His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – August 2, 2026

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

Upon ascending the Dharma throne, Rinpoche began to recite the Hundred-Syllable Mantra. Then, Rinpoche instructed the monastic disciples to lead the assembly in reciting the Refuge Motivation Prayer, the Prayer of Four Immeasurables, the Sevenfold Offering Prayer, the Prayer for Dharma Transmission, ‘the Sutra of Recollecting the Three Jewels,’ and ‘the Prayer to the Eight Noble Auspicious Ones.’Next, Rinpoche recited the Great Six-Syllable Mantra for a long while—his sacred body and the mandala emitted  golden light, the ground shook, and a miraculous fragrance permeated throughout the ākāśa. The attendees all felt their chakras vibrate while currents of warmth flowed through their bodies— warm and feeling calm and tranquil, it was as if one resided on a lotus in the pure and dignified Pure Land, where one could hear the chirping of birds, a cool breeze blowing, and one’s body and mind became clear while all vexation gradually subsided so that one could focus on receiving the incomparably wondrous teachings of Buddha Dharma from Rinpoche.  

Before expounding the Ratnakuta Sutra today, I will speak briefly about Gongchig (dgongs gcig, The Same Intention) by Lord Jigten Sumgon. Lord Jigten Sumgon states: What is the difference between taking refuge in Buddhism and tirthika (non-Buddhism)? The difference is refuge-taking. Taking refuge in what? What does one take refuge under?  Tirthikas (non-Buddhism) also take refuge, but the subject of refuge is different from ours as Buddhists. How do we distinguish? One must distinguish whether or not one takes refuge under the Three Jewels, and in taking refuge, we also distinguish through the subject of refuge. Within the Three Jewels, the Jewel of Buddha is not separated into the Buddhas of Vajrayana or or the Buddhas of the Five Directions—instead we simply ask whether one takes refuge under our teacher Baghavan Shakyamuni Buddha, and whether or not we recognize him as the founder of the teachings. The above are the two means of distinction. 

Therefore, while many say that the Vajrayana is different, it is in fact all the same—the founder of the teachings is Shakyamuni Buddha—at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center and the the Mahavira Hall of the Monastery, we honor Shakyamuni Buddha in the middle. In this instance of human existence, the history of Buddhism began with Shakyamuni Buddha; only because of Shakyamuni Buddha’s existence were we able to introduce the other Buddhas. Without Shakyamuni Buddha there would be no Buddha Dharma, thus our root guru is Shakyamuni Buddha. To take refuge under the Treasure of Buddha means to take refuge under Shakyamuni Buddha, who represents all Buddhas of the ten directions and the three times. Therefore, to take refuge under him means to take refuge under all Buddhas instead of saying that one takes refuge under some kind of Buddha of the Five Directions— it is only when one practices a specific yidam that one emphasizes this particular refuge, but when we take refuge initially, it’s always under Shakyamuni Buddha.  

The Dharma Treasure is all of the Dharma in the heart of the founder of teachings, and all which the founder of teachings expounds. The above means that all of the sutras expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha are the root of all Dharma. Whether one practices Exoteric or Vajrayana Buddhism, one cannot depart from the Buddhist Sutras taught by Shakyamuni Buddha. If any Buddha Dharma is not from the Buddhist Sutras, then it is absolutely not the Buddha Dharma. Even if one attains achievement and reaches realization through practice, it is still through the fundamental theories from Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings in the sutras. Therefore, there are no Dharma Treasures if one departs from Buddhist sutras. 

The Sangha Treasure is the practitioner of this Dharma. Many believe that taking refuge under the Sangha means taking refuge under monastics—wrong, wrong, wrong! If taking refuge under monastics means the Sangha Treasure, then Buddha would have said to take refuge under rhetorical Bikkus and Bikshunis. Still, Buddha did not say so—Buddha spoke of the Sangha Treasure. What does Sangha mean? To have once been human. (The Mandarin character) for Sangha is composed of the radical for ‘human’ on the left and the radical for ‘once’ on the other side, which means that he is no longer human. Many people think that taking refuge under monastics means taking refuge under the Sangha Treasure—this is a huge misunderstanding. Therefore, Jigten Sumgon states clearly here that the Sangha Treasure is the practitioner of this Dharma. The above means that one employs the Dharma taught by Shakyamuni Buddha truthfully in daily life, which includes helping sentient beings. If one is not a practitioner, one is not the Sangha Treasure. For example, by lighting a lantern or writing a name, one believes that one can transfer consciousness—but the Buddhist sutras do not say so! You can flip through all the Buddhist sutras—Shakyamuni Buddha never said that one can transfer consciousness by lighting a lantern or writing down someone’s name. Since the Buddha never said so, it would be wrong for us to do so. Therefore, this is not the true practitioner of this Dharma.  

If someone takes refuge under the Three Jewels, then no matter how well he practices, which traits he has, or how he dresses, this person is a Buddhist disciple. In other words, he has once taken refuge under the Three Jewels, and the most important aspect is the latter—the practitioner—if one employs the Buddha Dharma truthfully and actually in daily life to help sentient beings, then one is indeed a Sangha Treasure, no matter how one practices. However he practices is none of your business. Many people like to criticize practitioners, claiming that they are incapable, but at the very least they have practiced to attain a certain level that you haven’t. If  you claim that they are incapable then you must have attained even greater achievements—if you have not attained anything better through your practice, you have no right to criticize any practitioners. As long as you have criticized a practitioner, you will fall into causal conditions.

Further, there’s a story from the Buddhist sutra. During the time when Shakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha were liberating sentient beings simultaneously, Amitabha Buddha spoke of the Dharma that sentient beings could understand more easily—slightly simpler Dharma. It isn’t simple since simple cannot be used to describe Buddha Dharma—it was more comprehensible. While Shakyamuni Buddha in that lifetime was more inclined to speak about more profound Dharma in the aspect of sūnyatā (Puja Teachings Index 21). Shakyamuni Buddha slightly criticized Amitabha for teaching the Dharma that was too simple and not profound. Therefore, Shakyamuni Buddha’s karmic fruit was to attain Buddhahood on earth while Amitabha Buddha’s karmic fruit was to have his own Pure Land.
 
Everything you say, everything you do, everything you think — all of it has cause and effect; there cannot possibly be no fruit. If there is no fruit, we would have no need to learn Buddha Dharma. Learning the Dharma is knowing that this is a good cause — and therefore there will certainly be virtuous fruit. Jigten Sumgon states it very clearly: regardless of what characteristics a person has, regardless of how they dress — for example, monastics and laypersons dress differently — as long as they have taken refuge in the Three Jewels, they are Buddhist. If one has not taken refuge in these Three Jewels, then regardless of one’s view and practice, regardless of what characteristics one possesses, regardless of how one dresses — that person is tirthika (Non-Buddhist). Listen to this carefully: some monastics are in fact still a tirthika (Non-Buddhist)  . Because we take refuge in the Three Jewels, we must uphold the precepts. So everyone must first be clear about this.
 
Jigten Sumgon expounds: The difference between the Exoteric and Vajrayana Schools is the employment of the path of cause, and the path of fruit, and the claim that the difference lies in the act of empowerment. Without empowerment, there is no Vajrayana Dharma—in particular, the most important type of empowerment is the Vase Empowerment, which is rarely given. For example, in this lifetime, during my cultivation, I have only received the Vase Empowerment twice, once from His Holiness, and once from Yunga Rinpoche. Before Yunga Rinpoche bestowed the empowerment, he tested me by asking a few questions about the Buddha Dharma—only when I could respond to him did he bestow the empowerment. Therefore, many people keep coming to implore me, but once I see that you are not of the caliber for learning the Vajrayana, I won’t even bestow you with the Vase Empowerment. 
 
Do not think that having completed the Four Extraordinary Foundations of Vajrayana Ngondro, one then begins to practice the Vajrayana Dharma. Many people think they are qualified to learn the Vajrayana — but have you achieved being the true Dharma practitioner mentioned? If you haven’t, on what basis do you want to learn something else? The Great Six-Syllable Mantra is already sufficient for you to recite. I have recited it my entire life and only now reached the point where my mouth need not open — the Great Six-Syllable Mantra is recited very clearly without opening the mouth. Isn’t that so? (The assembly responds: Yes.) You definitely open your mouth. If you have the ability, go recite in front of a mirror with your mouth closed and show me. Why is this possible? Because of wholehearted non-distraction. Moreover it is not my conscious mind reciting — it is my pure vital breath that recites. You recite using the throat, using the lungs; I recite from the dantian. Not one person here has practiced to this level. When you have practiced to this level, you will be qualified to rely on reciting the Buddha name to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land — you can achieve it yourselves, without needing to ask me. Have you recited to that point? And yet you come pleading for more Dharma? Thinking that learning a little more will make you more accomplished — when you can’t even handle the most basic, most fundamental Great Six-Syllable Mantra properly. 

I said a long time ago that any Dharma should focus on compassion (maitrī and karuṇā) as its main essence. Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva is the representation of compassion (maitrī and karuṇā) —and the most important mantra to Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva is the Great Six-Syllable Mantra. If you don’t even recite the Great Six-Syllable Mantra, what’s the point of practicing? You have no compassion (maitrī and karuṇā)! Those without compassion (maitrī and karuṇā) will distinguish, pick and choose, and criticize this and that, and they even criticize the guru. If one recites the Great Six-Syllable Mantra according to the Dharma, and receives the Dharma, compassion (maitrī and karuṇā) will rise naturally. You all look down upon the Great Six-Syllable Mantra and think that everyone is reciting it—when you casually turn on audio channels you can always hear others reciting it—but how many of them can recite without opening their mouths and enunciating precisely and exactly? There are many other different ways to recite the Great Six-Syllable Mantra to generate different effects, but none of which I will transmit to you. When you cannot even achieve the most fundamental method, how can I transfer anything else to you? 
 
Do you think the Great Six-Syllable Mantra is so simple? Right now there are a few disciples who have two Dharma texts in hand — teaching the recitation of the Great Six-Syllable Mantra. I have other Dharma texts — why do I not transmit them? You do not respect the guru, you criticize the guru — how could I transmit them? Someone will ask: ‘Are you taking them to the coffin?’ No — I am taking them somewhere else. You think that as long as you keep coming and keep imploring, one day Rinpoche’s heart will soften and he will transmit the Dharma. Ask yourselves: do you have the conditions to come and learn? Still in your seventies seeking this and seeking that — reciting the Great Six-Syllable Mantra well is already enough. Being in your seventies — what beings are you going to liberate? Where is the physical strength to liberate beings?

For instance, Disciple Chen has passed away. She took refuge with me for a very long time — and from the day she took refuge, she never respected the guru one hundred percent. And so the evil karma of her many lives could not be transformed through the Dharma. Because what the guru transmits is all virtuous Dharma — but she had evil thoughts, such as criticizing the teacher, which is an evil thought — the accumulated evil thoughts of many lives could not be turned around, could not be transformed. And so she developed breast cancer. In the beginning her family told her to seek treatment; she felt it was very painful, came to tell me, I blessed her, and then her family told her she need not seek treatment anymore — let things take their natural course. I kept telling her,‘You have not repented.’ Eventually she thought through everything and came to understand where she had been wrong. She had taken refuge for many years — a very good-natured teacher herself, willing to do whatever she was asked — it was simply that her heart harbored evil thoughts, criticizing the guru. Not because she criticized me, and so I punished her — everyone must not misunderstand: a guru will not punish any follower, any disciple, or any sentient being. It is all your own cause and effect. You give rise to an evil thought and do not tell me — it means your evil thought will keep on continuing.

Many come and say, ‘I come to repent, please forgive me.’Since I am not angry at you, why do I need to forgive you? It is merely that you come to repent, and I, representing all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, bear witness and supervise you and you must change, we give you the opportunity to change. Therefore, I gave Disciple Chen the opportunity to change. I said, ‘Okay, I accept your repentance, you must change.’ The more that she repented, the more she remembered, and so from the day she was diagnosed with cancer to her last day alive, she never had a single injection of pain killers, or injected a single morphine pill—and she was completely aware of the process of decomposing earth, wind, water and fire because I have spoken of it, and she could remember. Therefore, before she died, she bathed, changed her clothing, and lied down, and then she passed away just like that. I had granted her the Powa, but according to the principles, having criticized the guru, why did I grant her the Powa? Because she repented completely in the months leading up to her death. She was a poor teacher who had no money, and made very little offerings. But all because of repentance, Rinpoche granted her the Powa Dharma. On the day of her death I bestowed the Dharma, and enabled all of her family members who did not believe to see things exactly and clearly. 
 
Don’t misunderstand Rinpoche all day long in thinking that he gets angry—Rinpoche does not get angry. I am only upset that you never seem to listen no matter how much I teach you. Why are you so obstinate, so stubborn, and so unwilling to change? Do not think that learning Buddhism is to satisfy certain thoughts of yourself, or eliminate some plain—this is not learning Buddhism! Therefore, today I mention this matter especially to help you understand what your mistakes are. 
 
Let Disciple Xie say a few words about what cancer Disciple Chen had, how serious it was, and what would normally have occurred in such a situation. (The Doctor-disciple Xie responds: Report to Rinpoche and all Dharma brothers and virtuous friends. She had breast cancer. Last May, some shadows were visible on the X-ray. When she came for an examination last month, she was quite short of breath. When I took the X-ray, I was startled — because the cancer had spread diffusely throughout the entire lung, like scattering a handful of sand across a piece of cloth. The lungs were completely unable to exchange air. When she arrived, her blood oxygen was approximately 80%. By rights, given the condition of her lungs, it should have been below 70% or even 50% — yet hers was 80%. Although she was very fatigued and her color was poor, her consciousness was very clear and she spoke with me lucidly. I was concerned she might have pleural effusion and checked — the lungs did not have that much fluid accumulation. If there had been effusion, she would have been unable to lie down. Even in this condition, with very little supplemental oxygen she could reach approximately 95% — equivalent to normal. Her husband told me that when she removed the oxygen mask at home to bathe or move around, her levels would drop to 50% or 60%. In an acute patient in this state, they would normally already be in a coma, but she was not. Because she had no sensation of pain — only very poor physical strength, weakness, and a little breathlessness, but not like the breathlessness of running a hundred meters — not that kind of feeling. Even more remarkable was Rinpoche’s blessing: the day before she went to the hospital, she could still perform 200 full prostrations every day. This is truly an inconceivable state of being! Rinpoche’s blessing and care for disciples and sentient beings is truly meticulous and all-encompassing! At the end I asked her — she was by then unable to speak, had no strength left. She said that at home she had still eaten something, still bathed — just as Rinpoche described to everyone just now: she bathed, changed clothes, and then passed quietly. And she said her eyes, muscles, and head felt as if they were continuously sinking downward; heat kept rising from the body,  she was sweating, had no strength, and was unable to lift anything. She spoke very clearly to everyone: these are the four elements in the process of decomposition. So if there were truly no Buddha Dharma, no guru — we sentient beings, we disciples, do not know what condition we would be in.)

I hope you do not wait until death to understand the incomparable wondrousness of the Buddha Dharma — by then it will be too late. Rinpoche often says: I too cannot live forever without dying. While I am here, there is still the opportunity to help you cultivate the Dharma and perform consciousness-transference; when I am gone, there will be no one to do so for you. While I am here, if you do not resolve to learn diligently and practice well — everyone feels it is not their concern, they have not yet died, the time of death has not yet arrived. Our Buddhist Center has many such examples for you to see — yet you cannot take them in. With this kind of attitude toward learning the Dharma, you will never learn anything. Some people cry when I am unwilling to transmit Dharma— cry for what! Why not cry for the fact that you will die, and at the time of death will have absolutely nothing to rely upon? Do not think that reciting the Great Six-Syllable Mantra a few thousand times every day means you can go? 

Yesterday a physician-disciple kept coming to request the Guru Yoga Dharma — I have continually not transmitted it to him, including Disciple Xie. Because I specifically transmitted a particular practice to all physician-disciples — Bhaiṣajyaguru — which I have not transmitted to other disciples. Why transmit it to physicians? Because they need to treat illness — I hoped they would cultivate this practice so as to receive Bhaiṣajyaguru’s blessing, to understand the treatment of illness more deeply, and to be of help to patients who suffer from sickness. And the result? One recites 3,000 times a day, another also recites 3,000 times — ask them how many syllables are in the mantra and they do not know. And yet they seek more Dharma? Has Disciple Cai come? (Rinpoche addresses the Physician-disciple Cai.) How many times do you recite in a day now? (Disciple Cai responds: Report to Rinpoche — 300.) What? (Disciple Cai responds: This disciple was wrong.) You are busy earning money, busy raising children, busy working toward a doctorate. If you have no wish to practice — return the liturgical text to me tomorrow. No medical ethics!
 
Is Disciple Chen present? (The disciple responsible replies: Disciple Chen is not present.) Why? (Reply: He has a cold.) He’s always catching colds. Rinpoche tells the disciple responsible: Go ask him how many times he recites the Bhaiṣajyaguru? Which other Doctor-Disciple has received the Bhaiṣajyaguru? (Disciple Sun gets up.) Rinpoche asked: How many times do you recite daily? (Disciple Sun replies: Reporting to Rinpoche, 5000 times.) Dr. Huang? (Disciple Huang replies: Reporting to Rinpoche, 3000 times.) Rinpoche said to Disciple Huang, are you busy? (Disciple Huang replies: Yes.) Ah? No wonder why you are so foolish! No matter how much I berate you, you remain so foolish. 

Three thousand recitations—how am I supposed to transmit the Dharma to you? I specifically gave empowerment to these few people! I didn’t do it for their own sake; I did it for the sake of all those suffering from illness. I hope that those of you who are doctors will have medical ethics and the qualities needed to be doctors, so that you can help sentient beings. None of you are good doctors. All you know how to do is make money and take care of your own families. I hope to transmit the practice of the Medicine Buddha to you, so that you will practice properly. Then, with the blessings of  Bhaiṣajyagurua, perhaps you will be able to treat your patients a little better. Three thousand recitations! Don’t treat Buddha Dharma as child’s play, all right? Don’t think that simply reciting it three thousand times will make it effective. Strictly speaking, the few of you doctors who have received the empowerment should go into retreat for two months. And yet you still dare to come asking for the Guru Yoga practice—where should you be instead? You take money from your patients. I’ve said this many times before: doctors are people who make money when other people are suffering. If people weren’t suffering, would they give you money? In ancient China, doctors were merely one of the ‘nine classes’ of occupations, and were ranked at the bottom. Today, being a doctor is regarded as something supreme—a person who saves lives. But without the merit and blessings to support you, no doctor can save your life.

As doctors who have taken refuge in Buddha, do you think that by taking refuge under Buddha, with Buddha and the Bodhisattvas blessings, everything can go well for you? What a waste for you to become doctors! Disciple Cai has the face to recite 300 times each day? Since the day you took refuge, you have done many things disobediently. You suffer today because you do not listen and act on your own accord! You Doctor-Disciples better watch out—I will give you some time but if you are not willing to practice the Bhaiṣajyaguru, none of you can be my disciples anymore. I have said many times that doctors and teachers are the hardest to liberate, and doctors are particularly hard to liberate because they all think that they are some kind of leading expert with authority—‘I understand and you don’t, so you can only listen to me.’Therefore, they make it a habit of not listening to others. 

Why don’t I give you a vase empowerment? Because you really aren’t cut out for Buddhist practice. You’re all merely believers. You have far too much good fortune. Throughout your Buddhist practice, you’ve been living comfortably and peacefully. I’ve told you before: when I was doing the Four Extraordinary Foundations of Vajrayana Ngondro I didn’t have money for food or even to pay the electricity bill. Even in the middle of summer, I continued doing full prostrations every day without missing a single day. I didn’t dare turn on the air conditioner. If I turned it on, I wouldn’t have had enough money to pay the electricity bill or buy food. That’s how I practiced my way through it. But what about you? You have too much good fortune. You live comfortably and don’t know what suffering is. Such precious Dharma has been given to you few doctors, and you still squander it. Do you think reciting it 300 times is enough just to put your mind at ease?

Empowerments need to be distinguished. The empowerment of body, speech, and mind are general empowerment; but the Treasure Vase Empowerment is not a general empowerment; it is only in Anuttarayoga Tantra and Yoga Tantra. In addition, the guru decides whether or not to bestow the vase empowerment upon a disciple according to that disciple’s root capacity. To me, not mentioning the vase empowerment, even the three types of ordinary empowerment, I don’t bestow casually, because you truly aren’t cut out for learning Buddhism. These several doctors have all received the Bhaiṣajyaguru empowerment. See how they practice? They think that as long as they make prostrations, they are protected. If making prostrations will have protection, then I would be the first one who doesn’t need to go into retreats. Yet till now, I am still in retreat! Who do you think you are? By reciting 3,000 times, and Bhaiṣajyaguru knows who you are? As doctors, you completely fail to pay attention to your patients’ suffering, yet you still have the nerve to make money? Counting how much income you can make per month everyday? 
 
Therefore,  Jigten Sumgon said: ‘Using treasure vase empowerment to distinguish between Exoteric Buddhism and Vajrayana. Knowing the meaning of the treasure vase empowerment, hereafter, whether the path is happiness or suffering, whether the time is long or short, whether one takes the cause as the path or the result as the path, all are fine. All belong to the people of Mahāyāna Vajrayana. If, without the treasure vase empowerment, whether one distinguishes by suffering or happiness, by the length or brevity of time, or by taking cause or effect as the path, one still is in Exoteric Buddhism. Therefore, the difference between Exoteric Buddhism and Vajrayana is distinguished by empowerment.’ The meaning is that many people say it will take longer time for practicing Exoteric Buddhism, while practicing Vajrayana takes a shorter time; practicing Vajrayana isn’t so painful, whereas practicing Exoteric Buddhism requires arduous cultivation. Here, Jigten Sumgon completely overturns this. Long or short periods of practice, joyful or painful forms of practice, all exist in both Exoteric Buddhism and Vajrayana, and all can be accomplished. Earlier, he gave many examples, but because there is not enough time today, I will not explain them. The meaning is that if one has not received the treasure vase empowerment bestowed by a meritorious guru, then one will forever practice in Exoteric Buddhism. Where does the importance lie of the guru bestowing the vase empowerment? Since you do not possess this kind of root capacity, I will not explain it. But it is truly very important, because without the vase empowerment, everything you had can’t be opened.
 
Before receiving the vase empowerment, one needs to first receive the three empowerments; after receiving the three empowerments, you must sincerely and diligently practice the yidam mantra. Don’t think that reciting it three, four, or five thousand times a day is enough, absolutely not enough! Because Buddha Dharma is different from Tirthika. In tirthika, it is a deity or some other thing attached itself to a person, allowing this person to have power to help others. As for Buddha Dharma, one must cultivate until you have the same power as the yidam to help others. To become the same as the yidam, is it something one can cultivate casually and attain results? I put it more plainly, even to learn to become a spirit medium, one must be confined in a temple for forty-nine days and not allowed to leave. Have you ever been confined for forty-nine days? What makes you think that by reciting everything will change? After doing seven or eight hundred times of grand prostrations, and thinking Buddhas and Bodhisattvas know that oneself is so diligent? Buddhas and Bodhisattvas don’t know. Why do the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas know me? Because I continued making prostrations even when I had no money for food or to pay the electricity bill. I prostrate, it is not to let me to become better. I know that myself were with very heavy evil karma from my past lives. I prostrate, it is in the hope that I will no longer reincarnate in my next life. You think that after prostrating, you will become a little better, and Rinpoche sees how diligent you are, perhaps there will be an opportunity to transmit Dharma to you! I definitely will not transmit it.
 
You truly are with many good fortune, but are also in bad luck; because your guru is cultivated through arduous practice. I was able to enter retreat on Lapchi Snow Mountain for more than three months, without seeing the sky and earth, without meeting people or speaking. Who can do it? Not to mention other lineages, our Drikung Kagyu, till now, no one has accomplished it. I am someone who came through arduous cultivation. Would I casually let you off? I am already being very nice to you now. Because I have this kind of experience of practicing, when I teach you, you must learn! Don’t dream of attaining any results in this lifetime, because you have not suffered as I have. I have gone through many sufferings in life, while you do not have the fate to undergo such suffering. Without understanding suffering, you can’t bring suffering to an end. Once a small matter happens, you start crying out and complaining. How many things have happened to me? Therefore, I have steeled myself to practice; it is not that I don’t want this type of suffering; I know that life itself is suffering, and there are no such words as ‘happiness’. Yet you hope to become happier and happier. Sure! Become a Bodhisattva, become a Buddha, and you will be very happy, the eternal joy, an unchanging joy. As for the brief, fleeting pleasures of the human world, how could it be true joy?
 
Whenever each of you comes to implore for the Dharma, you all think: ‘What should I say today so that Rinpoche will listen?’  Upon seeing your appearance, I know that you are not a person who has prepared to practice properly. Therefore, Jigten Sumgon explained very clearly: If you think you are learning Vajrayana today, if your guru has not bestowed the treasure vase empowerment upon you, then it is impossible for you. What does treasure vase empowerment mean? It is to suppress the evil karma from your past lives so that it does not stir, allowing you to practice diligently and properly. Without treasure vase empowerment, your karma remains with you. Just as the Ratnakuta Sutra states: The Bodhisattva Path can be practiced by both monastics and laypeople, but it is easier for monastics to practice, whereas laypeople have a more difficult time because laypeople are entangled with karma. Like Disciple Cai, whose karma entangles her: for no reason, she keeps bringing a great deal of karma upon herself. Since karma is entangled, we laypeople must make even greater effort than monastics.
 
Many people think: ‘I go home, recite a little and make a few prostrations. I still have so many things to take care of. Right now, I’m still struggling to pay off my mortgage and put my children through school.’ Everything is all about fate. No matter how hard you strive, without possessing fate, it will still be the same. Having obtained a human body in this life, having the opportunity to take refuge in Buddhism, and having the opportunity to follow a guru and learn the Buddha Dharma, these will all be gone in the blink of an eye. If you do not seize this time yourself, it will also pass in the blink of an eye. It is August now, and seven months of this year have already gone by. Ask yourselves: What have you done in these seven months? What have you practiced? Every day, you rely on the guru. Before Disciple Chen died, I told her: ‘Every day, whatever you do and whatever you think, let it all be the Great Six-Syllable Mantra, and dedicate it all to the Pure Land.’ People are very strange, they only do it before death. Disciple Cai does not think that she will die one day. As a doctor, you have seen so many people die. Do you still not understand that you will also die one day? Still thinking that family is the most important thing. Of course family is important; without a family, there is nothing. Reciting three hundred times a day— are you doing that just to appease me, or whom are you trying to appease? I simply haven’t found an opportunity to scold you.
 
(Rinpoche instructed a disciple: If that elderly Mr. Chen tells you that he also recites 300 times a day, then tomorrow take back all of the Dharma texts. If he is constantly catching colds, tell him not to come for the time being. He may return the vest as well. I don’t have this kind of disciple.) He also doesn’t listen. I told him not to go to ‘the other shore’, and this ‘other shore’is not the Western shore. (The assembly laughs.) He insisted on going. After he came back, his entire body collapsed. He is my disciple, so I am not afraid to speak about him. Because he likes to form mudrās with his hands and recite the Buddha’s name to treat people’s illnesses, using the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to make money. When one is not attuned with the yidam and casually recites mantra to bless others, that is not the mantras of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; one is using one’s own good fortune to give to others. Many people do not understand how serious it. Because when I was young, I learn Taoism with my father, and afterward I learned the Buddha Dharma. Whether it is Taoism or Buddhism, if you want to help others, ask yourself whether you have the capability. Without capability and thinking that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will bless you because you are compassionate(maitrī and karuṇā) and help others treat illnesses. Then, do not take money! Once you take money, it is no longer treating illness; it is merely a transaction. Can the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas be used for business? I often bless many people. Have I ever said that one must make offerings? (Rinpoche asks the monastic disciple: How much was the offering returned yesterday? The monastic disciple reports: 1.8 million.)
 
Therefore, today, I scold you, it is truly because I see that you are hateful, pitiable, and pathetic, and yet you still self-righteously think that you have nothing wrong. I told Disciple Chen not to go to ‘the other shore,’ but he didn’t listen. He insisted on curing others and earning a great deal of money. In the end, the money disappeared, and his health also deteriorated. After he came back, he nearly died. It was also me who cured him. After he was cured, he kept catching colds all day long. We can’t take advantage of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Many think that‘The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are compassionate(maitrī and karuṇā), so they will definitely help me to help him.’ Sure! You need to cultivate until you are the same as the yidam, reciting the Great Six-Syllable Mantra like I do; once recited, all of you feel heat throughout your bodies and smell fragrance. If you can accomplish this, then it is possible. Can you? If one hasn’t accomplished, that means one does not attune with the yidam. You do have a smell, the stench of sweat.
 
There are many procedures needed when we practice the yidam. It is not that the yidam simply enters your body all at once; it is just like Tongi(spirit medium) and practicing Taoism, they all need procedures. You think that by reciting you are Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara? The Buddhist sutra never said this. If the Buddhist sutra think that once recited and one is Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, then the lineage gurus throughout generations would not have taught us to enter retreat, nor would they have taught us how to recite. You want it and you will have it? Don’t be superstitious. Learning Buddhism need to be proceeded step by step. Don’t aim too high, do not think that you are very capable and by doing this, you will definitely accomplish results. It needs many fates. The simplest and most correct method is to listen to the guru’s words. Whatever the guru says, you should do it immediately. Do not think about it, do not even pause for a moment. Do not think, ‘I can’t do it now, so I can’t do it.’ If you think that way, you will never be able to do it. Just do it, and you will be able to. If you say that you cannot do it, then you cannot—because you have already told yourself that you cannot. Then you will never be able to do it. Out of the twenty-four hours in a day, you spend very little time practicing Buddhism. Do not think that spending an hour every day on practice is a waste of time. In fact, practice is neither difficult nor painful. 

Jigten Sumgon states very clearly here: some can accomplish results in cultivation without arduous practice, some need to go through arduous practice to be able to cultivate. For example, Venerable Milarepa practiced Vajrayana, he has been through arduous cultivation, practiced with great hardship. Jigten Sumgon bestowed these teachings in the hope that you don’t get lost or confused. Do not think that just because you see a Tibetan who can form mudrās and recite mantras, you have learned Vajrayana. If someone is an authentic Tibetan practitioner, he would not dare to bestow the vase empowerment casually, because bestowing the vase empowerment is the guru who gives his own good fortune to you. Why does the guru not bestow it casually? If you do not possess this root capacity, what for it to be given to you? Giving it to you would be a waste and a squandering of it. If you are a practitioner, he will give it to you. Otherwise, nothing at all.
 
For example, Yunga Rinpoche would not give me right away, he first tested me by asking me about the Buddha Dharma, and only after he had finished questioning me would he give it to me. Before that, he would not give me anything. At the time, I had already attained the level of a Rinpoche, yet I was still being asked all the same. And who do you think you are, thinking that you can implore the teachings of the Vajrayana so easily? Today, while you are learning within Exoteric Buddhism, I use Vajrayana teachings to help you so that you can avoid taking many unnecessary detours. But you must truly make up your mind to practice, do not harbor the wishful thought, ‘It doesn’t matter. I don’t need it yet. When the time comes that I need it, I’ll implore Rinpoche. Rinpoche will surely be compassionate(maitrī and karuṇā) and grant it to me.’Take, for example, Disciple Chen, is only in her forties, and she took refuge in me when she was still in college. All along, she thought that she would not die. She also thought that practicing Buddhism simply meant doing good deeds and virtuous acts, and that nothing bad would ever happen. I even let her give talks on stories about Chinese idioms. In the past, I had her serve as the emcee at the Grand Puja, but then I suddenly stopped allowing her to do so. This was because she did not understand why the guru did the things he did. She merely went through the formalities, saying the same things every time.
 
Therefore, the guru looks at your mind—not at whether you are rich or poor, nor at how close you are to the guru. The moment you kneel down and implore me, I know what is in your mind, crying will not help. Men, in particular, think that it would be humiliating if they asked and were refused. But you have already embarrassed yourselves enough! If you had nothing to be ashamed of, you would have accomplished your practice long ago. And you still have the nerve to worry about losing face? At home, you show none of this male pride, but the moment you come to learn Buddhism, you display all of it for me to see. As it happens, my male pride is even stronger than yours. The fact that I have lived to the age of eighty means that I am certainly no ordinary man. You men want to compare yourselves with me? Just wait! I have many more abilities that you know nothing about.
 
Through today’s teaching, I hope that everyone will truly change your mindset toward practicing Buddhism. To tell you the truth, my life would be much easier if I did not have to push you. Whether you do your recitations or not—what does that have to do with me? I am already eighty years old, I do not know how many more years I have left. When the time comes, if you are unable to reach Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land and cannot free yourselves from the Three Evil Realms, I will not know what more I can do for you. However, as your guru, I cannot simply abandon you and leave you to your own devices. So there is only one thing I can do: I will keep scolding you until you finally listen. If you do listen, then there is still hope for you in this lifetime. You may not be as fortunate as Disciple Chen. I am still here now, and I was even able to perform the Phowa for her. Those of you who are now in your teens or twenties, in particular, naturally regard your studies as your priority, and there is nothing wrong with that. But one day, when you grow old and need the Buddha Dharma, I certainly will no longer be here. While I am still here, you do not dedicate yourselves to practicing Buddhism. Instead, you think that practicing Buddhism is merely about helping you do well in your studies, giving you the opportunity to meet a good girlfriend or boyfriend, and then feeling that you are already satisfied with this life. The younger you are, the sooner you should begin practicing Buddhism. Otherwise, by the time you grow old, you will be left with nothing, everything will have come to nothing.  

Why did Shakyamuni Buddha expound so many Buddhist sutras for us? Because every sentient being encounters different karma and fates. Therefore, according to the different karma and fates of each sentient being, he taught the Buddha Dharma that would be beneficial to them. During the later period of Shakyamuni Buddha, when he was staying in Shravasti, he expounded the Dharma every day without ever stopping. The Buddha went through great hardship because he had once criticized others. Just now, when I was reciting the Great Six-Syllable Mantra, did you notice a fragrant scent?
(The assembly replies: Yes.) Did you hear the sound of the wind? (The assembly replies: Yes.) Did you hear birds singing? (The assembly replies: Yes.) This is because I have a new trick now, I visualize this place as the Western Pure Land of Utmost Bliss, with each of you seated upon a lotus. (The assembly replies together: Thank you, Rinpoche.)  If I did not possess the ability to do this, I would not dare attempt it. It is as though I am registering you in advance for rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Utmost Bliss. Since I am registering you to go there, of course I will certainly not let you off easily. If you harbor even the slightest evil thought toward your guru, you will absolutely not be able to go there. I am not deceiving you.
 
Because the Amitabha Sutra states very clearly: the one who goes to the Western Pure Land of Utmost Bliss must be all the superior virtuous persons,‘virtuous’ means cultivating the Ten meritorious acts. It also has to be ‘great’, being on a lesser level will not suffice. Therefore, if you give rise to any heretical, distorted, or evil thoughts toward the guru, then no matter how much you prostrate, you still will not be able to go there, do not think that things will become better simply because you make prostrations. So everyone must listen carefully. In this way, if throughout this lifetime you sincerely recite the Great Six-Syllable Mantra, then at the very least you will not fall into the Three Evil Realms. If you look down on the Great Six-Syllable Mantra, then you might as well not be a Buddhist disciple. As I expounded previously, the Buddhist sutra says that a Bodhisattva once implored instruction from the Buddha in order to learn the Great Six-Syllable Mantra. The Buddha told him to seek out a lay practitioner and learn from him, and he even had to prepare many offerings just to be taught the Great Six-Syllable Mantra. And what about you? Think carefully about this yourself.
 
Following, Rinpoche expounded on “Scroll 33, ‘Chanding Paramita’ (Chapter 10, section 3)” of The Mahayana Sutra of the Bodhisattva Treasury of the True Dharma Taught by the Buddha
 
Sutra: ‘In what is obtained through form, give rise to a mind free of form.’
 
These two sentences are actually telling all those who practice the Bodhisattva Path that, now we still have a human body, and even if we no longer had a human body, when we practice any Dharma method, the external form will change. For example, when we visualize the appearance of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara or Manjushri, this is an external appearance. After this appearance arises, there is nothing obtained. It doesn’t mean that you have obtained something. ‘Give rise to a mind free of form.’ You need to understand that this appearance also arises and ceases according to fate, it is not eternal and unchanging. Why does it change? For example, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara also manifests a furious appearance, and Manjushri also has a furious appearance. So which is the correct form—the furious form or the harmonic form? The form manifested depends on the fate of sentient beings. Whatever kind of sentient beings are to be liberated, the corresponding form is manifested accordingly.
 
For example, in Exoteric Buddhism, Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta appears in a harmonic form. But within Vajrayana, Vajrapani is the furious form of Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta. Ultimately, who is right and who is wrong? There is no right or wrong. It depends on which sentient being is practicing. If a person’s evil karma is light and not heavy, practicing a harmonic yidam will be faster. But knowing that one reincarnates through lifetime after lifetime, and especially in this lifetime, one has done many wrong things, practicing a furious yidam will be faster. People with heavy afflictions, practicing a furious yidam will be faster. However, the guru will also not transmit a furious yidam casually, because if you have not learned heart of compassion(maitrī and karuṇā) and have not cultivated the heart of compassion(maitrī and karuṇā), misusing a furious yidam will not be good for you personally, and it can’t help sentient beings either.
 
Those who want to learn the the furious yidam must cultivate compassionate(maitrī and karuṇā) of sūnyatā (Puja Teachings Index 21). Only then will the guru transmit the furious yidam. What does ‘furious yidam’ mean? Because manifesting a furious yidam is to subdue all afflictions, as well as subduing all external demons and inner demons that interfere with practice. For example, when Shakyamuni Buddha attained Buddhahood, Vajrapani emerged from his abdomen and subdued the external demons, only then was he able to attain Buddhahood. If Vajrapani had not appeared, the external demons would have interfered with Shakyamuni Buddha. Therefore, furious yidam is not transmitted casually. However, when we give rise to the appearance of furious form, it does not mean that my mind is very furious. This appearance is false, it is shown to sentient beings who need to see it. But its essence is still compassion(maitrī and karuṇā) and Bodhicitta, not furious. Therefore, these two sentences state: ‘In what is obtained through form, give rise to a mind free of form.’Give rise to the mind free of form, it is that, at the very same time, there is no feeling of fury in his mind. The furious yidam appears only because the fates have arisen, and so it manifests. Even if I explain this to you, you hear it but do not understand, because this involves sūnyatā (Puja Teachings Index 21).
 
Sutra: ‘Adorn the Bodhimaṇḍa. Give rise to the mind that accords with beings throughout the Three Realms.’
 
If a Bodhimaṇḍa lacks Bodhicitta, it will not be solemn. Likewise, in your own practice, you must cultivate Bodhicitta, only then will you naturally manifest a solemn appearance for others to see. Therefore, the fact that these doctors recite the mantra three thousand times or three hundred times shows that they lack Bodhicitta. They think that they are reciting it for their own benefit. Every day, all they think about are their own affairs: what to do about their children, what to do about their husbands, how to pursue their doctoral degrees, and how to continue their studies of acupuncture. They spend the entire day thinking about these things, so naturally, Bodhicitta will not arise. 

Once the solemn Bodhicitta arises, it is equal to solemnizing your Bodhimaṇḍa. For example, many people visit the Monastery and find it majestic and solemn. This is not because the Buddha statues are large, but because I liberate sentient beings with Bodhicitta. One way in which our Glorious Jewel Monastery differs from many other Buddhist Monasteries is that we do not light offering lamps, burn incense or joss money, or designate major donors. This is Bodhicitta. When you come to visit the Monastery, I implore the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to bless you. Something happened recently: even when a bird was about to die, it came to the entrance of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Monastery and lay with its head facing my Dharma portrait, you are truly worse than animals. When a snake died, it too had its head facing my Dharma portrait. Yet you remain so self-righteous! You still think that Rinpoche is merely a human being. Yes, it is true that I still have a human appearance, but my mind is not that of a human being. If it were, there would be many things I could not have accomplished.
 
Take Disciple Chen, for example. She was in the terminal stage of cancer and should have been bedridden, unable to move. Yet she was fully aware of the disintegration of earth, wind, water, and fire elements. She was even able to change her own undergarments, quietly and gradually stopped breathing. I performed the Phowa for her, and her crown chakra immediately became indented, even though I was nowhere near her. This is Bodhicitta! Although she had never shown Rinpoche respect after taking refuge in me in this lifetime, I was not angry with her. This, too, is Bodhicitta! If I had been angry, I could have ignored her, couldn’t I? Or I might have decided whether to help her based on how many offerings she made. Yet I did not accept an offering from her. When her husband came that day with a stack, I refused to accept it! Because he is not my disciple. I have already done so much. If I charged according to the services, I could receive a great deal of money, but I do not! Why not? These are my principles: First, I do not accept any offerings from anyone who is not my refuge disciple. Second, I do not decide whom to help or what help to give based on the offerings they make. I look at their minds. Her mind changed. She realized that she had been wrong, and she repented, so Rinpoche would definitely help her. Moreover, I told her myself before she even implored, ‘I will perform the Phowa for you.’ What had she done to deserve the Phowa? She had made no offerings and had been disrespectful toward her guru. Yet, as soon as her mind changed, I agreed to help her. Do not stubbornly hold out against me. I do not believe that you will never die. You will certainly die. I am not cursing you; this is simply something that happens naturally.
 
Give rise to the mind that accords with beings throughout the Three Realms. When a Bodhimanda is solemnized with Bodhicitta, one will give rise to the mind that accords with beings throughout the Three Realms. What does accord mean? It does not mean going along with whatever someone wishes. Rather, it means acting in accordance with fates, helping each person according to his or her particular fates. The Three Realms are the Heaven of Desires, the Heaven of Forms, and the Heaven of Formlessness, which means helping sentient beings who are still in reincarnation. This is like the way I helped Disciple Chen; I helped her according to her karma. When she was disrespectful to me, I never uttered a single word of reprimand. She was a teacher; how would I dare scold a teacher? Am I right? Besides, she had a husband, a mother-in-law, and other family members, so I did not dare scold her. I accommodated her and acted according to her fate. When her fate changed and became virtuous, I helped her. If she had not turned her mind around, would I have refused to help her? I would still have helped, but the power to help would have been different. Once her mind became virtuous, she was able to receive one hundred percent of my bodhicitta. But if she remained evil, she might merely have thought, ‘He is Rinpoche, so suppose I should listen to him for a while.’ That would have been the most she could do. She would not have listened one hundred percent, but would have remained self-righteous and continued doing whatever she herself believed was right, such people are hopeless. In sutra, such people have a name. What do we call someone who has no faith in the Buddha? (A monastic disciple replies: Reporting to Rinpoche, such a person is called ‘icchantika.’)
 
Icchantika. Do not think that because you have taken refuge in me, you have faith in me. Such a person is called‘icchantika.’ What does it mean? It means someone who does not believe in the Buddha, cause and effect, or the guru. They are self-righteous. On the surface, they appear to be learning Buddhism, but in fact, they do not listen to their guru. People like this will have no way to become liberated from birth and death in this lifetime. They think that because they have prostrated and done certain things. Yet they do everything in their own way, without first asking whether what they intend to do is correct. I have said many times that whenever something concerns the Buddha Dharma, even if I believe that what I intend to do is correct, I will first implore instructions from His Holiness. Have I said this before? (The assembly replies: Yes) Do you all have amnesia or something? Or are you too embarrassed to ask? Perhaps you think that Rinpoche is very busy, so you feel shy of asking, or you are afraid that Rinpoche will scold you, so you decide not to ask. If that is the case, then you have no guru on your mind.
 
Sutra: ‘Subdue demons (maras). Give rise to the mind of attracting (Puja Teachings Index 22) sentient beings.’
 
Subdue demons. Demons are not necessarily as fierce, evil, or terrifying as you imagine. In fact, demons possess good fortune; without good fortune, one cannot become a demon. Those without good fortune become ghosts, while those with good fortune become demons. Demons may also do virtuous deeds, they do not necessarily commit evil. However, they cannot help us attain liberation from reincarnation and may even prevent us from doing so. That is why they are called ‘demons.’Subdue demons means, within the Dharma Realm, there are innumerable sentient beings, demons do not believe in or accept the Buddha Dharma, and they want sentient beings to keep on following them. If sentient beings attain liberation from reincarnation, they will lose many disciples. Therefore, subdue demons (maras) means subduing them through Bodhicitta.

Therefore, when we perform certain powerful Dharms, they may appear fierce outwardly, but our minds are actually Bodhicitta. Why do we subdue demons (maras)? It is to prevent them from interfering with sentient beings who wish to be liberated from birth and death. Give rise to the mind of attracting (Puja Teachings Index 22) sentient beings. Regardless of whether someone has done good or evil, once the fates arise, we must attract (Puja Teachings Index 22) that person. As long as they are sentient beings, we must attract (Puja Teachings Index 22) them. Take Disciple Chen, for example. Given the way she had behaved, one might think there was no need to attract (Puja Teachings Index 22) her, since she had been disrespectful toward the guru. Yet the guru never distinguishes between one person and another, it is you who make distinctions. The guru is always waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting for the day when fate comes, and you suddenly turn your mind around, then the guru is able to help you, this is why the guru keeps on attracting (Puja Teachings Index 22) you. Even when you refuse to listen, he continues teaching, waiting until fate comes so that he can help you.
 
Sutra: ‘Knowing Bodhicitta to be the self-nature of all Dharmas, give rise to the mind that accords with enlightenment.’

Those who are Bodhisattvas, those who practice the Bodhisattva Path, understand clearly: All phenomena, their essence, their self-nature is Bodhicitta. For example, when a blade of grass grows, you see it as grass. Yet it grows to provide food for many sentient beings. Isn’t it Bodhicitta? Many animals would starve to death without grass, so would many insects. Therefore, I have instructed my disciples to plant fruit trees in some of the clear spaces at the Monastery, so that sentient beings will have something to eat. They are not being planted for me. I could not possibly eat so much fruit, and besides, I seldom eat fruit because I don’t want to gain weight. But sentient beings need food. If they have nothing to eat, they will damage the entire Monastery grounds. Therefore, we are now going to plant trees, trees that flower and bear fruit to provide food for all the sentient beings living throughout the grounds.
 
Many people ask, ‘Why did Rinpoche purchase twenty-one hectares of land when the Monastery occupies only two hectares?’ First, with such extensive land and no one living nearby, there is less chance of outsiders entering and disturbing the Monastery. Second, I can provide food and shelter for many sentient beings. Many animals live there, and this land can sustain those beings who have fallen into the Three Evil Realms. All the sentient beings living on my land will certainly be liberated in this lifetime and will not be reborn as animals again. Therefore, Rinpoche does not build this Monastery only to liberate human beings or these one thousand disciples. Innumerable sentient beings live there. Those in the Animal Realm are truly suffering, that is why I purchased such a large piece of land, no pesticides or chemical insecticides are allowed, none are permitted at all. Just let the animals and insects eat what they need. Move the pests elsewhere if you can, do not kill them. In this way, insect infestations will gradually decrease.
 
Give rise to the mind of attracting (Puja Teachings Index 22) sentient beings. When we understand that the self-nature of all Dharmas is Bodhicitta, we will gradually come to accord with this mind of Bodhicitta and give rise to a mind of awakening. Awakening does not mean attaining enlightenment immediately. It means becoming aware and knowing how to respond appropriately to every person, matter, and thing. Take Disciple Chen, for example. Had she not developed this illness, she would not have awakened. She had always believed that her own ideas and views were correct. It was only when she became ill and experienced suffering that she began to awaken. Different people awaken in different ways.
 
Why does the sutra here say that knowing Bodhicitta to be the self-nature of all Dharmas? Take Disciple Chen’s cancer, for example. On the surface, it appeared to be very bad for her, but its self-nature was Bodhicitta. Because it was only through suffering that she realized that she had been wrong. Once she realized this, she began to recall many Buddhist teachings. Because she recalled those teachings, she ultimately received the Phowa, and her good fortune arose. There is no profound knowledge to learning Buddhism, it is simply a matter of transforming one’s way of thinking. As long as your perspective remains unchanged, you will have no way forward. So, knowing Bodhicitta to be the self-nature of all Dharmas. It is you who distinguish between good and evil. From the perspective of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the self-nature of both good and evil is Bodhicitta, because any method can be used to help sentient beings. In the past, there was a Dharma in Vajrayana through which a practitioner, upon seeing a sentient being in the Animal Realm, would kill it immediately. This Dharma has now been lost. Why do so? Because living as an animal is filled with suffering. The moment the animal was killed, the practitioner would immediately transfer its consciousness, making it leave the Animal Realm. In Exoteric Buddhism, killing is prohibited because killing is wrong, is it not? Yet this particular Dharma method specifically involves killing the animal and immediately transferring its consciousness so that it could leave the Animal Realm. This is Bodhicitta! Of course, this was not a practice that ordinary people could use, and so it gradually lost in time.
 
Just like the Chod begins with killing myself as well. The yidam severs my head and cuts up all my flesh. Many of you used to enjoy eating pork and beef, chopping and mincing the meat to make dumplings. What do you call that? (The assembly replies: Ground meat.) Therefore, those of you who have made dumplings and chopped meat should be careful. This is called hacked to pieces by a thousand chops. Machines make the process much more convenient nowadays, but you are still the one responsible for it. Consequently, people who have done this are very likely to undergo surgery themselves. Raise your hand if you have ever done it. (Many people present raised their hands.) Wow! Quite a few of you! Do not assume that nothing will happen since you only chopped some piece of dead flesh. According to the sutras, after some sentient beings die, their consciousness remains with the body and does not depart. If the consciousness of the pig you happened to be chopping was still present, it would feel pain with every cut you made: you go one cut, he suffers the pain once; another cut, another experience of pain. Of course it would remember you.
 
Why did the Buddha urge us not to kill? The consciousnesses of some sentient beings remain with their corpses and refuse to leave. Why are there so many ghosts in graveyards? It is because after some sentient beings die, they stick to their bodies. Wherever their bodies are placed, their consciousnesses follow and remain there until they revolve into reincarnation. It is not that ghosts inhabit graveyards; rather, the consciousnesses of the deceased remain with their bodies and do not leave. This is why robbing a grave leads to serious consequences? Because those ghosts may seek revenge. But that is off topic. So, this sentence means: the self-nature of all Dharmas, circumstances, and events is Bodhicitta. We must not judge things depending on worldly gains and losses; we must view things through the Buddha Dharma. Of course, you cannot do this yet. Since you are not yet capable of doing so, you should cultivate a habit: when you see someone doing bad things, there is no need to criticize them. Just walk away, and even have some pity for them. This does not mean saying to them, ‘How pitiful you are.’ It means feeling pity for them in your heart. For example, when I sometimes see people killing sentient beings on television, I feel great pity for them because they commit such acts out of ignorance.
 
Sutra: ‘When turning the Dharma wheel, give rise to the mind that there is nothing being turned.’
 
Once we see that Bodhicitta is the self-nature of all Dharmas, we will give rise to the mind that accords with enlightenment. This is equivalent to turning the Dharma wheel of the Buddha Dharma. Why is this equivalent to turning the Dharma wheel? The Buddha’s perspective is that the original essence, the self nature of all sentient beings is virtuous. Because all sentient beings possess the nature of the Buddha, they certainly have a virtuous aspect. Therefore, it is equivalent to beginning to turn the Dharma wheel. Furthermore, once you see that the self-nature of all Dharmas is Bodhicitta, you will certainly wish to use the Buddha Dharma to benefit sentient beings. This is equivalent to turning the Dharma wheel as well. Even when you believe that you are about to turn the Dharma wheel, you should give rise to the mind that there is nothing being turned. You will not think that you are the one turning; rather, the minds of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will not be turned. For example, when we visualize a mantra revolving, this is also turning the Dharma wheel.

Sutra: ‘In great nirvana, give rise to the mind that realizes the equality of the self-nature of reincarnation as it manifests accordingly.’
 
So, among the four main lineages in Tibetan Buddhism, there is one lineage that practices the nonduality of nirvana and reincarnation. This is exactly what this line is referring to. Both reincarnation and nirvana arise through cause and effect, and fates as well, so they are pure in and of themselves. They appear following what you practice. The mind that realizes the equality of the self-nature of reincarnation. Whether you remain in reincarnation today or eventually attain nirvana, both are your karmic retribution. Retributions arise through fate and fade away with fate, they are not fixed or immutable. This means that although you are in reincarnation today, in some future lifetime you may enter great nirvana. After entering great nirvana, however, if something one day suddenly stirs your mind, you may return to reincarnation. 
 
People ask, ‘If one has entered great nirvana and attained Buddhahood, why would he still return to reincarnation?’ If a Buddha chooses to return and become a Bodhisattva, who is the best example? (The assembly replies: Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.) Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, right? Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara had already attained Buddhahood, he is an ancient Buddha and had entered great nirvana. Yet the heart to liberate sentient beings suddenly stirred, so he returned as a Dharmakaya Bodhisattva. Many people pursue nirvana, but you must understand that, as practitioners of the Bodhisattva Path, nirvana and reincarnation are merely phenomena and karmic retributions. They are not the ultimate objectives we seek. What do we seek? We seek to cultivate the compassionate (maitrī and karuṇā) heart and Bodhicitta. We learn how to develop sufficient capability to liberate ourselves from birth and death and thereby to help sentient beings attain liberation from birth and death. Many monastics say that they want to achieve complete enlightenment and enter nirvana. Yet, according to the Ratnakuta Sutra, reincarnation and nirvana are equal. Is there any need to pursue one of them? So, this is why the male monastic disciple is unable to complete a retreat, no matter how many times he tries? Because he pursues nirvana.
 
A story makes this especially clear. Everyone knows the story of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, right? He is an ancient Buddha who returned. Attaining Buddhahood means entering great nirvana. Why did Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara return? To return is to enter reincarnation again. After he became Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, his Dharmakaya is not in reincarnation, but his intention certainly entered it. Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara also said that he would liberate all sentient beings of the Six Realms, and, when liberating beings in the Six Realms. he would manifest different forms. Isn’t this a reincarnation? Of course, as beginners in Buddhist practice, you must first break away from reincarnation. However, once your practice has reached the level of the Bodhisattva precepts and you have attained the Fifth Ground or beyond, reincarnation and nirvana means the same, they are equal. As Rinpoche has said, ‘I will not attain Buddhahood until all sentient beings have.’ What does this mean? To me, nirvana and reincarnation are the same. If I wish to liberate sentient beings, I will continue returning to reincarnation. If I do not liberate sentient beings, I will enter nirvana. When the fates come together, I will return to reincarnation. This is the reincarnation without suffering, however, your reincarnation is filled with suffering. This is why Shakyamuni Buddha said, ‘You must recognize the suffering of reincarnation and break away from it, because unless you do so, you cannot enter another state.’ Why does the Western World of Utmost Bliss exist? Because once you arrive there, you begin practicing. After attaining Buddhahood, you return.
 
The Dharma text states that attaining Buddhahood requires practice over seventeen lifetimes. In other words, you must reincarnate seventeen times, and every lifetime has its dangers. You might not succeed in your practice. I have also seen some reincarnated Rinpoches who had returned for several lifetimes but stopped practicing in this lifetime. They had already returned for four or five lifetimes, yet something may have happened in this lifetime that caused them to abandon their practice. I have personally seen two such cases. Therefore, to provide us a safer path, Shakyamuni Buddha introduced us to Amitabha’s Western World of Utmost Bliss, so that we could go there after this very lifetime. You might ask, ‘If I recite the name of Bhaiṣajyaguru, can I still go there?’ Of course you can! If you do not go to Amitabha’s Pure Land, you can go to Bhaiṣajyaguru’s Vaidūryanirbhāsā. But if you recite only three hundred times a day, where do you think you will go? Disciple Tsai, I do not know where you will go. You think that you are not going to die yet; your children are still so little, your husband is still young, and you still need to work hard for your career. By the time you are dying, it will already be too late, because Rinpoche will no longer be here and no one will be able to save you. You do not possess the good fortune as great as Disciple Chen, for I was still here. Nirvana and reincarnation, do you understand? (Rinpoche asks the monastic disciple:I am asking you, do you understand?) (The monastic disciple replies: Reporting to Rinpoche, I understand.) Um, after teaching for so long, I finally explained this to you, right. (The monastic disciple replies: Yes.) You have been waiting for a long time, haven’t you? (The monastic disciple replies: Yes.) Throughout your life, you have been trapped by your attachment to attaining enlightenment and entering nirvana, and are unable to free yourself from it. (The monastic disciple replies: Yes.)

As it manifests accordingly. According to what? To manifest in accordance with cause and effect, fates, and good fortune; they are not something you can implore. Why is this sutra so difficult to explain? Because it’s too simple. In the past, the Buddha did not teach these sutras to ordinary believers; he taught them to those who had already attained the fruition level of a Bodhisattva. Therefore, he used very simple language. The sutra says, ‘as it manifests accordingly,’ but it does not explain according to what. Things manifest in accordance with each person’s cause and effect, and fates. Whether one ultimately enters nirvana, or remains in reincarnation, or breaks away from reincarnation without entering nirvana is the result of one’s own practice; it is not something that anyone can obtain by imploring it. To put it simply, if we can be a little more humble, only implore to break away from reincarnation rather than pursuing nirvana, that goal will be easier to attain.

For example, the monastic disciple who has been ordained for decades and implores nirvana, thinking, ‘I want to attain nirvana.’ That is extremely difficult to achieve because it is impossible within a single lifetime. In Vajrayana, it is said that one must undergo at least seventeen lifetimes before entering nirvana. Even if each lifetime lasts only sixty years, seventeen lifetimes would still amount to more than a thousand years. What might happen over those thousand years? No one knows. And that estimate assumes that no time is lost between lifetimes. Sometimes there may be a gap of one or two hundred years between one lifetime and the next. Before I came into this lifetime, several hundred years had passed since my previous one. Why, then, did Shakyamuni Buddha introduce us to Amitabha Buddha? It is so that, when this lifetime ends, you can go to Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land and no longer face the risk of reincarnation. Once you have cultivated to the point of attaining nirvana, if you wish to return to liberate sentient beings, you may do so. If you do not wish to return, you can go elsewhere to attain Buddhahood. Therefore, once you understand this, you must be clear about the goal toward which you direct your practice.
 
Take the monastic disciple who has been ordained for decades and keeps saying, ‘I want to attain nirvana—nirvana, nirvana, nirvana…’ It is impossible for him to attain nirvana in this lifetime. Impossible—I hereby make that prediction for him. (The assembly laughs.) It may be possible for you to reach Amitabha’s Pure Land, so I will make that prediction for you as well. (The monastic disciple joins his palms in gratitude.) Therefore, in this Age of Dharma Decline, being able to reach Amitabha’s Pure Land is already an extraordinary accomplishment. Very few people are able to go there. Do not assume that merely reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name will enable you to go there. One truly needs an abundance of good fortune, merits, and fates. Once you reach Amitabha’s Pure Land, you will be safe and secure, with no risk of falling back into reincarnation, unless, after cultivating to the level of a Buddha such as Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, you give rise to the motivation to return and liberate sentient beings. You may return as a great Bodhisattva!
 
Why do human beings practice Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, particularly? Because the Dharma methods of Amitabha Buddha are especially widely propagated among us. Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is a disciple of Amitabha Buddha. After Amitabha Buddha steps down, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara succeeds him. Therefore, by practicing Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, we can reach Amitabha’s Pure Land as well. Why do I encourage you to recite the Great Six-Syllable Mantra? Isn’t it better to recite Amitabha Buddha’s name? It is not that reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name is not good. However, Amitabha is a Buddha, and a Buddha has three forms (Trikaya): Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya (Puja Teachings Index 08), and Nirmanakaya (Puja Teachings Index 09). A Buddha’s role is to guide you when your practice has reached the stage of progressing toward Buddhahood. A Bodhisattva is more compassionate (maitrī and karuṇā): as long as you are a human being, the Bodhisattva will look after you. A Buddha does not need to look after ordinary people, a Buddha guides Bodhisattvas. Do you understand? It is just like how His Holiness teaches Rinpoche. He would not ordinarily teach people like you personally. He may occasionally explain the Dharma to you, but he would not continually instruct you. I have followed him for decades, so I know this very well. I am the only disciple whom he has personally taught to this level, he does not teach the others in the same way. Why do I teach you to recite the Great Six-Syllable Mantra? It is because Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is closer and more accessible to us and hears us more readily. Therefore, practicing the Great Six-Syllable Mantra enables us to attain accomplishment more quickly. Can you also attain accomplishment by reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name? Yes, you can, but you must truly practice with great diligence and wholehearted devotion. You would have a chance only if you devoted yourself to the practice throughout the entire day.

Sutra: ‘Shariputra, what has thus been taught is the precious Dharma that Bodhisattva Mahasattvas are able to accomplish by following the path to awakening and that which is to be realized.’

The Buddha continued: Shariputra, what I have explained above is truly the precious Dharma that Bodhisattva Mahasattvas are able to accomplish by following the path to awakening and that which is to be realized. As long as they listen to what I have taught, practice accordingly, and transform their state of mind, they will certainly attain accomplishment one day. This means that you must not devise your own ways of practicing. Never practice according to your own methods. You must follow the methods taught by the Buddha and practice accordingly. Then, one day, you will certainly awaken and attain accomplishment. Here, the Buddha gives us his assurance. This means that he would not deceive us: everything he has taught can be accomplished by anyone. It depends solely on whether you are willing to put it into practice. All right. We will now perform the Dharma Protector Achi liturgy.

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Updated on August 7, 2026