Today is an international teachers’ day and we have to remember all of our teachers. In the Buddhist tradition for instance, the principal main teacher is the Buddha Shakyamuni. Throughout the world every religion and spiritual tradition have their own spiritual teacher. We bring to mind the teachers of the dharma tradition, one’s guru who gave you the refuge vow. And in the worldly mundane tradition, we remember and commemorate all the teachers you have had (since the first grade up till your graduation) on this day.

If we do not have any teachers even though we have found the precious human body, we might appear as a human being but our behaviour and actions would be more like that of an animal. Also, for example in the old days where we did not have any education and learning, people underwent a lot of hardships when it came to their livelihood. Nowadays with the development of science and technology in the world, we have all sorts of things and devices that makes life easier. All the happiness and well-being that we enjoy in this life and in this world is due to various scientific developments. So, we remember all of these human teachers and also all the teachers of the holy dharma who shows us the path from now on until we attain enlightenment (throughout all lifetimes). The path that is extremely vast and profound so these teachers are extremely precious. When you bring that to mind then your faith and trust in them increases. That is to your own greatest benefit and your mind will open up.

Basically if you think that all the teachers are inconceivable, then faith arises and the qualities of the teachers will arise in your mind. So, this afternoon in the English text we are on page 5 and the first verse speaks about the faults of self-grasping. And it begins with ‘My faults are as large as a mountain’. It is due to this grasping at a self and on the one hand, it is that self that protects you in this life. But we usually don’t consider anyone else except for the self as most important. Then such a person who only cares for themselves doesn’t really understand the situations of other people around them. They are only concerned about what is happening to them. And because they are not aware of the situation of others this ‘self’ increases and it turns into pride as we have mentioned before. That is an ignorant view where we lack any kind of wisdom awareness.

If you are not able to hold that view of equalizing self and others, then you will harm others. And if you harm them, they will harm you in return. So according to the mundane worldly tradition, we have to equalize self with others. Ideally according to the buddhist path, you would actually put others before yourself; cherishing them even more. But according to at least the mundane tradition, when we live in all countries in this world, in order to live well we equalize self with others. This leads to stability of well-being but if you only care about ourselves then we will always encounter a lot of difficulties. We create a lot of suffering towards people around us and we will never be able to be of any use to them.

By all means it is important and necessary to equalize self and others at least. Because for as long as you always consider yourself as more important then, anybody else, you will always run into difficulties in this life and all future lives.

Even if we practice the holy dharma but consider ourselves as most important, we will always encounter difficulties. Even in a religious sense within the dharma, this happens all the time. For example, you think that your tradition is most precious and the others are not good. Of course, on one hand in the dharma, there is something called a discussion where we discuss the dharma and debate in order to refine each other’s understanding of the dharma. But this kind of debate and argument is more like two friends helping to wash each other’s face. But there is no real criticism within the mind.

But if we think that our own tradition is more important than the others then if we express that something will come back in return. Even when we practice the dharma now, we always run into difficulties. And there are a lot of conflicts in this world which are really caused by practicing the dharma in this way with such bias views. As Buddhist practitioners, the responsibility is to create peace and happiness in the mind ‘s of beings. The two traditions have that responsibility; the mundane tradition’s responsibility is to improve the outer well-being in this world and in this life. And the religious responsibility is to increase the peace and happiness of beings. The essence of peace and happiness in the mind is really love and compassion. And there is no religion that doesn’t teach that.

But for as long as you consider yourself as more important, then it is your own ruin. So, it says, ‘I hide the demon of ego-fixation which will ruin me permanently’. That will ruin yourself and it will also ruin others and bring them down. It will ruin the happiness in this life and ruin bodhicitta and altruism in future lives. We might say may all beings have happiness and so on, but in our activities we still harm them in whichever way we can. That is the very root cause of all suffering in this world. It really comes from regarding the self as most important which leads to a heap of faults. According to the holy dharma, it is taught that there is actually no self. We only believe in the existence of a self that doesn’t really exist. That is the very root cause of wandering in samsara.

Buddha said that if a self were to exist then it would be ok to hold on to it but it doesn’t really exist. So, we always say this is ‘me’ but what we are really pointing at is just our body. But if we think about it, when we die, we will leave this body behind. Then we point at our consciousness as the self but if there is a self then there is also others. And then there is an attachment to the self and an aversion against the other. Naturally from that fear arises and you think that something is going to happen to you. Fear is ultimately rooted in that concept of a self. And until that self has become eliminated there is no way one can attain the state of enlightenment.

The state of enlightenment is the state where all concepts of a self has completely disappeared and there is no more concept of others. For example, when you have two friends then it seems that ‘there are two of us and we are separate due to the physical form that we have’. But the physical form or the body is impermanent and will disintegrate into ashes. And when you look at the mind, the mind is just like light. You cannot say that it exists nor that it doesn’t exist. Because we are unable to eliminate this belief and a grasping at a self that we continue to think that this is ‘me’ and we are attached to this idea. Even if we practice the dharma or the Mani mantra, you still accumulate negativity by just thinking about ‘me’ all the time. In this way, this ‘I’ becomes more powerful.

The habitual tendencies become thicker and the ice-block grows. So, it is said all suffering without exception comes from wishing for one’s own happiness. This grasping at a self is the very root of wandering in samsara. Realizing that it doesn’t really exist and that it lacks inherent existence is the knowledge and realization of emptiness. It mentions here ‘the demons of evil fixation’ which is someone who snatches something from you. For example, you have a very precious object and it comes and takes it away from you. So, what is ruined here through this demon of self-grasping evil fixation is your merit. What is merit actually? It is loving kindness or the precious bodhicitta. The only cause of all happiness of the temporary birth in the higher realms and ultimate enlightenment.

We do have love but mostly our love is not completely pure. We love but mainly for our own sake. For example, you are generous and make a gift to someone. You have some hopes that in the future this person is going to do something for you. Maybe there is something in for you if you do this. Or you practice ethical discipline; whichever of the six paramitas that you do. If you practice virtue in this way, then only half of it is virtuous and the other half is non-virtuous. This is how merit becomes ruined. If you practice generosity with a selfish intention to get rich in the future, you will get rich for a few lifetimes. But once that merit comes to an end, everything is lost again. For example, some businessmen in this world who are very rich but one day everything collapses and they lose everything. That is when their merit comes to an end.

Sakya Pandita had said that for those who possess merit, activities are accomplished effortlessly just like the sun shining in the sky. Just like that if you possess merit then just naturally in all lifetimes, you will enjoy perfect wealth and happiness and ultimately attain enlightenment. So, there will be a two-fold result but if you do not have such merit, then this two-fold result will not be attained. You will not have such merit if your love is impure; impure love spoils your merit. So, you need to have pure sincere love which is the root of all happiness. That is the way to accumulate huge amount of merit by practicing even the slightest virtue. It is a pure altruistic mind and if it is not pure whatever six paramitas you practice, you will never obtain true lasting merit. It will all be ruined by this demon of self-grasping.

The Buddha said, ‘completely tame your own mind, this is the Buddha’s teachings’. Your own mind is actually the Buddha but we have not realized that because we grasp at a self and other duality. Once you realize that self and other do not exist or is inseparable, then there is no duality in the mind and there is nowhere to wander any longer. So, this realization of non-duality is what we call enlightenment. For as long the self does not become exhausted, there is no enlightenment. Only when you realize that self and other are inseparable, then you attain the state of enlightenment.

But then currently it is only a mirror understanding; we understand that there is no self but we have not eliminated the self. We might have an understanding of emptiness but only an understanding will not lead to enlightenment. We have to actually eliminate and exhaust self-grasping; and we exhaust it only by cultivating immeasurable love. If you cultivate immeasurable love and look at your mind, you will naturally understand the view of Vipassana. This demon that ruins everything is like a mountain of ruin which is self-grasping. So, at this point it is important to remember the actual fault of ego fixation or self-grasping over and over again.

So then it says ‘all of my thoughts cause my emotions to increase, all of my actions have unvirtuous results. I have not even gone in the direction of the path of freedom.’ Actually, whatever we think about in our mind, together with that thought there is always this selfishness which is always there. In the hundred thousand songs of Milerapa, Milarepa also had said that there are those who practice merit or virtue with the hopes of gaining fame and reputation. Then there are those who practice generosity with hopes of receiving something in return in the future. Then there are those who practice virtue with the hope to be protected from fears such as illness and so forth in this life. Of course, if you practice virtue, there is still are merits but it won’t last for very long. Therefore, Milarepa said that before too long, it all becomes ruined and collapses. This is also a song which you can also find in the hundred thousand songs of Milarepa and I also encourage you to read these instructions and songs of realization again and again.

Next it says ‘I haven’t even gone in the direction of the path of freedom’. What we need to become free of is this grasping at the self. Normally when we practice virtue, (even though we practice virtue) along with that virtue it is somewhat tainted by non-virtue. So, we supplicate to the guru ‘to think of me; look upon me quickly with compassion. Grant your blessings so that I destroy this clinging to me and mine’. The guru here that we supplicate is actually your own mindful awareness. This grasping at a self or a sense of ‘me’ arises all the time continuously. There is often nothing we can do about it; there is no way for it not to arise. It just arises but it is important to know and recognize when it arises. For example, you think ‘this is my drink I am drinking this and this is mine and that is mine’. So, this ‘me’ arises all the time and we have to recognize that every time it arises that now this ‘I” has arisen.

Every time it arises you cease it with clear mindfulness and in this way it will slowly dissolve like snow falling on a lake. Slowly it will become weaker and weaker and in the end it will have no more control or power over you. Regarding the blessing of the guru, the actual ultimate blessing of the guru is bodhicitta. The guru is embodied in a form but it is said that the guru’s speech is more precious than his body. And the guru’s mind is more precious than his speech which is the mind of bodhicitta. Therefore, the ultimate guru really is this mind of bodhicitta or compassion.

Next it says ‘Just a little praise or blame makes me happy or sad. A mere harsh word causes me to lose my armour of patience’. So that is the very sign of self-grasping being there. It is there but we can’t really find it because ultimately there is no self. So, if you look for it again, we can’t find it anywhere. There was a story in the past that there was a Drukpa Kagyu master whose disciple requested instructions on the nature of the mind from him. And the master replied ‘first bring me your ‘self’ and he sent the student home. The student looked day and night for the ‘self’ but he just couldn’t find it. So, he returned and the teacher asked him ‘So, did you find the ‘self’ but he said ‘I couldn’t find it’. Then the teacher said so what are you doing here. And the disciple said ‘I am here to receive your teachings’ so this is where the ‘I’ comes up. And he said here it is; here is the ‘I’, ‘I’ am here to receive teachings. So, it arises in this way momentarily due to a certain condition which causes this concept of ‘me’ to arise.

For example, if someone praises you or tells you how good you are, you immediately feel so happy about it. Or if somebody said something bad to you, immediately you get angry. And you think that ‘he’ said that to ‘me’. Anger arises momentarily and so it is just like a magnet that pulls towards it. Constantly these thoughts of attachment and aversion arise day and night all the time. So, we need to learn to use various circumstances like being humiliated and blamed and so forth as the path as it is explained in the 37 Bodhisattvas practices. In this way, when it arises, you have to recognize this concept of ‘me’. This sense of ‘me’ is the one that holds on to and protects all these thoughts of attachment and aversion and justifies them. So that is the demon of self that snatches or ruins all your causes of happiness. It causes them to freeze into an ice-block and disappear.

So ‘mere harsh words cause me to lose my armour of patience’. Regarding that Milarepa had said ‘if you are not able to practice patience in the face of being insulted by harsh words’ then what’s the benefit of isolating yourself in a cave and practicing. You have to be able to face the difficulties and practice with it when it arises. Also, when somebody praises you for something good that you have done, then you should not just feel happy about it. But think that this is due to the quality of love and bodhicitta. And now I have accomplished great virtue that is excellent. You cultivate a devotion or faith in loving kindness but also on the other hand, if someone blames you or accuses you of something that you have done, then you recognize that you have actually done that with an afflicted mind.

For as long as you allow these afflictions to remain within your mind, not just now but in future lifetimes, you will always encounter difficulties when these become ripen. Dzogchen Patrul Rinpoche had said that ‘I do not wish for praise because when being praised, praise increases pride. I rather prefer to be criticized or blamed because this will exhaust all my hidden faults. So, this is how the bodhisattva’s practice just had Patrul Rinpoche had said. And the perspective of being accused and blamed can be very beneficial for practice because it is something that triggers and brings anger to the surface. Then you recognize that there is anger and you are angry.

You basically practice according to the 37 Bodhisattva practices so there is no need to explain so much in detail here. But it is very meaningful for you to read the 37 practices very deeply. Whenever a thought or even the slightest feeling arises, the 37 practices have an antidote to that problem. Here it speaks about the armour of patience and it is not just practicing patience when someone speaks to you harshly. But it means to practice patience in the face of any kind of difficulty. Patience is the core essence of all practice which is like an armour. So, what is patience? The essence of patience is actually wisdom and if you have wisdom and awareness, you will practice patience naturally. And if you practice patience, you will overcome the 4 maras or demons of affliction or aggregates and so on.

If you do not have patience, you might do many good things and work really hard but ultimately when there is no appreciation for what you have done, then you might grow weary of it. And this is where the pride comes back in where you feel that you have done so much but nobody appreciates it. Now I am tired and I did it for them but they don’t see it and I won’t do it anymore. In this way, you turn away from positive activity. But on the other hand, no matter what other people say, if you have patience, you will continue your activities and you will not stop. You will feel that no matter what, I have done my best in whatever I do, I have done it with a pure mind and a pure intention. Let them say whatever they want. ‘If they are happy about what I am doing, that is fine I will continue what I am doing’. And if they don’t like what I am doing, that is fine too. So, you will not be deterred and not allow anyone to stop you from your positive activities. If you know that your intentions are pure, you will just keep going in whatever you are doing. This kind of patience is what overcomes and defeats the maras and the afflictions. This is how we need to defeat them.

In brief, you can say, if you lose your patience, then you really have lost everything. Patience needs to be practiced in any circumstance. You need to be patient in the face of both negative and positive circumstances. So, patience is really most important and then it says ‘Even when I see helpless ones, compassion does not arise. When needy people come to me, I am tied up by a knot of greed.’ That is a very important line; what do these helpless ones really refer to? For example, sometimes in India or Nepal when there is a large prayer gathering. Where there are many spiritual masters with hundreds of thousands of people come together for a prayer event or ceremony. Often the roads are lined with beggars and poor people at the side of the road in the hope of receiving some donations. Then we would want to give something to them but other people say don’t give anything to them because they are just going to use it for buying alcohol or cigarettes and things like that. And that would not help them anyways as they don’t want to work or do anything.

But this is really not how we should think about it because even if you don’t give them anything, it still won’t help them to find work or stop drinking and smoking and so on. But for the time when you give them something, you give them some happiness for that moment. In this way, you are clearing away their unhappiness for some time. And if you do not give them anything, it is not that they will get an education or gain qualities. They can’t help it; it is just how their life circumstances are. In any case, they are going to drink and smoke and they are going to go hungry. So, you not giving anything won’t change their circumstance but if you give something to them, they will feel happy for at least some time. It is more beneficial to give them a dollar instead of a thousand dollars to a sangha member. Because if you give a member of the sangha a lot of money, often they won’t even look at it because they get so much anyways from many people around them. But to a beggar if you just give them one dollar, they will be so happy about it. By all means you should give to them in particular more than anyone else.

You should also not get involved in what they are going to do with what you give them. Whatever they do is none of your business anyway. You just give and not worry about what they are going to do with the money. It is enough if you make them happy just for this moment and that is the purpose. Compassion arises in this way and you have to practice generosity and attachment to the self is released from your mind. When we speak about generosities, it is particularly those helpless beings that we need to give.

Even for just one hour if you give them something like a dollar, they will feel happy for an hour or so. It is important to give to those who are helpless and have no one else to help them. These are our primary areas to practice generosity. Those who suffer and who have a lot of difficulties, or a traveller who comes from far away. Or a person who has been sick for very long and has no one to care for them. That is real generosity and it is very important to practice generosity in this way.

Then it says ‘Guru think of me, look upon me quickly with compassion. Grant your blessings so that my mind blends with the dharma’. So, who is the lama again? It is immeasurable love and if you possess that you will see everyone you encounter as a parent. If you habituate to love over and over again then you would want to protect even the smallest animal. So that is compassion arising there. Once immeasurable love has arisen, then finally true compassion arises. It is said that the root of the 84,000 teachings is bodhicitta. In this world there is no religion that does not practice that loving kindness and compassion.

So, what we call the dharma is a compassion that is infused with loving kindness. Such a compassion remembers the kindness of others and wishes to repay that kindness. What is important is to cultivate compassion that is infused with loving kindness. Next it says ‘I hold dearly to futile samsara. For the sake of food and clothing, I completely abandon lasting goals.’ So, what is samsara? It is due to the force of karma that we wander in samsara. If the cause is a momentary arising of love and compassion then the result of that will be to obtain a body as a God or a human. But birth in the higher realms is said to be as rare as there are stars in a day-light sky. And for the most part we become caught up in afflicted states of mind such as greed, anger, ignorance and so forth.

So for the vast majority of our time, we are continuously accumulating afflicted karma. And for this reason, for the most part we spend our time wandering in the three lower realms. In this way, we keep going around in circles just like the wheel of a car constantly turning without ever being liberated. Or just like a fly being caught in a closed up jar. It goes up and down in the jar but still stays caught in the jar and is never released. So, if one doesn’t understand karma then one will never become free. For example, if you have a family, parents and you send your children to school to learn something. Then later when they grow up they find a job and get married. Then the parents think that they have fulfilled their goal and its good enough. That’s the essence of life and have fulfilled everything now.

But then they don’t understand what is happening when they encounter difficulties and hardships. And when hardships arise, they get overwhelmingly sad about it. Not knowing that it all arises from a certain cause. So, samsara has no essence and it has no essence when you do not understand karma. When you do not understand that the root of all happiness is bodhicitta. Not knowing that you continue to wander in circles in samsara and you will do that for as long as you have not eliminated self-grasping and the afflictive emotions. For as long as the ice-block are not melted you will continue to wander around in the ocean.

So only being concerned and thinking about this life is what we call samsaric existence. You are clinging on to an essence of something that doesn’t have an essence. You think that you just want to be happy in this life and that is enough and you don’t need any dharma practice. But then are you really happy and do you really find the happiness? You don’t really find the happiness and due to the force of karma, there are alot of collective things that happens in a country for example. Also, we have our own individual karmas and so we always run into various kinds of pleasures and pain. Even within one family, a great variety of happiness and suffering arises. It may seem from the outside that they are rich and probably don’t suffer so much. But that is really not true.

For as long as there is self grasping, they will always suffer. For example, in the family with older parents, if you think about it everything is suffering. Those who possess things suffer from their possessions and those who are poor suffer from their lack of possessions. There is no one who does not suffer, everyone suffers in cyclic existence. Buddha therefore had said that samsara is just like a fire pit and an ever turning wheel of a car or a train. Like an engine that keeps going around in circles day and night striving after happiness. We think that we are happy and we are alive but we don’t really have that. We cannot always accomplish what we are striving after. And so, in this way, we want to be happy but continue to wander in the circles of samsara. Mainly because the mind is only concerned about the interest of this life. This is what causes you to wander around in samsara.

And then for the most part, due to this state of mind, we are left to wander in the three lower realms. As we mentioned this morning, it is very rare to find a precious human body and having found it we spend our life only being concerned about this life and ourselves. Then we have no opportunity to ever attain birth in the higher realms again. When you look at other beings like animals, their mind really is the same as ours. Their afflictions and the wish to be happy is the same but they all appear in so many different ways. Some are as large as a mountain while others are as small as a mustard seed. When you observe that you recognize that our minds are actually one and the same. But it is due to a certain condition but we appear in a great variety of ways. For as long as the sense of a self exists we are going to have to wander in samsara continuously.

When we think in this way then we recognize that if we follow these tendencies then we will have to continue to wander in samsara. So, this is the demon of ego clinging that will force you to wander continuously in samsara. Then it says ‘Though I have everything I need, I constantly want more and more. My mind is duped by insubstantial and illusory things’. All these substantial things that we need to have a variety of like a dwelling place, food and clothing we often want more and more. And we can’t have enough of those things and we can’t keep them in moderation. Of course, in order to sustain our health, we need a certain amount of these things. But we don’t need a whole great variety of them. For example, when we buy clothes, we look at magazines and advertisements and think that we are going to get them and so on. And so, your cupboard becomes filled with a great variety of different clothes. Actually, all you really need is one fancy clothing and a couple of clothes to wear on a daily basis. But you don’t need so many different kinds of clothes because the more you try to possess the more difficulties you have to go through. Then you make money and you never have enough money to buy all these things. Then you have to work more even though you can’t afford it, you can’t stop yourself from buying clothing, shoes and things like that.

You should ask yourself do you really need so many things. Even though you have everything you need and your house is full, you constantly keep getting more; not thinking about the future. So, it says, ‘Grant your blessings so that I dismiss concern for this life’. So, we don’t think about future lives and what we really need to possess in future lives is loving kindness and compassion. But we completely neglect this and we only care about the pleasures of this life only. We run after them day and night like a turning wheel. But when you think about it, after you have died, not a single thing is yours and you leave it all behind. All your possessions, wealth and companions as it is taught in the 37 practices. You stay in this life for as long as the karma for this life lasts but you don’t know how long you are going to live. Nobody knows that. If you understand that if you obtain so many possessions and collect so many things, isn’t that a great hardship. We are actually constantly increasing our problems and sufferings deliberately. We need more things so we work more and have less time to rest. If you don’t need so many things, you will also have more opportunities to rest.

Then it says ‘my mind is duped by insubstantial and illusory things’. Illusory in the sense that you think that you need all of these things and increase your wealth. But actually, this in itself is the very cause of all suffering. Rather than doing that, we should practice fewer desires and a sense of contentment. One should not fall into both extremes of either self-mortification or self-gratification in whatever you do; in the world or in the dharma. That is important to understand. So, if you have a lot of things it is important that before you leave this life, you use it to help others. For example, your friends or those who are poor or those with difficulties. Someone you love very much or who loves you very much. That really becomes an incredible way to practice generosity and it also makes them happy.

If you give something to someone who you love very much, there is a very special feeling that arises. The love of the other person increases and you receive the benefit of having practiced generosity. So, it is better not to hold on to too many possessions. The more you hold on to the more you own, the more self-grasping you actually own. The number of possessions is proportionate to the level of self-grasping. For example, if you have a million dollars, then you have the same number of self-clinging tendencies. And then when you die, this heavy weight of self-grasping will suppress you at the time of death. All of these possessions and things that you cling to will suppress you under a heavy weight. That is what we call birth as a hungry spirit.

You are being suppressed by the attachments and to certain possessions that will weigh you down. It is this state of mind that wants to hold on that suppresses you under a heavy load. Because this sense of ‘me’ and ‘mine’ and you develop thoughts of worry that you might lose it. We get angry and stingy and can’t let go or share and so on. Therefore, due to having many possessions, we accumulate a lot of negative karma and increase our afflictive emotions. This should be recognized right now which transforms into a true practice of generosity. And if you can’t give things directly you can bring to mind and think that in the future, we are able to give to others.

Illusory and insubstantial things is that whatever you possess are impermanent by nature. If you remember the impermanence of this life, that is really necessary and nothing else. Because whatever your mind is attached to, your mind will dwell in that object. Therefore, the most precious object is actually the worst object to possess. Because there are many stories of people who have taken birth in the object of their attachment. So, if strong attachments to certain objects arise, then release it by making offerings to higher beings and being generous to sentient beings. Milarepa also said that give up whatever that harms your mind (afflictions and attachments, greed, stinginess and so forth).

Then it says ‘Guru grant your blessings so that I dismiss concern for this life’. This is a line that occurs again and again in this text. Also, in the beginning it was mentioned before that ‘giving up this life’ is actually a very precious line. That is why it is repeated and is very meaningful. Sakya Pandita had also said in one of his 4 verse line, ‘one who is attached to this life is not a true dharma practitioner’. So, if you only care about this life, then you are ruined by the demon of ego clinging. What does giving up this life mean? Does it mean that we have to give up everything? It doesn’t mean that but it means to cultivate a sense of contentment. To not have this need of constantly getting more and more things. But it means to think about future lives. To think that ‘this life is impermanent and I am going to die. I have to prepare for future lifetimes and release clinging and attachment’.

If you only care about this life and make all of our plans for this life, that leads to increased attachment and afflictions such as greed and jealousy. Think that you need to give things away and practice generosity. Turning away from these worldly pleasures becomes generosity in itself. The first step is to not have a need for so many things; and to be content to have fewer desires. Secondly whatever you do have, you do not meaninglessly waste it but you give it to others. Because you don’t know when you are going to die. I could die tomorrow so I better make my preparations today. Sakya Pandita had said one who is attached to this life is not a true dharma practitioner. Therefore, even if you practice the dharma thinking only about this life, you are not a real dharma practitioner. So, this is the way in which we give up this life.

If you have old parents at home, you respect them and think that your parents have been extremely kind. They are your support to develop love and love is the one thing that we want to bring with you. Speaking about preparing for future lives, it really is the one and only thing that we need to prepare; and nothing else at all. And that one thing is loving kindness which means immeasurable love. So not just for your own parents but understanding that all beings without exception have been your parents.

So in preparation for future lives, the one and only thing you need is love. And you need to sustain your love by practicing patience. Then you naturally have given up concern for this life. This is how you turn away from the concern of this life. Thinking about future lives means that you ensure that after you leave this life, you have an altruistic mind to bring with you. This is the thing to practice again and again when it comes to dismissing the concerns for this life.

Whenever you practice the secret mantra Vajrayana or any kind of recitations, like sadhana practices it is very good to recite those in a melodious chant. It is said that this increases the blessings and that is because when you recite slowly and chant in a melody, then a special feeling arises in your mind. This particular prayer of Jamgon Kongtrul’s ‘Crying for the Guru from Afar’ is very precious and practiced throughout all the different Kagyu traditions. So now I am going to chant the melody. Also, later the sangha will chant the melody and you can learn it from them. It is very beneficial for one’s practice to chant things in a melody because it really generates a feeling. This particular melody is very old and I have learnt it since I was a very young boy. This particular prayer is practiced both in the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages. Jamgon Kongtrul is also a very precious guru in the various lineages.

We can slowly learn this melody but for now we come back to the teachings. Coming back to the text here we actually speak about an extremely important point. Here it says ‘I cannot endure even the slightest physical or mental pain, Yet I am so stubborn that I have no fear of falling into the lower realms.” For example, if you have a toothache, you spend a lot of money and endure a lot of pain. But while we do that, we have no fear of falling into the lower realms. So, what about future lives? First all the sufferings and illnesses you suffer in this life are rooted in the activities that we have engaged in with an afflicted mind in previous lives. These kinds of things are related to verbal misdeeds such as telling lies, idle talk or divisive speech which is actually the worst. In terms of telling lies, there are beneficial lies and harmful lies. A beneficial lie would be a lie that reconciles beings and brings them together. It is said that to a bodhisattva, when there is bodhicitta, the ten negative actions are actually permitted.

On the other hand, if one practices virtue but mainly does it with a selfish motivation, then the virtuous act becomes tainted by self-grasping. That leads to both benefit and also harm. As a result, we experience suffering in our bodies and minds. Even the slightest suffering in this life is something that is difficult for us to bear. These are all like karmic creditors coming to collect their karmic debt. There are three kinds of karmic creditors, of taking the lives of others which is a short life span. And there is the karmic creditor of frequent illness which comes from having abused the bodies of others. And there is the karmic creditor of one’s wealth that comes from having stolen the wealth of others.

Any suffering basically arises from actions engaged with the motivation of either attachment, aversion or ignorance. But from a practical perspective, even the slightest suffering is very beneficial. If you accept the suffering that arises and also understand that suffering, misery, illness and pain are a purification of negative karma. And also, an encouragement for us to engage in virtuous practice, it is good to understand them to be a good quality for our practice. If you really understand the Buddhist view, then you will clearly know how to create causes of happiness. So, you understand that love and compassion are the causes of happiness. Also, you will be able to transform suffering into happiness. Everything becomes the cause of happiness.

So whatever problems or sickness arises, you recognize the afflictive emotions (like attachment, jealousy) which has caused them. Whatever arises, you remember the ten negative actions that has led to this kind of suffering. The cause lies in something that you have done in the previous life and what arises now is a karmic debt that has to be paid off. In this way, you are able to avoid more suffering in the future by avoiding the causes of suffering.

This knowledge is of a temporary benefit and ultimate happiness. A temporary benefit is that for the time being you learn how to accept any kind of disagreeable circumstance. And you recognise that all sentient beings experience such suffering. Ideally as a bodhisattva, you are able to remember that. Then it becomes a practice of Tonglen, taking on the suffering of others and giving them your happiness. And you are able to give love to sentient beings. If you love them, you really can do that because if a person who you love very much gets sick, you will feel very upset about it and you cry. You remember them and your mind goes there.

On the other hand if there is someone who you have no special loving connection to, even if they are tortured or cut open you wouldn’t think much. For example, when you see a fish being cut open, you often don’t feel anything. But imagine someone who you love very much get stabbed with a knife, the feeling you will have is unbearable. Actually, they are all the same when the mind pervades with love. According to the Buddhist view, if you have developed love for all beings, then this state of compassion for them naturally remains. With that understanding of this Buddhist view, you learn how to accept and tolerate any kind of difficulty. And you recognize that all beings in this world suffer and there is no one who doesn’t suffer. And you think that may my own suffering purify all of their suffering. Your mind is already one with the minds of all sentient beings so this is how you accept any kind of suffering or sickness. But if you don’t understand that, as it is said here there is no fear falling into the lower realms. So, you think that if you have enough money, you will find a way out to solve this problem. But if you have the cause then the result will be experienced even in future lifetimes. But now as a human being, a slight suffering purifies karma in a very short time that would have to be experienced later on in the lower realms for a very long time.

For example if you have the karma to suffer in hell for a hundred years, then that would be purified by a single headache. It is also said that misdeeds that leads to birth in the three lower realms becomes defeated by a single headache. So, if you think in these kinds of ways, you learn how to tolerate and accept whatever suffering your experience.

Then it says ‘I am so stubborn that I have no fear of falling into the lower realms. Though I actually see the inevitability of cause and effect, I still do not act virtuously but increase my wealth of evil.’ So why is it that we have no fear of falling into the lower realms? It is mainly because of not understanding or really trusting in karma. You think that ‘I am doing fine and I don’t have a lot of suffering, I am not sick and I just want to have a happy life. And I don’t have any need for dharma practice’.

But you don’t know that the slight happiness you now enjoy is the ripening of some virtuous karma you have committed in previous lives. And when that karma comes to completion, then there are still those afflictive emotions present in your mind but you don’t see that. Therefore, they increase; such as stinginess and greed which then becomes the manifestation of the hungry spirit realm. All those beings whose predominant affliction is greed then creates this hungry spirit realm. And all those whose predominant affliction is hatred goes together to the hell realms. All those ignorant ones go together as animals. It is just like earth gathering together with earth and water gathering with water and so on. Likeness gathers with likeness.

We don’t recognize the afflictive emotions as a fault and therefore there is no fear of falling into the lower realms. And ‘though I see the inevitability of cause and effect, I still do not act virtuously but increase my wealth of evil’. For example, in this world, there are various countries and they are all not the same. There are some countries that experience more well-being while others experience more suffering. And even within one country, people have different levels of happiness and suffering. It is not the same. Even within one family, family members do not experience the same levels of happiness and suffering. Some people think that they are in this kind of position because someone has an education or due to their cultural background. But actually, it is all due to the forces of karma and this Is something we don’t understand.

We really don’t understand the actual cause of happiness and this lack of understanding of karma is what we call ignorance. For example, there are countries in this world that are constantly at war. Each and every day they are always fighting. That has a cause and we truly have to consider the cause. Do they want to fight all day long? Of course not. Nobody likes to fight but because they have created the cause of hatred, they have developed other afflictions such as pride. Basically, first it begins with pride and you think that it is most important that you want to be happy. In order to achieve that, you become jealous and competitive. And you don’t care what happens to anybody else as long as you have what you want. In the end, it results in resentment and hatred. The wars in this world are a result of karma accumulated with hatred.

When the karma of hatred is accumulated, first there is the result of full maturation which is birth in the hell realms. After that there is the dominating result which is taking birth. But even if you take birth as a human being, you might be reborn in a war zone. And once you are born there then there is the result corresponding to the cause which is two-fold. There is the activity corresponding to the cause which is causing harm to others again. And there is the experience corresponding to the cause which is again having to go through similar suffering. That is why there are so many wars and fighting in this world. It all arises from ignorance which does not understand the fault from the afflictive emotions. And not knowing that, you develop afflictive emotions like jealousy, hatred and so on. Where are those afflictions? They are all in our own minds. Either we don’t trust in karma or have some doubts in it which is ignorance.

So when you look at your mind, you find that we do possess these unrestrained afflictions like hatred and jealousy that takes on a life of their own. Even though you might not be suffering right now, you will be suffering with a hundred percent certainty in the future if you allow these afflictions to remain in your minds. This is how you think when you understand karma. If you do not understand karma then you couldn’t care less about what happens in the world. Whatever sufferings or wars there are, you think that they could do whatever they want and you don’t care as long as you don’t suffer. In this way, you still don’t act virtuously but increase your wealth of evil.

Our wealth of virtue which is any activity of body and speech arising from love and compassion are very small. For the most part, whatever we do we do it with a selfish motivation. For no reason, people often go around stealing or killing others not knowing the causes. Attachment, jealousy and hatred; these are the causes of our miseries. So, all of the suffering in the world arises from this. There is no suffering that does not arise from this. It says ‘I do not increase my wealth of virtue’; all the suffering in this world has a cause and I don’t see that and this is what we are saying here. For example, if you see that there is a war, then as a Buddhist, you recognize that there is a cause and reflect upon it. Then you would be mindful and careful about that cause. When that cause arises, you will be careful not to act on that cause.

Next it says ‘I still do not act virtuously but increase my wealth of evil.’ What this wealth of evil really is that it comes from not understanding karma and whatever you do; whether it is dharma or mundane activity. This is the root cause of all the difficulties and sufferings in this world. Nowadays in this world, there is so much more conflict. Countries also produce fake goods to sell or artificial foodstuffs just in order to increase their own wealth. Often government officials put a lot of misery on their people not being concerned with their well-being and lives at all. They create nuclear bombs and weapons and so on. This is what happens when many people who do not understand or trust in karma come together.

Then you have countries with hundreds and thousands of people with just a handful of government officials. Who for the sake of their own enrichment, develop evil intentions. They lack trust in karma and would do anything to destroy the lives of their own people just to increase their own wealth. They have no regard for the well-being or the livelihood of their own people. This is why they start wars with other countries just thinking about their own welfare. This is the kind of wealth of evil that we are speaking about. Nowadays in this world, there are so many people who don’t even have enough food to eat. Others create nuclear bombs and so forth; creating suffering for their own people.

The fault of all of that is the misuse of power and the lack of trust in karma, cause and effect. Not knowing that, the results of these actions will fall back upon them. Somebody who understands karma but do not practice the dharma will still be concerned about the people around them. They understand that they need food to eat to survive and need well-being and freedom and so on. They would also understand that the slightest happiness comes from love and compassion. Next it says ‘Guru think of me look upon me with compassion grant your blessings so that conviction and karma arises in me’. If you understand karma, no matter what you do, whether it is a dharma practice or a mundane activity, you would equalize self and others. You would do things that are beneficial for others.

So we supplicate for blessings when karma arises and it is just one line here. But it is extremely important in whatever you do, whether it is a mundane activity or a dharma activity. In whatever you do, you must clearly understand the infallibility of cause and effect. Sometimes it ripens in this lifetime where there are people who misuse their power and so on and end up in prison. They experience real difficulty as a result. For others it doesn’t ripen right away but it ripens in future lifetimes. But if you think about karma again and again, including people’s actions and what it leads to, and what is at the root of it. If you really think about it carefully, you will come to the conclusion that it always comes back to karma. There is no other way to explain this but there are many examples. You just have to think about it really carefully and your trust in the infallibility of karma will increase. From that trust in karma arises what we call trusting faith and there are three kinds of faith. Of these three kinds of faith, trusting faith is most important.

Who taught the workings of karma? The buddha taught karma and it is something that we can’t see with our eyes or touch with our hands. In a way it is empty but it is the empty interconnectedness of things. Knowing that, we are now able to understand which is to understand the dharma. When you understand that your faith in the three jewels increases and you understand their significance and preciousness. They have taught us the infallibility of karma, cause and effect. First faith in karma arises and then next clear faith arises where you see the qualities of the three jewels. When you see the qualities, an inspiration arises and you feel that you don’t really want to suffer and you want to become free from suffering. This then becomes the longing faith which longs for liberation. So, you will do things to liberate yourself from self-grasping and the afflictions.

Speaking from a dharma perspective, there are many people in this world who found some sort of freedom and happiness even in this life. It does exist. All freedom, happiness and well being are achieved through having created the causes. Even if one doesn’t attain enlightenment, at least one can create the right causes for one’s own happiness by trusting in the workings of karma. First there is the faith or trust in karma. Then the longing faith is where you want to liberate yourself and then there is the clear faith where you understand the qualities of the buddhas.

Next we supplicate, ‘Guru think of me look upon me with compassion. Grant your blessings so that conviction in karma arises in me’. Here we need to bring to mind that it is very important to clearly understand the workings of karma. Because if you don’t trust in karma, even though you might practice the dharma, it will probably just be for the sake of this life. Therefore, it will not become stable and the fault of that is that you don’t really understand or trust in karma, cause and effect. So, it is really crucial to reflect upon the workings of karma over and over again. For a person who really trusts in karma they will be a good person wherever they go and whatever they do; whether they engage in worldly activities or dharma practice. Which means that in a country you have laws and such a person would naturally keep all these laws and abide by them. They would naturally avoid any kind of activity that causes harm towards others.

Milarepa had also said that for someone who has understood karma and given rise to bodhicitta, the ten virtuous actions arise naturally. And all ten negative actions decline naturally because such a person naturally will not want to hurt or kill anyone, not even an animal. They would also not want to steal from others or engage in impure conduct. You would actually want to do things to benefit others and help them just naturally. Therefore, you will naturally avoid the ten non-virtuous actions and be a good person and also follow the laws of the country. If you have such a person in the government office, then he will be the best servant in that office. If he is householder then you will naturally spend a happy life and if you are someone who understands karma, then in this life you will just be a person with a good heart.

Next it says ‘I am hateful towards enemies and attached to friends. I am stupefied in darkness as to what should be accepted and rejected’. For as long as this sense of a self is present, we will be attached to that self and we have aversion against anything that doesn’t agree with the self. So naturally, we develop thoughts of aversion and ignorance. The mind is like clear water and as we develop these afflictions, it is like pouring red or blue colour ink into the water which changes its colour and temporarily defiles the water. Ignorance is the union of attachment and aversion. So, we are in the darkness as to what should be accepted and what should be rejected. What should be accepted and practiced is love and compassion but we do not consider that to be very significant and therefore neglect that. What is to be rejected or abandoned are the afflictions but we naturally develop them without even recognizing them as they arise.

What really are enemies and friends? If you really understand past and future lives, then you will know that the so-called enemy was someone who had loved you very much in previous lives. Like your relatives, parents or your friends; someone who treated you with the greatest love. But all of that love has become spoiled by you hurting them in return. So, all of that love has become resentment and anger. That kind of love that turns into hatred becomes very powerful like an atomic bomb.

The buddha also spoke about certain kind of critical individuals whom our actions should be very careful towards. That is one’s own parents or one’s teachers or someone who has treated you with the greatest love. If you mistreat them, then this medicinal love transforms into poison. A nuclear weapon could be something beneficial like a medicine but could also be very poisonous weapon. We need to understand the source of our enemies but enemies have been our friends and friends have been our enemies but it is very uncertain.

In terms of what should be accepted or rejected and not knowing that, we naturally do it with a mind of attachment and aversion. And as a result of doing that, first you might have a friend but something happens, and in the end, he becomes your enemy. But in reality, there are no real friends or enemies. There is no difference between them and they are all the same. But not knowing that we develop attachment and aversion which defiles our minds like polluted water.

Regarding what should be accepted and what should be rejected, it is very important that you take this to heart, reflect on this and apply it to your own mind. When we are controlled by afflictions of attachment and aversion, then one would not fulfill one’s duty properly in a honest and straightforward way. Because such a person who is controlled by attachment and aversion, even though they have a friend (that they really like) who might have a lot of faults they might not see that faults. He might even see them as qualities because of their attachment to them. But if there is another person whom they don’t like or have a resentment toward possess good qualities, he wouldn’t see those qualities at all. He would try to pick on their faults. You wouldn’t be able to see the qualities of someone you don’t like and the faults of someone you do like.

Being swayed by the subtle and course afflictions in this way, whatever you do will not become honest and straightforward or beneficial. Even if you practice the dharma, it will not be authentic dharma practice. As a result of this tainted dharma practice, one will encounter many difficult circumstances and obstacles. In order for one’s activities to become clear and honest, one must not become controlled by attachment and aversion but abide in a state of equanimity. Equanimity is achieved by understanding that enemies and friends are uncertain. If you see it all as an illusory play, then the mind will become very clear. Then there will be no attachment to your close ones and there will be no enemies. And everyone becomes like your friend.

Jigten sumgon had also said that this is when you realize that all beings are your parents and there will be no more enemies. When you realize that everyone you meet are like close ones, then everyone will appear to be dakas and dakinis. Basically, you equalize all beings and they all become like family and friends. And you only see the good qualities in whatever you do. Then the mind will remain clear and if you develop love and compassion in this way, then naturally the nature of this mind is great wisdom. So, I ask you to reflect on this and keep this in mind. It is important to be clear on what should be done and what should not be done. Please remember this and for now we will stop the instructions for today. We will recite the dedication prayers which is the Samantabhadra Prayer of Kuntuzangpo.