This teaching was given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Lama Tsonkhapa Institute in Italy as part of the Ganden Lha Gyama retreat between September 3-30, 2004.

00:03:33 Remembering the suffering of sentient beings in samsara, we should strive to achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible to liberate them. Practicing guru yoga, as past yogis did, enables achieving enlightenment in one brief lifetime.

00:04:09 The foundation of tantric practice is guru yoga, which involves generating very strong devotion. This is what enabled past masters like Milarepa and Lama Tsongkhapa's disciples to achieve enlightenment in a brief lifetime.

00:07:22 Rinpoche explains the benefits of reciting the Clouds of Offerings Mantra.

00:32:30 Rinpoche continues leading the practice of Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga and gives instructions on how to do visualizations.

01:51:15 Rinpoche gives an extensive teaching on benefits of doing prostrations.

02:32:02 Rinpoche continues teachings and leads dedication prayers.

Find out more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, his teachings and projects at https://fpmt.org/

Again we turn our attention to bodhichitta, remembering the numberless of our own kind mother sentient beings who are suffering in the hell realms. There are numberless of them even in each of the hot hells, each of the cold hells and each of the six neighboring hells. In each of these hells numberless of them are suffering. And it is the same with the hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras, suras and intermediate state beings. They are totally under the control of karma and delusion and experiencing all the sufferings in each realm. So, I must liberate them as quickly as possible from all those unimaginable sufferings of samsara and bring them to enlightenment; therefore, I need to achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

What makes it possible to achieve enlightenment in the quickest way, in one brief lifetime of a degenerate time, and what enabled all the past yogis to achieve enlightenment, even in a brief lifetime of a degenerate time, is practicing tantra, Secret Mantra, Vajrayana, and, basically, doing a special guru yoga practice such as this. In tantra, especially in such a tantric practice as this, the foundation, like a field that enables airplanes, cars and other machines to function, is special guru yoga practice, especially with very powerful, very strong devotion. Special guru yoga is what enabled the past yogis, including Milarepa, to achieve enlightenment in a brief lifetime of a degenerate time, even within a few years. All those yogis, such as Gyalwa Ensapa, Lama Tsongkhapa’s disciple’s disciple, and so forth, achieved enlightenment in a brief lifetime of a degenerate time basically through practice of guru yoga. So, this is a special guru yoga practice.

So think, “Therefore, I’m going to practice the profound path of guru yoga for the benefit of all the sentient beings.” Dedicate your practice and your own life to them: for the happiness of the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras and suras. Your practice is for the happiness, including enlightenment, of everyone.

Here we will do the extensive offering. The blessing was already done before.

[Ven. Sarah: Rinpoche, in the breakfast break, they put out all the offerings outside, so they set up all the offerings in the stupa and all around in breakfast, so they haven’t been blessed yet.]

During breakfast time? You mean the buddhas have all breakfast. While you’re having breakfast they also had breakfast. I’m joking, anyway. Anyway, yeah. No, I did include also yesterday, all the offerings.

Alle, oh, okay. So we’ll bless...

[Ven. Sarah: I don’t know if we can bless. Can we bless them in advance?] Huh?

[Ven. Sarah: Can we bless them in advance?] In the box? What? [Ven. Sarah: Before they’re set out can we visualize them there and bless them, what’s going to be there? Or do we have to wait till they’re set out then bless them, bless, each session bless them again?]

You can bless all the offerings; we can bless in this life all the future life offerings. One time. [Ven. Sarah: Can we do that now?]

And then the time that’s left, the spare time that’s left out, then you use for dancing, playing. Playing golf. Ski.

So, we will do the blessing of all the offerings.

The benefits of the Offering Cloud Mantra

Even though I mentioned this during the mahamudra course in Adelaide, since we’ll be using this mantra many times, it might be good to know the extensive benefits of this mantra. It’s usually called [cho pai ten gyi sung], the mantra of the clouds of offerings, because, if you recite this mantra, whether you offer one stick of incense, one light, one piece of fruit or one biscuit, it appears to the buddhas like skies of offerings. The benefits of this mantra are mentioned in the Kangyur by Buddha.

Just remembering this mantra, OM NAMO BHAGAVATE VAJRA SARA PRAMARDANE TATHAGATAYA…, blesses the offerings. First of all, this mantra has two functions: blessing and increasing. There are numberless buddhas, and you should remember that each time you recite this mantra, each buddha receives skies of offerings, so that means you collect inconceivable merit, many skies of merit. Just remembering this mantra has the benefit of having made offering to the buddhas abiding in the ten directions. How many time that number of buddhas abiding in the ten directions?

Equal in number to the atoms of the sand grains of the Pacific Ocean.

The term I’ve translated as “Pacific Ocean”, [lhai chu ganga] literally means the Ganges River, but it does not necessarily mean only the Ganges. Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo mentions in his notes from a commentary to A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life given by his guru, that it’s not just the Ganges River but the Pacific Ocean. This is also explained in other texts. But when you bless the vase, the water becomes inseparable from the divine river Ganga, and this is the interpretive meaning River Ganga, the river that flows through Varanasi that Hindus use to wash their bodies and believe it washes away negative karma. That is the interpretive meaning of divine water of the Ganga; but divine water of the Ganga has a definitive in the Highest Yoga Tantra path, where it means great bliss. You think that the very essence of the water in the vase, the nectar, is great bliss.

So, to repeat again: Just remembering this mantra has the benefit of making offering to buddhas abiding in the ten directions equal in number to the atoms of the sand grains of the Pacific Ocean. I mean, there’s an unbelievable number of sand grains of the Pacific Ocean, and it’s not just the sand grains, but the atoms of the sand grains. The mantra has the power that it becomes offering to all those buddhas.

Not just the buddhas of the ten directions, but like that, how many? Equal to the number of atoms of the sand grains of the Pacific Ocean. Do you understand? That’s amazing. So, we have created that many causes of enlightenment. Once we have got the idea that we have made offering to that many buddhas, we have to understand that it means we have created that many causes of enlightenment, and by the way, that many causes of liberation from samsara and the happiness of future lives.

The next benefit is that you get the benefit of having prostrated at the holy feet of all those buddhas. That’s the second benefit.

The third benefit is that you get the same benefit as having made offering to all those buddhas of flowers, incense, garlands of flowers, ointment, robes, banners, flags (paden, in Tibetan, means that which produces wind), seats (the Tibetan term den means anything that is used to sit on), seat covers (dingwa is a seat cover used by monks and nuns), dress, animals [chen sing], food, [cho sang] and various ornaments. Just remembering this mantra has this third benefit of having made all these various offerings to that many buddhas. This is not just to one buddha, but to the number of buddhas explained before.

Next, anyone who simply remembers this mantra is freed from all negative karma. So, it’s another great purification. One will have all the merits.

Due to the unbelievable merit you collect by reciting the mantra and to the purification that was just mentioned, you will eventually be able to see all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. It doesn’t mean you will be able to see them right now; it means sooner or later. So, it has that benefit.

[Yang dak pa sang gye jang chub sem pa tam che tung wa tang yang dak pa ug chin pa gyur o.] All the buddhas and bodhisattvas will free the breath, or give the breath. If somebody can’t breathe and is suffocating, if you give them breath, you are giving them life or freedom. It means that the buddhas and bodhisattvas liberate you. It’s like in the tantric vows, where we say “Ug ma chhin pa ug yung zhing sem chän nya ngän dä la gö.” “Those who are not liberated from delusions, I will liberate from delusions; and those who are not liberated from the subtle defilements, I will liberate from subtle defilements.” Then “Ug ma chhin pa ug yung zhing…”, I will give breath to those who are suffocating. I will give breath means I will liberate them from the sufferings of the lower realms, of the hell realms. So, the buddhas and bodhisattvas giving you breath means they will liberate you, give you freedom.

The next benefit of remembering this mantra is that all the devas, nagas, harm- givers [or nö-jin, in Tibetan]… Nö-jin is translated as “harm-giver’, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that. Many of the entourage of protectors of Medicine Buddha are called nö-jin and also, I think, those in Namthotse’s entourage. From their title it looks like their harm-givers, but they are protecting sentient beings from harm, I would think. It might be that they are the ones who liberate sentient beings from harm and give them happiness. I haven’t seen any description of that, but it might have that meaning.

…smell-eaters, asuras, garudas, [myemchi] (I checked the meaning of this in a Tibetan dictionary, but I don’t remember it now), [dorje chenpo] (I think this might be nagas, but I’m not sure), and Vajrapani, Owner of the Secrets, and so forth, and the four guardians, the protectors that you visualize at the bottom of the merit field): all of them will always follow you and protect you. I guess, if you remember to recite the mantra, they will be your bodyguards wherever you go, even when you go swimming at the beach. Anyway, they always follow you and protect you; they guard you and, if there’s some danger, they hide you. If there’s some danger of somebody harming you, they will hide you.

The next benefit is that your consciousness will be transferred from here in this world to the Amitabha pure land. When you die, you will be reborn in the Amitabha pure land. So, that is a very good place for a holiday, a vacation, or a honeymoon. Is it honeysun or honeymoon or what? Holidaying in Tahiti, Goa and all the other places is a problem; it’s suffering. It’s not a real holiday. The real holiday is being able to go to such a pure land, especially one where there’s not even the word “suffering” and where you can become enlightened. That’s the best.

The conclusion is, by just remembering this mantra one time, you get all these benefits.

Normally, when I remember, of course, I recite this mantra to bless food. First you bless the food with Highest Yoga Tantra practice, even the shortest one, with only a few syllables of mantra. [HA HO HRIH...?JAM ZHING, all the faults or impurities of color, taste, smell and power are destroyed and the food is transformed into nectar. You then recite OM AH HUM three times. The nectar is increased and then blessed.] Even after such a short blessing, you can recite this mantra to multiply it so that each of the numberless buddhas receives skies of offerings. I try to do that at times, when I remember.

Since Buddha has inconceivable qualities and power, Buddha can make a mantra to have power. You have to understand that. Because of all the qualities that Buddha has, Buddha can make a mantra have those powers and dedicate for us sentient beings. It’s such an easy way for us to get extensive benefit, all happiness. It’s the same with the unbelievable benefits of The Arya Sanghata Sutra and The Golden Light Sutra—Buddha has the power to do that. Recently, during a conversation with Geshe Sopa Rinpoche, Rinpoche explained how powerful the Chenrezig mantra OM MANI PADME HUM is. Somewhere in A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life it says that Chenrezig (or, according to the Chinese, Quan Yin)…; according to the different karma of sentient beings, it manifests as male or female. Anyway, it says there that Chenrezig blessed his own name so that the moment that a sentient being hears it, it’s able to purify their negative karma and liberate them from the lower realms, then, by planting a positive imprint, eventually able to liberate them from samsara.

Sentient beings get liberated even by hearing Chenrezig’s name or mantra. So, Buddha can do that.

Sometimes you might wonder how it’s possible to get all these benefits from chanting a mantra. Buddha has inconceivable qualities; he is free from all defilements, gross and subtle, and complete in all qualities. Buddha has inconceivable power and qualities, so he can do that, he can make that happen. Thinking in this way can be useful. The Vajrasattva mantra has so much power for the same reason. It is same with those texts with unbelievable benefits. Buddha can do that; Buddha can bless a text, a teaching, so that we sentient beings can get all those benefits. Just as people can make atomic bombs to destroy the world, Buddha can make a name or mantra bless and liberate, purifying so many eons of negative karma. There are even a few mantras that purify 100,000 eons of negative karma. So, Buddha can do that.

So, we will bless the offerings.

[The group recites Offering Prayer, followed by three repetitions of Offering Cloud Mantra.]

So, we will do a quick offering. Offer all the offerings here (in here, outside and in my room), all the extensive offerings at the Aptos and Washington houses, all the extensive offerings in all the FPMT Centers’ gompas, and all the extensive offerings upstairs in Lillian Too’s house and Derek’s house in Singapore. Think that they are of the nature of great bliss.

Offer to the gurus, thinking that they’re all gurus, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and all the holy objects of the ten directions. Then offer to all the Guru Puja merit field, which you have visualized in front, thinking that they are all the holy objects in this world and meditating that their essence is the guru. After that, offer to all the guru, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha of the ten directions. Then offer to all the statues, stupas, scriptures and other holy objects of the ten directions, by thinking their essence is the guru. Offer to them and generate bliss. Then offer to the seven Medicine Buddhas, Kshitigarbha and Thousand-Arm Chenrezig. Then offer to all the holy objects in India and in Tibet, particularly to the holy objects in Samye Monastery, the first monastery in Tibet. There is unbelievable benefit from making offering to all those holy objects in Samye. Also offer to the Guru Shakyamuni Buddha statue blessed by Buddha himself in the Lhasa temple. Then offer to all the holy objects in Nepal, including the most precious one, Swayambunath Stupa, which has, inside the mountain, the embodiment of the dharmakaya in the form of a crystal stupa. Then offer to Baudhanath Stupa and all the rest of the holy objects. If you have any gurus there, think of them, then offer. Then offer to all the rest of the holy objects in the world, by meditating that their essence is the guru.

As I play the cymbals, you can offer more extensively, then one by one. You can make offering with one set or with three sets, so you can include everything in that. Also offer every single playing of music.

[The group offers music, with Rinpoche playing the cymbals at length.]

The whole sky is filled with visualized offerings. The actual offerings have been offered. Now the whole sky is filled with visualized offerings. Each set of offerings is carried by goddesses. You transform the goddesses from your heart, as the deity, and they then make offering. In the same way, generate infinite bliss then absorb the goddesses back into your heart, from where they were transformed. Each time you absorb them in this way it becomes preparation to actualize the completion stage and to actualize the direct cause of dharmakaya. In the five stages, there’s isolation of speech, isolation of mind, the illusory body and the unification of no more learning, which means the clear light.

[LC23-32]

Due to the merits having offered this mandala to you the Guru Puja merit field then may I and, oneself, one’s own family members, all of us then all the students, benefactors in the organization then all the rest of the sentient beings, may we be able to meet the stainless teaching of Lama Tsongkhapa and completely actualize, that which is living in the pure morality and brave attitude, brave heart doing extensive bodhisattva’s deeds, the yoga of the two stages, which essence is the transcendental wisdom of nondual bliss and voidness, without delay even a second. [In Tibetan]

IDAM GURU RATNA....

[LC33-37]

The purpose of my life is to free the numberless sentient beings from all the oceans of samsaric suffering and cause, the delusion and karma, and bring them to enlightenment; then what makes possible to do that is only if one lives in bodhisattva vow, take the bodhisattva vow, live in bodhisattva vow. Even one has realization of bodhichitta that alone cannot achieve enlightenment. So therefore, I’m going to take the bodhisattva vow.

So those who have taken bodhisattva vow in the past, then taking the bodhisattva vow again, make it become pure. Then restore what has been degenerated and what has not been degenerated then it gets increased.

Kon chog sum la yi kyi sung (3x)

Think received pure bodhisattva vow, those who have taken in the past.

Now, then, one’s own kind mother sentient beings, from whom one receives all the three-time happiness, all the collections of goodness, so their suffering in samsara even for one second is like suffering for eons, it’s so, most unbearable for me, so I need to liberate them from all the suffering and causes and bring to enlightenment as quick as possible. Therefore, I need to achieve enlightenment as quick as possible. So what makes to do that is, what makes, enable to do that is only if one takes tantric vow and live in the tantric vow. Only then this is possible, to achieve enlightenment, even in a brief life, as quick as possible and even in a brief lifetime of degenerated time. So therefore, I’m going to take, only living in the tantric samaya vow, then it’s possible to do that. So therefore, I’m going to take, then, with recognition that how this life, this human life, how most lucky, most fortunate one, have met tantra and able to have this opportunity to achieve enlightenment even in a brief lifetime of degenerated time, that one has opportunity to do that. So with incredible joy, then take the tantric vows. [Taking of tantric vows in Tibetan]

Read in English the rest of the prayer, thog me du ne in English. [LC38-39 in English]

Rejoice one’s own past, all the past merits, present and future merits, by thinking how they are so precious. Without the merit there’s no happiness, one single happiness, success, nothing you can do, so it’s so precious, so therefore, how fortunate I am, how fortunate I am or How wonderful it is, how wonderful it is, so then each time when you do that, then all the merits become doubled, so limitless skies of merit each time you collect.

Now rejoice all the merits collected by sentient beings, all the past merits and the present, future merits collected by them, and from these they receive so much temporary enjoyments and all the needs and as well as liberation and enlightenment, everything, so how wonderful it is that they have collected these merits in the three times, past, present, future. Or feeling happiness each time, how, think of their three time merits then how wonderful it is, how wonderful it is, so again each time one collect limitless skies of merits, numberless times. Limitless skies of merit numberless times.

Rejoice all the bodhisattvas and buddhas, their three-time merits, all the past, present, future, and all their realizations, all their qualities. Then buddhas, all the qualities, rejoice, including Guru Shakyamuni Buddha.

May I be able, so this way, we create very powerful cause near future, very near future then to be, to have all those same qualities bodhisattvas have and all the limitless qualities what the Buddha has, so oneself to have the same quality near future. So even that then without much hardship, taking much long time, easily to have by rejoicing we collect inconceivable, so much merit, so makes easy.

May I be able to collect that much merit by myself for the benefit of every single sentient being.

Yeah, read English. [[LC40-42, long mandala offering, request for three great purposes, offering cloud mantra (3x), power of truth prayer, IDAM GURU RATNA ]

Mig me tse wai [Recitation of migtsemas for about two minutes]

So you can do the, if you can remember you can do secret visualization, then or otherwise do the purification and the wisdoms, like that. [Recitation of migtsemas for about eight minutes]

Mig me tse wai....

Yeah, read the English of the request.

[I request the precious guru, who encompasses all objects. mental continuum (3x), then visualization]

We do the requesting prayer to the lineage lamas in English, maybe beginning some in Tibetan then doing things.

So, the replica of the root guru descended on your crown and then facing towards the merit field and recommending the disciple, like introducing to the merit field, recommending, then to grant blessings, realizations, like that.

One makes the request to the root guru above one’s own crown, then a replica, by the second repetition a replica absorbed within oneself and then receive all the qualities.

So this is very important practice, the indirect and direct gurus, making request to grant blessings, from guru devotion up to enlightenment, to generate all the, by making request the, lineage lamas of the path of the, the extensive path or the path of extensiveness, then with the last, with the first ?name then nectar beams emitted, purified all the defilements, the wrong concepts. Then, with the next, with the second name then a replica absorbed, received all the realizations of those direct or indirect lineage lamas.

Then, by making request the, second by making request the graduate, the profound path or the path of the profundity, then received all the, with the first name then nectar beams emitted from that guru, purified all the defilements, all the wrong concepts and then, by the second name, when you repeat the second name, then all the, the replica of that guru absorbed, whether it’s direct or indirect guru, that making request, absorbed within oneself, then received all the qualities, those realizations.

So, like that, so, the first one is the, requesting to the, starting from Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and the lineage lamas of the extensive path, graduate extensive path, then the Maitreya, Asanga, those, so purified, generated from guru devotion up to enlightenment. Particularly the self-cherishing thought, then those ?pacified, the ordinary view, ordinary concept, according to tantra, so generated bodhichitta and the, from the tantric path, pure view and pure thought and the illusory body and then the rupakaya, like that, generated.

Then when we making particular request to the lineage lamas of the profound path, then pacify then particular the ignorance, the concept of true existence, that, then purified dualistic, this subtle dual view, the gross mind cease, then achieve ultimate dharmakaya, so like that. The clear light, and then, from tantra, clear light, then ultimate, the dharmakaya.

[Requesting Prayer to the Lineage Lamas in Tibetan then “Paramasena, who has exalted ” through to the end in English.]

Read in English the next one. [LC43-53 in English, then Rinpoche chants LC54 in Tibetan, then OM AH GURU]

Those who have received the Highest Tantra great initiation then guru entered the heart then reciting mantra, to persuade the holy mind to grant blessing to achieve enlightenment.

[Recitation of mantras: Name mantra, LTK, GSB, Yamantaka, Heruka, Guhyasamaja, VY, Vajradhara, OM AH HUNG.]

So, maybe I will just mention a little bit about the prostration.

The Benefits Of Prostrations

The general benefits of prostration are that in the future life, one achieves a good rebirth with a perfect body and senses. Like Buddha’s holy body is golden in color. You will have a beautiful body with a beautiful shape.

A beautiful body will attract many sentient beings. It is an easy way to benefit sentient beings. It draws many sentient beings: hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions of sentient beings. Because they all like you, if you explain something to them, it’s very easy to have them listen to you and to do what you say. So, it is very easy to bring them into the Dharma, into the path to enlightenment, the unmistaken path to happiness.

You have a very sweet voice. Again, in the world there are singers whose voices attract many millions of people. Again, here, if you have that quality, it is very easy to benefit others. Because they listen to you, it is easy for you to help sentient beings, to liberate them and bring them to enlightenment.

You are able to speak, able to communicate. Some people can’t communicate; they don’t have the courage to speak. And some people, even though they’re able to speak, their speech doesn’t have power and they’re not skillful in talking, so other people don’t listen to them. So, me wa den might mean able to communicate, able to speak. Two people might speak on the same subject, but one of them might be very easy to listen to and to want to help.

I’m not sure about the next one, but I think it means that the other person keeps in mind whatever you say. This is talking about in a positive way. It’s not in the sense of holding a grudge, but in a positive sense. Other people somehow pay attention to your words and keep your words in mind.

You are not shy about leading people and doing things in public. You are able to be in public and lead, or guide, many people, to help them.

Next, all the devas and human beings are happy with you. It’s not only that all the people are happy with you wherever you go, but even the devas are happy with you..

The next one is that you appear very glorious, like His Holiness the Dalai Lama and His Holiness Ling Rinpoche. They appear very radiant, glorious, very special among human beings. Even though they have the same human body, there is something special about them; they are radiant, glorious. Even in the West, in a public gathering of many people, you can see people like this. You can see that they’re warm-hearted, genuine people, and they look somehow different from the people around them. There’s something shiny, glorious, about them

You will always be accompanied by buddhas and bodhisattvas. So, if you want to always be accompanied by buddhas and bodhisattvas, you must do prostrations—as many as possible.

The next benefit is having great wealth, great enjoyments. This is a result of prostrations because they create unbelievable merit. Some of these results don’t have to come only in future lives; you can also experience them in this life. One of the characteristics of this southern continent where we are is that karma we have created in our early life can be so powerful that it gets experienced in the later part of our life. Whether it’s negative karma or good karma, you can experience the result in the later part of life. Therefore, it doesn’t have to apply only to next life.

You take a higher rebirth, a deva or human rebirth.

You achieve the sorrowless state. This means cessation of samsaric suffering and its cause, so liberation from samsara.

I added this last one, the seventh one. I mean, of course it is there in the benefits of prostrations. It is there every time you make prostration, every time you put your hands together to a statue or a picture of a buddha or do a five-limb or full-length prostration, or even prostrate with one hand or bow down with respect. Everything that shows respect physically, even just bowing down, immediately becomes a cause of enlightenment. Prostration done in a respectful manner to even a statue or picture of a buddha immediately becomes a cause of enlightenment.

That quotation mentions achieving liberation and doesn’t particularly mention enlightenment, but I think it would include enlightenment. It would include not only the lower liberation but also the great liberation, enlightenment. I just added it specifically as the conclusion. I just put it there. As the conclusion, one achieves the state which is the cessation of all faults and the completion of all qualities.

So, these are the general benefits of any type of prostration.

Even by putting your hands together in prostration to a statue or picture of a buddha, you get ten or twelve benefits. Whenever you see a such a holy object, or a stupa or scripture of Buddha, the moment you put your hands together like that, you immediately get those ten or twelve benefits.

Next life you take rebirth in a king’s family. If you are born in a king’s family, you have wealth and you can have power and become a king. If you can become king, you then have much influence to benefit so many sentient beings. You can make charity of your wealth to many sentient beings, and they will listen to you. You can cause so many sentient beings to meet the Dharma. You can teach them the right things, which are to be practiced, and the wrong things, the things harmful to themselves and harmful to other sentient beings, which are to be abandoned. You can give them correct wisdom. So, that’s one big problem in the West, for example, in how parents guide their children. It’s very difficult to help your children if you don’t have wisdom, correct wisdom. It’s very difficult to help your children, even if you produce children from a factory.

In Nepal there was one Nyingma lama, Urgyen Tulku Rinpoche, who lived in a big monastery near Baudhanath. He was a very good lama, who has now passed away. I think he was regarded as an emanation of Padmasambhava or something like that. He was a married lama with two wisdom mothers. He had four or five sons, I think, and every one of them is an incarnate lama. His eldest son has a child who is also an incarnate lama. So, I heard that some lamas called this family a “lama factory.” They have been proved to be actual incarnate lamas—it’s not something that has just been made up. I think it’s a special family, with a special father and mother. I think the wisdom mother’s thoughts are always on impermanence and renunciation and she has no fear. I heard that Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche went to see Urgyen Tulku’s wife and made a comment that Rinpoche is Padmasambhava and his wife is Padmasambhava’s wisdom mother. She told Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, “I will meet you in Padmasambhava’s pure land.”

I mean, their minds are not ordinary minds, always looking for samsaric pleasure, always caught up in samsaric pleasure. There are so many incarnate lamas in that family, including the grandchildren, that some lamas jokingly call them “lama factory.” Because I used the word “produce,” that thought came into my mind.

However, whether children happen without choice or are purposely produced, if there’s no wisdom about how to help, how to guide, them, it becomes a huge problem. There can be so much unhappiness in the lives of the parents and in the lives of the children, instead of becoming beneficial to society, to mankind, to human beings or even to animals, to any sentient being. Even if it’s not beneficial to human beings, it would be great to be beneficial even to animals.

There is a similar problem in schools due to lack of real wisdom, of Dharma wisdom. It also becomes a huge problem. There is so much violence and wrong conduct among children in schools, destroying their lives and making them difficult to control.

Anyway, if you’re born in a king’s family, the people in the country listen to you, and you can help them materially with your wealth. You can help poor and sick people so much with your wealth. Also, by being born in a king’s family, you have power and people will listen to you, so you can open their Dharma wisdom eye, showing them what is to be practiced and what is to be abandoned; what is harmful to others and to themselves and what is beneficial to others and to themselves. You can bring them in the correct path and show them the unmistaken methods to achieve happiness, up to enlightenment. You can show them the correct methods to achieve even temporary happiness and, without doubt, how to achieve liberation from samsara and enlightenment. So, that is the first benefit.

The second benefit is that one will achieve an extensive form. As I mentioned before, that means a perfect body with perfect senses.

Third, you will have perfect people around you, such as perfect servants. They will be harmonious with you, with no fighting or other problems. They will do exactly what you like, acting according to your wishes, so that your benefiting other sentient beings becomes beneficial. They will be able to help, to support, that.

The next one is extensive offerings. There could be two aspects to this. It could be that you will receive extensive offerings from others, but it could also be that you will be able to make extensive offerings to guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.

You will receive respect and service from others. You will have extensive wealth.

You will do extensive listening to Dharma. You will have extensive devotion.

You will have a clear mind and a good memory. So, if you want a good memory, it means a lot of prostrations. If you don’t want to become someone with Alzheimer’s or a vegetable, this is what you have to do.

If you go through the benefits explained by Buddha in the sutras, you can see how much just the practice of prostration to Buddha helps. This is not just prostration to a car or prostration to your friend or prostration to a tree or to a flower. I’m joking, anyway. This is prostration to the Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), to statues, stupas and scriptures of Buddha. Even this one practice takes care of your life; it takes care of so many things in your life, now and in the future. It takes care up to enlightenment.

The eleventh benefit is that you achieve extensive wisdom.

The twelfth benefit is extensive realization. This is up to enlightenment, the perfect quality of cessation and the perfect quality of realization.

All those benefits are just from putting your hands palms together in prostration to a statue, stupa or scripture of Buddha, so there is no doubt about the benefits of a five-limb or full-length prostration. The moment when you do that you get these twelve benefits. Whenever we see a holy object, we should use our hands to prostrate like this. Of course, the ultimate benefit is always liberation and enlightenment; it always causes them. Those two, liberation from samsara and full enlightenment, would be contained in the twelfth benefit, extensive realization.

Each time we see a statue, a stupa, a text or a picture of Buddha, the moment we put our hands in prostration we achieve all these incredible, extensive benefits. You make it worthwhile that your parents sacrificed their lives to take care of you for so many years, including the nine months your mother carried you in her stomach. For so many years they dedicated their lives, their human lives, which are so precious, to you. They could have done so many other things, but they made sacrifices for you; they worked for you and bore so much hardship for you. It was not something very simple. They bore so much hardship, suffered so much and created so much negative karma for your well-being, for your happiness, for your survival. For so many years, they had exhaustion of the body and so much worry and fear of the mind.

So, the moment you respectfully bring your palms together like this when you see a holy object, you make it worthwhile. You get all this extensive benefit, and by achieving these benefits, you can benefit so many sentient beings. You can liberate yourself and liberate all sentient beings, including your parents. Each time you put your hands in prostration when you see a holy object, it makes incredibly worthwhile all the suffering and hardships they have experienced and all the negative karma they created. It makes worthwhile that they sacrificed their lives for you. It gives meaning to their lives, to all their effort. It gives meaning to however much hardship they had to bear.

So, you can see how easy Buddha made it for us to achieve enlightenment. He made it so easy to purify negative karma, so easy to be free from this terrifying samsara, the continuation of which has no beginning. Therefore, we must put it into practice; we must remember it in our daily life.

I want to mention two things, then I will stop there.

As I have often mentioned, when you go on pilgrimage, for example, when you go to a temple, there are so many paintings and statues of Buddha. Even though you don’t have time to look precisely at each buddha and prostrate, you can prostrate to all the holy objects, however many hundreds or thousands there are, big and small, by just turning around with your hands together in prostration. From your heart, you think, “I’m prostrating to all of them.” This doesn’t take even one minute, just a few seconds. So, if there’s one hundred thousand paintings or statues of buddha, you have already collected one hundred thousand causes of enlightenment, and by the way, liberation from samsara and the happiness of future lives, and even so much happiness and success of this life. You do this in a few seconds, just by turning around like this, thinking, “I’m prostrating to all of them.” It just takes a few seconds. No matter how much of a rush you’re in, you just take a few seconds, not even a minute, to turn around like this, so when you go back home, you go back with so many hundreds of thousands causes of enlightenment. You go back with all these merits.

It is the same when you look at art books of buddha. Each time you see a picture of buddha, you should put your hands together like this. Turn the page, then prostrate to however many pictures of Buddha there are. Again, there are so many pictures of Buddha there, that by the time you finish looking through the book, you will have collected so many cause of enlightenment, as well as all the other happinesses. If possible, you should not only prostrate but also pray, Päl dän la ma khye ku chi dra dang, Khor dang ku tshei tshä dang zhing kham sog…, May I become like you, the glorious guru (or any deity you see as the guru in guru yoga practice). May I achieve like your holy body, like your life span, like your surroundings, like your pure field and like your holy name. Or at least you should pray, “May I become like you, having all the qualities to be able to benefit numberless sentient beings and the teaching of Buddha.” So, at least do the second one I mentioned. Prostrate, then pray in this way. By generating that positive wish, you create the cause, sooner or later, to become like those enlightened beings.

Shariputra was able to always accompany Buddha, as Buddha’s heart disciple, because in a previous life, when he was traveling, he stopped in a temple where there was a painting of a buddha on the wall. He was fixing his shoes where there was light, and when he was taking a rest from fixing them, he saw the picture of Buddha and thought how beautiful it was and generated a wish. That was the cause that enabled him to be with Buddha in his next life, and even become Buddha’s heart disciple, and benefit many sentient beings.

So, this is how our life is full of opportunity, full of hope. It’s so easy to purify, so easy to be free from samsara, so easy to achieve enlightenment. You can do it just with prostration.

Yeah, then, generate bodhichitta. To free all the sentient beings from all the suffering and causes, bring them to enlightenment, therefore I must achieve enlightenment, therefore then I’m going to practice the making offering to guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, I’m going to practice the yoga of eating and charity to all sentient beings, including the sentient beings living in my body, all the creatures living in my body, sentient beings, and bring them to enlightenment, by revealing Dharma to them when they become human being, through the connection having made charity to them at this time.

So that, the bodhisattva’s way of eating, making charity to the sentient beings, like that. So here, during motivation, you do that, then same thing while one is eating, then here also involves making charity of the food after we blessed to all sentient beings, so you do the extra.

Then all the food is purified in emptiness, it’s empty, then those who have received a great initiation, then also great initiation of Highest Tantra, then you visualize nectar according to that. Those who have received only a lower tantric initiation then you visualize the nectar according to that.

OM AH HUNG (3x)

Then, since we’re making offering, the nectar food offering, so time wise same, so if you include all the rest of the offerings, it saves time. While you’re making this offering, why not make offering all other rest again. So all the offerings here, extensive offerings here, outside, then in the centers, FPMT center gompas, then all those, Aptos house, Washington, all those other different places, which are in nature of infinite bliss.

Offer to the gurus, by meditating they are all the guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, all the ten direction holy objects, in the nature of infinite bliss.

Prostrate to them and then all the Guru Puja merit field in [a few words inaudible], all the Guru Puja merit field in this world and holy objects, offer. Prostrate towards also them.

And then offer all these oceans of nectar food offerings, then all the rest of the offerings, which are nature of infinite bliss, towards all the ten direction Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, by meditating their essence is the guru. Generate bliss within them. Prostrate towards them.

Then offer towards all the, oceans of nectar food and all those rest of the offerings here, outside, which are nature of infinite bliss and in my room, then centers and Aptos house, Washington, all those various offerings, offer towards all the ten direction statues, stupas, scriptures, by meditating their essence is the root virtuous friend from one’s side. Then generate infinite bliss. Then prostrate towards all of them.

So we collected within these minutes, that, within this minute that we collected so many times limitless skies of merit. All the past merit, all the future merit, and the three-time merits collected by oneself, three-time merits collected by others, all others, the numberless nectar, food nectar charity, numberless oceans of nectar food make charity to every hell being, every hungry ghost received, every animal received, every human being received, every sura, asura being received, every intermediate stage being received. They all fully enjoyed, it caused them to be free from all the suffering and their defilements, negative karma, delusions, everything. And they all, by actualizing the path, they all become enlightened. Every hell being become enlightened in the deity that one practice. Every hungry ghost become enlightened, every animal become enlightened, every human being, sura, asura, everyone become enlightened in the deity that one practices. Now rejoice how wonderful it is, that I have enlightened everyone. So by rejoicing again one, the merits get multiplied.

So due to all the past, present, future merit collected by me, three-time merits collected by others, then oneself, the sentient beings, numberless sentient beings who died, suffered, created negative karma, harmed others for this food, did work for this, including the cooks, then that anxiously waiting, or maybe more than anxiously waiting. Then all the rest of the sentient beings and then, including your family, then all the rest of the sentient beings, then may we never be separated away from the guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and always able to collect merit by making offering to them and receive blessings of the Triple Gem, that which is realization from guru devotion up to enlightenment, especially bodhichitta, clear light. May it be actualized within one’s own heart, in the hearts of all these sentient beings who died, numberless sentient beings who died, who suffered, died, suffered, created negative karma harming others, worked for this food, then all the rest of the sentient beings, in all their minds, without delay even a second.

La ma sang gyä la ma chhö

De zhin la ma gen dün te

Kün gyi je po la ma yin

La ma nam la kyab su chhi (3x)

The Guru is Buddha. The Guru is Dharma.

The Guru is also Sangha.

The Guru is the creator of all [happiness].

In all the gurus, I take refuge. (3x)

Dag sog nam kyi deng nä jang chhub bar

Gyi dang gyi gyur ge wa chi sag pa

Zhing dir je tsün dam päi zug kyi ku

Gyur me dor je tar tän tra shi shog

By the collection of whatever virtues I and others have done

And shall do from now until enlightenment,

May all be auspicious holy, perfect, pure one,

For your body of form to remain in this land, immutable like a vajra.

Then, due to all the three-time merits collected by me, by others, ge wa di yi nyur du dag, lama sangye drub gyur ne, the end of the, which comes after the mantra.

Then, due to all the three-time merits collected by me, three-time merits collected by others, which are empty, may the I, who is empty, from its own side, achieve Lama Tsongkhapa’s enlightenment, which is empty, and then lead all the sentient beings, who are empty from their own side, lead to that Lama Tsongkhapa’s enlightenment, which is also empty from its own side, and by myself alone, who is also empty from its own side.

So, please enjoy the bliss. Blissful, blissing out lunch. Blissing out lunch. [short mandala]