles, and shadows, they will soon pass over! Knowledge and fame are all fake. If one thinks that earning a lot of money and obtaining a high social status are the goals of life, these are also fake. People with such thoughts are definitely disbelieving in cause and effect and fate. All wealth, fame, and family members are from the cause and effect and fate from past lives, not something being created in this life. With fate and good fortune, no one will take it even if your money lies in the middle of the road. With insufficient good fortune, even the money saved in the bank will be taken away.   

When I was 21 or 22, I worked as a manager at a jewelry store. There was once I brought a batch of goods, of which the total value was two years of my salary at that time; I took a taxi back home, and forgot to take it with me when I left the taxi. I went back to chase for one round, and saw the taxi stopped at the side, I ran over and said to the taxi driver that I lost a pack of thing, the driver said it was impossible; he just served a costumer for a short distant drive; at the end, the pack of thing still stayed in there; this means I shouldn’t lose this big pack of thing in my fate. Therefore, towards my own things, I feel at ease in this life; it is good as it comes, and also good as it leaves, everything is fate. By ‘fate’ it doesn’t mean fatalism; rather, it means the law of cause and effect. No matter how good you are at saving money, someone will end up spending it for you. Therefore, my view on money in this lifetime is to use it as quickly as possible—what goes out quickly comes back quickly. As for you, it goes out slowly and comes back slowly; yet when it is for others to use, you want it to go out quickly. It is all based on this same principle.

We must be vigilant about these matters; otherwise, this life will be wasted in vain. We should contemplate how much time remains in this lifetime—not by calculating whether we have one year, ten years, or twenty years left, but by clearly understanding that human beings are certain to die and that no one is immortal. No matter how well one plans, how skillfully one calculates, or how much one shows ‘filial devotion’ to one’s children, in the end there will still be nothing left. In Taiwan, there are many so-called ‘filial sons’—that is, people who are filial toward their children. They are reluctant to make offerings: they think that one hundred dollars is a lot, two hundred dollars a week, six hundred dollars a month. Yet when they show ‘filial devotion’ to their daughters, spending millions, they feel it is not much at all. Making offerings with such a mind produces no merit; this is called making comparisons. One must contemplate that death is inevitable, and make a vow to use the remainder of this life to practice the Buddha Dharma. This is why I keep urging you and pressing you: you do not know how much time remains in your life. If you continue to squander it, when death arrives there will be nothing that can be done—and you may not even be able to find me.
The practice of Buddhism must be undertaken in the present moment. Regardless of age or position—whether one is studying, holding public office, running a large business, managing a household, or even already a grandmother—one must make use of our limited time here and sincerely, earnestly study and practice the Buddha Dharma.
 
The Venerable Milarepa said that all the teachings spoken by the Buddha are intended to cut off the Eight Winds. Every practitioner of Buddhism must ask themselves whether they have fallen into these Eight Winds. All the precepts taught by the Buddha are absolutely not meant as punishment or reward, they are meant to sever all the worldly bonds that bind us.Ask yourselves: have your worldly affairs increased? Even rushing to perform rituals and repentance counts as worldly affairs. Being busy every day with your own matters and forgetting the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is also worldly involvement. Being busy every day serving your children while forgetting the teachings of your guru is likewise worldly involvement. Therefore, even if you think you are following the precepts, ask yourself: have your worldly concerns increased? If one does not constantly contemplate death and impermanence, what use is practice? The purpose of learning Buddhism must be absolutely clear, it is by no means for worldly benefits or for making everything in this life go well. The most important thing is to contemplate death.

To put it more simply: no matter which Dharma method one follows in this lifetime, the ultimate purpose is for it to be of use at the moment of death. Therefore, how well one practices, how accomplished one becomes, or even whether one attains great supernatural powers is not what truly matters. What matters is knowing how to free oneself from birth and death. All the mantras we recite and all the sutras we chant throughout our lives are meant for those brief few seconds at the time of death, to be of use then. Everything we practice is practiced for that very moment. Never misunderstand the Buddha Dharma as a means to turn all the unfavorable conditions of the world into favorable ones. If that were the case, the law of cause and effect would not exist. The Buddhist sutras state that the minds of sentient beings are inconceivable. What the minds of sentient beings give rise to is so complex that even the Buddha’s wisdom cannot fully fathom it. The minds of the more than three hundred people present here are all extremely complex, and it is precisely because of this that there are so many conflicts in the world.
 
The Buddha teaches us that if we do not contemplate death and merely assume that the Dharma will improve this present life, then what use is learning the Dharma at all? If you believe that I am here only to help you make your children and grandchildren filial or to make your career successful, such thinking is also mistaken. Your guru is here to help you clearly understand the truth of death and how to take charge of your future rebirths. If you live to your sixties or seventies, your life is essentially set—what is good will not become extraordinarily good, and what is bad will not become terribly bad. There is no need for so many expectations, just sincerely recite the Great Six-Syllable Mantra. Stop buying luxury brands; once you are old, even if you wear brand-name clothes, people will not recognize them as such, because you do not have the ‘frame’to carry them. When I wear them in my fifties, people can tell, because I still have the frame for it. Wearing brand-name items is not wrong; if no one bought them, many factories would shut down and many workers would lose their jobs. Whatever happens in this life is all due to causes and conditions. Do not create new worries and troubles for yourself. 

Every day, you must set aside a little time to quiet your mind and reflect: what have I done in this lifetime? What have I contributed to society? What will the day of my death be like? What will those few seconds at the moment of death feel like? Then reflect carefully: does being young mean one will not die? Does dying at an old age necessarily mean greater suffering? This is your homework. You must contemplate it every day. Do not think that contemplating death will cause you to die immediately—it has nothing to do with that. If one’s lifespan has not yet been exhausted, even if one thinks about death every second of all twenty-four hours in a day, one still will not die!

Therefore, the contemplation of death is meant to teach you to courageously face the problems you do not yet understand and cannot yet resolve in your present life. This is a problem that cannot be solved by science, medicine, wealth, or scholarship; only the Buddha Dharma can resolve it. The many fears you have arise because you do not understand death. Once you truly understand it, there will be no fear at all. Instead, you will feel that life is filled with hope and light, because you know how to take charge of your own future. What you regard as ‘brightness’ is wealth and fame—but these are merely manifestations of karmic merit. This discussion of death is not meant to frighten the elderly, nor the young, nor the middle-aged—nor is it meant for middle-aged people to go home and tell their spouses that they will stop working and spend every day thinking about death. To contemplate death means first to accept that this natural phenomenon will inevitably occur to every person. This is the most important and also the most difficult problem to understand. If this problem can be resolved, then there is no other problem in life that cannot be dealt with. Therefore, this is not a negative approach. We first choose the most difficult issue to address. If even the most difficult problem can be resolved, then what else could possibly be unmanageable? This is why the ancients, in seeking learning, did not choose easy problems to study; they chose the deepest and most difficult ones. Once the most difficult is understood, all others become easy. In our lives, the most difficult, the hardest to understand, and the thing we least wish to accept is the problem of death. If we are able to accept it and resolve it, then all other problems in life become trivial—they are no longer real problems. Why do small problems become major ones for you? Because the fundamental problem of death has not been resolved. Once it is resolved, the path of learning and practicing Buddhism will naturally not go astray. Therefore, the subject of death teaches you to courageously face the problems you currently do not understand and cannot resolve—problems that science, medicine, wealth, or worldly knowledge cannot solve. Only the Dharma can. The reason you experience so much fear is because you do not understand death. Once you truly understand it, all fear disappears, and instead you feel that life is filled with hope and brightness, because you know how to take control of your future. The brightness you seek is wealth and fame, but these are merely manifestations of past merit. In this section on death: the elderly should not be afraid, the young should not be afraid, and the middle-aged should not go home telling their wives they will stop working because they ‘want to think about death every day.’ Contemplating death means first accepting that this natural phenomenon will inevitably happen to every person.
 
The Buddha taught the Dharma for forty-nine years, yet he once said that he had never taught any Dharma at all. This is because what the Buddha spoke was not something newly created by himself; rather, it was what all Buddhas throughout the ages had realized and spoken. The Buddha merely repeated these teachings for us. The ultimate purpose of all teachings is liberation from birth and death—the true and fundamental suffering. As for the various kinds of suffering in the world, from the perspective of the Buddha’s wisdom, they are not the greatest suffering. The greatest suffering is the continual cycle of birth and death.
 
With regard to birth, aging, sickness, and death, we have no power to decide birth—it arises in accordance with our karmic forces. Aging is also unavoidable, for it is a law of nature. As for illness, if one refrains from killing and performs many virtuous deeds, there is some possibility of mitigation, though minor illnesses are still unavoidable. Death, however, is something for which there is a solution. The Buddha can teach us that when this physical body can no longer be used in this lifetime, there will be no further birth and death in future lives. Those of superior root capacity are able to cut off birth and death within this very lifetime, without needing to pass through the process of physical death. We, however, are people of lesser root capacity; our physical bodies must go through death. Therefore, before the body has died, we must make extensive preparations to face that day.
 
Never harbor even the slightest sense of luck or wishful thinking, believing that at the moment of death the guru will be able to perform the phowa practice for you. In truth, if the karmic debts I owe from past lives have been repaid, and if the Dharma King tells me that I have nothing more to do, then I will bid you farewell. Never assume that simply by reciting every day prayers for the guru to remain in the world means that the guru must remain in this Sahā world. Remaining in the world does not necessarily mean remaining in this particular realm; the entire universe is called ‘the world’—there is no need to remain confined here. I have applied myself to the study and practice of Buddhism with such depth and such intensity because my father’s death gave me a profound signal. Why is it that people cannot understand their own death? A person may command great power and influence while alive, yet at death be utterly unable to exercise any control—what meaning, then, is there in being human? When I faced my father’s death at the age of eighteen, I told myself that in this lifetime I must completely understand this problem. Now I can say: I understand it clearly, and I am able to take charge of it. I also hope to pass on this experience and what I have learned to you. But there is one fundamental condition: you must listen and follow the instructions. If you do not listen, you truly will not be able to learn.
 
The Vajrayana is very incomparably wondrous, but it really needs a person with good fortune and follows the Dharma. Today, I will end the teachings here, next time I will talk about Asura. Here, the sutra speaks only briefly about the Asura, but I will speak about them at greater length. The likelihood of falling into the Asura Realm is very high, and it is very easy to do so. Asura, on this earth, is said to dwell by the sea. I will speak about this next time.

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Updated on December 3, 2025